Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The world ended when the Hollows appeared. The old civilization fell and humanity was nearly wiped out by monsters called Ethereals. In the world that remains, society has completely shifted thanks to the presence of the Hollows and the resources found within them called Ether Crystals. These crystals expanded the limits of what was thought to be possible, giving humans abilities they could previously only dream of and as a result, a fighting chance against the Ethereals. There was only one small issue however.

Only women can be granted powers by Ether.

As a result, men are seen as… unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. They are still citizens of society, go to school, and even hold down jobs, but none could hope to hold any kind of authority or greater relevance in the world that remained.

“Thanks again for visiting Random Play. Could I interest you in a membership? We’re currently offering a twenty-percent off deal for the first three months.”

The group of high school aged girls looked at Wise for a moment before one of them whispered to the others and they all suddenly burst out laughing before grabbing their tapes and leaving.

With the store now empty, Wise slumped forward onto the front desk and let out a sigh. He felt a familiar itch on his neck and tried to scratch it to no avail. The collar around his neck made it impossible.

For as long as Wise could recall, he had always had this collar, as much as he loathed it. The material was tight around his neck, the chain got in his way constantly, and some nights Wise could swear it made odd noises. But try as he might, he couldn’t remove it. Whatever material it was made from was strong and couldn’t be cut by any practical means.

Still, he did his best to get by. He wore turtlenecks, kept the chain tucked away, and tried as hard as he could to forget that he had it on at all times. Still though, it bugged him. Why did he have this stupid thing? Who would put a collar on a child?

Wise shook his head, trying to rid himself of his thoughts.

“Eous, think you could watch the store for a minute? I’m gonna go check on Belle.”

“Eh-nah!” The Bangboo gave a salute before hopping up onto the desk. Wise gave a nod of approval before entering the back room.

He was immediately assaulted with a cacophony of digital sound effects, podcasts, and nightcore. Belle was sitting in front of her wall of monitors, each playing something different from the next. The amount of data was far too much for any normal human to process, but for Belle, it was her favorite way to unwind after a long day.

“Belle. Belle! ”

After jostling her shoulder, Wise’s sister finally turned to face him, removing her headphones. Her eyes, which were glowing blue, blinked a few times before returning to their normal, non-glowing, color. Behind her all of the monitors suddenly clicked off.

“Sup Brobro? Hey, what are we doing for dinner? Can we order a pizza?”

“Did you look over those documents I gave you?”

“I told you, I’m gonna!”

“Belle!” Wise folded his arms sternly.

“Ugh!” The blue-haired girl threw her head back and spun around in her chair. “Finances are so boring! Can’t you just handle them? You’re way better with them anyway!”

“Belle, you have a supercomputer for a brain. It’s simple math.”

“Which is why it’s so booooring! ”

“We're trying to run a business. That means that sometimes we have to do things outside of our comfort zone.”

“But I like my comfort zone! There's pizza and video games! And I have my sweet older brother to take care of me.” Belle clasped her hands together and batted her eyes at Wise.

*Ding!*

The chime of the front door pulled Wise back to the storefront. Turning back to his sister he let out a groan.

“You know I'm not always gonna be around to take care of you, right?”

“~That's what you think~” Belle replied, spinning back around in her chair before all of the screens flashed to life again.

Now back in the storefront, Wise spotted a familiar head of white hair at the front counter. She was drumming her fingers against the tabletop while humming a tune aloud.

“Anby.” Wise greeted the girl with a smile. “What can I do for Random Play's most dedicated customer today?”

“Manager.” Anby nodded her head, her expression as neutral as ever. “While I enjoyed the last movie you picked out for me, the rest of my team would like something with more action in it. Do you have anything in mind?”

“Let me think.” Wise placed a finger to his chin. “Ah. How about this?”

Wise walked over to the corner of the room, grabbed a tape off the shelf and brought it back to the front desk. The cover of the tape depicted humans running from alien invaders.

“It’s called ‘Don’t Touch’. It’s a sci-fi about shapeshifting aliens. A little bit of mystery with plenty of action. I think you and your friends should enjoy it.”

Anby accepted the tape, the shorter girl looked up at Wise and blinked.

“You’ve yet to give me a bad recommendation, so I will trust in your choice. Thank you, Manager.”

“Anytime Anby, I’m glad you enjoy them.” Wise smiled as he rang up Anby’s rental.

Handing the tape over to her in a plastic bag, the white-haired girl simply stared at him for a moment, her orange eyes studying his face closely.

“Anby?”

Anby blinked and shook her head, accepting the bag.

“Thank you, Manager. Have a nice day.” She quickly exited the store.

“Eh-nah? Nah neh noo!”

“I'll be sure to do just that.” Wise nodded, waving goodbye to Buy, Ask, and Give Change as he exited 141 Convenience Store with groceries in hand.

He and Belle weren't exactly flush with cash at the moment, but that didn’t mean they had to subsist entirely off of junk food, as much as Belle would enjoy that. Wise was the only one of them who could actually cook, so he made sure that his sister ate a vegetable every now and then.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite video store manager!” A sudden voice caught Wise off guard.

Turning his head, Wise saw large pink hair pulled into a pair of twintails and a seductive body dressed in a crop top and denim short-shorts. She carried a black briefcase at her side and had a Bangboo-shaped doll on her hip.

“Nicole.” Wise sighed. “Do you have the money you owe me yet?”

“Agh!” Nicole scoffed at the remark. “You know Wise, with an attitude like that, you are never gonna find a nice girl to settle down with.”

“I didn’t think you knew any nice girls, Nicole. Aren’t they usually just ‘marks’ for you?” Wise smirked.

“I usually only make it a point to con people who have more money than they deserve, but on occasion I’ll go out of my way to humble a guy who gets too big for his britches.”

“On occasion, eh? So what about-oof!” Wise was cut off as Nicole’s arm suddenly slammed into his chest. “Ah! What are you…?”

Wise turned to face Nicole, but she wasn’t looking at him. Instead, her focus was on their surroundings. Wise turned his head, looking at the street around him. It was empty. Not a sign of life around them as far as the eye could see. He whirled his head around toward the 141 Convenience Store, only to find a long empty stretch of road behind him.

“Wait, I could’ve sworn…”

Had the city changed shape?

“Nrrrgh! Dammit! We’re in the Hollow!” Nicole gritted her teeth.

“What?” Wise’s eyes shot open in shock. “What do you mean? We didn’t-”

“The Hollow can open anywhere at any time! If you’re caught up in one when it forms, you don’t even notice until it's too late!”

This was bad. Hollows could bend the space inside of them. Without a proper guide, someone could get lost in one forever, running over an infinite stretch of space ahead of them until they died of starvation.

Though, in the Hollow, starvation was the least of your worries. The real danger…

“Here they come.” Nicole readied her briefcase.

Wise turned his head and saw numerous shadowy figures step out from the alleyways. They almost resembled people, but they were… off. Their skin was gray and rocky, their limbs lacked hands and either ended with blades or clubs. But most striking was their heads, or rather the lack thereof. Hovering just above each Ethereal’s neck was a whirling dark sphere, almost like a black hole.

The Ethereals saw the two humans standing before them and immediately let out a shriek, informing the others of fresh prey in the vicinity.

“We need to move NOW! ”

Nicole’s hand clamped around Wise’s wrist and she began running, dragging Wise behind her as she did.

“Where are we even going?” Wise asked. Looking up, he spotted more Ethereals watching them from the rooftops.

“Do you want to stay here?!”

“No ma’am!”

The two of them ran straight toward a nearby building. Wise ran ahead and pulled the door open, ushering Nicole inside before quickly following and slamming the door behind them.

On the other side of the door, Ethereals began pounding away at the metal. One Ethereal’s blade pierced straight through, causing Wise to flinch back in fear.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Wise asked, looking toward Nicole.

Nicole, rather than panicking like Wise expected, had opened her briefcase and was inspecting the contents within.

“Dammit, I forgot to restock! I’ve hardly got anything!” She looked up at Wise. “Got any Dennies on you?”

“Wha- You expect me to pay you?! Now?! ”

“That’s not what I mean. Look, I can get us out of here, but I need you to trust me.” Nicole shut her briefcase. It began whirring to life as several green lights on the side flickered on and a gun barrel emerged from the side of the case.

“Nicole, are you… with the Defense Force?”

Sweat dripped down Nicole’s forehead and she bashfully looked away.

“Well ummm… not… exactly in any official capacity.”

“So you’re a Hollow Raider.” Wise frowned.

“What are you, a cop? A girl’s gotta make a living okay?!”

More blades began to cut through the door. The Ethereals would breach the room in mere moments.

“Beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.” Wise abandoned the door and ran over to join Nicole.

When the Ethereals tore down the door, Nicole was ready. She loaded a roll of Ether-charged Dennies into her gun and unleashed a stream of automatic gunfire. When the projectiles hit their mark, they immediately detonated with the force of a grenade.

As the Ethereals came crashing in through the windows and walls, Nicole spread out her gunfire, killing as many as she could before a soft click showed that she was empty.

“Shit! Come on!” Nicole gestured for Wise to follow before she began sprinting toward a nearby door. 

The Ethereals were hot on their tail as they ran, cutting through room after room toward the back of the building before they finally ended up in a large garage. Unfortunately, none of the vehicles seemed operable enough to make a quick escape. Spotting a way out through the garage door, Wise and Nicole immediately ran toward the exit, but with the horde of Ethereals behind them, it wouldn’t make much difference if they were outside or not.

That was when Nicole grabbed a single Denny from her jacket and tossed it at a chain on the wall. The coin exploded, breaking the chain and causing the garage door to come crashing down.

Wise and Nicole dove beneath the door just before it slammed shut, trapping the Ethereals behind them.

“That was *huff* quick thinking *huff* Nicole.” Wise managed to get out between breaths.

“Who says I’m *huff* just a pretty face?” She smiled back at him before fear flashed in her eyes. “Get down!”

Nicole dove to cover Wise, only for both of them to be swatted aside by an Ethereal’s club. Wise flew across the street, slamming into a nearby building. He hacked up a spurt of blood.

Even one hit… hurt that much?

As his senses slowly returned to him, Wise managed to lift himself up onto his arms, barely able to open his eyes. Nearby, Nicole was stumbling to her feet, doing slightly better than Wise himself. He looked around and saw that they were surrounded on all sides, their backs literally against the wall. It was hopeless. They couldn’t escape the Hollow.

They were going to die here.

It was then that Wise heard a soft *clink* as the chain of his collar spilled out from his shirt and onto the ground.

“You are a very special boy, Wise. One day, you are going to be able to show the world just how special you really are.” A nostalgic voice echoed in his mind as he stared at the loose chain, though he couldn’t place whose it was.

“Nicole!” Wise cried out, turning to the pink-haired girl who looked back at him in bewilderment. “Grab my chain!”

“What the hell are you talking about, you horny freak?!” Nicole yelled back at him, loading another roll of Dennies into her briefcase as she stared down the mass of Ethereals, encroaching on them. 

“Just grab the chain!” Wise demanded, tossing the length of the chain to the injured girl.

“Ugh!”

Seeing no other option, Nicole complied and caught the chain in her hand. Pink Ether energy immediately transferred from Nicole’s hand straight into the collar around Wise’s neck. A shock of pain shot through Wise’s body and he cried out as green veins of Ether pulsed through his body.

“Contract formed.” A disembodied voice spoke from Wise’s collar.

Nicole looked on in shock as glowing Ether began to engulf Wise like a cocoon before it exploded with blinding light, causing the girl to shield her eyes. When the light finally died down, Nicole looked to where Wise had been only moments ago to find him missing, and in his place was a creature, the likes of which Nicole had never seen before.

It didn’t resemble a normal Ethereal. It lacked the floating core that typically made up an Ethereal’s head. It was bipedal, with a humanoid body albeit with longer arms and sharpened claws on every limb. Its white skin was armor-plated with pulsing veins of Ether travelling throughout its body, all centered at the creature’s chest. Its head, possibly the most striking feature of all, somewhat resembled a dog’s. It had a pointed snout filled with sharp spikes that functioned as teeth, and two much larger spikes sticking up from its head that resembled ears. Around the creature’s neck was a heavy iron collar.

“Wha- What is-?” Nicole stumbled back, fearing for her life.

“Get on.” The creature stated in a deep, guttural voice.

“What?”

“GET! ON!” It demanded again.

Nicole didn’t make any attempt to approach the beast, her shock and fear distracting her from an Ethereal that was quickly moving in on her.

In a flash of movement, the beast swatted closed the distance between himself and Nicole, wrapping her in one arm before slicing the Ethereal to ribbons with the other.

Nicole blinked, suddenly finding herself in the beast’s arms. It looked down at her with its large predatory eyes but, to her surprise, it didn’t try to hurt her at all. Nicole looked over to the now fading Ethereal it had protected her from. Realization suddenly flashed in her eyes.

“W-Wise?!” She looked up at the beast.

“Yeah.” He nodded.

“How are you-?”

“It’s a long story. Let’s focus on staying alive for now.”

Nicole looked over at the army of Ethereals that had gathered and audibly gulped.

“Hang on to me tight and don’t let go of that chain.” Wise instructed, setting Nicole down on the ground and walking in front of her.

Sweat running down her face, Nicole nodded before climbing onto Wise’s back.

“A word of warning, this form takes a price on us both.”

“If it keeps us alive, it’s worth it.” Nicole loaded the last of her Dennies into her gun. “We can add it to my tab.”

The powerful muscles of Wise’s new form tensed. Nicole tightened her grip around the chain with her free hand. Then, in an instant, they were across the street, and a large swathe of Ethereals were dead.

“Huh? Did… we just…” Nicole blinked. “ Wise! You’ve been holding out on me! Do you have any idea how much money I could’ve been making with you on the Cunning Hares?”

“Stay focused.”

“We’re talking about this later.” Nicole gripped a handful of coins, charging them with Ether before loading them into her gun and blasting automatic gunfire. There was a brief pause before the coins detonated and a series of blasts annihilated the Ethereals.

Wise tore through the large groups with his sharpened claws while Nicole picked off the stragglers. Who would’ve thought that the humble owner of Random Play was such a beast? How was this even possible?

Just as the two of them were beginning to find their groove, the remaining Ethereals took off running away from the duo.

“Hey, looks like they’re retreating!”

“Ethereals don’t do that.”

“Tell that to them.” Nicole grinned, watching the swarm flee. Only for that grin to drop as she watched the Ethereals begin to gather together, their bodies fusing into a single mass and creating a much larger, much scarier creature. 

Nicole gaped.

“E-Ethereals can’t do that!”

“Tell that to him.”

The remaining Ethereals absorbed, now a lone figure stood five stories high, heavily armored with arms like stone columns. Its hind legs were comparatively tiny, forcing it to stand on all fours.

“A Farbauti?! That’s Class B Ethereal!”

Wise breathed heavily. An Ethereal that dangerous was enough to destroy several city blocks.

Nicole looked down at Wise. 

“Can you get us out of here?”

“No.” Wise shook his head. “I can’t stay in this form much longer.”

“What do we do then?”

“Fight.”

Nicole loaded her last roll of Dennies into her briefcase.

“Can’t believe I’m not charging for this.”

Drawing in a deep breath, Wise readied himself into a runner’s pose, his claws dug into the concrete beneath him. Then in an instant, he took off toward the giant Ethereal, cracking the ground with each step. Nicole nearly flew off of his back from the sudden acceleration, dangling behind Wise from his chain like a kite on a string.

The Farbauti was faster than its appearance let on. It saw Wise coming and quickly reacted, sweeping its massive arm across the road to intercept him.

Wise’s first instinct was to dodge, but unaccustomed to his new form, he was unable to change direction quick enough. As a last resort, Wise threw up his arms and caught the massive hand in his hands. There was a resounding crash as the two monsters exchanged blows and the sound destroyed every window around them. When the debris cleared, both Wise and the Farbauti were in a stalemate, despite the massive disparity in size, Wise had equaled the Ethereal’s strength.

“N-Nicole!”

“Huh?!” Nicole called out, her hands clamped over her ears.

“KILL IT!”

Nicole’s eyes trailed up the Farbauti’s arm before ending at its core sitting directly atop its thick neck. Without taking a moment to think, Nicole leapt off of Wise’s back and landed on the giant arm. Gripping her briefcase tightly in her hand, Nicole began charging it with Ether and took off running up the massive Ethereal’s limb.

The Farbauti, seeing the potential danger, began moving its arm to shuck the girl off, but quickly found itself unable to due to the Ethereal-like creature holding its arm down.

“WON’T… LET… YOU… HURT HER!” Wise screamed out, putting everything he had into restraining the much larger beast.

Nicole reached the Farbauti’s shoulder and, her entire briefcase brimming with Ether energy, she dove off of the creature’s arm and tossed the briefcase in a single motion, sending it flying at the core. The detonation was instantaneous, the massive explosion disrupted the Ethereal’s core, killing the Farbauti.

Time seemed to slow down as Nicole fell, she slowly turned her head and saw the Farbauti’s free arm swinging directly toward her, about to swat her like a fly as its final act in life. As the realization that she was about to die set in, Nicole was surprised by her lack of fear. Sure there were things she regretted leaving unfinished, but to be honest, this was a more noble end than she deserved.

Nicole closed her eyes and accepted her fate. But rather than feeling a massive arm clobber her, she instead felt two smaller arms wrap around her tightly and hug her against an armored chest.

Then came the massive arm, sending Nicole and her protector flying into a building across the street where they put a massive crater in the wall before falling to the ground. Wise’s arms went limp, releasing the unharmed Nicole who rolled out of his arms and onto the ground.

Wise, his strength completely spent, began to emit light from his monstrous body before it was encased in a cocoon of Ether once more. Nicole slowly stood up, watching the phenomenon unfold.

When the cocoon dispersed a moment later, the normal, human Wise was lying on the ground. His clothes were slightly torn and there was steam rising off of his body, but otherwise he was fully intact.

“Oh god…” Wise groaned. “Everything… hurts…”

Every muscle in Wise’s body felt as though it was on fire, he couldn’t move an inch. He could hardly catch his breath. But with the Ethereals gone, they were safe now. The Hollow would soon disperse and he and Nicole could get back home.

“Is- Is it over? We’re alive?” Nicole asked, looking back at the now empty street before looking back to Wise. One question pervaded her thoughts. “What… are you?”

“Commencing reward.”

Wise managed to roll over onto his back, letting out a few painful coughs before he saw a shadow looming over him.

“ *cough* Nicole? I think… I need an ambulance.” Wise breathed out, his vision blurry. “Nicole? Oof!”

Wise was caught off guard by a sudden weight straddling his chest, knocking the wind from his lungs.

“N-Nicole?” He wheezed.

“Wise, I… I don’t know what’s happening. It’s like…” Nicole let out a heavy breath, her cheeks bright red. “Like my chest is on fire.”

Nicole shed her jacket.

“Nicole I-mmph!” Wise was silenced as Nicole’s lips smothered his own, the pink-haired girl passionately kissing him while he lacked the strength to resist. When she finally came up for air, Wise gasped from a lack of oxygen.

“I don’t… Why am I doing this?” Nicole questioned aloud. “It’s like my body has a mind of its own!”

“Listen Nicole, this isn’t you, this is the cost of the power. It takes a toll on both of us.” Wise tried to explain, though it was a bit difficult to focus at the moment. “I’m sorry, I can’t stop it!”

“What the hell kind of an ability is this?!” Nicole yelled as her hands reached for the hem of her top. “Noooo!”

“I’m sorry!” Wise apologized profusely, covering his eyes with his hands, only for his wrists to be grabbed and forced open by Nicole who was staring at him with a furious expression, her cheeks burning red.

Her top was completely gone now, exposing the lacy pink bra beneath. Still gripping his wrists, she forced his hands onto her breasts.

“You bastard! For this you owe me ten, no, a hundred thousand Dennies!” She began moving his hands in circles. Her red cheeks grew even redder. “Can’t believe I ever- Whatever! How much longer does this last?!”

“I don’t know! This hasn’t happened since…” Wise blinked.

Had this happened before?

*Smack!*

“Hey!” Nicole grabbed his attention back with a slap. “When is my body going to…”

She froze, staring at her hand. Testing it, she turned her hand back and forth, checking either side. Then, she looked back at Wise and slapped him in the face again.

“Agh!” Wise put his hand over his burning cheek.

Nicole immediately stood up off of him. She quickly grabbed her discarded shirt and jacket before storming off. With one final glance back toward him, she raised her fist in anger and yelled.

“You owe me big time for this! You hear me?!”

Still lying on the ground but now alone, Wise held up the chain of his collar. This thing had been a part of him for as long as he could remember, but now it felt like he was seeing it for the first time.

“What… am I?”

The front door chimed as an exhausted Wise stepped inside of Random Play.

“There you are!” Belle exclaimed, running up to meet her brother. “Where have you been?! Did you turn your phone off? I couldn’t track you at all! Why do you look beat up? What-”

“Go ahead and order a pizza.” Wise quietly ascended the stairs, not even sparing his sister a glance. “I’m going to bed.”

“Hey! Don’t ignore me! Wise? Wise?! ”

Wise stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, his bloodied clothes tossed to the bathroom floor, leaving just his boxer briefs and revealing his pale and skinny frame beneath. The injuries he had received from the Ethereal before transforming had vanished when he changed back, leaving him fatigued certainly, but otherwise completely healthy.

As his eyes looked over every inch of his exposed torso, they inevitably wandered back to the collar around his neck.

What was it? Why couldn’t he remember a time before he had it? And how did he remember how it worked?

Just before transforming, he had heard a woman’s voice in his mind, one he distinctly recalled knowing at one point in time. For some reason that voice had evoked a series of complex emotions within him, emotions he was still trying to process. 

At the center of it all, one name kept repeating in his head over and over again.

Tightening his fists, he stormed out of his room before knocking loudly on the next door over. 

There was a long pause before the door finally cracked open and a tired Belle stood on the other side of the doorframe, dressed in a large t-shirt and pajama pants.

“What the hell, Wise? Do you have any idea- whyyyyy aren’t you wearing clothes?” Her face quickly turned red as she looked away.

“Why don’t I remember our parents?”

“... What?”

“Our parents.” Wise repeated, furrowing his brow. “Why don’t I remember them?”

“W-Wise, I don’t…”

“Belle.” Wise gripped his sister by the shoulders. “Who is Carole Arna?”

New Eridu Files: Nicole Demara

Ether Ability: Amortization.

Nicole can charge any object she touches with Ether energy, causing it to explode. The strength of the explosion is directly correlated to how much value an object has to Nicole. The more that Nicole treasures a particular object, the larger the corresponding explosion is. 

Dennies are Nicole’s primary choice of weapon as their value to her is the easiest to quantify and they are a readily available resource. She keeps a special briefcase that functions as a machine gun capable of firing them as explosive rounds.

Chapter Text

“Boss! There you are! Where’ve you been?!” Billy hopped down from the crate he was sitting on.

Nicole stormed into the Cunning Hares’ hideout, fists clenched and face red.

“I do not want to talk about it.” She said through gritted teeth. “I need a shower and a change of clothes.”

“Are you still going to be able to go through with tonight’s commission?” Anby asked, looking over from her spot in front of the television.

“ Shit! ” Nicole admonished herself.

With everything that had happened earlier, she had completely forgotten about the job that the Cunning Hares were set to do tonight. She was already injured and exhausted from her earlier unexpected venture into the Hollow, not to mention she had sacrificed her briefcase to destroy the Farbauti. Shaking her head, she composed herself.

“Yeah… Yeah I’ll be fine.”

Tonight’s job was too important, they needed all hands on deck for this. This score would be enough to pay off all of their debts and then some.

“You sure Boss?” Billy crossed his arms. “Anby and I can probably handle it ourselves. Doesn’t seem like it's too tough of a job.”

“And cut me out of the profits? Not on your life!” Nicole held out her hand, gesturing for the others to join in. “The Cunning Hares stick by one another! Always!”

“If you say so!” Billy walked over to Nicole and placed his metal hand over her’s. “Let’s do this thing and score big time!”

Anby stood up, studying Nicole’s face closely. They met each other’s gazes and Nicole hardened her expression, eliminating any doubt from her mind. Finally Anby relented, placing her hand at the top of the stack.

“I trust in your judgement, leader.”

“Eh-nah! Eh-nah!” Amillion skipped into the room, running over to the group and standing up on its tiptoes, adding its stumpy hand to the pile.

“Alright then! Let’s do this thing!”

“Locals reported a Hollow appearing at 5:48 pm, then spontaneously disappearing at 6:21 pm. No missing persons reported.” Qingyi stated, looking over the supposed Hollow site.

“And no official reports filed.” Captain Zhu Yuan added. “Meaning whoever closed the Hollow isn’t part of PubSec or the Defense Force.”

“Raiders?”

“Clearing a Hollow before our officers could even arrive on the scene?”

“You think there’s more to it?” Qingyi placed her thumb to her chin, kneeling down to inspect the ground more closely. “Maybe another H.A.N.D. operation? They aren’t exactly forthcoming with information. Plus it would explain how quickly the Hollow was dispersed.”

“We haven’t even confirmed for certain yet that there was a Hollow in this area.” Zhu Yuan contested. “Let’s not jump straight into conspiracy theory territory.”

“Worried that your friend in Section 6 is keeping secrets from you?” Qingyi locked in on something on the ground, crawling toward it.

“What are you even doing right now?” Zhu Yuan questioned, giving her fellow officer an odd look.

“Collecting evidence.” Qingyi replied simply. As she stood up, she had a small piece of dark cloth in her hand, stained with dried blood.

Zhu Yuan looked at the item before inspecting the area it had come from. There were cracks in a nearby wall, as though something heavy had crashed into it. It couldn’t have been a car. If it had been, there would be shards of glass or crumpled metal on the ground.

Zhu Yuan narrowed her eyes.

“We’ll need to call in forensics to examine the ambient Ether levels. In the meantime let’s question the residents to see if we can gather any more clues. Qingyi?” Zhu Yuan turned to her partner, her eyes widening in shock. “Qingyi!”

Qingyi had placed the piece of cloth she found into her mouth, running her tongue over the bloodstain.

“Spit that out right now!”

“What? It’s faster than bringing it back to the lab.”

“Forensics have asked you multiple times to stop licking things you find at crime scenes!”

Blue light flashed in Qingyi’s eyes and she let out a sigh.

“No matches to any samples in our system. That’s a shame. I was really hoping to turn in early tonight.”

Zhu Yuan groaned and shook her head.

How an android with no real need to eat or sleep was PubSec’s laziest officer was beyond her. But lazy or not, when Qingyi put in the work when push came to shove.

“Let’s… just try to collect some intel from the residents.”

“Belle… What’s going on with me? It’s like there’s a… a fog in my head. I can’t recall anything before-”

“Wise!” Belle finally cut her brother off. “You’re acting crazy right now! It’s freaking me out!”

Wise gripped the chain of his collar.

“What is this thing?!” He demanded, sweat pouring down his face.

“Wise,” Belle held out her hands. “I think you need to calm down. Let’s go downstairs and we can sit down and actually talk about this.”

“Belle…”

“Please Wise, let’s have this conversation properly.”

A few minutes later, Wise was sitting on the couch in their back room, now wearing a pair of black sweatpants. He sat impatiently, anxiously twiddling his thumbs while he waited for his sister.

It was then that Belle walked into the room with two cups of instant noodles in her hands, steam rising from both cups. She set the cups on the table before grabbing a nearby box and setting it opposite from the couch, their television directly behind her.

“Belle, what happened to us as kids?” Wise finally asked. “Who is Carole Arna? Is she our… Did she put this collar on me?”

Belle sighed, stirring her noodles as she spoke.

“Carole Arna was a… complicated person. I think she loved us, in her own way. But she also… did things to us. Bad things.” Her eyes drifted toward Wise’s collar and pain flashed in her eyes. “Really bad things.”

She quickly looked back down at her cup noodles.

“Us?” Wise’s eyes went wide.

“Had to get these abilities somehow, right? Hehe…” Belle gave a forced chuckle. Her eyes began to glow blue again. In the corner of the room, Eous stepped out of his charging station, waddling over to Belle before hopping into her lap. She wrapped her arms around the Bangboo, hugging it tightly.

“Those times were difficult… painful. For all of us. But at the same time I can’t help but treasure the memories of our time there.” Belle smiled, looking up at Wise with tears streaming down her face, a mournful smile on her face. “After all, it was there that… I met you. ”

“ Met me?”

*Ding!*

The bell at Random Play’s entrance chimed.

Belle and Wise turned toward the front room.

The door to the back room was suddenly kicked open by a familiar pink-haired girl who stood panting, blood dripping down her forehead.

“N-Nicole?!” Wise gaped in shock.

“Wise! I need your help!”

One hour ago:

“Dammit! It was a setup!” Billy exclaimed, firing his revolvers at their pursuers. “I knew this job sounded too good to be true!”

“Then why didn’t you say something?!” Nicole yelled back at him.

“Because I wanted it to be truuuuue! ” Billy cried.

The Cunning Hares were currently running for their lives up the stairs of a high rise building. The job had been a bust from the get-go. The Red Fang were waiting for them with weapons at the ready, prepared to take out their competition once and for all.

Even having escaped the initial trap, they were forced to flee into a nearby tower. Thanks to the Hollow nearby, it was abandoned, save for the Red Fang. As they ran through an abandoned office space, a spray of bullets from the next building over shattered the windows.

“Left side.” Anby stated, sprinting up to Nicole and tackling her to the ground.

The hail of bullets narrowly flew over their heads.

“Thanks for the save!” Nicole smiled at her partner.

“You’re slow.” Anby stated. 

It wasn’t an insult. It was an observation. Nicole was tired, injured, and slowing them down. She hadn’t gone into this job at her full strength, and now they were all feeling the consequences of that mistake.

“I can pull my own weight!” Nicole insisted.

Sliding across the floor, Billy aimed several precise shots that quickly brought down the enemy gunners.

“Watch out!” Billy yelled to the girls. “Above you!”

Nicole and Anby looked up to see the ceiling suddenly collapsing down on them. The two girls were quickly pinned down by metal supports and ceiling tile. Their heads were still visible, but the rest of their bodies were completely trapped.

“Where the heck did that come from?!” The android questioned, looking around the room.

“Nyahaha!” The sound of a girl’s laughter echoed through the room. “Don’t you know it’s bad luck to cross a black cat’s path?”

A shadowy blur shot through the room and Billy immediately raised his revolvers, firing at the blur. It skillfully avoided each shot, weaving through the support columns with ease.

“What the heck?” Billy yelled, reloading his guns. “Quit moving you little spider monkey!”

“ What?! ” The blur came to a stop, revealing a Thiren girl with tanned skin, dark hair, and two swishing tails on her back. “I am a cat! Not a monkey!”

“No, you’re an easy target!” Billy raised his guns again, only for them to let out a soft *click* “What the…? Jammed?! ”

“Nyahaha! What did I tell you? Bad luck!”

“I can still fight without my guns!” Billy holstered his pistols and raised his fists.

“Are you sure about that?”

Billy came running at the girl, ready to throw hands before a sudden spark shot through Billy’s body. The robot’s metal limbs suddenly locked up and he fell to the ground.

“Dammit,” Billy mumbled as he lay face down. “I knew I shouldn’t have gone with the cheap black market mods.”

“Nice job, Nekomata.” The leader of the Red Fang, Michelle Silver, slowly entered the room with half a dozen of her fellow gang members joining her. “You certainly earned your keep for this week.”

“Nya! Thanks Big Sis!”

“Now, as for you three.” Michelle grinned widely, kneeling down in front of the defeated Cunning Hares. “Did you really think we would fall for such an obvious trap?”

“Trap?” Nicole questioned before groaning in pain. “What the hell are you talking about? You’re the ones who set the trap!”

Michelle frowned.

“The hell kind of-”

“Big Sis!”

Suddenly a spotlight shined through the room, blinding everyone, and the deafening sound of helicopter blades drowned out any other noise.

“Attention criminals! This is PubSec Inspector Justine Bringer! I am hereby ordering you to surrender. We are authorized to use lethal force if necessary. Put your hands up and come quietly.”

Nicole’s eyes widened. She looked around at the Red Fang members who quickly dropped their weapons and raised their hands above their heads. Even Michelle Silver begrudgingly complied, surrendering to the police.

*BANG!*

A sudden gunshot sounded over the helicopter. The Red Fang and the Cunning Hares looked at each other in confusion.

“Shots fired. Confirmed shots fired.” The inspector’s voice sounded over the loudspeaker. “Take’em down.”

Outside in the helicopter, one PubSec officer raised a rocket launcher onto his shoulder before firing off a shot.

“Incoming!” One of the Red Fang shouted just before a massive explosion rocked the side of the building, impacting the floor beneath them. For a moment everything shook.

Then it became still.

Deathly still.

Then… they began to feel the floor tipping beneath them.

“THE BUILDING IS COLLAPSING!” Someone cried out.

The debris covering Nicole and Anby began to slide off as the floor gradually started to become a wall. Nicole turned her head and saw that the top half of the building was collapsing directly into the Hollow below them. As she started sliding down the floor, a hand quickly caught her by the wrist.

Nicole looked up to see Anby had caught her. Anby’s sword which was buried into the floor was the only thing keeping them from falling. The Red Fang enforcers weren’t so lucky. Most quickly lost their footing and flailed helplessly as they fell into the Hollow.

Across the room, Nicole watched as Billy, who was still unable to move his body, was quickly sliding down toward the Hollow along with everything else in the room.

“HelphelphelpHEEEELLLLP!” He cried out before falling out the broken window.

“BILLY!” Nicole cried, reaching out in vain for her comrade.

“Nrgh! Nicole. There’s no time.” Anby said, her voice strained.

“Anby!” Nicole felt a drop of blood hit her face.

Looking closer, Nicole could see that Anby’s arm was bleeding, cut by the debris.

“I’m… I’m going to swing you across. Try to land on the support column. From there, you’ll have to jump as best as you can to make it to the next building.”

“W-Why are you saying that like you're not coming with me?” Nicole asked, her heart pounding.

“Someone has to go protect Billy, right?” Anby began to swing her arm. “Besides, I know you’ll come back for us. The Cunning Hares stick by one another.”

“Always.” Nicole nodded. “Don’t you dare die on me. Otherwise you owe me ten billion Dennies.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Anby released Nicole, flinging her to a nearby sideways support column which the pink-haired girl landed feet first. Then she jumped to the next, and the next, before finally reaching the broken window. With one final leap of faith, she managed to make it to the next building, albeit eight floors lower than where she had jumped.

Nicole broke through a window, landing on her chest and having the wind knocked out of her. Without hesitation, she turned around and watched as the building she had just been in fell straight into the Hollow.

The dark sphere absorbed it like a black hole eating a planet.

“Guys…”

Now:

“Wise! I need your help!”

“Nicole? You’re bleeding!” Wise immediately ran over to the leader of the Cunning Hares. “We need to get you to a hospital!”

“I’m fine! We need to go now! My friends are in danger!” Nicole demanded, grabbing Wise by the wrist. “Don’t forget that you owe me!”

Nicole looked over Wise’s shirtless form, reaching for the chain dangling from his neck.

“All I have to do is grab this, right?”

“H-Hey!” Wise snatched the chain away before Nicole could grab it. “Don’t do that in here!”

Realization flashed in his eyes and  Wise quickly spun around toward his sister.

“Belle, uh… This is…” Wise trailed off as he saw his sister cowering in the corner, holding Eous in front of her like a shield. Belle’s eyes were shut tightly and she was shaking in fear. Beads of sweat were running down her forehead.

Wise let out a sigh. His sister had always been like this. She was utterly terrified of anyone that wasn’t him. Spending her days either tucked away in the store’s backroom or her bedroom, the furthest he had ever gotten her out of the house was the noodle shop next door.

Nicole looked over at the shaking girl in the corner, then back at Wise, finally noticing Wise's state of undress.

“Am I… interrupting something?” Nicole shook her head. “Whatever! Look, I need you to transform again! We’re going back into the Hollow to save my friends!”

“ Into the Hol- Nicole I don’t do that! I’m not a Hollow Raider!” Wise gritted his teeth.

“You went toe-to-toe with an Ethereal the size of a building and walked away from it! Today! ”

“I didn’t have a choice! It was life or death!”

“This is life or death! If you don’t help me, my sister is going to die!” Nicole tightened her grip around Wise’s wrist, causing the taller boy to wince in pain. “Under any other circumstance, I would never ask some useless guy to help me! But somehow, you’re the one guy in this world that can help me! So I’m not giving you the luxury of asking!”

Nicole reached out and snagged Wise’s chain, gripping it tightly in her hand. Pink Ether energy once again started to flow through the chain and into Wise.

“Contract formed.” The same disembodied voice from earlier spoke from Wise’s collar.

“Nonono! Shit!” Wise gripped at his collar, trying whatever he could to stop the transformation. It didn’t work however as he could feel the Ether beginning to pulse through his veins.

Quickly, he pushed past Nicole and ran as fast as he could to the store’s back exit. As his body began to shift, growing in size, he barely managed to squeeze through the door frame before the glow overtook him.

When the light finally died down, Wise looked down at his hands and saw that he was back in his monstrous form from earlier, complete with armored skin and sharpened claws. As he turned back to the door, he saw Nicole stepping outside with a victorious grin on her face.

“Dammit, Nicole!” He yelled. “The transformation hurts!”

“Sorry Wise, but you didn’t leave me any choice. Seeing as you’re already dressed for the occasion, you’ll help me out, won’t you?” Nicole approached him, hand outstretched.

Wise wanted to growl at her, to remind her that he wasn’t her plaything, that she couldn’t just do whatever she pleased with him. 

But strangely enough, he found himself unable to do any of that. Suddenly everything Nicole said seemed much more agreeable, as though he couldn’t disobey her. Any thoughts of doing harm to her or even seeing harm come to her quickly became… unacceptable.

“Good boy!” Nicole patted Wise’s snout before climbing onto his back.

“ *sigh* So where are we going?” He asked.

“The Companion Hollow on Fourteenth Street.” Nicole answered, kicking his side like a horse. “As fast as you can!”

Gripping tightly to his chain, Nicole braced herself for Wise to take off running, only to begin screaming as they suddenly leapt fifty feet into the air. Wise dug his claws into the side of a nearby building before leaping to the next.

Meanwhile, back at Random Play, a nervous Belle slowly stepped out the back door, nervously looking around their parking lot.

“Wise?” She turned her head in either direction before her focus was drawn to the small crater in the center of the lot. “Oh no… Not again.”

“Can we please take a break now, captain? My leg servos are overheating.” Qingyi whined, much to Zhu Yhuan’s chagrin.

The pair had been going door-to-door for hours now, collecting what information they could from the residents of the Janus Quarter, most of whom were not particularly cooperative after being rudely awoken in the middle of the night.

“Look Qingyi, I know this isn’t fun for you, but this is a lot of what police work is. It’s long hours and a lot of leg work, but we do it because at the end of the day, we’re keeping the city safe.”

“Well all that leg work is certainly doing wonders for your ass.” Qingyi stated, admiring her captain’s posterior.

“Qingyi!” Zhu Yuan blushed bright red. “I-I could report you to the department for saying something like that!”

“I’m willing to risk it for that ass.”

“Q-Qingyi!” The captain protested. “We need to have a serious talk about-”

*CRASH!*

The sound of glass shattering above them suddenly caught both officers’ attention. They looked up to see a large creature gripping onto the side of a tall building across the street. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the beast leapt from the building to another, quickly disappearing into the city’s skyline.

“Was that an Ethereal?” Zhu Yuan gaped in shock, quickly grasping for her radio. “I’m going to call it in, you-”

The captain looked back to where her partner had been a moment ago, only for her to now be missing. When she turned her head, Zhu Yuan saw Qingyi sprinting toward a nearby building.

Producing her three-section staff from her back, she swung it above her, snagging onto a fire escape and flinging her small frame up onto the fire escape. Flipping and leaping with the grace of a seasoned gymnast, Qingyi managed to ascend the building in a matter of seconds, quickly reaching the roof.

When she did, the android officer managed to catch another glimpse of the beast as it leapt through the city. Her artificial eyes zoomed in, spotting something she hadn’t initially seen.

Someone was riding the creature.

From this distance however, all Qingyi managed to obtain was a blurry image of a figure with long hair. The android immediately began running the image through PubSec’s database in search of a match. But with the low image quality and lack of facial features, obtaining a probable match would be difficult.

“And just who might you be, interesting stranger?” Qingyi pondered to herself.

This patrol had suddenly become a lot more interesting.

As the beast and rider duo landed in front of the Hollow on Fourteenth Street, Wise could quickly feel the Ether energy leaving him. And as it did, he felt Nicole slipping off of his back, her head drooping tiredly.

Wise managed to catch her before she hit the ground, slowly lowering her before gently setting her down on the abandoned road.

As soon as he did, Wise began to glow again, and a moment later he was back in his human form. He kneeled over Nicole, examining her weakened state.

“Didn’t think… I was so tired.” She managed to murmur, her eyes barely managing to stay open.

“Your Ether is drained. I’ve seen it happen to Belle when she overuses her abilities.” Wise explained.

This was different though. Nicole hadn’t been using her ability. Rather, all of it had gone toward ‘feeding’ Wise’s transformation. Considering it was the second time she had done it today, it was a miracle she had lasted long enough to get them there. 

Even though that meant that now… he would be entering the Hollow with no powers.

“Commencing reward.”

Nicole’s arms suddenly wrapped around Wise’s neck and she pulled him down into a deep kiss.

This one was nothing like the heated, sloppy one that they had shared earlier in the Hollow. Behind this kiss there was a small spark of something. Wise couldn’t exactly identify it, but it was… warm.

“Please save them.” Nicole muttered before sleep finally took her.

Then… she just laid there, on the concrete, her bright pink hair splayed out around her, her chest heaving slightly with small breaths.

Wise finally looked up and turned toward the Hollow before him. It emitted a constant soft wind that blew his hair back and sent a chill down his spine. 

Could he really do this? Last time he had no choice about entering the Hollow, but now? Now he could simply turn around and walk away. He was back in human form again and with it, his free will had returned. He could do as he pleased.

He wasn’t some hero in a movie, ready to lay down his life for the sake of the world. He ran a video store. He struggled to pay his electric bill. He ate cup noodles more often than not. He was no hero.

He turned and looked back at the open stretch of road behind him, then looked back at the abyss that was the Hollow. Finally he looked down at Nicole, resting peacefully at his feet.

“... Dammit.” Wise groaned, standing up and turning to face the Hollow. “I watch too many movies.”

With a decisive step forward, Wise disappeared into the Hollow.

Chapter Text

“Audio Log 01: My name is Anby Demara of the Cunning Hares. I am leaving this audio log behind in hopes that in the event of my death within the Hollow, this recording will provide environmental storytelling for a future explorer, who will ideally locate these logs in sequential order, so that they may slowly piece together the final events of my life between enemy encounters. It is for this reason that I have purchased eight individual tape recorders which I will gradually scatter across the Hollow as I explore.”

Anby looked up at the sky above her, silent for a moment before adding a final note.

“I’m hungry.”

Clicking the button to end the recording, Anby rewound the tape while searching for an ideal spot to place the recorder. 

It seemed like this particular Hollow had engulfed a metro station while it was still under construction, leaving plenty of scaffolding and large scale equipment lying unattended.

“There she is!” A group of Red Fang members shouted from one of the scaffolds. “Fire!”

They raised their rifles and began firing on the white-haired girl from above. Anby dove behind a wall just in time to avoid the hail of bullets. Clicking the record button again, Anby held it to her mouth before speaking.

“I am currently being fired upon by enemy forces. If I am to survive, I should prioritize fighting over-”

The recorder was shot out of her hand by a group of enemies flanking her position. Anby quickly drew her sword and began blocking the bullets flying toward her as she sprinted toward her foes. When their gun emptied, they were left defenseless as Anby quickly dispatched them.

As she smashed one enemy’s helmet to pieces with her fist, she saw that her attacker was actually a man. 

In fact, all of them were.

Anby sighed. It was a shameful truth that in this society where women held all of the power, many men could only find employment in street gangs like the Red Fang. What’s more, men were far less resilient to the ambient Ether within the Hollows than women were. Their helmeted suits, as crude as they were, would help to buy them time, but given that they were trapped in the Hollow as well…

They would soon become Ethereals.

Anby lamented the senseless loss of life, but understood that there was nothing she could do for them now. If she didn’t find her way out of this Hollow, she would be joining them soon enough.

“Billy.” Anby focused her mind. “I have to find Billy. Everything else is secondary.”

This was a mistake.

Wise realized that truth the moment he entered the Hollow. He immediately turned around but quickly found that, similar to the last time he was in the Hollow, the area behind him was different from a moment ago.

“ Great. ” Wise let out a sigh before a sudden screech caused him to cover his ears.

Looking up, he saw that an Ethereal had already spotted him and alerted the others in the area. As soon as it was done screeching, the Ethereal took off sprinting toward Wise.

Wise, terrified, took off running in the opposite direction. The Ethereal’s speed however, far outpaced his own and he would soon be overtaken.

‘Oh man,’ Wise thought to himself, his lungs already straining. ‘If I survive this, I have got to take up cardio!’

As he turned a corner, Wise quickly found himself caught in a dead end with nowhere to escape. He spun around just in time to be tackled to the ground by the Ethereal and have the wind knocked out of him. When it had him pinned, the Ethereal raised its club-like arm, ready to smash in Wise’s head.

Quickly, Wise managed to duck his head out of the way, narrowly avoiding death. Out of sheer instinct, he raised his fist and threw the hardest punch he could at the Ethereal’s chest.

*Crack!*

“Aaah!” Wise cried out in pain as he felt the bones in his hand suddenly break.

It was like punching a brick wall.

“Hey asshole!” A voice called from behind the Ethereal.

A moment later, the Ethereal was hit from behind by a crowbar. The Ethereal slumped forward, more annoyed by the blow than harmed. It whirled around toward its attacker, only for a figure to move into its blindspot and fire a shotgun directly into the back of its head. The Ethereal’s core burst and the creature let out a final cry before it dissolved into Ether.

Wise looked up to see two figures standing over him clad in makeshift armor made with leather, scrap metal, and duct tape as well as helmets that looked like fish bowls with crude skulls painted on the front.

One of them, the one holding the crowbar, reached his hand out to Wise, offering to help him up.

“C’mon bro. Gotta stay on your toes in the Hollow.”

“Um… thanks.” Wise nodded his head, accepting the hand.

He was hoisted up onto his feet and quickly brushed the remaining Ether particles off of his pants.

“Where’s your gear, bro?” The other asked, looking Wise up and down.

It suddenly struck Wise how strange he must have looked, standing in the Hollow without so much as a shirt.

“I uh, had to ditch it.” He quickly lied. “Too damaged. It was slowing me down, uh… bro .”

“Shiiiit bro, we gotta get you back to base camp! Too much longer out here and you might end up a monster too.” The crowbar wielding thug said. “Don’t worry bro. If that happens, we’ll put you down quick.”

“Hehe, yeah.” Wise chuckled nervously.

“Let’s go bro. We’ll show you the way.” The other thug said, reloading his shotgun.

The three of them began to walk out of the dead end, Wise nervously walking two steps behind his armed saviors.

“You’re one lucky bro, bro.” Crowbar commented, tapping his weapon against his shoulder. “Can’t imagine that any of the others who got lost out here are still alive.”

“ Lucky will be if any of us make it out of this Hollow alive, bro.” Shotgun pointed out, watching his surroundings for enemies. “Without a Carrot, we’re trapped in here. Won’t be long before all of us turn.”

“Big Sis says she’s already got people on the outside working to get us out, bro! She said it was a continuity. ”

“Contingency.” Wise corrected him.

“Yeah bro! That!” Crowbar gestured emphatically. “We’re gonna be fine!”

“Donnie thought that too.” Shotgun said sadly, staring at the ground.

His gaze then fell on Wise.

“You must be somethin’ else if you’ve gone this long without turning. Donnie started turning seconds after his helmet cracked. And here you are, half naked with no symptoms. Why is that… bro? ”

“I… dunno. Like he said, I must be lucky.”

“Yeah… Lucky . ” Shotgun’s grip tightened around his weapon. “So tell me, Lucky, how long ago did you join up? You seem pretty green.”

Sweat began to gather on Wise’s forehead.

“Um, n-not too long ago. I joined up at the same time as a few others.” Wise explained nervously. “I’m… not very chatty so I tend to fade into the background.”

“Uh huh. And what’s with the collar?”

“Bro!” Crowbar punched Shotgun in the shoulder. “You can’t just ask him that!”

“Well I’m asking!” Shotgun stopped moving, now fully turning to face Wise. “Who the fuck are you?! Why don’t I know your face?!”

“I um…” Wise’s heart was pounding, his mouth felt dry. “I’m…”

“Bro!” Crowbar tried to intervene but Shotgun fired a warning shot at his feet.

“Tell me right now!”

“Bro!”

“Shut it! Who-”

“I’m Big Sis’s slave!” Wise yelled out, squeezing his eyes shut.

There was a pause. Wise’s heart continued pounding in his chest. But he didn’t hear a gunshot, so he finally opened his eyes.

“Uh… what?” Shotgun asked, lowering his gun.

“She um… She keeps me around t-to satisfy her um, urges. ” Wise cringed at his own lie, praying that they would buy it. “When we’re together, I’m her… slave. I’m not much of a fighter, so it's the only way I can be useful to her.”

The two thugs stared at Wise, unmoving, before finally Crowbar spoke.

“I knew it bro!” He exclaimed. “I knew Big Sis was into that freak shit!”

“G-Geez.” Shotgun bashfully looked away. “You didn’t have to explain that much. L-Let’s just head back to base camp now.”

The rest of the walk was silent.

Nekomiya Mana, better known to her fellow Red Fangs as Nekomata, slashed her way through another group of wandering Ethereals. That made four groups she had slain in the past hour.

The cat Thiren shook the loose Ether particles off of her before stretching out her arms and arching her back. Her two black tails swished rapidly behind her.

“Nyaaa. I could really use a catnap right now.”

This night just never seemed to end.

When the tip came in about a big score close to the Fourteenth Street Hollow, Big Sis was immediately suspicious. While others wanted to quickly move in and collect the score, she made them hang back and wait. Her hunch turned out to be correct as they soon saw the Cunning Hares arrive at the scene.

From there, things had gotten a little chaotic. PubSec arrived, a building fell, and now they were stuck in the Hollow. They had lost a few of their own, men weren’t built for the Hollow after all, but Big Sis had assured the survivors that she wouldn’t let them turn.

According to her, she had already prepared a backup plan in case things turned south. Something about a second team stealing a Carrot from PubSec and bringing it back to lead them out of the Hollow.

Big Sis was a lot of things, but she wasn’t omniscient. There was no help coming. This was simply a tactic to keep the men from panicking and running off. Nekomata immediately saw through the lie but said nothing, instead opting to leave on a ‘scouting mission’.

There were only two ways to exit a Hollow:

The first and most widely used was to use a Carrot, essentially a map of the distorted space inside of the Hollow that could lead you to the exit.

The other, less common method was simpler, but much harder in practice. Hollows depended on the Ethereals inside of them in order to sustain themselves. Ergo, kill enough Ethereals, the Hollow collapses, everything goes back to normal.

It was a longshot, but as things stood, it was their only chance. Nekomata had no idea how many Ethereals she needed to destroy to collapse the Hollow, but she must have made a dent in their number by now.

For now, she needed to rest and regain her strength, so she made her way back to their temporary base camp. Doing so was easy enough, Thirens had a much better sense of smell than humans which served them well when sight couldn’t be trusted.

Nekomata leapt up onto the nearby scaffolding, weaving her way through the metro station. Before she knew it, Nekomata was back at the Red Fang’s base camp, looking down on their group from a pylon high above. 

It wasn’t much of a camp, just a small bonfire surrounded by desks and cubicles forming a makeshift wall around the perimeter. They didn’t have much in the way of supplies, so they had to make do with the debris that had fallen in with them inside of the collapsing building.

There were less members present than when they had first established the camp. 

Nekomata wanted to believe that the others were simply off scouting like she had been, but the far more likely answer weighed heavily on her mind.

It looked like Big Sis Michelle was about to give a speech, so Nekomata quickly leapt down to get within earshot while still remaining high enough to overlook the camp.

“Alright everyone, listen up!” Michelle clapped her hands together, gathering everyone’s attention. “I’m going to be honest with you all. Things are looking a bit dire at the moment. There’s a- err, chance that our team on the outside won’t make it here in time with the Carrot, so we’re going to have to try a um, bolder method.”

“I knew it!” One of the men cried out in a panic. “We’re gonna die here!”

“Hey! Shut up!” Another yelled. “Let Big Sis finish!”

“Yeah! She’s always got a plan! Right Big Sis?”

“R-Right.” Michelle nodded before gulping. “Um, according to our scouts, there’s a large group of Ethereals gathered just north of the camp. They estimate close to a hundred Ethereals. If we defeat them all, it should be enough to collapse the Hollow.”

“...”

“...”

“That’s it?! That’s your plan?!” A voice suddenly yelled from behind the crowd. Everyone turned to face it. Wrapped up in chains and tied to a nearby pillar, the Cunning Hares’ robotic companion protested loudly.

“Hey robot! Nobody asked you!”

“Yeah!”

“Have any of you ever even seen an Ethereal in person before tonight? If you try to take on a hundred of them you are going to die!” The robot argued. “That ‘armor’ you guys are wearing? It won’t do jack against an Ethereal’s claws!”

The Red Fang members murmured amongst each other.

“And that’s not even the worst part! Most of you are guys! You don’t have any resistance against Ether corruption! If an Ethereal even manages to scratch you, well… Ever seen a zombie movie?”

The murmurs became louder. More frightened.

“Alright that’s enough!” Michelle yelled out over the crowd. Unsheathing her sword, she stuck it into the ground at her feet. “I won’t hear any words of protest! Either you’re with me on this, or you’re on your own!”

“If you’re going to fight then let me help you!” The robot yelled back. “Give me my guns and let me find my friends! We can work together and escape the Hollow! Both of our sides were set up! We don’t have a reason to fight anymore!”

“Shut up!” Michelle ordered. “One more word and I’ll reduce you to scrap!”

The leader of the Red Fang looked down at her men, now fraught with uncertainty.

“We move out in five. Either you’re with me, or you’ve lost the right to call yourself a Fang.”

With that, Michelle stepped down from her platform and made a beeline for her tent, which was just a painter’s tarp stretched over a few more cubicles. Nekomata, without a sound, followed her in. When she entered, the cat Thiren found Michelle looking at her arm which had a large scratch mark across it that was glowing a sickly green color.

“Sis, what is that? ”

“Geez!” Michelle jumped in surprise, quickly hiding her arm. “Y’know I put that bell around your neck so you couldn’t do that anymore, right?”

“Big Sis, what… you got scratched…”

“It’s fine, alright? I’m not a friggin guy, so I can take it.”

“Resistance isn’t the same as immunity, Sis!” Nekomata immediately rushed over to examine the wound.

It was festering. The skin around it was already becoming hardened and gray. Like an Ethereal.

“We need to get you out of the Hollow! We can get treatment and-”

“What do you think I’m trying to do?!”

Nekomata paused.

“So that’s your tactic? Throw everyone at the enemy so that a few of us might escape?”

“If you have any better ideas, I’d love to hear them.” Michelle dismissed her, beginning to bandage her injured arm.

“The robot is right. We need to pool our resources. The Hares don’t have the numbers that we do, but they have two power users and the bot is an Anti-Ethereal combat android. Meanwhile, I’m the only power user we have. We stand a much better chance together than apart.”

“You trust too easy, Little Sis, and I’ve been in this game for a long time. Guys like him, they’ll wait for you to lower your guard, then stab you in the back when you least expect it. Trust me, that mechanical brain of his is statistically calculating the best way to screw us over.”

“Starlight Knight: Transformation!”

“...”

“Transfoooorm!”

“Is something supposed to be happening?” The guard standing over Billy asked.

“Uh, yeah. ” Billy answered as though it were obvious. “I’m supposed to transform into my awesome battlesuit. There’d be a huge explosion behind me and then I’d summon a giant robot which would, in turn, fuse with four other robots to make an even bigger robot.”

“Okaaaay.” The guard slowly turned away.

A moment later, two more Red Fangs entered the camp followed by a skinny, shirtless man with gray hair and a collar around his neck.

“Manager?” Billy questioned aloud. “Manager! Hey! It’s me! Billy! Remember me? From the video store!”

Random Play’s manager turned to face Billy, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. All of the Red Fangs around them turned to face Wise, who was now sweating profusely.

“Uh… I can explain.”

“Sorry about blowing your cover man, that’s my bad.”

“It’s alright, Billy. I forgive you.”

Wise and Billy were now both chained to the column together, side by side. Ahead of them, the Red Fangs were readying their weapons, preparing for what could be their last battle.

“So what are you doing here anyway?” Billy asked.

“Nicole sent me.”

Billy’s head whirled around toward Wise.

“You mean she didn’t fall in here with us?”

“No, she’s outside the Hollow, unconscious but in one piece. It took everything she had to get us here.”

“And she sent… you? ” Billy’s LED eyes squinted. “I mean, no offense Manager, buuuut-”

“I know. And I didn’t exactly come willingly.” Wise rolled his eyes. “Is there anyone else with you? Nicole didn’t exactly give me a whole lot of information to go off of.”

“Well if Nicole is outside, then the only one of us unaccounted for is-” Billy’s gaze turned toward a fleck of green nearby. “AN-!”

Billy quickly silenced himself before he exposed another ally.

The Red Fangs looked over at their prisoners briefly before their attention turned back to their leader.

“Alright whelps! Let’s head out!” The female leader of the Red Fang stepped forward, brandishing her sword.

“What about the prisoners, Big Sis?”

“Leave them.” A short cat Thiren spoke from the leader’s side. “Save your ammo for the Ethereals.”

“R-Right.” With that, the Red Fang left the camp, heading north to battle the swarm.

Once the last of the gang were gone, a figure in green suddenly leapt down from high above, startling Wise as it landed directly in front of him.

“Apologies for the wait, Billy. I was…” The figure trailed off as their bright orange eyes locked gazes with Wise.

“Anby?!” Wise blinked in surprise.

“M-Manager? Why are you- Oh. This is just like the scene from Last Flight where-”

“Anby!” Billy kicked his feet erratically. “Can you please focus on getting us free right now?”

“Right, my apologies.” Anby nodded her head.

Reaching for her sword, in a flash she sliced the chains binding them, releasing both prisoners. Just as quickly as she drew it, Anby sheathed her sword, several electrical sparks flying off as she did so.

“Wow that was… Who are you guys?” Wise asked as he slowly stood up.

“Only the greatest band of mercenaries this side of New Eridu.” Billy stated, posing dramatically. “The Cunning Hares!”

‘Am I supposed to know that name?’ Wise quietly thought to himself.

“We should hurry and leave.” Anby stated in her usual monotone. “I found an area where the Ether particles are weak. I think it could be an exit.”

“Hold on Anby.” Billy held up a hand. “If there’s an exit, we should tell those Red Fangs about it. They may be jerks but I don’t wanna know that they died when I could’ve helped them.”

“Even if we told them, it’s unlikely that they would believe us.” Wise pointed out.

“Yeah well, I’ve gotta try. It’s what a Starlight Knight would do. Plus, one of those jerks still has my guns. Gotta get those back.” Billy turned to Anby. “You should lead the Manager to the exit. There’s no telling how much longer he can stay in here before corruption starts to set in.”

“Billy, I’m not going to-” The girl protested, but Billy held out a hand to stop her.

“I’ve got this, don’t worry.” The robot turned and took off in the direction the Red Fang had left in. “I’ll see you both on the outside!”

“... Billy was right about one thing. We need to get you out of the Hollow as soon as we can. Come on.” Anby grabbed Wise’s hand and began running, almost dragging Wise behind.

Today had been such a strange day for Wise.

In the past hour, he had learned that not one, not two, but three of his regular customers turned out to be illegal Hollow Raiders, risking their lives on the daily for profit. Still though, their strangeness had nothing on Wise himself, as he was still trying to wrap his head around what exactly he was.

But still, there was one thing that Wise knew he didn’t want to be. And that thing was a coward.

“Stop.” Wise grinded his feet to a halt, catching Anby by surprise. “I… I want to go back and help as well.”

Anby blinked, staring at the manager.

“That is a noble sentiment, however I’m afraid-”

“I can be useful!” Wise argued, looking down at the chain hanging from his neck. “I can help. But in order to do it, I need your help.”

“Manager, I-”

“I want to help save as many people as I can, Anby. I want to… to make a difference for once.” Wise gripped the chain in his hand before holding it out to the girl before him. “Take this, and I’ll turn into an Ethereal, a-a good one, and then I’ll be able to help.” He quickly clarified before his cheeks grew red. “There’s… gonna be a cost though. To both of us.”

Anby simply stared at him blankly, no emotion present on her face. When she finally did speak, it took Wise by surprise.

“Okay.”

“W-What, really? Just like that?”

“I trust you, Manager. You’ve never steered me wrong in the past, so I’ll believe what you say and put my faith in you.”

“Um, o-okay.”

Anby reached out and took the chain in her hand. Immediately, blue Ether energy began pouring through the chain and directly into Wise’s collar, sending painful shocks through his body.

Wise collapsed to his knees, gritting his teeth as the Ether in his body glowed blindingly bright. He could feel his body shifting and growing, his skin and muscles tearing themselves apart before finally it came to a stop and the light died down.

“This feels… different.” Wise commented, looking down at his hands.

He didn’t possess the sharpened claws that he had earlier with Nicole, rather his hands were larger and more human-like in shape. His armored skin was thinner than it had been before and he felt lighter, more… springy.

“Bunny rabbit.” Anby said softly under her breath, though Wise heard it as though she had said it aloud.

“This… This isn’t right, I’m not supposed to be- whoa!” Wise stood up and immediately stumbled and fell to the ground.

Not only was his center of gravity different, but his legs had changed too. His knees were inverted now, like an animal’s, and they were much larger than they had been the last time. As he tried to get up, Wise felt the two ear-like spikes at the top of his head scrape against a wall nearby. They were much thinner and longer now, adding to his already taller, thinner frame. In addition, his spiked jaw was missing, in fact, he had no jaw at all in this form. Instead, his face was just a solid, hardened plate with two holes for the eyes, like a mask.

“Wait, does the form change when there’s a different rider?” Wise questioned as he managed to finally stand up.

“Wise,” Anby spoke, causing Wise to turn to her. “Are you… a shapeshifting alien?”

“At this point, I don’t even know.” Wise shook his head. “But we should hurry. The others could be in danger.”

Wise knelt down, gesturing for Anby to climb onto his back. Anby simply nodded and jumped on without a word.

Adjusting to his new form quickly, Wise bent his knees back, there was a sound like a spring compressing, and then he leapt through the air. The power was immense, the jump was easily twice the height he had reached with his previous form. It was clear that this form was far faster and more mobile than his previous one.

As they flew through the air, Wise heard the fighting before he saw it. Ethereals, well over a hundred, utterly slaughtering the Red Fangs as the gang tried making their final stand. Billy was among them, dual wielding his revolvers as he mowed down every Ethereal he could. But there were far too many for any of them to handle and soon, they would be overrun.

“Hang on tight. It’s gonna be a rough landing.” Wise warned Anby.

He felt her wrap her legs tightly around his midsection and heard her sword being drawn from its sheath.

“Here we go.”

As Nekomata slashed through another enemy with her twin daggers, she looked over and saw one of the Red Fangs beating an Ethereal with a crowbar, unaware of the second Ethereal approaching him from behind.

“Hey!” Nekomata called out, activating her Ether ability.

The crowbar-wielding man suddenly tripped over his own shoelaces, falling forward just in time to avoid a slash aimed at his back. Nekomata then threw one of her knives directly into the Ethereal’s core, killing it instantly.

“Thanks bro!” The man gave a thumbs up toward Nekomata.

“Pay attention!” She hissed at her ally, now laying on the ground.

As she turned back toward their forces, Nekomata saw her Big Sis swinging her sword wildly at the Ethereals around her, letting out a loud battlecry as she sliced through three Ethereal’s cores at once.

The infection on her arm had spread, and by now her entire arm resembled an Ethereal’s, but that wasn’t all. Several, smaller wounds had also appeared on her body, their infection spreading across her whole body.

“Big Sis!” Nekomata cried, reaching out in vain.

“Die! Die! DIE YOU BASTARDS!” Michelle’s voice became distorted as half of her face began to crack, breaking off to reveal a black sphere within.

An Ethereal’s core.

The rest of her body quickly followed suit, her skin cracked and dissolved revealing gray, crystalline skin beneath. The spread of the infection enveloped her sword as well, merging it with her arm.

Within seconds, Michelle had taken the form of an Ethereal, one much larger and more intimidating than the others around them. One of its arms was a large sword, the size of a whole human body, the other arm took the form of a large rectangular shield. It stood tall with human posture, unlike its more savage counterparts around it.

It was a Class A Ethereal: Dullahan.

“SIS!”

“Kill.” The Dullahan spun around on its former subordinates, readying its sword. The Red Fangs stared up at it in fear.

“”B-Big Sis?” One of them managed to say before being cleaved in half along with four others.

“Get back!” The Cunning Hares’ robot shouted as he opened fire on the Dullahan, only for his shots to be blocked by the shield. “We have to retreat! There’s an escape from the Hollow to the south! Hurry!”

Before anyone could respond there was a sudden *THOOM!* and a large spray of dust as something dropped into the battlefield.

Everyone, even the Ethereals, stopped to turn toward the source of the noise. When the dust settled, another strange looking Ethereal had entered the battlefield, creating a crater where it had landed.

Nekomata had never seen this class of Ethereal before. It was strange. 

It had the armored skin and green veins of Ether, but no core in place of its head. With the two large spikes atop its armored head, it almost resembled a rabbit. The weirdest part however, had to be the white-haired girl that was riding on its back. Wasn’t she another of the Cunning Hares?

There was a pause as everyone took in the strange sight before them. Then, the Dullahan finally broke the silence, letting out a loud cry of anger that resounded throughout the Hollow.

That cry was silenced however when, in the blink of an eye, the strange Ethereal closed the distance between it and the Dullahan, delivering a punch that sent it sliding backwards across the concrete before it dug its shield into the ground, bringing it to a stop.

Were the Ethereals… fighting each other?

From the strange Ethereal’s back, the white-haired girl brandished her sword. With her free hand, she placed her headphones over her ears.

“Cue fight music.”

New Eridu Files: Nekomiya Mana

Ether Ability: Misfortune

Nekomiya can affect probability, creating unfortunate events for whomever she targets. This ability is incapable of creating fatal accidents, but it can serve to leave an enemy open to a fatal blow. 

While the ability works on Ethereals, it is much more effective on human targets.

Chapter Text

While it has never been scientifically proven, it is commonly believed that the powers granted by Ether crystals reflect their user’s deepest wish.

Eight years ago:

A nameless young girl stood alone in a large empty room. Dressed in a stark white hospital gown, she was completely still, staring directly ahead of her, unblinking. She had been standing still for approximately fourteen minutes while the scientists overlooking the experiment discussed their expectations behind one way glass.

Finally, the ground in front of the girl opened up and a small table ascended up from the floor. Sitting atop the table was a glowing green crystal, rhythmically pulsing with light as though it had a heartbeat.

“Step forward and take the crystal in your hand.” A woman’s voice ordered over the room’s intercom.

The girl complied, walking forward and grasping the crystal in her right hand. It was just big enough to fit in her palm.

“Break it.”  

The girl tightened her grip and the crystal shattered with surprising ease. Green particles of Ether scattered through the air, rapidly swirling around her body before entering her body through her skin and mouth.

Collapsing to the floor, the girl grasped at her throat, struggling to breathe. She coughed, choking for a breath as her veins pulsed green beneath her skin. On the floor, the girl reached out toward the one way glass in vain, silently begging for help. The intercom was silent. No help was coming.

For a moment, the nameless girl felt the cold embrace of death.

Then… she awoke.

Her pain was gone and she felt a power within her. One that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“Stand up.” The faceless voice on the intercom ordered.

The girl did as instructed.

“Your ability should come to you naturally. Use it.”

The girl nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on the power she felt within herself. Then, as her eyes snapped open, she activated it.

Behind the glass, the scientists stared in awe, silent at the display of power.

“S-Sir…” One of the lower ranked scientists asked her superior. “Should we bring in the next test subject?”

“Are you kidding?” The director of the project, a woman with pink hair, pushed up her glasses. “With her, we don’t need any more test subjects.”

Present:

The Dullahan raised its sword up high before bringing it down on Wise’s head. Wise, his new monster form raising his speed, intercepted the blow by crossing his arms and catching the blade between his wrists. The vibrations of the blow shook his body and forced him down to one knee.

“This thing is strong!”

In his last fight, Wise had matched the strength of a Farbauti, a far bigger and physically stronger Ethereal. But this new form didn’t have the strength his first one had and, more alarmingly, the Dullahan was nearly equal in strength to the Farbauti, just compressed into a smaller, more agile form.

“Understood.” Anby leapt off Wise’s back.

While the Ethereal’s weapon was stuck, she would deliver the killing blow to its core. As soon as she leapt into the air however, she was immediately forced onto the defensive, raising her arms as the Dullahan’s shield swatted her aside.

Anby flew through the air before crashing into a nearby wall, cracking the concrete.

“It's… nngh, fast too.” She groaned, slowly getting to her feet.

As she raised her head, Anby’s eyes widened in shock as a blade was about to pierce her skull. Time seemed to slow down as the Dullahan’s sword inched toward her, but right as it looked like she was dead, Wise in his Ethereal form managed to sprint ahead of the creature, grabbing its sword arm and forcing it off course. It pierced through the wall an inch to Anby’s left, slicing off some loose hairs.

For a moment, Anby didn’t react, simply staring ahead in shock.

“Anby! Get on!” Wise instructed, barely managing to hold the Dullahan’s arm in place.

Anby immediately recovered, grabbing a hold of Wise’s chain and hoisting herself onto his back once more.

“I’m sorry.” She apologized, shame in her voice. “I’m slowing you down.”

“No.” Wise shook his head. “I can feel it. When you’re holding my chain, I’m much stronger than on my own.”

“Understood.” Anby nodded her head. “Then I won’t let go.”

Wise immediately launched into a counterattack. Still holding the Dullahan’s arm in place, he delivered a swift kick aimed at the Ethereal’s head, only for the blow to be blocked again. Wise flung Anby and himself away from the Dullahan, giving them some room to breathe.

“That shield is annoying.” Wise pointed out. “Can your Ether ability help us out?”

“I… I can’t.” Anby shook her head. “I can’t use it. Not again.”

Before Wise could ask what that meant, there was a scream from one of the Red Fangs as the weaker Ethereals resumed their attack. Wise immediately rushed over to help. In a flash, he was next to the Ethereals and threw a punch that sent one Ethereal flying backward into four more of his allies, all five flew backwards before crashing into the side of a stationary train car, denting the metal.

A trio of Ethereals tried to attack Wise from behind, but with a single horizontal slash of her sword, Anby bisected all three of them. They were about to fight more when a series of gunshots tore apart an incoming wave of them.

Turning their heads, the pair saw Billy Kid with a pair of smoking guns in his hands and several Red Fang gunners at his back.

“We’ve got this!” Billy told Anby. “I don’t really know what’s going on but you’re the only one who can fight the big one! Focus on that!”

“Roger.” Anby tightened her grip on the chain and kicked Wise’s flank. “Let’s go.”

“Hey! I’m not a horse y’know!” Wise complained before turning back toward the Dullahan.

“Focus on breaking the shield. That will open it up for a killing blow.”

“Easier said than done. But I have an idea.” Wise took up a runner’s pose, tensing his leg muscles.

The Dullahan saw this as a challenge and braced itself, raising its shield and clashing its sword arm against it.

*SHOOM!*

Wise closed the distance between them in an instant, but the Dullahan made a mistake. It thought that Wise was aiming to repeat his initial exchange with the creature.

He wasn’t.

Wise dodged to the Ethereal’s side. Before it could react, Wise leapt up and delivered an elbow drop onto the Dullahan’s arm, breaking through its crystalline armor.

“Yes!” 

“Wise!”

*Clang!*

The sound of clashing swords snapped Wise back to his senses as he saw Anby save him from a blow that certainly would have decapitated him. It didn’t come without a cost however as Wise’s sensitive ears picked up the sound of Anby’s sword breaking before the girl herself even realized. As the Ethereal cut through the blade, Wise jumped back, guarding his rider with his arms.

They skidded backward, putting a good few meters between themselves and the enemy.

“My sword…” Anby lamented, looking down at the hilt of her broken weapon, there was hardly two inches of blade left. “Nicole is going to take this out of my burger budget.”

“If that’s the worst that comes of this, I’d count us lucky.”

“The shield is broken now. We should-”

Another loud screech erupted from the Dullahan, Wise was forced to his knees from the sound. Even through her headphones, Anby winced. The pair managed to look up despite the noise and saw an alarming sight. The weaker Ethereals had ceased their attack on the Fangs and were now gathering around the Dullahan.

Everyone looked on in confusion at the scene unfolding before them, but that confusion soon turned to horror as they watched the Dullahan run its blade through several of its own kin, then hold it up to its core, absorbing their bodies into itself.

Wise was immediately reminded of how the Farbauti had formed in his first encounter with the Hollow.

“It's gaining strength! We have to kill it fast!” Wise readied himself for another dash, but was suddenly struck with an overwhelming feeling of fatigue. “We have to… to…” His vision warped and he quickly found himself unable to stand properly.

“Wise!” Anby said in surprise as her Ethereal mount collapsed to the ground.

“What is this?’ Wise thought to himself. ‘I haven’t changed back yet. Anby still has plenty of Ether left, so why… Oh. I see. It’s me. I must’ve hit my limit. My body is just too weak to handle repeated transformations.”

Anby looked down at her ally panting heavily on the ground, gripping her knuckles in frustration. Not at Wise, but at herself. She was utterly useless. Relying on a civilian to do her fighting for her? She was a disgrace as a soldier.

They had been right about her. All of them. She was defective. Useless.

A failure.

Seven years ago:

The nameless girl stood opposite from her opponent, both of them clad in full kendo armor, covering their faces. Neither made any kind of movement. On either side of them, over half a dozen others clad in identical armor stood opposite of their own opponents, forming a circle with their bodies.

“Weapons ready.”  

The floor to the right of each fighter opened up, and a table emerged from the hole. Sitting atop the table were a pair of twin swords with black blades.

“Arm yourselves.” The director’s voice instructed over the intercom.

The fighters reached for their weapons, each wielding a different weapon from the other. Directly across from the nameless girl, her opponent gripped a spear in her hands.

“Begin.”

The fighters all wordlessly launched into combat, engaging each other in a battle royale.

As her opponent stabbed a spear at her, the girl slid across the ground, targeting her opponent’s legs. The opponent stepped back, but the girl was too fast, drawing blood as she cut through flesh.

The opponent let out a grunt of pain, but maintained their stance. It didn’t matter however, the girl was too fast and quickly dismantled her opponent’s defense, putting slash after slash across their body.

As the opponent was on their knees, defenseless, the girl held up her blade and for a moment, she hesitated. That was all the opponent needed to grab their spear and lunge for one final attack, which the girl quickly blocked and reflexively responded with a final slash to her opponent’s throat.

She stopped for a moment, looking over the dying body of her foe. Then the next opponent made themselves known and the violence resumed.

From there, the rest of the battle was a haze. There was no bloodlust however, just cold, calculated combat. In the end, only the nameless girl remained standing. Breathing heavily, her swords still clutched in her hands, she stood at attention, awaiting her next order.

For a moment, her gaze flickered to the ground where she saw one of the bodies of her opponents lying in a pool of blood. Their helmet had fallen off, revealing a head of short-cropped hair.

“Well done.” The director’s voice over the intercom congratulated her. “Now… Take your own life.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the girl raised her sword to her neck and quickly slashed her own throat.

Her muscles went limp and she collapsed to the ground, unintentionally landing directly facing the body she had been looking at earlier. As she lay dying, the last thing the girl saw was her opponent’s dead eyes staring back at her. They were the same as her own eyes. Everything about her was the same. Everything about all of them was the same.

They were her.

“Good girl. Still loyal to the end.” The director looked down on the experiment with a smile. Turning to her subordinate, she waved her hand. “Go retrieve Soldier Zero’s body and fix her up. We’re going to need another batch by noon. I want to run another test this evening.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Present:

“Anby!” Billy’s shout brought Anby back to reality. “We need to go! You found the exit, right? We need to get who we can out of here!”

“But… Wise…”

“Isn’t he outside already?”

“No, he’s…” Anby looked down at the unconscious Ethereal at her feet. “I can’t leave.”

“We can’t hope to fight something like that, Anby! We have to run!” Billy pointed at the Dullahan who was quickly growing in size and strength.

“SIS!” The small cat Thiren pushed her way out of the crowd of Fangs, tears streaming down from her face. She dropped her knives at her feet and began to shout. “It’s me! Your little sister! Remember?! You have to remember!”

Anby felt her breath hitch in her throat.

The Dullahan, now two stories tall, raised its massive sword over its head, prepared to bring it down on the girl. The young Thiren made no moves to dodge.

“Hey! Get out of the way you idiot!” Billy ran toward the Thiren girl, tackling her out of the way, but not quite fast enough.

When the dust cleared, the cat Thiren was lying unconscious on the ground, and Billy…

“Oh m-m-m an, that’s not g-g-g ood.” The robot stated, looking down at the spot where his legs had been a moment ago. He was cut in half at the waist, oil was leaking from the broken machinery, pooling around his severed wiring.

“Billy…” Anby’s eyes widened in shock. “Billy!”

Her body moved without thinking, Anby sprinted toward the robot, her friend, lying on the ground.

“Errgh, h-h-h ey An by-by-by. ” Billy’s voice module began to glitch out as his LED eyes flickered briefly. “Not as bad as it loo-loo-loo- okay yeah, it’s p-p-p retty bad.”

“Billy I-”

“S’okay. E-E-E nd of the day I’m just a machine. I can be r-r-r eplaced.”

Anby met Billy’s gaze and he saw the tears streaming down her face.

Two years ago:

Silver Squad was gathered in their training area, having just returned from their latest mission. This one had been rougher than most, costing them more than a third of their number.

“Twiggy your eye…”

“It’s alright, Anby, I’ll be okay. It certainly won’t be the first part of me they’ve replaced.”

Anby grimaced at the thought. The soldiers of Silver Squad were physically and biologically identical to one another. When one of them died, their body was placed into the facility’s cold storage unit, ready for implantment into a living host.

In other words, dying in Silver Squad meant you became spare parts for the rest.

“Harin had it much worse than I did.” Twiggy looked down, still covering her missing left eye with her hand. “Obol Squad had a medic on site that took her in but… they aren’t sure if she’ll make it.”

“I see…” Anby nodded solemnly, her heart sinking.

Harin was one of Silver Squad’s original members, one of the few who had yet to die off in combat. One of Anby’s first sisters. If she didn’t make it-

“Attention.” The director’s voice over the intercom spoke.

All of Silver Squad immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to the one way glass overlooking them, giving a salute. Even Twiggy removed her hand from her face and gave a salute, letting the blood drip down from her empty socket.

“Well done today girls. You successfully completed the mission thought to be suicidal by everyone. I couldn’t be more proud.” Anby felt her heart skip a beat. Praise from the director was almost unheard of. “And what’s more, I have great news for you all. The experimental division known as Silver Squad will, as of today, be absorbed into the greater Defense Force.”

“Wait, are we really…” Twiggy’s eyes widened in surprise, a smile forming on her face.

Several more excited murmurs echoed across the room.

Anby quickly shushed them, but she herself felt a flutter of excitement in her chest. Finally, their days as lab rats were over. They were going to be officially recognized soldiers from now on. 

There was a twinge of sadness mixed in with the excitement however. Silver Squad being dissolved meant that she wouldn’t get to see her sisters as often. They would likely be sent to serve in different squads from one another, make new friends, and gradually grow apart.

“I have personally promised the Defense Force leadership that they will receive our best and brightest…”

Anby felt her pride swell. She had come this far, survived countless missions, done the impossible and lived to see the other side of it all.

“And now it is up to you to determine which of you that is.”

There was a pause. Silence. Then, a whirring came from below as the floor opened up to reveal numerous tables holding weapons.

“Weapons ready.”

The soldiers of Silver Squad looked at the weapons before them, around at each other, then looked back up to the glass.

“R… Requesting elaboration, ma’am!” Anby called out.

The other soldiers looked at her in surprise.

“One of you will serve as the base template for all future soldiers of this project. That template should be the strongest, most skilled soldier among you. You will decide that now. So. Weapons ready.”

“We have numerous injured!” Anby protested, causing the others to gasp in shock. No one had ever refused an order from the director. “Several of us don’t even specialize in combat! The result wouldn’t reflect the best of us!”

“Weapons. Ready.”

“I won’t-” Anby cut herself off as she felt a knife swipe across her back.

She dove forward, rolling across the floor. When she looked back, she saw Twiggy standing with a combat knife with her blood on it.

“Sorry Anby, I am the strategist, and I know that you're the biggest threat here.”

From there, the dam broke, chaos erupted as Silver Squad began to cut each other down. The events became a blur. Instinct overtook Anby's senses, and by the time she finally regained them, she was standing over the bodies of her sisters, her uniform caked in blood.

“Well done, soldier.” The sound of clapping caused Anby to flinch.

A woman dressed in a lab coat stepped into the room, flanked by her subordinate. Anby had never seen the woman before, but she knew the voice all too well.

“Director.” Anby said, her voice more calm than she felt. “Why?”

“Truth be told, this was never a test for them.” The woman smiled. “You were always going to be the template. The best of the bunch. This was just… cleaning house.”

She looked down at the pile of bodies before smiling at Anby.

“Don't worry, there will be others. You can always replace them.”

“ Replace ?” Anby whispered.

“I have to say, it was unexpected, this attachment of yours. Thought we trained that out of you by now.” The woman shook her head in disapproval. “Well, a few more trials should work that out. It will be hard, but at the end of it all we'll have what we've been working so hard toward. An army of perfect soldiers.”

Anby stood frozen, unblinking. Her fingers tightened around her sword’s hilt. Her eyes flickered toward the assistant, then back to the director.

"Anby- That's what the others call you, right?" The director smirked. "Anby, you should know better. You can't harm personnel. We programmed that out of you years ago."

It was true. As much as Anby wanted to, she couldn't raise her blade against the director or her assistant.

"Now be a good girl and come along. We have to attend a presentation for our new share-" *Thunk!* "-holders..." The director turned around and saw Anby lying on the ground, blood pouring out of her neck. Her own blood-soaked sword clenched in her hand. She had cut her own throat. With her dying gaze, she stared up at the director with a defiant look in her eyes.

"You little-" The director gritted her teeth, briefly losing her composure. Before adjusting her glasses and clearing her throat.

"Should we... call in medical?"

"No." The director shook her head. "Not for her. She's clearly defective. Dump the body. We'll find another soldier whose values better align with the cause."

When her strength finally gave out, Anby closed her eyes, accepting death.

While it has never been scientifically proven, it is commonly believed that the powers granted by Ether crystals reflect their user’s deepest wish.

For that lonely girl who grew up in a lab, who wasn't even given a proper name, her greatest wish…

Was to never be alone again.

Present:

Anby stood up, leaving the damaged Billy at her feet. She spotted the twin daggers that the cat Thiren had dropped, walked over and picked them up. Then, as she looked up at the Dullahan before her, she gritted her teeth.

“A-A-A nby?”

Anby lurched forward, her muscles tensed, her body glowed green with Ether. Like a muscle being put to work after years of neglect, she felt something tearing inside of her and let out a cry of pain.

There was a flash of green light, nearly blinding the onlookers from the Red Fang, but when they looked back to where the lone girl had been standing moments ago, now there were more than thirty of her. All identical to the original, each wielding a pair of daggers in their hands.

“Silver Squad, attack formation.” The Anby in the front ordered. The others gave a silent nod before fanning out.

They moved with inhuman speed, continuing to multiply as they moved. The Dullahan let out a cry, swinging its blade in a wide arc, trying to kill all of the Anbys with a single blow. As the massive blade swept across the ground, most Anbys jumped over the blade, but a few landed on the blade itself, and began using it to climb the Dullahan’s body.

They swarmed the giant Ethereal like gnats, climbing limbs and tearing into it with daggers.

“It’s not enough.” Anby said to herself as she dodged an incoming swipe. Several of her other selves weren’t as lucky. “The cuts are too shallow. We aren’t doing enough damage to bring it down. We need one large blow to the core, but how can we-”

“Everyone!” A voice called out, causing Anby to turn her head. A rabbit-like Ethereal soared through the air, arm raised for a single powerful blow. “Get back!”

Two minutes ago:

“-ise… Wise come back. I need you.”

“A-Anby?” Wise opened his eyes and saw the white-haired girl crouched in front of him, cradling his head in her hands. Though what made it more strange was that there were two more identical Anby’s standing next to her. “I think I hit my head, because I’m seeing double-err, triple.”

“That isn’t important.” The Anby holding him shook her head. “What is important is slaying that Ethereal. Can you manage one more blow?”

“My body can barely move as it is. I’m too weak.”

“That’s okay, I can give you all the strength that you need.” Anby concentrated for a moment and two more copies of her emerged from her body.

The four extras moved to Wise’s sides, helping lift him up onto his feet. Once they let go, he barely managed to remain standing on his own.

“I’m going to try something, Wise. Let me know if this helps.” The main Anby climbed onto his back, grabbing hold of his chain, then the other four did the same. Wise’s eyes went wide and his Ether veins began glowing brighter than ever.

It was like his head had been dunked into a bucket of adrenaline!

So much power it felt like he was drowning in it.

“Whoa! It’s like I’ve got five times my strength!”

“But it's also draining five- mmmph!” All of the Anby’s winced. 

“Five times as fast.” Another Anby finished for her.

“One blow is all we’ve got then.” Wise nodded his head, looking back up toward the Dullahan. It was significantly bigger now than when they had first started their fight.

Gathering his significantly boosted strength into his legs, he leapt through the air, leaving behind a massive crater in his wake.

Present:

Wise gathered all of his remaining strength into his right arm, tightening his fist so hard that his crystalline skin cracked. He was on a course straight for the Dullahan’s core. Like a black hole directly in front of him, it very closely resembled the Hollow itself.

He briefly worried if he could even punch something like that, but dismissed the thought and focused on what was right in front of him.

When he was close enough, Wise unleashed the strongest punch of his life. It made direct contact with the Dullahan’s core and completely blew it away. There was no recoil at all, as if the core itself had no mass. 

Wise would have questioned that, but the adrenaline rush that had let him perform such a feat immediately dispersed and by the time Wise hit the ground again, he was already unconscious. The five Anbys on his back, now drained of nearly all of their Ether energy, tumbled off of his back and onto the ground, too weak to stand.

Wise, his borrowed Ether energy now drained, shifted back into his normal body, his face resting against the concrete while his body was slumped forward, and his knees tucked in, his rear end raised up high.

As the Dullahan’s remains began to fade, the remaining Anbys leapt down to the ground, walking back to their other selves, as they did, they began joining back together, forming a single Anby. As she walked, she passed the cat Thiren who had collapsed to the ground with tears in her eyes, staring ahead to where the Dullahan had fallen.

Anby found her other selves lying next to Wise, utterly exhausted. She silently prayed that there was still enough time to merge back together, closed her eyes, and reached a hand out. The five merged back into one and took her hand and when Anby opened her eyes again, she was lying on the ground all back in one piece.

Her head ached as her memories of the last few minutes blended together in a blurry haze. She lied back and let out a sigh. Turning to the unconscious Wise, she could hear him quietly snoring next to her. Anby smiled softly, then closed her eyes and felt sleep take her as well.

When Wise finally opened his eyes again, he was staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. 

The reason he knew it wasn’t his ceiling was because half of it was missing.

The bed he was lying in wasn’t his own either. The mattress was remarkably thin and Wise could feel a spring digging into his back. He groaned, shifting his weight as he sat up.

“Subject has regained consciousness.” The voice from Wise’s collar spoke. “Commencing reward.”

“What the-ah!” He winced in pain as he looked over at his right arm. The skin from the fingers to the elbow was bright pink, like he had a sunburn, but hurt way more.

Just then the door to the room opened and Wise quickly looked up at his apparent kidnapper.

“Anby?” Wise’s eyes widened in surprise. “What am I… Where are we?”

“The Red Fang’s hideout. You’ve been asleep for two days.” She quickly answered, locking the door behind her. “I don’t know why, but a moment ago my body started moving on its own. I assume this is the consequence of your power that Nicole mentioned.”

As she spoke, Anby pulled the hem of her shirt over her head, revealing a black sports bra beneath. She then reached to the side of her skirt and undid two buttons, letting it drop to her feet, revealing her black boyshorts beneath. She kept on her gloves and headphones for some reason.

“For a moment, I was worried that you wouldn’t wake up.” Anby spoke casually, as though she wasn’t actively stripping in front of someone of the opposite sex. “I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

“A-Anby!” Wise nearly choked on his own tongue, his face beginning to resemble his right arm.

“It’s okay, Wise.” Anby hopped onto the bed, landing on her knees and beginning to crawl toward Wise. “You saved my friends and I. If this is the price, I’m more than willing to pay. Also…” Anby stopped as her face was now inches from Wise. Finally, her cheeks began to burn red and she looked away. “Nevermind.”

Her arm moved on its own, pushing Wise down onto his back before she got on top of him.

“I- I shouldn’t…” Wise tried to move, but his body felt too weak to resist.

Was this really what he wanted?

“It’s okay.” Anby reassured him. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Y-You do?”

“Of course.” Anby nodded. “I saw it in a movie.”

New Eridu Files:

Anby Demara

Ether Ability: Division

Anby can shape her Ether energy to make identical duplicates of herself with all of her skills and knowledge. Each time she divides, Anby cuts her Ether pool in half, so too many divisions can quickly eat away at her considerable stamina.

While she can reabsorb her clones harmlessly under certain circumstances, if the clones’ experiences differ from each other too much, they become their own individual and can no longer reunite as a single entity.

Chapter Text

“So if we look at last month’s crime statistics in the Janus Quarter, we can see a ten percent rise in-”

“Captain!” A cat mink with white hair and a fluffy tail burst into the meeting room, a smart tablet clutched in his hands. He wore a white button up shirt and a lanyard, marking him as a desk jockey.

The other officers, all women, began giggling amongst themselves. When he saw the others laughing at his expense, he blushed profusely.

“What is it, Seth?” Zhu Yuan asked, shooting the other officers a hard glare that quickly silenced them.

“I, um… have an update for you on the… thing you asked me to look into.” He held up his tablet and pointed to it.

“Alright ummm, Officer Flores, why don’t you take over and we’ll be right back.” Zhu Yuan nodded toward Qingyi who stood up from her seat and exited the room alongside her partner.

“What have you got for us, Seth?”

“Alright, so uh, before I show you this I just want to remind you that I didn’t have much to go off of…”

“Anything would help at this stage of the investigation.” Zhu Yuan assured him.

Seth smiled, handing her the smart tablet with an image already on screen. It was blurry, clearly taken from a smartphone, but there was a distinct figure in the center of the frame. Black, with glowing crimson Ether veins. She couldn’t make out much detail on the figure, but judging by the surroundings, it was roughly the size of a semi-truck.

“This image was taken the night of the Hollow Zero disaster ten years ago. The Ethereal in this photo doesn’t match any documented class on record.”

“Plenty of new Ethereals appeared during the disaster. It doesn’t come as a surprise that we haven’t documented them all yet.” Qingyi noted.

“And it doesn’t bear any resemblance to the Ethereal we saw the other night. So why bring it up now?” Zhu Yuan questioned, handing the tablet back to Seth.

“Well yeah, I did say to keep in mind that I wasn’t working off of much, but something you mentioned to me stood out. You mentioned that you spotted the Ethereal outside of the Hollow which is… unprecedented to say the least.” He tapped his finger against the tablet. “But get this, the civilians who took this photo claim that it was outside of the Hollow.”

Zhu Yuan’s brow furrowed.

“If that were true, why is this the first I’m hearing about this?”

“The reports were unconfirmed. Rumors apparently circled online for a while but everyone more or less dismissed it as a lie. There haven’t been any further sightings of the Ethereal since the disaster, but what you two saw the other night…”

“It could be a whole new breed of Ethereal. A new generation. One able to leave the Hollow and enter our world.” Qingyi stated grimly. “If that were the case…”

“New Eridu wouldn’t stand a chance.” Zhu Yuan finished for her, turning back to Seth. “Have you reported this to anyone else?”

“No Captain.” Seth shook his head. “You’re the first person I came to this with.”

“Good. The last thing we want is to create a panic. Especially if it turns out that we’re wrong.” Zhu Yuan took a deep breath. “Report this to Inspector Bringer and no one else. She should make the decision regarding how to proceed.”

Seth gave a salute before he turned to leave.

“And Seth?”

“Hmm?” He spun back to face his captain.

“Good job. Keep that up and there might be a position for you in the field.”

“Yes Captain!” He smiled widely before leaving.

“So,” Qingyi turned to her partner. “What are we doing in the meantime?”

“What do you mean? We work as normal and await orders from the inspector.”

“Captain, you may have the others fooled into believing you’re this stickler for rules and protocol, but I know you. If there’s even a chance that innocent bystanders could be in danger, the last thing you’d do is sit on your incredibly eatable ass and wait for orders. You’re already planning to investigate this solo, aren’t you?”

“Q-Qingyi! What did I tell you about those comments?!” Zhu Yuan whispered, blushing fiercely. “Fine, alright? I… might be planning to check into it for additional information, b-but only so that I bring my findings to the inspector! Things are too strange right now not to investigate. First we’re called in to investigate a Hollow that appeared and disappeared in under an hour. Then we spot an Ethereal heading northwest from almost that precise location and within a few hours, the Fourteenth Street Hollow, located exactly in that direction disappears? Something big is going on.”

“Well good news, two of us can collect twice as much evidence. So I’ll be joining you for your little mission.”

Zhu Yuan blinked in disbelief.

“ You are planning to work off the clock? You? ”

“Believe it or not, I do care if New Eridu gets wiped off of the map. Plus it’ll give me more time with Jennie and Juanita.” Qingyi patted Zhu Yuan on the back before walking back to the meeting room.

“Who?”

Qingyi smiled, her gaze flickering down to Zhu Yuan’s thighs before looking back at her face.

“Q-Qingyi, who are you talking about? Qingyi? Qingyi!”

“Anby, listen b-before we um… start, I just want to apologize and reiterate that I’m not… I mean I would never do this kind of- mmm!” He was cut off as Anby pressed her lips to his, cradling his head in her hands.

They remained like that for a while, Anby’s eyes closed and Wise staring at her in disbelief.

“You talk too much.” She said, finally releasing him. Her head began to lean toward Wise’s shoulder and before Wise could ask what she was doing, a shock shot up his spine like electricity.

“What are you- mnh!” Wise bit down on his lip as he felt Anby’s lips tracing up his neck, just below his collar. “D-Don’t, don’t do that! It feels way too weird.”

Even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t true. It seemed that the power knew this and Anby didn’t relent, even going so far as to press her teeth into his skin.

“O-Oh geez…” Wise winced in pain, but not from the bite. The pain was coming from a pressure that was lower on his body. Anby was sitting in his lap and seemed to not mind that something was pressed tightly against her butt.

“Huh, interesting.” Anby said with a heavy breath, pulling away slightly.

“What is?”

“In movies, the camera tends to pan away to a window or fireplace by this point. Maybe because this room doesn’t have either…”

“Anby, you do know that real life isn’t like the movies, right?” Wise questioned seriously.

Anby blinked, meeting Wise’s gaze for a long pause.

“I had a… sheltered childhood. Most of what I know about the world I learned from watching movies.” She explained, blushing as she looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“Anby…” Wise placed his hands on the girl’s shoulders. “You have nothing to apologize for. You saved us back in that Hollow. We’d all be dead if you hadn’t acted when you did.”

The white-haired girl didn’t seem assured.

“Billy was injured because I was reluctant to use my power. If I hadn’t hesitated-”

“Don’t say that. You helped. You saved the day.” Wise looked down at his still healing hand. “I’m so weak. I can barely use this power of mine for five minutes.”

“Wise, what is that power? I didn’t think that it was possible for men to possess Ether abilities.”

Wise looked down, before realizing his face was almost buried in Anby’s cleavage. He blushed and turned to face the wall.

“I… don’t really know what the source of this power is. I don’t think it’s an Ether ability. This collar has something to do with it, but I need to ask Belle-” His eyes suddenly widened. “BELLE! Oh man! I have to go now! ” 

Wise leapt from the bed and ran toward the door. As he swung it open, he suddenly found himself face-to-face with the worst person possible in this scenario.

Nicole Demara stared up at Wise, eyes wide, mouth agape, before her eyes traced down to find him in his underwear once again. 

Then… her gaze drifted behind him.

“Hello.” Anby waved to her best friend and adopted sister from her spot on the bed.

“Nicole,” Wise held up his hands in surrender. “I can expla-agh!”

The pink-haired woman tackled Wise to the ground and wrapped her hands around his throat.

“You son of a bitch, I’ll kill you!”

“Th-The chain! Watch the chain!” Wise managed to gasp out as Nicole throttled him.

“Hey guys! What are we doing? This looks fun!”

“Billy!” Wise called out, Nicole having released her grasp on his neck. “What happened?”

Billy had been carried into the room by a man Wise had never seen before. His lower half was completely gone, some exposed wiring at his waist looked like it had been hastily tied off to prevent sparks.

“Oh yeah, I guess you weren’t awake for that part.” Billy gestured down to his missing half. “I lost some weight. What do you think? Sexy, right?”

“That’s one word for it.” Wise chuckled. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” Billy assured him. “Just need a good mechanic is all.”

“I think I might know a guy.” Wise said, standing up on his feet. “I’m glad everyone is… more or less okay, but I’ve got to get back home now. If I’ve really been out for two days, Belle has to be worried sick, she probably hasn’t eaten a proper meal in-”

“Uh bro?” The man carrying Billy finally spoke up. Wise immediately recognized his voice as the crowbar-wielding thug from before. “That might be an issue…”

“In other news, today marks the demolition of the Old Capital Metro as the Vision Corporation officially begins their reconstruction of the formerly abandoned site now engulfed by the Hollow. The Vision Corporation has promised that within the year, we will have a functioning transit line through the so-called ‘Dead End Hollow’ which will greatly hasten trade between districts. However, is this promise everything it appears to be? Some proponents are making their thoughts on the subject known to all. The most vocal of which is undoubtedly Belobog Industries who had this to say on the subject-”

*Ding!*

The chime of the entrance bell caused Asha to turn away from the television and toward the door.

“”Hi, welcome to Godfinger Arcade! Looking to…” The rabbit Thiren blinked in surprise. It appeared that the door had opened but nobody had entered the building.

Asha looked around to see if anyone had snuck past her, only for her ears to pick up the sound of tiny taps against the carpeted floor. She turned her gaze down and saw that the intruder was a little white and black Bangboo wearing an orange scarf with the number one on it. Asha recognized it from Random Play.

The Bangboo looked shy, sneaking around on its… toes? Nubs? Whatever Bangboo had instead of feet. It hid most of its body behind one of the arcade games as it tried to peek around at the rest of the room.

“Hey little guy.” Asha waved at the Bangboo.

The small robot jumped up in fright, shaking as it turned slowly to face Asha. Strangely, its eyes were glowing blue rather than the standard green of most Bangboo.

“Looking for Wise? Sorry, but he hasn’t been by for a couple days now.”

“Eep!” The little Bangboo quickly turned and ran right back out the door it had entered from, its tiny arms flailing behind it as it ran.

“Huh.” Asha placed her thumb to her chin. “That was odd.”

Back inside of Random Play’s back room, Belle sat in front of her wall of monitors, nervously chewing her thumb. On screen, video feeds from every local Bangboo, security camera, news channel, and Inter-Knot post flashed before her at a speed that would cause seizures for any normal person.

Belle’s stomach growled, her eyes were heavy and her limbs felt weak. Regardless, she continued the search for her only remaining family.

“Wise… Don’t leave me too.”

“What do you mean ‘can’t leave’ ?”

“Look I know it sounds bad, but-”

“I can’t stay here! I have a sister back home who needs me!”

“And there’s a lot more people who need us! ” Nicole countered. “Believe it or not, the world doesn’t revolve around you and your sister!”

“Oh that’s rich coming from you. And just how much are the Red Fang paying you to care?”

Nicole raised a fist, ready to punch Wise in the face, but stopped herself.

“Any other day, you’d be right. But Wise… there are kids in danger.”

Wise sighed, slumping back onto the bed. This felt… all too familiar. Being led by the nose like this. A pit formed in his gut.

“I… If so many people are going to get hurt, why not get PubSec involved?” Wise questioned.

“You don’t think they know already? PubSec is in the Vision Corporation’s pocket! They don’t care about the people like us!” Crowbar yelled emphatically, nearly dropping Billy in the process.

“Hey! Watch it, man!” Billy yelled, grasping at the man.

“So the cops are evil and you’re all heroes? Weren’t you guys trying to kill each other not that long ago?” Wise crossed his arms.

“Because PubSec set us up! And tried to kill us!” Nicole countered. “If they were willing to do that, then they’d certainly be willing to stand by while a bunch of poor citizens who can’t pay their taxes get swallowed up by the Hollow.”

“Wise…” A pair of arms wrapped around Wise’s shoulders from behind.

“Gah!” Wise quickly looked back and found Anby, still in a state of undress, hugging him. He could feel her soft breasts pressing into his back.

“Please help us. We can’t complete this mission without you. Those people need our help.”

Wise felt his heartstrings pull at her voice.

“I’m… not a hero. I don’t even know what I am now. That’s part of the reason I need to get back home. For all I know, the next time I use this power, I might do more harm than good.”

Nicole made a fist and Wise closed his eyes and braced himself for a punch, however it never came. When he opened his eyes, he saw Nicole pressing her fist to his chest, a sign of solidarity.

“You sound like a Cunning Hare already. Good? Bad? We don’t really meet the criteria for either. We’re not heroes, Wise. We’re Hollow Raiders. We take commissions, get the job done, and when we get screwed over, we get even.” Her gaze sharpened. “You might not have gotten screwed over like the rest of us, but I can promise you that someone is gonna pay up for all of this. And if you’re with us, you’ll get your share of that too.”

Wise looked up at her, then smiled.

“Maybe you can put your earnings toward paying off your debt with Random Play.”

Nicole mocked offense.

“ Excuse you? As I recall it, you’re the one who owes me money! Or have you conveniently forgotten your first transformation in the Hollow?”

Anby’s grip tightened around Wise’s shoulders.

“So then, the two of you-” Anby began, but Nicole, blushing fiercely, quickly cut her off.

“We don’t need to go into the details!”

Wise contemplated for a moment, before looking at the group.

“If I were to come along… What would you have me do?”

Nekomata sat at the foot of her sister’s bed, the covers strewn everywhere. Big Sis was always terrible about making her bed. Most nights, Nekomata found herself sleeping curled up at her sister’s feet, enjoying the cool softness of the covers. Now as she felt that same coolness against her fingertips, it felt cold, empty.

In her other hand, she held a locket, one that held a picture of herself and Big Sis together.

“Hey, Little Sis! We’re almost ready t- oh. Is it a bad time?” One of her fellow Red Fangs stood in the doorway.

“No.” Nekomata closed the locket and hopped off the bed. “We’re heading out then?”

“Uh yeah, in just a bit. We’re just getting the last of the Anti-Corruption meds loaded up.”

“I’ll help out.”

“You don’t need to-”

“It’s fine. Could always use more hands, right?”

“... We’re all mourning right now. It’s okay to-”

Nekomata shot the man a fierce glare.

“Could always use more hands.” He nodded quickly.

“Do they seriously cut the sleeves off of everything?” Wise looked through the clothes that the Red Fang had laid out for him.

Wise picked out a sleeveless white shirt and jeans, not that there were too many other options, but thankfully a leather jacket lying on the bed would help preserve some level of modesty.

As he opened the door leading out of his room, he was surprised to find two figures waiting for him on the other side.

“We need to talk.” Nicole stated firmly. Beside her, Anby nodded her head.

“Am I in trouble?” Wise asked nervously.

“No, this is just about… clarifying some things.” Nicole gestured behind Wise. “Can we come in?”

Wise nodded and the pair entered the room. Anby immediately sat on the bed while Nicole opted to stand, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. As Wise shut the door behind them, he braced himself for the worst.

“So, your power. How does it work exactly?”

“I know as much as you do by this point. Someone grabs the chain and, as long as they have an Ether ability, I transform. The form changes depending on the rider and if the rider runs out of Ether energy, I change back.”

“And when you change back …” Nicole emphasized the last two words, furrowing her brow. “What exactly happens then?”

“I-I mean… You know…” Wise turned away bashfully.

“Yes.” Nicole blushed, looking annoyed. “We know what happens. What we want to know is the why. ”

“I don’t know why! I swear!” Wise held up his hands in surrender. “I don’t even know how I got this thing!” He gestured toward the collar around his neck. “I’ve had it since I was a kid but everything from back then is… foggy.”

“Foggy, huh?”

“Nicole.” Anby gave her boss a firm look. The pink-haired girl relented, rolling her eyes.

“If I could turn it off, I would. But I hardly know the first thing about this thing! That’s why I need to get home!”

The two girls looked between one another. Wise felt there was an unspoken discussion going on between them. He stood uncomfortably in the corner. Finally, the two sisters let out a sigh and turned back to him.

“We’re more than likely going to need your power in the Dead End Hollow.” Anby stated plainly. “So when the time comes that we need to use it again, I will be the rider.”

“O-Oh!” Wise blinked in surprise. “But I mean-”

“Hey, hold on a second!” Nicole cut in. “We didn’t agree to that!”

“I thought the answer was obvious.” Anby looked over at Nicole, tilting her head. “You said that the price was disgusting and-”

“Hey! D-Don’t put words in my mouth!” Nicole turned red quickly glancing over at Wise before turning back to her sister. “ Regardless of what I think about the… side effects, I don’t have a weapon at the moment. In case you hadn’t noticed!”

That was true. As Wise recalled, Nicole had blown up her briefcase gun as a last ditch effort to kill the Farbauti. Evidently she didn’t have any backups on hand.

“I lost my weapon too.” Anby pointed out.

“You lost a sword . I lost a piece of high tech machinery custom designed to function perfectly with my Ether ability. Which one do you think will be easier to replace?”

“It was a good sword.” Anby murmured quietly.

“Look, it isn’t like I want to be the rider or whatever, but if anyone’s at a disadvantage here, it’s me! So, if saving a bunch of civilians means…” She glanced over at Wise again. “ That. Then I’m willing to bear it. F-For the team.”

“I’m sorry, what’s happening?” Wise asked, confused.

“I have more Ether energy.” Anby countered.

“All the more reason that I should be the rider!” Nicole threw her arms up in frustration. “Besides, Wise and I have more practice with our form.”

“Ours is more powerful.”

“You don’t know that!”

“Do I get a say in this?” Wise raised his hand. Both girls turned toward him with a fierce look in their eyes. He immediately raised his hands again. “I would just suggest that if we need my power, maybe we just… play it by ear?”

The sisters looked between one another, having another silent conversation before they finally turned to Wise and nodded.

“Okay.” He sighed in relief. “Now, I had an idea and well, before I say anything, I need you to promise that you won’t get mad.”

“And this is everything we know at the moment?” Inspector Bringer asked, looking down at the tablet in front of her.

The large muscular woman was just as imposing as the Public Safety ads made her out to be. Even sitting at her desk she was nearly the same height as Seth while he stood.

“Yes ma’am. Everything at the moment.”

“Who else knows about this?”

“Captain Zhu Yuan and Officer Qingyi, ma’am.”

“And what was their take?”

“They wanted me to consult you.”

“Right. Right…” Bringer looked down at her desk again, clicking her tongue. “Alright well, for now let’s keep this in house. Need-to-know basis. Monitor any related posts over the Inter-Knot and get back to me if you find something more.”

“Yes ma’am!” Seth saluted. “Um, if I may, there’s one other thing I wanted to ask you about.”

“If this is about the working in the field again, it’s really not the time-”

“No ma’am, not that. I mean that’s crushing to hear. Really crushing.” Seth’s shoulders slumped.

“Was there something else, Seth?”

“Um, yes ma’am. I was going over our armory and I noticed that we’re actually missing some riot suits. There’s nothing in the logs…”

“Oh? That’s… interesting. I’ll have someone look further into it.”

“If you want, I could-”

“No, no, there’s no need for that. I want your attention on this Ethereal case.”

“Are you sure? I could handle-”

“Look Seth, you’re a good kid. But leave the big decisions to the adults, would you?”

“Y-Yes ma’am!” Seth gave a salute.

“That will be all.”

With that, the young man exited the office, leaving Inspector Bringer by herself. She sat still for a moment, then reached into her back pocket, pulling out a hidden phone. Dialing a number, she held it to her ear. There was a soft click, but no words spoken.

“It’s me.” She stated simply. “Some interesting information just came across my desk. I’ll send you a copy.”

Bringer looked down at the tablet in front of her. The image of the black and red Ethereal in the photo was blurry, but unmistakeable.

“I can’t be certain yet but… I believe the prodigal son has returned.”

There was a loud thump as the van drove over a pothole. Wise thought he heard a spring come loose.

“You okay bro?” Crowbar pointed to his eye. “You’ve got kind of a shiner there.”

Wise placed a hand to his black eye, wincing at the feeling.

“It’s fine. Just a clumsy mistake on my part.” Wise looked over at Billy. For some reason his top half was stuffed into a backpack. “I’m more worried about you. Can you still fight like that?”

“Yeah man!” Billy gave a double thumbs-up. “I can still kick some ass! Not literally of course. But hey, I’ve still got my hands and my guns. What more does a guy really need?”

“We’re totally a tag team now bro!” Crowbar readied a fist bump.

“Temporarily.” Billy added.

“Bros for life!”

“Can’t overstate how temporary this is.” Billy dismissed Crowbar, turning back to Wise. “You nervous?”

“Extremely. Three days ago I’d never been within a hundred meters of a Hollow. Now I’m about to enter my third one.” Wise fiddled with his hands anxiously. “Does it get less scary with time?”

“Hold on to that fear. It’ll keep you alive.”

Before Wise could respond, the Red Fang in the passenger seat turned around and spoke.

“We’re coming up on the Dead End Hollow now. Time to ready up.”

Crowbar reached to his side for a small device and injected himself in the neck.

“What was that?” Wise asked.

“Anti-Corruption injection. Wait, bro, have you not been taking them?”

“No?”

Billy and Crowbar both turned to each other before looking back at Wise.

“DUDE!” They both cried in unison.

“What? What did I do?!”

“How are you even alive man?” Crowbar waved his arms frantically and leaned forward, looking Wise up and down. “You sure you’re a guy, bro?”

“Last I checked, yeah.” Wise answered, covering himself with his arms.

“It’s probably to do with that power of yours.” Billy reasoned. “Ethereals can’t get corrupted like people can. You’re part Ethereal so…”

“I’m… immune to Ether?”

“Maybe the raw stuff, but if I had to guess I’d say that Ether abilities will kill you as dead as anything else.”

“That’s… terrifying. But probably good to know.”

“Hey uh, bro? How does a guy get powers like that? Asking for a friend.” Crowbar raised his hand.

“Wish I could tell you. Maybe then I could get rid of them.”

“Well if you do find a way, let me know, bro. I’d be happy to take them off your hands.”

“Entering the Hollow now!”

Wise looked ahead at the approaching Hollow and shut his eyes tightly. There was a strange, overwhelming sound, like a ringing in his ears and Wise suddenly felt his gut drop.

“Is it over?! Are we inside?!” He called out over the noise, still shutting his eyes.

No response came. All he could hear was the loud, shrill sound in his ears. Finally, Wise opened his eyes and realized what the sound was. It was screaming. Directly ahead of them, Wise saw what they were headed for.

The ground.

Wise let out his own scream, joining the chorus of other voices around him and shut his eyes again, bracing for the impact.

“Ugh, where did the guys go?” Nicole asked, looking out her driver-side window. “They were right beside us when we entered the Hollow.

“Hollows can distort space.” Anby answered. “They could end up on the complete opposite end of Hollow Zero for all we know.”

“Well that’s gonna be a problem. We’ve only got the one Carrot. Those idiots had better not get themselves killed.”

In the back of the van, Nekomata sat secluded from the rest of the group, still clutching her locket in her hand.

“Hey! Kitty cat girl!” Nicole yelled, catching the cat Thiren’s attention. “Get up here and help guide us! You know your way around this Hollow, right?”

Nekomata stood up, gripping the locket so tightly that it pierced her skin, drawing a single drop of blood.

“Don’t worry.” She responded simply. “I’ll take care of you.”