[ARC 3: THE END OF AN ERA]

Marisa wasn't used to unwanted attention from women. As someone with a strong sense of pride in her community, she wished she could ignore its more frustrating elements; needing to learn a new letter every month, how some lesbians viewed transgender & bisexual people, and women like Makoto.

These imperfections, she felt, were a good enough excuse for why she was spending Valentine's morning alone. Thumbing through her & Mia's mailbox outside, she smiled to Matoi leaving her house, who waved back to her.

One letter caught her sight, stuffed in a packed envelope. She opened it up when she got back inside, and the wrapped sweets fell out with a letter.

"…oh, god. What the fuck?"

She groaned and dropped it in the trash.

◆◆◆

Aimee & Mia were eating dessert.

"Five months together." chimed Mia.

"Five months." smiled Aimee. "Unless you, uh, want to count all those 'platonic' dinners we went out on."

"All because you were too afraid to ask."

"Y-You can't blame me for that." laughed Aimee. "I was having to look up guides on how to do it, you know."

Mia smiled and finished her dessert. "Er, I wanted to ask, also. Have Atori and Dmitri run in to any…?" She gestured and Aimee shook her head.

"Nah. I mean, they ran in to a few guys who… maaaaybe, but it didn't match up with anyone. Uh, not to be racist." she said and Mia laughed. "Um. You didn't tell Marisa, right?"

"No." Mia's head shook. "I realized there wouldn't be a point, it was simply… I see her so often that I'm not used to hiding anything from her."

"Might be like that with your protege, you know."

Mia smiled. "Perhaps."

"Good, though." nodded Aimee. "I'm sorry that I made you do that, I just… um. And I wanted to apologize for something else, too." She looked off to the side. "I… figured it out the night you and Makoto fought that guy."

Mia placed her chin on her hands. "You did?"

"I did. I told Makoto first, and - I'm sorry, I just… I was worried about if we got caught, and you knew about it, that…"

Mia quickly moved her hands on to Aimee's. "It's alright, Aimee. I love you."

"I love you too." Aimee smiled. "Um. You know how I get."

"I do." Mia leaned over and kissed Aimee's forehead as she finished her dessert, the height difference still amusing.

"Ready to go?"

Mia nodded and they left after Aimee paid. On their way back to Urasaria, her hand gradually moved down Aimee's muscular back and squeezed. Much as she wouldn't admit it, she enjoyed teasing Aimee; both out of bed & in it.

"…u-um." said Aimee, a little flustered. "Do you want something?"

Mia grinned. "I think you know what I want."

Rider-time, Aimee figured. Her thoughts of being a good student were interrupted by a shrill, familiar voice shouting from around the last street corner.

"GOT YOU, STUPID BITCH!"

The two turned -

- and there stood the grand couturier, shrinking from her formerly taller form, and a second later appeared an unconscious man underneath her spiked heels.

Nuiko was a blonde of changing height, who wore a mechanical eyepatch & a voice that could echo in a desert. Mia had last seen her when she had her obsidian beaked mask made.

She laughed as she saw the two. "Oh! Mad Doggy-Dog, and... Swarmy-Swarm."

"Hey, Grand Couturier." laughed Aimee. "You, uh, alright?"

Nuiko nodded, grabbing a pouch from behind her dress. She held the man's head to it as if to feed him, and her nails pricked his neck. "Shrink." He began to shrink in to it.

"Quite a useful Revenant." murmured Mia.

"Rank 7." muttered Aimee, and spoke; "You need any help?"

"Nope. Enjoy your date, lovebirds!" laughed Nuiko, and she was gone.

"… Is she actually rank seven?" said Mia, and Aimee laughed.

"Yeah. She used to be Jeanne's mentor, uh - third-year." Aimee shook her head and crouched down, hiking her arms underneath Mia's legs.

"I - what are you doing?"

"It's Valentine's Day. Wanted to carry you home."

"I -"

- she gasped as Aimee swept her up, and for all the embarrassment of the publicity, the quick return home with Rider would quell it some.

"F-Fine. You win." said Mia with a pink smile.

"Princess Schultzy." said Aimee, starting back with her beautiful cargo. "But, um, about what you said earlier…?"

"…hm. How have your grades been?"

"Um, good?"

"Are you sure? Miss Mia may need to tutor you tonight."

"S-Sounds good."

◆◆◆

The following morning, Marisa checked their kitchen cabinets. Her gaze was pulled over to a four-pack of chocolate-chip muffins she had bought a few days ago. She took one out for breakfast, placed it on a Boudoir-napkin, and then, mulling it over, took the other three out too.

The door opened, and in stepped Mia-Mia.

"Oh, hey, Mia." said Marisa, covertly putting two back. "How'd your date with Aimee go?"

"Very - very good." coughed Mia. "Is everything alright?"

Marisa shrugged. "I guess, it's just like…" She took a piece of paper off the counter and handed it to Mia. "I dunno. Read it. I got this yesterday."

"'Dear Marisa,

Wanna spend Valentine's Day together? I'd love to spend the day with a beautiful woman - and I'm sure neither of us are doing anything.

- Makoto. (And don't worry: I keep my nails cut.)'"

Mia blinked. "…she keeps her nails cut?"

Marisa gave her an odd look as she took the letter back.

"She didn't mention anything like this to Aimee." muttered Mia as Marisa crumpled it. "I… could tell Aimee to get her to stop, if you'd like."

Marisa shook her head. "Nah, like, it's just annoying. Like, it reminds me of - I told you how I used to get creepy dudes following me home when I was younger, right?"

Mia nodded sagely. "Because you have big boobs."

"Because I have big boobs." nodded Marisa sagely. "Yeah, though. I mean, I can't really deal with her the same way, but…" She sighed as she opened the fridge. "You know, I don't get why some lesbians think they have a license to act like guys."

Mia cleared her throat.

"That's different." Marisa laughed. "Ugh. Uh, she sent a bunch of liquor chocolates with it, too. Want one? They're actually pretty good, so…"

"So…?" said Mia, taking one from her.

"I just ignored it and figured she'd, like, get the picture, but I dunno if she will or not, and she might keep trying to send me stuff…"

"…ah. If it would be right to keep accepting them."

"Yeah, 'cause she needs to know she's not getting anything out of it." Marisa shook her head. "That must be what it's like to be a priest. No matter how much money you give, you'll never be able to touch the goods." The two laughed. "Uh. That was on one of the wrappers."

◆◆◆

After the following week of class & hunting, Mia & Marisa were called up to the Council of Four's office on Friday. Aimee & Makoto were at the table, and the way Makoto smiled at Marisa started souring something in her.

"Hey, Marisa."

"Hi." said Marisa, letting Mia sit so she could take the further seat.

"Hey, Schultzy." chimed Aimee. "Got an assignment for you."

"What were their names?" snickered Makoto.

"Sylvia Häger and Grant Grantson -"

- the other three burst in laughter -

" - I'm sorry, what?" sputtered Mia. "Is that a joke?"

"I-It's pretty good." laughed Marisa, wiping her eyes. "I still crack up every time they check attendance. Is he still not back?"

"Yeah." said Aimee. "Alright, so… some guy causing trouble in a town out west, those two went out to investigate Monday - and haven't checked in since last night. Need to check up on them, see if anything happened."

Mia nodded, a little worried. Sylvia was the orange-haired muscular woman in her class, usually talking herself in to the center of attention & embarrassing herself in the process. Many around campus liked Sylvia; no women in particular loved her.

In some ways, she reminded Mia of Marisa.

"Will we be going as four, then?"

"Saya's still not up to travel, right?" winced Marisa and Aimee nodded.

"Yeah. I, uh… kinda doubt she's… yeah. Might've been her last trip."

"I've got some healing shit I never trained, so you two are gonna be my guinea pigs." said Makoto.

'Great.' thought Marisa. "Only two?"

"I wasn't planning on coming." said Aimee, looking to Mia. "Um, we talked about it."

Mia smiled and nodded. She had brought up to Aimee that she wanted to handle a contract by herself, after reassuring her it wasn't a precursor to a break-up. Five months hadn't dulled Aimee's ability to see thorns in every unclear decision. "We did. It's alright."

Aimee smiled. "Probably only be there for a few days anyway, right?"

"Jinx." said Makoto.

"Any idea who the guy is?" said Marisa.

Aimee shook her head. "Report just said it was some guy - or woman - who goes around killing women with black hair. Said it's been happening for years, apparently."

"Uh, and they just now called it in?"

Aimee shrugged. "I mean, you know how cops are. If you ever need someone to show up eight hours late to a robbery and kill someone's dog, they're just one call away."

Mia grinned at her own stolen joke.

◆◆◆

As he pulled in to her driveway, Garcian had time to pull out his phone, and stare at the photo he had been sent only minutes after arranging this 'date' with Lina. It seemed an unfortunate fact to him that he would likely have to kill Lina; he knew now that she was not his target, and though he was the same age as Mia, the possibility of revenge overlaid his memories of previous face's, on to the one in the photo he did not realize was new.

He was grateful for some things, however. He still had his childhood dog, Ajax, and had found a woman who did not mind knowing of his deeds, so long as he left his violence at the door. Anger, as the memory of what had caused both his & Ajax's permanent burns down the right half of their bodies, made him, he recognized that he was relatively lucky as far as history went; and it was precisely this luck & knowledge of history that would allow him to kill her.

Though he wasn't sure if he hated Swarm more for himself or for Ajax, his & his medical bills had nearly bankrupted his aunt until she put him in to foster care. Anger formed a constant sentence in his life, and what topics it covered usually was around Urasaria students. He rarely thought of himself as a rogue host, but as someone pursuing revenge.

Unloading Era's revolver, he knew he had no other way to way to confirm it was Swarm but this, and once he killed her, he would reveal what she had done, and even the press he despised wouldn't be able to resist putting her evil on a page.

◆◆◆

On the private flight over to Penfort, Makoto took every Mia-bathroom break as an opportunity to make a pass at Marisa, and she seemed to take no notice of Marisa's displeasure with it. Silently Marisa cursed Aimee for forcing them to work together; but she speculated this trip may be useful. As a teenager, she'd had trouble rejecting even men without using a Boudoir-bullet: maybe it wouldn't end like that here.

An hour later, Marisa parked on a dirt lot in a scratched rental pickup, and the three women started down the sidewalk in to the neighborhood. Cars sat on cinderblocks behind wooden fences.

"So, last text they sent Lady Aimee was that they were coming here." yawned Makoto. "Probably shouldn't have our badges on, though. I bet they hate cops here."

"There's no need for that." muttered Mia. "Most… people don't distrust students."

"Do you think that makes any difference somewhere like here?" shrugged Makoto. "We're just cops with superpowers."

"No, we're not. There's no brutality issue with students. We're nothing like cops."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure every dude you burned alive would say differently."

"Then they shouldn't have attacked me." chimed Mia with some annoyance. "There's no false arrests. We don't - we don't fucking make up reasons to kill innocent people."

"I mean, I don't think most cops do that shit either, but whatever."

Mia frowned. "Makoto, do you enjoy being so fucking difficult?"

Makoto shrugged. "I'm not being difficult, I'm just saying that -"

" - Makoto, knock it off." said Marisa, and she saw Makoto tense.

"Uh, sorry."

"Just - let's just stay focused."

Makoto nodded. "Sure thing. Uh. Guess we could check some of the abandoned houses around here."

Marisa noticed her tone had shifted and did not like it. As they came up to a home that looked abandoned, she was reminded of her family's living situation near Urasaria: most likely they would be in public housing the rest of their lives. Trying some humor, her mother had once told her & her older sister: "Our lives are already ruined. You two still have a chance."

Marisa peeled the fence apart and they ducked in, going up the steps to the front. Boudoir's sword formed between her fingers, Makoto's trumpet, and Mia's scarabs.

"Nobody home." muttered Makoto as they came in to the living room.

"Public housing." muttered Marisa, and the three stopped in the center of the room. The stairs were ahead with a door beside it.

"Check that door by the stairs first." mumbled Makoto, drawing over to that door by the stairs first and flattening against the wall adjacent. "Mia, can you go in first?"

"Since you finally asked nicely." said Mia, rolling her eyes as she strode over. Her sword formed in her right hand, and as she yanked the door open with her left -

- she found nothing but a bathroom, a mirror over the sink left. She walked inside, and as she turned to the wall mirror, found nothing but her own reflection.

"Anything?" whispered Makoto, and Mia shook her head.

"It looks all ord-"

- a gash opened her chest with a spray of blood; the pain stumbled her back against the wall, and as her eyes cleared -

- she saw her reflection grinning, sword in-hand as it stabbed through its own stomach -

- and a wound ripped through her own a second later, a scream of agony to the two still outside.

"Don't - don't come in here! - Mirror Revenant!"

A pillar of ice burst out from the ground and blocked her vision; but her reflection was fired to the speed of a tiger. A sweep of scorching blade went through her pillar and melted the ice to steam; the room filled with mist, and as the gleaming eyes gave back her glare -

- she started running out of the bathroom with only one option left -

- but a shadowy arm&hand grew from the mirror, extending and shooting towards her with palm outstretched -

" - Boudoir!" shouted Marisa, and her sword hit the trunk - but the blade bounced off of its impenetrable skin; and as it ripped Mia by her hair, she writhed, struggled as it drew her closer and closer back. She was back inside the bathroom now, and as she saw the reflection raise its sword to its neck -

- a bash of Mia's hilt shattered the mirror to two pieces, scattering it on the floor, and the reflection disappeared.

"I - finished?" panted Makoto.

"I doubt -"

- and as Mia said it, so it was. Two hands grew from the discarded shards and yanked her hair, pulling her down; she struggled and thrashed against it again, sending the pieces scattering in to the living room -

- and she was gone in to the mirror.

The two pieces lay at Makoto and Marisa's feet, and as Makoto caught sight of her mirror image -

" - Boudoir!"

- a titanic wall formed and shielded Marisa from seeing her own eyes, yet Makoto was still vulnerable.

"I - h-hey!" panted Makoto, seeing the two reflections of herself pulling their trumpets forth. "You could've made one for me too!"

"Uh - I don't have that much material, but you can test something! Can you -"

- a sharp intake of breath in the two reflections, and as the chaotic note began to burst -

- Makoto bashed the back of her own neck with her trumpet and fell unconscious, and the hands formed and pulled her down.

Marisa had only a thin dress left now, rainbow wedding having gotten a divorce recently. She sighed and took her bra & phone out, forming a tube with the right angle out of the material, and pressed it past the corner of the barrier. A strand erupted from her back and lassoed her to the barrier, and another string for her phone as she slid it down the tube, having tapped the video camera before sending it through.

'… should be enough. Just need to find out where it is.'

She pulled her phone back, began to play the video -

- and a groan like none other escaped her as she saw her own two reflections giving her stare back.

'Are you fucking kidding -'

- the hands shot around the barrier and pulled her in, and she was soon privy to completely white scenery; aghast Mia, suddenly conscious Makoto, and Grant beside.

"Oh, c'mon, Marisa!" shouted Makoto. "These three are dipshits for getting caught, but -"

" - I resent that implication." muttered Grant, tall & wide, blond & steel arms.

"Excuse me, three?" said Mia.

Marisa rolled her eyes, Boudoir's string still taut at her waist. "Everyone hug me."

Mia stepped to the first position before Makoto could. Sylvia was at the back and tried to avoid touching near Marisa's chest. Her outfit had changed last month, a belt filled with vials of different colors around her waist.

An unseen force yanked the strand around Marisa's torso, and they were launched upwards in to the white sky -

- then suddenly stood back in the living room, tucked safe behind the barrier.

"Oh, sweet!" shouted Sylvia, and as she made to run out -

" - it's still out there!" shouted Marisa, yanking her back.

"Thing is probably invincible." muttered Grant. "Like a stick."

"Like a stick?" said Makoto.

"Yeah." nodded Sylvia. "You can't beat stick."

"Just break it in half." said Makoto, and the muscular man & woman shook their heads.

"Nope." said Sylvia. "Then there's two sticks."

"Stick always wins." said Grant, sagely.

"I should have left you inside." mumbled Marisa. "But, uh, we probably should just leave and come back later. Or like, never. That Revenant's pretty dangerous."

"Sylvia, you thought of a way to disable it, yeah?" said Grant and Sylvia nodded.

"Yeah. Marisa, can you hand me that tube?"

Marisa handed her that tube, and Magma's arm peeled open Sylvia's arm. Gray liquid slid out of one hole & in to the tube as the group waited.

"Did you get a new costume, Sylvia?" said Mia. "I didn't know you reached rank fifty."

"No, she hasn't." said Grant. "I just went in to Nuiko's shop one day, asked her how Sylvia's costume was coming along, and she handed that to me the next day."

"Probably knew you were lying." said Makoto.

"If it's stupid and it works, it ain't stupid." nodded Sylvia, sagely. "Lots of shit in these babies. Knives, acid, mustard, steel -"

" - uh, mustard?"

"For mustard gas." chimed Sylvia, and Makoto didn't like Marisa laughing.

"Uh, it doesn't work like that -"

" - I know." laughed Sylvia. "Get to make that joke every time, though. Uh. Steel is probably done?"

Grant crouched down and pressed a steel hand to the floor. "…yep. Two feet, two inches high. Three inches to your right."

"Wish me luck." chimed Sylvia, sweeping her grotesque hand around the corner. Magma's tongue erupted from her palm and touched something out of sight, and Grant nodded as she stepped past the barrier. "All good."

The other walked out and breathed relieved, seeing the mirror's shards now encased in solid steel.

"Nice-nice." Grant grinned and the two high-fived. "Let's head back now. Get you all up to speed."

"Metal Babies win again." chimed Sylvia.