CHAPTER VIII

Tipping Point

Her memories of Remnant, of her friends, of her family and of all those moments... they were still there. They were in her heart... they were in her soul, and they were mixed up with the memories of Saori. She was feeling a bit overwhelmed right now.

"But for now. I have to focus on bringing Cinder… I mean… Tamaki to justice"

She couldn't leave all of that just like that. She had to work in this office, in this world... but she couldn't just forget that Cinder, or at least, who looked much like her, was on Earth right now. She had to focus... focus, and investigate... until she could find that girl. Until then, she could never tell the people the truth. Or else, she would lose everything... in this new world. As soon as Miyuki brought her to the Bokuto police department. Saori asked Kachou. The Chief, if the Main Headquarters received her fax about Tamaki. Pyrrha waited for an answer with quite a bit of tension. She didn't even try to hide it.

—"Ah... actually... yes. They did receive your fax. But... they wanted to know...are you able to handle the investigation. Officer Saga?"

—"What? Of course I... I can handle this investigation" she said.

She needed to do this investigation.

—"I just recovered... but I'm ready to investigate this!" She said, Pyrrha meant it, she had to do it... and she had to start it now.

—"Typical Saori-chan. She always wants to work" Natsumi Tsujimoto giggled from her desk.

Pyrrha sat at her desk. And with the help of Aoi Futaba she surfed through the information about Tamaki and her car robbing gang. She looked like a heartless, cruel person, she forced girls to work for her and killed them if they disobeyed her orders.

—"She's just like Cinder"

—"Saori, are you sure you want to go after her, she looks like a dangerous person, let Inspector Tokuno and the criminal division take care of this instead" Said Miyuki, truly worried about her workmate.

—"I appreciate the concern, Miyuki." Saori said as she was looking through the information on her desk. "However, I believe that I can deal with this." She sounded confident. And she was confident in her abilities, even if she was not a police investigator.
—"I feel ready for this... it's the right thing to do. I know this looks like a lot to handle, but I know that I can do this, Miyuki."

Miyuki didn't want to argue with her... and she was a bit relieved, but she wasn't convinced that this was the right thing to do. After all, Miyuki didn't know that she was actually talking to Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl of Remnant. Not really her longtime friend and partner Saori Saga, a dedicated and enthusiastic but young police officer.

—"Please don't forget our night out. Saori-chan." Said Yoriko Nikaido.

—"I won't forget it, Yoriko." She said as she was leaving the station. And she wouldn't!

But, for now, she had to focus on the next task. She had to investigate and find out where Tamaki was. And she believed that she knew where to start. But she had to keep that a secret... from everyone else, and from Miyuki too. She wouldn't tell anyone about this.

—"Nakajima-senpai" She said as she saw her fellow officer Ken Nakajima "Can you please show me where the shooting range is?"

—"The... shooting range?" Nakajima looked very confused about Saga's request. She never wanted to use weapons and now she was looking for the shooting range

—"I... I want to learn how to use this firearm. A friend wants me to learn, so I... um... just wanted to learn."

Nakajima looked a bit confused, and he even asked Saori: "Wait, why does your friend want you to learn how to shoot?"

—"She um... invited me to a gotcha field..."

—"Is that... like, a paintball game?"

Saori simply smiled a bit as she nodded. Nakajima still looked a bit confused. He had never seen her so interested in such things before.

—"Oh... uhm... okay. I know where the range is."

Once she had the directions, Saori walked out of the police station and went towards the direction of the shooting range. She knew that this was unusual for her, she didn't know why she had this interest all of the sudden, but... it felt like she needed to go. That was... her soul's decision, she believed. And she needed to follow her own soul. So she did. She went to that place as the sun was setting.

—"Officer Saori Saga reporting" Said Pyrrha as she entered the room and greeted the agent in charge of the shooting range "Requesting permission to use the range"

—"Hmm... request accepted." Said the agent in charge.

He was surprised to hear those words from her. Saori never had any interest in using these weapons. Yet, something in her had changed... She feels so different now. Even her taste in everything... Maybe it was just a coincidence. After all, she wasn't only Saori, she was also Pyrrha. And Pyrrha was more confident than Saori... so maybe she actually wanted to try something new. She grabbed the Shooting Ear Protection Earmuffs and a Smith and Wesson to start training. It was the first time she used an Earth gun and another one that wasn't her Miló or Akouo. Using those guns... it felt weird. She had never used anything like this in Remnant. She had never even thought about using such guns. It was always dust, aura, and swordplay. And now, she was using those earth guns... not dust, not aura, no sword... and it felt weird... And yet, she had to keep going. She even got some advice from the Agent in charge. She learned how to use it properly. She wanted to learn about those Earth firearms. And she wanted to learn quickly.

She knew that she was a fighter. So even if she had never used a gun before, it was not surprising that she was quite good at using it now. She was happy with her first result... and yet, she wanted more. She wanted to keep going, keep using that weapon... and keep improving. Her soul always wanted to improve in everything. And she was happy that this soul was mixed with Saori. She felt more confident. She could really do this now.

She was feeling better and better now, and she was getting better and better at using the gun. She wanted to be prepared now... and she knew that this weapon... would help with that. Saori... No... Pyrrha, and her soul, her memories of Remnant... all of that was inside of her. And she was not planning to let anyone like Tamaki go... she wasn't going to do that ever again. She would never let that happen ever again.

She felt a bit like a hunter right now... and she was doing something that she really wanted to do now. She was hunting... Cinder Fall. The girl in that picture... she was the one who had to pay for her crimes. And now, she was closer than ever before. Saori... No... Pyrrha, she was now much more aware of the fact that she wasn't just Saori. She was also Pyrrha. And she was ready to hunt Cinder Fall! Or at least her Earth lookalike. Tamaki, the girl was named Tamaki... but in her heart, she was still Cinder Fall, the girl who did so many bad things. She was the one who had to face the consequences of her actions... and it was Pyrrha's duty to make sure that she Pyrrha took off her earmuffs to drink some water and have a rest, she heard the voice of a woman congratulating her

—"I'm impressed… Officer Saga. Am I right? Glad to see you back in the force" Said the female officer. Inspector Kaoruko Kinoshita.

Pyrrha was surprised to hear that voice. She looked up at the woman and... she remembered her face from her computer archives.

—"Inspector Kinoshita?" she asked as she was remembering the name of the inspector... and the name that this police station knew her with. It didn't take long for her to remember that she was now Saori Saga, and she had to keep that in mind. But she also remembered that this superior was a nice person. So she had to keep that in mind too.

—"I-Inspector!" she said as she saluted without a single mistake in her move.

She had learned how to do that the right way... and she was remembering that her actions should always be perfect. Because she knew that they meant a lot. So she acted perfectly, and she looked Inspector Kaoruko Kinoshita in the eyes.

—"At ease!" Smiled Kinoshita "I'm surprised to see you here in the shooting range. Officer Saga"

—"Yes, ma'am." she said in a perfect tone.

Even if she felt like she could trust Kinoshita, she wasn't planning to tell her anything about Tamaki. She was a good inspector. But this time, Pyrrha had to keep a secret... something that she couldn't share with anyone. So she was a bit cautious with Kinoshita now. She didn't want to lie exactly... she was not planning to do that. But she wasn't going to reveal any important information about her goal of finding Tamaki to the inspector either.

—"Keep up the good work. Saga" Kinoshita said once more. Although she looked like a short tempered woman. Pyrrha felt like she could trust the inspector. "She reminds me of Goodwitch" She thought.

Pyrrha had some positive thoughts about Kinoshita, even if she was a bit tough.

But she needed to keep going now. She had to stay focused, and she needed to stay on track.

—"I shall do my best." she said, and then... she turned to look at the shooting range. She wanted to get back to work. She wanted to improve her abilities and her precision with this firearm.

—"Try this one" Kinoshita handed Pyrrha an Uzi

Pyrrha looked at the Uzi for a moment... Then she took it. She was surprised by this... she never thought that she would receive a weapon today. But... she wasn't afraid. In fact, she was ready to try something new now... and this weapon... was something new. Kaoruko was right to give her that gun. She needed to try new things, different things...

—"Thank you, inspector." she said. Then, she took a few steps away and started practicing with the Uzi too. Pyrrha was having fun with that now... and she knew that she was improving a lot.

Kinoshita looked at her smiling "I wonder what happened with this girl after that accident. She used to hate guns and now look at her"

For once in her life, Pyrrha felt like she had more than one choice to choose from... she had multiple beautiful clothing options. She went to her wardrobe and looked at those clothing options... and she was almost frozen for a moment...

Because she couldn't decide… She wasn't sure which one was the best option… And that didn't happen a lot... usually there was no doubt about what was the right thing to wear. But now... there was... and it was a hard decision.

She recalled her red prom dress and the ball night in Beacon. When Jaune had to use a dress too after losing a bet with her. He jokingly said that if Pyrrha didn't get a date to the dance he would wear a dress, thinking it would be the easiest thing for Pyrrha to do since she was such a prominent figure. Pyrrha laughed at that memory... but it was an interesting one...

Jaune looked so cute wearing that dress... But Pyrrha didn't tell anyone about how she found him cute. She liked that memory a lot... and she knew that she wanted to look as cute as she possibly could. She picked a blue blouse, a pair of jeans and black boots.

She was feeling cute now and felt like she was going to have a lot of fun that night. And she was looking forward to the girl's night. It would be a good break from her police work, and that was exactly what she needed. Miyuki and Natsumi came to pick her up at the apartment

—"Hi Saori-chan. Ready for a big night?" Asked Tsujimoto enthusiastically.
—"This is going to be a lot of fun." Miyuki said.

And she meant every word of that.