[ARC 24: SPLITTING UP AT THE BORDER]

[November 10th, 2021]

"You're sure we have to go?" winced Rochelle, and Mia nodded with Serena.

"They requested us specifically. I was about to call her here."

"Um, I can pair up with her." said Serena, and Rochelle slowly nodded.

"…yeah. If that's cool, then yeah." She sighed. "…sorry. I know I'm being kinda a bitch about it, but -"

" - it's alright." nodded Mia. "I'll pair up with her, and Serena with you, then. Can I call her?"

Rochelle nodded. Mia tapped her tablet, and a few minutes later, in came Tiffany, tensing as she saw the three.

"…uh. What's going on?" she said, and Mia gestured for her to sit down.

"The government has another contract for us. They asked us specifically."

"…okay." said Tiffany, sitting down. "Uh, what is it?"

"They haven't said." muttered Mia, tapping her tablet. "They said they -"

- two faces started appearing on the wall behind Tiffany & Serena & Rochelle, and in the next instant -

- out of it walked two masked men, costumes much more professional than Mia's beak or Serena's jacket.

"President Swarm." one nodded to her, and she took up the front of the four. "Miasma. Screwball. Vector."

"Yes." said Mia. In formal situations she tried to impersonate Matoi more than she would've admitted. "What is it?"

"We have another assignment for you four. Are you healed from last month?"

"I am. I dealt with who was responsible, as well."

"Excellent. I assume you'll be joining Timepact after graduation."

"I will be, yes. What is the assignment?"

"We can't talk about it here." said the second man. He tapped the wall and it shimmered like it was liquid. "Come with us."

"There's - there's no need for that, yet." said the first. "We'll speak of it somewhere more private, yes, and give you your assignment there. Complete it, and you'll be given your professional license. Any questions before we leave?"

"Uh, one." said Rochelle. "Are you allowed to say who that guy was we were escorting, now?"

"I have no knowledge of that."

The four frowned at each other, knowingly.

"…we're ready, then." nodded Mia, and the two men walked in to the wall, one hand gesturing them inside. The four stepped inside, and in the next instant -

- stepped out in to a long steel hall, two men already walking, doors at regular intervals and intersection ahead.

"To save time, you'll be doing your extended registration now." said one of the men. "For Swarm and Screwball - rooms 234 and 248. Miasma and Vector - 336 and 340."

"Don't look in to any other rooms, either." said the other man and the first laughed.

"It's not aliens or secret Revenants, either. It's expensive equipment that'll break if you look at it funny. Some of it costs more than you'll make in your entire life. Meet me in room 133 after you're finished."

"Yes." nodded Mia, and the two men went back the way they came.

"…uh, probably up there, right?" said Serena, gesturing to the intersection, and everyone but Rochelle nodded as they started walking.

"At least we, uh, get our professional license after, right?" said Tiffany. "Like, don't have to go through all those exams and stuff. I heard they're pretty tedious."

"They sometimes are." said Mia. "It's not as long if you're three-star, however."

"I'm not." winced Tiffany. "Uh, but - but I know you and Serena are, right?"

"And Rochelle." nodded Mia.

Rochelle made no noise or reply until they came to the intersection and the four split to two. Tiffany looked until Rochelle & Mia were out of earshot before speaking to Serena.

"…ugh. I don't know what her problem is." said Tiffany. "Rochelle, I mean. Not Mia. Sorry she's acting weird about it."

"Um, I guess. You two broke up, right?"

"Yeah. We broke up, like - I mean, it was back in January or whatever, but - you know, it was - it wasn't that good of a relationship, anyway. Like, I started realizing it was - it was kinda fucked up, you know? The way she just - me in my first year, and then she tries to fuck me? Even though she's my mentor? Ugh."

"...she seems nice." shrugged Serena.

"I mean, sure, at first. You don't know her like I do. You know, she'd do stuff like - in that midterm exam? She'd just be like 'oh, you pass, let's, let's just go have sex or whatever'. Seriously? This is supposed to be my exam for - you know, to make sure I'm actually good at what I do? And she's just being so blase about it?"

"...uh. Those exams don't mean anything, anyway. Like, I just messed around with my protege's. She did fine."

"Well, uh. Good for you, I guess."

"…um. I just mean…" Serena frowned. Even though she'd only dealt with one other person like Tiffany before, she felt two was too much for three years. "…like, I just mean - it probably wasn't anything against you."

"Well, I'm glad I have you to tell me what she meant. Because she sure didn't."

"I guess."

Tiffany frowned, but they kept walking. Well, whatever, she thought. She didn't need the approval of Serena or anyone else, and she was just trying to make conversation. Besides, just because Serena probably had a crappy protege didn't mean she wanted to be like that.

She sighed and tried to distract herself. Lately, it was feeling like most people disliked her.

"…uh. Sorry." said Serena. "Just trying to help."

"Okay, but. Sure. But I mean, that's not the only stuff she did, you know?"

'This is what I get.' thought Serena.

"I mean, believe me." continued Tiffany. "There's plenty of it. Plenty - of - it."

Serena nodded as she came up to room 336 and quickly stepped inside, as did Mia to room 234. A man inside gestured Mia to two sets of scales, one for humans and one for, presumably, Revenants. Various sizes of glass globes were at the other side.

"Swarm, yes?" he said and she nodded. "Ah. Miss President."

"Yes. What are we measuring first?"

"Set down one of your scarabs - one of each here. Just going to weigh it. Fire first."

She set a fire scarab down, then continued with the others. Worldwide's scarabs weighed barely over an ounce & were an inch long, and her sword was thirty pounds & fifty inches.

"Worldwide, right?" he said.

"Yes."

"We have a special room for that, and… well. Hopefully, it won't go like last time."

He led her to another room, covered in black material, with a sensor behind twenty transparent walls. Her ice was at absolute zero, and her electricity held ten trillion volts or so. Her Frozen Ray wasn't any stronger than zero, and her electrical was only two quintillion volts. He gave her a wearable device to test her flames, and she found her purple fire burned at, give or take a hundred million, one quintillion degrees. Her blue Solar Beam found a sextillion degrees comfortable.

When she finished, Serena met her with her new license & her measurements. She had shrunk a few inches after Kamon, and Blackburn's fog could fill twenty gallons, but replenished at about a gallon a second. Her tentacle subtracted a few pounds, and they guessed it was six, though the suction cups could carry at least five hundred.

Eventually, Rochelle & Tiffany came back, the latter keeping away from the former, and the four stepped up to room 133.

"…uh." said Rochelle. "Did he mean meet him outside or inside?"

"Somebody's coming." muttered Serena, relevantly. Mia saw the man from earlier coming towards them.

"Excuse me. Swarm - Worldwide, yes?" he said.

"...yes. Is there a problem?"

"No, no - no problem. I need you to come with me for one last thing."

"Someone's in trouble." chimed Tiffany and Serena frowned.

Mia went off with the man, and he led her to a room she knew immediately was for interrogation. She sat down sighing.

"Is this an interrogation?" she said.

"It's just an interview." he said, sitting down across.

"No, it's not."

"…if I tell you it's not, will you answer my questions honestly?"

"What is this about, exactly?"

"We're not attempting to remove your Revenant or get rid of you, if that's what you're asking."

"Then what are you asking about?"

"Can I just start? Again - I'll make this clear. I'm logging your answers for future reference. This isn't part of an investigation, and it isn't about you murdering Kirihara, either."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You would do well with a government job." he laughed and Mia didn't. "You know, I interviewed Ryumi, too. Queen of Scarabs. I can tell you more about her, if you want."

Mia's eyes went off to the side, sinking in to the wall.

"She married Magnus, you know." he said. "I know you know who he is."

"I'm aware."

"He was her protege. Do you know what she looks like?"

"I do."

"In her uniform?"

"…she had a uniform?"

He pulled a drawer open, handing a picture to Mia. "She did."

On it, a black-haired woman wearing a purple gasmask and gloves with holes in the palms. Magnus had gotten the former made for her after a string of bad luck with an acidic host, and she had remarked he was more concerned for her safety than she was.

The sight made Mia uneasy. She had looked at the photo of Ryumi & Magnus after her own wedding, and their now-dead joy reminded her&Aimee too much of their own. She looked at it for a while and handed it back. "Alright."

"I know it makes you - it must make you feel something. But I'm not going to ask you what."

"…what is threat level existential?" said Mia and he paused.

"… You're not supposed to know about those, technically."

"I overheard somebody mentioning it."

"I thought I asked you to be honest." he laughed and Mia didn't. "Can you answer my questions if I tell you that, then?"

"Answer first."

"A few questions - your answer - and my questions. How about that?"

"…fine."

"Good. I'll start off easy. Mia, have you ever murdered any civilians?"

"No."

"Not even Edgar's father? Last month?"

"Edgar murdered him."

"Good answer. Any other students besides Kirihara?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Better answer. Let me set up a scenario for you. A - let's say a national level threat, since you're already aware - a national level threat has taken a thousand or so people hostage in a skyscraper. You're working for Timepact in this scenario. You either have the option of a head-on fight or to Sun - Beam the building and catch him off-guard, likely killing civilians in the process. What do you choose?"

"...Aimee may be better suited for that, but - the former, otherwise. A head-on fight."

He paused. Ryumi strongly believed it was better she risk civilian lives than her own & never thought otherwise. After interviewing her, he had wondered why she'd become a hero at all.

"…right." he said. "Do you have any information relating to the Eastern League that might be of interest? Anything Magnus told you about his conduits?"

"No. Answer me."

"…fine." He nodded. "Fine. What was your question?"

"What is threat level existential?"

"… Existential classification has only been given twice - as I'm sure you're aware. Ryumi Egashira and Daigo Yashukure."

"And they killed each other."

"To the best of our knowledge. I reviewed before this questioning - as I assume you're also already aware of, Nikolai - the Eastern League's leader - had a meeting with the government scheduled for a month after her death."

"And he was killed before it."

"And he was killed before it. Before you ask - even I don't know what it was about, so don't bother asking." He sat up. "Have you ever been to Moscow, Mia?"

"...are you talking about the ring?" Mia paused as she remembered Japan. She had never looked closer at Moscow's ring or its properties. "…it wasn't destroyed by Daigo."

"All I'm authorized to tell you is that, for whatever reason, the Eastern League had given her a device to record her temperature that day - the one you were wearing earlier. She didn't normally wear it. It was in Nikolai's possessions."

"Was it to measure her Solar Beam?"

"The last reading on it from her was over one nonillion degrees Celsius. I assume you -"

"- a nonillion? Why would she have possibly needed to go that high?"

"And now, our knowledge is equal. Someone higher up than me took one look at it and declared her Existential on the spot."

"I - how hot did you say my Solar Beam is?"

"One sextillion degrees. In case you're not aware, if a sextillion is one, a nonillion is a billion."

◆◆◆

The following day, the four had been given their assignment, were disguised by a Revenant, and took a private plane to Mexico. Serena wanted to talk to Mia about all the interesting government Revenants they'd seen, but she was stuck with Tiffany and would be for the next few days.

Tiffany hadn't interacted with Serena or Mia since Tamer, but figured it was for the best - she had a difficult time keeping friendships. Most women around campus liked her, but none in particular would say they did.

She wasn't all gossip, but if you needed to learn about the latest campus news, you checked with Tiffany first & never mentioned anything you didn't want entering another dozen ears. Oftentimes, she'd reveal herself to someone she only knew for two weeks, and a month later, one late reply or one spot of rudeness she took to indicate their true personality would force her on to the next. That she still couldn't prevent herself from acting this way frustrated her.

Presently, Mia watched a pronghorn antelope a mile away bow its legs over belly-high mesquites. An arid wind came from a cloud that promised rain, and to the south a river sat between shaded soil. From the foothill they were standing atop, she could see a cactus pointing towards their target's direction, purple only to her.

"(Found it?)" said Serena in Spanish.

Mia nodded and turned. "(Let's check our Revenants.)" She held back her urge to say Worldwide, and in the next instant -

- a pillar of golden flame erupted ahead, no scarabs to be seen as another green pillar of ice burst up beside. "(Only fire and ice.)"

"(Right.)" nodded Rochelle. "(Don't want to let them know it's us, yeah. Twi- uh, right.)"

In the next instant -

- a spine burst out of her back and the four winced.

"( - is that supposed to be-)" said Mia -

"( - I think that's my tail.)" winced Rochelle. "(No claws anymore, either.)"

"(Serena?)" said Mia and Serena nodded. A black claw formed over her formerly tentacled hand, boils popping out of the skin.

"(Uh. What about the fog?)" said Serena, and in the next instant -

- rainbow snakes filled Mia's mouth -

- and dissolved in to water, and she nodded as she disintegrated the liquid.

"(Um, Cont - sorry.)" chimed Tiffany, and in the next instant -

- a potion appeared in her right hand. "(…uh. What?)"

"(Do you have to make them drink it?)" said Mia.

"(…um. Lemme see… Does anyone wanna try?)"

"(Nope.)" said Serena.

Shrugging, Tiffany poured it on the grass and watched it grow. "(Cool. Feels the same, so.)"

"(Let's head out, then.)" nodded Mia and the four started walking.

Rochelle took up the front next to Mia so Tiffany wouldn't be in her eye, and kept her focus on the contract. Most Urasaria students got drunk off liquor, but Rochelle got drunk off work. The month her & Tiffany had broken up, she had been in the Elite Four's office every week.

She felt no need to speak on the way over to a Mexican city where rainbow-colored apartments overlooked cobblestone paths, but she wasn't a shy woman - she'd learned not to say anything around Tiffany. As they came out to the street and passed by a jewelry store, Rochelle glanced at her own reflection in the glass. It struck her amusing how the government's disguise had concealed her race, too. She never wanted much emphasis of it, but often found herself in the position of being the first black impression some Urasaria students ever met.

"(Out of the way! Host!)" shouted a man's voice behind, and someone shoved Serena to the ground as they ran left past her -

"( - B-)"

- and she stifled her fog as he ran in to the store of jewelry; Mia helped Serena to her feet and gestured for the others to stay back as she watched him bashing through the displays, shouting to the staff inside.

"(Fuck.)" winced Rochelle.

"(Don't interfere. Remember.)" said Mia. "(I'll handle it if he hurts civilians.)"

"(Yeah, I know. Does that mean… ugh. Does that mean they don't know we're here?)"

"(…uh, isn't all the display shit usually fake?)" muttered Serena, relevantly, watching him rush out again with his usually-fake cargo. The four backed against the wall as he ran past them and up to one parked car, and in the next instant -

- the driverside door opened & bashed him back -

- and the back left opened & smashed him to the ground, his hands clutching his head -

- and another driverside door bashed his skull in to his neck, leaving a white crown on a red head.

"(Got him.)" chimed Tiffany. "(Uh, that was cool, right? I don't think anyone saw me pouring it in there.)"

Serena frowned, nourishing a secret hope that someone did. For all of her dislike of Mia's orders in her first year, she sure as hell didn't like Tiffany, and was already adding her on to Julia, Maria, Inky, and others in her head. Lately, though she didn't realize it, she was growing as quick to dislike somebody as Yuruko.

"(…I suppose.)" said Mia, and Serena looked at Tiffany as if to say touchè. "(Still. We need to… go buy groceries.)"

"(Sure thing.)" said Serena.

Mia stifled her smirk. "(Can you go watch Japanese cartoons?)"

"(Yeah.)" laughed Serena, and the two pairs went separate ways.

◆◆◆

Mia & Rochelle met with their contact privately while Serena & Tiffany staked out their target's manor. Rochelle had begun talking once they were out of Tiffany's ears. Though Mia was curious about their breakup, she thought Rochelle wouldn't have talked about it even if she wanted to. She knew Rochelle as a woman who kept to herself, but who could say a lot in class with a little. There was no need to rake over an old bed of coals for her, and Mia had heard enough from rumors, ranging between a monstrous Rochelle & a tragedy between two angels - as that sort of gossip often did. It had taken time for Mia to close her ears to it, but Kirihara & what Serena (being in a lower-year) said some in her class thought of Mia had made her opposed to talk like that now.

Surprisingly, Rochelle had felt worse on the walk back, and it'd gotten to the point where she'd peeled herself back to Mia. Some of it Mia already knew - that Rochelle had begun dating Tiffany after the two slept together, and that this eager physical love had kept up at first.

Rochelle had been excited initially, hoping that the rest of their relationship would be like those first months, but it was soon frustrating. Every few weeks, it felt like Tiffany was mad at her for something, often over something she had said a month ago & didn't know bothered Tiffany. She always apologized for it, but there were times when she only did because it was about the one way to get Tiffany to let something go.

It had come to the point where she had, after Tiffany had gone to another woman complaining instead of approaching Rochelle about it, yelled at her, and the two broke up a few days after. A bit of guilt came over her for it, but damnit, what was she supposed to do? She had no like of gossip, and she always hated the way Tiffany had gone to people who didn't even know Rochelle.

But there were moments she missed, too, even now. Tiffany had taken time off of work & her protege to be with Rochelle the month Rochelle's father had died, and she had made all her meals the week she watched the lowering of his casket. There had been a closeness then, and that had kept her with Tiffany longer than she felt it should've, hoping a week like that was just beyond the next month.

"(…I'm sorry, Rochelle.)" said Mia.

"(…yeah. Should… probably talk about something else.)"

"(Are you sure?)"

Rochelle nodded, and Mia knew she wouldn't say another bit of it. She was not a woman who ever needed a last word. "(Yeah.)"

The two kept walking, and Rochelle scratched her neck after a minute of silence. "(… so, um … I gotta ask. What happened to Kirihara?)"

"(The last Revenant that I fought - that would have made me rank one - she stole it from me by scanning it before I did, and I … There were other reasons, but - I murdered her.)"

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Rochelle nodded. "(Sorry. Don't mean to pry or anything. If you say she deserved it, I bet she did. Just was curious.)"

"(It's alright.)" Mia smiled.

"(Did her parents ever say anything about it?)"

Mia paused, having expected something to come of it. "(I - I don't believe so, no. I told the staff not to investigate it and that she died fighting a Revenant.)"

"(Maybe they hated her just as much.)" chimed Rochelle and the two laughed. "(She was always - man, ugh. I don't even know how she kept up being such a bitch over four years. Just some endless like, endless supply of insecurity or something. Having to tear people down all the time. I don't think she even had anyone to talk to.)"

"(I remember Hirogane talked to me after - over the summer.)" said Mia. "(He told me that she would always try to complain to him about Jeanne. Back when…)"

"(…yeah. And you know, she came to me - my old mentor back in my first year - and he took one look at her and told her to never get near us. I kinda thought he was being mean back then, but…)"

"(…she said much worse about Jeanne, too.)" murmured Mia. "(And she tried to - when Serena was my protege - she tried to attack her.)"

"(That's scary.)"

Mia nodded. In some ways, she had accepted Kirihara's murder as insurance against another assassination.

"(And if she actually graduated, like, somehow -)" said Rochelle: "( - then she's out in the real world with legal immunity - I mean, not that we don't deal with the real world too, but - you know.)"

"(Worse situations.)"

"(Yeah.)" Her head shook. "(…just scary. Like - I mean, us being legally immune is cool, but it's fucked up when there's someone like her, too. 'cuz then it makes all of us look bad.)"

"(Or it makes us look like civilian cops.)" muttered Mia.

"(You get that too?)" said Rochelle and Mia nodded.

"(It's something I used to struggle with.)"

"(Yeah. I guess we, uh, both have reasons for that, too. You and your dad, and me and uh…)" She laughed. "(It's not something I usually - you know, I mean - a lot of people ask me about it, but.)" She shrugged. "(You can kinda guess how people feel about me. They just think I'm a cop.)"

"(A lot of lesbians do as well.)" frowned Mia. "(Er, not to say it's similar, but.)"

"(It's cool.)" Rochelle smiled. "(I mean, it's kinda - yeah. It's kinda mixed, too, since like - I don't like cops either and I hate having to work with them, but it's like - you know, I'm just a student. At least I'm actually dealing with people that are dangerous.)"

"(Some people will never understand that.)" muttered Mia bitterly, and Rochelle laughed.

"(And you sometimes wish you could just tell who those people are?)"

Mia laughed. "(I'm - I'm not saying I wouldn't still protect them, of course, but -)"

"( - yeah, I know.)" laughed Rochelle. "(I get that too if I have to go in to like - places or whatever where I know they're not gonna appreciate it. Alabama, you know. Still gotta do it, though. Might end up changing their minds, even if…)" She sighed. "(…ugh. I dunno. I get you on that, too. It just feels like sometimes that I gotta - you know, that I have to be this model minority or whatever. I don't even want to give people - give *anyone* the chance to say 'oh, she's not good at her job because she's…'. And I know it's stupid, but it still feels weird. Even just having to deal with other black... hosts, you know.)"

"(…I remember a few years ago, I had to deal with a group called the Gorgons. They were all lesbian separatists. I still think about that.)"

"(Yeah. And I'm not saying that - there's a lot of people who like me, too, who send me fanmail. My mom and everyone in my family is like … I'm the role model. I'm the Urasaria student. They're always sending me stuff, and we had this big party when I got three-star. So it's like, I get shit online for it, but I get it too. You know, I even had - I mean, for fuck's - I had some regular cop fucking shoot me because he didn't see my badge. And I knew that someone like that - next time, it's not gonna be me, and I was just so close to just killing him, and... ugh. Sorry. It got me so mad, and I just knew I couldn't - you know. I can't just flip out and kill him, even if I should've, because then it's like - ' - oh, black Urasaria student chimps out -' and - ugh.)"

"(I could do it for you.)" chimed Mia and Rochelle laughed.

"(Yeah. Maybe. They'll say - ' - oh, he must've deserved it.')"

◆◆◆

Serena & Tiffany had staked out his manor while Mia & Rochelle met with their contact, and were walking back through an alley now.

"(…okay, so, just curious.)" said Tiffany. "(Was she the one that asked you pair up with me?)"

"(No, that's how Mia assigned it.)"

"(Mia did it? Does she - I guess she knows we broke up, right?)"

"(I don't know.)"

Tiffany felt Serena was being hostile towards her - then again, most people seemed to be, and she was sometimes wrong. "(…ugh. I hope she doesn't like - know from rumors or whatever. I wish I just had like - I dunno, a recording of all the stuff she did so I can be like - here, listen to this, this is what actually happened. You know?)"

'Pendejo.' thought Serena. "(Um, that seems kinda creepy.)"

Tiffany frowned. This time she judged it right. "(I don't think it's that weird. Maybe it would get people to stop talking or whatever. I mean, you probably know what that's like, right?)"

"(Excuse me?)"

"(I know that there's - ugh, like. There's people that gossip about you and stuff too.)" Tiffany sighed. "(I don't - like, I don't like listening to that stuff, but yeah.)"

Serena frowned. "(What do they say?)"

"(They were talking about like - I guess some people think you have a tattoo?)"

"(…I don't have a tattoo.)"

"(Exactly! And so like - I dunno, if people just went and asked you, everything would get cleared up, right? That's what I wish people would do with me. Like, whatever, it's over and in the past, but it's just…)" She sighed. "(…I dunno. I mean, I guess I maybe kinda miss her. There were some good parts.)"

'This bitch is going to fill up the entire day talking about her fucking ex.' thought Serena.

Admittedly, Serena used to dislike Rochelle too, as she believed Rochelle had outted her to Tiffany (she hadn't), but she no longer considered herself transgender anyway. There were some trans people who supported her - they had put the dots together on her pre-Kamon appearance & after. One had even taken credit for that manga shot of her last year - she had been surprised to find the artist Western. A woman of culture, she knew the Japanese were superior for animation, though now fully passing, the male staring & leering she was subject to if she ever took off her badge was starting to dull the enjoyment of her favorite, but sexist, shows.

She felt proud now at sharing little in common with men. If this was in part due to some lingering dysphoria, she did not realize it.

"(You know what I mean?)" said Tiffany.

"(Yep.)"

◆◆◆

The government had arranged a cabin for the four, and having listened to Tiffany the entire way back, Serena offered to cook dinner with Mia.

Mia crouched down and started searching through the cupboard. "(They… said they left a cookbook for us, somewhere… ah, here.)" She pulled out a cookbook and started flipping through it.

"(Yeah.)" said Serena. "(…um. Guess it'll kinda be like dueling with Yuruko, right?)"

"(Or the woman last summer.)" muttered Mia. "(Without Xenocyclin, fortunately.)"

Four years ago she wouldn't have ever wanted anything to do with a three-letter agency, but with some hesitation, had accepted after debriefing. She entered Urasaria progressive - she would leave it left-wing.

"(Enchiladas sounds good.)" said Serena, peeking over. Mia pulled a few plates & a casserole dish out of the cupboard, streams of fog creating the ingredients.

"(Have you and Naomi spoken recently?)"

Serena shrugged as she started layering. "(Um, we talk every now and then, but - I mean, we weren't as close as you and me.)"

"(Ah.)" said Mia, checking the cookbook for temperature. "(...350 degrees for 1 hour…)"

"(Uh, does Mexico use Fahrenheit or Celsius?)"

Mia shrugged, and in the next instant -

- the enchiladas crumbled to black ash and the two burst out laughing -

"( - what the fuck -)" cackled Serena, relevantly -

"( - I - I thought it was a little bit too hot -)" laughed Mia - "( - I assumed it was in Celsius, but -)"

"( - come on.)" Serena laughed and refilled their ingredients. "(You're layering it this time.)"

"(Fine.)" Mia took the dish from her. "(Remember the first time we tried to make ice cream?)"

"(Yeah.)" laughed Serena. "(But, um… I mean, with Naomi. I thought it'd be kinda awkward if she lived with me and Yuruko, so… I guess we just didn't get as much time together. We're still friends, though.)"

"(Is she doing alright with her new protege?)"

Serena nodded. "(Yeah. I mean, from what she told me, her old protege just seemed like… I dunno. She just seemed like a fuck-up.)" She glanced towards the other room, hoping Tiffany would think it was about her.

"(I suppose.)" said Mia, layering the ingredients, and in the next instant -

- the enchiladas burst in to flames -

- and disintegrated without a single ash left.

Mia frowned as she turned to Serena. "(…Serena, what type of cheese did you make?)"

"(…um, mozzarella?)"

"(…Serena. Can you read the recipe to me?)"

"(…It says cheddar - I - should we just make it normally?)"

Mia's head shook. "(No, it'll take too long.)"

◆◆◆

Two hours later, Mia smiled as she came out with Serena, both holding two plates of enchiladas. Rochelle looked a little uncomfortable as Mia set her plate down, and so did Tiffany as Serena did.

"(…er, is everything alright?)" said Mia and Rochelle nodded.

"(It's cool, yeah. Looks pretty good.)"

"(…yep.)" muttered Tiffany.

It irritated Serena how Tiffany seemed insistent on including the two of them in their personal problems. She would likely receive an earful from Tiffany about this tomorrow if not right after - if Serena were in her position with Yuruko, she didn't think she would ever act like…

She started eating. Yuruko hadn't been too receptive recently. Around this time last year, the new DOTA2 update had come out and the two played until their eyes felt about to fold over themselves. This year she hadn't been online since September. Yuruko had been a little cold about Mia recently, and Serena hoped there wouldn't come a time when she'd have to choose between the two.

"(It's fine.)" said Tiffany. "(It's just food.)"

◆◆◆

Tiffany felt guilty over complaining to Serena earlier. Maybe Rochelle had been right about that. If she'd chosen to talk to Rochelle about it instead of going to another woman, they'd probably still be together now and she wouldn't be sleeping a room away feeling like a fool. Tiffany often had trouble sifting out the good in a person and not letting the bad consume her judgment, but for Rochelle, she had loved her apologeticness, her willingness to reassure Tiffany, and her eagerness in bed.

"(…hey, uh. You still up?)" said Tiffany, opening her eyes and sitting up in her bed. Serena was in the other bed on her phone. "(...you've got a girlfriend, right? Are you happy together?)"

"(…um, yeah.)"

"(Is she, um - what's her name? Yuruko?)"

"(Yuruko.)"

"(Cool.)" Tiffany smiled. "(It's just - I was kinda thinking about dating again - I mean, it's been enough months that I think it'd be a good idea, right?)"

'Oh my fucking god.' thought Serena. "(When did you break up?)"

"(Uh, around… February this year, kinda. I was talking with - do you know Marisa? - I was talking with her a little after. but - I dunno. She's sweet, like - I love women who have that kinda excitable, bouncy personality - but it didn't really work out. It was just way too close. And I wouldn't mind trying to date her again, but that'd be a little weird. Plus. you know, I bet I can find someone pretty quick. I take care of myself, I'm three-star, I'm… you know. I'm a full… package.)"

"(…uh. Are you sure you should be trying to find someone quick, though?)"

Serena frowned, wondering: why the hell was she giving dating advice? Her second date with Yuruko had been watching anime & eating cornchips until they had to go to the infirmary to treat their heartburn, their breath smelling like the downwind off a degenerate factory. It had taken three weeks to wash out the questioning look on Saya's face when she had asked if they were from Blackburn. Not wanting her to ask for a reswap, Serena had lied and said they were store-bought.

"(…um, no, but…)" Admittedly, Tiffany liked the thought of Rochelle hearing from rumors that she was back dating again. "(…just been feeling kinda lonely, I guess. I even got a dog recently. Just gotta be careful walking her outside of campus.)"

'Probably a Great Dane.' thought Serena.

"(But I'd wanna be with someone who's like - I dunno. I don't really know if I want to date another student, since… rumors and everything, right?, I just wish that…)" Tiffany sighed. "(…you know, it really - it really sucks sometimes seeing the type of hate that a lot of lesbians have with us, you know? Like, they just see us as these - these bloodthirsty killers or whatever, but they don't get that we're doing it to keep them safe, right? Do you know what I mean?)"

"(…they're just jealous of us. It doesn't really matter.)" Serena closed her eyes.

"(I guess that's part of it, it's just… it feels weird. Like, and the way it's - okay, so. I was reading this poll that said like - they were surveying people in general, right? And they said that people who - if they've seen a Revenant in real life, like, everybody who saw one supports more funding for Urasaria or whatever. And then a lot of people who've never dealt with one don't. I mean, does it have to get to where like, everyone in the country has seen a Revenant before people start respecting us? Does it have to be that bad before people get it?)"

Too hastily, Serena said: "(That's how it is with trans people.)"

Tiffany nodded and frowned. "(…yeah. And that's sad too. Like, I have a friend who - um, he's female to male, but you know, you'd never guess it by looking at him. He shares this stuff on Facebook about these feminists that say - to people who are male to female - 'oh, you can't be a woman because that's special, that's sacred'. Bitch, I've never felt special for being a woman! Like, you can be a woman and still be meth addict shooting up in gas station bathrooms or whatever. That's not anything special. And you know there's probably bitches around Urasaria like that, too. That's why like - ugh. If I ever run in to anyone like that in real life, I'm gonna make them piss themselves in public or something. That's your fucking bathroom. It just pisses me off. Like, that's who should be getting fucking hate - women who just decide to be cunts and make other people's lives worse. Not us.)"

Bizarrely, Tiffany's vitriol was worse than Serena's had ever been. "(…um. Yeah. I agree.)"

Tiffany nodding, hoping Serena wasn't one of them. She never thought it right that any group not be equal to another. She separated history in to right & wrong sides and tried to be correct in every situation, but she worried a phrase she used today could be offensive next week. Both Urasaria & social media tended to stress her in this way.

"(…ugh. Yeah. Sorry not sorry, I guess.)" said Tiffany.

'(Oh my fucking god.)' thought Serena, closing her eyes.

"(…can I just vent to you for a bit?)" said Tiffany. "(Like, because I keep - I dunno, ever since I mentioned it earlier, I just keep thinking about that… relationship.)"

"(Please don't.)" mumbled Serena.

"(It's - it's not super personal, I-)"

"(- please don't.)"

"(-I - look, it's just - I've been thinking about what I want to say to her when we get back. I've been thinking about it, and - and there's a lot of stuff I want to say to her, so I just wanted to ask you if -)"

"(- I don't want to hear about your fucking relationship problems, okay?)"

"(What's that supposed to mean?)"

"(Ever since we paired up, you don't fucking talk about anything or *anyone* but Rochelle, and it's actually starting to piss me off -)"

"( - you know, if you're going to be such a fucking dick about it, you can just leave and I'll -)"

"( - fine! I'll go tell Mia!)"

Serena stomped out, tentacle slamming the door behind. She went down the hall to Rochelle & Mia's door. She knocked, and Mia answered.

"Serena?"

Serena sighed. "(I'm sorry, ugh - I need you to swap with me.)"

"(What's going on?)" said Rochelle's voice.

"(I just - I need Mia to swap with Tiffany.)"

Mia glanced behind, and nodded to Rochelle as she stepped out with Serena, closing the door. "(Did something happen?)"

"(Yeah.)" muttered Serena, trying to keep her anger going. "(She's just been… ugh. She's just been fucking bitching about Rochelle the entire time. She doesn't even talk about anything else. We got in to an argument because she just - she wouldn't shut up about it.)"

"(…I suppose.)" frowned Mia. "(Will you be alright with Rochelle?)"

"(…yeah.)" Serena sighed. Lately, it'd been feeling like she disliked most people. "(I just - yeah. Sorry. I just - yeah.)"

Mia nodded. "(They needed us to finish by tomorrow, regardless. We'll only be here another day.)"

The two hugged. "(Thanks.)"

◆◆◆

Mia sprayed forward and kept burrowing, ceiling of ice supporting her tunnel as Tiffany walked beside her, checking her map.

"(Few more seconds.)" she muttered.

Mia nodded. Tiffany hadn't spoken any on Rochelle. and Mia didn't try to peel it out of her. Rochelle's telling of their relationship had tinted Mia towards her side, but the past half-year of solving student disputes had taught her to stay objective.

Tiffany poured Contagion's potion in to the dirt. "(I feel hedges.)"

"(Go ahead.)"

Tiffany nodded, and the soils parted for her as she walked right. "(Good luck.)"

Mia glanced up, and a puff of gold disintegrated a hole; up through the burrow she swept -

- to find herself standing on a gazebo in the middle of a circular hedge maze, swift ice replacing the ground. She stepped up to the edges, putting her ear out. Icicles formed on her hands as she lightly pushed the branches forward, testing to see if anyone was on the other side.

On the other end, she felt someone touch the absolute zero chill before she heard them shriek -

- but a swift jet of water shut them up; Mia's golden hand shot through the hedge and the last no one saw of him was his neck pulled through the foliage. She waited a few seconds to see if anyone had reacted, then walked to the entrance to the rest of the maze. Once she was where he had been, she checked the ground for his gun and noted the suppressor, though she knew they didn't actually silence from Yuruko. A puff of golden flame disintegrated it like she'd been ordered to do.

Crouching down, the ground froze to silence her feet as she snuck through the maze. Twenty feet from the exit had a fork in the maze left & one right. Someone's footsteps came near her hearing and she planted her back against the foliage, tri-swarm raid giving her oxygen so she didn't need to breathe.

A man walked in, but if he has seen her he didn't show it. He walked the opposite way from her, and Mia disintegrated a hole underneath the exit so she'd hear him trip if he came back out. She took one step out and got a good view of her target ahead; a set of stairs leading up to the side of a raised plaza. Trees & fountains ran parallel and east of her.

She got her feet under her in a hurry and ran towards the stair, and she dove at the raised edge of the plaza with a golden kick that brought her through the barrier and in to the underground dirt again. Tiffany was already there with two glaze-eyed guards.

A pillar of gold disintegrated one with nothing left but the clothes off her back and Mia redressed herself, sweeping back outside with the other zombie in tow. She glued her limbs to her side like he was walking as they went up the stairs and towards the manor. She kept the tension out of her muscles whenever another guard passed them. The manor was five stories, a minute away northwest and looked like it took ten to get from one side to the other. She saw ten, twenty guards at the main entrance and on the roof.

Their bullets would hurt, but she'd already been told she probably outclassed everyone here. Lately, she was enjoying that.

The zombie tugged on her sleeve and she stopped.

"(What is it?)" she whispered.

"(Raaaange…)" he groaned, relevantly.

Mia sighed. The glint of a rooftop scope looked at her. Another set of stairs was a bit ahead and led to a side-entrance. "(Can you not -)"

- a shriek came from the maze of hedges, and the roar of her zombie's weapon followed as he rushed towards it shouting in Spanish; Mia checked to see if their eyes were pulled away -

- and shoved a few spikes of ice through her chest that made her uniform rip and leak blood, gasping as she staggered over to the side-entrance. She heard more shouting she knew wasn't for her, stumbling up the stairs just as someone rushed down past her.

"(What happened?)" the woman said, glancing back.

"(Someone f-fucking s-shot me.)" grunted Mia, staggering up.

"(Do you need-)"

"( - GO FUCKING DEAL WITH THEM!)"

Mia had a good vocal whip from working with Matoi.

The woman rushed down, and Mia disintegrated the crimson trail once she threw herself through the side-door and in to her first hallway. Ice closed her wounds as she heard the noise fade outside and closed the door.

'Worldwide.' she thought, tracing down the door's hinges and filling it with ice to lock it. She walked up the hall and up a staircase in the next room, hearing someone try to open her frozen door as she came in to another hall.

Down the hall was a set of steps traveling towards her. A shadow pointed towards the stairs and Mia got her back against the wall. When the guard got close, Mia caught him with a frozen knee that smashed an icicle through the back of his head and he staggered five feet back down the hall, knocking over a vase before Mia could run up in time. She knew it was another host or she would've been looking at a corpse right now. He opened his mouth to scream -

- but a flash of golden flame sealed his lips shut and Mia slammed him in to a silent wall of ice. Her grip shot to his right arm, her knee knocking the air out of him as she glanced up the hall -

- and with the strength of Urasaria's presidency, the next scene was instant. Her fingers tightened on his right arm, and as a woman might pull a weed -

- tore his right arm off in a geyser of blood, and a golden flame disintegrated him without a single ash left. Her eyes went over the shattered vase and she didn't waste time before rushing up the hall, ice quelling her noise as she came out to the next room, a few chairs next to a set of double-doors and a hall that led left. Forward would've brought her closer to the target, but she dropped to the ground out of the prior hall's sight as she heard two guards coming up the stairs.

Another tri-swarm raid let her silence her breathing for a minute. Back around the corner, she saw two women standing over the shattered vase mid-mumbling.

"(No, it's my back these days, it's killing me.)" replied one. Her hand was bleeding from picking up the pieces of the vase. "(I went to a doctor for it.)"

"(What'd they say?)"

"(Oh, he gave me something for it. I swear it doesn't do anything for me besides these spasms, though. I tell you, ten more years of this shit and they can just throw me out back and shoot me.)" She sighed. "(I'll go wrap this up.)"

"(You need me to come with you?)"

"(No, it's fine.)" she said, walking Mia's direction. She passed out of the hall and in to the next room. A drop of water she thought was sweat dripped off her neck, and her brow scrunched as she left through the next hall.

Mia took a breath, claws of ice securing her to the ceiling. She swept her legs up and disintegrated her way up to the next floor's room. Two windows led outside and two led inside, and a record player & grand piano were sitting next to a couple of chairs & tables. More guards were patrolling from further in the mansion and about to see her if they passed by, but four gusts of steam fogged up the windows.

On the inner window, a gloved silhouette tried to wipe it clean, then stopped for a few seconds. Gun readied, he opened the door and made a pass through the room that found nothing, even if he couldn't understand why the mist was gone off the glass.

Mia waited from inside the spot she'd disintegrated under the piano's lid. Seconds, minutes passed until she was sure, and she rushed back to her initial hole & crawled back down on to the second-floor ceiling.

Three guards passed underneath her.

Once they were gone, she swept her legs to the ceiling, heels of ice forming to let her peek upside-down in to the southern hall. No new eyes coming, she landed and ran up to the northern double-doors, burning a pinhole through and looking through it. No windows or lights were on, but she sensed it was a dining room, finding another set of double doors at the end because her mind strained to lift a thought too heavy if she tried to fire beyond it.

She checked for any cameras and burnt a larger pinhole. An ice scarab crawled out of her hair.

'Do you see anything?' she thought, helping it enter the hole. She tended to sentient-ize Worldwide.

Someone smacked the scarab and the room's inner walls froze as Mia rushed in to the darkness. All she saw was a spot of motion staggering away from the wall and Mia hit it with a running tackle that sent them both crashing through a table and against a wall. Mia slammed the woman to the frozen floor with a thud and the crack of her shoulders shattering, then pinned her down and put a hand over her mouth before she could scream.

Mia grabbed her face and thrust her thumbs through their eyes. It felt like it went all the way to the back. She jerked her arms and her skull split open like a zipper, and Mia disintegrated the gore off her gloves as she stood.

'Samuel would have loved that.' she thought, relevantly.

"(Maria?)" came a voice from the next room. "(Maria, was that you?)"

Mia had to answer. "(That was me.)"

"(Can you come out, Maria?)"

Mia glanced at the corpse before she disintegrated it, picking her gun up. She was about her height & hair-color and could've swung it. It wouldn't make any difference now, so she opened the door. "(Yes?)"

"(There you are.)" laughed the woman. "(Thought I heard you trip over something.)"

"(I did.)" laughed Mia. "(I'm still a bit clumsy, even with the nightvision.)"

She stifled her frown as the woman gestured her to walk with her. Every step was taking her further from the target, but she hardly could protest now.

"(Right.)" said the woman. "(Even with, uh, even with Twilight?)"

Mia knew what she was doing. "(…Twilight?)"

The woman laughed, stopping at a side-door. "(Just checking you. Guess it's a bit like a Revenant, right?)" She opened the door. "(Let's, uh - I wanted to talk to you anyway. Catch up a bit.)"

Mia stifled her frown as she walked through the door, and in the next instant -

- the barrel of the woman's rifle bashed her head from behind -

- and an expression of unholy terror arose in the woman's face as Mia turned with no reaction or pain. The door slammed shut in Mia's face and Mia lashed out with a whip of scarabs that yanked the woman's face in to her golden hand, and Mia grunted as she felt her eyes melt between her fingers. She threw the woman's corpse to the side. If she was crafty, she could use it for bait -

- and she sighed as a storm of gunfire rose outside; she knew it wasn't because of her.

With no time to waste, Mia started rushing back the way she'd came.

'Serena, why can't you be stealthy?' she thought, sighing as the alarm rose. Running along the wall, she set her left hand to it -

- and a trillion-volt current knocked out every light in the manor, golden flame lighting her path as she kept her run going.

'I should have forced Rochelle and Tiffany to pair up together and gone with Serena myself, I don't care if…' Mia sighed. 'Of course Serena can't be stealthy. She can't even play videogames quietly - she probably tried to shittalk a guard while she was hiding, and…'

Admittedly, she smiled a little, then sighed again.

'God. How am I going to explain that to the government?'

She imagined the conversation. No, they were unable to reach their target before he was executed. An unknown punk had tripped the alarm after shouting at a guard she would give him a wholesale circumcision.

Shouting growing closer, she shook her head as she came up to her waterlogged door and burst out of it, pool of frozen corpses at the main entrance -

- and she frowned to see Rochelle standing at the center of it. Pretending she knew it wasn't Serena to begin with, Mia ran up and the two rushed inside, speaking as they ran.

"( - I - hey.)" winced Rochelle, relevantly - "( - sorry I -)"

"( - have you seen Jolyne?)" said Mia, eyes looking around -

"( - nope.)" winced Rochelle.

Mia frowned as they ran. While grateful Serena hadn't chosen a codename from a Japanese cartoon, it somehow seemed more likely she had left the area entirely than successfully infiltrated the manor. She felt a little guilty over her unconfidence in Serena, especially since she knew her better than Rochelle or Tiffany - but she had never seen *them* wearing Godzilla pajamas & watching an anime where women became stronger the less clothing they wore.

Mia shook her head and rushed up the stairs, glad to see Rochelle matching her pace. Besides Sylvia, she preferred sending her out on contracts over any other fourth-year - she had a good work ethic and never gave any argument, only taking time off from Urasaria for her family.

They passed through the dining room and Rochelle curved right in to another hall first. Mia ran up after her and all she saw was ten white stabs that was Twinfast's spine impaling through a dozen sets of eyes, corpses frozen mid-fall as the two rushed through them.

"(Left up here, right?)" said Rochelle and Mia nodded as they turned.

Three men were standing at the end of the hall. Mia knew they were hosts from their not being terrified. They should've been.

"(Find Paradise.)" muttered Mia and Rochelle nodded, running off.

Mia started stepping up the hall, grinning as she heard more guards block her exit from behind.

"(Watch this carefully.)" she laughed, knowing there wouldn't be an eye left to report it. "(Worldwide.)"

An expression of mortal terror shot through them as a familiar cloud of scarabs wrapped around their queen. Worldwide screeched as they started backing away. Purple walls of fire burst up behind to trap them in with her. The roar of gunfire erupted behind Mia and she didn't turn back because she felt no pain, the bullets enter but not bleed.

"(And I thought these were supposed to harm hosts.)" she laughed. She watched one of the hosts carefully as he started rushing towards her. Ten feet separated the two when something that might've been a knife formed in his hand -

- and a whirl of unnatural & golden metal cleaved his arms off in a geyser of blood. Mia shoved his corpse to the side as a woman might flick a straw and six-feet of scarab-covered president started stomping forward. More purple flames forced them closer to her; behind, a terror was breaking out. Men fled from her and ran in to the quintillion-degree flames, and the two hosts backed away from her, their hands staggering on the walls.

"(You can be a corpse now or in five seconds.)" she grunted as fire filled the hall. Her sword disappeared as the second host ran at her. Green electricity covered his body as he rushed her and she touched him with one electrical finger in the chest that stopped his heart and sent him to the floor.

The last host tried running away. He hit the floor facefirst and his hands crawled up the hall. Mia grabbed his neck and nearly tore it off when she turned him to face her. A cloud of scarabs covered his head and all that was left when they disappeared was a red stump.

She smiled a little, then rushed off to find Rochelle & Tiffany, mid-running down a set of stairs.

"(All, all good?)" said Rochelle as they ran & Mia nodded.

"(Have you seen Jolyne?)" said Mia and Tiffany sighed.

"(No, we - we haven't.)" For a second, Tiffany hoped she was dead, then felt guilty. When she disliked somebody, it was hard not taking it to extremes.

Mia checked her map and frowned as they ran in to no new guards, eventually coming to the room with stairs to the basement. The room was full of cardboard boxes, but Mia felt a presence nearby, as did Rochelle & Tiffany stopping behind her (but not too closely). Cautiously, she nodded to them and ripped a box off the ground -

- and found Serena inside, covered in paint. "(...how did you sneak past everyone?)"

"(You just saw it.)" shrugged Serena, relevantly, standing up.

"(You used a cardboard box?)"

"(Yeah. I just filled up my clothes with whatever dyes I needed for camo, too.)" she said, rainbow snakes licking the paint off. "(Like an octopus.)"

"(…shit. Good idea.)" said Rochelle, and Serena solidly nodded.

"(….right.)" murmured Mia. "(This isn't exactly how they wanted us to do this, but…)"

"(Hope they didn't kill him when they - yeah.)" winced Rochelle.

"(A bunch of guys tried to come down, but I just dissolved them.)" said Serena, relevantly.

"(Great.)" muttered Tiffany bitterly. When they returned to Urasaria, she was going to ask around for a few more Serena-rumors.

The four stepped down the basement stairs. A golden flame lit the floor -

- and a green wall of ice burst up just in time to block the wall of gunfire coming from the other side; the four swept behind it as more bullets flew towards them -

"( - we're here to help you!)" shouted Mia, seeing their target at the other end & groaning as she tried to remember the phrase - "( - do you know when the train is coming?!)"

- and received nothing but another storm of bullets for her trouble, ice wall starting to crack but more invisible scarabs reinforcing it as the four spoke.

"(I - that's the right guy, right?)" sighed Rochelle, relevantly. "(Is he mind-controlled?)"

Serena groaned, no cup or jacket for her rainbow snakes t vomit a flashbang in to. "(I can try sleeping gas, but -)"

"( - not here.)" said Mia, head shaking as another round of gunfire entered the wall -

"( - why the hell is he acting like this?)" winced Tiffany.

Serena nodded to herself, then whispered to Mia. The two rushed up to the basement wall, and as rainbow snakes burrowed in to it -

- Serena pulled Mia with her as she swept back, head rapidly shaking - "( - there's - fucking mines in there - can't burrow -)"

"( - Armory.)" muttered Mia. "(Of course.)" She peered through her wall and saw a dozen turrets set up at the other end, target hiding behind one firing; a golden wall of flame burst up ahead -

- and right through it went the bullets, blackened but still hissing as they hit the wall of ice. The four sighed and their backs hit the frozen cover just as a rocket blasted it -

- and the explosion shattered a hole right through it, more bullets cracking it & making it shatter as another round of gunfire flew at them -

- but a swift sweep of Rochelle's spine froze a solid wall of bullets in midair, bald butch still at the front and wincing as more bullets hit her wall of ammunition. "(Still - still going to get pushed back, but -)"

- inch by inch, the pressure of the fire forced them back, more missiles blasting holes in the wall that another dozen rounds filled up again -

"( - maybe - I can defuse the mines?)" winced Tiffany, and Mia's head shook, vocal whip threatening -

"( - it's safer here - we know what's here -)"

"( - yeah, but -)"

"( - STAY BEHIND ME!)" shouted Mia, and the three swept behind her as she aimed her palms forward. She'd hated yelling orders in her first-year, but admittedly found it amusing now. "( - Solar Beam!)"

- a blue beam erupted from her palms, scorching ray disintegrating the wall of bullets as she swept her aim carefully -

- and disintegrated every last turret without a single ash left, man hitting the ground just in time to dodge as the blue beam pierced the wall above his head -

- and disintegrated a clear hole through it, mines not triggering because they'd died before they could. Mia ordered the three to stay behind as she started stomping forward, scarabs readied with the man crawling on the floor ahead. "(Why are you attacking us?)"

He glanced up at her, and in the next instant -

- she felt a dozen turrets form aiming at her back -

- but the next scene was instant. She swept right as a green ice wall burst up behind, and in to the frozen barrier went the -

- rockets, shattering her wall in to a thousand shards -

- that sliced through his throat in a way that wasn't pretty and left him with a gasp that might've been a last word.

Mia turned to see the turrets disappear, then sighed, tapping the device she'd been given. She didn't feel as strong now.

◆◆◆

The following day, the four returned to Mia's office for debriefing, their normal Revenants, appearances, and one of the government agents, back.

"You were forced to kill him, then?" he said.

"Yes." sighed Mia. "Why did he attack us? I thought he was working with us."

"If you work for the government, you might get to find out some day."

The four groaned.

"…uh, does that mean it was intentional?" muttered Rochelle as he spoke.

"Regardless, I'll report it back to my superior. We'll contact you again if another opportunity opens."

The wall shimmered behind him, and he was gone.

"Never again." muttered Serena, and Mia sighed.

"Every time."

"…this is even worse than last time, man." muttered Rochelle. "At least then, I mean, you know, we didn't know anything, but they actually told us why we were doing it this time."

"I'm gonna sleep." murmured Serena, and Mia nodded as she stood with her.

Tiffany looked at Rochelle. "…uh, hey. Can we talk?"

Mia looked at Rochelle, who nodded. Mia & Serena left the room, and the door closed.

"I just want to say something." said Tiffany.

And she couldn't think of what it was.

[END OF ARC: SPLITTING UP AT THE BORDER]