Gossip Girl

Monday afternoon, Natasha walked out of class with Olivia.

"It's like I have a pact with Satan or something." she grinned. "I bet I could go to like, a church or something and super freak them out. It's called Baal, too."

"Cool." said Natasha, trying not to let her eyes rest on Olivia's low-cut top.

She had glanced at it in class, hoping no one - especially Olivia - had seen, but she figured the rest of the women were probably looking at Olivia, too. She still wasn't sure how she felt about her. Natasha's last relationship hadn't ended well, and she felt no need to rush even in to a sexual one - but she would hate for Olivia to ask & for her to have no yes or no for her. Olivia was likely going to invite her soon to a party where a few of her friends would conveniently leave early. Natasha had decided prematurely to decline any outings with her.

"Mind if I come inside?" chimed Olivia as they stepped up to her & Naomi's home.

'Oh no.' thought Natasha, relevantly. "Um, sure."

Naomi opened the door smiling. "Hey. How'd class go?"

Natasha wondered how Naomi would act if she said anything besides "Good.", and shrugged as the two stepped inside. Olivia had come over the day prior, which had confused Natasha - Viktoria seemed the type of mentor to keep her on a slimy leash. Naomi & Olivia continued their conversations from last week as they sat down, chewing up campus gossip that they digested like a cow & grass and discussing their favorite music. Natasha rarely had any real idea what they were talking about.

"I heard something about that - you know that one chick in Mia's squad who wears that leather jacket all the time? Kinda punk?" said Olivia.

"…Serena? Yeah." Naomi frowned. Suddenly, gossiping didn't seem like much fun.

"People were saying she had to go to Thailand for like - some surgery with her appendix or something. Isn't that weird? I mean, she can heal herself, right? Why would she need surgery?"

Pinned down, Naomi would've always defended Serena's womanhood, even if she didn't entirely understand her transgenderism. She had heard more accurate rumors and hated those that spread them, but she couldn't very well Avalanche-punch everyone whose character it would improve.

Naomi decided to plant one juicier. "Okay, so… she used to be my mentor, and..." She laughed. "She's like, super in to anime and stuff like that - Asian stuff, right?"

"Mmhm." nodded Olivia, leaning in.

"And so she wanted to get a tattoo from like, uh… Like, she thinks that nobody but Asian artists can draw… anime right, right? And she wanted to get a tattoo from someone in Thailand."

"Wait, she has a tattoo? Where? …no. No, you're fucking with me-"

" - I meaaan, I know her girlfriend likes it, but I don't wanna say too much." grinned Naomi, knowing this rumor would bury the rest by the next day. "Uh, but you didn't hear that from me."

"Yeah." grinned Olivia. "Definitely, yeah. So is it like, near her -"

- Naomi's tablet vibrated, and she took it quick.

"Message from Mia… Natasha?" said Naomi, and Natasha shot up.

"Y-Yes."

"Looks like we've got a contract." chimed Naomi, and Olivia nodded as the three left.

"Bye, Natasha." she smiled, and Naomi was glad her protege was already making friends.

"...soooo, how'd it go with Viktoria?" laughed Naomi, as Natasha hadn't said much over the weekend. Viktoria had given her report to Olivia, who gave it to Natasha, and she read over it last night. "Was she super strict?"

"Um, I think I was kinda overstating how strict she is." said Natasha. If she was alright in her pen, she was probably the best in her class. "She kinda mentioned some stuff in her r-report that I wanted to t-train, um."

"Sure thing." Naomi nodded. "This'll give you more experience, too, right?"

"Right."

As they came up to President Swarm's office, Naomi saw a man leaving, glad he didn't even look her way as he walked past. Urasaria's men usually only paid her any attention to try to fill her tracksuit with themselves. It seemed an unfortunate fact to her that her sole crush likely didn't even think sexually about women - Matoi would've backhanded him in to last Tuesday for it.

"C-Come in." coughed Mia inside, and the two sat down.

Natasha had heard about her through rumors & Naomi. She had a strong desire to match Meteorology to Worldwide's strength, fantasizing about people disrespecting her & becoming fearful when they realized who she was.

Mia coughed in to her sleeve. "I-I'm sorry, I'm a little under the weather. But, I have a contract for both of you, and, and another pair."

"Cool." nodded Naomi, sitting up. "What's up?"

"There - there was…" Mia's eyes closed, and she took a gallon of coffee from underneath the table, drinking it as her scarabs heated it. She took her coffee Blackburn. "...s-sorry. But there - there was a… investigation in… Outford. They're investigating a ring of jewelry thieves, and…" Her eyes barely opened.

"…um, we'll - I'll get more information when we get there." chimed Naomi. "And a second pair, right?"

"M-Mmhm. I-I already chose … will you be alright with Viktoria and Olivia?" said Mia and Naomi paused.

"…um, sure, yeah. I'll let them know, don't worry."

She barely wanted to work with Viktoria, but from what she'd heard from Serena, Mia slept in her office most nights and had fallen asleep in the middle of a mentor & protege dispute yesterday - Naomi wouldn't have wanted to put more on her even if she could.

++++++

Within the hour, the four set out to Outford, but found the detective flustered as they came in to his office.

"…er. Do the four of you need something?" he said.

"We're here regarding the jewelry thieves." said Viktoria as he sat down.

"All four of you? That's…odd. We were told Wraith would be here, but… well. If - if the four of you are here now, then - then that's what we'll work with."

Naomi frowned. "Di-"

" - get to it, then." said Viktoria, sitting up. "What are you investigating?"

"…yes. Give me a minute to collect my thoughts." he muttered, and after a minute: "…well, yes. Like you've said, we've been investigating a potential ring of jewelry thrives - gemstones and the likes usually, actually. Diamonds, emeralds, sapphires. We're still not sure whether it's well-timed coincidences or something deeper. Every time we manage to - if they're not a host - any time we manage to catch a fence, thief, a courier or someone else involved in it, they'll tell us a few names, but it all ends up in a dead end eventually. It's unusual for a ring - or a chain, really - to go that long without at least a few leads as to who's running it. We thought maybe - well, clearly - some sort of blackmail is at work here. It's not usual that not one person will rat out whoever's at the head of it."

He continued. "Recently, there were a few officers who were trying to arrest one of the leads that we had - a fence by the name of Emil Parker. Their funerals are next week - he had a Revenant."

"Do you know where he is now?" said Viktoria.

"He worked at a dockyard, not too far from here. We were wanting to go down ourselves - before I requested a, a student to come down - but most of the people working there are undocumented. Illegals. As soon as one of us shows up, they'll all scatter. We were hoping they might like Urasaria students better - you types tend to be better liked than us."

"Because we just deal with Revenants?" said Olivia.

"Well, and a few other reasons, clearly." he nodded to Naomi.

'Why the hell is she wearing make-up?' thought Viktoria. 'Her and Olivia. The most work she does some days is applying her eyeliner.'

"We'll ask around at the docks, then." said Viktoria.

He nodded, pulling a picture of a man out from his drawer. His blond hair covered a tattoo of a whale. "It's Port Outford. Ask around about Emil Parker."

"We will."

Viktoria took it and the four walked out.

"…uh, what was with the stuff about Wraith?" said Olivia.

"Yeah. Did Mia misassign us?" said Naomi, and Viktoria shook her head.

"Of course not. President Swarm is a professional."

"…she did look pretty tired." muttered Olivia.

"Even if she were, she would have realized her mistake immediately. It's an error on their part. Civilian police can't manage anything larger than a house of dolls. They fire anyone who scores well on an IQ test."

Fortunately for Natasha, Urasaria hadn't required one.

"Olivia and I will investigate around the docks - there's no reason for all four of us to be there, and it is safer." said Viktoria, then looked at Naomi & Natasha. "You two will stay on watch. I'll notify you if anything comes up."

Naomi frowned. Her & Serena had worked with Viktoria & her mentor before, and the Russian (actually from Belarus) had acted like this back then too, taking responsibility for everything she had no business over. She would've been fine splitting it up the same way regardless, but alright! Hopefully Viktoria's arrangements would somehow fail and she could throw it back to her as an example of her poor leadership.

"Fine. I'll go get us a hotel."

"That would be good." said Viktoria, and she checked her tablet once the two went across the street. "Ten minutes. We can walk there."

"…what was with that detective, anyway?" said Olivia as they started walking. "Did you see the way he looked at Naomi?"

"If she doesn't enjoy attention like that, then she can stop dressing for it." said Viktoria. "I will never understand why you gussy yourself up like that and get mad when men react precisely how you want other women to."

'Did she just fucking say gussy?' thought Olivia, relevantly. "Uh, there's such a difference between attention and just being creepy."

"Yes, the difference is whether it's from a man or a woman."

When Viktoria was sixteen, her Revenant had activated, and it was a point of frustration that her attraction to men had begun slipping ever since. Not once had she made any attempt to connect with Urasaria's lesbian community, though she had attempted to date a man in her first year and left him flustered at her impotence. If this sexuality was what women around Urasaria often made the focal point of their lives, to hell with it.

Olivia wanted to say Naomi was straight, unfortunately for her, but didn't think it'd be right outting her. By now, she had learned to tune out whatever Viktoria was ranting about today. It confused her how a woman, let alone a lesbian, could side almost preferentially with men in their views and behavior - Olivia would trust any lesbian over even the best men she knew.

Ten minutes later, they stepped up to the fence at the start of the docks. Viktoria kept her badge prominent as they climbed over and in to the shipping yard. Near the back row of the shipping containers facing the sea, they found a young Mexican smoking a cigarette, momentarily startled as the two came up.

"I'm not here to deport you." she said. "Have you seen this man?" She showed him the picture. "Part of an ongoing investigation."

He frowned. "I'm here legally, for one. Secondly - I've seen him around here, but I don't know who he is."

"Do you know anyone who would? Someone who hired him?"

"…I started seeing him around here a few… few months ago, I think. As for who hired him, I assume that would be…that would be Jeffrey, our manager. I don't know where he is or if he's here today. Probably off visiting his mother again if he's not, if I had to guess. I swear she's in the hospital just about every week."

Olivia thought he was bizarrely articulate for a man who, by the looks of him, did as much work with his hands as Natasha. Unbeknownst to her, he had a Masters in Literature.

"Do you know what hospital?" said Viktoria.

"I don't, no. I don't think there's too many around here, though."

Viktoria heard someone yelling in another part of the docks, and in the next instant -

- a wave of water swarmed the docks and left the concrete wet; right hand turning to slime, Viktoria swept her hand in to the puddles -

- and felt a thousand of microscopic teeth stick in to her slime -

- but a thousand holes opened up in her arm and let them pass right through her; beside, Olivia was stomping her feet in the water -

" - are Baal's tendrils keeping you safe?" said Victoria, scooping up their legal man & setting him on a nearby shipping container -

" - uh - I think so, yeah -" winced Olivia, and Viktoria nodded: no time to waste, the two started rushing towards the source of the yelling, shipping container at their left, and as they turned the corner -

- they saw a man laying in pieces fifty feet away, no sight around but of something slithering in the ocean at their right as they kept their rush going to his mangled corpse. The sea rumbled as a shockwave of water burst out of it and shot towards them -

- and Viktoria melted to liquid for the next instant scene at her side.

" - Baal!" shouted Olivia, yanking her knife out and carving a pentagram in her arm, and in the next instant -

- demonic laughter escaped her wound as a grotesque maw burst out of her vein, swallowing the water up & retreating back once it was done eating. Another three waves of water came, Baal consuming each with Viktoria still liquid below, thirty feet separating them and the ocean ahead, lips forming out of Otstoy's slime below.

"He can't see us." they said, Olivia trying not to look down. "Be ready."

Ahead, the water rumbled and shuddered, and in the next instant -

- an orca breached the surface and flew towards Olivia, enormous maw opening to greet her -

- but one Otstoy-punch sent it flying behind her and in to the shipping container, killer whale screeching as broken metal pierced through its blubber as it rolled & rolled for hundreds of feet. Viktoria reformed and the two rushed in pursuit, Olivia's devil worshipping wounds healing as they ran -

" - note the liquid changing." muttered Viktoria, feeling her boots change traction in the watery trail - " - this isn't water now."

"I - okay, but -" said Olivia, and in the next instant -

- the oil at her feet hardened in to solid blubber, deposits of fat trapping her boots to the ground; Viktoria slipped out of it as Olivia thrashed beside -

" - strength!" shouted Viktoria; nodding, Olivia slit a pentagram -

- and one demonic fist punched the solid blubber and sent a hundred cracks in to it, shooting down towards their killer whale foe still laying 100ft away -

- but it rolled with the speed of an orca back as it saw Otstoy's slime dripping in to the cracks, blubber melting back to oil to keep her trick from working, fins & whale features retreating as he transformed back to human. He tried to get up so fast he nearly fell on his face, but came up running away the second time towards the ocean again, two women in pursuit 100ft behind through a floor of shattered shipping containers.

"Give it to me." said Viktoria, and Olivia carved a pentagram in to her mentor's arm -

" - uh, it's pretty st-"

- ahead, their foe leaped towards the water -

- just in time for the keen end of a sheet of metal to slice his legs off in a geyser of crimson; Viktoria heard something gurgling as his torso skid off in to the water, and she shouted for Olivia to stay back as she leaped in to the water after him -

- and in to the ocean she sank down with the concrete wall at her back, lungs adjusting as slimy gills formed on her torso, limbs turning to solid slime but ready to liquefy at any second. The orca was 300ft away from her and ahead with nothing but a bloody pulp left for a tail. Oil dripped down its back and formed a new tail of only blubber, and as it swung it at her -

- a weak shockwave of water shot towards her; her right arm hardened further as she swung it forward -

- and the two shockwaves dispersed each other, Viktoria with slime-eyes sharp as it charged towards her; a jet of water erupted from its head & towards her -

- but caught nothing but a hole in her slime-torso for its efforts; 100ft separating them, a shockwave of water blasted him in to her -

- and her body slammed like a pancake of slime against the wall of concrete; groaning as she reformed, she saw it swim back and start another charge -

- but the next scene was instant. Spikes formed at the back of her legs as she kicked against the wall -

- and in to the slits of her own design she melted, orca catching nothing but concrete in its face above, and in the next instant -

- one slime-fist from below ripped his tail clear off in a geyser of blood. It let out a noise like it was going extinct as Viktoria reformed on its back, one slime-fist bashing its back and another digging near its eyes -

' - where the hell are its eyes? It's obviously not the white part of it. Clearly for intimidating predators. Well, it didn't work.'

It thrashed and bucked as she held on tighter, shockwaves erupting all around her, and as it threw its body up -

- it threw her with the strength of a thousand up & out of the water -

- but as it felt the slime lasso tighten around its neck, it was doomed & knew it; Viktoria yanked hard as soon as she hit the docks again -

- and yanked it out of the water & slammed that son of a bitch so hard in to the ground it left its teeth in the concrete and its eyes nearly popped out of its head. It couldn't even scream as it turned back in to a human corpse.

"Niiiice." grinned Olivia at her side.

Viktoria caught her breath and she checked his corpse. A puzzled frown tugged her brow down as she found an emerald underneath him. "…bizarre."

"What's up?"

"He had this on him." She showed it out.

"…uh. That's probably one of the stolen gems, right?"

"…presumably. I will call Natasha and Naomi."

Olivia nodded, eager to see her muscular eye candy again.

How a woman that attractive had no girlfriend coming in to Urasaria, she couldn't understand how - but if it was from some defect in her personality, no matter, she would fix it anyway. If she waited for perfection, she'd end up alone with her teeth soaking in a glass of water.

Ten minutes later, Natasha & Naomi showed up, and Viktoria relayed their fight.

"Keep this safe." said Viktoria, handing the emerald to Natasha.

"O-Okay." she nodded, looking to Naomi.

Naomi took it with her flesh arm & set it in a stone case over her left arm, wondering why the hell Viktoria disliked her so much. She already dealt with enough from lesbians in their class who saw her as the personification of the oppression they suffered back home and could take vengeance on now.

"See if you can find the source of it." said Viktoria. "Olivia and I will deliver this body to the coroner personally - the morgue isn't far from here."