She pulled up to the familiar street, and went up to the familiar warehouse. He was already at the front doors with an unconscious Tiffany and cellphone. His black hair covered a tattoo of an eel.

"Tiffany first." said Serena, and he shrugged, handing her off.

"Money?"

"Back in the car."

"Oh, terribly risky. She's arrived." he said, and hung up.

The two walked back to the car, Serena carrying the girlfriend-turned-cargo. She set her in to the backseat and handed him the briefcase from the passenger side, the two standing on the sidewalk now.

He crouched down and flipped it open, counting slowly. "Variety of sources, isn't it? Most of these serial numbers start - ah, here's a series."

"It's - in there." grunted Serena, thinking of the months contained in her money. She wouldn't be able to get it before graduating Urasaria now.

"Around ten, twenty thousand. What a generous donor." He shrugged, closed it and stood. "Don't try to follow me."

He started to walk away with the briefcase. "That was easy - wasn't it? I won't ever be -"

" - give me my fucking money back." she grunted, Blackburn's tentacle taut.

[The theme is "Persona 5 ost - Will Power [Extended]", if you want.]

"What - you're going to try to fight me? The next fee is $80,000 - do you think Mia and Rochelle can pay that, too?"

"The only - payment they'll need is your f-fucking funeral." grunted Serena, stepping forward; the man turned, stepping back.

"You're persistent, aren't you? Do you have Mia and Rochelle lying in wait, somewhere?" He glanced around. "They were just on the line. The station is thirty minutes away."

"Yeah." said Serena. "I'm not letting you leave with my - f-fucking money."

He shook his head, starting to walk away again. "I'm not going to bother giving you a chance. Your Revenant is close-range, and -"

- the tentacle smacked him to the ground; he shot to his feet, Serena stepping like a punkish reaper as he grunted and turned.

"If that's how you -"

" - brace yourself, dipshit, because you're going to be shitting razorblades for -"

" - Oddity!" shouted the man, and in the next instant -

- an explosion erupted at her feet; the shockwave blast her with the strength of a thousand away, desperate fog filling her wounds as she flew, sidewalk scraping her back as she landed. She shot to her feet, three hundred feet separating the two -

" - here, you fucking retard!" he shouted, throwing the briefcase to her car - " - thirty fucking minutes for them to get here, anyway! Stupid fucking tranny bitch!"

His right arm disappeared; she started her rush forward, and her eyes caught something to her left -

- and she swept with the speed of lightning back -

- just in time to avoid the rocket screaming by her, and as her eyes ripped right -

- she saw a tree with a green portal on it, and in to the rift flew the rocket; and in the next instant -

- she swept underneath the projectile coming left again, swift streams of fog filling the missile with lead; and down fell the defused rocket, the weight too much for it. With no time to waste, she started her rush up the sidewalk again -

- and the hollow point of six bullets entered her chest; the pain staggered her back, her foe with a sudden rifle&reappeared right arm on the other end, and as the full-auto shots rose again -

" - Blackburn!" she shouted, throwing her hood taut as she turned, traditional jacket of kevlar protecting her as she rushed out to the road, parked cars along the street as she ran, weaving between the projectiles that sought her, fog refilling her wounds for what penetrated through, three hundred feet separating the two still.

"I can get any fucking weapon I want out of here, Serena!" he shouted, his right arm disappearing again, and in the next instant -

- another missile erupted from across the street and shot with the speed of sound at her; she leaped to the sidewalk and rushed down, line of parked cars beside -

- and in to one of the cars burst the missile, automobile exploding in a rain of fiery shards behind as she ran -

' - gotta keep moving, gotta keep moving -' she thought, another car turned to scrap behind her, hailstorm of rockets blasting buildings to bits behind. One car was still standing beside, and in the next instant -

- she felt with aghast back a missile shooting towards her; with no option left, a swift sweep of her tentacle bashed the driverside window open and opened the door; and in to the car she swept, missile missing as she dodged inside - but she had no time to rest.

Another dozen fullauto gunshots arose in the air, and in the next instant -

" - no no -" she panted, dipping her tentacle in to the passenger door, burrowing in to the internals -

- and nodding as she felt the gasoline in the tank dissolve, bullets wilting uselessly as another thirty entered the vehicle.

'Blackburn's tentacle can fill the whole object. Coolio.'

Fog readied, she threw the passenger door open and swept outside to the road again, two hundred feet separating the two, her foe standing at the intersection ahead now. His left-handed aim turned to her right -

- and her blood turned cold as she knew his true target then. With a pant and a shriek, she rushed back the way she had came, forced on to the road and seeking desperately her original car, unconscious Tiffany still inside. His sudden rifle's gunshots rose in the air again -

- but as a true hero might, she took every last hit back-on, grunting and staggering as she ran down, coming quickly to fifty feet away, and as she cleared the final rush to the car -

- her tentacle shot through the driverside door, steel reinforcing the innards with composite armor, dissolving the gas within. Her target safer now, she started her running back up the road again, four hundred feet still between the two, and as another lead volley flew towards her -

- she winced as she turned, jacket taking every hit, running backwards as fast as she could down. She saw the wreckage of only one car scattered on the street behind, knowing her foe's next plan then -

- but the next scene was instant. His right arm appeared above, green rift forming as it ripped the air open, and in the next instant -

- a car fell out of the portal and direct on top of her, crushing her down with the weight of a ton and throwing her against the road -

- but her tentacle dipped in to the automobile, filling it with air, lightening the load to an empty husk; and in to a hundred pieces fell the vehicle, freeing her as she stood again, turning and starting a rush that felt eternal. Only a hundred feet separated the two, now -

- but on the distance, her foe turned and ran left, fleeing and disappearing past the street corner within seconds. With the fervor of a punk, she veered left to the sidewalk, hurtling down the street, and as she came near the corner -

' - yeah, no.' she thought and halted quick, corner only feet ahead, three-floor store with flat roof left. A swift sweep of her tentacle brought her to the wall, and up she climbed, suction cups keeping her tethered as she came to the roof. She rushed across and right to face the street below, seeing her foe with aim still on the street corner.

With a laugh, she jumped down, tentacle slowing her descent behind, and as she landed thirty feet-first behind him -

- she hit something bulky and yielding on the sidewalk; a landmine of gas. A cloud of yellow burst instantly outward; she felt her skin corrode, hacking and coughing as the man turned -

- a dozen bullets entered her jacket, another eighteen in her hood -

" - B-Blackburn -" she gagged -

- and streams of fog filled the gas with wind, clearing her nostrils and lungs, freeing her from the foul vapors as she stumbled back across the curb, another apartment complex beside - but she had no time to rest.

His right arm appeared on the wall beside her, ripping a green rift open, and before she could react -

- a dozen knives erupted outward -

- that cleaved the front of her arms clear off as she swept back just in time to avoid full amputation, blood bursting and skin hanging off her bones. Frantic streams of fog refilled her wounds as she ran back across the curb, disappearing behind the street corner just as he had.

With a laugh and sigh, the man rushed in pursuit, rifle and drum magazine readied as his right arm appeared again - but overhead, he heard footsteps fill the air, and as he looked up -

- he saw the prodigal punk leaping across rooftops back the way she had came, tentacle sweeping and swinging as she came back to the initial roof -

- and she disappeared with another leap below, the man groaning as he rushed back again.

'Fucker will take the money back if I let him.'

The street corner was ahead. He took a wide berth as he turned -

- and there, fifty feet separating he and she, Serena on the sidewalk, briefcase in hand.

"Here, you want this, bitch?!" she shouted, streams of black fog flying in to the briefcase -

- and setting it alight. She threw the flaming projectile forward -

- and he gasped involuntarily as he stepped swiftly back to another sidewalk, realizing the trap quickly.

'Can't let him get close. Throat knives, throat knives.' he thought; but in the next instant -

- the briefcase exploded in a cloud of gas, foul vapors starting instantly to corrode his skin, hacking and starting to lose his breath - with the speed of light, Oddity's portal opened up beside, right arm fetching a gas mask for him from it -

- but with aghast eyes, he saw the fluoroantimonic acid corrode the gas mask away -

" - O-Oddity -" he gagged, second portal opening within the cloud and swallowing it whole -

- and he laughed as the first portal reappeared behind Serena, blasting her with her own foul vapors, streams of fog neutralizing desperately the punk's acid as she stumbled back.

"Was that your best?!" shouted the man, seeing the briefcase dissolve.

"It wasn't!" shouted Serena -

- and the man froze as he felt a rumbling begin at the sidewalk below. A single ember dripped from the briefcase, sparking the fuse she had planted underneath the road, and as he felt the explosion begin -

- with the speed of light, Oddity's second portal formed and swallowed the blast -

- and he saw with unbelieving eyes the punk blasted forward, shockwaves blowing her forward and to only fifty feet separating them again, the explosion having been intentionally weak. She rose to her feet and started her chase again, man rushing back and away down the sidewalk, five-floor apartment complex at his left as he fled -

" - Blackburn!" he heard her shout behind; his eyes turned back, finding her rushing along the wall, gaining speed by the second.

His right arm disappeared as he turned and stumbled back, fetching a rocket launcher from Oddity's portal below, second portal forming on a lamppost behind him, keeping aim square on Serena as she ran.

"I'm done fucking - playing games with this shit!" he shouted, firing in to the portal, and as Serena leaped down with fifty feet left -

- she panted as she saw the missile fly in to another portal adjacent - then back out of its original - back in to the second, gaining speed by the second.

"Fucking - bitch." he grunted, stepping back and away, eyes careful on Serena.

"Blackburn." she panted, dipping her tentacle to the wall at her left. Acid filled the wall and corroded a section through, and in to the sudden hole she swept, fog refilling it anew; and the man ran across the road, past another parked car. A hundred feet separated him and the building, neither seeing or hearing Serena then, eyes sharp for where she might appear next.

"Oddity." he muttered. Two portals formed on opposite windows of the car, no hope of dodging the immeasurably swift projectile for the punk then, gaining speed by the second.

On the third-floor ahead, a human-sized hole opened in the wall, and in the next instant -

- was filled again, leaving him twitching and waiting to react. He glanced left where the calamity had begun, street cleared with holes, shattered cars, Tiffany's the only one left standing with the prodigal briefcase on the hood.

Ahead on the fourth-floor, a hole opened up in the wall, and in the next instant -

- it closed again. With a cursed grunt, the man stepped past the car, and as his right arm disappeared, Oddity's second portal faced the building -

- and out of it launched the missile with the speed of light -

- and the explosion tore a gargantuan hole in the apartment complex, ripping and spreading it in to two halves, half shattered apartments and rooms within. On the third floor, he saw Serena duck behind the still-standing wall to his right, and in the next instant -

- a dozen grenades erupted out of the apartment, explosives that weren't his own landing just ahead - he panted as he rushed back to the sidewalk -

- and the explosions missed narrowly his back, pockmarking the road as they burst.

Inside, Serena swept behind her cover again, fog filling her cup with grenades. She had few left, needing to make the most of her sudden volley. She threw another six out to the road -

- and sighed as no shriek of pain came, hearing but not seeing the man dodging ahead, explosives drilling and striking the road.

'Can either wait for Mia and Rochelle, or…' She winced, throwing her last grenade right and outward -

- and nodded as she heard no footsteps, knowing her foe to be to her left, right facing the building.

'Gonna be hard. I can do this.'

And ahead, the man swept his eyes over another car, careful gaze on the wall he knew Serena was behind. Another storm of knives was brewing between two portals within, shooting with the speed of light by then, Oddity's range on the wall ahead, and ready to open a portal when she came out.

'She's waiting for her fog to refill. Have to deal with that. Mia and Rochelle have realized it by now. Can run left and use Tiffany as bait - but the money might get destroyed. No.'

Ahead, and with no option left, Serena swept out of her cover; she leaped down the wall ahead, tentacle sweeping it as she landed, and as she hit the ground running -

- the next scene was instant.

His right arm disappeared, and as it appeared behind her, readying to open a portal of certain shredding -

- he didn't feel with aghast right arm, suddenly numb and paralyzed, a hundred needles planted against the wall injecting it with anesthetic; forcing Oddity's portal miniscule, the knives shattered and disappearing within -

" - can't move, bitch?!" shouted Serena, starting her rush forward in true confidence now, only a dozen knives hitting her jacket of steel -

" - O-Oddity!" he panted, right arm reappearing attached again; Serena ran in pursuit as he stumbled back, and as she cleared the clearing in a single bound -

- with the last of his strength, Oddity's portal formed above her, fetching one last item -

" - watch your head!" he shouted, and in the next instant -

- a guillotine appeared above, falling with the speed of an executioner on Serena; she shrieked as she glanced up -

- his shoulder bashed her to the ground, and as she hit the sidewalk -

- the blade cleaved through her neck in a geyser of crimson.

The man laughed as she fell rigid in an instant, weak with relief, anesthetic slowing his veins. One of Oddity's two portals formed in his right arm, careful formations to swallow only the paralytic agent.

"F-Fucking - c-christ." he grunted.

He stomped over her corpse, eyes on the briefcase on the horizon -

- but the next scene was instant.

A familiar tentacle shot to his neck and yanked him back, streams of fog corroding the blade away, and as Serena stood again -

" - are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" panted the man -

" - that's right, eel-b-bitch!" she coughed, fog refilling her decapitated neck, ring of steel that had prevented her spine's severment disappearing.

"Oddit -"

" - Blackburn!"

Streams of black fog filled her tentacle's suction cups with a dozen knives, and by a first sweep -

- that cleaved his right arm clear off in a shower of crimson; the pain staggered him back, and in a second sweep on the return -

- that cleaved his left arm off in a burst of blood -

" - Blackburn!" she shouted, knives disappearing as she aimed her tentacle low, and as it pierced through his right leg -

- his limb filled with knives, dozens of steel slicing his right leg clear off; a horrific shriek passed him as he fell and stumbled back, arms on the ground as he collapsed -

" - Blackburn!"

- and her tentacle slashed his left leg, filling it with knives, newly formed blades amputating him, blood spraying in four directions as he fell back along the sidewalk -

- and Serena stomped on his chest, stepping on and over him.

"You're - f-fucking -!" - he screamed, stumps reaching desperately for his amputated limbs, quadruple on the pavement - " - F-FUCKING -"

" - Blackburn!"

- and tendrils of fog grew from her tentacle, filling each limb with acid and corroding it away.

Serena laughed, eyes on the briefcase in the distance.

"Y-YOU F-FUCKING BITCH!" shouted the man, screaming as of one in mortal agony, blood draining out and breath sharpening every second he howled.

"I'll ask Mia to set you on fire if you're still alive, eel-dipshit!" laughed Serena, starting back down the sidewalk. "You said you didn't want a throatful of knives!"

He was still screaming when Mia found him.

◆◆◆

"Make way for the badass bitch." laughed Rochelle, seeing Yuruko&Serena come up to their table a week later.

"Thanks." laughed Serena, sitting down on the other end of the booth, Yuruko sliding in beside.

"That really was super dangerous, you know." laughed Tiffany. "Seriously - I was scared shitless the whole time, but you just - man."

"Gonna make her head pop." grinned Yuruko, relevantly, gloved hand tapping Serena's head.

"Y-Yeah." laughed Serena, still unused to being the main center. "I just, um." She tapped Yuruko's thigh under the table, and the chemist smiled.

"Gonna have to tell us all about it, you know." laughed Rochelle. "You just came back with both the briefcase and Tiffany, and I was like - shit, what happened? Mia had set out once we got the distress signal."

"Don't encourage her." grinned Yuruko, and the four laughed.

Serena relayed the tale as they ordered their meals, and she had finished up around the time they did.

"Jeez." laughed Tiffany.

"Jeez is right, man - " - said Rochelle - " - uh, I mean - sorry -"

" - it's - it's alright." laughed Serena. "Don't worry."

"Wait, what?" said Tiffany, giving a glance to Rochelle. The butch's head shook.

"Nah, nothing." She laughed -

- and her and Yuruko's tablets vibrated, taking it quick. Tiffany peeked over Rochelle's shoulder.

"… shit. Pretty close."

"Yeah." frowned Rochelle. "Uh, you guys - gals - cool if we head out? Sorry we couldn't, uh, stay a bit longer."

"Um - it's alright." smiled Serena. "Um - thanks, though."

"My treat. I'll pay for us, no worries."

The reunited couple stood, and Tiffany readied to rush out. Rochelle gave a knowing smile to Serena&Yuruko as she paid at the register and went out the door.

"…man." whispered Yuruko, seeing the two head off. "You weren't kidding about her being butcher than Aimee."

"Yeah." laughed Serena. "But, um. She gets misgendered a lot, too, so…"

"I bet." grinned Yuruko. "But - you know, um. You don't get misgendered that often. At least not when we go out, right?"

Serena paused before nodding. "…yeah. I guess - um." She smiled, holding Yuruko's glove. "Um. Sorry if I kinda overreacted."

Yuruko's smile replied. "It's cool. Are you feeling better, though?"

"Yeah - mostly. Um, my nightmares stopped, too, so."

"Good. You know that, um… you're gonna get the money for it, someday."

"Yeah." Serena nodded. "I know I will - just. Always been kinda impatient."

The two laughed, and Yuruko grinned as she pulled five tickets out of her pocket, placing them on the table.

"These are the $10 ones." She handed Serena a coin. "Every one in five's a winner. Early Christmas present."

"Fine." laughed Serena, taking three, and the two started down their tickets.

"…none on this one." muttered Yuruko, moving on.

"Um, let's see…" mumbled Serena. "… no, nothing here…"

"Nothing here…"

"… uh. I think this is a - oh, no, that's a - seven, not a six. Um."

"Nothing on this one. Uh. Final one?"

The two blinked at the final one, and as Serena scratched it clear -

" - nope." muttered Serena; and the two's heads shook.

"Just wasted fifty bucks for you." grinned Yuruko, and Medicinal destroyed the failed tickets.

"I bought you a $30 Arcana last week - and you got me scrap paper." grinned Serena.

The two started out the restaurant, coming to the sidewalk outside.

"Yeah, but you got me Techies. I don't play that hero."

"Now you have to."

The two laughed. Yuruko stopped for a moment, and Serena with her.

"… Hey, um." said Yuruko. "You still haven't told Mia, right?"

"Oh - um." Serena scratched her neck's back. "I'm… still - kinda - thinking about it."

"You should. I mean - it's up to you, definitely - but I know you mentioned that… You couldn't tell her what was going on."

Serena nodded slow. "…yeah. I guess that's - true, yeah. Um. I mean, she's pretty cool, so I don't think she'll mind or anything, but… I guess I'm… just, always kinda nervous about telling someone."

"Managed to do it with me." Yuruko leaned in. "But yeah. It's up to you, but I bet she'd be cool with it. Plus, she's… You two are gonna know each other for a long time."

"…yeah." nodded Serena, holding Yuruko. "I'll - um. Think about it, yeah."

"…yeah." Yuruko smiled. "…um. You look…" She laughed. "This sounds so gay."

"I mean, it is."

"Can't always be ironic. But you look really pretty."

"You too."

"Yeah. I was thinking about you - while you were gone, when you went to Combanee. And this time, too."

"Me too. I was kinda - trying to think of where I'd take you out when I got back. What I'd give you."

"Yeah. Let's spend some time together over winter break - right?"

"Definitely."

The two kissed.

"Girlfriend."

"Girlfriend."

Serena kissed Yuruko again, thinking thirty-nine months was better than eighty.

[END OF ARC: BITCH BETTER HAVE MY MONEY]