[January 28th]
While Kate had stretched her legal immunity, the Elite Four had gone through a dozen student messages of the monstrous Revenants, the earliest from last January's year. That morning, the police had identified their man.
"We went through our usual channels on this." The detective passed a paper over. "Guy didn't have an ID on him, bur we managed to find out a few things. Supposedly, he goes by 'Peter Trumbauer'. Have some other information for you on that sheet, if you find it relevant -- but the most relevant one is a tip we got saying he lives in an apartment near here. Address is listed at the bottom for you. For us, it would require a warrant. I suppose if you'd like to illegally search it, however, I certainly can't stop you."
He winked and the others laughed, yet Mia felt a bit discomforted. It was not so much her own legal immunity; she felt she had always dispensed it fairly and in protecting civilians. It was the comradery the police sometimes displayed with her that she despised, and was reminded over her early angst of whether she was a student or a supernatural cop, a pig.
Yet she took comfort in that her father was proud of her, and that she had kept to her policy of never answering calls of strictly-economic hosts; so long as they stole for survival she did not care to hunt them. At the conscious level, she had made this decision from rational politics; yet unconsciously she viewed it as sort of a justifiable revenge against the system that had imprisoned her father.
Similarly, it was a sort of justifiable revenge when, as they walked up to the man's apartment door and were confronted by the landlord, Mia shouted at him: "No, you listen to me. We're not cops investigating your apartment for no reason, trying to drum you up on bullshit charge. We're investigating a fucking host, and you have three seconds to get the fuck away from me."
He did so, within two seconds at that. Matoi glanced over, though Mia knew it was mostly to tell her that he truly did deserve it for how he had tried to touch Mia.
"Time to search." laughed Marisa.
Wedding's beams disintegrated the door, and into the living room went the four. Matoi waved Marisa & Mia off to the hall left, and Mia took the bathroom door at the left while Marisa took the bedroom at the end. She opened the cabinet -
- and sighed to find nothing inside, but in the next instant -
" - found his phone!" shouted Marisa's voice, and in the next instant -
- Mia heard something taking a gigantic breath outside; with the speed of light she turned -
" - Worldwide!" she shouted, ice scarabs flying forward -
- and freezing the entire apartment's outer walls, barrier of ice already starting to melt as she rushed out to the hall, Marisa left and Matoi&Samuel right -
" - Marisa!" shouted Matoi - " - keep his phone safe!"
" - got it!" shouted Marisa, and Mia heard her slash her way out of the bedroom as she ran in to the kitchen, Samuel with armor readied & Matoi with veil on. Her ice wall started to melt, and as new scarabs flew in to repair it -
- the entire building started to rumble, floor shifting and screams filling the halls; left & right, they heard something ripping and tearing through the walls outside, and before they could react -
- the three fell horizontally in to the frozen barrier, lower floors starting to crumble below, no sight outside but feeling the building lifted up, roof starting to buckle as enormous teeth peeked in -
" - Wedding!" shouted Matoi; an explosive barrage erupted from her shoulders, hundreds & hundreds of missile flying in to & through the floor, hundreds of explosions erupting where the three couldn't see -
- and the teeth retreated back from the roof; in the next instant, they heard something growl -
- and the three were launched in to the opposite wall, knowing they were flying through the air, grunting & thrashing against another frozen barrier, hearing walls further back smashing as something shattered through them -
- but the next scene was instant. Mia grabbed Matoi & Samuel -
- and an icy prison claimed the three as the entire apartment building smashed against the skyscraper it'd been thrown against; their icy cocoon fell down & down, skyscraper collapsing behind, rubble & screams & smoke shrouding their frozen view, barrier starting to crack underneath the tons of weight bearing down -
" - now!" shouted Samuel; their icy prison melted, and as the rubble fell upon them -
- ghastly hands threw every last wisp of smoke and rubble from their eyes, three rushing as fast as they could as more collapsed behind, telekinesis clearing their path -
" - that's - definitely cultural -" panted Samuel, relevantly -
- to at last see their foe on the horizon and on the path of ten shattered avenues, creature that looked like Godzilla but couldn't be due to international copyright laws -
" - a true kaiju." muttered Matoi, Rin having made her watch the original. Ahead, they saw the creature that looked like Godzilla (but was not, due to international copyright laws) raise its maw towards them, inhaling deeply again, and as its atomic breath shot towards them -
- something yanked its aim up in to the air -
- and the three breathed relieved as they started their rush forward, beast thousands of feet away, Marisa's speck on the horizon, reins they knew were around it somewhere yanking its breath away, path of buildings their own had demolished ahead as they started running through.
Claws sweeping down, it started tearing in to one building's foundation, head thrashing as it ripped it up and threw it towards them -
- and the next scene was instant. Mia swept to the front with burning blue blade, Samuel & Matoi sweeping behind -
- but Mia winced as her blade disintegrated through one civilian with the rest of the building, battle shoving her thoughts out as the three started their run again, knowing they would've been dead anyway as they rushed. The beast's tail started to sweep ahead, smashing through buildings and more screams coming at the end of their hearing, and as one hand shot for Marisa on its head -
- a swift strand yanked its claws down -
- and right through its left eye; it screeched as it staggered back, tail still smashing and pounding the ground, sending fissures shooting through the avenues & towards the three at the ground -
" - Wedding!" shouted Matoi; Mia & Samuel swept beside -
- and three shockwaves blasted the three left&ahead away from the fissure, cars & asphalt swallowed as the three came up to another building. Mia formed a ladder of ice, and up they climbed, coming to the roof quick, street up ahead, beast only five avenues ahead. Its tail smashed again -
- but the next scene was instant. A line of missiles erupted from Wedding's shoulders and flew ahead -
- and a swift set of lasers welded them together as they leaped on to the midair bridge, ghastly hands keeping them from falling as they rushed down -
- and leaped to the next building, Wedding & Outcast working again as they leaped & rushed again. They saw Marisa still slashing on the beast's head again, Boudoir's sword tearing through its scales as it kept trying to smack her away. One claw shot for her again -
- and dodged her vicious strand, just in time for her to sweep down to its maw -
" - dumbass!" they heard her shout, swift rope tying its mouth shut as they came one avenue away from it, leaping down to the street to meet it three hundred feet ahead -
- and the next scene was instant. Boudoir's rope held tight, Marisa dropped as fast as she could down, spikes growing from her dress as she hit the bottom -
- and the slingshot launched her up with the speed of light in the next -
- and pierced clear through the beast's skull and in to its brain in a shower of gore; they didn't see her come back out as it staggered, but she'd left one rope behind hanging. Mia & Matoi leaped up it, and as it started to yank them up -
"Wedding!" "Worldwide!"
An explosive barrage erupted from Wedding's shoulders -
- and a cloud of scarabs turned them blue as they rode up between the beast's legs, thousands of hellfire missiles screaming and tearing through the beast's legs, hundreds of holes disintegrated and not a single tear of blood left as they came up to its belly -
- and one megamissile tore clear through its stomach; Mia's eyes clenched -
- and the enormous explosion ripped the creature apart from the inside-out in the next, launching the two up high and in to the crimson rain, gore and entrails splattering in to the streets below as they fell for hundreds of feet down -
- and right on to a Boudoir trampoline, bouncing for another minute until they finally landed in one standing avenue. Marisa came up grinning.
"Another one down." she chimed, and Matoi nodded as she stood.
"Did you still keep the phone safe?" panted Mia, standing, and Marisa nodded as Samuel came up.
"Wasn't so bad." he chimed, and the four laughed as Matoi took the phone from Marisa.
"…unlocked, fortunately." she muttered, tapping it on. She checked his texts and saw only one contact, and started from the most recent page.
(Peter) "4:30PM. 3." [Sent on December 29th.]
(Peter) "6:30PM. 2." [Sent on January 5th.]
(Peter) "8:40AM. 2." [Sent on January 11th.]
(???) "Tamer is recharging. A week."
(Peter) "7:30PM. 1." [Sent on January 27th.]
(Peter) "nvm"
(???) "Can't."
"I'll have to check these dates, but I believe these were days of student deaths." muttered Matoi.
The coldness with which Matoi uttered that alarmed Mia, slightly; but she remembered that Matoi had needed to alert a dozen families by this point in the year, and so had taken a sort of distance from the topic.
"Wait, did someone die, yesterday?" said Marisa.
"Not that I know of."
"It does say nevermind." said Mia.
"Regardless, it's clear Tamer is the Revenant we're looking for. Their Revenants were likely converted into these beast-like Revenants."
"And the part about needing to recharge." nodded Samuel.
"Would Renault happen to know about Tamer?" said Mia.
"Only if they were planning to attend Urasaria, though we'll call him."
Matoi called Renault to ask about Tamer once they got back to their room. As generally noted, Renault & the rest of staff were submissive to Matoi, which naturally only incensed them further against anyone she didn't know personally.
"Tamer, last seen on May 9th, 2005." said Renault." "Once a week, Tamer allows its host to convert an out-of-body Revenant to a much stronger ability. Correspondingly, this causes the converted Revenant to change its host's appearance."
"Who hosted it?" said Matoi.
"At the time, a 16 year old male named Leon Kasner. He ran away from home before attending Urasaria. ... To summarize, it was a natural Revenant which awoke when it was fourteen. It was tested by giving a Revenant that was about to decay, regardless, though it does not extend the lifespan of it past one month. The Revenant reverts to normal once the host dies."
"And information on the dinosaur Revenant."
"I will look that up for you, but it may take some time. Sifting through abilities and all." Soon Renault was back. "I found nothing, unfortunately. Revenant abilities are difficult to look up, though there is an... algorithm I've developed to make it easier. Regardless - I see no Revenant with that ability. There's a few you might've misinterpreted as it - but they're all current Urasaria students, and nowhere near Rockfield."
++++++
The four hadn't found anything in the phone books, though the police had directed them to the local TELCO. Their records had shown most texts from the unknown number had come from a park bench on the north end of town, and Marisa&Matoi had set to watch there while Mia&Samuel researched the man's apartment.
Marisa swung them up to one tree's branch and the two sat waiting.
"So, how's Rin? That's her name, right? Your girlfriend?"
"Her name is Rin, yes. She said she'll be trying to visit sometime in the next few months, as she's been... wanting some time away from Japan, recently. Especially given the recent elections."
"Will they give her time off? Like, is that up to Daishi or something?"
"No, there's a particular set of paperwork that needs to be filled out for Ueno students to go on vacation. It isn't a problem on Urasaria's end -- I already have her badge number and fingerprint recognized by the front-gate when she does visit. Ueno is... more bureaucratic." Matoi shrugged. "Though I wouldn't mind Rin's salary."
"Yeah, isn't it like $50,000 a year?"
"$80,000."
"Fuck."
"Unfortunately, I doubt I could even begin to negotiate such a salary for Urasaria students. It's simply too different a culture around students in America, especially given our legal immunity." Matoi laughed. "At least I could laugh over Renault's trip to--"
"But how's Rin as a person? I mean, she's gotta be pretty intense for you two to match up, right?"
"No, not really, she's simply not meek." Matoi shook her head. "I understand why some women act like that, of course -- how we're socialized to do so -- but I've never found that trait attractive. Rin isn't as internally motivated as I am, but she at least progresses and doesn't allow men to speak down to her. I've found that very difficult to find in civilian women, unfortunately."
Marisa thought to ask what Matoi meant specifically, or more about Rin. Was she as lacking of empathy in her relationships as she seemed elsewhere? Was Matoi this way because of her Revenant, or was there a real reason for her sadism? This train of thought soon derailed as she realized that, really, she did not much care for the answer. "…you know, I used to crouch in these when I was younger. Kinda like that spider superhero. There was one time I fell out and like, *completely* busted my butt open."
Matoi stared on, and did not reply. In the next instant, Marisa shouted "SPIDER!"-
- and there stood their eight-legged foe, gigantic spider on the other end of the park; its spinneret shot a strand towards their tree -
- but the next scene was instant. A dozen Boudoir strands burst out of Marisa's gloves to meet it -
- and a swift yank coiled the other sticky rope in midair as the two leaped out of the tree, tethering it to the ground, spider trapped by its own sticky strand as they started their rush forward, six hundred feet separating them and it. An explosive barrage erupted from Wedding's shoulders and flew towards the strand -
- and a swift flash of lasers welded poles in to the ground to keep it trapped, two passing by trees as they ran, more Boudoir strands ripping them out of the ground; strength in her grip, Marisa threw them towards the beast -
" - here!" she shouted as her barked projectiles flew -
- and the keen end of one smashed the creature's head in a burst of blood -
- but the two sighed as the second cleaved right through its spinneret's tip & through the trapping strand, freeing it as it started thrashing again. Eight legs started digging down, and as the park started to collapse below, tons & tons of dirt being sucked in towards it -
"Wedding!" "Boudoir!"
A single missile flew up -
- and a single strand brought the two up, Marisa grabbing Matoi as they flew, missile&strand jig again with new practice as the entire park kept collapsing below, more and more dirt rushing to the spider's burrow -
- and the two winced as they saw its entire web peeking out underneath, eight-legged beast rushing to the center and still visible as they flew higher. They saw its legs tense & crouch -
- and leap straight towards them, making for a belly-on collision as it flew -
- but the next scene was instant.
"Wedding!" "Boudoir!"
- a shockwave blasted Marisa forward, Matoi falling beside to dodge the leaping beast, spikes forming on Marisa's entire body as she cut through the air -
- and burst through the creature's chest & out its back, webs disappearing & spider fading before it even hit the ground. Below, Matoi landed safe, shockwaves diluting her fall again.
The two met up after Marisa landed.
"Man, what the hell." muttered Marisa, setting Boudoir to heal their wounds.
"Tamer's host is the only person who could have known we were here. Mia was the only one who sent the time."
Marisa nodded as Matoi turned, walked away, then caught up beside her. "So, what are we, uh..."
"I realized while we were waiting -- there's another way to find Tamer's host. If we assume that he was concealing his identity, I doubt Peter would have bought the phone himself. We can likely track it with the serial number."
"Okay, sounds good."
On the way back, Matoi had been reminded of Renault's hilarious series of embarrassments at Cancun in 2008, and thought she might let Renault know she would be telling it all to her squadron. So as she did both, back at the hotel, Mia watched as Marisa's unlistening eyes, her opinion of Matoi a gift yet unopened by her protege.