Exude Dominance

Over the next few days, Iris had gotten a second toxicology assay that confirmed the police's own autopsy of the woman; that she had poisoned herself and seemingly died there. No foul play was suspected, and her cellphone held little information; her social media indicated she had been married to a Leonard Hoffman, a name Iris found no matches for, whether phone number or address.

She left it with Olivia to find, as she figured much of the investigation would be separate: Amelie with Claire, and Olivia never had issue with Iris by herself. They both tried to find the site of the latest murder themselves; Iris thought perhaps there might have been a newspaper article written of it, giving her the location in passing. She could not find it in the papers or local news sites, nor any recent obituaries; either no murder had occured, or the police had gagged all mention of it so as not to invite panic.

She decided to meet with a local journalist at a nearby diner to ask about this. Normally she found these people repulsive, but over the years she would bend them as needed, knowing that they were doing the same to her.

"Supposedly, there was a host murdered by another host here recently." she said. "Have you heard anything about it?"

"I can't say I have, Ms. Valentine. It doesn't sound familiar to me. Are you implying the police might have covered this up?"

"No, not yet, and if you print anything like that I'll find you."

"Understood. I meant only that I may have access to sources you do not; coroners, hospital employees, police in other jurisdictions and such. Do you know when this murder may have taken place?"

"Sometime over the past two or three weeks, or so the police told me. They're refusing to let me see the scene... and they're loose enough with time that I wouldn't be surprised if it was three months ago."

"That would certainly encompass a wide swath of time. There have been many deaths in the past two months, here and in the surrounding areas... I've heard the police are reopening a few investigations, even ones thought previously solved, such as in the cases of a few women who appeared to simply die randomly. Of course, that may merely lead to the same result. I may be able to look into such cases for you, if you would consent to an interview with me in the future... particularly, about the investigation, if you do indeed solve it."

Iris rubbed the back of her neck. "I'll think about it. I've got another request, too. I have someone trying to find a Leonard Hoffman. Address, favorite places, anything."

"Certainly. Is that all?"

"For now."

"Terrific. Now, before you go, I must ask... your president is certainly quite stern. Might you be able to tell me more about her?"

"Only anonymously and eight years after I've graduated."

Iris left and decided to take another visit to the shopping mall. Kairos & her truck would make it quick, but she declined to use it for now; she did not want to unveil herself as a host just yet.

She had not fought in a few days, and she was beginning to feel anxious. She understood and enjoyed nothing quite as well in the universe as violence, and she loved to exude dominance in fights; she reveled in the torture of a thing and thought the murder of criminals an avatar of all she wished to actualize in herself. Urasaria had rewarded and continued to amplify these natal tendencies in her; had she continued as a rogue host she worried occasionally it would have guided her in ways not good for anyone involved.

This prioritization of the continuance of self is not uncommon to any human, but Iris had long since evolved from the ecosystem where such an adaptation might allow her to thrive.

But it had led to a lingering, elementary selfishness to her, and she would feel guilty whenever her thoughts would turn to Olivia. She had promised to Natasha's memory that she would attempt to continue Natasha's friendship with Olivia, perhaps mending what had occured between them. But she had not, yet, and she felt ashamed. Olivia had extended understanding to her, but for the past weeks Iris had viewed her more like a burden she must constantly tend. She had still been attempting to return to the old ways with Amelie and Natasha, even as she knew Natasha's death had sundered the possibility of return.

She resolved that she would try to be more with Olivia for the rest of this year.

For now she was hungry, and she pulled up the nearest grocery store she could find. She turned right down a small, sloped road, into a parking lot, half-circled on her right with stores and many trees otherwise. She parked and went inside to shop.

Coming back to her truck, she sat inside and peeled the box off the frozen pizza. Kairos accelerated its temperature and cooked it in her hands in two seconds, and after she poured her mix of Natasha Milk ingredients into her shaker bottle, she threw the half-full gallon of milk into the back seat -- sans cap, spewing it everywhere. She threw the ice cream and other ingredients back as well; it did not matter for she would revert them back later.

The swirl of the drink in her bottle accelerated, blending itself. She drank, ate, then drank, then rotted her seats out so she had space to do pushups & situps, both with an immense pressure built by Kairos upon her muscular back and waist. She was growing broader recently.

Once she was finished, she repaired her truck. She began driving back up the slope out of the lot. She heard something skittering in her gas tank, and in the next instant -

- her truck exploded and sent several skittering, furry things bursting out in all directions; in the midst of the wreckage Iris stood unscathed, having reverted a past explosion yet never allowing the past to touch her. She turned and blasted a dozen of the zealous upstarts with a dozen jets of lava, but their hairs burst alight as they leaped upon her, their furs extending thickly over her eyes; thrashing for a moment and her hand clawing at her face, she ripped and threw them off as she backed up against the outer wall of the nearest store -

- and a jet of wind launched her two feet left to dodge an enormous chitin blade shooting out of the store; more claws sprout through the walls and shot towards her, leaving her with a few scars as her wind launched her up to the roof, landing with a stagger and silencing her footsteps before they could be born. Wincing, she leaned over the side of the roof; she saw a carpet of these fuzzy creatures forming, claws sprouting from the outer walls and wildly slashing.

She crouched down and her eyes popped over the parking lot ahead, scanning for anything Kairos could not manipulate. She saw and felt nothing but more creatures coming from the glut of trees, far down and to her left.

'Host can't see me.' she thought, her back slumping as she stayed hidden, until in the next instant -

- a hundred hairs shot through the roof and pierced through her skin, sending a milion-volt current through her -

- but the next scene was instant. Kairos' strand reverted the wires held by the hairs into molten metal and send a reverse current through the goo that charred its wielders to burnt bits; she checked below for any civilians before she yelled for Kairos -

- but another fuzzy creature leaped from below and into her shouting mouth; its pincer shot up into the roof of her mouth and impaled clear through, but she managed to rip it out and punt it away, coughing blood as her wind launched her over to the next store's roof, landing with a rush and launching herself up & down to every roof in her path as the initial building rotted and collapsed in a rain of rubble.

She kept her building run going as she glanced back. Many creatures were skittering out up from the parking lot, their hefty hairs lifting and throwing bits of concrete at her; a single Kairos wind blasted back and dispatched each as she launched herself up to another roof, rushing with about ten seconds until she'd need to drop down to another building.

Ten more small creatures tried to leap into her path; her wind blasted away nine and a hook of wind hung one in front of her as she ran, giving her time to examine it. It was a crab covered in bush-like hair, almost unrecognizable. Leaping down to the next roof, she blasted it away, scratched her head, and realized that a hardening shell was replacing her human scalp.

"Fuck." she muttered.

The end of the line of stores was ahead, and the back alley connecting them at her right. She leaped right and down, slowing for a moment; if she was attacked again here then it would reveal where the host's sight touched. Dumpsters dotted her path, as did backdoors that Kairos' strand locked, waiting for when the crabs might appear again.

'Infected me. Carcinization.'

She felt the shell of her scalp spread; her fingers were slowly, gradually fusing.

Behind, she heard their skittering. She looked up and saw many crabs climbing upon the roofs and now seeking to drop upon her, and as the rain of crabs began -

- the next scene was instant. Kairos' strand threaded through every dumpster she saw and rapidly accelerated their contents' decomposition, releasing hundreds of clouds of methane gas, that jets of lava soon pierced and exploded -

- but the next counter was instant. Mid-air & mid-explosion, the hairy crabs rapidly formed globes of themselves, a mighty chitin carapace of their dead comrades that protected them and allowed their contents to safely land; they broke open like a line of alien eggs and continued their sideways waltz towards her.

She glanced behind herself and she was trapped: an enormous boulder of jittering hair rolled towards her and was only a few seconds away, and as her wind launched herself up -

- hundreds of fuzzy hairs shot up and yanked her back down into the boulder, into its inner womb, nudging as it trapped her within, many pincers seeking to grab & slice at her; Kairos' accelerated the air around her and both colonies worked in concert to increase the pressure around her, yet it only slowed the slicing and did not halt it. A chitin blade stabbed a slice from her cheek -

- and the hyper-pressurized jet of blood shot out that sliced a clear gash out of the boulder, yet more crabs swarmed to fill it.

Iris could only barely move her neck, but she did so. A spurt of hyperaccelerated blood shot through the crabs around her jacket pocket and cleared the crabs' around it; this pocket was where she kept the broken pieces of her desert eagle, and as the gun repaired, Kairos' strand pulled the trigger sixty times in two seconds and hyperaccelerated the bullets that came out -

- and the sixty bullets shredded through Iris's crabby restraints like sixty drills through hardened ore; she was freed enough for a hook of wind to yank her out, pull her to the exit of the back alley, and midair her gun reverted into her hand as she laid down a carpet of fire into the army of crabs ahead; blood and fuzz fell to the ground in heavy tufts of death.

She hit the ground running and a hook of wind helped her turn left into the parking lot, now facing the entire lot ahead. Her expression was a bit crabby, and her deagle dropped from her hands as her fingers completely fused together; Kairos' strand returned it to her pocket.

As she ran, she said something in crab that meant: "You hold it." and the spider Kairos climbed upon her chest, hooking the trigger of the gun around one of its eternally weaving legs. Her skin continued to harden; her skull even thicker than usual. The parking lot had only a few cars left; most had fled by this time.

She scanned with Kairos again and felt now the innards of a truck she could not manipulate; she turned right and saw it 75ft away, rotting out its exterior to reveal a chitin carapace within. She dumped six shots into it and could do no more before the carpet of crabs caught up with her from behind; her wind launched, weaved, then launched her again all around the lot, dodging wildly the hairs from below as Kairos continued firing.

As she flew her mind whirled with the details of her textbook and of different classifications of Revenants. It was remote yet had left no clue to its host's location. If she was correct, this was considered a Source Revenant: one that drew power from a particular object designated by the host. While powerful without the downsides of remote Revenants, one could find the lich's phylactery.

Below, the crabs had formed a network of tunnels throughout the lot; their hairs shot out and attempted to grab her -

- but the next scene was instant. Her pincerhand pinched out a bit of a garbage bag she had grabbed earlier and threw it down one of the tunnels, Kairos' strand weaving as it returned its previous contents of methane gas, rapidly filling up the entire tunnel -

- but a lucky tube of hairs shot out and spat it right back into her face -

- but she was already gone, having launched herself up & over to the trees on the other side of the lot. As she continued her flight, she glanced down and saw the size of this forest. Millions of fuzzy hairs were sprouting out to catch her, yet she adjusted her ascent height with Kairos, a skittering laugh emanating from her inhuman lips -

- and a cursed "FUCK!" (in Crab) as her eyes burst out of her skull, hanging upon their new stalks; the pain stuttered her flight for a moment, and as she began to fall into the infested forest -

- the trees reverted back into saplings, and the crabs upon their branches fell as she shouted for (in Crab): "Meteorology: Wildfire!"

- and the entire forest burst into flames; she would figure out the environmental damage later. She hit the dirt running in a thick deluge of smoke and fire, seeing a speck of blueish-green in that horrific cloud 300ft away. The hairs on her pincers bristled in the smoky air.

'God, why does the weather have to taste so bad?'

Her wind launched her yet covered her tracks; its strand reverted the smoke around her just as it accelerated it away in another direction, confusing the crabs until she came out of the smoke 50ft from that speck. Winds cleared the smoke, and she saw many crabs drinking at this pond. They saw her yet were momentarily confused as she felt a bush of hair grow in place of her regular hair, and they reformed rapidly into an expanding bush that covered the pond to protect it.

"(Why have you forsaken us?)" they said in Crab.

She crab-smirked. "(In about two seconds you'll be begging to uncover that pond.)"

Kairos' strand found the bacteria within the pond, and accelerated their growth through a million generations -

- poisoning the pond and creating a pathogen that spread through the crabs in seconds, shredding through them in moments. Once the area was clear, she raised her repairing desert eagle and shot 7 bullets into the pond, reverting the bullets back into her gun and keeping them for later as a hook of wind kept the bacteria from touching her, and another gust of wind launched her back the direction she had came.

When she reached the parking lot again the crabs had infested the entire lot, but they were slowed; no new crustaceans could form. A furry crust had formed over the entirety of the lot, the host still within his dome as Iris flew into the lot, descending and making way for a landing as she shouted for Kairos and felt both her colonies activate -

- and the next scene was instant. A fist of pressure smashed the crust and sent a heavy fracture up through it; she shot a single bacteria-bullet into it and the pathogen within broke free, Kairos' strand accelerating its spread as it devoured through the entire lot. All below her were crab shells rotting and microscopic bacteria feasting, pincers decaying off of shells that were bleached white and a plague rapidly spreading.

Tentatively and once the crust was clear but for that host-protecting dome, she rotted away the bacteria and landed. Fifty feet away, she cracked another shot into it and the carapace melted like a chocolate egg; he was within there, alright, and in a last-ditch attack, his remaining hairs pulled him towards Iris to shoot towards her -

- but she sidestepped and grabbed the hair as he passed by, then yanked him into her; she gave his arm a kick away she yanked the hairs upon it back, ripping his arm clear off and sending him rolling across the ground, straight into a maw of igneous rock whose obsidian teeth chewed him apart, as her eyes shot back into her human skull.

"Needed a bit of help from your wind on that one." She scratched the back of her neck with his severed arm. "I'll get strong enough to do it myself eventually."

A bolt of green lightning blasted him and his Revenant to bits. Still, she was perplexed at why she had been attacked; she had not been seen with her badge nor any student but Amelie. Otherwise she had appeared a rogue host; there should be no cause to see her as a student except for the police who knew she was here.

There came an image to her mind that had embedded itself in her since Natasha's death, and one she found odd kith with again: of the line of hermit crabs, each waiting to stab the next for its shell. Paranoia in such professions was productive, not debilitative.

She called up Olivia as she repaired the damage she had caused. "Hey, I just got attacked."

"Are you okay?"

"You should see the other host. There's a parking spot outside of this Kroger that looks like the Jackson Pollock of human entrails."

Olivia laughed. "Okay, did you call just to brag? What do you need? Scanning?"

"I destroyed the Revenant, but I'd like you to come along. Meet up with me outside the Gap at Evermont Shopping Mall... the western Gap."

"There's two?"

"You're telling me."

Olivia trusted Iris to be solo, since Kairos' wind could launch her out of any difficult situation. This was her philosophy; teach Iris fundamentals, and then let her without limits -- and there is no need here to note the parallels to Olivia's sex life.