Salty?

The following morning, Iris woke up around 8 and went out to eat breakfast with Natasha, for training afterwards, and then a potential hunt.

"Hey, I wanted to work on cardio, but I figured we could just do that for a half-hour and then go hunting. You're already decently athletic." Natasha glanced down at her omelette. "Also, because Viktoria wakes up at 9 and I'd really like to avoid her."

Natasha held a sort of resentfulness towards Viktoria, though Viktoria was never directly cruel to her. But while Viktoria praised her decision with Iris, Natasha was conflicted, as she had still criticized her presentation and how she treated Viktoria in front of her; and that the criticism was all supposedly for Natasha's benefit made it difficult to stick up for herself.

The frustration Viktoria had with Natasha was often diverted into these softer streams of thought, but always there was the threat in Natasha's mind that she had missed something deeper in her intonation. She might have preferred if Viktoria were directly cruel: had displayed malicious behavior where she could dismiss Viktoria just like she had her homophobic father. But she always held herself back.

It brought her back to her former mentor Naomi Eskel, the amnesiac who was Serena Kunst's protege and was currently in Kate's squadron. Natasha still wouldn't admit her mistake in choosing Viktoria, though she wished she could apologize to Naomi. When President Kate was out and Naomi would be there to assign contracts, her eyes coldened whenever Natasha spoke to her.

Iris looked over at Natasha down this beachside boardwalk, stalls nearby. "You know, I know it's a bit chilly, but I figured your Revenant would keep you warm or something so you don't have to wear a parka. Least that's what I always do."

"Nah, the temperature isn't why I wear it. Once we start getting contracts, I'm gonna be wearing something else. But I used to get harassed if I wear anything less than this, so I just thought of the most covering costume I could get to send a fuck you to those people."

"Why'd you get harassed? For being a student?"

"No, from women on campus. One sec." Natasha unzipped her parka, her sports bra on underneath. "No peeking. Um, sorry, weird joke." She took off her parka, and as mentioned last year, she was rather fit and very muscular beneath it.

"I should've had that omelette."

Natasha laughed. "Thanks. But when I wear anything with skin showing, students just... fucking touch me. They grab my arms, they hit on me, they try to touch me. And every single person who's touched me without my consent was a woman. But they think gender is morality, so women 'can't' be creeps. Man, that pisses me off." She slipped her parka back on.

She sometimes wished that she could just shrink into the others at Urasaria, but her physique had made it difficult. She could not give up her bodybuilding; she had adopted strength & fitness when she was younger as a way to paper over her insecurities. So it seemed inextricable for Natasha: her desire to be among the multitudes yet not hidden in a crowd.

Iris scratched the back of her neck. "Is that typical at Urasaria? I would've thought that it was somewhere without that."

"Well, I don't know. I guess it's just easy to stereotype based on what I experience, you know? Maybe Viktoria's to blame a bit on how I view that."

"She stereotypes people?"

"Sometimes, yeah. Don't tell her I told you this, but she's actually straight and got turned lesbian by her Revenant and some shit. So, she wants to be with men but just can't ever feel attracted to them."

"I'd feel bad for her if I hadn't already met her."

"Hey, liking Viktoria's my obligation, not your's. Um, but just tolerate her as far as you need to, okay? I know she's a bit of a bitch, but she is my mentor. And I think that, probably good or ill, people imprint themselves on you." Natasha glanced over her. "Shit, I'm really talking a lot about myself, aren't I? Sorry."

"It's alright."

"Sorry. Still, maybe that's why I don't mind Viktoria; she's still the only person putting me at the center of her life. Anyway, you wanna tell me any deeply personal information of your's to help even this whole thing out? Don't leave anything out."

"I'm sure that'll seep out over time. I just usually tend to be private."

Sameness had entered Iris's life for long enough that she thought her own particular shape hardened, that she could be caught up in the vast streams of life at Urasaria and still remain cast as she had been.

But perhaps that was how she had lived for a while; that if she were to try to prevent the world from encroaching on herself then she could prove herself strong and the world weak. It was, perhaps, the only explanation Iris had for the numerous fights she had gotten into in highschool; that she had not responded necessarily to their provocations but to this malicious need that had lain in her.

She felt a creak in the wooden boards below, and in the next instant -

- the boardwalk below collapsed -

- but a carpet of clouds formed and caught their step, geysers of salt shooting up at them below; a crooked wind veered them up & onto a nearby stall, but as they landed on its roof -

- the wood shattered in splinters and into the stall fell the two, heavy patch of salt forming below; a dome of air blasted most of it away, but what was left coated & stuck to their skin as they landed, drying it out until the next instant scene.

With Phantom Iris felt the slow seep of water molecules into the salty air; she accelerated time and the air hyper-humidified, damp air sucking the salt and keeping them safe. A hook of wind carried them up and out to another platform of clouds, keeping them 20ft above the brittle boardwalk below; more salt geysers shot at them but a curve of humidified air beckoned them away, Phantom's legs weaving.

"Well, this one is simple." muttered Iris and Natasha laughed.

"Control over salt. Ugh."

A thin dome of salt tried to form around them as streams of sand flew up from below, but a stormcloud formed above their heads and washed the salt away as they still stood mid-air. Natasha looked around and to the beach, then pointed out their foe standing 70ft below & ahead.

"How can you tell?" whispered Iris.

"He's not covering his eyes or cowering away from us like civilians do." muttered Natasha. "Hosts have to see us to know how to counter. Beach is probably dangerous..."

The rain accelerated, but more salt was collecting below. Iris mentally felt the sands below; their salts were shifting as well. She had an idea and whispered it to Natasha, who snickered as she threw a bolt of white lightning at their foe; a pane of salt rushed up to block it -

- but the sands heated below and Phantom accelerated its formation into glass; the two jumped down and Phantom kept the glass from breaking as they rushed up onto their carpet of glass leading them to their foe. More salts rushed in from the sides to slice at them, but two walls of snow burst up at the sides - still the salt tried to break through -

" - allow Phantom!" shouted Iris; Natasha nodded, and the next scene was instant. The snow walls rushed and collapsed onto themselves, taking the salt with it but lowering the walls -

- but instantly reversed & reconstituted; Iris kept a constant cycle of motion in them that prevented the salt from breaking through as the two kept their forward motion. Ahead, spikes of salt broke through the glass and tried to block their path, but Natasha threw her hand out and a geyser of rainwater shot out -

" - Phantom!" shouted Iris, feeling the water suck the salt into itself -

- and the accelerated osmosis sucked all the salt away like a whirlpool, revealing their foe on the other side still running away. The beach flanked them as they ran in pursuit and their foe was up ahead. Meteorology's origin carefully angled, a wind hit the beach that blasted a pane of sand into the man's path, and Phantom provided the heat that turned it into glass; a swift wind sent the man sailing through it -

- and another -

- and another, and another, and another; he went smashing into the water, heavily bloodied and still trying to swim away with the two catching up 20ft behind, and as the waves receded to pull him away -

- they reverted and pushed him further towards the two -

- but a heavy wave sprouted up behind him and shoved him far & away in an instant; Iris & Natasha sighed as they came up to the ocean's edge, still seeing him bobbing ahead.

"Water Revenant." muttered Natasha. "He can manipulate it with osmosis. God, I hate these."

"You hate water Revenants? Why? You've got lightning-"

"Yeah, and I can't use it without killing every swimmer in the bay."

"And?"

Natasha laughed. "This guy's an idiot, anyway, so let's just go out there and kill him."

A gust of wind carefully launched then forward and they landed within 30ft of their foe, but as they hit the water, an enormous wave of pressure shoved them down -

- but a wind buffeted their descent and prevented any further drowning; still underwater, Natasha held her hand over Iris's mouth to give her air. The pressure was building above and a wince went through Natasha's eyes as another wave tried to throw them down - but the next scene was instant.

Time decelerated around the two and the pressure lowered; a gust of pressure formed underneath them and put them back up to the surface, breathing with their heads above water for now, Natasha speaking: "How'd you-"

"P-Pressure." coughed Iris, gasping up some bloodied salt. "Pressure i-is caused by the collision of particles against something, so if I slow the collisions-"

"-pressure control, got it." said Natasha, seeing their foe swimming away up ahead.

Another wave was rising ahead of the man ahead, and Phantom accelerated its birth as it slammed into him and shoved him back -

- but another wave of his own slammed into him from behind and no progress was made, until -

" - Phantom!" she shouted, and a large arc of water evaporated ahead; the osmosis crafted a heavy current that shoved him into the gap and closer into Phantom's range, as a wave of his own tried to shove her into a minefield of salt -

- but a fist of pressure crushed his chest in half and wrung his head off his neck before she was caught, salt dissolving as their foe floated dead & gory ahead.

"Good job." laughed Natasha, swimming up to the floating heart. "Quick and violent."

"Quick and violent."

[Na: Manipulation of salt(s).]

"Enjoy these random assassination attempts for the next eternity."

And they laughed at that, at least until they were back to the beach.