Natasha had enjoyed going home on the first day of being a host and dropping the surprise right on her father's doorstep, along with her first paycheck that she had spent on protein powder & mass gainer. There was something that, though she wouldn't have admitted it, amused her about how he'd tempered his lecture towards her - but to hell if he still thought she was an immature brat. She no longer needed to worry about homework or tests - if she fought well, she would do well, even if she was a little scared.

By that March, she had moved close to Urasaria, and in August she arrived at Urasaria's gate. A crowd of students was gathered outside, as it hadn't opened yet. She thought it a little dangerous, but went off to the side and waited, annoyed that she had clearly dressed too formally. Yet again, there just always was -that- Natasha.

A woman came out of the crowd over to her. She was dressed less formally than Natasha (as stated earlier), red hair & a sundress.

"Hey, you're a new student, right?" she smiled and Natasha nodded. "Cool. I'm Olivia. They told us to just wait a minute, so."

"Oh, um - I'm Natasha. Um, you're a first-year too, right?"

"Yep! I just got here a few minutes ago and was looking around, and uh…" She leaned next to Natasha. "…doesn't look like there's many guys in our class, right?"

"I guess."

Natasha had no particular like nor dislike of men. Bizarrely, they were the ones who complimented her shoulders more than women, and she always found that it was the weaker ones that gave her the most trouble. Mostly she just avoided them.

"Kinda nice though, right?" said Olivia. "More uh, more lesbians and all that."

Olivia had already placed the faces of a few in her head, thinking she'd chat them up after. She doubted working at Urasaria would be much fun, and she'd go crazy if she couldn't relieve her stress one way or another. There were plenty of opportunities here, and like the ones back home, she was sure she would add one or a few more to her tally.

"…uh. But yeah, sorry." laughed Olivia. "Sorry, just - you know. Girls."

"Um, girls." nodded Natasha, utterly clueless.

"Yeaaah. So, do you like, do you work out?" chimed Olivia, hand aiming for Natasha's arm.

"Um, sometimes."

"Man, I can tell. I mean like - me, I can like - I can barely get off the couch on my own." She laughed. "Even uh, with the Revenant."

The gate opened, and Natasha nodded as she stepped inside with Olivia & down the hall.

"Maybe you can teach me sometime, huh?" said Olivia, and a bit of unease came up in Natasha; she wasn't used to attention from any women. She had seen her eyeing a few in the crowd earlier, too. Wasn't this supposed to be a military school?

"Um, maybe."

Olivia smiled, but could tell Natasha was nervous - she probably thought she was a little forward. "Maybe, uh, sounds good. What's your Revenant, anyway?"

"Um, it's called M-"

" - sick bicep vein, homie." said a muscular man as he passed by, nodding to Natasha, who laughed.

"Thanks."

For all of her taking up lifting to attract women, she heard a hell of a lot more from men - something lifting men knew as well.

"What's it called?" said Olivia as they came up to the arena's doors.

"Um, I'll - I'll tell you after. Just want to focus on this." nodded Natasha.

She cleared her throat quietly as they entered the arena, second-years already lined up ahead. Hirogane was standing between the lines with a woman neither had seen before, small as a hummingbird and looking just as delicate. In bored order, he relayed his role as medic and their's as proteges, no interruption coming like the two years prior.

After, he nodded to the woman. "Go ahead."

"Thank you, Hirogane." She nodded as she stepped up. "My name is Emilia. I come here from Germany's academy, under the recommendation of, erm, President Swarm. If you need someone to act as a travelling medic for you, please come see me or Hirogane in the infirmary. I don't have much experience fighting, and my English is not very good, but - but I will learn quickly."

"Go ahead and show your Revenant."

"Yes." she nodded. "Flickendecke." A ball of yarn & two sewing needles appeared in her hands, and she started weaving a cloth. "When you enter the infirmary, I will make sure there's a full stock of zese patches for the day. Please come see me if dey are out. Wrap it around your wound, and it should heal after a minute."

"She can't heal amputations yet." said Hirogane. "Come find me for that."

"Yes." she nodded. "And, erm - thank you for allowing me to work here. I look forward to meeting all of you."

Natasha noticed she was staring a bit too long at her and threw her eyes away. She was always a visually-inclined woman. Being butch, she always felt a bit of attraction to feminine women - whether it was innate or just what was expected of her, she didn't know. Yet something always stopped her before her thoughts went too far - perhaps her last relationship.

Hirogane nodded to the line of second-years & stepped off with Emilia.

A black-haired woman wearing a blue & black uniform stepped up from the line. "Okay. My protege is… Natasha Flagg."

"T-That's me." nodded Natasha, hoping she was supposed to step up as she did. At least the two were matched in formality.

"Come with me." said the woman, smiling as they walked off. "I'm Naomi - Blank Slate."

She had changed her outfit to one more professional, being a mentor now, and secretly had modeled it after Kate's. If anyone projected the image of a true adult to Naomi, it was either Kate or Mia. She had seen the former laugh plenty over the summer, but she had a mind well-suited for investigation and often figured three steps ahead of even Julia. If she ever stopped using torture, Naomi might've grown to like her.

"Um, Natasha." nodded Natasha, relevantly. "Ma'am."

"You uh, you don't have to call me that." chimed Naomi. "So um, new student and all, right? Did you get your house key already?"

"Um, n-not yet." said Natasha. "I - I didn't know when I was supposed to get it."

"It's cool." Naomi smiled. "So, you can decide once you see your house, but - I think we should live together. I have a spare room and all that. The one-star housing is pretty bad, so - yeah."

"Um, okay." nodded Natasha. She probably would've accepted any order from an older student. "Maybe - that sounds good, yeah."

"Cool. So - let's get started. What's your Revenant?"

"Um, right." nodded Natasha. "They - they said at the place I bought it that they had to do some stuff to it, so - I don't know if it's really weak or whatever, but -"

" - just show me." laughed Naomi.

"There's a-a lot of stuff it can do, I think. Um." Natasha held her hand out. "Meteorology."

Lava dripped out of her hand, and Naomi tried not to show her surprise. "Oh! Uh - so, what's it do?"

"C-Control over weather. There's only a few - I think there's only a few things I can do right now, but -"

" - that's cool." nodded Naomi. "I - I bet it's pretty strong, yeah! Don't worry. What else can you do?"

"This." Her lava turned to snow. "And, um, wind, kinda. Just gusts of wind right now, I think. Um, where's the bathroom?" said Natasha, and Naomi pointed back to the entrance.

"Third door on the right."

"Okay." nodded Natasha and walked off. Naomi leaned against the wall, taking her phone out once Natasha left.

(Naomi) "I just got assigned my protege and you're not gonna believe what their Revenant is. :D"

She put her phone in her pocket, and was surprised when it vibrated.

(Julia) "what is it?"

(Naomi) "wait, aren't you supposed to be working?"

(Julia) "no, I got a new job last week"

(Julia) "hollywood agency said they were going to hire me, and after I moved to California they tell me they're only looking for interns"

(Julia) "this is what I get for following my dream! should've been a criminal instead!"

Naomi laughed and relayed her weatherwoman protege.

◆◆◆

"It's Meteorology?" laughed Mia, and Naomi nodded, sat in her office an hour later with Serena.

"Yeah. She said - I guess they told her it got weakened or whatever, yeah."

"Thankfully." winced Serena, and Mia nodded.

"I told them to use Xenocyclin on it. Let me know if she has any trouble."

"Sure thing." said Naomi. "She seems, like, I dunno - kinda nervous, actually. She'll probably get better, though."

"…um." muttered Serena. "Meteorology is from the same league as Worldwide, right?" (Mia nodded.) "Is that dude going to be after her?"

"What dude?" said Naomi, and Mia paused.

"I… don't - believe so, but…" She frowned. "… he was only interested in Worldwide, I assume."

"What are you talking about?" said Naomi.

"There's - someone who's been tracking me." sighed Mia. "His name is Akira."

"Yeah." said Serena. "Remember when I told you about - um, my first trip with Mia?" (Naomi nodded.) "Yeah. He was the one who, um - I guess he was the one sending the Revenants or whatever. Right?"

"Yes." nodded Mia. "And he - when we were in Japan, he told me to never have Xenocyclin used on Worldwide, because…" She frowned. "…someone would kill me if I did."

"…man." muttered Naomi. "That's like - that's cryptic as shit." She laughed nervously. "Uh. Maybe I should - maybe I should go check on her, just in case."

"I - I believe he's only interested in Worldwide, but - let me know if he shows up." nodded Mia, as did Naomi as she stood.

"Yeah. I mean - like you said, probably, probably, uh, nothing, but - just to be sure. I'll let you know, yeah. What does he look like?"

"He's bald." said Serena, and Naomi nodded.

"Okay. Cool, um. You got my request, right?" she said, glancing at Mia, who nodded.

"It's already done."

"Nice. Um, bye." she said and left.

"…she doesn't normally dress like that, does she?" said Mia and Serena's head shook.

"No, um. She kinda wanted to dress like Kate to try to be - professional, I guess."

Mia's eyes pointed to Serena's spiked jacket and the two laughed.

"She's not as - I mean, we're not as close as you and me, but I think she'll do good…uh." Serena scratched her neck. "She wanted me to ask, too. Is Samuel single?"

Mia shrugged. "I'm starting to think he might be asexual."

◆◆◆

Over the next week, Naomi had learned imitating Kate was a hell of a job & had brought back her usual pastel shirt & jeanshorts a few days in.

She had tried to lighten up around Natasha, but was finding her protege stubborn so far; she spoke fine & seemed relatively normal, but hadn't let up with calling her ma'am. Naomi had no desire to be one of those mentors who yelled orders at their protege and treated them more like someone under their command than a friend; it hadn't been how Serena had taught her, and she doubted she had the stoicism to pull it off.

Natasha had resolved to take better notes than in highschool, but still felt out of place again. She was beginning to accept her position as that Natasha, and figured that at the least, she could avoid making a fool of herself in her first month. It made little sense to her why her recruiter had suggested the uniform to her when no one else wore one, but it would've been embarrassing to undo it now. If she was one thing, it was square-headedly stubborn.

Mia having continued the first-week hero-name policy, Natasha chose her's as Natural Disaster, figuring herself one too.

She sat down in her class Friday, and Olivia came in a few minutes after, sitting next to her as she had since the first day. Her breath smelling like it'd drifted through a brewery, she said: "I got in my first fight last night." She grinned. "Me and my mentor went out to this - like, some guy was out setting a bunch of restaurants on fire or whatever, right? Did you hear about that?"

"Um, no."

"Dang." she laughed. "It was kinda weird though, since he like - like, he just -exploded- when I killed him or whatever, right? In to this huuuuge explosion of blood, it was super weird. I mean, my mentor just figured it was part of his Revenant or whatever." She nodded, and after Natasha didn't respond: "Uh, so what about you?"

"Um, I haven't gone out yet." winced Natasha.

She'd been starting to find Naomi's optimism annoying, repeatedly telling Natasha her Revenant was strong & she would do well fighting. Why would she need reassurance if it was true?

"Whaaat? You gotta - oh, you gotta do it soon, c'mon." laughed Olivia. "Like - sorry if I stink a bit, like - that's why, cause I was celebrating after. If you want, like - I bet I could go with you and your mentor too, right? Get a trio going?"

About the last thing Natasha wanted was Naomi & Olivia in the same room together. "Um, maybe."

Olivia laughed and Natasha smelled her breath again, noting she must've been celebrating this morning, too.

"Plus like, I dunno." said Olivia. "I bet your mentor's probably funner than mine, right? Is she the chick with those like - the pastel colors and stuff?"

"Naomi."

"Yeah. She looks cool." said Olivia, noting to herself that if Natasha failed, she might try to pick her next. "Uh, you don't have an extra room, do you?"

"I - huh?"

"Just kidding - but seriously, my mentor kinda sucks." she winced. "Like, I dunno, she's just - she just takes everything way too seriously. She didn't even want to let me go out to get beer or whatever, just total like - 'oh, don't be excited, you'll be doing this hundreds of times.'" She laughed. "Like, I just killed someone for the first time and that's what she says to me?"

"Um, I guess she's kinda right." shrugged Natasha and Olivia laughed.

"C'mon. I mean sure, I guess, but she doesn't have to be a party pooper about it. What's the point of doing this stuff if we can't have some fun?"

"…I guess. Um." mumbled Natasha. In her first week, she had gone from considered Urasaria a military school to a college that would go like her highschool years had gone - friendless, disconnected and with poor grades. She'd regret how undisciplined she had been back then, but was starting to think she made a worse choice. "I dunno. I just - I just kinda thought everything was going to be way more serious here, or that I'd kinda have more structure."

"Yeah. I mean, you've got a super broad Revenant too, right? The weather one?"

"Yeah." She had taken meticulous notes on her section of class, and admittedly found it more useful than Naomi.

Their professor (for all the learning they had, which was little) came in sighing, and Natasha realized one seat was empty. "I have an announcement to make."

◆◆◆

Natasha went home that day to Naomi smiling at the door. "I have an announcement to make."

"What?" winced Natasha.

"So - you've been doing good with training, but - I wanna make sure you get experience soon, right? So Monday, we'll respond to the first call I get and uh, deal with some criminals. Right?"

Natasha's head and stomach started to reel with sickness. "Um - M-Monday?"

"Yeah." chimed Naomi. "Don't worry - I'll keep you safe, right? I mean, you've seen how strong Avalanche is, right?"

Natasha took a deep breath. "Um, okay. I just - feeling a bit nervous because someone in my class and - yeah um sorry yeah."

"It's - it's okay." laughed Naomi, having grown used to Natasha's rapid talking habit already. "It's - it'll just be super easy and I'll make sure to keep you safe, right?"

"…yeah. Um. Can - can we train a bit more, though?" winced Natasha. "I just - Meteorology's a really broad Revenant and - I just want to make sure they I - I know what to do, right? S-So I can - do good and all that."

"I - yeah." nodded Naomi quick, putting her hand on Natasha's shoulder. "You've just gotta be calm, right? I was - uh, I mean - I was pretty nervous my first few weeks too, but - gotta get you experience now, right?"

"U-Um, maybe." winced Natasha, moving away. "I just - I dunno, my - my Revenant is pretty broad and everything and I already get kinda nervous naturally and yeah."

"…yeah." Naomi nodded. She figured this was one of those experiences she would've known better if she wasn't amnesiac - after all, she had technically been in a few fights while dazed. "Okay. So - just stay calm, uh. We can train a bit more, right? Would that help?"

"Y-Yes."

"Coolio." she smiled. "Okay. I'm gonna - we'll train for another week, and then we have to go out hunting on Monday, right?"

"O-Okay."

◆◆◆

"Okay." chimed Naomi the next Monday, the two in a side room & the stone woman with a vat of acid & hose at the ready. "So, acid Revenants are, uh - really common for some reason." (Natasha nodded, relevantly.) "How are you gonna counter that?"

"Um, can I check my notes?"

Naomi laughed. "No-no, c'mon. You can't check your notes in a fight, right? Think. You have lava, snow, and wind, right?"

"…um. Lava doesn't work because - if it's liquid, then it turns in to gas."

"Does it?"

"D-Doesn't it?"

"Do you want to test it?"

"N-No, um. Snow cools it down, but… then it just corrodes through the snow. And wind doesn't work."

"Are you sure about that?" said Naomi. She'd read online about the Socratic method, figuring it would work well for Natasha. She liked that quote about true knowledge being not knowing much, too.

◆◆◆

She had decided to give it as homework for Natasha, and was more structured the next day.

"Um, what are we doing today?" said Natasha as they walked up the steps to the second-year's building.

"Just some accuracy stuff." chimed Naomi. "I set up a, a bunch of targets for you to hit with your wind and stuff. Does that sound good?"

"Okay." Natasha nodded as a woman with a face permanently split by a scowl stepped out of the building, slime-like arms solidifying as she stomped past the two.

Naomi glanced back at her, and Olivia stepped out a few seconds later.

"Hey, Natasha." she chimed as she passed by.

"H-Hi." said Natasha, hoping Naomi wouldn't ask who she was.

"Come along!" shouted a Russian & female voice behind the two. "We don't have all day!"

"You have Viktoria?" said Naomi, glancing back.

It amused her how poor Viktoria's mentorship was likely going. From what little she had seen of her this year, she was probably grumbling about how no one was listening to all her answers to the world's problems. Naomi never did understand how a woman like that found anything happy.

"Yeeep." winced Olivia, vaguely waving to her. "Do you know her?"

Naomi frowned. "…I do. At least uh, swap week is next week, right?"

"Yep. Someone else can deal with her for a week."

Natasha noted with some relief Olivia's breath was better.

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

◆◆◆

Friday, the two were back in the room of acid.

"Ready?" said Naomi, aiming the hose at Natasha, full bag of Flickendecke's patches readied in her other hand.

"Yes." nodded Natasha, and in the next instant -

- a stream of acid shot towards her -

" - Meteorology!" she shouted, throwing a ball of snow forward; and in to the frozen projectile went the acid one end but not out the other, Naomi nodding as as she stopped the spray, only a few drops of acid hitting Natasha as the snowball hit the ground.

"Good job." chimed Naomi. "How'd you do that?"

"I formed - um, there was lava inside of it, so - the snowball can dilute the acid once the lava melts it." said Natasha, taking one of the patches. "Was that what I was supposed to do?"

"…um. Kinda." chimed Naomi. "But - you have to throw it right at that angle to do that, right? That's a little dangerous to do in a real fight."

"…I know, but…" mumbled Natasha. It seemed to her she always had trouble thinking for herself.

"But - but you did good! But you know, you can actually just use your lava for it." said Naomi. "Because - so, the way I'm thinking - because it's kinda already liquid, right, the way you do it? So it already dilutes it before it can become gas."

"…oh. Um." said Natasha. "I'm not really sure why the snow isn't melting, either."

"…um. It probably has to do with the temperature." smiled Naomi. "But that's good. I think you're almost ready, right?"

"I-I guess."

◆◆◆

Saturday morning, Natasha woke up and went out to Naomi in the living room, dressed like Kate again.

"Um, what are we doing today?" she said.

"Just taking a break today." chimed Naomi. "Just uh - make sure you study your notes really hard today. You know what I mean?"

Natasha nodded, but frowned once she went back to her room. She didn't like surprises - it worsened her anxiety, and though she tried her best to study, it frustrated her not knowing what Naomi was up to now.

A few minutes later, Naomi knocked on her door and she answered it.

"We're responding to a call." Naomi smiled, gesturing for Natasha to follow her.

"W-We what?" panted Natasha, and Naomi nodded as they walked out.

"Don't worry. Just stay calm and remember everything we practiced, right?"

Admittedly, Natasha wasn't one to discount Naomi's authority, but what exactly had they practiced? "Are - are you sure?"

"Yeah." nodded Naomi. "Just one fight - I got a ton of patches to heal you, and it's way easier than you think, okay? Since you have a strong Revenant, too."

Naomi started talking about something called the Eastern League, but Natasha tuned her out. Her teaching style was vaguely irritating, along with the constant reassurance - Natasha would've been fine hearing it once, but her mind was going in the other direction having to hear it so often. If she was one thing, it was -

" - ready?" said Naomi, pressing against the gas station's door, and Natasha nodded as she huddled up behind.

"R-Ready."

Avalanche's arm formed, and in the next instant -

- one punch bashed the door down, and in to the store swept the women -

' - fuck.' thought Naomi as soon as she saw their foe rummaging through the register on the other end. 'First fucking fight and - fuck.' "Natasha, be - be careful, okay?"

"O-Okay."

Naomi tapped Flickendecke's patches in her pocket, and in the next instant -

- she stomped down; a fissure shot through the floor and towards the man -

- who swept with the speed of light back against the wall.

'No underground stardust.' thought Naomi, and she heard something loud crashing outside; Natasha glanced back to see a meteor landing in the gas station's lot, stardust leaking out of its pores, and in the next instant -

- Naomi ripped the door off the ground and hurled it towards their foe; he instinctively threw his hand out as her stone fingers snapped -

- and the roof collapsed in on him -

- but the rubble floated around him like it'd hit a zero-gravity field, Naomi nodding with her theory confirmed -

- and she yanked Natasha with her just in time to avoid a meteor shower striking right where she'd just been; with no time to waste, she rushed down the aisle right with her protege-turned-cargo beside, Natasha shrieking as another meteor narrowly missed her -

" - can you do that?" said Naomi as they ran -

" - w-what?" panted Natasha -

" - make sure none of the dust hits us - use your wind, right?" said Naomi, store's wall up ahead as they ran, and in the next instant -

- one meteor smashed through the roof and landed right ahead of them -

- but a swift gust of wind blasted it right through the wall and outside; Naomi laughed as the two rushed through the sizzling hole and out to the lot, waiting until they were twenty feet away to turn. Whispering to Natasha for a plan, her protege nodded as Naomi aimed her stone palm back through the hole -

- and a dozen lava-infused stone bullets erupted from her palm, concrete fists forming in the walls to punch them further in -

- and Naomi laughed as she heard a shriek of agony a second later, then frowned.

"U-Um, should we go inside?" said Natasha and Naomi shook her head.

"No, he has a … zero gravity field, it shouldn't have - gotta be a trap."

Natasha nodding, the two backed up to the edge of the lot, tanks of petrol left & store straight ahead; Naomi's stone fingers snapped -

- and the entire store collapsed in on itself, bubbles of lava poking out of the concrete ruins.

'I made lava with Mia, but Natasha's heat… probably isn't strong enough yet.' thought Naomi, and in the next instant -

- a hundred meteors burst out of the rubble & in to the air, and as they started to rain down -

- Natasha blinked stupidly at them, barely hearing Naomi shouting for her snow -

- and a dome of snow formed over the two with a stone layer inside, extraterrestrial projectiles smashing through the snow but unable to penetrate the hard center; at Naomi's side, Natasha quivered -

" - it's - it's okay, just stay focused." nodded Naomi, patting Natasha's back as their stone igloo started to crack, superheated water leaking in -

- a gust of wind threw it back where it belonged outside, flying through the cracks -

- and Naomi paused as she heard the meteor shower suddenly halt outside, observing how sharp Natasha's wind had been when thinned. Being a good fighter required being a good observer, especially with a narrow Revenant like Avalanche. She snapped her stone fingers and the wall lowered, lot outside filled with meteors leaking stardust -

- and one striking the tanks of gas; the explosion erupted outward -

- the next scene was instant. A dome of stone burst up around them, and a dome of snow followed, another stone layer completing the frozen sandwich -

- and the two clutched their eyes & ears as the explosion tore through the entire lot outside, hundreds of meteors shattering the concrete with a horrific noise filling their ears as Naomi opened her eyes, Avalanche keeping the walls standing but starting to crack -

- and a blast of superheated water tore hrough and nearly melted her left eye out of its socket; she grunted as she staggered back and shoved Natasha to the ground, bits of concrete flying towards her eyes -

- but one snap turned them to dust before they could hit her protege, swift Flickendecke patch repairing her face before Natasha could see what the damage was. She snapped her fingers again and the stone walls went down. A demolished scene met her formerly melted stare, entire lot ruined and spikes of concrete jutting out of the ground -

- with their foe running away on a still-standing sidewalk left & a hundred feet away; the two rushed in pursuit, shattered concrete forming a bridge for the two as they ran.

'Why did she h-hit me?' winced Natasha, relevantly, and as they came up to the sidewalk -

- Naomi yanked Natasha back, and her stone arm snapped to stitch up the cracks in the pavement, nodding as the replaced concrete started sizzling and the two kept their rush going again.

"It's - he has some underground and - the stardust is really hot and reactive -" said Naomi - " - okay?"

"O-Okay." panted Natasha as they ran. A line of power poles was at their right, a hundred feet separating them & their foe; above, one meteor hit the line -

- and exploded in a shower of electrical sparks -

- but a geyser of dirt burst out of the ground and swallowed it alive, two catching pace to their foe turning left & rushing on to the road, the first of two in that direction.

"Ground beats electricity." chimed Naomi, relevantly. As their foe rushed on to the second road with another sidewalk ahead, Naomi laughed as she saw a truck approaching from the right; she stopped and flashed her badge to it, and as their foe hit the road running -

- a wall of stone burst up ahead, and in to the sudden barrier he stumbled -

- but Naomi sighed as the truck got caught in his zero-gravity field before it could ram him through, and in the next instant, a cloud of stardust formed in his hands -

- and in the next instant, a horrific shriek erupted from him as a spike of asphalt went all the way through him from below -

- which melted as a blast of Natasha's lava hit it, and off stumbled their foe, cursing as he hit the sidewalk gasping.

" - I - sorry! S-Sorry sorry -" panted Natasha -

" - it's - cool." winced Naomi, figuring she had probably frustrated Serena a few times too. Inexperienced protege with her, the two ran after the man, and as they passed over the hole Natasha had melted, Naomi glanced down -

- and saw it was filled with stardust; one meteor formed above her -

- forcing Naomi to punch & shatter it before it could hit its temperamental child; Naomi winced as the immense heat melted the top layer off of her arm, stone sizzling as they rushed on to the sidewalk, turning to face their foe still slowly running fifty feet ahead, power lines at their left now.

She whispered another plan to Natasha as they kept their pursuit going, and as he threw another cloud of stardust back -

- a swift gust of wind blasted it away and in to his zero-gravity field, and as he threw another cloud of stardust back -

- a swift gust of wind blasted it away and in to his zero-gravity field. The two halted and frowned, and Naomi didn't understand what he was doing until she saw a bit of dust corroding a hole in the ground -

- and her realization was instant.

'He's creating an underground reaction.' she thought and glanced back to the gas station, seeing a bit of gasoline about to drip on to a bit of stardust, new explosion impending underneath them - ' - fuck, can't fucking stitch inside that field and -'

- a final cloud of dust hit the fuse -

- but the next scene was instant. Naomi ripped a power line out of the ground and swung it down -

- and their foe shrieked in agony as the enormous cloud of electricity claimed his entire body, charring his skin as he threw out another puffs of dust -

- but only triggered a second round of pain, screaming horrifically as his flesh burned; meteors began crashing through every line of power in the area, constant storm of electrical arcs erupting as the lights went down, a dozen meteors forming over Naomi & Natasha -

- but the next scene was instant.

" - Avalanche!" shouted Naomi, ripping a slab of concrete out of the ground and throwing it up, thin tubes forming to guide -

" - M-Meteorology!" shouted Natasha, swift gusts of wind sharpening as they flew through the tubes -

- and slicing every last meteor to bits & sending their corpses back towards the man, shards of meteorites flying in his zero-gravity field and slicing his face. Naomi laughed as a done of snow formed over him, trapping him in with the space rocks of his own design, cold barrier already starting to sizzle on the inside.

"Just keep it up." chimed Naomi. "He'll drown."

"O-O-Okay." panted Natasha, watching Naomi stomp, and sending a few shards of stone inside as they heard him gurgling to death within; no fun to waste, Naomi rushed up with her stone arm scraping the ground, spikes gathering on her knuckles for one momentum-fueled punch through the snow -

- that she didn't even need to see inside to know how hard it had landed, zero-gravity barely slowing her and a few teeth hanging off of Avalanche's fist. Field of gravity finally going down, she saw their for staggering back and collapsing to the ground -

" - S-Stardust -" he gagged, stardust covering his body & corroding through the ground, and in to the sudden burrow he fell -

" - Ava-"

- a meteor smashed through her arm & nearly snapped in half; she grunted as the immense heat melted through her stone, fingers snapping as their foe fell twenty feet underground -

- and a fist of hardened dirt burst through his back & out his chest in a geyser of blood, with his still-beating heart gripped between the dirt fingers, and they knew that he was dead. Naomi took a deep breath and applied Flickendecke's patches, new stone forming over her wounds as Natasha came up.

"Is - i-is that it?" panted Natasha.

"All ... all good." Naomi grinned, patting Natasha's back. "Good job. First fight down, right?" She tapped her foot and the ground brought his corpse up to her, dirt fist still clutching his heart. "Okay, so ... I'm gonna scan, okay? Do you know what that is?"

"N-No." mumbled Natasha.

Naomi started explaining it to her, and she thought about how many people had probably seen her standing still for that last minute. She wondered if anyone had ever looked so stupid in their first fight.

◆◆◆

The following Monday, the new pair separated at the arena.

"Everyone ready?" said Naomi in the second-year line, looking down at her tablet as they nodded. "Coolio. Uh, so I have... Olivia."

"That's me." chimed Olivia, waving as she went off with Naomi. "Bye, Natasha."

Natasha smiled, but saw a second-year woman frowning at her, then glancing at her tablet.

"Natural Disaster." she said in a heavy Russian accent. "Come." (Natasha came.) "My name is Viktoria Zamolodchikova - Toxicity."

'Oh no.' thought Natasha. "Natasha Flagg - Natural Disaster. M-ma'am."

"Mmhm. Your Revenant is Meteorology - control over weather. You were born on April 4th, 2002. You have a latex allergy, think that I'm Russian when I was born in Belarus, and you lived in Michigan until you were ten years old-"

"-I - wait, how do you know that?"

"It's part of my Revenant. Be glad I'm not penetrating too deeply."

Viktoria glanced to her protege Olivia, and sighed to see her still looking at Natasha.

'Two weeks in and she's already trying to be plucked. She'll end up with every woman on campus's fingers inside of her if I don't watch her.'

"Come, let's train. Do what I tell you to do." she said, walking to the wall.

She was not a woman of a playful nature. She'd never done alcohol or drugs, and she took it as a rigid law that if something tasted good she should spit it out.

"What weather can you cause from here?" said Viktoria, pulling a list of natural disasters from her pocket & handing it to Natural Disaster. She had already learned every Revenant in Natasha's year, and had papers for every possibility.

"…um… I-I can do lava, snow, and - and wind, I think."

"And the others?"

"…um. I'm - I'm not really sure, sorry. I'm just - kinda inexperienced and stuff so I - I, yeah."

"Everyone starts inexperienced. It's whether you have the head on your shoulders to use it, yes?"

Natasha nodded, hoping Viktoria couldn't read her mind too deeply. She demonstrated her elements, and Viktoria's eyes never moved. Natasha saw her already as a personification of the type of mentor she had expected from Urasaria, critically judging her every move and lecturing her later about her errors.

"Is that your elements, then?" said Viktoria. (Natasha nodded nervously.) She checked off a few lines on her paper. "Three, then. Presumably you'll grow in to the others, if it is control over weather. Did you have it since birth?"

"No, um, ma'am, they - they used something on it to make it weaker."

"A professional Revenant, then. Give me a minute to write this down."

Natasha glanced back and saw the doors open, then looked away as a white-haired woman wearing an obsidian beak came inside. Viktoria bowed her head as she walked up.

"Everything alright?" said the woman.

"Yes, President Swarm. We were going to train for the next hour and test her Revenant. Is there anything I may do for you?"

Her deferent tone amused Natasha, but she noted up close there were dark purple marks underneath the obsidian mask's eyes.

"…er, no, that's alright." nodded President Swarm. "I was just checking on everyone."

"Thank you." nodded Viktoria, and the mystery white-haired woman went off.

"…uh. Was that Mia?" said Natasha.

"President Swarm, you mean. She's a good woman, a good hero, and a good president."

Viktoria knew absolutely nothing about Mia, and had said the same about Matoi last year. She figured people ended up where they ought to be in life and had little desire to question authority. Unbeknownst to her, Mia would've hated this in her.

She saw some other mentor & protege pair giggling and shook her head. What an unfortunate fact that most mentors were poor at their jobs - all she had to do was take a look at the leaderboards to confirm it. Otstoy was hardly a Revenant that should've done well, but no matter, she'd mold Natasha in to shape & hope some of it solidified before she went back to Naomi.

◆◆◆

The next morning, Viktoria had requested Natasha meet her in a sideroom in the early morning, and Natasha had been grateful not to run in to Olivia on the way over. Olivia had spoken to her plenty in her classes, but something always seemed ulterior in her motives.

"Ah." said Viktoria as Natasha walked in, list on the wall & four mannequins in the room. "Ten minutes early. Here. I spent last night drafting these up for you after yesterday. Do them for me."

Natasha nodded. She had woken up enough in the early morning back when she was first gaining her muscles, sacrificing her sleep for size and a squat rack she didn't have to share with anyone.

"Um, start with this one, right?" Natasha pointed to the leftmost mannequin and Viktoria nodded. "Meteorology!"

She aimed her palm forward -

- and a geyser of lava melted the mannequin to ash. Nodding to Viktoria, a jet of snow erupted from her palm -

- and coated the second mannequin white, ice crystals already forming as she aimed for the third -

- and a blast of wind tore it clear in half & threw it across the room, Viktoria nodding as she stepped away from the fourth.

"And the last one." she said, and Natasha nodded, clasping her hands together.

"…um. Okay. Meteorology." she said, and in the next instant -

- a coat of lava covered her left arm; a coat of snow covered her right -

- but she sighed at no water coming, two halves barely steaming at the center. "I - fuck, um - sorry."

"Try again."

Her lava & snow disappeared, and as they reappeared -

- a gust of wind blasted her steam away -

- with no damage done to the mannequin.

"I-I'm sorry, I -" - she winced - " - I don't think I can do that one, um."

"Are you certain?"

"I - I can try again, I guess."

More lava & snow formed, and in the next instant -

- a gust of wind blasted a dual jet of lava & snow in to the mannequin, and Natasha sighed as it melted&froze. "I - can I try it on the snow one? The water jet?"

"Go ahead."

Another dual element failure, and Natasha winced as she looked away. "Sorry, I'm just - h-having a lot of trouble for some reason and, u-um - I don't know if I can do that y-yet. S-Sorry."

A bit of guilt came over Viktoria, but she quickly waved it away. There was no need to develop emotions towards her protege or anyone else's - better she maintain her objectivity.

"...it's impossible." said Viktoria. "Intentionally impossible - I was testing you to see how you would do with it. Lava does not interact with snow in that way - it's very slow to melt. You can look up videos of this later."

◆◆◆

The following day, Viktoria had asked Natasha to meet her in an alley outside of Urasaria, and was holding a tin of food when she arrived. Natasha saw grey plugs of slime in her nose as she stepped up.

"Are you hungry?" said Viktoria, nasally Russian accent.

"Um, I - I guess so." shrugged Natasha. "A little bit."

"Good." said Viktoria, handing the tin to her. "I won't make you eat it. Open it once I'm far away."

"Uh, what?" said Natasha, and Viktoria walked to the other end, nodding with fifty feet separating the two. Natasha opened the tin, and in the next instant -

- she gagged & staggered against the wall, putrid smell entering her nostrils as she dropped the tin and the fermented fish fell out - " - w-w-what the f-fuck -"

" - Surströmming." said Viktoria as Natasha vomited, swift geyser of lava dissolving her bile. "Don't destroy it, or you'll be eating it."

"W-What the f-fuck?!" Natasha gagged, heaving as she leaned against the wall. Her head and stomach reeled with sickness as Viktoria continued.

"This is your punishment."

Natasha heaved again, barely able to breathe.

"You haven't done anything wrong, however," said Viktoria, "which is why I'm doing it. Most people do punishment backwards - they do it after their protege has already fucked up. Doing it now ensures you'll avoid it in the future, yes?"

Natasha tried not to curse under her gasping.

"You may destroy it-"

- and a geyser of lava with the speed of light burnt it to ash. Natasha glanced at Victoria, and staggered quickly out of the rotten fish's range once she nodded.

"Good." said Viktoria, pulling the plugs out of her nose. Natasha realized her thumb had been missing until she placed the plugs back on. "Come, let's get away from the smell and go hunting."

Natasha nervously followed, and spoke once she could again. "W-W-We a-are?"

"Yes. I saw you have one fight under your belt - far too few. Your Revenant isn't weak. Why has Naomi not taken you out more?"

Natasha didn't like the tone she took in 'Naomi'. "Um, it's not - it's not her fault, I just - I just get anxious."

"Can you follow orders?"

"Y-Yes."

"Good. No surstromming to feed to you, then, Ms. Natural Disaster." Viktoria smirked. "We'll be patrolling near Perdido Street. Have you checked your map?"

"Yeah." Natasha nodded. "Um, there's a gym there I used to go to."

"Then you know how bad the area is. Follow every order I tell you, and take care for property damage." The two walked.

"Um, there's professionals that repair that though, right?"

"Yes, after they've left someone's house demolished for a year. Most of them were only hired because they were born when there weren't any good hosts around. Now they sit and collect government paychecks, while we do all of the actual work out of our shitty little homes. You can't trust them for anything. As I said - no property damage."

"Um - right, sorry." said Natasha, though she disagreed with Viktoria. Sure, there were bound to be a few lazy people just as in any job, but that wasn't any reason to not still rely on the system & try to improve it how they could; which, admittedly, she had no clue how. Better than the private alternative.

Viktoria said nothing as they walked past the row of buildings, but Natasha was grateful she didn't try to make any more conversation. Nothing unnerved her quite so much as small talk, and in the next instant -

- Viktoria put her ear out as they heard something collapsing in another avenue, then screeching concrete and crashing walls -

- and with no time to waste, Viktoria rushed up the sidewalk with the corner up ahead; anxiety in her step, Natasha followed her as they turned right, then made another right in to the left side of the avenue -

- right in to a midair car flying towards them -

" - Otstoy!" shouted Viktoria, hands extending out -

- and the next scene was instant. Her arms turned to sticky yet solid slime, catching the projectile -

- and hurling it off to the side as Natasha rushed up behind, huddling close with her nerves already shot -

" - lava wall - right!" shouted Viktoria, and a dozen jets of lava burst out of the road right -

- meltng the flying automobile in to molten metal as the two stepped left & against another building, seeing their foe stepping out of the ruins of an apartment complex across the street, ahead with 150ft separating the two.

"It bounced back." muttered Viktoria, relevantly. "He couldn't have thrown it himself - his Revenant launched it. Do you remember Otstoy?"

"U-Um, k-k-kinda." winced Natasha, two rushing forward as Viktoria whispered -

" - I can turn my body in to slime. Follow every order I give you." said Viktoria as the two ran. Natasha nodded with some relief, and in the next instant -

- something started ringing ahead, and the sidewalk collapsed as a fissure shot through the ground towards them -

- but a swift slimehand brought them to the left wall & above, Viktoria pulling Natasha with her as the slime brought them above ground, sidewalk collapsing below with another slimearm wrapped around Natasha. Viktoria started mumbling again -

" - only the sidewalk is collapsing, see? Not the road. It's specific."

"O-Okay." winced Natasha, gasping in Viktoria's grip as the two hung, and in the next instant -

- the building started vibrating, and Viktoria's grip staggered for an instant -

- but another slimehand kept them safely attached to the wall as she grunted and threw her legs around Natasha, building vibrating and walls shaking; Viktoria glanced left and saw a window that wasn't shaking to the beat, and in the next instant -

- another vibration nearly threw her off -

- but she wrapped her legs tighter around Natasha as her slimehands dug deeper in to the wall - " - I don't want us to - be one hundred feet fucking below -"

" - I-I - o-okay -" winced Natasha, trying not to blush -

" - spray your lava in that window!" shouted Viktoria, and in the next instant -

- a jet of lava burst in through the window and made the room molten, but Natasha stopped her flow a second later - " - w-wait, won't that -"

" - I already c-checked." grunted Viktoria; Natasha nodded as she set her hand back to work -

- and a gust of lava & wind tore through the room she couldn't see inside, vibrations stopping once she felt she'd hit something important, two steadying but still attached to the wall. Across the road, they saw their foe rushing past the corner left & on to another sidewalk; no time to waste, Viktoria braced her slimeleg against the wall -

- and a kick sprung them right over the road, slimetentacle grabbing a lamppost to slow their fall -

- but it collapsed as soon as she touched it; Natasha shrieked as her face met the pavement as she landed, groaning as she stood and saw Viktoria hit the ground running ahead. Gasping with no rest, a gust of wind upped Natasha's pace as the two hit the corner, rushing past one street-sign -

- that exploded in to a hundred shards -

- and Viktoria shoved Natasha to the ground as her entire body went to slime; and in to the slimewoman went the projectiles -

- but out the other end they ejected, holes left in her slime healing as a true Terminator might. 75ft separated them & their fleeing foe as they kept their pursuit going, seeing him take a right turn ahead & in to another avenue: slimehand forming, Viktoria smacked the wall at their rights -

- and another slimetentacle brought both of them to the roof this time, Otstoy slightly vibrating as Viktoria spoke as they hit the ground -

" - it's frequency - he manipulates frequencies, vibrations, things like -"

- and the entire building shook again; sudden balance lost, the two started staggering -

" - find the speaker!" shouted Viktoria as the roof filled with bad vibrations below; Natasha groaned as she felt her legs turn to jelly -

- then shrieked as she fell on her back, vibrations entering her skin & heart rate rising -

" - use your lava!" shouted Viktoria -

- and the next scene was instant. A coat of lava enveloped Natasha and burned a hole through the roof; in to the sudden burrow she fell -

- and another -

- and another, falling in to a bed of snow at the bottom floor of the room she'd found herself in. Wincing with no rush, she rushed out and to the lobby, forgetting Viktoria's warning against property damage as she came up to the front doors, gust of wind blasting it off its hinges as she rushed outside -

- just as Viktoria landed beside her, Natasha nodding as they met up and looked up the avenue. A row of buildings was at their right, no new vibrations entering their hearts but no sight of their foe.

"U-Um, where - where next?" panted Natasha and Viktoria frowned, gesturing for Natasha to follow her as she rushed up the sidewalk, checking every building they passed.

"…we can't get a vantage point, and..." Viktoria glanced back at her tablet on her back as they passed by a gym with solid-black doors. "…they'll know the Revenant, but…"

"I - wait." panted Natasha, pointing to the gym - " - I - their doors are usually glass, but -"

- Viktoria glanced back and nodded, and the two rushed up to the changed-color doors, frequency having been changed; no time to waste, Natasha pulled open the doors -

- and frowned as they only budged a few inches, grunting as she yanked again -

- and remembered they were push.

A little proud of her new host strength, she shoved them open, and in to the gym swept the women; Viktoria turned as soon as they stepped inside -

- and two Otstoy-punches shattered the two speakers that'd been turning the doors black; she turned to see a weight rack at their left and their foe gasping for breath 50ft away, and as the two rushed forward -

- the two staggered back, heartbeats rising as a speaker appeared on the ceiling above; one slimetentacle shot towards it -

- but couldn't reached it before Viktoria & Natasha started coughing up blood, vibrations hitting their chests and quickening their heartrates as they stumbled again -

" -s-stay still!" panted Viktoria, placing her slimehand on Natasha's chest -

- and the next scene was instant. Fingers turning to slime, pieces of Viktoria entered Natasha's pores -

- and the woman gagged like one renewed as bits of slime calmed her heart down. Groaning, Viktoria punched through her own chest and massaged it back to normal (as a time-stopping marine biologist might), and threw one 100lb up to the speaker that shattered it like a plate. Ahead, they saw their foe running away and rushed in pursuit, and as another speaker appeared on the ceiling -

- a terrible noise flooded Natasha's ears, drowning out Viktoria's voice as 30ft separated them and he lunged towards the back wall -

- just in time for a chill wind to freeze his leg solid, and as his head turned -

- a 100lb plate smashed his skull in to a red & white sandwich with metal in the middle, one last speaker appearing on it -

- as a final plate crushed all the air out of him & threw his ribs out of his back, and they knew he was dead as he didn't hit the ground, deafening noise fading.

"…-sn't hard, was it?" said Viktoria as she stepped past Natasha. "Some bit of scum off the streets to start the day off with."

"U-Uh, y-yeah." nodded Natasha. "S-Sorry, j-just - just tense and yeah and kinda nervous and yeah."

Viktoria shrugged. She never tried to understand what problems infested others' lives to make them act certain ways - she maintained herself in the present, dealing with whatever was given to her. "Breathe deeply, then. It'll be like riding a bike for you eventually. Give me your wounds."

Natasha gave her her wounds, trying not to feel pieces of Viktoria enter them.

◆◆◆

Friday afternoon, Viktoria crouched down on a bank floor to scan.

"Good job." she said. "You did most of the work there. See this interface?"

"Um, yeah." said Natasha.

"It automatically allocates a point to you and myself - but here, you did most of the work, so I will give you my point."

Natasha frowned. Viktoria was supposed to be impossible to please, and she'd been assuming the last week that she wouldn't have been satisfied with anything. Why couldn't she just have kept it up & let her be right?

"Come, I'll call a taxi for us." said Viktoria, and the two walked out to the streets. "I'll have a report written up for you by next Monday. You have good discipline and you're willing to follow orders - better than most first-years - but you should be more forceful with your mentor. If she's not taking you out, then you need to show her that you're willing to fight..."

"...regardless," said Viktoria once they got out & to Urasaria's gate an hour later, "your Revenant is very broad. It could be very strong. I'd consider it a failure if you weren't three-star by the end of the year."

"Okay." nodded Natasha, and Viktoria figured she had stopped listening three minutes in.

Viktoria scanned her badge and the two walked down the hall.

"Olivia might already be waiting for you at home." she said to Natasha, who tensed. "Perhaps with a bit of flowers and chocolates."

"U-Uh. I dunno, um."

"It's none of my business what you two get up to - I was simply your mentor for swap week. But I'll tell you this much - if you're thinking about drinking water, I would suggest a fresh spring instead of a glass stained by many lips. … And by the way. Your personal information was given to me when I was assigned to you."