Absolute Hot [Final Arc of Mia Years]

[ARC 26/FINAL ARC OF MIA YEARS: THREAT LEVEL EXISTENTIAL]

[May 10th, 2006]

Ryumi wanted to go out that evening. Her & Magnus hadn't been out on a date in months, as he'd been too caught up in his research recently. She felt he'd probably consider his whole life a failure if he never finished it, and though she understood Nikolai needed constant progress updates before he would trust him, she was about to go tell him to give her husband a vacation before he worked himself to death.

She sat outside of the restaurant. It was named Red Hill and had a Michelin star, and through the distorted glass she could see Magnus arguing with a much smaller man. He looked back at her, and she smiled as he pointed her out, then went back to speaking. By now, he was likely threatening to use Scourge, even if the government had told him to never use it on civilians, but she knew so long as he was her husband he wasn't in any danger.

Thankfully, he was coming out now, and smiling. "Got the reservations back. They said it'll be an hour wait. Can go walk around a bit."

Ryumi stood up and they walked down the street. "What was it this time?"

"The same thing. Some article written about a, a - Ryumi Egashira."

Ryumi laughed. "Was that what you were arguing about?"

"Well, I was about to threaten to use Scourge - but we left our badges in the car. I thought about saying - 'I could wipe all the French recipes out of your smarmy fucking head -' but I told them, well, they were mistaken. An unfortunate case of the same name."

Ryumi laughed. Back at Urasaria, he would've never acted mature like that. Many times her & Magnus had emptied a restaurant via Scourge and enjoyed free dinners past closing with glassy-eyed waiters & chefs.

"And with that interview with me getting published - well." he said. "Someone'll recognize me eventually."

"Eventually." Ryumi was never bothered by the press, but Magnus had a particular hatred of them that seemed to stem from some secret she didn't know, even now.

"You know, some reporter was going around at the last conference. Asking me - god, what was the - what was the stupid shit she was asking me about?"

She smiled. Her Magnus was back.

"Something about 'do you think we can only host one Revenant because people only have one soul?'" he said mockingly and Ryumi laughed. "I don't know where they get such vapid people. It's amazing that critical thinking has devolved in this country to where even questioning what you do or believe puts you into the 99th percentile of intelligence. I'm sure that idiotic woman thinks she's better than 99% of journalists."

"Mmhm."

Ryumi leaned closer in to him. She knew he just needed some indication she was listening before he would go on another rant, and though most people found his misanthropy detestable, she found pleasure in a man who hated just about everyone but themselves.

"And the internet is growing, too. Now everyone can go off or on in to their little communities about it. Talk about souls and healing crystals and whatever other sort of charlatan bullshit they want to peddle. It'll replace religion eventually."

"Maybe they won't interview you ever again."

"They can go talk to Akira."

++++++

[January 6th, 2022]

Mia returned to Urasaria, went to her office and made herself a glass of water. She set it on her desk and checked her tablet to contact Yuruko's planned replacement, but was interrupted by a note rising out of her drink.

++++++

They arrived at the familiar tower, one Mia had fought him inside during the events of ARC 6, and he was already at the front door. He still had a scar from the last Solar Beam.

"Oh, what a surprise." Akira sighed. "You brought your little butch wife-"

" - what the fuck do you want?" grunted her little butch wife, tendrils already taut.

"I asked for *her*, but I suppose I'll tell both of you." His head shook as he opened the door, and he didn't wait for them as he walked inside. "Follow me."

They didn't.

"Come on!" shouted his voice from the hall a second later, and Revenants readied, the two followed him in to the tower and down the hall.

"Mia Schultz." he muttered as he came up to one door. "Have you ever wondered why Magnus didn't use Xenocyclin on Worldwide?"

"Because there's a host who... I have to kill, who survived Ryumi's equivalent of my Solar Beam."

"It's called Sun Ray. But very astute."

"No, it's called Solar Beam." said Mia defensively.

Akira opened the door and the three went inside to a room, full of shelves of tapes. "Hmm. Regardless, my name is Akira Kagume, former employee of the Eastern Le-"

"I already know who you are. Get to it or I'm putting another scar on you."

Akira laughed. "You're more like Ryumi than you would have ever wanted to be. If you knew what she was like - I think you would've burnt that picture." His head shook as he went over to one tape, and set it in to a player nearby. "Here. Listen."

Even without the otherworldly tone, Mia still recognized his voice.

"November 9th, 2013. Ryumi still has not arrived back yet, though-"

The sound of an unlocking door, footsteps, the sweeping of arms.

"Did you start already?" said a feminine.

"I did." said Magnus. "I didn't think you'd be back so early."

"I thought I called you. Didn't you get it?"

"Must've been in the shower."

"Still, you have returned from Penfort, and..."

"I dealt with him." said Ryumi. "…I'll tell you more when this isn't recording."

"What temperature do you think it was?"

"I didn't do it in an area with civilians." Ryumi laughed. "It'd melt the entire city."

"Akira will transport us to a nuclear testing site, if needed."

"Mm."

A pause, in which Ryumi seemed to indicate something to Magnus, who sighed smally.

"Regardless, we haven't yet said it on tape." he said. "Our concern is that Daigo, even if killed, may come back. Certain abiotic conditions have been shown to sustain Viscera exspiravit colonies. These sometimes operate autonomously, and preliminary literature suggests it occurs, usually, if a host is not found for months after death."

"He means that you don't need a host to have a Revenant."

"Well, I'd like to be specific. If his Revenant is biological atomic manipulation, it's possible... and the best option would be to assume his Revenant might recreate its host. How long it would take depends on how much of the colony is left. Traditional disposal such as acid or Xenocyclin is impossible, for obvious reasons: these Revenants protect themselves if disturbed. Pasithea's ability was leaked last month."

"She'll probably be fired soon."

"Well, we can hope for murder. But so, a sustained method is required."

"Like something really hot."

"But normal temperatures cannot destroy matter - only convert it."

"Even Sun Ray just disintegrates it, but it doesn't really destroy it."

"Normal temperatures. Dealing with Daigo however often would be tedious. It's possible matter reacts differently beyond the realm of known physics. Currently, the highest temperature theorized is..." They spoke unified. "One four one six seven eight five seven one zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero Kelvin."

"Or 141,678,570,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000." said Ryumi, relevantly. "142 decillion."

"And subtract 273.15 for the temperature in Celsius. Double it for Fahrenheit, approximately. Your device is in Kelvin already, fortunately. I remember - they said in school we would be on the metric system by the time I was an adult."

"You've talked about that before."

"That's because it was the first betrayal of my life." laughed Magnus. "The last time I used the imperial system - I think it was before we got married. Figuring out the height for the cake."

"And that was the last time you had a paper published. How's that conduit stuff going?"

"I've run in to some issues with the rate of formation of the Volgari - er, rather - the synthetic Volgari proteins. The closest I've gotten so far is using byproducts of organic Volgari proteins to complete the reaction, although…" He sighed. "Roman and Jerome don't enjoy having their hearts ripped out of their chests for research. They requested a month off, and I assume that'll turn in to a year. Unfortunately, those two are the best option. Unless some other set of Siamese twin hosts show in the…" He paused. "… this is irrelevant."

"I wonder sometimes how long I could keep you going."

Magnus laughed. "As for Daigo."

"Mmhm. There's no other professional fire Revenant out there."

"Nobody else with as much experience as you, at least. You've had Worldwide since birth."

"It's a part of me."

"It's a part of you."

Another kiss.

"You're really affectionate today, you know." said Ryumi.

"I haven't seen you in a month."

"Did you cry when I left this time too?"

"End recording."

Every word had pushed a strange dread on to Mia. She knew Aimee shared that same picture of the man now, felt the same love for Worldwide's host he had. They wondered if they wished he could've been prevented.

"I've already gone through the relevant tapes. Little of note. Romance ending in tragedy. But here - our descent in to darkness." said Akira, playing the next. "A week after Daigo sent Ryumi in to a coma."

"November 20th. 2013. Ryumi still has not recovered. My preliminary hypothesis - though they have not allowed me to examine her, is that Daigo has replaced some vital functions of her organs. The Eastern League is currently discussing my secondary plan, though it's unlikely it will be needed." He sighed, and the recording stopped.

"It was our plan." said Akira. "The short - the rest of the Eastern League's plan was to remove Ryumi's Revenant, find a protégé with a strong fascination with justice, and guide them gently for their training."

"What was - he said secondary. What was his primary plan?" said Mia.

"Most of Ryumi's organs and limbs were turned in to metal by Daigo, and Jakiro's Revenant could only return her to a half-lead woman. Magnus had some terribly complex plan to return her to normal, involving finding someone with a Revenant that could control metal and temporarily implanting it inside of her."

"Why?"

"Revenants can't harm their hosts." murmured Aimee. "Uh - why would that make her immune, though?"

"As is my understanding, a mix of chemicals conduits, and our local Siamese twin's Revenants - the one that allowed Revenants to combine." said Akira. "As for his secondary - our - plan, our ideas for training played poorly with the other eighteen. They refused us. They were unwilling and weak. They would allow a thousand to die rather than save one - but Magnus and I - and Ryumi - a million to save billions. Ryumi's contribution was more mindset, as to be expected. She was a misanthrope, and subsequently wanted her successor to be. And yet, annoyingly, you seem impermeable to that despite a childhood almost as poor as Ryumi's own."

"And whose idea was it to bomb a hospital?"

"Magnus's, of course. Whether he put any of my plans into place, I'm not aware - I was temporarily Revenant-less at the time. Rayaka was the one tracking you, then, as you might remember. I wish I had seen his death myself. The last time I saw him - that I saw Magnus kill - it was with the Eastern League. I remember the women the best. I felt a sort of passion, a new strength, seeing them decapitated. It was by my hand, usually, then. Magnus allowed that. He allowed me alone with them to determine their value. After, I would stand back like a fisher admiring his catch. They've all decomposed, now, but I remember I had them on my wall. Another tape, here."

"December 1st, 2013. The Eastern League has refused mine and Ryumi's request in the event that she dies." A pause, in which he seemed to try to summon words, but could not. The tape eventually ended.

"I don't need to hear the next." murmured Mia.

"Suit yourself - but I thought you might enjoy these."

He went down the shelves, and the dates between the tapes widened.

"Listen."

He set another tape in, and Mia was confused as Magnus began speaking about another student he had given Worldwide to. Akira played another one afterwards: this was about the death of said student after Worldwide had devoured its own host. They went through several more tapes; some of which had reached their final duel with him but died, others had violated his rules and he had killed them like he did Rayaka, a few had been murdered by Worldwide. Coming to the tapes involving Mia, Magnus's tone seemed tinted upon by these previous hosts.

Something cherished dripped from Mia's mental firmament as she listened, and she felt a void. She was no longer chosen first by Magnus, and hosting Worldwide seemed almost random to her now. It's odd that she would believe so, but not entirely if one thinks over it. Magnus specifically choosing her for something he must have identified in herself: it was how she had been accustomed to viewing herself: a fact stamped upon her hosthood for times of low self-esteem.

"Peruse the tapes, if you would like. I have no use for them."

Mia was a bit sullen and not speaking.

Aimee said: "He entrusted you to warn her about Daigo?"

"The man knew I would always carry out a task useful to him. I had once envied Ryumi."

"Why does Daigo matter to you? You were perfectly okay slaughtering civilians before."

"Only in service of my training of Mia, just as Magnus killed for his own. The men and women I chose were psychotic, trite serial killers who expelled their malice upon the world. But in my private life, I am an individual killer, and a very good one. I rid the world of its lowest forms of life. I've killed for law enforcement - for criminals - for the poor and the rich. It's precisely how murder should be employed: only against those who have no value to provide."

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious. Every serial killer thinks they're better than their victims." Aimee rolled her eyes.

"You cannot tell me you've never thought of it. Rider and Worldwide would certainly be enough to burn to a fine crisp any student that came after you. You might even be able to have a group of servants under threat of death." said Akira. "Force makes right. Perhaps the world should not be that way, but it simply isn't so. It's a mark of strength to change your moral code to whatever suits you: even better to have only a credo to yourself. That is what separates myself, Ryumi, and Magnus from you."

"You're disgusting." said Mia. "Magnus had a purpose beyond himself. You have nothing but your own selfishness."

"I doubt you would have such a rosy picture of him if you saw what he allowed me to do. I remember every head I severed. That he left me al-"

"You're a pathetic sycophant just like Rayaka. I don't need moral lectures from someone whose one accomplishment is being a messenger for the only two people in the world who pretended to give a shit about him."

"You're trying to provoke me again. I already told you -"

"- I know you thought it would bother me that there were other students who hosted Worldwide before me - but I realized something. Isn't it funny that Magnus trusted a bunch of teenagers to carry this out before he ever thought of you?"

She saw his hands shake for a second.

He turned. "…if I have any other considerations, I'll bring you here via Mizuchi."