Lavender-tinted light gleamed in his eyes as the two stared each other down. The Trendy Girl fidgeted, her palms tightening along the strap of her handbag as her chest heaved.
"…So. What made you do all this?" Asked Vere, wearing a grim expression. A friendly one would seem odd at this moment, with his burning clothes barely covering his torso. How fortunate was he that his pants were intact…
No, instead, the way to go was one of ominous knowledge. Pretending as if he knew what had happened, merely testing the Suspect to see how much it would take them to admit to what he already knew.
"I…I don't know what you mean?" The young woman giggled, flashing an uneasy smile as thought power began to swirl around her in the form of cinders.
"Is that so? Well…" Vere paused, his steps coming to a close as he tilted his head at an oblique angle.
"What a surprise! The woman amidst the flames, wearing EXACTLY the same badges as the burnt employees mulling about the place, knows nothing of this situation. Despite the fact—"
His irises slid over, locking gazes with the Trendy Girl at this moment. Then, with a small laugh, he continued.
"The fact that this very same burning place has a lot to do with the fire powers you exhibited. So what's wrong? Taking your anguish out on others?" Purple patterns spread in the depths of his irises as his words attempted to manifest, nearing [Implantation] but not quite touching it.
Inwardly he tsked. It seemed he'd have to do a lot more pressing.
"H-how do you know it was me? I could work here…I could just be unfortunate enough…to…." She trailed off, not exactly knowing how to finish this sentence.
Vere didn't let a moment slip.
"Unfortunate enough to what, exactly? And besides that, if you work here, what were you working on before all this happened? Surely you can answer that?" Vere's gaze intensified, the looming tone to his words becoming even heavier as he began pacing again.
"That's a company secret, of course!" The woman answered confidently, her body language relaxing.
"…Which part?" Vere stopped again, leaning against a wall. Shock gripped the woman as she faltered, and as she babbled to herself inwardly, the silence grew even louder.
Until she gave up.
Fire blared into life as sounds streamed out of the trumpet hair clip she wore. The cinders rotated even faster as fire cloaked her and germinated within her lungs, those charcoal lungs pushing out smoke and reddish orange tongues of flames.
Clap! A clear, crisp snap sounded as Vere grinned. Then, speaking the Detail once again, the words streamed out and engraved themselves into the Trendy Girl's beanie.
>Detail Implanted: (Victim of Incident and regret of fashion). Case Understanding Lv 2 -> Lv 3 max.
A duck escaped the range of fire breath, whiskers of the red-hot flares burning into the glass. Shards of it met the similarly composed floor, creating a dangerous spike trap that would happily dig into whatever surface was yielded to it.
Vere kicked a wall, smashing it and sending shards the Trendy Suspects way before his agile footwork carried him somewhere else. The woman dodged—barely—approaching Vere with a wild lunge as she blew out more and more flames.
Vere crouched down, avoiding the woman's slung frame as he sent a punch to her gut! She spewed more fire on him as a counter, which was met by him spinning sideways and calling Magpie to deliver Harvey.
Tatatatatata!
Bullets pelted against her as she reeled, sliding across the ground before promptly forcing herself up. The two engaged in a fierce half-melee, their respective forms of ranged and close attacks interchanging depending on their opponent's position.
The heavy, charcoal-laden fingers clattered against the sleek bodice of Harvey as Vere parried a blow, pivoted on his heel, and sent a series of swift kicks. This, in turn, was met with flames that enveloped his foot, burning upwards as they reduced even more of his shirt to ember-crusted rags.
The Warden brought his arms backward, pointing his elbows before slamming them and the tommy gun down. It forced the woman to crouch, her legs sweeping the ground as he hopped and weaved while smashing downwards.
A sudden upwards burst of fire prompted him to tilt his head backward, allowing the Trendy Girl to gain more time! Standing at her feet, she directed a barrage of slashes at the man yet was blocked by the metallic chassis of Harvey.
Tatatata! The bullets spewed out of the muzzle as they collided with her face, prompting her to step back again.
Minutes passed as the Suspect tangled with Vere's Range Play, forced to stay on her toes as he juggled, bounced, and released his weapon. The tommy gun even swiveled in perfect vertical 360s at some points while he extended his lengthy limbs and barreled at her with swift blows.
A foot lithely crossed behind another as his legs flexed and bent, while glass fragments pattered upon the two even harder. Gashes formed in both of their skins as blood dripped along the transparent terrain and cauterized wounds on both of them as the fires encased their frames.
The Trendy Girl was caught off guard as Vere made a feint, allowing him to smash a knee to her pelvis and make her fall over. Then, planting a boot in her chest, he let his feet meet atop it as he pummeled her face.
A sickening, continuous crunch sounded amidst the cracking sound as the glass beneath them started to crack. Before it could do so, Vere leaped upwards, his body performing a backflip as he distanced himself.
[Press!] Bullets formed an outline as the glass shattered, the Trendy Girl's eyes widening as she struggled to pick herself up! Before falling to the next floor, she grasped the edges, letting sharp shards dig into her flesh.
Her eyes reddened at this, and a veritable sphere of flame formed as even her hair began blazing. Thick tongues of flame cascaded, melting the very area around her as she grimaced.
"HOW-DARE-YOUUUU?!" She flew towards Vere headfirst, causing the man to throw away his tommy gun as the woman head-butted him in the sternum.
All of his shirt burned off at this point, exposing his tattooed and scarred torso to the world. Yet and still, even as his flesh started to sear, he kept fighting, shrugging off the pain as his wounds struggled to try and recover.
Black scales formed over his flesh in swirling patterns, deflecting some of the flames and striking slashes as they fought. Parry after parry, coupled with square hits, pushed the woman back while he jabbed at her weak points and took every last opportunity to [Press] her even further!
A right hook was blocked by his blackened elbow, his left hand sweeping and embracing her arm as the knuckle of his right middle finger buried into her face. Then, before she could be pushed away by the swing, he slung her around with his left arm, the Trendy Girl kicking and burning past his flesh and exposing bone as she rebelled.
But it was for naught. He slid around, rolling and tumbling at some times and dragging her face across the shards of glass. Finally, when he felt he could no longer maintain his grip, he threw her out of the window, ruining the stability of the top two floors!
All of the glass abruptly tumbled down, smattering down as loud noises clattered against each other. Vere and the Trendy Girl escaped the carnage, the two finding their way atop the floating helipad in two very different ways.