The Qwaser of Stigmata

A schoolgirl from St. Mihailov's Academy being terrorized and murdered for data about the »Tsar Crowning« icon one night forms a stark contrast to Mafuyu Oribe and Tomo Yamanobe praying in the campus church after having bootstrapped themselves to beginning another school day; a »Wake up; your life's a-wasting!!!« tap on Tomo's noggin later, an encounter with Teresa Beria gives way to having demonstrated an example of the persecution directed at Tomo and Mafuyu along with their arch-nemeses Miyuri Tsujidou and Hana Katsuragi. An ordinary home commute later sets the stage for Tomo and Mafuyu to discover an infirm boy named Alexander »Sasha« Nikolaevich Hel who later intercedes for her when the Magnesium Qwaser Pax Romania igniting the paintings in an attempt to scare insight out of Mafuyu instigates a battle that serves as a tutorial for defining Qwasers and their soma-synthesizing Maria partners along with demonstrating the necessity of soma in driving their chemistry-based powers over their assigned element; if that is not confusing enough for Mafuyu, Sasha is ultimately far more austere than his playful-sounding nickname suggests as he sees no reason to adhere to Miyuri's student government nor the standard social protocols of civilization.

While Tomo sleeps to resolve the delirium from her fever, Mafuyu compares notes with the sympathetic Ayana Minase who offers her assistance upon request before the bell prompts the girls on their way to class as the priest Yūri Noda prosecutes a soliloquy about the »Tsar's Crowning«. Waylaid with no practical recourse, Sasha explains Mafuyu about the »Tsar's Crowning« icon along with the fanatical zeal driving the Adepts' pursuit thereof. Mafuyu's opprobrium of all Qwasers being murderers strikes a nerve within Sasha whose languishing into unconsciousness after holding her at bay sets the stage for a glimpse of Sasha's prologue in refining his iron-based Qwaser powers and gives way to a dexterously prepared apology pot of borscht from Mafuyu. Teresa admonishing caution of Mafuyu prior to departing with Sasha is the only warning of an innocuous bathtime session of girl talk becoming the preamble for Ayana showing her true colors as the Magnesium Qwaser as she wields Tomo in an obverse abduction; the ultimate irony of the whole confrontation is that even with her powers energized by Tomo's soma, Sasha successfully turns the tables on Ayana using an iconoclastic strategy in spite of his rage.

Resolving the aftermath of the subterfuge availed by the Magnesium Qwaser appears as child's play when Mafuyu challenges Sasha appraising Tomo's mammaries one night and rushes to his side when he wakes up from reliving the inception of his vendetta with the Qwaser of Gold. While Mafuyu bristles in frustration at Sasha's anti-social conduct and how he turned the tables on her that morning, Miyuri is shocked to have her overture rejected and her persecution perverted to her detriment yet again; later that evening, Mafuyu prepares a room for Sasha only to find that housing Sasha as per Father Yuri's volition is far easier said than done when he twice ignores her ground rules and nearly spears her with a »No spying!!!« projectile toss. Meanwhile, the Copper Qwaser Ekaterina Kurae is nearly finished with her voyage to Japan when a trio of gunmen charges her the relinquishment of her gynoid guardian Anastasia; a very violent »Leave me alone!!!« counterstrike on the three men gives way to Miyuri fawning over Ekaterina after her arrival in Japan prior to initiating the shopping spree whose ultimate irony is that it is the forum for Ekaterina to prove her hypothesis of Hana making an excellent Maria partner for her.

While Ekaterina continues appraising Hana's soma, Mafuyu leads Sasha through a girls' day out at the mall with Tomo and Teresa in which Sasha has to haul all of the recently-purchased payload like a beast of burden as punishment for ignoring her house rules. A last-minute visit to a lingerie shop at Tomo's request for a bigger brassiere sets the stage for Tomo and Teresa's abduction at the hands of some voyeurs from the fitting room right under Mafuyu and Sasha's noses; a bit of detective work and an expedient »Put it in neutral!!!« intercession from Sasha later, the voyeurs are easily defeated but prove themselves a warm-up compared to the fully-charged Ekaterina who decides to appraise the efficacy of Hana's soma. Even with Teresa recharging his soma, Ekaterina easily stalemates Sasha's close-range attacks and would have finished him off if not for Mafuyu and Teresa's combined interjection for temperance; while Mafuyu and Teresa perform the necessary housekeeping with the voyeurs and explaining about Athos, Ekaterina ultimately makes herself at home in Hana's apartment as she wastes no time in refining Hana as her Maria partner.

A nightmare of Teresa losing her mentor Wilma while tending some white lilies gives way to having explained to her the arrival of another heretic Qwaser from the Adepts in Japan searching for the »Tsar's Crowning«; as is usually the case with the Adepts and their disciples, it falls on Sasha to slay the assailant after he learns to be versatile with Mafuyu's cooking. While taking a recess in the campus church, Father Yuri explains about Teresa's prologue as a orphan alongside Sister Wilma and how the Chlorine Qwaser Croa led his men in exterminating all of the nuns in her orphanage; Tomo now being wielded as a hostage, it becomes apparent that Croa is not hostile to the idea of finishing what he started a dozen years ago. The deus ex machina that ultimately conquers Croa's chlorine is some well placed calcium hydroxide bags and a copper shield courtesy of Ekaterina; as an unexpected bonus, Teresa also decides to reside with Sasha.

Anxious about the prospect of heretic Qwasers of greater potency and psychosis trying their fortunes for the »Tsar's Crowning«, Mafuyu decides to take the initiative and search for coveted icon herself ; after a fruitless search through Yuudai Yamanobe's inventory, she then decides to entreat Miyuri's permission to search for clues in the Tsujidou mansion. Miyuri sees an opportunity to restore social homeostasis as she charges labor of Mafuyu along with Tomo and Sasha as guides for her family art exhibit. Ekaterina's teasing amplifies Sasha's aversion to being forced to work as a maid and sets the stage for Ekaterina to explain that her desire to see the Tsujidou Fabergé Egg is why the exhibit is; unfortunately, that same volition drives a paramilitary platoon to raid the exhibit and take the two Qwasers hostage along with the three girls. While Ekaterina relives her prologue of being raped by humans, Miyuri offers herself as erotic entertainment; Hana standing by with Anastasia and Miyuri having galvanized the libido of the soldiers combine into the perfect deus ex machina for Ekaterina to slaughter the soldiers using Miyuri's soma. The ultimate silver lining in this is that the platoon colonel has a bitter prologue with the Sodium Qwaser not unlike Sasha's.