The following day, Mia took Serena out for ice cream. They sat at one of the outside tables with a line of businesses flanking each sidewalk.
An ice scarab refroze Serena's cone: it had been starting to melt. "You should eat some, Serena. You'll feel better if you do."
"I guess." mumbled Serena, starting her soft serving.
"Is there anything you want to talk about?" said Mia. "Er, have you been... playing any videogames, recently?"
"…um. Just DOTA, I guess."
"DOTA?"
Serena started to explain it, but soon scratched her neck. "…um, Mia, you don't have to pretend to be interested in videogames."
Mia took a bite from her ice cream: a habit that disturbed Serena. "I know, but I just don't want you dwelling on Yuruko."
"Let's just talk about something else."
Still, this lack of commonality was common for Serena, though she would later learn something her & Mia's teenagehood shared. Like Mia, she had spent much of it disconnected from the community closest to her identity: Mia never gained much acceptance among lesbians, even as a student, and Serena with transgender women. That she had attained hormone therapy at a young age, a supportive parent, and other facts that dealt with why she signed up for Urasaria, made her a target of envy.
It took Serena some time before realizing why she was so shunned, and she returned their cruelties in kind. This made her no friends, either, in the way that a bully cries loudest when they are socked in the nose. As said before, Serena was not a woman able to fully comprehend her mental firmament, or *why* she felt certain things, but there were memories she resolved to continue cultivating, of a character who would not back down when oppressed, and even relationships like her ex-boyfriend's began to feel comforting by that it was the past & she was not.
After they finished eating, the two rose suddenly to their feet, their hands and arms moving frantic -
" - U-Uh - you - alright?" panted Serena, suddenly twitching.
"I - I - clearly - Revenant - wehavetofindthehost to deal with and -"
- the two women gasped and groaned, inadvertently twitching up a storm -
- and as if on cue, black clouds formed above; the women turned their eyes up, Revenants readied.
"Whatthefuck is this? That's as black as my jacket and what the fuck -" winced Serena, still twitching in place - " - sorry- I really need to - really hyper -"
"Me too -" winced Mia, starting to run in circles - " - so much fucking energy so much energy so much why are there circles drawn underneath me -"
" - is it - is it?! - sugar? Sugar high sugar rush sugar high?" panted Serena, rushing in circles in-place, feeling as if she could run as fast as a bullet; she turned, and in the next instant -
- she disappeared down the sidewalk -
- and was back in the next. "What the fuck? Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck -"
" - figures of speech?!" twitched Mia, scarabs drawn. The two caught the trend quick -
" - uh why is this here?" panted Serena, the two catching a sign from above that said 'trend'.
"It must mean something but I have no idea what it could be unless it's some sort of joke or -"
- with a sigh, Mia burnt the trend to ash, scarabs swarming as fast as lightning around her -
" - why are you using your electrical scarabs?" winced Serena -
" - find the host first - questions later!"
The two went in opposite directions down the sidewalk, Serena rushing like a speeding bullet along the line of businesses and restaurants, shoving chairs outside aside, glancing through the windows of each as she hurtled and ran.
The end of the line was only fifty feet ahead, and as she cleared the clearing with the speed of a sugar rush -
- a titanic wall burst out from the ground, blocking her path; and in to the sudden barrier she skid and stumbled. Glancing back, she sighed, Mia on the other end suffering the same fate.
"Maybe we can -" - Serena twitched - " - go over it?"
She scooped a rock off the ground, threw it over the wall -
- and two birds appeared in mid-air and were hit beak-on; then fell dead to the ground, Serena wincing as she stepped back.
"Um - we can't escape this sidewalk, I guess! Don't ask me how I know!" she shouted, the two birds killed with one stone disappearing below.
On the other end, Mia yanked open one restaurant's front doors and swept herself inside, checking for patrons with her wild eyes -
- but found only skeletons in chairs, the restaurant's business having been dead for months. She stepped out to the sidewalk again, Serena rushing to her side as the two searched.
"Man." muttered Serena, another dead business beside. "This shit makes me -"
- she gagged suddenly, panted and pat her stomach frantically; and the two groaned in horror, knowing then what had appeared in Serena's stomach.
"Are - are you alright?" said Mia, patting Serena's back; the protégé gave a vague nod, crouching down -
" - fuck - shit - fuck!" screamed Serena, stomach bulging, filling with hundreds of butterflies, cargo threatening to burst her open -
- but with the speed of fog, a black stream went down her throat -
- and out of her esophagus erupted a stream of projectile vomit, hundreds of dissolved butterflies ejecting out of her mouth -
" - stay - stay calm, Serena." winced Mia, fire scarabs vaporizing the bile as she held Serena's hair back, as a true friend might.
And the foul stream slowed. Serena groaned as she burped, and as she stumbled down the sidewalk -
" - wait!" shouted Mia, yanking her protégé back -
- and the two sighed in relief, finding that the suddenly appearing bucket below had not been kicked.
"Be careful -" said Mia -
- and shrieked as Serena transformed in to a sign that said 'careful' -
" - I - don't be careful! Be - Serena!"
- and the two sighed in relief as Serena returned.
"I'm - calm. Calm. Right." winced Serena. "Uh. Not - not feeling so good… C-Cold…"
She embraced herself tight, starting to shiver; Mia held her hand to Serena's forehead, feeling her skin's temperature rapidly dropping -
" - not - " - Mia laughed, fire scarabs heating her protégé's body back to normal - " - not - that! - calm, Serena. You were as cool as a cucumber."
Serena blinked at her for a second. "Were? What I'd do to not be cool anymore?"
"No, you -"
- Mia sighed as Serena laughed. "We - we have a Revenant to fight, here!"
"Guess that makes you -" chimed Serena - " - cool as ice -"
- but she suddenly winced, knowing the metaphor would turn literal -
- and Mia sighed as her entire body turned to ice, setting her fire scarabs to vaporize her frozen prison.
"… No more puns." murmured Mia, sending Serena away with a wave, scarabs dissolving the water before it could hit her. As her protégé searched the buildings beyond, she rushed in to another restaurant -
- and groaned, finding only corpses again.
"Is every business here dead?!" shouted Mia. "Where the fuck is he?!"
With a grunt, she turned and stomped out -
"Fuck off." she groaned, pillar of white flame charring the soldier that had appeared suddenly beside her.
++++++
And two thousand miles away, two men's heads cocked as they sat on their front porch.
"WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?!" shouted her voice, so loud you could hear it from across the country.
++++++
And twenty minutes, twenty dead businesses later, the literal duo still searched, having finished with all but one spot. The two met at the ice cream shop where the calamity had begun -
- and found a man sleeping at their table, the last place they would look.
"… Fuck off." groaned Mia, relevantly.
"Is - think that's him?" whispered Serena.
"I…" Mia sighed. "I suppose, but - I've never fought a Revenant that acts while sleeping."
"Might be pretending."
"Worldwide."
A pillar of white flame charred him to ash, and the black clouds cleared overhead.
"What a pain in the ass." muttered Serena, hoping it wouldn't turn literal.
"Another Revenant down." chimed Mia, taking her tablet out and scrolling to her notes. "I'll check if it's one of the Revenants stolen, but..." She frowned. "It doesn't appear to be."
"I guess that was just a random one, then."
Mia nodded, and they walked in to the afternoon.
+++
Yuruko did not often have fantasies of love, but she remembered that when she entered highschool, she had hoped she would end it with a boyfriend who shared her interests, and was not too needy.
She had struck out on all three.
She had met her girlfriend Hanna at their highschool's anime club. Though Yuruko was known to be a host, she had still spent her highschool years pulling kill-yourself notes out of her locker, so she reacted to Hanna as she usually did with women: suspicion. Why this initial emotion hadn't lingered, she couldn't remember why: perhaps Hanna had defended her, or done something small for her, or, most likely, they were simply in the same place too often. Repetition led to comfort, and they began dating shortly before Yuruko left for Urasaria.
Yuruko would visit her every few months, but as their relationship progressed, the interludes between these visits grew. She began finding that Hanna's deeper facets did not move nor interest her much: Hanna had stopped reading manga or watching anime at 19, and she was now pursuing a psychology degree: something Yuruko despised. It reminded her too much of her own experiences with therapy as an autistic child: none of them positive.
Yuruko was nothing if not a woman with an unhealthy fixation on grudges, so unlike Serena, her memories often remained present-tense & resisted being dulled from their initial aggravations. She often angrily revisited how she had been put in to special classes growing up, and that none of her teachers could see she was not meant to be among others who were there, like Calvin, who could not even form a complete sentence.
Still, these lack of real conversations with Hanna had always bothered her. She had begun wondering if this was simply what a relationship was, as it seemed to match with how her parents interacted, and excepting Serena, all of her other friendships had been online with men: none of whom even knew she was female. Hanna was also needy: she seemed to want constant praise from Yuruko, and this reminded her of how her own mother often acted as if she deserved plaudits by virtue of birthing her. This, apparently, justified her treating Yuruko's autism as a form of punishment: she identified only herself in her daughter, & none of Yuruko.
Remembering all of this stood unwell with Yuruko as her & Tuyuan left the hotel that night, and were patrolling down a sidewalk an hour later. Her phone vibrated, and she checked to see if it was a message from Hanna. She remembered the last conversation they had a week ago: one that had ended when Yuruko linked a video on the intricacies of scoring in the Japanese arcade game Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi, and Hanna had simply ignored it.
That had not been Serena's reaction. Regardless, Yuruko simply ignored it. Tuyuan started rambling to her about some libertarian nonsense: whatever had triggered this, she hadn't noticed, but it was likely seeing a pothole, as he was talking about some loony idea to sign over roads to private corporations. He was always like this.
Still, she wished she was talking with Serena instead. They hadn't spoken since she rejected her, and it would sit unwell with Yuruko to be the only woman on campus Serena had come out to. She knew personally how lesbians on campus treated bisexual women: she doubted they would do any better with transgender ones. Running it back through in her mind, she started worrying she had been too harsh, or if something she had said unintentionally soured Serena: tact had never been one of Yuruko's better traits, but she wished she had a little more now.
Her & Tuyuan came on to a sidewalk, line of stores & restaurants right and outdoor seating up ahead, and in the next instant -
- the tables ahead suddenly disappeared; the two gasped, and with the speed of light Yuruko turned -
" - there's the bitch!" she shouted -
- and there, a hundred feet separating them and he, was the bitch. The two turned and ran in pursuit, lines of restaurants right, clear sidewalk ahead, and as they surged forward -
- the two tripped and stumbled over an invisible table, concrete meeting their faces as they landed; with a grunt, the two rose, seeing their foe flee inside a nearby restaurant.
"This'll be fun." muttered Tuyuan, feeling but not seeing the table below. A lever appeared in mid-air as he tapped it, and he flicked it incorporeal as the two ran ahead, fifty feet separating them and the restaurant's entrance -
- and again the two stumbled and hit the ground, landing on something bulky and yielding; Tuyuan's hands swept down, readying for etherealization -
- and his lips pinched as he felt something bulging.
"Uh. This is awkward." he muttered, Ethereal's lever not forming as the two stood, starting their run and keeping close to the wall.
"What was that?" groaned Yuruko, already dreading it.
"Some guy who's going to wonder why a ghost just molested him."
"Uh, what makes you think they can't see us?"
"Well, if they can, I'll be viral within a week."
The two groaned as they ran, and as they came up to the restaurant's doors -
- the duo sighed aghast as the entire restaurant disappeared, the line of businesses fading from their sight. A swift flick of Ethereal's lever turned the door incorporeal, and as they swept directly inside -
- the sharp end of three invisible projectiles entered Yuruko's chest; she shrieked as she stumbled back, and as she felt another volley seek her -
- a wild and hasty spin of Medicinal's gloves formed a shield of steel; a second, and a second shield for Tuyuan. The two held it high as they stepped forward, seeing only the floor, their foe nowhere to be seen.
"God, this shit sucks." groaned Yuruko, almost hoping for a fight more direct. "This is - dangerous, but -"
- a hailstone of dry ice formed at her boot, and as a woman might kick a puck, she kicked it forward -
- and the entire restaurant filled with white smoke, illuminating the rows of tables and chairs, booths along the back wall. The two cut right, seeing what they thought was a door at the right&back end -
" - what if that hit somebody?" laughed Tuyuan.
"Dry ice is treatable. At least mine doesn't leave psychological damage." murmured Yuruko, relevantly, cutting around the corner, and as they rushed to the possibly-a-door -
- the two stumbled direct in to it, hitting their noses on the barrier, and as they stumbled back -
- the door slammed open and threw Yuruko to the wall -
" - fucking bitch!" she grunted, and a sweep of Medicinal's gloves turned the barrier liquid.
With no time to waste, the blind duo swept inside, a second hailstone of dry ice illuminating their path, appearing to be the kitchen, long and narrow -
" - there's the bitch again!" shouted Tuyuan -
- and there, at the other end, fifty feet separating them and he, was the bitch again. His eyes grew wild as he caught sight of them, and as they readied to rush in pursuit -
- they sighed as they saw him disappear out what-they-assumed was a door.
"Fuck this." groaned Tuyuan, pressing vaguely against what-he-thought was a wall right, and smiling to find Ethereal's lever appear. A flick of it turned the wall incorporeal, and the two stepped out to the back alley beyond -
- and laughed as their foe halted to their left, only a dozen feet separating them and he. He turned and wheeled -
- and the keen end of a titanic projectile hit the two from behind, crushing them underneath the weight, allowing him time to escape -
- and Tuyuan grunted as he flicked the bulky projectile ethereal; and up the two rose, sighing again as they turned, seeing the street&road beyond.
"I'll flank him." said Tuyuan, rushing off behind, and he was gone.
The blinded chemist ran ahead, out of the alley and peeling left to the street beyond; on the horizon, she saw her foe weaving between the center of the road, cars she knew were there but couldn't see -
" - Medicinal!"
- and below her boots, the traditional stone stairs&bridge formed as she rushed up, barrier below disintegrating as she took the wide path over the road. Only fifty feet separated her and her foe now, and as she hurtled closer in -
- a second blunt projectile hit the back of her skull; she shrieked as she lost her balance, starting to fall off the bridge -
- but a pole of steel formed in her gloved grip, hanging mid-air off the side of the bridge. She swept her legs back on, starting her run again, new guard rails forming as her hands stretched out.
'Man, that trip made this shit stronger. Maybe I'll break the economy some day.'
Below, her foe still ran down the center of the road, her stumbling having lost her distance, threatening to disappear from her sight around a corner left&ahead -
' - this is gonna look so fucking stupid.'
With a sigh, Yuruko stretched her arms back, running as a true ninja might; and gusts of wind formed at her back, tailwind speeding her pace, only fifty feet separating she and he.
And as he came over one casual manhole -
- a familiar hand erupted from it, yanking him down and within; and Yuruko heard a scream she knew wasn't Tuyuan. The cars formed below again, only miniscule traffic, buildings appearing around again.
And out of the sewage aperture climbed Tuyuan, knife-in-hand, dragging the corpse with open throat behind.
"Pathetic." he droned, and stepped careful over to the sidewalk, Yuruko on her bridge following behind, and down.
"Coolio." chimed Yuruko, stepping over to the corpse. "Finally got a live one."
Tuyuan nodded and crouched down. Yuruko drew her tablet out as he started his incision to the corpse's chest.
"Just need to scan, and -"
" - error." stated her tablet.
"Something up?" said Tuyuan.
"It's telling me the 'colonies are too close'." She wiped the lens.
"Error."
"It's like it thinks there's two Revenants." she muttered. "Probably just a glitch."