Over the next week, the Royal Four & Kate had dealt with another group of dissipating men and were called in to Armstrong's office at the end of it.
"Did you actually find anything?" sighed Mia as she sat down with the others, Armstrong & Renault on the other side, Kate waiting outside.
"I did." said Renault, pressing a clipboard & paper over. "Take a look."
"…Edgar Grey." muttered Mia. "Date of birth, hero name Necromaster - I - this is a student?"
"A former student." said Armstrong. "Note the date of death."
"August 3rd, 2019. Did someone take his Revenant? The ability matches."
"It's possible - but I wouldn't rule out that he faked his death. His protege never found his body after he fled."
Mia frowned. As she didn't know either of the men listed, she took out her phone, careful not to show the pictures Aimee sent her last night.
(Mia) "Do you know who Edgar Grey or Dorian Steele were? Necromaster and Counterfeit?"
(Mia) "One of them may be behind attacking me."
"Why would someone like this attack Mia?" said Samuel and Armstrong's head shook.
"Precisely what we were investigating - and as usual, it falls to you to find out."
"You mentioned they were different ethnicities, President - Swarm." said Renault. Bitter over having to address her as such, he now left his office to speak with her, thinking he'd at least let his distaste be known himself. "That rules out government involvement, fortunately."
"Uh, what?" said Yuruko.
"If it were a covert act by the Russian or Chinese government, they would have been all the same ethnicity, and any other government wouldn't have done something so stupid." he said. "The Revenant names you mentioned - I reviewed them with Rewind. They're in different languages - Russian, English. It's clearly an independent group."
There was a stereotyped logic to the man's words.
"…I suppose." muttered Mia, reading over the paper.
"A mixed group would be highly unusual, at least." said Armstrong. "But why he would have any natively Russian Revenants in it - we're currently unaware why."
"Lemme see it?" said Yuruko and Mia handed it over as she checked her phone.
(Aimee) "no idea. I asked everybody else in Timepact, too"
(Aimee) "are they students?"
(Mia) "Former students, apparently. Edgar either faked his death or someone else has his Revenant now."
"Unfortunately, the best lead you have is his father." said Armstrong. "He's presumably still alive, and still at his old address a few states away."
"Has anyone tried to contact him?" said Mia.
"We thought to leave that to you."
"Edgar might figure out we know who he is if we do." nodded Samuel to Mia.
"Yeah." said Serena, utterly clueless. She had spent three years letting someone else handle investigation & wasn't about to start now.
"…right." muttered Mia, taking the paper with her. "Anything else?"
"I assume Ms. Plasma will be acting while you're gone." said Armstrong.
'If Maria undoes her leash.' thought Mia and frowned. "Yes."
"...uh, can I get an extension on my project?" muttered Yuruko.
"Ask your professor for that." said Armstrong and Yuruko sighed. Last time, he had lectured her about how when he was a student, he'd had to juggle dating three women but still obtained his certification. This was back when a fish could've lucked in to a degree, so little knowledge there was then. "Is that a flight to be scheduled, then, Ms. Swarm? To his father?"
Mia shook her head. "No. We'll be driving there."
"It's - you're aware it's -"
" - I'm aware of it, and I have my reasons for it. None of them are relevant to you."
She stood and walked out, and the three followed her to the hall.
"President Swarm." nodded Kate, still standing at attention. Mia doubted she had even budged.
"Er, Kate." she nodded and relayed it. "While we're gone, can you guard Plasma - Sylvia?"
"Yes."
"Um, tell her girlfriend you're straight." said Serena and Yuruko winced.
"She's super possessive, yeah."
"…mmhm." Kate nodded. "You uh, want me to leave now, then?"
"Yes." nodded Mia, and Kate left wondering why they weren't taking a plane.
"…uh, so… why aren't we taking a plane?" said Yuruko. "I mean, all of us can handle getting attacked. Serena and me can create parachutes, you have ice, and Samuel, uh…"
"Can leave a crater." said Samuel, Outcast's armor flashing.
"I'm, er, not worried about that." nodded Mia. "But I would assume they still have their transporter. Even if we all survive a plane crash, it may separate us -"
" - shit." winced Serena. "Yeah. And then they could ambush you, yeah."
"Smart thinking." said Samuel. "Don't have to stop for gas, either."
"Just like that artifact trip." chimed Yuruko, and the three groaned.
◆◆◆
[January 9th, 2020]
On nights Edgar stayed out of towns, he was careful to avoid Moscow's former location that even nature hadn't claimed. Animals wilted as soon as they went near it, and it was especially dangerous to hosts.
He admired Russia in some ways - their taboo against homosexuality and their attitude towards foreigners. He thought of it as a great and white country, and first coming angrily here a half a year back, he was now considering applying as an immigrant - but it wouldn't be right. He was too far from their culture to fit in, and he'd rightfully be considered an outcast.
Edgar felt that Russians - Slavs in general - had a strong sense of pride in their race. It was an unquestioned fact to him he couldn't be dissuaded from, and he felt guilty when he was forced to threaten their citizens & defend against their students. Sometimes he wished he'd been born here instead.
If these views of others' motivations were only of his head and not his eyes, he didn't realize it. A man struggled to hold a political position without thinking plenty of others out there agreed with it, even if just in his mind.
"(Excuse me.)" he said in Russian as he came up to a man on a street corner. "(Have you seen this man?)" He pulled a picture out of his pocket.
The Russian man said something Edgar didn't understand, not a yes or no. Edgar saw his eyes fall frantically over his shoulder as he spoke. It was shameful, his lack of immersion; he had been here for half a year and barely picked up the culture or language, but at least he was white.
And fear filled his lungs as the man yelled out to someone behind Edgar, starting to run away -
" - here we go." muttered Edgar, sighing as he turned back. The best he understood was that two female students were asking him to surrender 100ft away.
'Fuck. I know these two.'
"Sdavajtesʹ ili vy budete uničtoženy!" shouted one. "Sdavajtesʹ ili vy budete uničtoženy!"
"(Please, I do not want to fight you!)" said Edgar, having memorized it. "(I am only looking for one man who is already a wanted criminal! I do not want to fight you!)"
He sighed as the two laughed.
"Khernya." laughed the first woman. "Chush' sobach'ya!"
"Schas po ebalu poluchish, suka, blyad!" shouted the second woman, tower shield forming in her hands - "Ustráivatʹ!"
- at her side, Edgar saw a sword form in the other woman's hands, then swiping through the road, and in the next instant -
- he swept with the speed of light back -
- just in time to avoid the geyser of gas spraying up from the road where he'd just been; thinking quick, he slit his fingertip while the geyser was still going -
- and a jet of blood burst out of it, flying through the geyser of acid and towards her -
"Ustráivatʹ!" shouted the shieldwoman, holding it straight ahead -
- and it expanded to block the acidic blood, red & green projectiles freezing to a solid wall as soon as they hit the barrier. The swordwoman sliced through it and half of it disappeared, then muttered to her protege something in Russian. Shieldwoman nodding, her shield started donating material towards her sword, five spikes forming out of the unnatural metal as she shoved it in to the ground -
- and Edgar stomped down as soon as he saw it; he felt his right leg's bone burst out of his foot and shoot down, and in the next instant -
- the swordwoman screamed in agony as a geyser of acid claimed herself, slashing wildly as the foul vapors claimed her body -
- and her sword glowed red as it disintegrated through the poisonous cloud of her own design, grunting to her protege as the two started stomping towards him, shield & sword raised high as they started stepping.
"(Please, I do not want to fight you.)" said Edgar. "(I am only looking for one man who is already a wanted criminal. I do not want to fight you.)"
He sighed as they didn't respond and kept their pace up, but doubted he would've understood their reply anyway as they came fifty feet within range.
"(Please, I do not want to fight you. I am only looking for one man who is already a wanted criminal. I do not want to fight you.)" he said, leg bone retreating back through Necromancer's wound & closing, seeing her sword swipe ahead, and in the next instant -
- the two appeared right in front of him, sword trying for his neck -
- but his monstrous & mutated right hand gripped the blade tight & bent it backwards; the other's shield bashed him back and froze his skin, unable to move & trapped -
- but the next scene was instant. He swept back -
- and the front half of his skin ripped clear off his bones & blood; he punched his right hand with his mangled left -
- and in to a thousand shards burst his right hand's bones, bursting outward and shooting towards her, then slashing right through their eyes in a burst of blood; he heard one of them shouting in Russian as they staggered back, and his mangled hands aimed down, jets of blood shooting in to the road -
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
- and two jets of red burst up below the women and sliced them vertically in half in the next, vertical halves falling two ways, and he knew they were dead before they hit the ground.
He frowned as his skin reappeared a second later, but was grateful. He had no desire to prolong their deaths.
"Necromaster." he muttered, crouching down to touch their hearts. He always referred to his Revenant as Necromaster - it sounded stronger. Better a man have pride than humility, in his Revenant, his race and his upbringing.
◆◆◆
The Royal Four set out that night and had fast-food the next, Mia driving, Samuel the passenger, Serena in the back with Yuruko.
"Told you the pig was finally in season." chimed Yuruko, relevantly, burger full of pork & laptop on her lap.
"I still don't get how it can be out of season." muttered Serena.
"It's probably just marketing."
"And it works." muttered Samuel, ghastly hands picking onions out of his. "Never did like their onions, though. Always taste like they're raw."
"If you give me your fries, I'll cook them." said Mia, eyes on the road. Samuel paused and nodded. One scarab crawled on his onions, and in the next instant -
- they cooked in an instant, and Samuel handed over his fries.
"…wait, you can cook stuff instantly?" said Yuruko and Mia nodded as she ate.
"It - it took me a while to learn, but yes. It's manipulating the entire temperature at once."
"Makes sense." said Samuel and Yuruko frowned.
"…uh. Do you - I guess you just think about it, right?" (Mia nodded.) "Okay. I was trying to think like, how that works scientifically."
"Well, it does need to be a higher temperature than normal, so it can cook fast enough, but…" She shrugged. "There's some things I know innately because of Worldwide, I suppose."
"Yeah." said Serena. "Like Medicinal helped you memorize the periodic table, right?"
"I guess." said Yuruko.
"Plus her fire already disintegrates stuff, so that's already breaking the laws of physics." shrugged Serena, relevantly.
"Yeah, but she's not destroying matter when she does that, though. It just burns it at a billion degrees or whatever."
"Is there a difference?" said Samuel and Serena laughed.
"Uh, if she was destroying matter, they'd have to redo satellites constantly." laughed Yuruko. "And you wouldn't be able to burrow, since it'd probably just, uh, stitch everything back together if you were actually destroying matter."
"Or it would destroy the universe." said Mia and the four laughed.
"Za hando." said Serena, relevantly, and Yuruko laughed.
"Or Cream."
"You know, speaking of burrows," said Samuel, "someone's going to end up finding all of them eventually and wonder what the hell happened."
Mia laughed. "Like an archaeologist? They'll think there was a small ice age?"
"They might even name it after you if they figure it out."
"I wouldn't mind that." laughed Mia. She had resolved to never feel shame for her confidence. A bit of arrogance tipping over the brim was better than insecurity.
The four joked for a while, and eventually Edgar came up, as they had driven underground for the first half of the day hoping to avoid him.
"…right." muttered Mia. "He might already be tracking us even with the burrowing."
"Should be prepared for it, right." nodded Samuel. "I already asked everyone I know about him, too. Doesn't seem like anyone remembers who he is."
"Yeah, um." said Serena. "I guess he'd probably be a fourth-year, right?"
"Assuming someone hasn't taken his Revenant, yes." said Mia. "He was a fourth-year when I was a first-year, but…" She frowned. "…the only fourth-year I knew then was a woman named Sarah, but…"
"Anything come up with Sylvia?" said Samuel and Mia's head shook.
"No. It - I assume it's something directed towards me, but…"
"Um, are we sure about that?" said Serena.
"The first Revenant was temperature control. He was trying to counter Worldwide."
"Read that those constructs are single-use, at least." said Samuel. "Shouldn't have to deal with it again."
Yuruko started typing on her laptop, and the conversation washed off of her. She thought it must've been what Serena heard on those afternoons where she spoke excitedly on new papers she had found, her girlfriend's best quality being listening despite her disinterest. They had never fought in their relationship - neither had the confidence to early, and she thought it impossible now. The sexless past month frustrated her, but she had endured the pre-Kamon drought; she would again.
She heard Mia saying her name and shot up. "I - yeah?"
"Are you alright?" said Mia and she nodded.
"Tired?" said Samuel.
"No, uh…" said Yuruko, eyes on her screen. "Just - working on a paper. He didn't give me an extension on it, so - just have to work on it now. It's going to be part of my thesis about how there's some Revenants that can repair themselves even when the host is dead or unconscious. Since they can -" - she stopped herself - " - uh. It's - it's just a lot of work, so."
She still had a bit of shame in her rambling habit; her obsessiveness in Revenant research had kept her from dropping out, but few besides Serena liked it. Her mother was always trying to fix it, putting her through speech therapy classes and revoking her internet access when she was a teenager.
"Let me know if you need me to grab your laptop." said Samuel. "Can stick it in Outcast's armor."
"Sure."
The four pulled on to a two-way bridge full of cars. Mia pulled down to fifty once they got a quarter of the way through, and in the next instant -
- a swarm of ice scarabs flew left & out of the window -
- just in time to freeze a dozen rockets that'd been shot at them from the left; the four shot up -
" - I - fuck -" winced Yuruko, saving her work & Medicinal forming its case as she threw her laptop to the floor.
[Yakuza 0 - Ultimate Road Rage Extended. IT'S BACK.]
Ahead and left, Mia saw another dozen rockets enter the bridge sixty seconds ahead, blasting a dozen holes in the concrete; parts of the bridge shattered & collapsed as civilian cars screeched before they hit it -
- but passed right over it as if there were an invisible wall; she heard a storm of gunfire enter the four's bumper from behind -
" - Blackburn!" shouted Serena as they kept their 50mph pace going, tentacle shooting through her seat and keeping the car repaired -
" - guns!" shouted Yuruko; six pistols formed in her hands, and as she threw them out the window -
- ghastly hands filled twenty cars with lead behind, Mia glancing back as another rocket shot towards them -
- and a case of ice formed around it just in time to catch it; she turned her eyes forward and kept her drive going.
"Remember that artifact trip?!" shouted Serena, relevantly, and the four groaned.
"No Aimee this time." winced Yuruko, and Mia tried not to think about the sixth missing member, shouting -
" - there's still more on the left bridge!"
Her eyes turned left, another line of cars peeling down the left bridge, and a dozen rockets shot out towards them -
- just in time for a wall of ice to burst up left to block it; Mia sighed as one civilian smashed right in to it, and in the next instant -
- one explosion from above blasted their roof clear off, another six missiles falling from the sky towards them -
- but the next scene was instant. Ghastly hands gripped the roof as it flew off and threw it back in to the other six rockets -
- and in to it exploded the rockets, Serena refilling the roof as the prior one was blown in to bits, vehicle tottering as she shouted - " - are they curving?!"
" - guns!" shouted Yuruko, throwing four shotguns out the window and back, six cars in pursuit behind -
- and ghastly hands shot four slugs right between their eyes, Yuruko shouting - " - can you go in to the right lane?! Far-right!"
- Mia nodded as she peeled in to the far right lane, fissure in the bridge only twenty seconds away now. Yuruko threw a line of road spikes out of her window -
- and the metal line filled every lane behind them a second later, Yuruko glancing behind as they kept speeding up, shooting at something behind; wanting space first, Mia drove in to the fissure and down -
- but the next scene was instant. Four metal arms shot out of the concrete and gripped their vehicle tight, spikes growing as they started to tear through the doors; beside Mia, Samuel threw one Outcast punch in to one metal arm -
- which grew spikes just in time to block it; he felt his armor chip as soon as he hit it, and in the next instant -
- he grunted in pain as he yanked his arm back inside, more gunfire entering the vehicle as his entire helm cracked - " - fucking damage reflection -"
- the four metal arms ripped the doors open, retreating back and shooting towards the four inside -
- but the next scene was instant. Yuruko held her left hand left; her right hand right as she shouted for Mia -
- and a dozen watery explosions burst out of her hands, streams of fog filling the four metal arms -
- and corroding every last away in a thousand flakes of rust; Serena grabbed Yuruko's laptop as their vehicle started to fall, streams of fog refilling the doors as they fell, ocean only ten seconds below but temporarily safe -
" - sorry!" winced Serena, streams of fog healing Yuruko's eyes that'd been burnt shut from the hydrogen fluorine -
" - l-laptop?" winced Yuruko, and Serena nodded, five seconds separating them -
" - I got it -"
" - fucking, fucking damage reflection - it only works on melee -" grunted Samuel - " - is this the one to -"
" - SERENA - REFILL THE WINDSHIELD!" shouted Mia; the four fell in to the ocean, and as their car started to sink -
- the next scene was instant. Mia swept her palms over the wheel and an orange beam erupted from her palms -
- and disintegrated hundreds&hundreds of gallons of water without a single ash left, osmosis sweeping them in to the current and throwing them forward, streams of fog repairing the windshield so no other water could enter, car still on a steady descent down but keeping its forward speed. Serena's tentacle shot through her seat and kept the car from being crushed by the pressure, Yuruko muttering at her side that it really did look like a kamehameha -
" - wait for the blue one." winced Serena, relevantly - " - Mia - I'm running out of fog -"
- Mia nodded, and a cube of ice formed around their vehicle; a swift spray of purple disintegrated the excess water, and the four sat for a second in a growing frozen cube, vehicle safe but momentum lost now. In the next instant -
- the four groaned as more gunfire entered their cube of ice; one crack formed in the barrier, and in the next instant -
- Mia screamed in agony as fifty shots entered her chest in an instant; swift fog refilled her wounds, more bullets pockmarking her but only one crack left in the cube still -
" - W-W-Wor -" - she gagged, bullets tearing through her veins as the frozen wall melted ahead -
- and reformed to a frozen hall & ramp as she slammed on the accelerato. At her side, ghastly hands kept trying to throw the bullets away from her -
- but they curved right back to meet her every time, and as another thirty shots entered her throat -
- a full case of ice formed around her before Serena's fog could heal her, vehicle slowing as she was forced to retreat to her winter wonderland, three speaking quickly with their leader gone.
"It's - they're curving just for her -" said Samuel, obviously -
" - it's that one crack, but - fuck, I -" said Serena -
" - can we outrun it if I speed us up?" said Yuruko, and Samuel nodded, leaning over to drive the pedal to the floor; their car lurched forward -
- and the next scene was instant. Yuruko threw something out of the back window and a remote detonator formed in her hand -
- and an explosion launched them with the strength of a hundred forward; the frozen wall melted ahead in to another frozen hall -
- and another explosion & new frozen hall, rapidly gaining speed as they ramped up, Serena's tentacle keeping the vehicle repaired as another explosion blasted them forward -
- and another -
- and another -
- and another -
- and another -
- and another frozen wall melted ahead, chute of ice launching them out at 200mph and in to the air; the four winced as they flew, city up ahead and the prodigal bridge still way below -
- and one sniper bullet tore Mia's nose clear off in a burst of blood; streams of fog refilled it as they hit their arc and started to fall, line of buildings below but heading directly for the street -
" - Black -"
- and streams of fog reinforced the doors as they smashed into the street on their backs, car skidding & rolling & rolling & rolling for hundreds & hundreds of feet; Yuruko clutched her laptop tight as Serena clutched Yuruko tight, cheeks tinting as they closed their eyes, still rolling & rolling -
- and not coming to a stop until they smashed right in to something; the four groaned as they stopped, lurching and gagging - but they had no time to rest.
"G-G-Go." winced Mia, burning the four's doors down, and out of it stepped & crawled the four -
- right in the middle of a junkyard, mountains of scrap metal around with the entrance up ahead, buildings and the horizon beyond. Serena vomited as the three stood & spoke.
"Counters, counters melee, at least." groaned Samuel, staggering.
"T-T-There it fucking is." groaned Yuruko, staggering as the four turned their eyes ahead -
- and saw an enormous metal pole walking through the streets beyond, one man impaled on it where he shouldn't have been.
"T-The construct." gagged Mia, still staggering even as the pole folded & disappeared out of sight.
"Can't get in range for that." muttered Samuel.
"And it dodges projectiles. There was one that kept dodging every shot earlier." muttered Yuruko.
"It - it didn't dodge the, u-um, hydrofluoric acid or Blackburn." groaned Serena, and Mia whispered something to the others.
Ahead, they saw the car peel in to the lot, 100ft separating them from it. The four started rushing towards it as a dozen rocket launchers popped out of the hood, machine guns & pistols following, and as the entire volley flew towards Mia -
- the next scene was instant; Samuel threw a grenade from Yuruko forward, throwing Mia after it a second after; the scarabcoated projectile swept her palms forward as she flew fifty feet within range -
- and a bolt of lightning erupted from her palms -
- but the car's hood crouched down to dodge it -
- but an explosion from below launched it up -
- and right in to the electrical ray that tore it in to a thousand metal shards, rockets & gunstorm disappearing as Mia hit the dirt and skid -
- and she sighed relieved as a thousand droplets of blood burst out of the vehicle, hovering for a second before disappearing. Behind, the other three stepped up, swift fog refilling Mia's wounds as she stood.
"N-Nice." chimed Yuruko, relevantly, and Mia nodded.
"...might be another Revenant coming soon." said Samuel. "Think we should get some rest just in case."
"And another car." winced Serena. "Um, Yuruko and me'll do that."
"Good." nodded Mia. "Er, is everyone ready?"
"Yeah." Yuruko nodded -
- and panic filled her face a second later; she rushed back to the wreckage of their former vehicle, breathing quick as she dug through the wreckage - " - o-oh god where's my laptop where's my laptop where's my laptop -"
- Serena rushed to her and crouched down beside, streams of fog flying underneath the wreckage as her tentacle searched. She saw sweat in Yuruko's hair and put her free hand on her back. "It's, it's okay, just - um - found it!"
Her tentacle pulled a case out and Yuruko nodded as she grabbed it, finding it uninjured. She didn't breath normally even after she checked & saw it was still working.
"O-Oh fuck okay. Okay - still - still works, just - just need to hotspot and backup and yeah."
"Yeah. It's okay." nodded Serena, kissing Yuruko's cheek, who laughed. Her anxiety had been worse recently, but she nodded as her free hand started scrunching.
"Are you alright?" said Mia.
"Yeah. I - I just, yeah." Yuruko laughed nervously. "Let's - let's go ahead, y-yeah."
"Worldwide."
A puff of purple disintegrated a burrow, and in to it leaped the four, Mia spraying below, Blackburn refilling above, ceiling of ice keeping it from collapsing. Once they reached 100ft under, Mia disintegrated space for a room, and Yuruko & Serena set to creating sleeping bags and vents.
"…low signal." muttered Yuruko, sitting down with her laptop & cell phone few minutes later. "Going to take forever if I reupload it like this, uh… Serena, can you help me with something?"
"Sure." said her girlfriend, sitting down beside. Yuruko nodded and a black case started forming in her hands, creating an antenna out of it.
"What's that?" said Samuel, streams of fog filling it with electricity.
"It's a cell phone signal booster." muttered Yuruko. "Uh, I learned how to make one from just stealing a bunch of them. It's gonna take forever if I try to backup my paper without it, but I mean, you can use it too. It works for any signal. Still probably won't be that good, but, uh, it'll work."
"…er, I suppose." nodded Mia. "I'm glad your work is safe."
"Still should be able to avoid them once we get closer, at least." nodded Samuel and Mia sighed.
"I - hopefully, yes. We should rest for now."
"Sounds good." said Serena, laying down.
Yuruko laid next to her, and as she tried to relax, she triple-checked her laptop, worrying a Revenant would come and destroy some unsaved work.