The six left Pebble the next morning. Mia was the driver on a backroad out of town, forest flanking the clear drive ahead.
"Gonna be real awkward if that tablet breaks before we get there." said Jeanne, and the five groaned at the jinx.
"Now we know who to blame if it does." laughed Samuel. "What're we at, five Revenants left?"
"Yeah." said Aimee. "Still, gotta keep going -"
- Mia saw a figure enter the rearview mirror, and before she could react -
- the van was launched rapidly forward, from sixty to five hundred in an instant, and six screams filled the vehicle -
- and for Mia, the world slowed as a reflection in a disturbed pond.
"Why me?" she groaned, thrust in to the position of savior.
"Good luck." chimed Aimee, tendrils in Mia's veins. "Make sure you-"
"-don't freeze it to the ground because of G forces." said Mia, and as time resumed -
- a spoiler of ice formed on the back of the van. A set of wings erupted from the sides, catching the air and slowing their advance as they slid for hundred and hundreds of feet down, Mia pumping the brakes as a frozen airbrake popped out from the hood; but four screams still filled the van, not yet privy to their aerodynamic savior -
" - it should slow down faster, now!" shouted Mia.
And the van peeled to a steady stop, a thousand feet from its initial position.
"O-Oh." muttered Serena, seeing the aftermarket modifications disappear. "Man, that's the one time you can have those and not look like a douchebag."
With a shared laugh, the six stepped out of the van on to the road, and as they turned -
- they saw a speck on the horizon, a thousand feet separating them and them, forest flanking the six as they started in pursuit back down.
"Should - um - should we flank him?" said Serena. "If I get within range -"
"They'll know we have six -" - said Samuel - " - but -"
"- go." nodded Mia, and the punk set off, rushing off the road and disappearing in to the trees. "If only one of us is gone, he may not realize it until it's too late. Serena can kill him at close range."
"Why did you assume they're male?" laughed Yuruko, and Samuel's lips pinched as they rushed.
"If I had any ability to be offended, I would be."
"I suppose we do seem to fight mostly men." chimed Mia, relevantly. The five laughed as they ran, speck growing on the horizon, the full speed of their Revenants upon them, and as they drew five hundred feet between -
- they saw a second van screaming with the speed of sound towards them, and as the vehicle drew within range -
- a titanic spray of a Rider-enhanced Dream ahead, and the van turned to water-van, dousing the five in liquid automobiles as they ran, hundreds of feet still separating them and the masculine figure on the distance, black-haired&thin.
"Told you!" shouted Mia.
On the horizon, they saw Seth sweep his hands back, and in the next instant -
- the crack of three gunshots rose in the air, and as the bullet sought their chests -
- a wall of ice formed and blocked the foul projectiles, disappearing as the five came within range, another hundred feet cleared as they ran.
"You like that, you fucking retard?!" shouted Yuruko, wishing she had the punk in tow.
Another set of gunshots cracked the air, and as Mia readied to blunt the storm again -
- a far different projectile met their stare; three civilians shooting with the speed of sound towards them, and before they could react -
- Samuel rushed ahead and took the brunt of each head on, three bodies snapping in half against Outcast's armor, chunks of gore hitting the road behind and leaving a crimson streak.
"They were dead if they landed - anyway." winced Samuel, wiping remnants of man from Outcast's armor as they kept pace. Ahead, the crack of six gunshots rose, and another dozen civilians screamed towards them -
- and a ring of fire burst from the ground ahead, and in to the burning ring of fire fell the civilians, disintegrated in an instant. Mia cursed as she ran ahead, three hundred separating her and Seth, leading the pack now.
"If he fucking wants to play this stupid fucking game - I'm so fucking sick of these fucking -"
" - he's trying to - guilt us -" panted Yuruko, wincing as Mia burnt another dozen civilians.
"Mia -" said Samuel - " - if you need to ease your conscience, remember that -"
" - I know! It's us or them!" shouted Mia, and the whip cracked their consciences clear, a hundred feet separating them and Seth now, no civilians or vans left, the road bizarrely clear where he stood.
He held his left hand out as if to receive something, and a block of steel appeared in his grip; it formed rapidly in to a revolver, and as Mia's scarabs readied for the next barrage -
- he clicked the trigger, and the bullets froze in mid-air.
"What's he doing?" said Aimee.
"It's taking the momentum?" said Yuruko. "He conserves and replicates momentum?"
"Best guess we've got for now - shit, but - Serena doesn't know -"
- and with desperate eyes, they saw Serena rushing out from the forest behind Seth, only a dozen feet away and flanking behind. She cleared the clearing in a single bound -
- and with the speed of light he turned, and his right fist smashed her nose; his left hand gripped her neck, and as he aimed her back in to the forest -
- she was launched with the strength of a million in between the trees, screaming as she flew, disappearing behind the foliage; and almost not of her own volition, Mia peeled off from the group and rushed in to the forest, hearing Aimee's order to scatter a second later.
Sheets of ice formed underneath as she ran and slid, brambles and roots freezing below; but below the ground, she felt an unfamiliar presence, and in the next instant -
- the head of a serpent grew from a drop of water and pulled her in, shrinking her in to the liquid vortex; she shrieked and thrashed, and as she was yanked direct in -
- she landed in the center of an unfamiliar chamber, wide and durable, a curtain for a door. She shot to her feet, and the material underneath made no sound, the serpent suddenly gone.
"Ryumi-Lite!" shouted a masculine voice behind, and as she turned, there stood a bald man, who she would later learn was named Akira, drinking a bottle of water.
"Who - who are you?" grunted Mia, sword and scarabs in-hand.
"You're not nearly as aggressive as she was. She would have already -"
- a pillar of white flame claimed his body, and he still spoke as his eyebrows singed.
"Only white fire, Ryumi-Junior? You're using Worldwide for lighting birthday candles?"
"The - wait." muttered Mia. "There's - five Revenants left - but you have - Mizuchi was an Eastern League Revenant?"
"I'm not taking questions." droned Akira, throwing the bottle of water at her feet. It burst open in a shower of water, and as the serpent grew from the liquid portal -
- underneath Mizuchi's sweeping fangs she dodged, and as her sword sought its serpentine neck -
- it shot with the speed of lightning back in to its portal, erupting from the liquid behind a second later, fangs seeking her spine -
" - Worldwide!"
- and a swarm of ice scarabs froze the portal behind, trapping Mizuchi as a rooted tree. She spun, and as her sword raised again -
- Akira laughed, and Mia cursed as she saw the next instant scene.
A hack of Mizuchi's saliva below, and the icy prison cracked and shattered; it slid back within its portal, and as it burst up from its own saliva below -
- its fangs pierced through Mia's left arm, venom dripping in her veins as it threw her back and to the wall, agony staggering her back.
"Worldwide." winced Mia, ice scarabs freezing the venom at her wound, preventing its advance. A dozen feet separated her and Mizuchi now, fifty her and Akira.
"Far different than Rayaka, Diet Ryumi." said Akira as Mizuchi's head swayed. "You've never dealt with the level of a truly professional Revenant."
"Who - who the fuck are you?" grunted Mia, starting her charge forward, and as her sword sought Mizuchi's neck -
- its teeth shot to her hilt, ripped her grip off instantly, and as it readied to snap the blade in half -
- a hundred electrical currents entered it from below, its saliva portal still conductive; the pain staggered Akira and the serpent back, and as she ripped her blade free from its mouth, a thrust impaled it clear through -
" - have you ever wondered -" coughed Akira - " - if you only win your fights through the naivety of your opponents? Five seconds."
"Five seconds." grunted Mia, Worldwide's blade a flurry of movement, blocking the fangs that sought her face -
" - three."
- a glob of saliva erupted from Mizuchi's maw, and as she readied for the attack from behind -
- its teeth tore through her chest, and as it gripped her sword again -
" - one."
"Worldwide - White-Hot!"
Her sword burst in to white flames -
- and she saw with aghast eyes Mizuchi and portal barely harmed, shaking rabid -
" - zero! Better luck tomorrow, Ryumi Fresca!"
She blinked, and they were gone. Her eyes spun as she wheeled, and from the curtain door behind -
- came a woman in a gown and bowed head. "P-Please do not kill me."
"Who the hell are you?" said Mia, a constant turn.
"C-Claire. Akira gave me the medic of the Eastern League's Revenant. T-To heal you." She kneeled. "H-He's threatened to kill me if I don't hear you. My name is Claire."
"Why would I possibly trust you?"
The woman's voice went low and soothing. "Mia Schultz. Let Soulborn spark the fire of Worldwide in your heart." (Her wounds began to heal.) "H-He won't let either of us escape. Please k-kill him, he'll come here every day."
Still with some anger, Mia said: "Do not ever approach me again without asking."
Claire nodded as she backed away. "O-Of course. I'm staying f-further down the hall, but your room has a-accomodations."
Claire stepped out to the hall, and Mia waited a few seconds before following her. Her room's door was across, Claire's down, and a third at the end.
"And if I try to leave?" said Mia.
"The way out is currently filled with water." said Akira's voice behind, and as Mia wheeled -
- he was gone, leaving a nodding Claire. Mia remembered that Mizuchi grew in strength the larger the portal, and she asked a few questions of Claire. She had been taken from her home, had no Revenant before Akira, and was told that he would not harm her so long as she healed Mia. Attempting some sternness, Mia tried to interrogate her about the other Eastern League Revenants, but found that the woman had no clue about anything else: Akira had given her her statements.
"…leave." muttered Mia. "Go to your room, and don't approach me again unless I ask."
Claire nodded, and Mia waited until she was in the other room to enter her own. A fridge was in one corner and a mattress in the other. Sword drawn, she stepped to the fridge, and as she yanked the door open -
- inside, meat and a water bottle; she swept away and back, and in the next instant -
- Mizuchi's head burst out of the water, fangs missing narrowly the spot she had just been; and she heard Akira's laugh as it disappeared.
"Worldwide." grunted Mia, fire scarabs vaporizing the liquid's remnants.
++++++
The four remaining heroes had scattered off, searching through the forest for Serena; but only one man knew the angle her flight had taken. Seth ran between the trees, roots cutting his ankles as he sought the punk, hearing her footsteps ahead, growing closer by the second.
Ahead was another oak, and as he put his left hand to it, readying to absorb the bark in to his palm -
- a familiar figure leaped from above, and the two combatants hit the ground fighting. In a whirlwind of blows they revolved down the clearing -
"- FUCKING - COCKSUCKING FUCKING BITCH!" shouted Serena, scarred and bloodied, hoping the rest would hear her, and as her fog sought his eyes -
- his sockets filled with cement, and from out of the ghastly apertures burst his eyes; but he was fired to unholy durability. His left hand shot to her face, and as she gripped it desperately away -
- she was blown up&away with the strength of a thousand, and now blinded, he heard her scream begin to fade in to the sky above; but another set of footsteps began from behind, and as he turned -
- he felt a set of tendrils pierce his chest -
- and he aged rapidly, from man to elder in an instant; and died of unnatural aging in the next, leaving Aimee surprised, the wrinkled corpse falling limp.
"Got him!" shouted Aimee, and from out of the forest around ran the others, her eyes on the sky above, seeing the punk fall from a hundred feet above -
- and her body caught every branch on her way down, slashing her cheeks, piercing her heart and stabbing her lungs; and down one tree she slid, covered in blood and gashes, scraps of skin mixed with torn patches of her jacket, limp as she hit the ground.
The four rushed over to her. Aimee took her hand, dipping her tendrils in Serena's veins to stem the bleeding.
"C-Calm." said Aimee, crouching down. "You've got Rider's durability, lot more time now. Right?"
"…o-ok…"
"I-I got him. You're safe. Focus. Heal yourself."
Serena winced, fog refilling quicker with Rider's protection. She began filling her own wounds, whimpering a bit.
"Gonna live?" said Aimee, and Serena weakly nodded. Cautiously, she pulled Rider's tendrils out. "Alright. Still need to find Mia."
Their tablets vibrated, and they took them quick.
(Mia) "Mizuchi has taken me to an on noun location - puck king speech to text! Bald man host."
(Mia) "Woman named clear. Has healing revenant soulborn. Possibly friendly. Question mark oh of course. Cannot leave until my zucchini dead."
(Mia) "Will update when possible. Do not want to risk concentration Taiping."
"Speech to text hasn't gotten any better." murmured Yuruko, and the five sighed relieved.
"Um, what's Mizuchi?" winced Serena.
"One sec." muttered Aimee.
(Aimee) "Look for you?"
(Mia) "No."
This message filled her lungs, and she sank against a nearby tree. Taking a few minutes to rest, Aimee eventually stood up, saying that, as they couldn't do anything now, it was best they keep moving.
"Yeah." said Yuruko. "Serena, are you good to run if I do the acid to destroy the Revenant again?" (Serena nodded as they headed over to Seth's corpse.) "Coolio. Uh, momentum dumbass down. Four left, and two with Mia?"
"…Mizuchi." muttered Aimee. "Yeah, though. Sorry, that's just… fucking weird. We, uh, fought it before - me and Schultzy. It's a snake that travels through liquids."
"A liquid snake." said Serena, solidly.
"Uh, it's the name of a Japanese water serpent, too." said Yuruko.
Serena grinned. "Weeaboo."
"You're the one who has your lockscreen set to your waifu-"
" -don't tell them that!" sputtered Serena, clutching the pocket wife close, grateful she had also survived the fall.
As was often the case, they were the only two laughing. Yuruko crouched over the corpse, sharp metal in-glove, and made an incision in to the chest.
"How'd, uh - how'd you manage to survive, though?" said Aimee, gesturing to Serena. "I kept hearing your footsteps - but they weren't getting any quieter. Were you just running in place?"
"I, um… shit. I lost my cup again." mumbled Serena. "When I hit a tree, I had enough fog to fill it with rubber, so that helped. Um - but I figured he'd look for me, still, and I guess I just… It took nearly all of my fog - but I filled my cup up with the… sound of footsteps?"
"I'll make you another one." said Yuruko, peeling the corpse's chest open. "I- what the fuck!"
"…fuck." muttered Aimee as she looked over. "I know what that is."
Inside, two still-beating hearts.
+++
That night, Mia felt something bulky awaken her, and in the next instant -
- Mizuchi's fangs were at her neck, having grown from a drop of sweat. Akira was standing over her.
"I've had this opportunity for your entire trip. Do you know how easily I could kill you in your sleep? All the times you sweat during the night?"
Mizuchi's teeth inched closer to her neck -
- a pillar of white fire claimed her, drying the liquid; its portal gone, Mizuchi wilted as she leaped up to Akira -
- and he was gone, having stood in a drop of Mizuchi's saliva. She sighed and set her scarabs to chill the room dry.
A week later, the two were combatants again, fifty feet separating her and Mizuchi, a hundred her and Akira. A raise of her sword forward -
- and a jet of water erupted from the tip, spraying Akira's face; a second swarm of scarabs vaporized Mizuchi's portal, and as she rushed forward for a electrical volley -
" - you can't fill a room with lightning yet?! I remember - she charred Magnus bald for an entire year!"
- and as the electrical current entered his body, he was gone.
"God fucking - fuck -"
- she took a large breath, remembered her training with Matoi, calming.
As she went back to Claire for healing, then to the corner of her own room, disintegrating any water or sweat that had accumulated there, she thought about what he had said about Magnus. Over the past few days, during their daily fights, he had let slip that he had worked with Magnus, and he clearly knew Ryumi.
This confirmed that he hadn't initially hosted Mizuchi - and most likely, if Magnus knew him, it wasn't his first Revenant. She remembered that Magnus's mind control had been his first Revenant, and, after working through it a bit in her mind, figured out who this man likely was.
Waking up the next morning, she heard him shouting for her in the next room. Sword readied, she stepped inside.
"You're FTL's previous host." she said. "Why the hell would Magnus take your Revenant and let you live?"
Akira seemed surprised for a second: instinctively he suppressed it. Emotion was a public weakness he disallowed.
"And who the hell is Claire?" said Mia.
"Who?"
"The fucking woman who's been healing me. Who is she?"
"I asked for her name, so clearly she has little connection to me, despite your belief that she must have more." he said. "Life does not work narratively, Ryumi Sugar-Free."
"What about the other hosts?"
Akira laughed. "Diet Ryumi, do you think it was difficult to find eighteen psychopaths willing to host Revenants? The only way it could have been easier is if they were still putting lead in gasoline. There's no shortage of degenerates with darker impulses. I simply allowed them to act on it."
"Then why the fuck are you after me?" With more confidence than she really had, she added: "If you don't tell me, I can torture it ou-"
"- I wonder how long you'll keep embarrassing yourself. Provocation works on the hormonal students you surround yourself with. It doesn't work on adults."
"Is that why you killed the weather Revenant?"
"Mizuchi."
He threw the water bottle at her feet, and in the next instant -
- she swept with the speed of light back as Mizuchi grew from its saliva portal underneath, and in a cleave seeking its serpentine neck -
- that caught only air as it swayed back -
- direct in to a wall of unmeltable ice. An icicle burst out from behind and pierced through its head, pinning it to the frozen wall, and in a second thrust seeking its neck -
- that impaled its throat in a geyser of crimson; a second sweep upward split its throat up to its maw, and as its fangs tore at her sword -
" - Worldwide - White-Hot!"
- she tore her gleaming white blade free, an electrical swarm below for what remained of Mizuchi's portal, and as it began to shrink within -
- a ring of icicles burst from the ground and pierced through the serpent, trapping it like a perimeter of nails; and a second downward sweep cleaved the beast in two.
The ice disappeared, and as she glanced down -
- she heard with aghast ears Akira's laughter, saw with aghast eyes the serpent-turned-hydra regrowing to two new; she swept away.
"As I told you - you've never dealt with the level of a professional Revenant."
And the true assault began then. A dual hack of saliva from the Mizuchis' maws, erupting from new portals at her feet a second later; inch by inch, the pressure of their strikes forced her away, and as her back approached the wall -
"Come on, Ryumi-Zero! Disintegrate me! Three seconds!"
With no option left, she swept to the wall, vaporizing the portals underneath -
"Worldwide - Solar Beam!"
A hundred feet separated the two, and as her scarabs swarmed her wrists -
" - three!"
- her palms aimed forward, rage coalescing -
" - two!"
- an orange beam erupted from her palms, shooting through the air, piercing through Akira's chest -
" - ticklish - Ryumi - Low-C-Carb. Better l-luck tomorrow."
The serpent swallowed him whole, and he was gone. Cursing to herself, Mia sprayed the room with fire, ensuring there wasn't any saliva left as she stepped out to the hall. Her knock on Claire's door was a little short, and she didn't wait for an answer before stepping inside.
"Heal me." she muttered.
Claire got up from her bed, her voice soothing. "Mia Schultz. Let Soulborn spark the fire of Worldwide in your heart."
Her wounds began to close.
"Are my wounds healed, then?"
"Y-Yes. Good luck on your next fight."
Mia looked over to the corner, and saw Mizuchi's puddle. She had already hesitantly mulled over this next decision, and it was little justification that either she would leave here or neither of them would: this, at least, gave her a bit more.
A pillar of white flame burnt Claire to ash.
+++
She awoke the next morning. A note was on her forehead.
'Did you think killing Jakiro-lite would prevent me from healing? I could have coerced Serena: she was your handicap, not mine. You're growing to be more like Ryumi than you realize. If you knew what she was like, I think you would have burned that picture I sent.
Leave.'
She stared at it for a while, and took out her tablet - but decided against it. She felt no presence as she walked out of her room, through the hall and to the end's door. Sword readied, she pressed open the exit -
- and found a circular room, stairs at the other end, glass walls. As she descended down the tower and left to the clearing outside, she saw a gravestone within a dozen paces. Her vision beginning to linger on it, she quickly pulled her eyes in where she believed was Urasaria's direction.
++++++
Mia texted Aimee to let her know she had left the tower & was staying in a hotel a few hours away, and asked that Atori's illusions search the tower once he was available again. Given Akira seemed to be FTL's previous host, and the Eastern League's #20, she doubted any more Revenants would be coming.
The other four following behind her, Aimee stepped up to the buyer's mansion in Fracassor. She knocked on the front door, under the marble columns.
"Man." mumbled Serena. "This guy's rich as -"
" - cameras." whispered Yuruko, gesturing above. Serena winked to her, and she grinned a few seconds later.
The door opened, and the nouveau riche answered.
"We have your tablet, Mr. Juster." said Aimee, putting on the courtesy she'd have to wear for the rest of the year. "Your item. Transported safe."
He nodded and took the pouch, and Aimee stifled a sigh as he gestured them to the main hall. With no choice, they stepped in, chandeliers on the ceiling, walls of art.
"It's a beautiful piece, don't you think? You must have seen it - I don't mind if you took a look." he said. "It was traded for fifty years ago. The lettering - the language - all exquisite. Very high quality."
"I guess." muttered Aimee.
"Come." He led them inside, gesturing to a painting hanging from the wall: two red squares. "Ah, I acquired this quite recently. What do you think this is?"
"…uh, art?" said Aimee.
"It's two red squares." said Jeanne.
He laughed. "No, think a little wider than that. It may seem like that, but I promise you, there's something far wider to it. There's so little to it, yet it seems to say so much. Especially given its historical context."
If that was the case, Samuel thought, he should've bought an encyclopedia. "It's quite nice, but we ought to leave soon."
He sighed. "There's no accounting for taste. You would do well to remember history, young students."
"Mmhm." yawned Jeanne.
"When you're older, you shall appreciate the finer things, I'm certain. As for this tablet, it should be displayed prominently, near the front door." He gestured them away as he went back through the hall, glancing between the paintings. "… somewhere prominent. Guests will ask about it, certainly."
"We're just here for delivery." said Aimee.
"I wouldn't trust - no. This requires an expert hand and eye. The money is already transferred. You may leave."
Aimee checked her tablet for a message from the curator and nodded. The five went out the door, running back to their van.
+++
The five picked up Mia on their way back, drove for sixty hours, and Blackburn's fog ensured they never had to stop but for food and rest. Thankful Nuiko could shrink herself to fit in the glovebox, Aimee picked her up on the way back too, and they talked about the grand couturier's new duties as acting student body president while she was gone. This transfer of position was a slight humiliation for Nuiko: one Aimee did not catch on to.
Still, she would enter in seventeen bounties for them when they got home.
As they stepped through Urasaria's gate, Serena and Yuruko were mostly speaking to themselves.
"New patch came out today." muttered Yuruko, speaking of the videogame DOTA2. "New ranked season."
"Um, weren't we gonna play Dynasty Warriors?"
"What are you two talking about?" said Aimee, overhearing them as they came out to the street.
"Videogames." muttered Jeanne.
"Yeah, I guess we can do that." shrugged Yuruko. "Uh, let's go over to my house."
"C-Cool." nodded Serena, glancing at Mia, who said she would see her tomorrow.
Mia watched Serena & Yuruko walk off, and turned to Aimee, who nervously smiled, as the others left.
"Um." said Aimee. "Weird time to ask, but - did you want some Rider-time? Gonna be leaving in a few days, so…"
Mia nodded and gestured to Aimee's mansion. "I'll come over in a minute, I simply… I need to check something, first."
"With Serena?"
She shook her head. "Something else."
They kissed, and Aimee walked a bit more excitedly back to her mansion. Mia went back to her own house, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. Walking to her room, she pulled a drawer out of her nightstand, and picked up the photo she had kept of Magnus & Ryumi's wedding. Since she had left the tower, Akira's words had begun detailing themselves in its background: about how she would have burned this picture if she knew what Ryumi was like, or what decisions had led to him as her coworker, to Magnus as her husband.
A fire scarab crawled over the photograph, then disappeared, as she folded over the half containing Magnus, and her permanent questions in him.
[END OF ARC 6: IT BLEW IN FROM THE EAST]