In the gambling city of Mako, Mia watched the roulette wheel spin. The ball slowed slightly faster than normal as Marisa's fingers tensed, landing on 17.

"Your second win in a row." laughed the teller, doubling her chips. "You must have been blessed by something before you came here - you're a very lucky set of girls."

Mia noticed Marisa frown before Matoi spoke up. "A lucky set of women."

That gave them something in common, Mia thought. Ever since Marisa & Matoi had paired up, she had noticed not all of the chill was in her scarabs.

"Yes, I'm sorry. A very lucky set of women." he said. "Another bet? See if you can win a third?"

Marisa pushed all of her chips on to 33, laughing after she won again. "Sweet. Uh, I think we're good for now."

"Come back any time." he said.

The three stood and went off, near the slot machines and down the road of video poker. After trying a few other games, a waitress came over and offered them a few drinks. Matoi glanced at her as she walked away, her expression a bit annoyed. "It's disgusting they force her to wear something like that. Men always feel the need to shove sex in to everything."

"I don't see anyone else wearing it." said Marisa. "Maybe she wanted to wear it herself."

"There's some choices that hurt the rest of us." said Matoi.

Mia kept silent as she walked between them.

"What do you mean, 'there's some choices that hurt the rest of us'?" said Marisa.

Matoi shrugged. "It's the same with women who fuck male students. It teaches men to look at every other woman the same way."

"Uh, okay, but that's not her fault. If she's going to work in some, like, shitty casino, why not dress a little skimpier and get better tips?"

"No individual thinks they're contributing to a problem."

"Er, let's see if we can find something else to play." quickly chimed Mia, sitting down at the first slot machine she could find; then frowning to realize it wasn't.

"…pachinko." Matoi leered at the anime character on it, then gestured for Mia to let her sit down.

"Pachinko?" said Mia, swapping seats.

"I haven't seen these since I lived in Japan." laughed Matoi. "Bizarre."

"Looks like a pinball machine." said Marisa, taking a seat beside.

"Somewhat." said Matoi. She slipped her cash in, and a dozen thin metal balls came down from the top of screen, falling in to the outer chute jutting out like a desk at the bottom. "The pins along the main field guide the balls as they're shot - like this."

She turned a knob halfway. The spring shot them up and through the playing field, flanking as they hit along the pins. "The object is to land them in the catcher at the center. It gives you one spin of the - slot machine's screen - per ball."

"What about the other holes, off to the sides?" said Marisa.

"Extra balls - and the one at the bottom, nothing."

Mia felt a need to converse about something that wouldn't set Marisa off. "Er, you used to live in Japan? Did you move here before your Revenant?"

"No. Japan has an academy, though they have far stricter laws on lethality." said Matoi. She figured that reason was the only one they needed to hear.

"Guess they didn't have a Los Angeles happen." said Marisa.

"Or Moscow."

Matoi turned the knob, hitting center with little effort. The particulars of hosts' increased physical & mental fitness was still unknown; enough that some online videogames banned IP addresses from Urasaria.

"Er, I suppose I don't need to redirect the ball with ice." chimed Mia, and Matoi shook her head.

"There's no need. A bit of -"

"SENKETSU - SHIPPU!" shouted the machine's speaker, and another twenty chips dropped out.

" - nostalgia." said Matoi, eyes rolling as she stood.

Marisa peeked in to her bag of chips. "Uh, I think we have enough, unless we want to like, try roulette again…"

"I doubt Wedding would work on anything here." said Matoi and only Mia snickered.

"I bet Aimee could like, completely clear this place out." Marisa looked at Mia. "Sure you wouldn't rather be with her trio?"

"I wanted to, er … what you said about keeping some distance." nodded Mia.

Marisa smiled. A sense of guilt came over Mia, and she quickly asked Matoi, who was staring off, if she was feeling alright

"I'm fine." said Matoi. "I was thinking about the Revenants we've fought so far."

"What about them?" said Mia.

"About forming a gas mask - how I would have defeated the horde without Saya. The first requires more practice, and the second is mostly a question of endurance."

Partially because she believed she'd done most of the work, she declined to mention the sunlight Revenant.

"…uh, pretty dedicated to doing everything by yourself." said Marisa. "Don't you have a protege?"

Matoi shrugged. "I do: I simply don't rely on him. I've never felt the need to rely on anyone else."

Marisa took that to apply to more than hunting. "Uh, okay, but you're not going to be able to beat every Revenant by yourself."

"I beat everyone in the tournament."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Yeah, after you fu-"

"-er - I never thought about taking notes like that." nervously chimed Mia. "To, to help me think of new uses for Worldwide."

Matoi nodded. "It's a good habit: you can't find mistakes until after you've made them. I realized after our duel that I could have exploited Wedding's range advantage more."

"And I realized I needed a new sword." muttered Mia and Matoi laughed.

"If you'd like, we could rematch."

"Er, perhaps."

An hour later, the three walked out of the main hall with their ill-gotten bags, lights on overhead. They passed under a lit sign, and in the next instant -

- a yellow tendril erupted from the lights and cleaved Marisa's right arm, and as a second sweep sought her neck -

- a sweep of Matoi's blade went through the tendril and sliced it in half, tentacle darkening as it fell rigid to the floor. The three's Revenants flashed to existence upon them, swiftly placing their badges back on as they glanced around.

"Can't have anything nice." muttered Marisa, and in the next instant -

- another dozen tendrils burst out of the wall's lights, and as they sought the three again -

- a sweep of Matoi's blade carved one in two -

- a sweep of Mia's carved two in one -

- and Marisa's blade tore one in half; with no time to waste, they rushed back up the hall, rows of slot machines ahead & crowds of civilians not yet privy.

"Er, electricity?" said Mia, noting the three immunities.

"Might be nice." winced Marisa, sticking by her side with Matoi rushing at the front, and as they came near the slots -

- and a fattened figure tackled Matoi from the side; her grip threw him with the strength of a thousand down -

" - oh my fucking god." grunted Matoi, stomping her way off - " - do you see my fucking Urasaria badge?!"

"Y-You - what?" said the guard, standing up - " - what are you -"

- and one electrical tendril sliced him in half as it grew out of a slot machine ahead; the civilians were truly terrified now, and as the three shoved their way forward, a woman with a yellow dress rushed past their backs. All around them were tendrils of electricity growing and arcing, slot machines beeping and surging as they ran, their three blades slashing through the yellow air and turning it to a black carpet -

" - why aren't you affected, anyway?" shouted Marisa to Matoi, Mia slicing another three -

" - Wedding has insulation built in to it!" shouted Matoi, relevantly, as they ran past the blackjack tables with more chandeliers above & ahead. More tendrils burst out of the lights -

- but three slices tore six in half, three keeping their rush going past another row of slot machines, cash-out counter finally at the wall ahead, and as Matoi ran past the familiar pachinko machine -

- a bouquet of tendrils burst out and yanked her straight in to it, electrical grip threatening to crush her bones as they tightened -

" - SATSUKI KIRYUIN!" shouted the machine's speaker, relevantly, and as their grip clenched -

- she resisted their electricity as well as before, and one blast of missiles tore her from her restraints, blade carving the machine like a sawblade behind.

"Terrible show." muttered Matoi, relevantly, and the three rushed again.

"What - what are we even looking for?" said Mia, one moment of lucidity in that tear.

"The employees only door at the back!" shouted Matoi, pointing to the cash-out counter - " - we'll find the backup generator at the source!"

The three came up and vaulted over the counter, rushing through the door at the back and in to a narrow hall of steel, footsteps echoing as they ran left.

"Control room, control room…" murmured Matoi, rushing the fastest ahead.

"Got an idea for what to do when we get there." said Marisa, rushing past new doors, and as they came to one -

" - here!" shouted Matoi as she sliced it open, and in to the control room swept the women, one generator on the other end with yellow tendrils digging in to the fusebox on the wall. Matoi rushed past the center of the room -

- but a gargantuan tendril grew out of the generator and shot towards her -

- and impaled clear through her chest; a second flick threw her with the strength of a million back, and as her head hit the wall -

" - Wedding!" she shouted; an explosive barrage erupted out of her shoulders and flew ahead -

- but another set of tendrils threw them right back in to her, projectiles smashing her chest in and against the wall -

"Boudoir!" "Worldwide!"

Marisa swept her palms forward; a set of bullets erupted from her palms, scarabs setting them alight as they flew -

- and the superheated barrage chewed through the backup generator & left half of it in ashes, every light in the building snapping open; Mia held her hand up for an orange light as the room dimmed.

Matoi's face clenched as she stood. Beside her, a highfiving Marisa and Mia.

"Sounds like that got it." chimed Marisa. "Probably got the host, too."

"Another Revenant down." Mia smiled.

"Yep. We did good." said Marisa, turning to Matoi and offering a Boudoir-bandage to her.

Matoi grunted and turned out to the hall. "I'll walk."

"Uh, I can tell Saya to -"

" - I will - f-fucking let Saya know." she grunted.

Marisa watched her limp out to the hall, and sighed as she followed her. What gave some people the need to never stand at anyone else's height?

◆◆◆

The six set out again the next morning, and were two hours away from Lanacca by the time the sun was tucked in to bed. The prodigal minivan brought them to the middle of an empty bridge.

"Almost there." said Aimee, driving, front-left. "Probably stop in the next town. Wanna make sure we've got our energy for tomorrow. Atori says the debts are all good now, so."

"Extortion really does work." grinned Makoto in the second-right seat. Matoi was to her left, and Saya & Marisa behind. "Three-star legal immunity, baby. Probably could rob anywhere in the world with it."

"Maybe Fort Knox." said Marisa.

Marisa exaggerated her laughter. She figured if flattery worked on herself, there was little doubt it would on someone like Marisa. Last night, she'd had a dream about a chocolate-covered fashionista, and was hoping she'd fall asleep to the main course tonight.

Aimee laughed. "Maybe. Just about how much trouble you're -"

" - Aimee - behind us, left!" shouted Matoi, and as all the passengers turned -

- on the distance and fast approaching from behind, a familiar sedan, tinted windows and entering the bridge then. Matoi rolled her window down and poked her veiled head out.

"Uh, definitely want to see some blood this time." said Makoto, poking her trump out her's as Saya ducked. "No way that's not a host."

"Can't go much faster." sighed Aimee, speck growing by the second as it turned in to their lane left. "Matoi, can you -"

- they heard a bat's screech erupt from the sedan, and in the next instant -

- the vehicle appeared right beside them; another bat's screech as it rammed their side -

- and the minivan split diagonally in half as if an earthquake had struck it; Aimee was with Mia & Matoi in the front and the others in the back, back half screeching and leaning to dump the human cargo on to the road -

" - Boudoir!" shouted Marisa, throwing a web on to the road -

- and yanking Saya & Makoto right with her as she landed on it, coils growing and cocooning as they slid for hundreds & hundreds of feet back, asphalt scraping & fog refilling their wounds -

- and Makoto's head in a precarious spot as they slid further & further down -

- but the first half of the vehicle was still sliding, and as the sedan prepared for a second ram -

- Mia burnt her seat away, falling back on to the road and yanking the other two with her -

- and a field of ice froze them right to the pavement before they could slide one inch. The three shot up to their feet, sedan screeching to a halt ahead, and as it turned, readying to ram the three directly -

" - Wedding!" shouted Matoi as it sped up; a volley of missiles blast through the bridge ahead, car skidding as it tries to avoid the sudden counter -

- and in to the asphalt moat went the vehicle.

That was all.

"F-Fuck." panted Aimee.

"…there goes our minivan." muttered Mia, seeing the prodigal front half smash against the barrier. "Wait - the second half -"

- with the speed of light the three turned, Aimee dipping Rider's tendrils in Matoi's veins -

- but Matoi pulled away as Wedding's lasers chopped to bits the second half that'd nearly run them over from behind. On the distance, they saw Marisa & Makoto & Saya stand up, still encased in web, conductor grinning like a witchdoctor.

That was truly all.

"… Why is Marisa smacking Makoto?" said Mia.

"Probably deserves it, whatever it was." said Aimee.

Mia nodded, thinking that sounded plausible.

"Bizarre." murmured Matoi, stepping to the fissure in the bridge. "Did either of you hear it hit the water?"

"What do you mean?" said Aimee.

"If it fell, it should have made a splash. I didn't hear one."

"Neither did I." said Mia, seeing no disturbance in the river below.

"…might still be out there, then." sighed Aimee. "Let's get back to the others - I'll let the guys in Lanacca know that they're gonna have to come to us. Shouldn't be too bad of a walk."

The three began walking back.

"By the way, um. Matoi. Uh - good job on the lasers. I told you about Rider's enhancement, right?"

"You have."

"… right. If you ever think it'd be useful, let me know."