Two weeks later, Mia was back to fighting and rushing up the street with Aimee keeping pace at her side, Rider's tendrils dipped in her vines. Over the months, she'd grown familiar to her enhanced reaction and speed, and they saw their female foe's whip hit the road ahead -

- but the two leaped over to the sidewalk just in time, watching hundreds of spikes burst up out of the road, still chasing after their foe running away 50ft ahead, small stores at their left as they pursued.

"Not too much range." muttered Aimee, and as the woman's whip hit the sidewalk -

- a swift bar of ice burst out of the wall beside, and Mia took one leap up to grab it -

- just as spikes burst out of the sidewalk after Aimee leaped to the spikeless road; Mia laughed a little as she swung on to another bar of ice, and another, and another. Her foe disappeared past the corner ahead, and Mia paused at the cafe before it as a ladder of ice brought her up to the roof.

Rushing across it, she took a glance down before the roof began shifting -

" - of course." she muttered, looking down to see miniature distortions forming in the roof, and in the next instant -

- hundreds of spikes burst up below -

- but a platform of ice formed and kept her from being cut; she shoved her flaming sword down in to the roof as she rushed off to the side, another pole of ice forming as she took one leap off to it, grabbing it in mid-air -

- and turning her legs just in time to crash through the cafe's window in a rain of glass, seeing her dominatrix foe standing over a barista's corpse on the other end. Thirty feet separated them, and her blade was still poking in from the ceiling.

Ahead, her foe's spiked whip cracked, and out of it burst a dozen spikes, spinning rapidly as they shot towards her -

- but the next scene was instant.

"Worldwide!" she shouted, and a white-lined cloud of scarabs flew to meet them -

- and burst in to a cloud of electricity -

- whose lightning arcs pulled the spinning spikes in to her ceiling blade, both exploding in to pieces as her foe stumbled back; no time to waste, Mia spun as a jet of water erupted from her hands, sending another electrical cloud in to it-

- and laughing with a stop as she heard her foe shrieking, pausing as she watched her stumble out the back door with her hair crispier than it'd been before. By now, Mia had accepted Worldwide had gifted her a bout of sadism, and she rushed out after her foe, no time to waste as she came out the back door -

- underneath one whip's sweep she dodged, but as it hit the wall beside -

- another mini-distortion started up, whirlpool pulling her in & setting her footing off-center as her foe made for a second hit -

- but a jet of superheated water burst through her eyes & out the back of her skull; she screamed like a woman in agony as she stumbled away, and Mia sidestepped the spikes coming out of the wall yet again.

Seeing her blinded foe's whip hit the sidewalk, another frozen platform kept her safe as she stepped carefully towards her; once she was twenty feet within, the woman's whip struck her ice - she readied to melt it-

- and her foe fell headless in the next, still-beating heart already carved out as Aimee appeared behind her and the spikes disappeared.

Cocking her head, Mia came up.

"She, um, wasn't going to turn your ice spiked." winced Aimee. "She pulled it at the last second. Wasn't sure if you saw. S-Sorry."

Mia nodded. She took little damage to her pride for this; she understood why they usually hunted in pairs. Aimee crouched down to scan, then turned to her. "Um, not mad at me, right?"

Mia shook her head as they started walking. "No, it's…" Her lips pinched. "Aimee, can I ask you something?"

"W-What's up?" said Aimee, thinking it was if they could breakup.

"…do you believe I'm a good fighter? Being as - as objective as possible."

"…oh. Um." Aimee nodded. "Uh, guess I'll start with your Revenant. You know it's really versatile. Really, really versatile. Right?"

"I-I know, Aimee." Mia smiled. "You don't need to comfort me."

"Just making sure." chimed Aimee. "But, um… versatile Revenants like that need a lot more, uh, practice. Something like Rider doesn't really have … skill to it."

Mia nodded, unaware this was a point of insecurity for Aimee. "Er, I need to fight more Revenants, then?"

"Yeah. That'll help too, but… um. Do you think it'd help if I arranged some tournament or something?"

"For students?"

"Yeah. Get to fight against more Revenants without, uh - don't have to worry about being a bit risky. Right?"

Mia nodded. "When would that be, then?"

"Before - I can definitely get it up before the day, yeah."

"I believe that will help, then." she smiled. "Thank you."

"Sure thing." chimed Aimee, smiling as Mia wrapped an arm around her. "Did you want to stop somewhere and eat? Could um, try that Russian place again."

Mia checked her phone with her other arm. "I want something trashy."

"Taco Bell?"

"Perfect."

Aimee grinned as they set off. Taking off their badges before going inside, they ordered and sat down with their meals they knew they'd later regret.

"Still got the old look." said Aimee and Mia laughed. "Don't think they've, uh, updated anything around here for twenty years."

"That's more than just the food." muttered Mia and Aimee nodded.

"Yeah. Even ends up being, uh, kinda a wash if it's actually safer near Urasaria or not. Quick response times, but a lot of guys trying to kill students to take their Revenants."

Mia nodded as she ate. "That was what, er - some of the men my father worked with. Why they were here."

"Yeah." Aimee sipped her soda. "Um, he still doing good? Haven't heard you mention him recently."

"He is, er. I'll be visiting him with my mother for Christmas."

(It was early November, but half of the students had already been assigned to patrol on Thanksgiving; Mia had Christmas off.)

Mia smiled. "I-I haven't told them about you yet, either. I'm really excited to."

A little slowly, Aimee nodded. "Sounds good, yeah. Um. Not gonna be able to do anything with my family, though."

Mia moved her hand to Aimee's. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah." Aimee barely smiled. "I - it's just - my parents…" She glanced off to the side, her face wearing some hatreds. "They fucking sent me to a conversion camp."

"They - what?"

"Yeah. They're fucking 'Christian lawyer' type freaks. They donate a shitton of money to the church, and every time I think about them, I just…" Her fingers tightened around her soda's neck. "…sorry, I'm -"

" - it's alright." nodded Mia. "I understand. Completely."

"It's one of those things where - I don't ever want to reconnect with them. That's why I make sure to remember it, even if…" Aimee sighed. "…um. Can we change the subject? Sorry."

Mia nodded, and watched as Aimee went back to her meal, her eyes elsewhen.

+++

Taking Marisa's advice, Mia split her next few weeks between her girlfriend & her mentor. Mornings she hunted with Marisa, and evenings with Aimee, though the two hadn't slept in the same bed yet. She reassured Aimee that this was for their relationship's pace and not its intensity. Recently, she was finding out Aimee was a clingy girlfriend: a trait she enjoyed.

With the need for accelerated training, her & Marisa took every call they could, and at the end of Sunday, Marisa scanned and got a notification her protege had hit rank #50 & two-star. Clueless, Mia asked Marisa what that meant if they were already living together, and after finding out it entitled her to a costume & hero name & weapon, she went with Marisa to the second-year building, slightly less clueless.

One of the doors had a plaque beside it that read 'THE GRAND COUTURIER'. In smaller text: 'and assistant.'

"Would I know her?" said Mia.

"Nah." said Marisa. "You'll know her assistant, though."

Marisa knocked and stepped inside a few seconds later. A short blonde wearing a mechanical eyepatch was cutting some fabric at a corner table. As they came closer, Mia realized she wasn't using scissors; her nails were unnaturally long & sharp.

"Hey, Nuiko." said Marisa.

Nuiko looked up and recognized Mia as Aimee's girlfriend; instinctively she suppressed some bitterness. "Hey. Did you need a costume for your protege?"

"Yeah." chimed Marisa. "For Mia Schultz. Is your assistant, like, in today?"

"No, she's…" Nuiko sighed. "She's in another coma." She gestured to Mia. "Go ahead. Do you have something in mind?"

Mia handed her a folded note. Nuiko winced before opening it, then sighed relieved. "Er, everything alright?"

"Your handwriting is good." said Nuiko. "Everybody else looks like they're writing with broken glass. You can go."

"Thank you."

The two left and Mia whispered to Marisa. "What was with her nails?"

"Her Revenant's name is Shrink & Swell." said Marisa. "...uh. Do I need to say what it…?"

Mia shook her head.

+++++

Urasaria's blacksmith wore samurai garb and a stone expression. Mia knew his blue-haired & lab-coated assistant Yuruko, partially because it was rare for a Urasaria woman to solely hang around men.

"…hm." he murmured, examining three scarabs on the table. "Fire - ice - electrical. The metal will need to withstand both high and low temperatures - the strikes of your enemies. The blade you wielded prior was weak, and failed when you required it most - but what I create shall not. It will be as a wonder that withstands seven generations."

"…uh. Whatever you say, Gamage." laughed Yuruko, having found someone more otaku than she. "Dunno. Medicinal can probably create something."

"Did you receive my other request for it?" said Mia, and the two nodded.

"I have." said Gamage. "A tedious one - one that will require many hours of collaboration and testing. I shall call you back, periodically, to ensure the concoction is to your specifications."

+++++

A week later, Marisa waited outside their bathroom.

"Done yet?" she shouted through the closed door.

"The mask is slightly tight!" replied Mia from within. "Is that intentional?"

"She usually runs small - but Shrink & Swell can resize it!"

"I should have guessed."

The door opened, and out stepped the new woman. She was wearing an obsidian & beaked mask; her sword had a blue & red helix down the hilt, two scarab-shaped carvings within. The blade shimmered, coated in an liquid that flowed but didn't drip.

"Worldwide - fire."

The blade erupted in to orange flames.

"Worldwide - ice."

Ice stalactites jutted from the blade.

And on her badge, her new name.

'Swarm.'

"…oh." blinked Marisa. "Huh."

"What is it?" said Mia.

"I just thought you'd choose a different name." shrugged Marisa. "What about Queen of Scarabs?"

Mia paused, then frowned. "I'm not going to think about if that's better than Swarm."

"Uh, what about the electricity, too? On your sword?"

"They said they were still working on that."

"Neat. First-year two-star, then." chimed Marisa.

"How long does that normally take?"

"Uh… It took me, like - last April, so."

"…oh."