OCD

"In the absence of official guidance or explicit authorization, you continued your investigation alone: or so said your president in the call she made to us. You openly threatened to brutalize a civilian, and residents reported a possible break-in to said restaurant the same night you were rebuked by its manager." He looked to Iris. "Care to comment?"

Natasha spoke up. "That was because I asked her to test if-"

"Iris first."

Iris frowned. "He was attempting to provoke me, and he succeeded. I shouldn't have let it bother me like I had."

She could not tell if his constantly-shifting face was staring at her, though she had sensed something odd to him. Whereas she had occasionally been termed as reticent to express emotion, he seemed even more stoic than she; his voice was often monotone and he avoided using contractions.

Eventually he laughed. "No. Matters would be far easier were civilians more aware that they are always one angry student away from death. In recent years, I've grown envious of the Chinese system; the role of their students is far broader, yet it allows for the controlled withering of those elements deemed undesirable. At a certain stage of a nation's development, this structured freedom becomes as necessary to it as the wilting of vestigial organs is to the organism; there will come a time where the States will adopt it as well."

Iris wondered if the sociopathic were drawn to this type of work or if one could not succeed in this type of work if they were not; the latter disturbed her, for it suggested an essential randomness to the continuation of evil; that whether one host became a mass murderer or accomplished agent was largely luck. And while Iris believed herself to have never hurt an innocent civilian, she was reminded of times as a teenager where she had used her Revenant to threaten or coerce others, and she felt the guilt & shame that went with it.

"What has your investigation found?"

Iris relayed what they had found, in particular the young woman and the young man, though she skipped explaining Timeline; she merely said she had peered into the past.

"And you are certain both are not merely civilians?"

"Both were poisoned, as was a third person sitting there with them: a host. I don't know the host's gender, but we found it suspicious that they were the only one still alive. We had planned to investigate into the civilian I... injured. He's already fled, though it's possible he left something at home. That's where we were about to check."

"See to it that you do, then. Unofficially, there will be no restrictions on yourselves for this investigation; you report to us and not your president. Brutalize whatever civilians you find necessary, if you suspect they are affiliated... and with that comes access to another resource. There is another agent currently undercover within the Marrivelli Family, though you will not contact him directly: I shall act as the intermediary between your two interlinked investigations. Of particular interest to us is a man named Salvatore Tranghese. He is one of the Marrivelli Family's Underbosses, although we are not so stupid to believe he could be captured alive nor interrogated. There is no currently known appearance of the man, nor even if Salvatore is another pseudonym: but he is obviously a host due to his position, and thus falls under Urasaria's preview."

"So kill him quickly and violently." said Natasha.

"If necessary. A quiet assassination would be preferable, as anathema as it might be to your Urasaria values."

"It wouldn't be better to do it openly and make them afraid?" said Iris.

"No. In the case of the Marrivelli Family, an unexplainable death would exploit the paranoia men in that business are forced to cultivate for survival. It would make it easy for other Underbosses to pin Salvatore's death upon their direct competitors, attempting to further their own selfish interest, yet thereby creating a permanent state of internal war amongst the Family. But, failing that, a Revenant to the skull works well with scum."

"Can we know why those men were tested?" said Natasha. "That would help."

"I will discuss it with your undercover contact, and if they so choose to reveal it, then you will know. Dismissed."

A few days later, they were told that the initial impetus for their targets being tested was a drug deal at a particular home, the address of which was given to them.

(Natasha) "Do you know if the host who lives there was dealt with?"

(???) "Elimination isn't my department."

"Eat shit." said Natasha. She relayed it to Iris, who frowned.

"I'd like to have Amelie with us, if that's alright. Figure we don't know if it's one or a couple hosts. I won't tell her what we're investigating, of course."

"Dude, you could reveal the nuclear codes to her and I wouldn't care." Natasha smiled. "Okay, sure. And I'll make sure not to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend."

"I-I don't really consider her my girlfriend, but alright."

"Sure you don't."

Iris texted Amelie and asked her if she was on a contract; it was a rare day when she wasn't. She was perhaps the only woman Iris knew that would interrupt sex if there was a Revenant nearby to kill. Amelie was a perfectionist, with most of its associated ills.

(Amelie) "No, I was being briefed by Kate. Are you alright?"

Iris smiled.

(Iris) "We might have the house of a host and I wanted to invite you along."

Amelie met up with them a minute later and they went to leave Urasaria in Iris's truck. Iris helped her inside to the passenger's seat, squeezing Amelie's hand and kissing her on the cheek before moving around to the driverside. Amelie liked this little game of being courted; it was harmless and fun, given Iris never took more than what was implied.

She checked where it was they were to go, and whispered to Iris if they could avoid a particular route with construction among it. Iris agreed.

Amelie's mental illness did not present particularly violently, though she had learned to avoid its debilitation; she avoided heavy machinery lest she think of throwing herself into it. Occasionally when she would think of her sister and her various fuck-ups that her mother never criticized her for, she would imagine both of them decapitated and it would cause her guilt as if she had done so herself.

They pulled up to the home of the drug deal, knocked to no answer and Natasha blasted the door inward. In the three stepped to the living room.

Iris smiled at Amelie. "Sorry, you might have to wait outside while I'm using Timeline. I'm guessing they wouldn't want anyone else seeing what we're investigating."

"I'll be nearby if a Revenant attacks." Amelie kissed her, then skated out, and in the next instant -

- she skated back inside and slammed the door behind her, burying her metallized hands into it, Delinquent fully-formed as her distorted voice spoke: "Hello again! Revenant! It's this -- sort of magic missiles, or-"

- she retreated her hands; a heavy & thick plate had formed between them and it was burned. A little protectively, Iris checked on her -

- but a hook of wind pulled the two lovers & third wheel back across the living room, a heavy battering beginning at the front door across the room. Phantom's strand touched it and sensed a tremendous pressure building on it, and as Natasha shouted for Meteorology, a geyser of lava consumed the door -

- and Phantom cooled it into obsidian for a reinforced entrance, no sight of the host yet and no windows in this living room.

Vaguely and outside, they heard a shout of "Warlock!", and streams of grease burst through the wall ahead and coated all three of them, then suddenly burst them into flames -

" - Meteorology-" coughed Natasha, a swift wind trying to suck the oxygen from the flames -

- and pulling several strands of web around her; she tried to pause her wind but they continued to wind around & around & around her, forming a cocoon so thick & tall that she could no longer be seen; she hit the ground rolling and the entire living room burst into flames, shooting towards Iris & Amelie still standing -

" - Delinquent!" shouted Amelie, pulling Iris close; a metallic cocoon sprouted from her skull and formed rapidly around them, a mass of shifting pink & black as a fan formed in the hole above. Phantom hyper-accelerated the fan and it blew out their own flames, but as the cocoon lowered, the room was still blazing and Natasha's webbed cocoon still writhing beside -

" - something's going on with her Revenant." muttered Amelie. Fan constructing in her left hand, she detached this piece of herself and threw it outward; Phantom accelerated it again -

- and its suck pulled hundreds of strands into it, so thick that even that hellish dervish was slowed; Iris felt a lattice of web covering the floor, and set Phantom to repair & reinforce the walls so no further grease could be added into the blaze. The home's front door was buckling, and in the next instant -

- ten arcane darts burst through it and flew towards Amelie; Iris took the hi-

- Amelie shoved her aside and took the hit intended for herself, scorching Delinquent's metal but nothing serious yet. She tapped Iris's nose with her extending right eye and spoke: "I appreciate that, but don't ever do it again."

Iris thought she saw the eye wink. Delinquent's dual-chainsaws formed and Amelie crouched down, trying to cut through Natasha's cocoon. The web was heavy, thick, and Iris felt Natasha's breathing inside with Phantom; she tried to revert oxygen into the air and help add more air into her blinking lungs. "She isn't using her Revenant."

Around the fiery living room, Phantom lowered the temperature to manageable level; whenever she tried to directly revert the flames they sprouted instantly again, as did the Revenant-created webs; yet the room cooler and became manageable for themselves.

From the walls ahead entered another 3 geysers of grease; a chunk of rubble rotted from the ceiling and fell down to catch it, and as the grease hit it -

- an enormous ball of fire shot out from it -

- and Iris & Amelie hit the ground to avoid it as it hit the wall behind and tongues of flame hit their back, Natasha's cocoon still wriggling yet her vigor lowering, Amelie attempting to cut through yet not too heavily so as not to hit Natasha.

In microseconds, Iris's mind wheeled and she took a moment to consider. She realized that the streams of grease had not penetrated through the outside of the wall; Phantom detected no unusual entrance there. The rubble she had used must similarly have been filled with grease, then -

- she shoved Amelie & herself & Natasha back & into the kitchen with a mini-wave of pressure, avoiding a stream of magic missiles shooting down from above; Amelie realized it before Iris even spoke and Delinquent's eyes shot through he ceiling into the room above, as the oven behind them exploded -

- but Phantom instantly unbirthed it and reverted it to scrap metal. One of Delinquent's eyes retreated and her mask nodded to Iris, a heavy pipe forming alongside her right arm; she hooked one end up to the oven's source of gas and installed the other end into the room above. "Do it. I can endure the damage."

Phantom lit the fuse of the gas flowing through; Delinquent's arm slightly expanded yet contained the blast, letting out the shockwave in the above room -

- yet it was far more muted than it should have been and they were not sure why; no new attacks came for a few seconds.

"He'll recuperate soon." said Amelie. "Iris, give me a little counter space."

Iris decayed the counter clean; it was beside the sink as with many homes. Amelie set Natasha's cocoon to it, wielding dual cleavers and ready to cut through it like a butcher does a fish. She sighed, and Iris noticed her rapidly sharpening her left cleaver with her right, her anxiety showing a little.

Thinking better of the cleavers, her right arm formed a hook and her left arm a spike. Her right hook peeled underneath the cocoon and the left marlinespike was leverage by which she could undo some of the formed knots; soon she had freed above Natasha's neck.

Natasha coughed, her face's tone hollowed and wincing at the blood. She seemed genuinely disgusted, and whined out: "H-Heart." in a voice so low it was nearly a whimper. It was odd, for it seemed incredibly unlike Natasha; Iris would learn the reason for that soon.

Dr. Amelie set to work, but grease splattered out from the sink at her right and a magic missile followed that lit the cocoon aflame -

" - Phantom!" shouted Iris; a geyser of water shot out of the sink -

- and Amelie rushed the cocoon underneath the chilled water, dousing Natasha off completely; more magic missiles shot in front the living room and the two dodged as they could between them, Delinquent's plates protecting Natasha's head.

"Iris, we need to leave." said Amelie sternly, almost a persona for herm Her legs morphed slightly as the flames in the living room rebirthed, and the smoke was slowly crawling in; Phantom reverted the foul clouds as fast as it could but could not fully half its advance.

One Delinquent eye shot through the ceiling and another through the backdoor; Amelie didn't see him in either and told Iris to rush outside with her as she ran out, carrying Natasha's cocoon with her as the two rushed out into the backyard, trees up ahead but not there yet.

More strands spewed out of the back of the house as they fled, but Phantom searched for the broken oven and recreated its explosion -

- and tore every strand off of their roots as they kept their rush going out of the backyard. Behind their step, a hundred strands shot out from the ground and spewed towards them, but grass grew and blocked the strands, until the grass burst into flames -

- but the next scene was instant. Phantom centered its sift through eternity on the air around the flames, searching for the strongest wind that had blown in this area; she recreated it with her own strength added into it and a gust that would've made Natasha proud blew the flames out.

Iris glanced over to Amelie at her left, still running and jiggering around with Natasha's cocoon. She had managed to cut to slightly above her torso but seemed to pause; Iris did not understand why, until Amelie asked: "Are you alright with-"

"Y-Yes." whined Natasha. "J-Just do it, p-please."

Iris felt odd seeing her mentor like this, but glanced away as Dr. Amelie cut into Natasha's parka, then sliced her sports bra off to reveal her breasts; part of the strand was leading into her heart.

"You can't use your Revenant?" said Amelie.

"N-No. I-It doesn't feel like I-I'm a-a host."

A clearing of trees was up ahead and the two rushed through it, Natasha carefully cradled. Amelie shouted: "Iris, strictly behind me!" and her voice whipped Iris into position, as Amelie continued her run with her legs spreading apart in front of Iris. (Not the first time they had done so.)

Delinquent's legs grew serrated and chopped through the brush & roots; a chainsaw burst from Amelie's shoulder and chopped every tree she passed by, sending it tumbling behind herself & Iris; Iris glanced back and saw a heavy storm of magic missiles shooting towards them, though Amelie's trickery was sufficient to block them for now.

She felt slightly inferior, then blinked such thoughts from her mind. More grease spewed at the blocking trees, but Phantom rotted their bark & jets of pressurized sap spewed into them & absorbed the grease alive; a wall of fire now separated them from the house behind.

Another tree fell towards the back, and Iris frowned as she noticed a few trees drastically shrunken. A hail of magic missiles were continually seeking them; Iris saw no foe yet knew that he was close as they ran, seeing the magic missiles emergence grow closer yet from seemingly no source.

They passed out of the forest and hurled themselves over the fence ahead, landing into a modest graveyard and keeping their run going forward & through it.

"Oh, great, this isn't ominous." muttered Amelie, relevantly.

"Warlock: Animate Dead!" said a voice seemingly from nowhere, and in the next instant -

- skeleton-hands shot up from the ground and grabbed her & Amelie's legs; Phantom's strand twitched -

- but a Delinquent-spatula flipped Iris up & over Amelie's shoulder; a serrated skirt rapidly formed over Amelie's legs and the next twirl she did shredded every bone, skull & sprouting skeleton into pulled cartilage, sending their pieces flying outward; she dumped Iris feet-first at her back and the two paused, corpses rising from their graves all around, skeletons unburrowing and moldy faces hanging from rotted skull.

Here Iris remembered: Phantom could not revert them to anything pre-death.

Amelie handed Natasha's half-cocoon over to her. "Iris, she has a hook in her heart -- I don't know if you can check if -- somehow, I think it's sapping her Revenant -"

- more jets of grease flew towards them but Iris's own winds threw them away, a heavy pressure forming on the pulsating graves to prevent their occupants from entertaining escape. Thinking to examine Natasha, she set Phantom to scan the area once more, yet found something odd. The grass was shifting and expanding, microscopic enough that Phantom's senses could only barely detect it.

It was shifting near the source of the grease, and in the next instant -

- a heavy webbed hook came shooting towards her and to her heart, too closely to counter in-time -

- and lodged directly through her skin & burrowed against her heart, readying to sap her hosthood.

Iris smirked. "I figured you would try for me next. She's armored, Natasha's already sapped, I'm the most vulnerable target. The only issue is that you've made this into strand versus strand, spider versus spider." She twiddled idly Phantom's own web over her heart, placed both internally and externally. "And I think it's a mighty level of stupidity to go against a spider with a million eyes."

She grabbed Phantom's own strand and yanked it down hard, keeping it against her body so it wouldn't disappear; a rapidly-growing man was caught on the line and pulled into her, Amelie beside her as her arm went railgun and dumped a bullet towards him -

- but gravity reversed and the bullet shot right past Iris's chest & took a heavy chunk of flesh with it; he went invisible as he went sailing past Iris, who was staggering to the side and probably would've cursed were it anyone but Amelie. Amelie shot over to Iris and checked her, asking her if she was alright.

Iris glanced down at Natasha's half-cocoon, picking her back up. Carefully and a little awkwardly (as Phantom's webs could not travel much past Iris's own body), she pressed her chest against Natasha's and Phantom's web yanked out the strand around Natasha's heart. Instantly she seemed improved & reinvigorated, Meteorology's wind slicing off her own restraints as she stood next to Iris.

Phantom repaired Natasha's clothes, and Natasha grinned to her. "You know you could have just used your finger, right?"

Iris heavily blushed. "I- sometimes you forget things."

"Sure you did."

"Are you alright, Natasha?" said Amelie.

"Yeah, aside from that I'm usually the one doing the tying up."

Amelie laughed. Iris looked at her mentor like she wanted to punt her head off. 'Be less funny, god damn you!'

Natasha felt still a bit afraid, but soon her Revenant provided her with murderous enjoyment again and fear lacked permanency. She was herself again; her identity included Meteorology's bacteria once more.

Iris clutched her chunked wound: she was still bleeding from it, and when it gushed out blood Phantom's pressure over the graves quavered for a moment, allowing more skeletons to sprout out, and on the other side of the graveyard 50ft away -

- an arcane pillar burst out of the ground, 10ft tall and a few feet wide; more skeletons were bursting out of the ground as Iris hunched over, her jaw grit as she cauterized her wound, pieces of her flesh still dripping.

"I'll keep the projectiles away if he reverses them again." said Natasha. "Shoot some shit into them."

Amelie nodded and Delinquent's railgun formed, her aim a little hesitant before she dumped a barrage of Delinquent-bullets into each skeleton, projectiles digging into their lack-of-skins as green lightning shot at them -

- but was diverted into the arcane conduit; in the next instant, green lightning arcane darts flew back towards the trio -

- but the next scene was instant. Natasha lurched forward and caught a skeleton up by its neck, hurling it into the darts; Phantom returned its owner's former flesh onto it and when the darts hit it it exploded into a million pieces; more grease & web & darts spewed towards the 3, but gusts of wind were able to divert them only a few feet ahead of Natasha.

"Fuck, it's diverting anything that gets too close." muttered Natasha. "I thought you can't revert corpses?"

"Not before death." muttered Iris, pressing her wound closed. Amelie's Delinquent eye would wince whenever she looked over. "T-Two options here. Can rot the skeletons or revert the owner's flesh & blood back onto them."

"Is there a reason you mentioned the latter?" said Amelie's distorted voice, using Delinquent's fan to blow away another stream of grease as a fire grew ahead, separating them further from the arcane pillar/conduit.

Iris smirked to Natasha. "Absorbs it past a certain range, eh?"

Natasha threw out her hand and blasted a jet of snow towards the conduit, similarly diverted. "Yep." She waited for another skeleton to come near, grabbed its arm and broke it off, beat it over the skull with it and threw it back to the conduit for the next instant scene.

As it flew, its flesh & blood reverted back onto it; a hole opened in the skin and a jet of blood seeped out of it, covering the conduit and leaving a thin trail between itself & Natasha, and as she set her electrified hand to the conducive streak -

- the conduit shattered and a scream of agony came up from the grass, their foe forcibly growing to his normal size 30ft away; Delinquent's dual chainsaws formed as Amelie rushed towards him -

- but two arcane projectiles hit the saws -

- and when they expanded they nearly decapitated herself; instead she was weighed heavily down and hit the ground on all fours in front of Iris (not the first time that-), Delinquent's weapons rapidly reforming as more arcane projectiles shot to Natasha & Iris -

- but both dodged both, and the projectiles hit the graves behind them, a misshapen & human form rising out of it that was quickly assuming their faces. Iris heard Amelie shouting and turned to see a bullet shooting out of her leg and towards the man -

- but a skeletal hand sprouted up below him and he pulled it up to act as his lack-of-meatshield; frustrated now, Amelie continued to dump an entire barrage of bullets into the blocking skeleton, drilling & chunking away at the cartilage as she was still stuck to the ground. Iris realized she was using the pressure of her bullets to drive the man back; inch by inch he was being strained further, his hands forced to rapidly move the skeleton & unable to continue his magic.

A moment of respite opened up in the barrage and he dropped the skeleton, his hands soon free - but for the next instant scene.

A vacuum formed around the skeleton and a wind pulled its hands over his, and he couldn't react in time as Phantom provided the heat to melt the bones, white goo dripping & burning his hands clear off; he turned and tried to run, but immense pressure filled the skeleton and threw him down to the ground, crawling in agony as the molten cargo scorched his chest & burned his flesh, still trying to crawl away as the enlargement left Delinquent's weapons, and as Amelie lurched forward -

- Delinquent's arm extended like a pole and slammed between his uprights; she flipped him over and into the air, and on his way down, she spun her blade like a helicopter blade -

- and blended his body into million pieces before he hit the ground, blood & gore churning and spurting out in gusts until no liquid again escaped.

Delinquent's mask sheathed, and Amelie did a little pose. "I call that one penis coladas."

"I'd prefer to not get caught in that rain." Iris winced and sat down.

Amelie was about to say something, then remembered Natasha was there. She winked to Iris, sidled up to her, kissed her, her left leg folding like it usually did: then remembering Iris still had a chunk taken out of her chest. She crouched down and quickly checked over Iris, caressing her, apologizing as her hands quivered.

"I-It's fine, just get me a patch."

"Here." Natasha handed Amelie a Flickendecke patch; dark hands had already reclaimed the Revenant.

Amelie's fingers twisted as she applied the patch. "I'm sorry, Iris, I hadn't expected him to -- I -- know it's not an excuse, obviously, but, well…"

This sympathy vaguely bothered Iris, even as she enjoyed the attention Amelie was giving her. It was a painful wound, yes, but she felt that if Amelie viewed her as weak or a dependency, then she would not continue what they shared now.

She saw Natasha thumbs-up over Amelie's shoulder, and asked if Natasha could 'check' for any other hosts at the original house. Natasha agreed and left them alone, though Iris still pretended the wound did not bother her. She still laid there with Amelie for about twenty or so minutes, as Amelie let Iris's arm rest around her waist after she had healed. They cuddled.

Normally a pretty lady around her arm was a comfortable position for Iris, yet she felt anxious here; no matter her confidence she had been unable to reseat Amelie into the mental position her previous women had occupied. There was a sense of desire to claim her yet the knowledge that it was wrong to do so; she knew she could not control Amelie and she hated being unable to do so, even as such hatred turned inwards and away from her current life.

She had acted out this way for much of her roughened life, to try to find some affirming method of existence amongst herself and her fellow creatures. Emotions were difficult for Iris; she usually wished that she did not have any, not necessarily for what that muteness would be but what it would not. But again and again recently she was trying to abandon her pointless violence, even as it was a consequence of her past that she had previously welcomed and cultivated, for it had been a method by which she might be liked and caught in affirmation.

She breathed, exhaled, then kissed Amelie and told her Natasha & herself would likely be investigating for a few hours, so it would be best if she ate beforehand.

===

Had Natasha been able to scan the Revenant in time, the following scene might have ensued:

[WARLOCK:

1st-level spells: Magic Missile, Feather Fall, Grease

2nd-level spells: Levitate, Web, Enlarge, Reduce

3rd-level spells: Animate Dead

4th-level spells: Greater Invisibility

5th-level spells: Telekinesis

7th-level spells: Reverse Gravity

8th-level spells: Revenant Conduit

9th-level spells: True Polymorph]

"What the hell is that?" Natasha frowned, feeling an overwhelming urge to shove someone in a locker but not knowing why.

"Must be their idea of a joke." said Iris. "Either that or they're stupid enough to think magic is real."

"It's more appropriate to a wizard than a warlock." muttered Amelie, relevantly. "Warlocks dedicate themselves to a demon. Wizards are more selfish."