Chapter 186: Stardust Miasma
In February, the new Royal Four made their first public appearance for both journalists & fans.
Mia stepped up to the podium on stage, her three sitting behind as the audience applauded. "Thank you. We'll have time to ask my squadron any questions first, and then myself." She pointed to one man in the crowd. "Go ahead."
"This question is for Ms. Miasma."
Serena felt nervous as Mia handed her the microphone. "Um, yes."
"You're known for your love of videogames and Japanese cartoons. Was the hero name 'Miasma' meant to be an homage to Square's roleplaying game Final Fantasy?"
Serena laughed. "An homage? Not exactly. I just stole the idea outright."
The audience laughed.
"Yes, I have a question for Ms. Plasma. You're the newest member of the Royal Four. Has your girlfriend supported you in this despite the increase in your … female fans?"
Mia saw Sylvia's face tighten as Serena handed her the microphone and she stood up. Whatever answer she gave, she was going to be hearing it for the next month.
"Yes. She's always been very supportive of me." She sat down so fast she nearly crashed backwards, laughing nervously as she sat back up.
"May I ask a question that was meant for Ms. Genesis?"
"Go ahead." said Mia, handing the microphone to Serena.
"The Parker-Lang hypothesis believes that the accumulation of changes in hosts such as the strengthening of FNI fragments and subsequent durability of the mitochondrial genes is the result of a long process of DNA methylation that, in simple terms, accounts for the slowed aging-related degeneration in hosts by allowing more to be done with less tissue. Does Ms. Genesis subscribe to this theory, or does she prefer the so-called programmed theory of Revenants that posits that the implantation of Viscera exspiravit radically enhances the constitution of a host's genetics to, what is functionally, another, higher form of organism's metabolism?"
Mia frowned. "…er. I'm not sure -"
"- um, neither." said Serena. "She's going to do experiments disproving both of them in favor of damage theory, where the byproducts of metabolism are more efficiently dealt with due to the Revenant's ability."
"Thank you."
"Next question." said Serena.
For the first time in her life, she was ready for anything.
"Does Ms. Genesis agree that we can only host one Revenant because people only have one soul?"
"…u-um."
Serena quickly handed Mia the microphone.
"I spoke with one of the top Revenant researchers in the world a few years ago. He told me that theory was ridiculous."
It took nearly the entire session for a reporter to come to Samuel, but one did eventually. "Mr. Boar, you've made your distaste for journalists known in the past. Why do you feel so threatened by them?"
He took the microphone. "Have you ever felt threatened by a mosquito, or have you just wanted to swat it?"
The audience laughed nervously. Mia looked offstage to someone gesturing.
"I believe that's all the time we have for my squadron, and…" She smiled at the twenty hands in the crowd. "Yes, go ahead."
"President Swarm, did you kill Kirihara Kishor's mother in your sick and twisted bloodlust, and do you have any thoughts on the PlayStation 5 shortages?"
"There was nothing I could do to that woman that alcohol hadn't already."
Serena grabbed the microphone. "And she'll pay $600 to anyone who sends a PS5 to Serena Ku-"
Mia wrenched it back from her. "Next question. Please direct your videogame-related inquiries elsewhere."
"Hi, President Swarm." She smiled. "Is there any particular reason why your wife, Aimee, hasn't been in attendance with you? We'd all love to see her."
Mia smiled and replied: "No, she's just been very busy. I'll try to bring her along for the next one. Next."
"Recent studies have indicated that over seventy people have died with cases of Kaisei Syndrome so far. Were you aware of this during your visit to Japan, and will you be doing anything in the future to compensate the victims?"
"My interview about the incident in Japan is publicly available, which you would obviously know if you had done any research before asking such an insipid question. Next."
Too often in her first half of this year she had tried to seriously respond to such accusations. No more. Why should she care if she was called a bitch over it? What mattered was how students viewed her. This attitude was why Mia made a great president at Urasaria but a mediocre spokeswoman for it.
She saw the lesbian reporter grinning and winked at her.
"Were there deeply personal issues between yourself and Genesis, and can you explain them in detail to us if so?"
"She asked me if she could resign to focus on her career as a Revenant researcher." she said. "She's busy studying for her exams this month, but she'll be making a public statement shortly."
"Do you know anything about the recent inflation crisis in Africa?"
"No." she said.
"Why did you choose the hero name 'Swarm'?"
Worldwide appeared next to her. "Next question."
"Will you be voting for any candidate in the upcoming election?"
"I'm not allowed to endorse anyone." she said.
"Are you allowed to say your political views?"
"Left-wing." she said.
"In Europe or in America?"
"In Soviet Russia." she laughed. "No, in Europe."
"Are you allowed to endorse European candidates?"
"I doubt it." she said.
"What are your thoughts on Brexit?"
"I thought they already left." she said.
"No, they've delayed negotiations until 2023 next year."
"Ah, maybe they'll do it right this time." she said. "Next question."
"Are you in favor of workers being treated humanely, or do you believe the American system can work?
"…no comment." she said. "Yes, go ahead."
"Yes, I have a question regarding Worldwide's previous host, Queen of Scarabs. Is it true that she was the cause of Moscow's ring?"
"I- no, that was Daigo Yashukure." She suddenly felt anxious.
"Isn't Moscow's Ring similar to the Kaisei Ring you caused a year ago?"
"She died after killing Daigo."
"That wasn't what I asked."
She took a deep breath. "…I'm sorry, can you repeat it?"
"If your Revenant's previous host, Queen of Scarabs, wasn't the cause of Moscow's Ring, why is its properties similar to Kaisei's Ring you caused a year ago?"
She looked out over the crowd. She believed that the media was biased against her both because it drove views and because of her father; this made her public appearances rare. And in all likelihood, this stemmed from the same prejudice: she did not engage with civilians much and did not even really trust them. "If you're so intent on bringing it up, then-"
"- can you answer the -"
"- I'm answering it. Don't make me freeze your lips shut. You brought up Kaisei's Ring first, and I'll clarify regarding that. Kaisei's Ring was caused when I was ambushed by seven Revenants and temporarily lost control over Worldwide. This has happened, periodically, because its colony is the same strength as when Queen of Scarabs was using it, and I was not yet strong enough for it. This was when my fire was orange or white. But her color at full strength was purple." She held her burning purple hand up. "And so, there's nothing to worry about now. I apologized for Kaisei's Ring and accepted my ban from Japan for it, though regardless what any tabloid said, it was only property damage - no civilians were harmed. As for why Moscow's Ring is similar, I… believe Queen of Scarabs may have done it intentionally, or Daigo copied her. Yes?"
"Are you stating she intentionally destroyed Moscow?"
"No, I said that I believe she was forced to go to unsafe temperatures to kill Daigo. Or that Daigo copied her. I'm not aware of any better answers." She stifled her annoyance as several new hands came, and someone gestured to her from offstage. "…we'll be taking a break and returning for autographs."
The four stood and went backstage, then to the back alley after more questions came from under the curtain. Her anxiety deepened, yet with it came agitation. Though not a trait often visible to herself, since her father's arrest she had nursed this sort of response to things that discomforted her. She felt it was more than justified given how the media and the police had once treated her.
She looked over at Serena's shoulders in a slump and felt a bit worried. After her conversation with Yuruko, she had noticed Serena's reactions to transgender people: particularly her fans who she would soon see.
"Well, that went about how I expected." said Samuel.
"Um, yeah." muttered Sylvia, quickly texting Maria.
Mia nodded, but her mind was elsewhen over Ryumi. A stiff feeling began in her stomach. "…I'm going back to our hotel."
"Feeling alright?" said Samuel and she nodded, watching for any civilian trying to come near her.
"I- yes. Just let them know I- I won't be able to sign any autographs today. I'll be back at our hotel."
Her breath quickened as she stepped out of the alley & to the sidewalk. Once she walked to the corner, she peeked past it and saw it was full of civilians; she felt sick as she stopped, not wanting to let any of them touch her and turn her hands to gold. She steadied herself against a wall but moved away as she felt people approaching. A single scarab disintegrated the ground, and in to the sudden hole she stepped, ice plugging it back up as she started burrowing.
Once she got back to their hotel room on the fourth floor, she sighed as she reached out to the doorknob -
- and realized it was covered in honey; she swept with the speed of light back, and in the next instant -
- a gargantuan swarm of bees burst out of their room; Mia rushed back up the hall as the swarm grew & grew, waiting to turn her eyes back until she was 50ft away -
- and seeing her masked foe stepping out of their room, wall of bees taking up the height of the hall behind him.
She glanced over her shoulder to check there wasn't anyone else, and in the next instant -
- a jet of bees flew down the hall, and a swarm of scarabs flew to meet it -
- and exploded in to bursts of lightning & ice & fire that slowed the insects but didn't exterminate them; one swarm broke through and grabbed her right arm, then slammed it against the wall -
- which exploded in to chunks of boiling wax -
- but a geyser of water claimed her body -
- and a cloud of fire that wasn't her own filled the hell as the wax exploded; coughing as she stepped back, her elemental immunity kept her safe with no smoke burning & her foe still standing ahead.
She felt the temperature rising within the walls even after the flames went out, and her frozen sword formed as she readied to bash the wall -
- but pulled her swipe back as drops of wax started seeping out of it, her step slowing further & heart rate lowering, and in the next instant -
- another geyser of bees flew towards her; Worldwide's scarabs swarmed their queen -
- but were too slow to meet the bees in time; in to Swarm smashed the swarm, hundreds of stingers detonating her scarabs, temperature rising as more & more wax seeped out of the hall -
- and as she realized the Revenant, the next scene was instant. She stomped down and a wave of purple fire disintegrated underneath the floor; another stomp set it to one degree above -300F, and as she burnt the floor below herself -
- the temperature difference created a wind that launched her disintegrating body up & through the ceiling, and she hit the ground running on the fifth floor, stairway that led to the roof at the other end.
'The wax slows everything - I'm not fucking risking getting in close.' she winced, rushing up to the fire alarm at the center of the hall & pulling it. She glanced back a few seconds later and saw civilians running with her foe crawling up on a rope of bees out of the hole she'd made.
Once he stepped up, another swarm of bees shot towards her, and as her scarabs flew to meet it again -
- a golden platoon rushed out from the backline and flanked the bees; sudden tactics too quick, Worldwide hit them from the side and grabbed their stingers tight -
- and ripped them clear off in miniscule geysers of blood, pincers ripping them in to chunks of bee gore, bee wings nodding from bee necks that were stained crimson -
" - have fun." winced Mia, relevantly, rushing to the stairway and disappearing around the corner.
No time to waste, the bees broke through as her scarabs disappeared and her foe rushed after her, coming to the start of the stairs with a closed door that led to the roof at the apex. Stingers readied, a wall of bees appeared ahead of the door, and another swarm shoved it open -
- right in to the face of a frozen wall; reactions too quick for his mind, a hundred stingers fired as it melted -
- and the immense wind threw every single one back & 25 stingers crucified him to the wall; once she heard him screaming, Mia peeked her head through the door and saw his mask fall off to reveal nobody she knew. More bees formed and ripped the stingers out of him, wax dripping out of the holes as Mia stepped back to the roof, her heart rate already slowing -
' - I'm not fucking risking this.' she winced, her head reeling as Daigo came to it again. Hoping the rest had evacuated, she rushed across the roof and took one leap off of it, turning in mid-air for one instant scene.
" - Solar Beam!" she shouted, sweeping her palms forward; a blue beam erupted from her palms -
- and disintegrated the roof without a single ash left as she swept her aim through, thankful at no civilian screams coming, and in a second sweep on the return -
- her scorching ray tore through the fifth floor, aim sweeping back as she fell -
- and a final sweep disintegrated the third & fourth floor without a single ash left, no foe to be seen in the lack of ruins as she landed feet-first on the ground.
If she died, the world died with her.
++++++
Mia sat leaning over her desk in her office, one eye opened with her head on her hand. She had spent yesterday avoiding the press, her fans, anyone besides her squadron. A male voice came through the door speaking a codeword she recognized, and she tapped a button to let him inside. Mia knew he was a federal agent, but not one she'd met before.
"You told them Ryumi destroyed Moscow intentionally?" he said, closing the door behind him.
She sighed and sat up. "I thought this was going to be about the assassination attempt."
"You've been through assassination attempts before - I'm talking about something that could actually do real damage, such as you giving credence to a conspiracy theory that we have been trying to quash for the past nine, ten years. Especially during an election year where we're trying to repair our relationship with Russia, a callous statement like that does a lot more harm than good. It already took years to convince them that Ryumi didn't destroy Moscow, and now we have -"
" - excuse me, what do you expect me to do about this, exactly?"
"To make a statement retracting it, upon reflection of new, confidential evidence."
"Why would I make a retraction? I already know she destroyed Moscow while trying to achieve Absolute Hot."
"Have you heard of knowing when to stay quiet about something? And incidentally, you didn't say she destroyed Moscow trying to achieve Absolute Hot -- you made a public, recorded statement to a journalist that she intentionally destroyed Moscow."
"I said that I believe she did to kill Daigo. It's not my fault that -"
" - oh, yes, it's not your fault that the press believes anything you say about Worldwide's previous host, I'm aware that you think -"
" - don't you fucking interrupt me. I've spent four years dealing with disrespect from every staff member I've met. I'm sick of it. You can speak to me as an equal or leave."
"I am speaking to you as an equal, the same as I would to a co-worker. You made an idiotic statement in a public forum -"
" - I made a correct statement."
" - and finished the day by skipping a prior engagement and destroying a hotel filled with many, many people's personal property. And by the way, Urasaria's staff has done a lot for you over the years, despite whatever you may think of them. They overlooked you burning a hole in Kirihara's neck, they overlooked you murdering Kirihara, and we overlooked your ridiculous stunt in Africa -"
" - I had a reason for it -"
" - a reason that does not excuse breaking international law! I was the one who told Codex to ensure you weren't investigated further -"
" - don't act like you're suddenly on my side. None of you ever gave a shit about me before I began hosting Worldwide. I'm not a government employee, and I don't need to retract what both of us know is true to appease a country I've never visited or help a politician I've never met."
"You are a government employee, Mia. You work for Urasaria."
Mia laughed. "And by the end of this summer, I won't. Let me ask you something: how many Revenants have you fought in the past year? How many times has someone tried to assassinate you? What threat level are you?"
"I'm not interested in playing a numbers game. You can't measure worth in a classification."
"Whoever is above you does, which is why I can act freely and you have to ask for permission."
He sighed and sat down across from her. "I take it you won't be retracting your statement, then."
"It was true."
"Sometimes you'll learn that it's better people be fed gentle lies. I was supposed to talk to you about Daigo, until what you said reached Russian news. I would advise you deflect any further questions about it unless you want to make a habit of pissing politicians off."
"I already said everything I needed to say."
He leaned his head on one hand, closing his eyes. "…it's something they can't investigate, at least. Ryumi intentionally destroying Moscow. Probably will fall out within a week or two. We can … talk to the Times to make sure they won't report any further on it, regardless…"
"She destroyed Moscow trying to achieve Absolute Hot."
"I'm not sure that's true, either. Out of all our data on the Eastern League, nothing like Absolute Hot is ever mentioned. The temperature recorder, yes, but never any mention outside of those tapes you gave us. With Magnus and Ryumi. The names of students he mentioned were legitimate - I'm not doubting their authenticity. What I wonder is why the Eastern League would want to murder him or Akira."
"Because they were going to murder Ryumi."
"That's his motivation, not their's."
"They were being preemptive."
"If they were being preemptive… you remember some of their Revenants, don't you? I was looking at their abilities. I find it hard to believe that Scourge alone could kill seventeen professional heroes. If they had wanted to kill Magnus, they could have easily used Crash to kill him while he was sleeping in bed, laying still and under sixty miles per hour."
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