[ARC 15: FILL IN THE BLANK]
[October 20th, 2020]
Mia got another call from Aimee that day, and she could never resist the chance to see her.
"Hey." she chimed as Mia sat down. "Uh - wasn't sure if you wanted to see this, but..."
"… Am I threat level national?"
Aimee nodded. "Yeah. You, uh - feeling okay?"
Mia nodded. "Go ahead, then."
"You got it." said Aimee, pulling up Mia's profile. "'National. Has attained Sun Ray - a former ability of Ryumi Egashira's. (Refers to it as Solar Beam.)'" Aimee's grin cracked at Mia's pout. "Ruthless. 'Possibility growing that she may require Existential classification.' Plus, uh - I didn't pull this up yet, but since you're gonna be in my agency..."
Aimee shook her head, readied to type. "So, since I've got you, a national level threat - basically defacto in my agency anyway, they gave me - as your future boss -" - she winked - " - national clearance. As in, the files."
"The files?" said Mia, and Aimee nodded as she typed.
"So - I wanted to check… Uh. Mizuchi's host?"
"Akira."
Aimee nodded, and sighed relief as his profile came up. "There we go. Akira Kagume. Shows up as dead. They might ask you about him, so -"
" - this is old." muttered Mia, reading it quick. "'Akira Kagume - former employee of the Eastern League - Revenant -"
" - FTL?"
" - that - that was the twentieth Revenant." said Mia in bizarre relief. "Possesses the ability to - transport its host and two others to any location instantly, so long as Akira has not been touched in the past ten seconds. That's how - that's how Dreadnought traveled. I - then he must have - Dreadnought must have taken his Revenant and -"
" - okay, calm." laughed Aimee, patting her girlfriend's shoulder. "Slow down."
"You - cannot." grinned Mia. "Then - Dreadnought had taken the twentieth. There - by the time we fought, for the first time, there was no twentieth, but…"
She blinked and frowned.
"…this."
"… This doesn't answer much, actually." mumbled Aimee. "Uh. Let's look at 'additional considerations'."
"'Nikolai Brezhnev, leader of the Eastern League, has warned that Akira has confessed violent fantasies involving his coworkers. On May 9th, 2013, each member of the Eastern League - sans Ryumi E. Egashira - received a letter believed to be from Akira, containing a story involving intercourse with a corpse."
"What the fuck?"
"I'm almost more - wondering why Ryumi didn't receive that."
"I… yeah. That too." mumbled Aimee. "Or why Dreadnought would let him live."
She clicked a footnote underneath, and another section opened.
"...ugh. Half this shit is redacted, but.
'November 26th, 2013: In the event Ryumi Egashira dies, it has been requested that:
1. Magnus Egashira and Akira Kagume not be allowed near her corpse.
2. Xenocyclin not, under any circumstances, be used on Ryumi's Revenant. More details will be relayed in-person by Nikolai next month.'"
"…there it is again." murmured Mia. "To not use Xenocyclin on Worldwide, and - to not allow Magnus to see her corpse."
"Or Akira."
Mia nodded, and thought for a minute with Aimee's head on her shoulder. "Magnus, if… If he believed the Eastern League killed Ryumi - then the reason for not allowing him to see her…"
"Probably knew he'd go crazy seeing her. Could've just not fucking killed her - I - fuck, did I just say that?"
"What do you mean?"
"He killed - hundreds of people - and I'm fucking here practically taking his side."
"But they killed his -" - Mia pinched a gasp, and Aimee nodded to her eyes. "… fuck."
The two had grown up with vengeful underdog stories, and they found it hard not to turn that narrative in to one.
"…and Akira." muttered Aimee. "They wanted… Dreadnought not to see it because they knew he'd go crazy. Dunno what Akira's thing with Ryumi was, though."
"He… seemed to be friends with them, or - knew them by name, at least. Enough to not send that story to Ryumi."
"… maybe. Yeah. Sorry. Don't mean to be a downer." She mustered up a kiss on the cheek. "Love you."
"I love you too." smiled Mia. "Still, that, and… The second. To not use Xenocyclin on Worldwide."
"Yeah. So - joint decision, then. Akira knows why, too." nodded Aimee.
"When he spoke to me in Japan, he said…" Mia leaned back. "… 'He'll kill you if you do.'"
"If you tried to use Xenocyclin on it?"
Mia nodded. "He disappeared before I could ask who."
"…right." murmured Aimee. "…uh. Trying to think. Before that, I thought it was just sentimental, but - if even her league was doing it…"
"There's - a deeper reason why Worldwide did not have its - upper limits wiped."
"There's not much benefit to it, though - I mean, uh. You know what happens."
Mia nodded, hand on her girlfriend's. "I know."
"…yeah. You, um - feeling okay, right?" said Aimee, kissing her cheek. "Know you were feeling pretty rough when you called me that night."
"Much better." smiled Mia. "But, otherwise - the only benefit is becoming stronger quicker, isn't it?"
"Guess so. Uh - there's only been a few cases, so - you'd know better than me." laughed Aimee. "Cons - can accidentally kill yourself, scare the shit out of the host, accidentally melt your own sword, make your girlfriend a little scared when you heat her hot chocolate -"
- Mia laughed, and Aimee smiled.
"Seriously. Didn't know that time we had hot chocolate - first time we said I love you - you might've disintegrated the cup."
"I wonder if that's why Dreadnought gave it to me in sections."
"Maybe. But, uh. Only pro we know is sometimes, if you really need it, you can go a bit beyond your normal limits - but… I mean."
"… I wonder." murmured Mia. "If there's - I don't know who he could have meant, unless - Magnus isn't dead."
"That'd be - I dunno." Aimee laughed. "I wanna say that'd be crazy, but - so's all of this."
"There was no body, but..." Mia frowned. "… 'He'll kill you if you do.'"
"Could be some other test, maybe?"
"Maybe." Mia sighed. "… I have to assume there's a reason for that. Something beyond - strength. Why Akira is ensuring Worldwide's survival, and why he was testing me."
"We'll both go insane if there isn't." laughed Aimee.
Mia nodded. "Is that all, then?"
"I - nah, um… um. Just…" She placed her hand on Mia's, pressing down light. Mia didn't know Aimee was focused on the size of her fingers. "… Really, really love you."
"I really, really love you too." smiled Mia.
◆◆◆
The punk and amnesiac had fought as normal while the four were in Japan, and Serena had been as jealous as theorized of Mia's manga appearance.
"That's - fuck." laughed Serena, sat in the Elite Four's office with Naomi, Mia & Matoi across. "That's so fucking cool, jeez."
"Looks pretty dope." chimed Naomi, tracksuit with one sleeve torn to accommodate Avalanche's arm.
"I thought you'd like it." laughed Mia, getting up to set it back on the wall, Matoi still reading on her tablet. "Did you, er - read the magazine Junpei bought you?"
"Yeah." laughed Serena. "It's all in Japanese, but, um - yeah. Just have to translate with my phone."
"Yeah." said Naomi. "She's been bringing it with her to fights -"
" - done." muttered Matoi, eyes not even rising. "Naomi. You'll be living in Serena's former home -"
" - and technically mine -" chimed Mia -
" - and Serena, with Yuruko."
"Sweet." nodded Naomi. "Um - thank you."
Matoi nodded, scrolling down. "And, as for the contract…" Her head rose. "There's been a string of thefts in a small town - Brigstone. A few hours west."
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"Just theft?" said Naomi, and Matoi nodded.
"So far, though one of the robberies involved…" She glanced down. "…at a bank, two men - possibly early thirties, judging by their voices. If they've had their Revenants since birth, they'll have more experience with it than usual. Be careful."
"We will." nodded Serena. "Um. Anything else to go on?"
"One of them has - for lack of a better word - scaly skin. See for yourself." She passed her tablet over. A black&white security photo was on it, two men with concealed faces, one with skin like an alligator's. "The police have no other leads, yet. A few of the robberies haven't involved this -" - she tapped him - " - man - so there's likely more."
"Sounds rough." winced Serena. "They'll probably know we're gonna show up, right? The... thieves?"
"The police have checkpoints at every road out of the town - and video surveillance. They'll be tracked if they try to leave."
"Coolio. Um. Can we keep the money if we find it?"
The four laughed.
"I won't report you for it." smirked Matoi.
"Nor I." chimed Mia, and with a nod from Naomi, their fates were locked then.
"Still. I've already had a car rented for you two. Notify me if you need another pair sent to you." said Matoi.
The two nodded.
◆◆◆
The following afternoon, Naomi&Serena drove out, amnesiac the driver, Serena reading in the passenger's seat.
"Guess this is, uh - first real trip as a Urasaria student." chimed Naomi.
"Yeah." laughed Serena, thinking of her first. "It'll mostly be the stuff we do normally, so - don't worry."
"Sure. Just gotta look for someone with, um… that gator-type skin, right?"
Serena nodded. "Yep. Plus, um - if we need to, I can ask Matoi to call someone else in, but… probably won't need to."
"Sounds good. Uh. Got rank, um - #31 last week, right? We'll be good."
"And rank #70." chimed Serena, protege pride starting. "Yeah, though. Second-highest second-year so far."
"Who's, uh - who's first?"
"Kate. Uh, Anagen. She's rank #26, but…" Serena shrugged. "She… doesn't have a protege for - some reason, I think?"
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah. I think she like, had one at the beginning of the year, but… iunno."
"…oh." winced Naomi. "Did they, uh…"
"I - don't think he died, but…" Serena winced, hoping Kate wasn't like Yuruko's former mentor. "…iunno."
"That's… yeah. Some guy uh - dropped out I think, but - yeah."
Silence filled the next minutes, and Serena started her reading again.
Naomi asked; "Why do you - um, like that stuff, anyway? The magazine?", and Serena shrugged.
"Um - it's just fun to read. Like comic books, I guess."
"Real heroes?" chimed Naomi, and the two laughed.
"Plus, I mean - the writing is usually pretty cheesy - but I still like reading it. The fights are cool, so." laughed Serena, relevantly.
"…yeah." nodded Naomi. "Uh. Maybe… maybe I should try some. I dunno."
"To read some?"
"Yeah. Uh. I mean - maybe it's… It sounds - cool, I guess, so… I should probably be… trying new things. Right?"
Serena nodded, having encouraged it in the interim. "Um, did any more of your memories come back since September?"
Naomi's head shook as she took a turn. "No, uh… no. Just… I must've gone to school and all that, since I know - English, and - even how to drive, but - I don't know where, or if I had any friends, or…" She sighed. "…I dunno. Still - still have that 'spoon-in-a-pie' feeling, I guess."
The two laughed, but Naomi wished she hadn't brought it up again.
"Yeah." nodded Serena. "Plus, um - if you get known, maybe someone will recognize you?"
"Maybe. I guess I should just - I gotta just keep focusing on this stuff, like I have been. Right?"
"Right."
"…yeah." muttered Naomi, and thought for the rest of the drive.
She hadn't yet made any friends at Urasaria, as her personality hadn't been chipped out from the blank slate she was. She had asked Matoi to delay her hero name until two-star. Serena & Yuruko had taken her clothes shopping, but with no prior knowledge on what to wear, she'd only left with more tracksuits, baggy shirts&sweatpants. She liked them both and didn't want to copy either, but anxiety bit hard if her personality didn't have a foundation to lean on.
Two hours and three checkpoints later, they pulled in to their hotel in Brigston. Serena yawned as they got out and pulled their bags from the trunk.
"Uh." mumbled Naomi. "Do you - alright if I sleep first?"
"Sure."
◆◆◆
The two had breakfast at a local diner the next morning. Serena hadn't let up with the magazine she couldn't understand, Naomi sitting beside her to peek on phone&page.
"What's it called?" she said, glancing to the page, manga of a man's head split in half & Japanese filling the margins.
"Hamon." said Serena, relevantly. "Uh - so, like - they can control their breathing and do stuff like that."
"For... super strength?"
"Yeah." laughed Serena, pointing to one flamboyant & muscular man. "But like, this guy's gimmick is - he's blind, but he can like - blow out parts of his cane to track people with sonar."
"Sounds, uh - neat." chimed Naomi, almost disappointed.
For some reason, she had hoped Serena's taste was more mature; something deeper to steer her personality to. Admittedly, she wasn't that drawn to the idea, but felt that she should be.
"It's cool, yeah." shrugged Serena. "Um. Just gotta wait until something happens, or somebody shows up, I guess, so."
"…yeah." nodded Naomi. "Uh. She said there's - probably more than a few guys doing it, right? Since some of the robberies don't have the, uh - scaly dude?"
"Yep." Serena flipped the page. "Probably just some dumbasses, uh - trying to get away with it now since they think we're just looking for that guy, maybe."
"Guess we just gotta deal with them, yeah."
Serena flipped the page, and in the next instant -
- her tablet vibrated; the two shot up -
- and winced as their knees hit the table.
"Where - where is it?" said Naomi, peeking over -
- and the scream in the diner across the street answered; with no time to waste, the two rushed out the doors, sidewalk&road ahead, second diner in the lot beyond.
The two entered the parking lot, streetlamps flanking them as they ran -
- and a man they knew as their foe burst out of the diner's doors, dufflebag in-hand and bouquet of tendrils out-of-chest -
" - Urasaria, dipshit!" shouted Serena -
- and received two jets of ink replying towards her -
" - Avalanche!" shouted Naomi, stomping down; a wall of asphalt burst up ahead -
- and in to the sudden barrier splashed the projectiles. Naomi snapped her stone fingers, and the wall turned to dust as the man ran left ahead. Two starting their pursuit around the lot, more jets of ink flew towards them -
" - Blackburn!" shouted Serena; and the next scene was instant.
Streams of fog flew in to the ground, acid filling the asphalt and corroding holes; at her side, Naomi stomped -
- and funnels of stone burst out of the holes, tall ends guiding the jets of ink away as they kept their rush going, sixty feet separating them but starting to gain speed.
"Better keep running, dickless!" shouted Serena, shittalkingly -
"- yeah!" shouted Naomi - " - run with your, lack of - lack of dick between your legs -"
- the two started cackling as she continued -
" - yeah! Miasma's gonna, uh, gonna fill your face with -"
- Naomi's lip pinched as they kept their run going, voice lowering - " - uh, what are you gonna fill - once we catch up -"
" - a surprise." chimed Serena -
" - with, with a surprise!" shouted the hypewoman, two laughing as they kept their chase. Another streetlamp was beside; stopping quick, Serena saw the man step beside another one ahead -
- and the next scene was instant. Her tentacle shot through the pole; ahead, the second lamp's bulb shattered in a rain of glass, man shrieking as the shards sliced his skin -
" - dumbass!" laughed Serena, but in the next instant -
- a jet of ink burst out of her streetlamp's bulb, two-way connection allowing it to travel through the wires & hit the duo's faces; the blindness staggered them back, fog repairing the ground before the second volley could come. Ink stitching and starting to clench their eyes, they heard the man fleeing again up ahead; streams of fog flew underneath the two's ink and filled it with water -
- but the two barely sighed as the ink absorbed it; new streams of fog flew in to their black pools -
- and filled them with hydraulic concrete. It started instantly to harden, vision still blinded as they staggered forward -
" - Avalanche!" shouted Naomi -
- one Avalanche punch shattered her prison to dust, and a second smack of Serena's freed the two as they swept back, nodding as they ran with clear eyes again. They caught up quick to sixty feet away again, man on the sidewalk now.
"Nice - shitty tentacles, dumbass!" shouted Serena, waving her own like a challenge -
" - yeah!" shouted Naomi - " - all - short and wrinkly! Way smaller than Miasma's - "
- and Miasma's lips pinched as they kept their run going, foe with tentacle way smaller than her's veering out to the road. The two gave careful pursuit, streetlamps beside as they rushed to the sidewalk, forty feet separating the two -
" - wait -" laughed Naomi as she passed by another streetlamp - " - got it!"
Avalanche's arm gripped the pole, and as a woman might pull a weed -
- ripped it clear out of the ground; streams of fog filled it as she threw it ahead, and as the man turned to counter -
- the explosion within blasted his right arm clear off; shrieking as he stumbled back, true confidence filled the two as they cleared the clearing, and as Blackburn's tentacle gripped his neck -
- a cloud of white gore burst out of his stomach, torso caved in like a drill had gone through -
"- death by milk!" laughed Serena.
The grisly white corpse fell rigid, and the two started laughing as the milk&blood dripped down.
"How - how do you even come up with this stuff?" cackled Naomi, relevantly -
" - gotta keep it interesting." grinned Serena, crouching down to scan. Streams of fog cleaned their clothes, puddles of milk&gore mixing below. "Another bitch down."
"Another bitch down." laughed Naomi, stone arm fading. "Man. That's - I don't even know, man."
"Yeah." laughed Serena. "I remember one time , um - I tried to do the same thing with helium -"
- Naomi started laughing as Serena continued - " - but I used too much, so - Mia and I ended up inhaling some -"
" - oh my fucking god - so you, what, had really squeaky voices?"
"Yeah - and Aimee called her like, right after, too." laughed Serena as she stood.
"So fucking good." grinned Naomi. "That's - Aimee's her girlfriend, right?"
"Yeah - she used to be president. Um. Did you still wanna eat?"
"Nah, not after that." laughed Naomi, and Serena nodded, waving vague to the prodigal diner.
"I'm gonna go and pay then."
"Sounds good." nodded Naomi. Serena went and paid, and the two started down the sidewalk.
"…but - yeah, um. We did good." muttered Serena, pulling her traditional magazine out, Blackburn's tentacle keeping her phone steady to translate. "Umm... Did you wanna go somewhere? Just gonna be waiting around to respond to stuff otherwise, I guess."
Naomi nodded. "Uh - lemme think."
"Sure."
She thought for a while and nodded. "I kinda wanted to see this one movie that came out recently. Death of Sol."
"Oh - um, I heard it kinda sucked." winced Serena, and anxiety filled Naomi's stomach.
"I - o-oh. Right, um." she said, having liked the trailers. "Um - maybe, yeah. Probably."
"I mean, we can still go see it if you want." chimed Serena, and Naomi nodded.
"Um - maybe, yeah. Let's just - walk for a bit, I guess."
"…oh." mumbled Serena, catching her unintentional barb. "Sure."
Naomi's thoughts filled the rest of their patrol. For one peak of anxiety, she had worried her whole personality was off from what it should be.
◆◆◆
That night, six met in one apartment over one monitor.
"…the fuck kinda Revenant is that?" said Vinny, glancing over Geno's shoulder with the other four.
"Quit crowding around." groaned Geno. "Hard enough to follow this shakey-camera shit."
"Should've done it horizontally." muttered Rich. "Any idea what that badge says?"
"Blackburn!" shouted Serena's voice in the video, shakey-camera shit starting up again as the six groaned.
"Got that big ass 'Miasma' on her jacket -"
" - keep running, dickless!" shouted Serena; the six burst in to laughter -
" - you gotta - no, stop that shit -" laughed Vinny - " - Geno, pause - pause or rewind that shit -"
" - fine -" - he laughed, and the six went through three more dickless's before continuing.
"What a - what a fucking mouth these two got." laughed Bruno. "Looks like - what, fog and tentacle that…"
"Big-ass stone arm, too." laughed Gaspari. "Careful. Might rip your dick right off if you run in to her. Literal dickless then."
A laugh went through the five, sans Miles.
"Well - someone did. Someone did." said Bruno, shaking his head. "No idea who."
"Just some buncha dumbasses." laughed Vinny. "What - you afraid of her now?"
"Two Urasaria students - they might have more. I'm being - what's that word? - pragmatic?"
"Something like that." muttered Miles, eel tattoo on his neck. "…more worried about that other chick. One with the leather jacket. Saw some picture of what she did to - guy I knew. Stone chick's brother, actually."
"No shit?" laughed Vinny, head shaking. "How'd that family reunion go?"
"Yeah, what'd she do?" laughed Rich. "Shove that tentacle right up his -"
" - she sliced all his limbs off." said Miles, and the five winced. "S'right. Some other student came by. Burned him alive. Some real fucked up shit."
"Yeah, that's what happens when you - when you give fucking college kids like that legal immunity." laughed Vinny. "S'why's their pay's so fucking low. You know, Geno here -" - he said, tapping his younger brother's shoulder - " - what was that article you were reading, Geno?"
"The salary shit?"
"Well - of course the salary shit, yeah." he laughed. "They got some - what was it?"
"Yeah, go, fess on." laughed Rich.
Geno sighed. Even as the younger, Vinny'd always tried to yank him up to his machismo's level. "They got some salary increase, yeah."
"Still doesn't pay as good as this shit, though, eh?"
"I suppose not." he said, and everyone but he&Miles laughed again.
"Look at - this guy, I swear." laughed Vinny. "'I suppose not.' That's what - that's how he was in school, too. All nice. You believe that?"
"I believe it." yawned Bruno. "We done?"
Vinny stood stone for a second. If it were a few hours earlier, he might've taught him respect; but this time, he took the question as one more deferent than its actual tone.
"Yeah. Done for now. Some time to think over this. None of you fucking try to leave - they'll know."
"Fine by me." said Rich, stepping out with Gaspari & Bruno.
Miles glanced back for a second as he followed. Ruth's death left him trapped in a group he no longer needed for money. He'd just been planning how to leave by that Monday.