The next morning, the four were called back to the station for bizarre news.
"The woman you brought in yesterday doesn't have a Revenant." said the detective.
"What? Of course she does." said Naomi.
"It's what the surgeon said, at least - you can read his report here." he said, pressing it over. "No colonies, no bacteria, not a single trace of a Revenant. He was almost worried he would've put her in to a coma if he tried to use Penxeno on her."
"I'm telling you she had a Revenant. I hit her with - I mean, look at my fucking arm - I hit her and he didn't die."
"And I believe you, too - I'm sure that you fought - I'm sure you didn't just drag someone in random from off the streets, but…" He sighed. "…she's refusing to talk, too, and we… We can drum up some excuses to keep her here for longer, but…"
"Did you check if she had a gemstone on her?" said Viktoria and his head shook.
"Already checked everything on her. Unless he's hiding it somewhere deep."
"I…" Naomi sighed. "…I guess I'll - ugh. Natasha, let's go back to the jewelry store from yesterday and - maybe someone saw us fighting or they have video or something, right."
"Okay." nodded Natasha, standing with her.
As they walked over, Naomi suddenly frowned after a minute of silence. "…I just realized something. Natasha, do you remember where the morgue is? How far it was?"
"Um, fifteen minutes?"
"And Viktoria said they came back ten minutes later, right? After they dropped the guy off?"
Now Natasha frowned. "…yeah."
"…she could've… Maybe she took a shortcut, but…"
"Um, or a taxi, maybe."
"I guess, but - right to the jewelry shop?"
"I-I don't know."
"It's cool." Naomi smiled. "Just thinking that... ugh, I dunno. Maybe that wasn't the same guy that killed him, but… it'd have to be a duplicate Revenant or something."
Natasha nodded.
"Jewelery store is around the corner." said Naomi, and as they turned the corner & came up to it -
" - are you fucking kidding me?" groaned Naomi. "He actually sold it?" She closed her eyes and sighed as she leaned against the glass door, no light inside as she knocked with her flesh hand. "…ugh. Wall is made of concrete, so…" She shook her head and stood up, nodding to Natasha. "Okay. Ready?"
"Um, what are we doing?"
"Going inside."
Avalanche's arm formed, and in the next instant -
- one punch blasted a part of the wall across the room, and in to the store swept the women as the alarm started shrieking - " - let's, ugh - let's see if they have their security room on-site, right?"
Natasha nodded and let Naomi vault over the counter first, merchandise gone as they came up to a door. Another bash cleared it down, but Naomi sighed as they stepped inside to an empty room - " - god, seriously -"
- and the two heard a voice speaking outside of the store; Naomi glanced back and saw a man calling someone on his cellphone, and back out the lobby rushed the two women -
" - students!" shouted Naomi, flashing her badge out to him - " - we're students!"
He scowled with lips dry enough his face looked split. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"
"We're trying to f- we're trying to investigate." sighed Natasha. Nothing set her off quite so much as the tone older men often took with her.
"We're students trying to investigate, yeah." said Naomi, walking up to the hole she left.
"I'm the new owner of this store you've just made a fucking mess of." he said, stomping up to them. "Both of you are trespassing, breaking and entering, and -"
" - I'll repair -"
" - I don't give a damn about the fucking repairs, get the hell out of here before I call your school and -"
" - we're not going anywhere until -"
- he put his hand on Natasha's shoulder and tried to yank her out -
" - Meteorology!" shouted Natasha -
- and a gust of wind sliced through his right arm, leaving a gash that was gonna stay for a while; he staggered back - " - e-excuse m-me - control your protege!"
"You deserved it." shrugged Naomi. She treated civilians respectfully whenever she was forced to deal with them, but secretly thought they were often obstacles to enforcement of the law in cases like this. "Where the hell are your security cameras? We need them."
"Transported off-site, of course. Along with the rest of the merchandise."
"Excuse me?" Naomi stomped as the three stepped outside and a wall of stone plugged up the alarm's crying.
"D-Do you have a warrant?"
"Why would you even ask a student that?" Naomi groaned. "Where are your fucking cameras?"
"You can stop with the ru-"
"- no, you shut up and let me fucking tell you something. My 'protege' and I fought a Revenant here yesterday and we're in the middle of an investigation - if we hadn't been here, your whole shitty new purchase -and- the guy you bought it from would be fucking dead. I know students who wouldn't put up with people like you, and who treat civilians like shit. I don't like them, but when I have to deal with some asshole like you, it makes me think how much easier I could make this for me and not for you. Okay?"
She left a glare on him that went to the blood.
He gave her an ugly look. "…fine. For my cameras - they've already been wiped. I can tell you it wasn't me."
Naomi didn't believe him, but she couldn't very well Avalanche-punch everyone. "Was that so fucking hard?"
"I value my privacy very highly. I think it was a terrible idea to give people like you legal immunity: you can't even control your emotions at eighteen, yet you're expected to enforce the law? You come up to a store and the first thing you think of is to bust the door down and not try to contact the owner?"
"Because I can fucking repair it." She snapped her fingers, concrete replacing the damage.
"Uh, you can join the military at eighteen, too." shrugged Natasha. To her, eighteen was plenty mature, despite her father's protests.
"That's little better. In the military, you might at least be beholden to someone who's passed puberty. Did you have any other questions to berate me with?"
'Should've given him another scar.' thought Natasha & Naomi.
"What's your name?" said Naomi.
"Arthur Berin-Gotren. It's hyphenated."
"And you have no security footage from yesterday? That's what you're telling me?"
"It's standard practice during a business transaction. If there was something on there you needed, I apologize."
"Why did you buy this place?" said Natasha, glancing back. "Seems like, um, a-a bad investment."
"I enjoy taking risks. When I was younger, I remember the days where business was a little fun, when you worry whether you'll be forced back to working some menial desk job, doing tasks that become useless to the universe three seconds after they're finished. The fear of every small business owner is that they might have to work a day in their life. Through a bit of acumen, I have a reasonably large business in a much more secure area of the market, but when you have enough money, it begins to lose value if you hoard it up, never risking it on anything. I enjoy a bit of controlled fear. The poor ride rollercoasters and watch horror films. I spend a bit of my fortune gambling legally."
Natasha blinked, comprehending none of it. The most fear she enjoyed before Urasaria was sneaking in to her gym after-hours, knowing she would be dead if she failed the next set of bench press.
"Enjoy your store, dick." grunted Naomi, and the two went off. Probably when she got back Viktoria was going to ask her all about how she handled it, with an underlying tone that she would've had the entire case solved now if it wasn't for everyone else getting in her way. Some students took it displeasurably that they had to work with *anyone*, but even Mia had a squadron, and Viktoria was no Mia. She wasn't even a Kate.
She stopped herself and took a few breaths before they stepped in to the police station and met back with the detective & the others.
"Did you find anything?" he said.
"Nope." Naomi frowned. "Someone bought out the store - they said the cameras were wiped."
Viktoria mused. Naomi hoped she would say something to set her off, having thought of a few retorts on the stomp over. "…you still have her in custody, yes?"
"We do." he said. "I suppose we could release her to your care, if needed."
"Let me meet with hsrt. It won't be to torture her."
"If she's not talking to us, I doubt she'll want to talk to students."
"I have my ways. Where is your interrogation room? Bring her to me."
He pointed her down the hall, and she nodded as she stood, three students following behind. "I'll go get her."
The four went to the interrogation room, and Viktoria was still standing over her chair when her & the detective came in, handcuffed as she sat down.
"No, no. Stand up." she said, yawning.
She stood up, and in the next instant -
- a slimetentacle went all the way through her & took her mouth as an exit; Naomi threw her hand out -
- but the woman was already dead before she slid off of Otstoy's tendril, Viktoria scooping something off the ground below her corpse.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Ah, just what I thought." She held up a ruby. "This was his Revenant, then."
"I - excuse me?" sputtered the detective.
"There was a gemstone like this yesterday, on the man who attacked the docks. I thought it was unusual he would be carrying something so valuable on him -before- doing something so stupid."
"And… if, if that hadn't worked?! You would have just -"
" - whatever you're about to say, it's not going to convince me, and whatever I would say in response wouldn't convince you either. It worked. I prefer to deal with things how they've occured and not how they could have gone, yes?"
He sighed, looking to the mangled corpse with no disgust. "…should've expected this from a student."
"…Revenant." muttered Naomi. "Natasha, how hard did you, uh, attack that guy? At the store?"
"Um, pretty hard."
"You attacked someone?" grinned Olivia. Hopefully, Natasha would be that aggressive with her some day.
"Test it on me." said Naomi, giving her flesh arm out. "Just like you did it."
"Meteorology."
A gust of wind sliced through her right arm and left a scar.
"That's how hard you did it?" said Naomi and Natasha nodded. She frowned. "…that's - that's not much, but… It wasn't much on him, either. I just thought you pulled it."
"It kinda hurt my ego, actually." she mumbled and Olivia laughed.
"Am I going to have to deal with a pissed off civilian calling the station about you four?" said the detective.
"Uh, he said his name was Berin-Gotren." said Naomi and he sighed.
"He's still using that name. It's not his real one, if you're wondering about that. He fancies himself some sort of playboy type - all mysterious, hedge gardens and marble statues in his yard. It's all talk, but the papers here like him enough to call him Berin."
"What's his actual name, then?"
"…I'll have to look it up. Sheremet, something. Might take a while for that."
"Then notify me as soon as you do." said Viktoria. "As for us, I checked again at the docks last night - they said their manager who hired Emil was taking the week off to visit his mother in the hospital. Fortunately, there's only two he could be talking about, if they're anywhere near here. Olivia and I will go to one of them, and you two the other."
◆◆◆
Half an hour later, Viktoria & Olivia stepped in to Woods Hospital and up to the counter.
"We're looking for a man by the name of Jeffrey Steen." said Viktoria, relevantly, showing her badge. "He should be visiting his mother. Where is she?"
"…let me check." she mumbled, typing away. "Room 235."
Viktoria nodded, and as the two set off -
" - no, wait, sorry! His mother was moved recently from the second floor. He should be in… room 367."
"Thank you." nodded Viktoria, and the two went off.
'First time I've heard her say that.' thought Olivia.
Living with Viktoria since her first day, she was thinking that dinty one-star house might've been better. Both in personality and looks to Olivia, Viktoria was the archetype of a Russian mother who reached for the switch before they ever would any praise. The expression on her face when she found Olivia drinking with Jess had been enough for her to buy another case the next morning. After that, she had been trying to find whatever else pissed Viktoria off so she might do it more: make-up, alcohol, casual sex, just about anything Olivia found fun.
"Isn't it nice when they do not make a fuss?" said Viktoria as they came up to the third floor. "The way some hospitals act, you would think they value their patients' privacy over their lives."
"I guess." said Olivia -
- and she shot up as an alarm filled the building, Viktoria putting her ear out beside -
" - Revenant." she muttered, checking her tablet - " - second floor, room … 238."
Olivia nodded, and with no time to waste, an Otstoy-punch shattered the floor -
- and in to the second floor fell the two in the middle of one hall. Viktoria ran off and Olivia followed after her as she passed by one corner & rushed down another, and the two knew as soon as they stepped in to the right hall -
" - oh, what the fuck." groaned Olivia, relevantly, Baal already crawling in her skin & forming a wound that would heal -
" - stay sharp." said Viktoria, slime tentacles forming on her back -
- for the hall they knew their foe was near ahead, mutated flesh covering the walls & floor, vines & flowers with babies' faces growing out of them. No time to waste, the two stepped carefully to the start of the carpet.
"Otstoy." muttered Viktoria, right arm turning in to a slime-tentacle; she smacked the floor ahead -
- and a jet of red burst out of one of the baby's faces & sliced a chunk right off her tendril; grunting with a wince, another tentacle formed as she smacked the floor again -
- and another thin jet of red sliced the end clear off, Viktoria nodding as her arms returned but now handsless.
"See those vines?" she muttered, stump pointing to one of them. "There's blood flowing through them - like a clogged artery."
"Uh, sure." winced Olivia. "What, what do we do?"
"Don't stop for anything." said Viktoria; with no time to waste, the two rushed on to the carpet -
- and Olivia winced as a jet of red missed narrowly where she'd just been a second later; another three jets shot towards her right -
" - Baal!" she shouted as she sliced a pentagram in her arm, demonic maw erupting from her wound -
- and swallowing the blood without a single drop left as the two kept their run going up the hall, doors at regular intervals -
" - there!" shouted Viktoria, stump pointing to one door up ahead & left, and in the next instant -
- a wall of jets burst up out of the ground 30ft ahead of Olivia; Viktoria slowed down at her side, tentacle smacking the wall - " - keep moving! I have you!"
" -I - okay -" winced Olivia, readying Baal's maw as she got 20ft within death ahead -
- 10ft away, she started to slow down -
- and a tentacle yanked her back with the strength of a thousand away & back in to Viktoria, slimewoman's body liquifeying to cushion her fall -
- and the next scene was instant. Three veins popping up beside them, Viktoria grabbed Olivia & a tentacle yanked them up to the ceiling -
- and Olivia held her breath as she passed right through Viktoria's slime body and slammed right in to the ceiling, her on top & Viktoria keeping her pinned from below; she started thrashing -
" - F-F-FUCKING STAY STILL!" shouted a pair of lips forming out of the goo's back, and another tendril yanked them back across the ceiling; Olivia glanced back and saw an electrical wire falling out of her body as the two landed back at the start of the carpet, Viktoria's body reforming beside as Olivia stood -
- and noticed with a wince a few burns that hadn't been there before. Ahead, more veins grew out of the floor, but stopped like a kid's hand over a hot stove before they hit the still-live wire.
"I - sorry." winced Olivia. "I just -"
" - Otstoy." grunted Viktoria, one tentacle yanking only herself up to the ceiling -
- and Olivia stepped back as she saw her swing across the ceiling, picking the wire back up with one tendril & jets of blood missing her with her speed. Viktoria swung in to one room at the end of the infected floor and a scream of male agony came from it a few seconds later, and the carpet disappeared.
Olivia felt afraid as she saw Viktoria stomp out and towards her.
"Listen to me, you little fucking woman. When I FUCKING TELL YOU TO DO SOMETHING IN A FIGHT -"
" - I'm - I'm sorry, okay, I just -"
" - no! No, you are not sorry! I have to keep telling you and telling you - every few FUCKING fights, I have to wonder if today is a day you will listen to me, or if it's another day where you will go with whatever STUPID ideas roll around in that pretty little head of yours! We have civilians to keep safe, and -"
" - excuse me, pretty little head? What the hell do you mean by that?"
"If you're not going to listen to me as your mentor, then die."
Olivia laughed. "Then - then die?"
"It's from a Bruce Lee story. He was running with a friend who told him Bruce, I cannot go on any longer, I must take a break, or I'll die. Bruce told him 'then die.' I have little patience for some bylat that won't follow what I am telling her to do. Particularly when I'm risking my own life to save her. Perhaps next time you can deal with these fucking electrical burns." Viktoria grunted and showed her arms.
Olivia started laughing nervously. "I - I can't believe you're just - what the hell are you talking about?"
"Go. Everything is some big joke to you. Everything is some party where you can run around wearing a tight dress and -
" - you're the one who fucking threw a can of fish through my window!" (Olivia hadn't been as receptive to punishment as Natasha.) "And I don't see how what I wear has any - that you have any business telling me what the hell I should wear, either! Just because you dress like some fucking stiff on a log doesn't mean I don't want to look nice. I mean, what's the point of me even attending Urasaria if-"
"-I wonder that myself."
"Real funny. You know, maybe you should learn to lighten up. I don't like the way you fucking treat me, and I'm starting to get real fucking sick of it. I'm sorry I fucked up, but to be honest, it -"
"- I'm not here to be your friend - I'm here to teach you how to fight. If you want companionship, you can hire a prostitute."
"Really? Maybe I would've kept running if I trusted you better, too. Did you ever think of that? Or do you just go around thinking everyone's an idiot?"
Viktoria's hands reformed. "I'll be continuing the questioning." She tried to shove her tablet over to Olivia. "Go off to Naomi and Natasha -"
" - uh, no, no, we're not done fucking talking. What the hell is your problem with me, anyway?" Olivia's phone vibrated, glueing her limbs to her sides.
"One of your friends?"
"None of your fucking business."
"We have nothing more to discuss. Go find Naomi and Natasha - I'll finish the questioning myself."
"...fine." Olivia grabbed Viktoria's tablet and stomped off.
Viktoria had learned to not care about whatever shit flung from others - she could tell Naomi had been angry at her for taking charge, too, but if she was so mad about it, she ought've said something herself. Why was it that those never spoke up always complained the most after?
As Olivia walked out of the hospital, she checked her texts for a woman, Jess, asking if Olivia could come over. Olivia didn't find her all that attractive, but from how Jess acted in bed, Olivia likely wasn't all that attractive to her either. They were both skilled in most of the lesbian arts, but Olivia saw Jess eventually dating someone in the future and the two wouldn't ever speak again - or worse yet, that someone might be her.
Yet she felt a little guilty. There were some women at Urasaria who took in as many women in their first year as they did criminals, and she didn't ever believe Viktoria's claptrap about living like a prude. To Olivia, sex was simply another need like thirst - denying herself pleasure for satisfaction seemed like a paradox, but seeing Viktoria speak so confidently gave her pause.
Then again, what would that Russian bitch know about romance, anyway? She walked up to Naomi & Natasha patrolling on the corner.
"I - hey." said Naomi. "Everything alright?"
"Nope." Olivia frowned. "Viktoria's being a bitch again. Just told me to go off and find you two."
"She's - being a bitch again?" said Naomi. "What happened?"
Olivia felt Natasha's eyes on her. "…she… We… got in to a fight, and we both got a bit hurt, and we got in to an argument. She just yelled at me and told me to go off to you two."
Natasha wondered what Olivia might've done to piss her off - from what she saw of Viktoria, she wasn't likely angry without a half-good reason for it.
Naomi frowned. "…Natasha, can you go check on Viktoria? Sorry. I - know that she's…"
"Um, o-okay."
"Here's her tablet, I guess." sighed Olivia, handing it over to Natasha. "She's probably still at the hospital."
"Okay. Um, t-thanks." she said and walked off.
Once she got to Woods Hospital, she ran in to Viktoria walking out with her head still shaking. Natasha wondered if she had a swivel in her neck and she only stopped when Natasha came up.
"Um. Naomi wanted me to come." winced Natasha. "S-Sorry, um."
"It's fine. I told Olivia to go to you and Naomi - I already finished my questioning."
Natasha noted her 'Naomi' tone matched her 'Olivia'. Recklessly she decided to check her. "…um. Do you not like Naomi?"
"I don't. She focuses more on her appearance than her work. You told me she only brought you out for one fight your first two weeks - but I noticed she always had her makeup and hair done, in class. Plenty of time to talk to whatever girls she wants, but none for her protege."
"But I'm the one who asked for more training."
"You can't give your protege everything they want. Of course you didn't want to fight - there's very few students who do until they get a taste for it. No matter how excited they are when they register. And you've been in a few more fights with her since then, yes?"
"…I have. Um. I guess we're getting better together, but… I just - I just don't know how I'm supposed to grow, r-right? I'm - I'm not that nervous in fights anymore, but it just feels like - I don't know where I'm supposed to be in six months. I-I got some new abilities recently, too, but - but it just feels like it's even more stuff to keep track of. I - I know I'm not really smart, either. Even with lifting weights I just do whatever makes me sweat the most. I feel like I'm some big ogre that's been given this really good Revenant, and I'm supposed to be able to use everything right, and I'm supposed to get three-star by December when I can't even-"
"-who told you three-star by December?"
"Y-You did." said Natasha. "…um. Did you -"
" - I... meant the end of the year. April or the beginning of next August." said Viktoria, trying not to laugh. Once again, there was just that Natasha. "But it was an unrealistic expectation, regardless. There's been very few students who achieved it in their first year - the most recent one died two years ago - but I refuse to put any restrictions on other people through 'realistic goals'. Even I'm not three-star yet, and if this little…" Natasha saw anger flash on her face for a second. "…well. I can only do so much to teach someone."
"Um, you mean Olivia?"
"Precisely." Her head shook. "Regardless. Back to our jewelry thieves."
"Okay."
"I talked with the manager of the docks - I took notes on everything relevant, but I doubt he'll be a worthwhile lead. His boss is out of town and was the one who hired our suspect, apparently."
"Wait, what?"
Viktoria frowned. "It's strange, yes. He was told not to watch him too closely - and I somehow doubt the man who hired him will be walking in to town any time soon. I presume whoever recommended him is our culprit, if it's not another dead lead."
"Do we have anything to um, go on?"
"Not that I can see, until we have that other man's name." She started walking. "We'll meet back up with Naomi and your little fan."
"Olivia?" said Natasha and paused. "…um, wait. How did you know she has a crush on me?"
Viktoria shrugged. "She was drunk and talked about some muscular woman in her class. I presume it was you, but I wouldn't suggest ever getting involved with her. As I said before - she's a glass stained by many lips."
"…um, that's kinda…" Natasha frowned. "…I don't know, she seems pretty nice. M-Most of the lesbians I know are like her."
It wasn't that Natasha didn't also hold a similar attitude towards sex; her last relationship made her suspicious of women who moved too quickly. Though a few women besides Olivia had spoken to her for what she assumed was the same purpose, an uneasy feeling always held her back.
"And most of them are negative influences." said Viktoria. "Plenty of women are nice, but you do not know her like I do. I've lived with her for the past three weeks, and I can tell you that she is the type of woman that does not acknowledge her problems or believes she has any. You see whatever she wants to project to you because she wants to fill your bed with herself. Men and lesbians are both like this. You may find it fun at first, but over time, she'll grow tired - she'll need new pleasure. Whatever bond you form will be rotted away by new women or alcohol - like how sugar rots away teeth and causes cavities."