Lucidity

The woman Mia had advised, and fought, stepped in to a bank the next morning. She looked over the tellers' windows, and seeing that 2 women & 1 man were working, decided to step in to the men's line. She saw the man tense involuntarily; a trend she had begun to enjoy.

"That's right, dipshit." she grunted, and in the next instant -

- her tentacles ripped his skull out his spine -

" - money! Now!" she shouted, ripping her eyes back to the front door; a woman stepped in, throwing her her traditional pistol, and she was gone, back out to the street.

"I obviously have a Revenant! Don't try any shit!' she grunted, hearing the clamor behind. "Try the alarm, if you want, but -"

- and she saw with aghast eyes Grant and Henry burst in through the front doors, fifty feet separating them and she; but she had no time to think.

Her pistol's aim raised, and as the crack of three gunshots rose -

" - Ferrite!"

- an unseen force directed the bullets away, smashing and burrowing them away, the two combatants circling in the lobby now.

'They must've broken out of Lucidity, fuck - fuck - got this, got this…' she thought, feeling the right wall at her tentacles' backs - she swept her right hand back, renewed energy flowing in to the walls, readying to collapse them down -

" - Crosslink!"

- but the next scene was instant. A throw of his hands forward, his arm extending like rubber; and as he tapped the wall, the barrier turned elastic -

- leaving no possibility of collapse - the three circled again.

"Are you Medusa?" said Grant. At his side, Medusa saw Henry whisper in his ear, and the metal man nodded as Henry closed his hands together.

'Doing - something - but - I'm fucking stronger than them close, so -'

- with a curse and a grunt, she started her charge forward, tentacles taut around her back, and as Grant came within range -

- a plethora of wires burst from out of the ground, electrical grip shooting to her wrists and legs; but she was fired to the speed of a maddened gorgon. A whirl of tentacles sliced the hideous wires that sought her neck, and as her grip sought Henry's neck -

- as a true hero might, Grant threw himself in front, her tentacles only catching metal man and gripping him with the strength of a thousand -

- but a thousand metal spikes burst out of his arms & through her tentacles; grip unclenching, she swept back as Grant swept ahead of Henry, only a dozen feet separating the two. Behind, she saw Henry running away, and as he came up to the wall -

- one bash with his foot shattered a brittle section out; he crouched down and crawled out of the aperture, hands still clasped as he disappeared beyond, leaving her with Grant.

"Monstrous." she grunted; one tentacle swept ahead, oxygen in the air enhancing as the wind blew towards Grant -

- and one sharp gust disintegrated one of his steel arms to rust, brown cloud bursting off of his gone-arm -

" - Ferrous!" he shouted; the flakes of rust flew towards her, burrowing in to her nostrils before she could react -

- but the next scene was instant. Monstrous's enhancement flowed in to her nasal cavities, enhanced stickiness catching every last flake before it could fly further in; one tentacle smashed the ground -

- and launched one tile right in to Grant's face with the strength of a thousand; the pain staggered him back, another set of tentacles gripping him tight -

" - I can fucking take you!" she grunted, and by a flick of her tendrils, threw him out of the room and to the street beyond; she rushed out in pursuit, seeing her foe laying on the road ahead, and as she came within range again -

- a metal noose formed behind her, gripping her neck and tethering her to the bank; she thrashed and writhed, feeling the sharp ends start to prick her throat -

- but a rip of her tentacles cleaved it in half and threw it away -

" - you wanna try wires?" she grunted, one tentacle reaching back in to the bank, bringing a still-electrified wire back - " - Monstrous!"

- and the spark grew to a tremendous size; and as she dipped it in Grant's remaining arm -

- it exploded in an instant, shattering to steel chunks; the man screamed in agony, and as she dipped the current to his right flesh arm -

" - Crosslink!" shouted a voice above, and as she turned -

- a dozen bullets shredded her vertically in a shower of gore. The sections fell and went rigid, and they knew that she was dead.

Lucidity's host would quickly receive the news of her compatriot's death, and check out of the hotel about fifteen minutes later. This was unfortunate for her, as the current incarnation of the Gorgons only had a few members left, and none with Revenants she trusted. Perhaps she had indirectly caused their deaths by manipulating them in to joining her, but she rationalized that she had given them a direction life had not: could she really be held accountable for their weakness?

Still, this stood slightly unwell with her in the line at the local Wawa's, picking up a sandwich before her trip out of the city, and she distracted herself by watching the two women holding hands ahead of her in line. She usually enjoyed watching lesbian couples, in an impulse similar to most gay or bisexual men & women. Neither had a purse, so when the taller one paid, she took the change in her free hand, coins & bills, and as they were walking out, she attempted to shove it in to her pocket. She mostly succeeded, though Lucidity's host noticed that a few pennies stuck to her sweater, and soon fell off of her and rolled off somewhere.

She wondered if the woman would even notice that these pennies were gone: most likely not. She realized evens she didn't care to see if they had gone in to some gutter or storm drain, as she knew the opportunity for a few cents was simply not worth her time, and would come several times again.

As she recalled this and could see the glint of the penny as it tumbled, it was in her hand at a local Greyhound bus station, along with a few other coins. Her bus's arrival was eventually announced, and after a few minutes in line, she was walking out to her bus, behind a lesbian couple. While wondering if it was the same one, her grip relaxed, and she accidentally dropped a few of the coins she was still carrying. She began to crouch down to pick them up, but decided to continue walking, letting go of them, and all before.

[END OF ARC: LOCK EYES WITH A GORGON]

Without any leads on the Gorgons, Henry & Grant returned to Urasaria a few days later and relayed their progress. Matoi & the others would not return for another week, and though Henry made some paltry attempt at courtesy with Grant by inviting him to lunch together, Grant was not the type to bullshit with people, and simply told him that he was not hungry; nor would he take that offer if he were.

So Henry stepped in alone in to the infirmary and saw Luna & Saya sitting together playing cards. It took a few seconds for him to stop staring at Luna, who quickly noticed him and went back to her office as Saya attended to a wound that had reopened.

He winced as Odyssey's needle pricked him, annoyed Saya still hadn't figured out a painless technique. "Is Hirogane not here?"

Saya shook her head and finished up. "He's at a conference for the week. Did you need anything else?"

"Um, just my usual."

Saya went over to Luna's office and knocked. She thought nothing suspicious of Luna opening the door a little and pushing out a takeout container; she was usually shy around patients. She went over to Henry and gave him his food, and after he left, she knocked again at Luna's door, entered it, and saw her chair turned away from her desk. Luna asked her to close the door, and Saya saw she was beginning to cry as she crouched next to her.

There's no need to go in to what she told Saya or did not say: Saya was a woman, and she intuitively understood what was meant by an ex-boyfriend who had guilted you for your own sexual discomfort, the type who is not physically violent but pressures you with a self-loathing so conceited one hesitates at first to name it. She had moved with him before her Revenant, and had still taken a year to leave him after. Hirogane had known of this and ensured they were kept separate: he had forgotten to notify Saya.

All of this reminded Saya of a manager she had once had, who often joked that she would be a good phone sex operator, and of colleagues who disregarded her advice or students who spoke sexually behind her back: whether the stream of anger this poured in to her were of managers, coworkers, lovers or rivals did not matter, for all were equally reviled. She desensitized for the first time to the sheer brute violence her bacteria had gifted her, and she wanted to maim him and murder him and torture him all at once.

Only a little further down the hall, Henry was sitting outside of the infirmary and eating through his lo mein when he heard the door slam open. He heard Saya shouting his name and got up just in time for his stomach to catch a punch that folded him over, pain ringing out Saya's yelling.

"I shouldn't have ever healed you, you -- you fucking -- give me your FUCKING neck!" Saya gripped him by his hair, writing 'CHRONOS' on his neck. Every wound he had taken from Medusa reopened and he hit the ground, blood gushing, clutching his head & body twitching. "I hope I never see- no, I *am* NEVER healing you again, you fucking piece of SHIT!"

She started to walk away, then turned, and gave his stomach a kick that turned him over before stomping back in to the infirmary.