The neighborhood chosen was evacuated by next morning, and those who hadn't fled knew they were risking their lives. Mia walked down the maze of sidewalks and streets. The two houses were on the horizon.
She planted down the Boudoir-can Marisa had given her on the curb and kept walking. Eyes & fingers behind blinds watched her as she came to the front gate of the home. The driveway was beyond, and a walled path left connected to the second home's driveway. There were two floors, and she came up to the front door with scarabs readied.
She went inside to a dim room, but Worldwide's scarabs lit the room orange. The hostage was bound in the far right corner and shivering. A hall opened up at the center, though she couldn't see past that.
"Worldwide." she muttered, holding her sword like a torch as she went over to the woman in the corner. "Do you know where he is?"
"N-No." sobbed the woman. "H-He just went up the stairs, and I - h-he's so terrifying, and -"
"Era!" shouted a voice from the hall -
- and six bullets entered Mia's chest; she was unharmed as she swept to the wall adjacent, peering out to the hall -
" - Worldwide!" she shouted, and a wall of ice blocked the entrance to the hall as she turned to the hostage -
- just in time to block her knife with her sword, two sudden combatants grunting as they clashed. She saw Garcian's girlfriend, Penelope's, Revenant, a jar of flies attached to her back, but Mia had a much greater swarm.
Her blade cleaved Penelope's chest open in a spray of red; another bash back threw her right through the ice wall, shattering as Penelope stumbled through, reforming just as quick, no combatants in Mia's immediate range now.
'Of course. An ambush.'
She tapped her right pocket, cursing as she didn't find her phone in its usual spot; a scream burst out of the hall, and in the next instant -
- the ice wall melted to steam; and out of the cloud of list erupted Penelope - their blades clashed again. Steel and unnatural metal clashing, splinters shot from Penelope's blade as they fought - but few could match Worldwide's strength. Her sword burst in to flames, and her sweep seeking Penelope's neck -
- caught only air as her foe dodged with far greater speed away, and a burst of gunfire entered Mia's back -
- yet as it had before, no wound formed.
"Definitely the bitch, then!" shouted Garcian from the other end of the hall, still in the dark, the sound of a reloading revolver as Penelope and Mia fought close.
"I can feel your fucking heartbeat, you know! Faster! Faster!" shouted Penelope; the jar at her back burst open and released the flies, now swarming around her back.
She was gaining strength and speed with every second, Mia's heart beating faster with every strike and clash, sweat coating her face and blood smearing her eyes where Penelope had struck.
"So fast! So fast!" laughed Penelope; her blade impaled through Mia's stomach, a kick threw her to the entrance of the hall, and as she rushed in pursuit -
- a sheet of ice formed at her feet, and she stumbled, tripped and skid down the hall past Mia, and Mia fled with the speed of her own away, ripping her phone from her left pocket. She ducked behind the wall again, and as another bullet burst from the hall -
- her phone exploded in to fiery shards.
' - what the fuck is this Revenant?!'
"March 13, 1989!" shouted Garcian from the other end. "A geomagnetic storm caused a nine-hour outage in Quebec!"
Penelope's footsteps started from the hall; Mia threw her former phone away, running out across the room, Penelope only feet behind, and as her knife slashed down her back -
- a stalactite of ice burst from the wound and shot through Penelope's neck, stumbling her back as Mia burnt the front door down, fleeing out of the home with communication lost. She ran past the gate and out to the street as she heard Garcian & Penelope pursing behind, walls of ice forming at her back & shattering under the gunfire.
As she cut past the curb from earlier, she swept up the can she'd left prior. A thin strand was attached to it, and she held it to her ear as she fled.
"Ambush!" she shouted.
"On - it!" came the fashionista's distorted voice on he other end.
Mia swept her eyes back as she ran down the street, Penelope and Garcian still far behind, and as a gunshot's crack rose in the air -
- the next scene was instant. A fissure shot down the road, swallowing asphalt as it rushed towards her, ground crumbling as it shot below her; sudden footing lost, she stumbled back, platform of ice replacing the gone ground underneath -
- and Penelope was among her with a rush and a gigantic bound. Her dagger cleaved through Mia's chest, and as the flies flew in to the peeling wound -
- a burst of fire scarabs, a bash of her hilt, and the wound was closed and cauterized - but Penelope grew stronger and more vicious by the moment.
'I can't let her use her Revenant.'
"You're alone now, bitch! It's beating so fucking fast! That's how scared you are!"
"I've already called the rest!" yelled Mia, sweeping back, and terror rose across Garcian's face in the distance; he wheeled and ran, abandoning the women with the speed of a serial killer.
Mia realized then why'd Penelope's strength had grown; she knew where the other four would come, from the street corner beyond. In a whirlwind of blows they fought down the road, but Penelope's Revenant grew in the presence of five heartbeats, energy transferred in to her own.
Inch by inch, the pressure of her strikes forced Mia back, and as Mia stumbled back over a curb -
- a dozen familiar bullets entered Penelope's back and burst out of her chest, a second volley pockmarking her skull and her eyes - but she was fired to the speed of a maddened tiger. She grunted as she turned, dripping glare back to the other four on the corner far.
Another volley of bullets sheared her arms off their bones, dripping from her skeleton, torn skin gouged clear - with a cry of agony, she impaled with her own blade her own heart, and the flies flew inside the horrendous wound.
"YOU THINK - I NEED - THESE ARMS?! VOODOO!" she cried out, stomping like a crimson and white nightmare. Another volley and burst of chaotic notes blew her skin clear from her skull, and still, the skeletal woman surged.
"She's - she used her Revenant on herself?!" panted Mia, organs and veins falling out of the dead woman walking, heart still beating within.
With no other option left, she rushed forward, sword outstretched; Penelope turned, and with the speed of light her blade pierced Mia's heart. The woman's torn jaw spoke enraged - " - NOW I CAN MAKE YOU -"
" - W-Worldwide -"
- two ice scarabs flew in to her's and Penelope's hearts, chilling their blood and slowing their beats; a second swarm froze Penelope's arteries, and she was truly dead in an instant.
◆◆◆
Mia didn't move for a half-hour, as Makoto's harp was slower than Saya or Hirogane. They didn't find any sign of Garcian in the area, but found a familiar animal in the home's second floor.
"That's his dog." said Sylvia, crouching down to hug Ajax. "Guess he forget to get him when he fled."
"Poor thing." murmured Marisa.
"Best lead we have. You mentioned he seemed to like it, right, Sylvia?" said Grant, petting the scared animal.
"Yeah. Said he had it since he was ten."
Mia frowned. "…may I test something? I need to see how he reacts to this. Worldwide."
Her scarab swarm appeared, and Ajax started barking &whimpering immediately, thrashing against Sylvia's arms.
"Oh no." winced Marisa, as did Mia as she stood; Ajax's teeth went for Mia's leg -
- but Grant's arms scooped him with the strength of a dozen back, tight grip muzzling him - " - shit, what the hell is that about -"
" - I know who burned him." Mia winced. "A-And who Era is after. I had Worldwide transferred to me from… another host, but…" Her mouth went grim. "He's after Ryumi."
"Who's Ryumi?" said Grant. "Did she have black hair?"
"I assume she did." said Mia.
"…'renamed'." muttered Marisa. "Maybe he saw her badge, and so…"
Mia sat against the wall. "…he doesn't realize she's dead. Ryumi was Worldwide's previous host. She must have done something to both of them."
"He had burns, too." nodded Sylvia.
Makoto spoke up. "Uh, aren't you immune to fire? Why is he killing chicks by burning them alive if he's after Ryumi?"
The five paused, mumbling a bit to themselves. Mia realized it first. "He's not trying to kill Ryumi by burning her alive. He's trying to find who's immune to fire."
"Guy must be really set on you, then." muttered Grant. "Doubt there's going to be a way out of this without killing him."
Marisa nodded. "Yeah. Like, even if Ryumi did do something to him, that doesn't make it okay. Wasn't she a professional, too?" (Mia nodded.) "Like, he could've just told her agency what she did, and they would have… um." She frowned. "…they - they would have done something. He still needs to die. We're not, like, we're not going to convince him."
Mia agreed, but needed a way to lure him out.
◆◆◆
Garcian woke up the next morning to it, after a night of cursing himself for forgetting the dog. The video was playing on every station that would take her.
She held her sword to the animal's throat, stuffed in a dark room, a torch of scarabs lit behind her. Her reputation would recover, when there was time for it.
"Era. After your pitiful display of running away, you happened to leave your pet behind. We will finish what we started - or I'll burn this worthless animal alive, and leave this town for good. You know where to find me."
◆◆◆
"Jeez." said Sylvia, opening the front door of the home for Mia, the others already inside. "Thaaat was pretty rough."
"Already got animal rights' groups online giving you a bunch of shit for it." said Grant.
"I'll clarify later, of course." muttered Mia, the scarabwoman with her traditional naïveté in tow, and the dog not. She had left him in an evacuated home.
"Uh, that's probably not gonna work, but we're all here, now." chimed Marisa. "All five of us - he won't stand a chance. Any idea what his Revenant is?"
"From what I can tell, it, er, recreates historical events. He was shouting about an electric storm in Quebec when he disabled my phone."
"Yeah. I guess the fire stuff is probably -"
- the front wall of the home burst in to flames; the five shot up, four clutching their eyes as the heat singed their features -
"Worldwi-"
- a crack of four gunshots came from outside - the first blast open the front door, the second shattered the front walls, the third and fourth blast to bits the back, and as the house threatened to collapse in on the five -
" - B-Boudoir!"
- a dome of fabric formed around the five and blunted the rain of rubble, entire house collapsing in around them, concrete and wooden spikes shooting around their opaque enclosure - " - what the fuck is -"
- Marisa screamed in agony as a bullet hit the barrier -
- and in the next instant, the the barrier disintegrated. The four screamed as they stumbled back, Makoto's trumpet blasting the rubble above aside, burnt scars charring their faces, fiery wounds drawing the right halves of their bodies -
- and Mia, unaffected. She saw the source of the gunshots, Garcian on the horizon down the street -
"Marisa - take the rest back! I'm still immune!" shouted Mia, and with no time to waste, she rushed out on to the rubble, stumbling over concrete as she ran ahead out of the broken home.
"Be safe! We'll be back when we can!"
At her back, she heard Boudoir's strands wrap & coil the others, the familiar twang of a launching Boudoir.
"Good, good! An even fight, now!" shouted Garcian. "One more check to see if it's really you, Swarm -"
" - I'm not who you're - fucking looking for!" shouted Mia, knowing he wouldn't stop now. Three bullets entered her chest, but no wounds formed. Hundreds of feet separated her & Garcian in the corridors of homes; one gunshot cracked the air, and she felt her replacement phone burst in to shards in her pocket.
" - of course you don't fucking remember me!" he shouted - " - November 9th, 2013 - you should -"
" - I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE WORLDWIDE THEN!" she shouted and groaned as she rushed forward, holding her shield of ice high as she ran -
- but one bullet melted her shield back to her sword, suddenly lit aflame; a swift ice scarab snuffed it out, Mia frowning at the new confirmation. A gunshot cracked the air -
- and as it had before, a fissure ripped open at Garcian's feet and shot with the speed of sound towards her -
- but ice filled the fissure as she kept her run going, sheets of water pouring in to it as she ran ahead, Garcian still shouting -
" - May 22nd, 1960! A 9.5 magnitude earthquake on the Chilean coast kills seven thousand - but I only need one dead!"
- at Garcian's footing, more water bubbled up from the fissure, scarabs swarming underneath Mia, and before he could react -
- an electrical current went down the entire fissure, overflowing as she sprayed more water in to it; he shot up, struck by a hundred bolts as his charred skin blackened. Only a hundred feet separated them now, and as she readied to clear the clearing -
- a charred hand fired a charred revolver, three gunshots entering the road ahead of her -
- and the asphalt shot up & burst in to a wall; and in to the sudden barrier stumbled Mia, groaning as she stepped back.
'Going through is too obvious.'
Rushing along the asphalt wall, scarabs burnt holes in to it as she ran out to the sidewalk; a cloud of steam shrouded her and went down the sidewalk to distract Garcian as she rushed up to the door of an adjacent home, then ran right through the living room, a kitchen window ahead & right.
She vaulted out the window in a rain of glass and rushed back up the driveway she'd landed in, up to the sidewalk, now having flanked Garcian. Only thirty feet separated them now; ten bullets shot the house where she'd just been -
- and a horrific scraping entered her ears as the entire house collapsed behind her, Garcian's aim on her as her sword outstretched; she carried it through to mee with his revolver; but none could stand against the sword that was rightfully her's.
"S-September 22, 1993 - a derailed train crashes and kills forty-seven!"
"Worldwide - Tri-Swarm Raid!"
- fire scarabs coiled his body, and as his head burst in to flames -
" - April 10, 1996 - 253 miles per hour winds -"
- the next scene was instant. Sweeping back from the clash, his revolver's aim shoved to his head, and a gunshot blew him with the strength of a thousand back, fire extinguished as he flew -
- and a second gunshot blasted Mia back the same, two combatants separated far again, Mia grunting as she landed at the front steps of another home. Stumbling to her feet, another cloud of steam enveloped her, and as she stood -
- she felt something beside her; her eyes swept down -
- there laid Ajax, panting with his tongue out, as was often the case with dogs.
'He - he escaped in the fighting.' she thought, some guilt over how she'd treated it earlier. 'Focus on electricity next time I find Garcian.'
With no time to waste, she rushed up the front steps and through the home's front door, rushing and shoving chairs aside as she went through the living room, the kitchen, the back wall, and as she pressed her hands against it for another fiery escape -
- a single scarab erupted, and the entire wall burst in to white flame, blaze claiming the entire room; she shrieked involuntarily as she ran out on to the street, and down the road -
' - new color - why is there a new color -'
- and guilt filled her mind as she didn't hear Ajax again; wheeling and turning, scarabs swarmed her as she rushed back up the melting sidewalk, back in to the blaze & smoke -
" - come - Ajax, where are you?!" she shouted, ice scarabs swarming her as she went in to the living room -
- and a set of teeth bit her right calf; she screamed as she glanced down -
- and there stood the mangled mutt. She scooped him in her arms, rushing out the way she had came, dodging away from the teeth that now sought her face. She burst out on to the sidewalk and turned left, the burning hole still behind her as she set Ajax down -
- a growl, and it ripped a tuft of skin off from her other leg.
"GOD - WILL YOU FUCKING - WORLDWIDE!"
Her ice scarabs froze the dog's feet to the pavement. She turned back as her eyes swept in to the burning home, a clear tunnel now burnt through the walls -
- and a bullet entered her chest and threw her back, her back flaying as the road scraped her skin. At the front entrance of the home, Garcian, Mia stumbling on her hands back, and as she raised her right hand -
- three bullets entered her chest, and she fell limp & paralyzed, not even breathing, as Garcian drew closer.
"December 7, 1982. The first person to be executed by lethal injection, using succinylcholine as the anesthetic."
He was halfway to her now, walking through the smoke and fire.
"I'll be keeping you with me - a gunshot every hour to keep you like this, permanently."
He stepped out of the home, only a dozen feet away.
"I want to see if you - if you can burn alive, Swarm -"
As he stomped close to her -
- his step crushed her scarabs underfoot, and as Mia prepared for the fiery, electrical, and frozen landmines she had left to wrack his body -
- a far different scene met her stare.
Three pillars of purple flame erupted from the asphalt, shooting skyward and swallowing Garcian whole; the man screamed as of one in mortal agony -
- and his entire body disintegrated, leaving not a single ash. She felt the paralysis leave her, and drew to her feet, and as she reached over to pick up her sword with stress crushing her heart -
- a frozen ray erupted from her palm -
- and the sword shattered in to frozen shards.
The agony shoved her unconscious.