The next day, Mia looked up from her tablet to Akira sitting across, and his unconscious hostage.

"I'm not meeting with your agency anymore." said Mia. "Someone leaked that I was going to be there."

"We are aware, and we are currently looking in to the possibility of a mole." Oleksandr's voice scratched the speaker. "But you still have not answered why you tell me the Eastern League is dead, and ten minutes later, their transporter shows up with their leader's Revenant -"

" - I have neither the time nor care to discuss this with you." said Akira. "I have a hostage who only speaks Russian, and I require a translator."

He felt every drop of water separating himself from Russia. In Iowa, a pair of shoes hung over power lines carried water from February's rain. The depth of Lake Tahoe became imprinted by another body, and mold under floorboards fell on the face of a corpse in Amagasaki. A man, judging by his temperature, led his horse over the taiga near Moscow, and the edge of water shifted in a glass near Oleksandr's lips.

Oleksandr sighed. "I have no other reason than Bilibino to believe any of what you say. If it were not for that, I would repeat what Dmitri said of you."

"I don't give a shit what you think about me." said Mia.

Oleksandr laughed. "Ah, it's as if she never died." He sighed. "…there is an abandoned warehouse near Lesosibirsk - I have used it before. I shall set up a glass of water when I arrive. Bring your four, your hostage, and Akira."

Mia glanced up, grateful he was already gone.

◆◆◆

In a side room of the warehouse, Oleksandr tied their hostage to the table. A bag with a variety of syringes Yuruko had created was sitting in the corner. 

"Haloperidol." muttered Akira, and Yuruko handed him a syringe. "In someone without schizophrenia, it induces re-"

"- I don't want to hear it." frowned Yuruko.

Mia glanced outside to the open door and the street beyond, then said to Oleksandr: "You don't think the noise will be an issue?"

"Do you think most people will run in the direction of screaming?" Oleksandr shrugged. "Russians are not so good-natured. Particularly here."

"…I suppose." said Mia. "Will you need Miasma's healing?"

With some annoyance, Akira said: "It won't be necessary."

Mia rolled her eyes and nodded to her three, gesturing them to follow her outside of the warehouse, then leaned against the wall.

"Phew." muttered Serena.

"Real pleasant." murmured Yuruko. Glancing back inside, she held her finger up and a dyed-purple flame covered it as she looked to Mia, who laughed.

"After."

Samuel just nodded and kept watch. It brought him some discomfort that he'd recognized some of Akira's chemicals from Kate discussing them. Critical as she was of mainstream conservativism, she nonetheless aligned with it on torture. Under President Aimee, Matoi, and Mia, her adherence to authority had been her primary strength - under her own presidency, it would be a weakness.

He saw a man stagger past the corner, then start walking their way. His clothes smelled like the downwind off a brewery, and when Samuel tried to wave him away he replied by sticking his thumb between his index & middle finger -

- but ghastly hands grabbed his and pinned him against the wall, and he started drunkenly yelling in Russian even after they released him. Samuel glanced back at Mia's eyes rolling.

"One sec." muttered Yuruko. Her MGL formed and when she fired it in to the air the man ran away screaming, four laughing as the blank shell landed in another street. "Works every time."

Mia shook her head as two purple walls of flame flanked them -

- and felt her blood shifting.

" - open a wound - now!" she shouted, and in the next instant -

- a stream of fog cut a scarab-sized incision in the Four's right hand. and one fire scarab crawled inside each -

- and the heat returned their blood flow that'd been starting to slow back to normal, four gathering together as they heard no new sound in the other streets.

"N-Not again." muttered Yuruko, and Serena rubbed her shoulder as Mia spoke.

"Be cautious. Let me know if you notice anything."

"We're fighting this one?" said Samuel and Mia nodded.

"It isn't temperature control." she said, and in the next instant -

- they felt the gravity shift -

- but ghastly hands kept their boots on the ground, staggering a bit as they readjusted. A ball of steel formed in Yuruko's hand, and when she threw it out it floated for a second before falling to the ground.

"Moons?" whispered Yuruko and the other three nodded.

"Gravity and liquid manipulation." muttered Samuel. "Seems pretty weak, though. Doubt they're close by."

"Should we stay here?" said Serena, and in the next instant -

- a meteor crashed through a building across the street -

- and another, and another; a dome of ice covered the four as the shower started outside, raining over the entire town -

" - guess that answers that." winced Serena, relevantly, more meteors striking their frozen dome -

" - we have to find the host." muttered Mia, and as their frozen walls went down -

- a half-ruined scene met their stare, civilian screams filling their burning apartments & businesses; no time to waste, the four rushed up the road and to the next intersection, four cloaks of flame covering them to ensure no fleeing civilians would touch them. Once they reached the next intersection, Yuruko threw another ball of steel east, and something caught it in its orbit just as another storm of meteors struck the street -

- and another wave of gravity followed, setting their footing unsteady; more ghastly hands kept them on the ground, Outcast's armor forming -

" - release it." grunted Mia, jaw clenching - " - to find the source -"

- ghastly hands released them, and the new gravity set their new 'down' to the east & mid-air. 

A pole of ice formed for the four to grab -

- but a sun ray came from the west and melted it in to steam; as they fell 'down', Mia glanced up to see a sun sitting over the town 1000ft away, and the four landed on the side of a building sitting on the corner. More rays of sunlight shot their way, but panes of ice blocked them, and Mia winced as she saw melting civilians staggering out of their superheated apartments.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Still standing on the building, the four peeked over the edge and down the next street -

" - sun and moon." sighed Yuruko -

- relevantly, enormous moon forming over the town 1000ft down. Another storm of meteors hit the building and shattered it in to rubble that the moon caught in its orbit. Mia & Samuel staggered in different directions as another meteor crashed through the Four's platform -

- and tore the rest of the rubble apart in to enormous clouds of moon dust, separating the four in to three chunks of rubble that the orbit pulled closer in to a field of lunar dust -

- and the last Mia saw of her three was their platforms floating away, just as she entered the field -

" - Worldwide." she coughed; a tower of ice formed, and as her winds erupted out of it -

- more moondust rushed in and clogged up the holes, no sight but for the slice of sunlight on the horizon. Mia's sword formed and a flash of purple cleared her sight on her platform, more dust filling the vacancy as her platform kept its orbit going.

On another platform, a cloud of fog flew in to the field of dust -

- and cleared it for only a second before another tenant rushed inside, Yuruko wincing as she formed goggles for herself & Serena - " - here -"

" - B-Blackburn." coughed Serena, blood flow starting to slow -

- and streams of fog kept her & her girlfriend's blood running, more dust trying to swallow them alive -

- but the next scene was instant. Yuruko's hand swept up and a magnetic pole formed, pulling the nearby lunar dust in to it -

- and Serena frowned as the spikes in her jacket popped out & flew in to it, second magnetic pole clearing their vision. Yuruko grinned at her before she rushed off the platform, magnetic bridge forming under her boots with Serena close behind. They glanced in the moon's direction and saw an orange beam flashing over the dark side of it, and Yuruko nodded as they made their trek over, catching back up to Mia & Samuel on another platform.

"G-Got the dust."  coughed Yuruko, throwing another set of magnets out, and Mia nodded as their sight of the moon cleared for the next instant scene -

" - WORLDWIDE!"

Her entire swarm of fire scarabs formed a fist ahead; more moondust rushed to block them as ghastly hands guided their platform to the moon, but magnet-carrying ice & electrical scarabs escorted them within range as a dark-blue fist to match the moon's size formed -

- and one punch disintegrated the lunar body without a single ash left; their platform dropped and they landed in a ruined street as they watched the moondust disappear, burning shards of white falling to the ground before disappearing in purple wisps of smoke.

"H-Holy fuck." panted Serena, relevantly.

Mia smiled a little, then glanced 2000ft north. "The sun is still up."

Yuruko nodded, eyes still dazed. No time to waste, the four started rushing through the ruins that'd been Lesosibirsk, screaming fading with nothing but the sun ahead & melted buildings between them. A moat of liquid concrete rushed out to block them, but one ice scarab set it frozen and kept them safe; Mia felt Worldwide's temperature range growing as they ran.

A black gel dripped out of Yuruko's hands. "If - if it has UV rays - sterilizes bacteria -"

" - protect our hearts?" said Mia. 

Yuruko nodded, throwing her hands underneath Serena's shirt -

- and their cheeks filled a second later as she pulled them out - " - I - uh -"

" - u-um -" blushed Serena -

" - I'm - I'm not going to pretend I didn't see that -" cackled Mia -

" - I hope you don't have to do that for all of us." said Samuel -

" - just take the f-fucking carbon black -" winced Yuruko, handing over two tubs of black gel, and the two laughed as they applied it, 1000ft separating them from the sun floating ahead. One sun ray shot for Mia's shoulder -

- and she laughed with no harm done. More moons were crashing in to each other on the horizon, and they felt the gravity shift as they came 500ft within range -

- but ghastly hands stopped their steps as a storm of lunar dust & moon shards erupted from behind the sun, clouds of dust swarming their way again as a barrage of moonshards came within range -

- but a cloud of fog flew out to meet it; a sun ray hit one of the shards -

- and ricocheted in to another shard flying over Serena's head, scorching ray bouncing towards her hair -

- but an ice scarab froze her spikes & kept her hairdo up as the ray hit it, melting the ice in to steam -

- and Serena shrieked as her hair caught on fire -

" - for fuck's sakes." winced Yuruko, patting her girlfriend's hair out, other hand throwing out a dozen magnets to swallow the next wave of dust.

Only one fully immune to the sun, Mia walked forward alone as another set of rays erupted towards the three; ghastly hands grabbed a few spare shards and reflected the beams back towards her, no damage done as she gained speed on her forward rush, and as she shouted for Samuel to release her -

- ghastly hands released her; one leap set her new 'down' in to the sun 300ft away, keeping her legs tight as she braced for impact. More sun rays shot towards her three, and as they hit the shards in Samuel's hands -

- they reflected back in to another moon shard, then back towards Serena at Yuruko's left; Samuel handed Yuruko's right hand the shards -

- and the next scene was instant.

"Medicinal - Mirror Image!"

Yuruko swept her left hand up and a wall of moon shards formed, reflecting the scorching ray off to the side, Revenant's properties & form copied completely.

Ahead, Mia's descent towards the sun was gaining speed, and a moon crashed in to the ground to block her path as her legs tightened and her body burned purple -

- drilling straight through the lunar body and bursting out the other side -

- just in time to be the first woman to set foot on the sun, steadying herself as a cloak of purple shrouded her. Ice scarabs swarming her boot, she took a stomp for lesbiankind -

- and froze the entire outer surface of the scorching orb; no time to waste, she plunged her frozen blade inside it and ran as fast as she could across the sun, meteors raining down to try to slow her as she dragged her sword through its entire midsection, keeping her pace to dodge more moons crashing behind her -

- and as she took one leap off, the top half of the sun slid off like a man's torso off his legs; she heard a scream of agony and turned as she landed rolling just in time to see the host falling out of the sun's core, his Revenant's fate matched on to his corpse as his torso fell in to the puddle of blood from his legs.

Celestial bodies disappearing, Mia rushed back to her squadron, and after resting for a few minutes, formed a cross-shaped puddle of water. Mizuchi dragged the four back to an unfamiliar room. Oleksandr was speaking on the phone in the corner, next to their unconscious hostage. Akira was sitting across the table.

"As expected, he's a member of a radical environmentalist group, and claims someone offered him ten million rubles to murder the daughter of an oil executive."

"He doesn't know who leaked the location, then?" said Mia.

"Must've met Daigo." said Samuel.

"Correct." droned Akira. "Oleksandr recognized the name of the group he gave - an ecological organization who hardly ever use Revenants, and as with most degenerates, their passion ends where reality begins. It was disappointing how easily he confessed."

"Unless that's how he intended it." said Samuel.

"I spent fifteen years running interrogations - I know the fucking difference."

Under the table, Mia aimed her palm towards him and sighed. Next to her, Serena tittered. She saw Oleksandr hang up and walk over to them. "I presume you were able to deal with the host."

"We were forced to kill him."

"As expected." Oleksandr shrugged. "Fortunately, we have several leads to go on. There was a Revenant storage facility attacked, some miles from here - our next course of action will be checking on it, then investigating the group this man belongs to. I would request your aid on the latter, as -"

" - you're asking Ryumi's successor to risk herself to find the hideout of a host who doesn't need one, to interrogate the associates of a host who has none." said Akira. "It always amazes me how people can fail to realize how fucking moronic they sound."

Mia felt conflicted over her non-beverage themed nickname.

"The difference is I have investigated him before and you have not." said Oleksandr. "One hostage's not knowing Daigo's location does not translate to his group not knowing Daigo's location. You assume too much from a host whose first actions after reappearing were attacking Moscow and being disintegrated by Ryumi."

"It's amusing you think you've brightened in nine years and that he hasn't." 

Oleksandr laughed. "As I recall, nine years ago the most combat you had seen was being torn in to by Nikolai. It always amazes me how hosts with the fewest experience often speak the loudest."

Out of the corner of her ear, Mia heard Yuruko & Serena whispering. Oleksandr turned to her.

"Alerting my agency would alert whoever our mole is, and it will take too long to root out, regardless."

Mia frowned and opened her mouth just as Yuruko spoke up: "If he has atomic manipulation, then he can probably enhance Revenants by duplicating their bacteria. Because I'm pretty sure that fungi shit wasn't natural."

"She's Timepact's Revenant researcher." said Mia to Oleksandr. Yuruko smiled a little.

"And?" said Oleksandr. "You've dealt with strong Revenants before - whatever we find will be no different. We have a good lead now, and -"

" - except he's still going to be searching Revenant storage facilities," said Yuruko, " - and -"

" - then it only presents another way to -"

" - I need to disintegrate your stock of Revenants." said Mia, suddenly worried. "Now."

"What?" said Oleksandr.

"I - I need every single facility location. Tell them to set up a source of water for Mizuchi, and that I'll be disintegrating every Revenant they have in storage."

Yuruko frowned. "…yeah. He's gonna be searching for anti-water Revenants."

"A complete overreaction to one storage facility being destroyed." said Oleksandr. "You cannot expect me to give up Russia's entire stock of Revenants to assuage your para-"

" - I don't care if I have to tell Akira to get you to tell me. There's not a single fucking thing you can say to persuade me." said Mia. "You have access to that information, don't you?"

Oleksandr sighed, closing his eyes and placing his head in his hands. "Do you remember what I told you about all the demands she made?"

"She made them for a reason."

"They were not ones that required me to leak classified information."