Stone Butch Brews

In late November, Iris & Natasha decided to go out to Stone Butch Brews, for it was the day of Natasha's cheat meal and would fill her with enough nachos for spring hibernation. They had sent the pictures to their handler, but had received little information of yet.

"Ugh. You know, the shitty part of this is that being a student usually involves way more travel than this. I promise. But instead we're just stuck investigating near Urasaria."

"I know. Amelie's been sending me pictures of her contracts. She isn't set to be back from the one she's on now until January."

"Hey, speaking of, I was gonna ask. You aren't dating anyone but Amelie, right?"

Iris blushed. "I don't know if I'd necessarily say we're dating, but no, I'm not."

"Oh, you know what I mean."

"I do. I just don't… I wouldn't call it a relationship. We spend time together at her house, but what does that actually count for? I haven't a-asked her out to any dates. It isn't like we can sit together for hours and not need to talk like a couple does."

"Maybe going over to her house is your dates."

Iris felt a woman approach her and turned to face her before she even reached out. She was a middle-aged woman for a civilian, and presumably the owner. "Yes?"

"Hi, sweetie. Someone told me about a student that has a repair Revenant -- would that be you? I've had trouble with the plumbing, recently... well, I haven't figured out why, but I figure there's no reason to ask a plumber to come out if..."

"I can take a look at it."

Iris went up and went with her. The owner started asking her questions: where she was from, what year she was in, if she had anyone she 'liked' at Urasaria. Iris mostly just lied and said she had a girlfriend, as she stepped into the bathrooms. She crouched down over one of the toilets and felt a bit bad as she directed Phantom's strand inside of it.

She could feel the owner still watching her; not with trepidation but something else. What it was, Iris shuddered to figure. She heard there were videos online for that type of fetish, supposedly, although the Revenants were usually bad CGI and the girls were wearing far less clothes.

The toilet repaired itself, and she tried to flush again. No effect.

"What was the problem with the plumbing, exactly?" said Iris. Maybe there was no problem and she could get the hell out of this weird woman's sight.

"Well, girls were complaining that this toilet was clogged, and I closed it down just yesterday, but you know how students are with a chance at defiance..."

"It'll take me an hour. Let my mentor know I'm using Timeline."

"Okay, sweetie."

Iris sighed after she left. She closed her eyes and focused, keeping the scene in the present but allowing Phantom to pull at the vapors of eternity, to see what they had been and not yet became. She directed her limited supply of webs narrowly, down the pipe and wherever else the sole toilet connected.

Afterwards she called the owner back in, then began to play the timeline backwards. Turds refloated to the top of the bowl and she accelerated their decomposition to nothing. Urine, then tampons and pads. The owner watched over her back. "Oh, jeez, they can leave such a mess, I'm sorry..."

Bits of silver appeared in the toilet and Iris frowned. She stopped, used a Phantom strand to hang one in front of her, and realized what it was. She grabbed and began to pull the timeline towards herself.

A slab of flesh appeared in the toilet. Then an amputated foot that belonged to a woman, whose headless and limbless torso soon resurfaced. Then there was her head, and her limbs that had been hacked into several flushable chunks of flesh. It shuddered together, unnaturally.

The owner shrieked and grabbed onto Iris, who viewed the corpse with no disgust. She knew that there had obviously been a murder here, and that there was no heart meant that it was a host or student; she could check with Kate if there were any missing -

- a horrific noise came out of the owner and Iris winced. She turned around and saw that she was collapsed against the wall, sobbing and gasping: "P-Please tell me t-that isn't a s-s-student!"

"There's no heart. It's either a student or a host."

A tremor came across the owner's body, and she shrieked again as she continued to sob.

"I, um... er..." Iris looked around. "…well, I..." She began to make a gesture of condolences, realized she honestly didn't really want to encourage this, then stopped. "…I, well, you know, I really should... get back to... The plumbing is still... I can find who did this?"

The owner's head was in her hands. "I'll never f-f-forget this, n-n-not this student... w-whoever they were... o-oh, it's h-horrible..." She continued to sob.

Iris went over to her and placed her hand on her shoulder. The owner used it to stand up and steady herself, then hugged Iris. "O-Oh g-god, I never should have..."

Iris gently slid her off. "Never should have what?"

She wiped her eyes. "…maybe you can... i-if they're hurting students now, I... this b-bar isn't owned by me. N-Not in whole, at least. A-A few years ago, I owned a bar elsewhere, a-and I-I was approached by a gang of h-hosts offering protection... I-I wanted to live closer to Urasaria, s-so I tried to leave. I-I did. I thought I'd managed to keep free of them, but... suddenly they found me, a-and they told me to start a business catering to students. W-Well, it isn't the first time that a popular gay bar is owned by the m-mafia, is it?"

"No, it isn't. But I need you to tell me what you know. Who is it that controls your finances?"

"Salvatore Tranghese."

Iris's mouth stiffened. "…let me bring my mentor in here. She'll want to hear this. Stay here."

She walked out, exhaled, then went out to Natasha, who asked her wryly: "How's the plumbing?"

Iris laughed. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Stick your fingers up any old pipes?"

"No, I had to get on my knees and use my tongue." said Iris. "Anyhow, I need you to come talk to her. It's about Salvatore."

"Shit."

They went back and the owner was crying again. Natasha looked at Iris with that same awkwardness.

"I-I'm sorry. I-I know you students think of death differently than we do. Y-You become so used to violence, death doesn't even imprint on y-you."

Natasha said: "Umm... Iris, what's she talking about with death?"

Iris pointed Natasha to the death toilet. She went to it, glanced at it, then said: "Jesus, how hard were you scrubbing?"

"Natasha, seriously?" said Iris. (Only because a civilian was there.) "A student was murdered. I was trying to use Phantom to repair the pipes, and that just appeared in the toilet. There's no heart, which means it's likely already beating in a new carrier. Phantom can't undo biology."

"Oh, um, yeah." said Natasha. "Sorry. Um, sometimes we students turn to dark humor as a coping mechanism, like civilians do irony and Catholicism."

"It's a-alright." said the owner. "I know h-how students joke. I was telling your protege t-that this bar is actually owned by the m-mafia, b-but if they're starting to hurt students... o-oh, I don't know, maybe I should close up, but..."

"You might not need to. Natasha, she mentioned the man who first pressured her into this was Salvatore Tranghese. I'm guessing you can't get a meeting with him?"

"N-No, definitely not. He's too high-rank now for that, a-although I've never been able to f-figure out what he is, exactly."

"He's an Underboss." said Natasha. "Second or third in-line to the Family."

"Is there anyone you can get us a meeting with?" said Iris.

"…well, I... Paulie has offered to come around if I ever get any trouble with rogue hosts. This place a-actually does bring in some m-money for them."

Natasha shrugged. "Sounds like you need some trouble with rogue hosts. When do you close?"

===

Cheryl Pines was not a woman who could be accused of a stable temperament. From within the thin barroom wall they were hiding, Iris & Natasha could see her walk a little like an anxious millipede into her business, with three men behind her, one tall and the others short & fat.

"Well, you wanted to verify the damage: there it is."

"Fuck, it's like a tornado or somethin' went through here." said short & fat goon #1. "What the fuck happened?"

Cheryl went behind the bar. "I wasn't here for it, but late last night, I got a call from one of my... student friends." She blushed a bit and Iris realized she was serious.

Natasha quietly meowed.

"But she told me she saw two students coming out, and asked me if she could go check on the place to make sure it was alright. The first one was wearing a yellow jacket, but the second one... well, a little more distinctive. She had a blue parka around her waist. She thought it was a man, at first, with how muscular she is."

'Bitch.' thought Natasha.

"Her? Shit. Yeah, we've been havin' trouble with that little dyke. She must break off so many needles in her butt we could find her with a magnet. Well, don't worry, because ain't NOBODY fucks with what we've got here and gets away. NOBODY!"

He stood there for a good ten seconds, hefting his chest, then looked around to see if he had any reactions. Eventually the tall man with them semi-smiled at him, and he almost blushed.

"And do you know anything about this?" She dropped the bits of silver on the counter. "S-Some students have come to me and said these were floating in the toilets. They're teeth fillings."

"Yeah, that's-"

The tall man stepped forward and hushed him. The three discussed amongst themselves, out of earshot, but this was what they said:

"God, that fucking Swede. Ain't she supposed to be untraceable and shit?"

"What makes you think it's her?"

"I heard some things about how we was using a chick like that."

"Yeah, both of you wanna think that tale all the old pussies made up to scare us is real." said the tall man. "It's all bullshit, anyhow. Ain't no woman as good as killing as men. Violence's a men's profession."

"Well, she'd be a host, though. Host women ain't like women, they just look like 'em."

They unhuddled, and the tall man told the owner: "We won't be using this place for that again. My apologies."

"What about the damages?" She pointed to the wall in which Natasha & Iris were hidden. "You see all the holes? I think some of it cut into the wiring, for gods' sake. I-I'll have to get an electrician, or..."

"We got somebody for that." said the tall man. He gestured to fat mook #1. "Take a look at it."

Iris watched as they, barely, saw fat mook #1 walking towards them. Below, Natasha's wind drilled a hole at about crotch-level and Iris stifled her snicker, and as he walked up to the wall -

- a chrono-powered wind blasted his cock off and sent it to splatter against the opposite wall; he shrieked like a woman in mortal agony as another wind yanked him closer and a geyser of lava swallowed his head a second later, with the next scene being instant.

The wall rotted & disappeared as fat mook #2 ran towards the two; the tall man shot for the owner -

- but a bolt of electricity shot out of the light above him, a rapid acceleration of the electricity flowing inside; it hit his skull and he staggered as another wind blasted fat mook #2 into him and sent the two of them splayed out across the floor, and as both struggled to get up -

- the ceiling collapsed in on them and the rubble smashed them both down; Phantom reverted then accelerated the rain down again as Iris & Natasha rushed over to the pile of rubble, blood crawling out beneath it and gasps of pain shrinking into deathly whines below. With one twitch of Phantom's strand, the rubble disappeared; the fat mook was dead and the tall man barely breathing beneath it, yet his hands still moved as he saw Iris & Natasha above him -

- but a single stomp from Iris snapped his wrist back and a scream exited his mouth; another wind blasted him out of the building and sent him rolling and scraping up the street. Natasha smiled, high-fived Iris, then realized this whole thing was pointless if they killed him. "Oh shit."

They ran up the street and caught up with his mutilated body; he was not breathing well enough for any interrogation.

"Natasha." said Iris. "Flickendecke."

Natasha nodded and rolled him on to his back, applying some patches to his wounds as she set her knee on his back and her hand on his skull.

He started to heal and coughed out more blood. "Y-Yeah, I surrender... and shit... G-God, FUCK." He squirmed. "Hey, you mind getting your fucking knee out of my lungs?"

"Sure." Natasha lifted her leg and brought a stomp down on his back that gasped blood out of his mouth. "You wanna try asking a student to be gentle again?"

"FUCK!"

"Do you know Salvatore Tranghese?"

"…Y-Yeah, I know him."

"We're looking for him."

"Yeah, I picked up on that, you dykes don't massacre thugs for a goddamn Make-a-Wish. I ain't got no fuckin' address or itinerary for him."

"Sounds like you're useless."

"H-H-Hey, I didn't say that shit. And I know you students don't think my life's anything but a boil on the ass of life. But how about Cheryl, huh? Y-You think Salvatore'll hear three boys got fuckin' killed in that bar and let that bitch live? You think some dingy little dyke shithole's so fuckin' important to business he'll allow that?"

Iris said: "We're not worried he'll send her to the hospital -- because we're going to send him to the morgue."

Natasha placed her hand over the man's mouth; a gust of wind seeped out from his lips and stole away what air remained in his alveolar sacs. A look of unholy terror washed across his face.

Iris had learned that her mentor was rather sadistic in these matters, though it was perhaps not the infliction of pain she enjoyed; moreso that she did not view criminal hosts as human. And as she had been taught this by Viktoria, so too had she inflicted this thinking on Iris. Even some students thought her handling cruel.

Yet perhaps their sensitivity was only viable via the calluses others bore.

He was clutching for air when Natasha removed her hand from him. "G-God da-" He tried to curse, but could not and was severely wheezing. He did not speak again until a minute later. "G-God, d-damnit, you fuckin'... I swear, w-who fuckin' thought turning a whole league of dykes into the country's personal torturers was gonna lead to anything good?"

"You wanna try making yourself useful?"

"Hahaha. Well, I guess you got it all planned for me. Hell, I'm a public menace, I admit it. You'll make it real quick for me if I talk, then, eh? … Fuck. Whaddya want? Salvatore?"

"Where is he?"

"Oh, now we're back to askin' for an itinerary."

"Come the fuck on. You don't even know where he likes to go? Where he goes to eat?"

"His own restaurants, usually, but shit, he got restaurants all over this state... then up in Maine, New England... you ever ate at a Little Alfredo's?"

"No, we just threaten the people who manage them." said Iris.

"Eh?"

"Do I look like I eat carbs?" said Natasha.

"If I answered honestly what I thought you ate then you'd blast my dick off too."

"There's one back home I liked." said Iris. "Doubt I'll eat there again, now."

"Back home, eh? Where you from? You got a bit of a Southern accent."

"Tennessee."

"Tennessee? Where? South?"

"Franklin."

"Hey, I'm from Franklin, too. I moved up after... well, shit. What street did you grow up on?"

"I lived on Scotsman, until I... had to move, and..."

"No shit! I grew up on Glenbrook. Damn, what are the odds, just a street over-"

"Get back to the fucking question." said Natasha.

"Hey, I thought we were havin' a nice reminisce there. That Tennessee location's outta the way, cuz the boss's kid's got this sweetheart he's... ah, fuck it. Salvatore don't eat there anyhow. I'm tellin' you, he's meticulous and shit. And if you're tryin' to get to Marrivelli through Salvatore, you're especially fucked, cuz the only way Salvatore'd sell out Marrivelli is if he was stabbin' the fuck in the neck himself. Shit, he probably offed his own mentor just for that reason."

Iris showed him the photo of the basement. "Is this him? Salvatore?"

"Hahaha. And where the fuck did you get that? Yeah, that's him... if you'd let me use my hands... yeah, there. He killed that little shit there two weeks ago over something petty. You kill whoever took this? Cuz if Salvatore knew about this, he'd fuck whoever it was so hard their mama would be screaming."

"Why was it even taken?"

"Some type of leverage on that Swede handin' the corpse over, I bet. You ain't finding that bitch with a fuckin' snowplow, so don't bother. Fuckin' idiot shits. They think she's so stupid she'd go anywhere with cameras without a disguise? I tell ya women get no respect in this business."

"What's his Revenant?" said Natasha.

"Fuck, you think he just kills people in front of me? The way that kid looked was like someone put him through a washing machine at a million miles an hour… 'ey, though. I don't got fuck but a pebble for where he might be, but that big fuck on the right, he's always with Salvatore. His 'entourage'. That help you dykes any?"

"How do we know you're not lying?"

"Fuck, you think I got any loyalty to either of those pricks? If my own mother got in my way I'd chop her up and dump her body in Jersey. Shit, actually, that'd be too far a drive... I'd dump her in Red Hook. But what the fuck's I gotta care for loyalty? I'll be dead before it gets back to me."

He laughed.

"You knows, I used to think Marrivelli and Salvatore, both of 'em were at the top of this whole web of shit, exploitin' people into putting themselves so into something that they got nothing of themselves left. But the scary shit is that Marrivelli still ranks better than most people who got made a Marrivelli would be. Maybe that's life trying to give me something I can hang some meaning onto. But, I'll still say it: Salvatore Tranghese, I hope you fuckin'-"

A green lightning bolt shot through his head and Natasha sighed as his Revenant was reclaimed. "Man, that's so unsatisfying. I kinda like scanning."

"They're going to know he's dead now, too." Iris frowned. "We need to get back to Cheryl and stick with her until she has another bodyguard."

Natasha nodded and set a tailwind to the speed of purpose.