Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Random Play

Thursday, 10:11 a.m.

“Once again, we personally advise all citizens to keep away from the newly growing Dead End Hollow or any area around it; anyone living nearby is asked to please evacuate the are as Public Security identify the cause of its exponential growth."

"And to end things on a lighter note, we present to you an early copy of the song: Original Me, by Astra Yao, and ma-”

“Ehn-Na! Ehn-Na! Ehn-Nah-Nah! (It’s Here! It’s Here! Astra Yao is playing!)” 18 shouts at the siblings,

“Wise!” Belle shouted, just coming out of the very illegal proxy room, leaving the door open for 6 to come out and close the door behind him.

Normally, 6 would be behind the door, guarding it from intruders who would stumble in, but that matters not now! And Belle knew that!

“Wise, where are you?!” Belle shouted again, jittering as she looked upstairs without going all the way, not wanting to miss the song.

“Belle, I’m over here!” Wise shouted back, coming in from the parking lot with a box that says fragile, ”What’s gotten into you? Can you at least help me wi-”

“Yes yes that’s very nice, Astra Yao is playing on the radio!”

Wise immediately placed down the box, gently. He was excited, but he was still careful.

In a very quick second, all 5 of them were huddled like school children in front of the radio, Wise hurriedly bringing chairs for them, making sure there were enough for Belle, Him, and the Bangboos.

He worked particularly faster when hearing the opening notes.

“Here it is!” Belle cheered, hearing the familiar tune playing as Wise hurriedly placed all the chairs for them to sit on.

“Ehn-Ne!” Eous cheered.

“Wata-Wata!” 6 followed along.

“Did I miss it?” Wise asked, sitting down.

“Barely, it’s almost here!”

“Ehn-Na Wata-ta!” 18 cheered as the first lyrics played.

Stars
Bèi yānmiè zài ní hóng de yè…
Shìxiàn suǒ jí rútóng
Huāngdàn de huǎngyán

…Artificial Life

Shè rù jiǎndān shūchū fūqiǎn
Sīkǎo zhòu jiǎn shíjiān xiàng suìpiàn bān fēnliè

Xiǎng yào de yīqiè
“Ehn-Na Ehn-Na” The bangboo trio sang together, somewhat matching the tone.

Chùshǒu kě jí zhīqián shì bùshì zuì ràng rén juànliàn
Yǒngyǒu xǐyuè yànjuàn
Zài bèi yùwàng zhīpèi wújìn zhōng lúnxiàn

Many harmonious claps were heard from the 3 identical bangboos, all expressively cheering as Belle got giddier as she and Wise sang along the chorus.

B: Zàibu huì ràng chéngnuò bèi fūyǎn
W: Bù ràng zhēnxīn bèi qūjiě
B: Méiyǒu yùyǎn de rénshēng dàn
B & W: Měi yībù wǒ yǒu juédìng quán
W: Ràng xiácī pī fà xiàn
B: Ràng měilì bèi zhēnshí fùyuán
B & W: Wǒ suǒ liǎojiě de wǒ hái méi bèi liǎojiě
B: Bié zài ràng shànyì bèi tuōyán
B: Bù tīng èyǔ hé xián yán
W: Méiyǒu yùyǎn de rénshēng dàn
B & W: Měi yībù wǒ yǒu xuǎnzé quán
B: Cuòwù bù bèi zhēyǎn
B & W: Zhēnshí de wǒ zài nǐ yǎnqián
Wǒ suǒ liǎojiě de wǒ děngdài pī fà xiàn

As the interlude set in the three bangboos decided to continue where Belle and Wise left off, singing the tune in ‘Ehn-Na’s as Belle and Wise kept clapping in the air, losing themselves in the song.

“Man, the chorus just hits!” Belle gushed, ”I don’t know why, but when I hear that part, it’s like I just get a boost! Ready to fight any Ethereals coming our way!”

“Belle, you know we can’t fight, right?”

“I like to imagine,” Belle responded, ”I mean, it’s not like Astra Yao could fight in the Hollows, but her songs just make me want to stand up and do something!”

Wise shrugs as he agrees, ”Right, I think the refrain is coming?”

“Don’t you mean the chorus?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s called a refrain, but maybe they’re the same.”

Hearing the bridge draw closer to its end, Belle put aside her qualms, ready to sing along with her bro and the three bangboos again, hearing the absolute heavenly angel that is Astra Ya-

“Manager! This is urgent!” Nicole shouted, flailing her arms as she comically crashed through the door. Belle and Wise are usually alright with this, considering Nicole has a track record of emergency situations...

But…

[Clang]

The world slowed down for the proxy siblings, more so to Belle, as their eyes widened seeing the Radio on the counter fall after Nicole somehow pushed it off the counter in her state of panic.

The three bangboo, upon seeing this, immediately ran over, trying to save their gracious metal music maker, but alas, the radio sang its last lyrics, as it dropped to the ground with a heavy slam, abruptly ending the melody that graced the ears of those in Random Play.

Realising what had dropped on the floor, the pink-haired diva winced, “Oops, sorry, I didn’t mean to- I’ll buy you a new one later, but right now I really really need your help!”

“Hey, managers,” Billy said, following Nicole in the store with Anby behind him, ”Sorry to crash in like this, we kind of got ourselves in a pickle.”

“Yes, Billy, I was getting to that. Anyway, there’s something important I have to get immediately from the Dead End Hollow, and since it’s been changing drastically, I need Phaethon’s hel- Why are you 2 not talking to me?”

Nicole had expected a remark coming from at least one of them, and it is well deserved, she does always budge in without their notice, seeking their help so she never bats an eye at it, but now the 2 proxies in front of her were dead silent, staring down at the floor.

Curiously, Anby looked over to the 3 bangboos huddled together to find that they too were staring.

What were they staring at?

The broken radio on the floor, broken by Nicole.

Oh no..

“Hello? Managers?”

“...”

“...”

“Proxies?”

“...”

“...”

“Wise? Belle?”

“Nicole, I think you should-”

“Hello?? Come on, I really need your help right-”

“NI-COOOOOOOOLE!” The three Cunning Hares member yelped, hearing the ear-shattering bellowing shriek from the blue-haired manager of the store, her face seething with rage.

“B-Belle, w-what’s wrong-”

“Oh, you know exactly what’s wrong!”

“Come on, Belle, let’s calm dow-

“Don’t you tell me to calm down, you walking mountain of debt!” Belle shouted from the very depths of her soul as she grabbed Nicole by the shirt, ”WE were literally in heaven! HEAVEN! And you just had to come in here with your honkers bouncing around, and not only dragged us back down from our Nirvana, but destroyed the doorway!”

“Ehn-Na!” “Wata-Wata!” 18 and 6 said together, their disdain understood despite the simple noises.

“I-I.. I-” At hearing the whimper of their boss, Billy and Anby stepped back, not wanting to get into this shit.

“Do you think it’s fine to just barge in and destroy the one thing we were looking forward to?!”

“I promise, I’ll get you a new ra-”

“Oh, we’re past that radio! And your promises!” Belle bellowed so hard the whole neighbourhood could feel it, ”You can’t even afford to pay your debt, how the hell are you supposed to buy us a new radio you broke, rizzless, diva-wannabe, bouncing your titsicles around like you own the place, that's the only good thing you’re-”

“Belle, I think that’s enough…” Wise said, swiftly grabbing his sister from under her arms, ”I think you’ve made your point.”

“Don’t you try and stop me, bro! She took our angel away from us! She has to pay!”

“Ehn-Na!” Eous shouted in agreement before briefly looking at the other two.

“It’s not worth it, Belle!”

“Was the radio really that importan-” Nicole was about to ask, only to be silenced by three, similar-looking bangboo as they all jumped her with the intent of banishment.

“What the-”

“Ehn-ne Ehn-nu! Ehn-NAH! (Justice! Justice for Astra!)” 18 shouted.

“Ne-Ehn-NAHH! (Begone, witch!)” 6 followed, jumping on Nicole as it pulled her hair.

“Ehn-NAH! (Astra Yao!)” Eous roared, hitting Nicole in the face with his body after launching himself from the counter.

As this all went on, Billy and Anby watched as Wise not only tried to control not only his sister, but the three bangboo that were ganging up on her, with the occasional pulling of their arms to get them off the Diva, particularly 6, who had taken a liking to pulling the pinkette’s hair.

“Anby… are my eyes …malfunctioning?” Billy inquired of his friend.

“...I may be malfunctioning too.”

“Oh boy…”

A grueling ten minutes later…

“So… is Nicole doing better?” Wise asked the other two members of the Cunning Hares, who will now explain the situation as Nicole is… out of commission.

“She just needs time outside,” Anby answered, taking a bite of the burger she brought, ”Although it also doesn’t help that Bangboo number 6 won’t let her in.”

“Yeah, 18’s pretty mad too,” Wise said, glancing towards the sofa where 18 kept grumbling in Ehn-Na’s and Wata’s, ”And don’t get me started on Belle.”

Who was up in her room right now, choosing to get some alone time

“A part of me does understand, but isn’t this a bit too far, Wise?” Billy asked innocently, ”I mean, it’s not just your sister but also Eous and the other two bangboos.

“I have to agree with Billy,” Anby voiced, ”I admit it was her fault, but Belle took things too far.”

“True, I guess Belle did go… a bit too far…” Wise trailed off, remembering every single curse word and profanity said in a matter of 8 minutes, ”But to be fair, she did destroy the radio when we were listening to Astra Yao.”

“I still think it’s a bit excessive.”

“Would you say the same if the same thing happened to you and a live broadcast mid-movie?”

“Belle and the bangboos are innocent; they did nothing wrong. Nicole is at fault.” Anby stated matter-of-factly, earning a baffled look from the 2 males, if Billy could even count as that.

“Talk about an instant betrayal,” Wise commented.

“I guess I wouldn’t be too happy if I were watching Starlight Knight and my TV got destroyed mid-episode.” Billy reasoned aloud, rubbing his mechanical chin, ”Anyway, let’s get back on topic!”

“Right, you have a commission for Phaethon, right?”

“Yes,” Anby answered.

“This going on your tab as well?”

Anby froze, “...Have mercy on us…”

“Yeah, I figured,” Wise said, waving it off, already used to the growing debt the Cunning Hares have.

“Sorry, Manager,” Billy said in a small voice, a bit ashamed of how high their debt was with Phaethon.

Because compared to others, their debt with the Proxy siblings was… a lot, mainly because they were so lenient.

“It’s fine, if it’s really that important, just tell me the details.”

“Manager!” Billy exclaimed, dramatically going over to Wise as he pulled him in a bro hug, ”You’re a saint!”

Wise could only sigh at Billy, then glanced at Anby, silently telling her to give said details.

“Onto the topic, as you know, the Dead End Hollow’s size has increased drastically as of late, with it getting to the point where people on Canvas Street were told to evacuate,” Wise nods at that, remembering that bit before going to the parking lot to set a few boxes in.

“So, did your client commission you to find something valuable there? I wouldn’t really call that an emergency. Was what’s missing that important to them?”

“Well, yeah, I guess it is important, ”Billy chimes in,” I think it’s a family heirloom or something. Hold on, I think I remember her being from one of those important families in New Eridu, though I didn’t really pay attention, so I don’t know her name.”

“So she’s rich rich,” Wise concludes, ”But if that’s the case, why would she ask you guys for help then? Not to insult you or anything, but aren’t there better people she can find with better money?”

“You’re right in guessing that, Manager, it’s just…” Billy says, nervously scratching the back of his head, ”We’re… not doing a commission.”

“What?”

With this, Anby steps up, ”To put it briefly, we were in a building beside the Dead-End Hollow right before it expanded.”

“We were running from a certain group of people,” Anby explained, omitting the fact that they were being chased for not handling a product properly. ”On our run, we encountered this friend of Nicole’s. Or to put it better, Billy crashed into her.”

Billy visibly slumped at that part, ”It was an accident…”

“And because of that, the heirloom she wore dropped into the Hollow.”

“So, considering it was your fault, you want to try and get it back for this friend?” Wise concludes, before Anby faintly nods.

“A bit of correction, Nicole wants to get it back for her friend,” Anby specified, ”But with the Hollow suddenly increasing, it’s going to be difficult to get a carrot.”

“Anby, the way you said it makes you sound like a jerk who doesn’t want to do this, you know…” Billy said off-handedly as Anby widened her eyes briefly.

“My apologies, I thought it sounded cool since I heard it from a movie character.”

“Pretty sure that character’s a jerk…” Wise thought, ”Ok, so, to sum it up, you dropped something in a hollow belonging to a friend, and Nicole wants to get it back?”

“Yeah, that seems right…” Billy said nodding, ”And since the Hollow is increasing, the terrain is probably gonna change a lot, meaning a Carrot is going to take days to make.”

“So we need Phaethon’s help to do this quickly.” Anby finished, as Wise rubbed his chin.

“Did she ask you specifically to get it?”

“No, in fact, she said she was going inside the Hollows herself to get it, but without a Carrot, the most she can do is get lost.”

Hearing all this, Wise contemplated. The Cunning Hares were indeed old friends; in fact, they were regulars at both the Video store and the Proxy job, and they even met way back around the same time after Belle and he parted ways with Charon.

But they have a tendency to raise their debt, and this just didn’t seem worth it.

“Look, I’m not trying to downplay you, but that doesn’t really count as an emergency. Surely she can wait a bit.”

“I have voiced these concerns to Nicole as well,” Anby voiced in agreement, ”But after Nicole insisted we find the heirloom, I have tried to sway her, but she would not budge.”

Wise could only sigh. Leave it to Nicole to be sentimental about these things; in fact, the main reason why she and the Cunning Hares have this debt in the first place is precisely because of that sentimentality.

But in a way, that’s exactly why Phaethon frequently works with her…

“Alright, well, considering this isn’t a commission for you, I won’t treat it as one either.”

The 2 Cunning Hares members eyed Wise, astonished.

“A-Are you sure, Manager?” Billy asked, and Wise nodded.

“Well, it’s not like I’m getting paid later anyway, and besides, Nicole’s helping a friend, isn’t she? I don’t see why I shouldn’t help…” He looks up a bit, ”Just don’t tell Belle... yet.”

Billy then squealed, ”Oh, Manager! I said this once before, but I’ll say it again! You’re a saint! May the starlight bless your soul!”

“Although there are 2 problems,” Billy immediately deflated at that,” One: you guys still owe me a radio, which should be fine, although the second thing…” Wise shifted his eyes toward a certain corner, following his gaze, Anby and Billy find themselves looking at a sulking bangboo, arms crossed, with his neon green LED eyes showing how angry and upset he was as he wore a 01 scarf on it.

“Oh… right…” Billy trailed off, watching as Wise slowly approached the angry bangboo.

“Hey Eous… still mad at Nicole?”

“...Wata..”

“Hey buddy, listen, I know you’re still mad, but could you help me with this?”

“Wata Ehn-Na,” Eous said, turning away from Wise.

“Look, I’m angry too, but they kind of need our help.”

“Ehn-Nah Wata, Wata Ehn-Na”

The 2 Cunning Hares members immediately gasped, followed by Eous getting a flick to its forehead by Wise, making it fall onto its face.

“Wata! (OW!)”

“Language Euos!”

Getting up, Euous brushes itself, but still crossed its arms and turned away, ”Wata-Wata..”

“No, she does not deserve to be thrown off a building.” Wise groaned and the now angsty bangboo, ”Look, you know Nicole, right? Despite everything, she’s a good person, you know she doesn’t mean it.”

Upset, Eous turns back to Wise.

“Wata Ehn-Nah! Wata Wata Ehn-Nah! (She can’t keep getting away with this! She ruined Miss Astra Yao singing!)” Eous whines, the first line in an eerily similar way to this one series Anby liked to watch.

“And because of that, she has to be thrown off a building?” Wise inquired, but Euos says nothing and just looks away, not really wanting to talk to its master.

“Look, Euos, Nicole’s a friend, isn’t she? I know she’s not the most… on-timely person, but you know she means well,…”

Eous's LED eyes gave a deadpan look, showing its disdain as it grumbled in Ehna’s and Wata’s, disgusted at the idea of working with the wondrous music box destroyer, ”Look, if not for her, do it for me, alright?”

Glancing at Wise, then back to the wall, with a bit of back and forth, Eous visually sighing, ”Ehn-Nah…(Fine…)”

“Alright then,” Wise said, picking up the bangboo and giving it to Anby,” I’ll be with you soon.” Then Wise locked eyes with Eous, ”And be nice.”

The bangboo sulked, ”Ehn-Nah…”

Walking out the door opened by 6 (as reluctant as it was), the four were greeted by a sight of Nicole, her teary face making it obvious about her feelings of being shouted at by Belle.

Sighing, Wise walked up to her, ”Nicole?” startled, Nicole jolted up and caught sight of the grey-haired proxy and immediately turned her head in a desperate attempt to hide her face, ”You uh… holding up okay?”

“...Yes…” Nicole then turned toward the Manager, ”I’m guessing you rejected our commission?”

“Yes.”

“Uh, I see…” The girl trailed off, crossing her arms, ”I.. I get it, I’ll just..”

“'Cause I’m not treating this like a commission, this’ll be just me helping out a few friends, that’s all.”

“H-Huh?” Nicole’s eyes widen, dazed at the words he just said, before coughing a bit and trying to return to her normal way of speech.

Well, ‘trying’ being the key word, she was still clearly in an emotional state.

“Ho ho? What’s this? Not upset with me anymore, Manager?”

No, he very much was… but he can’t show it right now cause he needs to be the better man, ”Do you want my help or not?”

“I’ll take it, yes! Let’s go, you two!” Nicole exclaimed and gestured to Anby and Billy before opening the door for her group to leave the store as Eous grumbled in Anby’s arms.

“Ehn-Na…”

=====================

Dead End Hollow

Thursday, 11:51 a.m.

“Alright, we made it to the Hollow!” Billy cheered with far too much enthusiasm with Anby and Nicole on his tail, ”Right then, Proxy, how long will it take for you to map out this hollow?”

“Ah… It’s gonna take a while…” Wise-Eous said, showing a loading LED where the bangboo eyes were, ”This Hollow’s gotten so big… I wonder what happened…”

Considering this Hollow was a companion Hollow, Wise thought it'd be much easier to navigate; however, ever since its exponential growth, navigation seems to be nearly, if not as hard as, one of its parent hollows, the growing size definitely plays a part..

“Perhaps a new type of Ethereal is forming,” Anby guessed, ”One that needs so much power that it could leave the Hollows and attack citizens.”

“Isn’t that the plot of a movie?” Billy questioned as Anby kept that resolute look.

“It can still happen, in a way, fiction is a documentary of real life after all.”

“Does that mean Starlight Knight could become real?!”

“I take back my statement.”

“Does it really matter how the Hollow got bigger? We still need to find the heirloom!” Nicole shouted, trying to control her two members.

After a bit, Wise finally managed to draw a well-rounded map of the Hollow, and looking at it, he’s still astonished at how big this thing got. ”How big is this Hollow? I didn’t think it would grow so large… ”

“Would it be a bad time to mention we’re looking for a hairpin?” Collective groans came from Nicole and Wise, though Wise could hear a groan coming from Eous somewhere as he was controlling his body.

Yes, throughout this whole Hollow that’s been growing, the one thing they’re looking for.. In all this rubble…is a hairpin…

No precise location, no clues as to where it was, and because it fell into the Hollow, it could be anywhere.

A bangboo would have been easier to find..

“Can we not talk about this right now?” Nicole chided, not wanting to get back on the topic, especially after an earful from Wise in the car after finding out how small the heirloom was.

“Worry not, Nicole!” Billy exclaimed, holding out his two guns, ”I have watched countless episodes of Starlight Knight: Mystery of the Forest, with all the knowledge I’ve gained! I’ve acquired the ability of FORESIGHT! We’ll find that hairpin by an hour at the max!”

4 hours, 41 minutes, and 25 seconds later…

“I wanna go hoooome!” Billy whined for the 21st time, all his enthusiasm from the start now gone, like the many ethereals they had killed.

It was honestly still a wonder how the Hollow managed to still be as large as it was, despite the arduous massacre they’ve done to those Ethereals. They had brought a fairly large amount of supplies when entering. Nicole even told Billy to take it easy with the gun, but even after all that, not only were bullets low, but their food, energy, and enthusiasm were too.

And don’t even get started on poor Eous’ battery.

Anby was getting tired too at this point, not just because of the ethereals she had to kill, but the endless search for something so particularly small that she wished she was finding a needle in a haystack.

As for Nicole herself, the only thing keeping her going is the pride on her chest, but even that’s depleting after 4 fucking hours of searching. Billy’s whining probably isn’t helping.

“Can you please be quiet!” The leader of the Cunning Hares exclaimed, ”Your whining isn’t helping our morale one bit, Billy!”

“But Niicole!” Billy whined again, going over to the pink-haired woman, ”We’ve been here for nearly 5 hours! And we haven’t found the hairpin! We’re even running low on supplies!”

Childishly, he then lay down on the floor in exhaustion, ”I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we should’ve left it to the HIA.”

“I might have to agree with Billy here Nicole…” Wise said, voicing his concerns, ”We’re already short on supplies, and I think we’ve managed to check nearly all the places in this Hollow, it’d probably be wise to head back.”

Billy then snortled, holding in a laugh, ”Heh...Wise…to head back...”

Back at Random Play, Wise rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, Haha, very funny.” Wise-Eous then turns to Nicole, ”But really though, we should head back. I don’t think we can search for anything more today.”

Nicole sighed, ”I guess in a manner of life and death we should go…” she grumbled, only to snap back, ”But let’s search an area one more time! If we don’t find anything, we can go home!”

“Nicole, you’ve said that for the last 5 times.” Wise groaned.

“I promise! This time it really is!”

“Nicole, Eous is running low, I don’t think we can even survive one more search.”

“Cmon, proxy! I’ll pay you double!”

“You’re not even paying me.”

“Wata-wata Ehn-Na!” Eous managed to voice, despite being controlled by Wise.

“Eous what did I say about language?”

“What did you just call me!?”

Hearing the racket from afar, Anby wholeheartedly decided she was not going to be a part of this. Looking through some Ether crystals and rubble as she scoured to find the hairpin.

Honestly, she would admit, if she weren’t born a soldier, she would probably have been saying a whole lot more that she probably couldn’t imagine.

Walking through the forest of Ether crystals surrounding her, she pressed on, trying to cover every part of this Hollow before they either leave or look somewhere else.

She never really thought about it too much, but it’s sometimes hard to believe that this place used to be bustling with people, even with all the evidence there, she could only see this place as a breeding ground for ethereals now.

She never really did think about a normal life before meeting Nicole, or getting her memory wiped or-

She shook her head.

Now was not the time to think about that.

Looking around a bit more, she found herself near an old metro bridge, which used to be a place where unruly rebellious children would come to escape, was now pillars of ether crystals, leaving nothing behind.

Anby felt unease… she couldn’t tell why, but something just felt off about this place. Curious, she jumped down from the bridge, landing on the flat ground near the cluster of Ether crystals, the sense of unease still creeping at her, gnawing at her like a dog with its bone.

And while she was alert, she just couldn't pinpoint where the threat was...

Walking under the bridge, she looked around, only for her eyes to land on something that left her mouth agape.

========================

Random Play, Staff Room

Thursday, 16:39 p.m.

“Ok Proxy, how about I triple your pay? How’s that?”

“0 times 3 is still 0, Nicole… why do you even bother to bargain?”

“I’m desperate ok! I know I have a money problem!”

“That’s not the point! We’ve been here for hours, Nicole, even Eous is tired. I think it’s about time we go! Actually, we should go! NOW!”

“Or what? Are you just gonna leave me here? Are you really gonna do that, Wise?!”

“Maybe I should just leave you here! This was your fault to begin with!”

The place went silent, the display on the computer showed Nicole’s face, as it all so subtly started to crumple up.

To the side, Wise could see Billy, who had all this time been struggling with what he should do in this situation, now left aghast, covering his nonexistent mouth at the comment Wise had made. Looking back at the pinkette Diva, Wise breathed.

“Nicole, look I-”

“Guys…” A monotone voice cut him off, turning Eous’ head, Wise saw Anby, appearing out of who knows where.

Trying to leverage the situation, Billy spoke up.

“What’s up Anby?”

“I found the hairpin.”

“Oh really? Sweet!” the android then turned to both him and Nicole, ”Hear that, guys? We’re done here!”

They should really be excited, they should… after all, they spent hours just looking for this thing… but they’re not… they tried to be but… it just felt wrong after-

Nicole breathed, ”Alright, I guess that’s done… let’s get out of this Hollow.”

“I don’t have it.” Anby stated bluntly.

“H-Huh? What?”

“I said I don’t have it,” She repeated, as if thinking Nicole didn’t hear her the first time, ”It’s a bit hard to explain, I suggest you come with me.”

Not even waiting for them, Anby walked off in a certain direction, leaving no room for discussion as Eous and the Cunning Hares soon followed.

Least to say-

“Got real tense here, didn’t it, bro?”

Startled, Wise’s ocular implants shut off, giving Eous back control as he turned around in a panic, only to calm down at the sight of his sister, ”How much did you hear?”

“The part where you said Eous was running low, you’ve been here for a long time, you know?”

Wise sighed, submitting control back to Eous for a bit, ”A while, I guess… searching a whole Hollow for 1 specific item isn’t easy… still mad at Nicole?”

Belle sighed inwardly, ”Not anymore… I can’t stay mad at her for something like that, but I’m still upset.”

“Good to see you doing better..” Wise agreed, turning his head back to the screen, ”Well, Anby found the hairpin, so we’re almost done, at the very least, the hours are over.”

“Why’d you even take the commission? You know she’s not gonna pay us anyway, right?”

Wise then winced, and that did not escape his sister’s gaze, ”Wise…”

Said grey-haired male turned slowly in his chair, facing his sister ever slowly as the tension built up.

“Ok, so don’t be mad…” Wise started cautiously, seeing the ever-looming black-hole which is his sister, ”But I may have taken this job without pay…”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Wiiiiise!” Belle shouted, repeatedly hitting her brother on the head.

“I know, I know!”

“You stup- Why would you do that!”

“I thought I’d help her! Besides, you said it yourself, she wasn’t going to pay anyway!”

“You can’t just do something like this without telling me!”

“You weren’t exactly in the right mood a few hours ago, you know?”

“That’s not the point! Why would you even accept it if you knew I wouldn’t!”

“Belle, they aren’t even getting paid for this, they’re just doing this to help a friend, and I know if you were in my shoes, you’d do the same thing!”

“Ugh! I hate that you’re right!” Belle exclaimed, delivering a final hit to hr brother’s head.

Taking a few breaths after her frustration, Belle asked, ”In all honesty, Wise, do you really think she’s gonna pay her debt?”

Wise leaned on his chair, momentarily pondering the question, ”Honestly, Belle, I guess I just came to terms with it, so I guess not, happened so often I never bothered her about it.”

“I know.. It’s just… I know it seems a bit mean, and I know Nicole is sometimes a good person, heck Billy and Anby wouldn’t be working for her if she wasn’t,” Belle rambled as Wise listened, ”But, it’s just frustrating, she barges in here whenever she wants, not to mention it’s not just our Proxy job, she’s missed 5 deadlines for movie tape returns, and she hasn’t even paid yet!”

“Yeah, I admit, that is frustrating…” Wise admits, ”She can be a bit… unreliable sometimes, but hey, that debt of hers means we can hire her without pay anytime, right?”

“Wise, that is not a good thing to boast about…”

Yes, he was grasping at straws at this point, ”I know, but what are we gonna do, Belle? We can complain all we want, but the money isn’t going to appear out of nowhere, you know she doesn’t have it.”

“It’ll probably help if she just stops coming to us till her debts are paid…” Belle grumbled, “We can’t just keep letting her get away with this, every single time it just feels like we’re giving her too much leeway.”

Hearing that, Wise sighed, ”I get it, I mean sometimes I do consider just up and cutting ties with them, feeling like that’ll make things a whole lot easier.”

Belle didn’t say anything to that; it was kind of cruel to be thinking that, but it’s always been on her mind as well. Problem is…

“You just don’t have the guts, do you?”

“...Yeah yeah, you know you don’t either, meaning we’re stuck with her.”

Belle furrowed her brow and sighed, ”Yeah, I know, it's frustrating, but at least we know her well, good ol’ unreliable Nico-”

“M-Manager! Manager! You forgot to mute! We can hear everything!”

The siblings froze, heads darting over to the computer, particularly at the microphone symbol, which was very clearly left on, to the utter horror of Wise and Belle.

“You forgot to turn it off!?”

“You came so suddenly, I didn’t- I just forgot!”

“Shit shit shit shit shit!” Belle then went over to the computer, overlapping her brother’s sight of the screen, despite only Wise having access to Eous control right now, both can still communicate with the HDD, ”Uh-Nicole, what we said before, we didn’t mean it, okay? We-uh…”

Belle couldn’t find an out, she just couldn’t, they had said all that so bluntly and outwardly, and the fact that Nicole heard it all.

“Just… be quiet… please…”

Nicole sounded broken; she couldn’t even hide it like earlier anymore. Wise couldn’t see her face, but he could tell the woman was shaking, struggling even to cover up the sniffles she hiccupped.

“N-Nicole, I’m sure the managers didn-”

“Just shut up Billy…. please…”

The two proxies were left agape; they fucked up, they genuinly fucked up. As much as that diva never paid her debts, they never wanted to hurt her like this.

“Bro-”

“I know I’ll talk to her,” Wise said, regaining control of Eous as he waltzed over to Nicole.

====================

Dead End Hollow, somewhere under a metro bridge.

Thursday, 16:44 p.m.

Hurt

She wasn’t in pain.

She wasn’t upset.

She could only say she’s… hurt.

That seems to be the only way to describe her right now as she tried to hold her tears.

She didn’t know which hurt more.

Being called reliable, or the proxies assuming the worst of her spending habits, or that they were even talking about her like this behind her back..

Hearing all that from those two just… hurt, too much.

Did she push them too far? Had they been talking about their contempt for her for this long?

She didn’t want to think about it… not right now at least…

She couldn’t… she had to be the boss. She had to stay-

“Nicole!” A bangboo shouted, urging the girl to walk a little bit faster, ”Hey Nicole, come on, please.”

She didn’t answer.

“Nicole, please, we’re sorry, we shouldn’t have said any of that, especially behind your back.”

“...”

“Nicole…”

“...”

The girl stayed silent, walking along still following Anby, who had said nothing so far, or even noticed the commotion from behind, probably the headphones.

But even that funny thought can’t stop how hurt she was… did she even deser-

“NICOLE!” Wise shouted, landing on Nicole’s head.

Startled, the leader of the Cunning Hares stumbled back, dropping her briefcase as the bangboo tugged at her hair.

“Ow ow ow ow!” She groaned, pulling Eous away and holding it, ”What is up with bangboo and my hair!?”

“Sorry, I needed to get your attention,” Wise said, visibly frowning with Eous.

“How’d you even get up ther-..” Nicole immediately figures it out and turns to the culprit, ”BILLY!”

“The proxy asked me to do it, Nicole! And bangboos are squishy, so I figu-”

“You big stupid android! Do you know how hard bangboo can be?! You could’ve fractured my skull open like a watermelon!”

“I thought I told you to follow me?” Anby asked, suddenly appearing, ”Why are you all not following me?”

“Oh, and where were you during all this?! I could’ve used your help, you know!”

“My apologies, Nicole, but let us go now, it is-.”

“Not yet, Anby!” Nicole then turns to Eous, ”And-” She stops herself, visibly deflating again, clutching her elbow, trying to find out what she was trying to say, and what she should say.

“Nicole, we’re almost there, let’s-”

Billy then came in, swiftly shutting Anby up with a robotic hand, "Jeez, Anby, read the room, what’s the matter with you? You sound more jittery than usual.”

With that great assist from Billy, Wise finally finds the room to talk.

“Nicole listen,” Wise started before Nicole could, ”What we said before, I know we can’t take it back but, we really didn’t want to hurt your feelings, honest…”

Nicole sighed, ”It-it’s not bothering me anymore, Wise, I’m fine.”

“Nicole, I can tell you’re still upset.”

“I’m not upset!” She yelled, turning herself away from the proxy as she calmed down. Soon, though, Nicole turned back to the bangboo ”But... have you really thought about cutting ties with us?”

Eous LED seemed to have shifted, as Wise flinched back at Random Play, ”Nicole…”

The Cunning Hares leader then shook her head, ”Never mind, let’s just talk about this later, we just need to follow Anby, an- Huh?”

Nicole paused, her eyes seeming to glimmer at something.

“Nicole?”

“What’s wrong?”

Heading behind Eous, Nicole walks over and crouches down, picking up the item she saw and eyes it carefully, much to the anticipation of Billy and Wise.

Looking at it from further away, Wise could make out a yellow flower ornament on it, as well as a design that seemed like it belonged to some important family, too.

“Nicole?”

“This is the hairpin!” Nicole exclaims, ”We found the hairpin!”

Billy’s eyes then widen, letting go of Anby as he tied his hands together and placed it on his chest, ”Wait, really?!”

“Yes, really!” She exclaimed excitedly, clutching it close to her chest before realising something and turning to Anby, ”Hey, what the heck, Anby? Why’d you say we still had to follow you?!”

The girl looked at Nicole, “We have to go there to get the hairpin.”

“Wha- Anby? Did you hit your head or something? The hairpin’s right here.”

“….”

“...”

“...Hairpin”

“What the- Anby what’s-”

Nicole was cut off, in an instant, Anby reached behind her waist and unsheathed her sword, immediately aiming for Nicole’s throat.

But before she could even graze the skin, Billy quickly drew his guns and fired rapidly, forcing Anby to back away from Nicole.

In a quick second, Nicole backed away, standing right beside Billy with Wise-Eous coming right beside her.

“Anby?” Nicole questioned, addressing who she thought was her friend, but Anby came at them again, this time aiming at Billy, only for Nicole to parry with her briefcase.

“Anby! What’s gotten into you?!”

Anby stayed silent, hearing shots fired and moved out of the way, but Billy didn’t seem like he wanted to show mercy, so he kept firing at the white-haired girl.

“Billy, stop!” Nicole shouted, ”That’s Anby!”

“I know, Boss, but she attacked yo-” Billy couldn’t even finish his retort as Anby took advantage of the opening, barely missing as Billy dodged a strike that was meant for his chest.

In retaliation, Billy kicked the white-haired girl away, keeping her at a distance as he fired his two pistols at her, his face focused on trying to neutralise Anby, but she managed to dodge, progressively getting closer to close the distance.

And Billy knew what she was doing, deliberately thwarting her plans to come any closer, to keep her at a distance so he remains advantageous. However, this stalemate was a problem, considering that most of his ammunition was nearly spent, meaning his supply was limited.

As they fought, Billy got glances of Anby; he had noticed something odd about his white-haired friend since she kept going on about the hairpin. It was hard to even notice at first cause Anby was usually so stoic, but now it was much clearer to the android.

Either this wasn’t Anby, or something’s happened to her.

“Alright, Anby!” He spoke up amidst his gunfire, ”Let’s just calm down now, you’re clearly not yourself,” Billy gestured to his head,” so why don’t you put the sword down and we can take you somewhere with people that can help ya? I’ll even let you watch your favourite movies.”

The wit of the Starlight Knight fan sadly did not reach Anby; her eyes now more focused on Billy than ever.

“Owkay, I’m starting to think you’re not Anb- Woah!” Billy remarked before getting nearly hit by a throwing sword, ”HA! Bad move there, now your sword’s go-”

But as the android turned back, Anby came at him, her sword still gripped in her hand, as she went for his neck before Billy had time to react.

But as luck would have it, the Starlight Knight wasn’t alone.

When the sword nearly struck, Anby was hit by an incoming Ether Black Hole, sending Anby to fly into the diagonal wall.

“Billy, are you okay?” Nicole asked, running over to the intelligent construct, who just shook his head.

“I’m fine,” He answered, caressing his neck with a jitter, ”Nearly lost my neck there, jeez.”

Sighing with relief, Nicole turned back to Eous, ”Proxy, talk to me! Why’s Anby attacking us?!”

But as Wise was about to answer, a sword came flying at Nicole, almost hitting her before Billy sent it into the air, before it disintegrated.

“I’ll cover you, Boss,” Billy said hastily, charging at Anby with the last of his bullets.

“Belle’s checking our database for any clues,” Wise answered, ”But honestly, Nicole, it’d be better if we run, we can’t take her on with so few supplies.”

“I can’t just leave her behind like that!” Nicole exclaimed furiously, “There’s something clearly wrong with her! I am not compromising her life!”

Eous-Wise visibly sighed, ”Alright, but you have at least 10 minutes, Eous’ power is running out, and I won’t be able to help you guys get out if that happens.”

“You don’t need to worry, I may not be as strong as her, but I know all her moves, with Billy’s help I can-”

THLANG

Turning her head to the noise, Nicole spots Billy skidding across the ground after being thrown, his faceplate all cracked, oils dripping from his body as his pistols were thrown at him.

And to add salt to the wound?

His right arm was gone, and it landed right in front of Nicole, a slash mark appearing on the upper part.

“BILLY!” Nicole shouted, running over to the android.

But she wasn’t even given time to console her friend before Anby lunged at her at full force, Nicole only managing to parry at the last second, getting pushed back away from Billy as Eous ran away from the rampaging movie enthusiast.

“Anby…” Nicole muttered, looking at her friend who had nothing but bloodlust, her eyes focused on her for a brief moment before going over to Billy, sword raised, ready to strike.

“ANBY!"

“ANBY DON’T!” Nicole shouted, charging up her Ether cannon.

“A-Anby… please…” Billy pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears, seeing his friend tear him apart, his body cackling with electricity as it malfunctioned, and the fear spilt into his eyes as he watched Anby’s sword plunge down to his head.

And then, something hit Anby through the head.

Anby stood for a moment, stopping her plunge as she inspected what had happened, her face unfaltering as she felt a long Ether crystal piercing through her head. Going all the way through from ear to ear.

Yet not a drop of blood was spilt, in fact what dripped from her head was…

“Is that… Ether?”

Billy took this as his cue to kick Anby away and rejoin Nicole

Just then, another Ether crystal was thrown at Anby, this time hitting her eyes as it penetrated all the way through, leaving a jarring sight for the 2 Cunning Hares Members.

Turning their heads, Nicole and Billy looked at the cause of the throw, and it was none other than…

“A-Anby?” Nicole muttered, now even more confused at seeing another Anby.

“What?”

“What? What’s going on?!” Billy questioned, his brain overloading at seeing 2 of the same people.

The Anby that showed up, however, was hurt; a few bruises could be seen, and some slash marks were visible too, but more importantly, this one was seething with rage.

“You thought you could send me into a rubble of Ether crystals and think I would perish that easily?” The girl questioned, her sword crackling with electricity as she unsheathed it and held it in a reverse grip, ”You should’ve known better.”

With rage in her eyes, the burger queen lunged at herself, using her sword. The other Anby managed to counter, blocking the initial strike, but the genuine article did not relent.

A second strike came, and another and another, until eventually, Anby managed to pull her by the hair and send herself flying to the clusters of Ether crystals she had just awoken from underneath.

Seeing the threat subdued for now, Anby went over to her other Cunning Hares members and Phaethon, who still had some confused faces, despite Billy being in severe pain.

“Are you two alright?” Anby inquired.

“Y-Yeah..” Nicole stuttered, still a bit dazed from what was happening,” But wait, what was that?!”

“I have no clue either…” Anby admitted, ”I was walking here alone, trying to search for the hairpin when I found this weird Etheric blob. I readied myself, but then that blob turned into me, and I was caught off guard. I was lucky it thought I was dead under the rubble.”

“Hang on, if that’s true, how do we know you’re not a blob?” Billy asked accusingly, to which Anby hummed.

“I suppose you wouldn’t,” Anby admitted,” Then again, perhaps I’m a blob and I don’t know it, creating memories of the real Anby, to infiltrate humanity, a disguise so perfect that I’ve fooled even myself.”

“Ok, that sounds like the real Anby. But after what I just saw, I‘m not so sure.”

“She’s the real one” Belle spoke up through Eous, finally getting online after going through the database, ”What you fought just now was an Ionized Doppelganger, their original form is an etheric blob and they have a special coating of etheric ions, that lets them copy their target.”

“Ethereals can do that?!” Billy asked aghast.

“Yeah,” Belle answered briefly, “But other than the copying, it’s just your run of the mill Ether Mutant, meaning…”

“It can’t leave the Hollow,” Nicole finished, earning a nod from the bangboo.

“Then we have to leave,” Anby concluded, turning her head to Eous, “Proxy?”

“Already on it,” Wise said, as Eous eyes turned to a buffering screen, ”Calculating Hollow Data, though it’s gonna take a few minutes, think you can handle that Anby for a while?”

Just as Wise said that, the copy suddenly lunged from the air, but was then hit by a dismembered robotic arm, courtesy of Billy.

Who has one arm and many exposed circuitry, and he stood up valiantly, his one arm and pistol in the air, saying, ”I only held back thinking I’d hurt you, but since you were never real, you’re about to feel the true wrath of the Starlight Knights!”

“Billy, you only have one arm.”

“One arm’s all I need to take her down! NOW FEEL MY WRATH!” He exclaimed, aiming his pistol at the Anby copy, aiming for the head.

------------

Click

------------

“Heh?”

------------

Ammo = 0/0

------------

“Aw, crud…”

The Anby copy lunged at them, Nicole parried her attack, sending the duplicate back before sending an Ether blast at the copy.

“Billy, fall back!” Nicole ordered.

“Oh, come on, Nicole!”

“Your guns empty, Billy, we can’t-”

“Watch Out,” Anby muttered, parrying the sword strike meant for Nicole, ”Nicole, take a break, I’ll deal with her.”

“Wha-” Nicole couldn’t even finish as Anby dashed forward, clashing blades with her clone, “Hey Anby! Don’t go after her alone!”

But Anby didn’t listen; all she was focused on was finishing this as quickly as possible, despite her injuries. Her body moved faster than Nicole had ever seen, leaving the pink-haired woman a bit agape.

She has to finish this, no she had to do this. Billy lost an arm fighting her; she couldn’t forgive that, even if she looked lik-

No!

Stop thinking about it!

Anby was unrelentful, hacking away at her doppelganger with the weight of a volcano, her blade carrying the rage she felt at what this thing did to Billy and nearly did to Nicole. She could not let this thing go, let alone what it did with her face.

The Doppelganger could only keep up so much, using the skills she copied, the Ionized Ethereal managed to block nearly every one, yet Anby didn’t hold anything back, her eyes were focused like a hawk, not letting the Doppelganger make the next move.

And when the copy finally staggered for a bit, Anby wasted no time; she kicked her in the shin and brought her to her knees, stepping on her hand with the sword to make sure she couldn’t use it.

The copy squirmed in her hold, trying to break free, but Anby is giving her no chances to retaliate.

She raised her blade, deep breaths...

She struck…

“C̷̮̾͛͐̄ã̷͔̿̆̿̾͜p̸̠͌t̸̰̻̿̂͌͘a̴̰̬̐͑͌̕i̵̻͛n̵̹̿͒̽͋̀?̵̧͔̐̎̏͠”

She stopped, sweat starting to trickle down her face as her blade merely centimetres away from her copy.

Seeing an opportunity, the other Anby took her chance and freed her hand from the real Anby’s leg, forcing her to sit on the ground before being punched by the Ethereal clone, blood spilling from her nose, and her eyes, flooded up with tears of a past she longed to forget, yet still lingers despite her qualms.

Roaring with a thousand voices, the Doppelganger arose, blade in hand, she went for the head.

Only to be abruptly hit by a briefcase.

“Billy!”

“STARLIGHT PUNCH!” Billy shouted, coming in from the side with his one arm as he punched the clone in an uppercut fashion, sending her flying back to the cluster of Ether crystals.

“HAHA! See! Even without guns, the power of Starlight blesses my mechanical soul! Whatddya think of that, Nicole?”

“Anby, you okay?” Nicole inquired, not giving a care to Billy, wiping the sweat, tears and the bits of blood she had on her face.

“I'm fine,” She assured, only to wince as she felt aching around multiple parts of her body.

Nicole sighed with relief, “What did I tell you about being reckless? I thought we were done with this phase of yours!”

The white-haired girl looked down. “I’m sorry, Nicole.”

Nicole sighed, “It’s fine… let’s just get out of here. “ Nicole then looks toward Eous, ”Proxy, how much longer?!”

“I’d say three minutes” Wise informed briefly, working out the route with Belle as quickly as they could to get the Cunning Hares out.

“Alright then,” Nicole turns to the other Anby, “Time for some payback for what you did to my employees, lil’ copycat” She then turns to Anby, “And this time, maybe let us help?”

“Roger.”

“Alright then, Billy?”

“Coming, Boss!”

The 3 members dashed forward, Nicole readying her briefcase, Billy with his fists, and Anby her sword in hand and ready, charging at the doppelganger, they jumped it.

Billy kicked it in the head, followed by using his dismembered arm as a weapon to endlessly slap the copy, followed by the Gravity Warden sending Ether blasts to her to keep her in place, whilst Anby dealt most of the damage with her sword.

The doppelganger tried to wriggle out, but the Cunning Hares were relentless, not even letting the thing contemplate what it should do next, making most of the next three minutes that ensued. Nicole even earned herself a ‘kick of victory’ by kicking it in… that part.

Anby wanted to question Nicole about it, but she was honestly afraid of what she might do to her if she did.

It was also quite easy to distinguish Anby and her Doppelganger, considering the real Anby has a few bleeding slash marks from fighting with herself before, although Nicole was kind of concerned since bleeding in a Hollow is usually a bad thing, but Anby assured her it's fine and said that they were leaving anyway.

“Alright I got the Data,” Belle said through Eous, ”Time to leave”

“Alright! Finally!” Billy cheered, throwing Anby away back to the cluster of Ether crystals, “When I get home, I’m watching Monica all night long!”

Even Nicole cheered, not only at finding the hairpin, but managing to wriggle out of a sticky situation once again. Although she does have to patch things up with Belle later, and maybe Wise, but he could forgive her… right?

Right?

Anby, however, remains silent, looking at the cluster of Ether crystals Billy had just thrown her doppelganger at.

“Anby? What’s wrong?” Wise-Eous asked, a bit confused, “You seem a bit out of it.”

“The bad guy’s theme song always comes in when everything seems fine,” She answered simply, keeping her eye on where Billy threw her copy. “I’m taking no chances.”

“Well, you’re taking this chance now! Cause we’re leaving!” Nicole exclaimed excitedly, hiding Anby from behind, “Alright, gang, let’s g-”

“Ah…” Wise staggered, rubbing his eyes as he felt a wave hit his implants.

“Bro? What’s wrong?”

“Guys, Ether Activity is rising! What’s going on?!”

Hearing that, the three turned back to the cluster of Ether crystals, Billy running towards it to investigate.

“Guys, come quick!” With that call, Anby, Nicole, and Wise-Eous came over to Billy, Nicole picking the Bangboo up to see what they found was… jarring.

“Is that a cocoon?”

Deep among the cluster of Ether crystals, what seemed to be some green crystalised cocoon was hidden inside, right where they had thrown the Doppelganger, who right now, was at the side, seemingly absorbing whatever was inside that thing as the cocoon slowly started to fade, turning grey as the surrounding Ether Activity rose.

“We have to leave now!” Wise exclaimed, and Nicole concurred without question, running in the direction the Bangboo was going, with Anby and Billy in tow, although Billy did run back for his arm.

As they ran to a right turn, they could just feel the erupting Ether waves throughout the air, rippling like water as the aftershock of whatever happened just occurred. But that didn’t matter; all they needed to focus on now was to run!

After going a few corners and running far enough following Eous, Nicole finally asked, “Proxy? What was that thing?!”

“I don’t know!” Wise-Eous exclaimed, turning to the left as the Cunning Hares followed, “I’ve never seen something like that before.”

“Perhaps it’s a new Ethereal… that can leave the Hollows,” Anby suggested.

“Honestly, other than the leave the Hollows part, I think Anby’s right!” Billy says, running as fast as his mechanical legs will take him, “And what did that Doppelganger do to it?”

“Better we didn’t wait around and find out, the exit’s just up ahead.” Wise-Eous pointed to an open metal gate.

The 4 ran toward the gate, running as fast as they could, with an exit in sight, they could escape.

Sadly for the trio, however, the struggle did not end, as a sound of a blast was heard. Billy looked back momentarily and was flabbergasted as an Ether Blast came in their direction.

But it wasn’t just any Ether Blast; momentarily after hitting Billy, the Blast then started to pull Anby and Nicole too, like a Black Hole.

“What the?” Nicole muttered, looking back to find an Ether Blast, similar to hers, pulling her back, dealing significant damage to The Cunning Hares members, feeling slight corruption in their bodies.

As the blast dissipated, the culprit was in view, and the three looked up to find…

“N-Nicole? Ah,” Anby let out, wincing as the corruption took it worse for her due to her injuries..

“It’s the Doppelganger!” Nicole pointed at herself, “But… It’s me now?”

“Hehe, you’re still not mad at us for beating you up… right?” Billy muttered comically, but the glare the other Nicole gave him just brought many memories of the real Nicole on his… mix-ups.

“Guys! You have to leave now!” Wise shouts, and to his relief, Nicole nodded.

“Alright, we have to-”

Just then, Electricity crackled around the fake Nicole, and before the Cunning Hares could even run, they saw the other Nicole run at them.

And as she ran, she slowly morphed into Anby.

“What the-” Nicole muttered, Anby blocking her copy’s attack and sending her flying into the air, only for the Doppelganger to morph again, this time into Billy.

The only difference is, this one had both his arms and his loadout full.

“Incoming!” Billy cried out, seeing the many bullets raining down on them, Nicole and Anby heeded the warning, making sure to dodge as many bullets as they could. Nicole also managed to snatch Eous just in time before it got shot.

Landing on its feet, the fake Billy began shooting all around him as the Cunning Hares scattered, making sure to separate to confuse the Ethereal Mutant on whom to shoot. It wasn’t a foolproof strategy, but it was better than nothing.

“What are we supposed to do here?!”

“I suggest we leave,” Anby shouted nonchalantly, “If what the Proxy said is true, then this thing won’t follow us out of the Hollow.”

“And the exit’s just over there,” Nicole noted, nodding to the other 2 far away, “Everyone flee!”

Not even wanting to fight this freak of nature, the Cunning Hares collectively chose flight, all running toward the exit; however, as they ran toward it, the Doppelganger blocked them, using Nicole’s Ether Blast, Billy’s Bullets, and Anby’s speed, it was not letting them escape.

They would either get pulled and get corruption, electrocuted, or just nearly hit by one of Billy’s bullets.

“Agh! SCREW IT! I’ll fight this thing you guys run!” Billy said, running over to the Ethereal copy, avoiding his own shots as he lunged closer.

Only to be beaten by Anby, who kicked Ethereal Billy on the head.

“Anby!? Why?”

“If you’re going to fight this thing, then I can double our odds of victory, it is simple logic.”

The construct scoffed, “Alright then, time to beat ourselves up!”

Anby nodded, fighting the Ionozied Copy with Billy, who was swinging his dismembered arm like a whip, ultimately landing hits with Anby.

Witnessing this, Nicole goes to cover, hiding behind a metal plate as she places Eous down.

“What the heck, Proxy?! This thing can turn to other people this quickly?!”

“No, it must’ve been that cocoon” The male Proxy concluded, Eous now having a loading screen on his LED before switching back to eyes, “Ionized Doppelgangers can change to people sure but they need time! They aren’t meant to be able to do that instantly, not to mention the Ether Levels of that thing is higher than it should be, and it’s still increasing..”

“How do we beat it then?!” Nicole shouted, peering over just a little bit to find the thing turned into herself to attack Anby before switching to Billy to shoot at the Intelligent construct.

“You don’t….” Wise said darkly, holding out some smoke bombs in Eous’ hand, “I’ll be standing over there near the exit, tell everyone to run to me, and once you’re all near, I’ll blow some of these smoke bombs. That’ll at least blind the Doppelganger long enough before you all run to the exit.”

“Won’t we be blinded too?”

“Yes, but since the exit is just over there, all of you can run to it without needing to see it too clearly, but it’s also important that you not look back until you got out of the Hollow, understand?”

Nicole nodded, her face, however, still hesitant, “But what if it shoots one of us, even if randomly, that thing could shoot just as well as Billy, even in the smoke.”

“Yeah, it’s a risky plan, but it’s the only ooooneeee we gooot. So beeeee caaareeeef-”

“Proxy? Are you al-” Eous shuts down, “P-Proxy?! Wise?! Belle?!”

=======================

Random Play

“NO NO NO NO NO!” Wise yelled, the screen now showing an empty battery symbol with a Bangboo below it, frustrated he slammed the desk “Damn it!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Eous’ power just went out!” Wise answered with a look of dread, “We can’t talk to them anymore.”

“Fuck…” Belle cursed, swiftly heading over to the desk to take the car keys, “I’m going after them, best we can do is go to them ourselves, since they should already be near the Hollow exit, it should be fine.”

“Wait, I’m coming with you,” Wise said resolutely.

“Of course you are, I wouldn’t expect anything less from my Big Bro,” Belle said charmingly, giving Wise a twitch of a smile in this dire situation, “Let’s hope they’re ok.”

========================

“I never thought fighting myself could be this exhausting.” Billy huffed, his circuits feeling all tweaky with multiple bullet and slash marks all around his body, “I’m thankful for my sturdy body, but… Starlight, this hurts.”

The Copy now turned to Nicole, shot out another Ether blast, making sure it got the duo in its pull as it switched to Billy and shot at him again.

Anby managed to block the bullets once again, although her moves have been getting more sluggish since fighting the thing under the bridge; nevertheless, she lunged at the fake Billy with the power she could muster.

Only for the Ether Mutant to turn into her to immediately parry her attack, grabbed her hair and swiftly changed to Nicole, bringing the Briefcase cannon to Anby’s face at black range.

In a moment of desperation, Anby managed to divert the canon away just in the nick of time before kicking the fake Nicole in the chin, however, using the force it had received, it quickly morphed into Anby, landing on her hands and kicked the Cunning Hares swordsman straight in the face before striking with its conjured sword.

It meant to strike the heart, but instead hit the girl’s arm as Billy came with a left hook punch, opening the door for Anby to strike, only for the Doppelganger to turn into Billy and shoot Anby in the face, said girl only surviving after miraculously splitting the bullet in half.

Seeing its plan fail, the Doppelganger turned into Nicole, using the Ether cannon to blast them, the recoil hurling the fake Nicole away.

“What do we do? Every plan we make on the fly keeps getting countered when that thing morphs into someone different!”

“Our best course of action is to flee, but it seems determined to keep us here, as if it’s holding a grudge on us,” Anby concluded.

“Well, to be fair… we did kinda jump it didn’t we?”

“That is true- ack…” Anby winced, feeling the Ache around hr body finally settling in, “My health's low, I don't think taking any more damage would do us well.”

“Same here, circuits getting more wonky by the minute, and I don’t even have my guns!” Billy whined, the Doppelganger now looking like Nicole, walked toward them ominously, “Hey, speaking of which, where’s Nicole?”

Just as they asked that, a blast of Ether hit the Ionized Doppelganger, keeping it in one place, Nicole managed to come and kick it on its boobs, sending it back with one big Ether blast.

“NICE SAVE NICOLE!”

The girl in question came out, carrying a Bangboo in her left arm and bombs on the right, which intrigued Billy.

“Woah, what’s with the Bombs you got there?” Billy questioned both Nicole and Wise, “We gonna blow it up, Proxy?”

“Proxy’s gone, the battery went out, we’re all alone, but we can still escape.” Nicole said quickly, “These smoke bombs will distract it, at least long enough for us to flee.”

“Wait wait wait, what’s the plan exactly? I’m a bit lost.” Billy voiced, which earned an irritated look from Nicole.

“Just run that direction and I’ll throw these bombs to distract it!” She exclaimed, pointing at the metal gate, ”Make sure to scatter so at least it’ll be confused on who to attack, then I’ll detonate the smoke bombs to make sure it’s blinded, and make sure you run only in that direction, but don’t go straight either.”

“How am I supposed to do that?!”

“Just follow your instincts! You can’t be that broken, can you?!” Nicole reasoned, earning a hesitant nod from Billy and a resolute one from Anby.

“Alright, so run that way, but make sure to not run in a straight line?”

“So you don’t get shot just in case.”

“OOOH!” Billy said, facepalming, “THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!”

“Agh!” Nicole facepalmed, feeling like her head was going to erupt from the stupidity of this intelligent construct, “Oh and one more thing.”

The two came closer to listen.

“Whatever you do, don’t turn back if one of us isn’t out.”

The two faces paled, “Nicole.”

“I know Anby, but with that thing here, it’s too dangerous to come back, especially since we’re all injured.”

“But… I can’t just leave Anby!”

“I concur, I disagree with this.”

“I’m not saying I’m gonna leave one of you for dead!” Nicole exclaimed, “I’m the least injured here; you all suffered corruption and cuts, hell, Billy, you’re sparking electricity! If anyone’s left behind, I’ll stay until I’m sure you’re both out. Also, make sure to answer when I call your names. If I don’t hear anything, I’ll assume you’re both out, understood?”

“...Boss…”

“Don’t give me that look, Billy, you know I have a good sense of direction, right? Besides, I won’t just abandon you.”

“I won’t either…” Anby voiced, which gave Nicole a sombre look.

“Anby-”

“RAAAAAAAAAAAH!” A screech of three voices could be heard, all coming from one single Ethereal that now looks like Billy, walking along the path to the exit.

“Jeez, Billy, you can be scary when you want to…” Nicole murmured, and shook her head, not wanting to let her mind wander as she grabbed the shut-down Eous tightly in her left arm, “Alright, no more complaining, are you ready?”

The two gave hesitant but resolute nods, readying themselves to sprint in different directions.

“Alright then, GO!!”

The three of them ran toward the Ethereal as it turned into Anby, ready for another attack; however, it momentarily contemplated who it should attack first, considering they’re all so scattered.

And that window was all that Nicole needed. Immediately, she threw the smoke bombs all around them, hiding the Cunning Hares from sight as all of them were covered in smoke, bringing even more incertitude to the Ethereal Copy.

Seeing Billy and Anby out of sight, Nicole rushes ahead to the Doppelganger, giving it a swift hit to the back of the head, sending it back, out of sight, and into the fog.

Once done, Nicole ran ahead, traversing the smoke and making sure to keep her destination clear, yet also making sure that she didn’t make herself an easy target by moving around randomly.

Hopefully, the plan will work, and she’ll get to finally be rid of this Etheric air.

========================

Outside the Dead-End Hollow

“We’re here,” Belle said, getting out of the driver’s seat. ”This should be where the Hollow exit is.”

Wise, meanwhile, crawled out of that car, frantically breathing as he felt his life flash before his eyes.

Due to the fact that Wise had used the H.D.D for a significantly long time, Belle thought it’d be cool if she drove them here, and Wise, the bastard, actually agreed because they were in a hurry, blissfully forgetting how much of a road devil his sister was.

Now, don’t get him wrong, Belle wasn’t bad at driving, in fact, she can be a decent driver if she wants, but due to the urgency, Belle finds it fitting to be a little wild on the road and gung-ho behind the wheel.

How they did not get pulled over by PubSec was a miracle in on itself.

“Aw, c’mon, bro, don’t be dramatic, it wasn’t that bad.” Wise got up, feeling like he could throw up so much it’d fill up a bathtub. “Ok, clearly you’re not pleased, but if we didn’t get here sooner the-”

“Agh!” The two turned toward the source of the sound, looking over, they saw a silhouette with yellow eyes, presumably one that just exited the Hollow, “Huh? OH SWEET FRESH AIR! HOW I MISSED YOU IN MY BREATHING MODULE!”

“Billy! You’re back safe! Thank Goodne- OH MY GOD!” Belle had outstretched her arms upon hearing the all-familiar voice, only to find Billy with multiple slashes and bullet marks, exposed wiring, oh and let’s not forget his missing ar, making him look like those animatronics from the game Wise was tpo scared to play.

“MANAGERS! You’re here!”

“Of course we are, after Eous went dead, we had to come and help somehow,” Belle said with a kind smile before questioning the android more, ”Did Nicole use Wise’s plan?”

The man was still throwing up, by the way.

“Oh yeah, the smoke bomb exit plan, right? You bet she did,” Billy said, sniffing the air again, “Huh, my air intake feels refreshed after smelling the air!”

“On another note, are you okay?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, just missing an arm, a few bullet marks here and there, and I think nearly all my power’s used up, but I’m fine.”

“Good to know you’re fine then,” Belle said sarcastically.

Billy stood proudly, “Yes, I am!” All of a sudden, everything hurts… and Billy fell to the ground on his knees.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Fine… right…” Wise drawled.

“Hehe… anyway, where’s Nicole and Anby? They made it out?”

“You’re actually the first who got out,” Wise answered, surprising Billy as he grabbed his hair, panicked.

“Wait, then that means Boss and Anby are still in there?!!”

“Don’t worry, Billy,” Belle said to him, “If you manage to get out, I’m sure both of them can.”

=========================

“Billy! Anby!” Nicole called, grabbing Eous in her left arm and her canon ready on her right. She knew she had agreed to this plan, but it was still terrifying to even go through this. Not being able to rely on Billy or Anby, or even get betrayed by them in a way, since that Doppelganger can copy them.

“Still here!” Anby answered; however, no answer came from Billy, which hopefully means he’s out. Hopefully.

Nicole just hopes this works, because the pressure was setting in deeply.

“Get going! Don’t wait up for me!”

Nicole has to admit, it felt eerie being in some form of fog, you can see light, yet at the same time, the smoke just lets you see nothing, it’s honestly a jarring experience the first time you do it, although made worse with your distrust of anyone.

Looking around her, she felt herself tense, feeling that an attack from any direction could come at any moment, and from anyone she knew.

After a while, Nicole decided to call Anby again.

“A-”

“Nicole.” Nicole turned her head, quickly aiming her canon toward the sound of the voice; however, her face softened at seeing Anby come into view.

Abruptly, she stopped, thinking that she was the Doppelganger, but seeing those injuries on her, it made sure to soothe her worries that this was even that Ethereal Anby.

However, Anby looked even more injured, her leg looked like it had been twisted and sliced off, blood spilling out of it repeatedly, earning a gasp from Nicole.

“Anby! What happened?!” Nicole shouted, running over to the burger lover, concerned.

“I…I’m fine…”

“No, you’re not!” Nicole exclaimed, looking down at her leg, “Oh my god, how did you even get away with that?!”

“I…I don’t know…”

“Sit tight, ok, I’ll get you ou-”

“Nicole, wait!”

“Huh?” Nicole’s eyes dropped, turning to the source of the other voice, which sounded exactly like Anby.

Soon, the figure of the girl came into view, looking exactly like the Anby in front of her, her eyes widened with dread as she ran closer, but more importantly, her leg wasn’t injured.

Before she could even react… Nicole Demara was stabbed in the back, a sword protruding from the right side of her chest.

Chapter Text

It didn’t hurt at first…

It was too fast… she didn’t really feel hurt… not that she didn’t feel anything.

She felt the blade sink into her body as it went straight through, from her back and out of her chest, poking out of it as it drenched in her blood…

All she saw as it happened was Anby, a face of overwhelming terror splattered across her… it didn’t really suit her; she’s better off with that nonchalant look when watching movies.

Then she felt it, the pain started in her chest, the revelation rushing to her brain as it sank in deeply, she felt the drips of blood trickling down her back and chest, the corruption of Ether managing to seep into her blood vessels ever so slowly.

But to just make it worse, the sword was ripped out of her, and everything just felt wrong as she struggled to stay awake, the pain being feeling too much as she felt every second of it despite it happening nearly instantaneously, more blood trickling down as the opening wound enlargened, her throat filling with blood as she felt it rush up her mouth from her lungs, making her struggle to even breathe.

She didn’t even have the strength to get back up after being kicked to the side as the world seemingly shattered around her.

She could see things perfectly, yet it all became cloudy all the same. She could hear but also not, and with the hole in her chest, she felt a void, sucking the life out of her by the second She remains alive, thoughts of both wanting to cling to life and ending it right now swirled her mind as she just barely hears what Anby says.

“H̸̪̰̊o̴̩̐͠w̷̗͇͛́ ̴̳͋̿d̸̯͕̅̒a̷̭̹̔͆r̴̰̮̽ē̵̡̖ ̶̢̯͑y̷̛̬̺͐ȍ̴̺̼̌u̶̙̇…” She couldn’t make out what she said, but all she heard next was the clashing of metal blades as the pain started to overwhelm her, death seemingly loomed closer than it ever had to her as she saw Anby picking her up.

Next thing she knew, the Ether-infested air was gone; she could barely feel the difference because of the wound; still, it felt nicer than before.

But then her ears nearly ruptured, hearing screams from people that seemed familiar as her eyes gazed into the sky before looking over to the screams, her sight too dazed to even process who she was looking at before she felt herself being picked up again, next thing she knew, she felt like she was moving while staying in the same spot, as someone pressed on her chest.

It was agony, the pain of her chest being pressed after the stabbing, simply pure agony, followed by a voice she recognised.

“S̷̫̯̉̍ṫ̷̪̪͋͒a̶̛͖̝̅͂ȳ̷̡̗͕ ̷̮̦̰̃w̶̝̰̦̐i̸̬̲̞͒ṱ̸̌̈́͝ḧ̴͔̱̖͝ ̸̢͒̎m̷̧̏͘e̴͔̓ͅ ̸͍͆̇͛b̵̠̔o̵̜͕͙̿̏̊s̷͎̖͝s̵͈̿̂!̸̦͂̒ ̷̩̦̀S̷̨͆̽̚T̷̩̀͘A̶̛̠͔̭̋Ȳ̸͓̚ ̴̨̛̻͂͜W̵̨̪̪̄I̵̡̦̟̓̇T̴̩̋H̵͍̘͌̑̾ ̸̠̜͌̀͆M̷̫̩̳̎́E̸̱̜̓͛͊͜ ̶͉̐̍̐P̵̦̪̈́̈́ͅL̴̼̭̫̓Ë̴͎̳̥̀A̴̹̾S̶̩̖̗̿͆̚E̴̝̽!̷͉͎͛͌̀” Was that…. Billy? She couldn’t really make out what he was saying, but he sounded worried.

The searing heat still lingered through her body, and the void in her chest remained, leaving her gagging as she drowned in blood, her blood…

“B̵̦̬̈́͜ó̷̭s̸͖̱̬̀́͝s̸̩͚͐̽ ̵̩͑p̸̮͖͈̐̽̕ĺ̷͚̳͆͒e̶̞̓̅a̶͍̝̟͒͒͊s̵͉̹̻͌e̴͇̬̊̓!̷͉̟̕ ̷̥̻̈́̚N̴̙̘̆i̸̥̯͗̀̀c̴̻̠̝̽̍̿ŏ̴̬̤͋͘ͅl̸̟̋̀ê̶̲͜͝!̵̱̟́”

“H̶a̷n̸g̷ ̷i̴n̴ ̸t̷h̷e̵r̶e̵ ̴N̷i̴c̵o̸l̶e̵!̵”

“Belle? Billy?” She replied, recognising the voices, yet also not.

“D̷o̷n̷'̷t̷ ̷t̶a̵l̷k̵ ̷b̵o̸s̵s̶!̴ ̸y̷o̷u̵'̵r̵e̸ ̵g̸o̴n̵n̵a̵ ̶b̸e̶ ̶o̷k̶a̷y̷.”

She could barely make out what that said… and she wasn’t even given the chance to dwell on it as her throat filled with blood once again.

Everything after that felt like a daze… all she could think now was how upset she had made Belle this morning, every time she scolded Billy too much. All those times she took advantage of the proxy siblings, times when Anby got severely injured in her early days with them.

The orphanage… her friend she tried to help… faces of those she scammed…. Faces of those she helped….

Those she met…

Those she remembered…

Those she forgot…

Darkness began to consume her, covering her in comfort as she felt the pain slowly dissipate, her thoughts, her sense of self… slowly slipping back into nothing… as the blanket of death came, wrapping her around carefully and peacefully as the pain slowly went away.

==============================

Meanwhile, in the Dead-End Hollow.

THLANG!

Both Anbys clashed, the friction of their blades creating sparks as they slid away. Anby rared for another clash, but the Doppelganger turned into Nicole, and Anby ended up clashing with the briefcase before being blasted with Ether.

Stuck in the gravity blast, the Ethereal Mutant turned into Billy and shot at her, only for Anby to block the bullets sent her way, lunging at the copy immediately to gain an advantage.

Anby sent another slash, but the copy ducked, turning back into Anby as they clashed their blades once again.

Both of them had landed hits, yet neither wavered, their will resolute in doing what they believed must be done, their desire to kill overshadowing anything else that mattered.

And as the sky darkened, lightning tore through the Ether-filled air as electricity crackled between the human and ethereal.

============================

Playing: Come Alive, by: Sān-Z

Intro Playing

Feel free to listen before moving forward.

============================

Coff Cafe, Sixth Street

Thursday, 16:58 p.m.

Coffee

Many people like it, many people need it, some dislike it, and some just don’t drink it, while a countable few are outright addicted.

Now, Shepherd has to admit, he loathed coffee at first; he didn’t want to even try it after that first sip, but with Coff Cafe being one of the only places where he and proxies would and could meet, he kind of has no choice in the matter, so he begrudgingly drinks that bitter drink.

At first, at least…

Now he wonders if he’s going to suffer from addiction.

Even now, he’s about to drink a cup when the sun’s nearly about to set, ready to order at Coff Cafe, his money already in hand, which is worrying him. On one hand, with him being here nearly all the time makes up for good cover, and the smell inside was good; but on the other hand, he’s starting to realise the unhealthy amount of crushed hot bean water he’s been consuming when he flat out couldn’t sleep the other night.

Don’t get him started on the time Tin Master wouldn’t give him a cup, so he brewed his own from 141 convenience.

The intelligence broker just sighed in defeat at this point, sinking his head and pride into his fedora as the need to ask for help on his growing addiction became more clear by every sunrise, but for now, he begrudgingly indulges it, and is now about to order-

Bzzzzzt

“Oh, thank goodness, a reason!” The man begrudgingly yet swiftly took out his phone to see who had called, however, to his confusion…

“Phaethon? What do they want with me this time?”

Shepherd walks outside and sits down, making sure to look around momentarily before actually answering the call.

“Yes, Hello?”

“SHEPHERD! I NEED A HOSPITAL! DO YOU KNOW ONE FOR HOLLOW RAIDERS?!”

That shout had been so abrupt on his ears that the Broker could’ve sworn he had gone deaf; however, testing his hearing for a bit, he sighed with relief and went back to the call, “I’m sorry, Belle, I didn’t get that.”

“HOW THE FUCK DO YOU- HOSPITAL! FOR HOLLOW RAIDERS! DO YOU KNOW ONE?!”

“You know, screaming isn’t real-”

“DO YOU KNOW ONE OR NOT?!”

“Ok, first of all, just tell me what you’re dealing wi-”

“STAB TO THE CHEST! RIGHT THROUGH! WEAPON TAKEN OUT! BLOOD SPILLING EVERYWHERE!”

Shepherd’s eyes widen, “Wh-What happened?!”

“ARE YOU GOING TO QUESTION OR ARE YOU GOING TO LIFT YOUR ASS AND HELP ME?!”

“Ok ok ok, you’re not really giving me a lot of options, but you are-”

“SHEPHERD!

“Right, sorry I-.... there’s not really one hospital specifically, but I know someone who runs an unlicensed clinic down at Eighteenth Street! He’s not a surgeon, but he is friends with one who used to work in the Ridu Hospital. I’ll contact him so he can call that surgeon.”

================================

“The address number is EX-14, you got that?”

“Got it! Thanks, Shepherd!” Belle said, hanging up on the phone, her chest all covered in blood as she pressed her foot on the gas pedal to go as fast as she could, but also as carefully to not attract any attention from Pubsec, the last thing they need right now is the N.E.P.S!

“Billy! How is she?!”

“She’s losing a lot of blood!” Billy stated worryingly, panning over to Nicole, who was spilling blood all over the car seat of Random Play from the hole in her chest, and the blood she kept coughing out.

“Belle, I don’t think she’s breathing!”

“I’m going as fast as I can! Just keep applying pressure! We can’t lose her! Not like this!” The girl shouted, stepping on the gas pedal as Billy tried to keep his boss alive, but it was growing difficult with his one hand and his damaged body.

“Nicole, just hang on, you’ll be fine, alright? You’re going to be fine.”

===============================

Dead-End Hollow

Thursday, 17:17 p.m.

Anby ran, dodging another Ether blast from Nicole, followed by another few rounds from Billy.

To retaliate, Anby went for a pile of rubble, grabbing a few pieces of concrete and throwing many of them at the Doppelganger.

Seeing this, it changed into Nicole, hitting away all the debris it could before noticing Anby lunge forward.

The Doppelganger parried, but Anby just grabbed Nicole’s hair, using it as a human shield from the other incoming rubble, letting it take the damage.

Once done, Anby didn’t give it a time to react, she stabbed through Nicole’s head, pulling her by the hair to drag her down and slam her face on the concrete wall, dragging the Ethereal with her blade before lunging her face first into a wall.

The doppelganger has had enough; it shot out a large Ether blast toward Anby, hitting the white-haired girl as she felt corruption in her veins rising.

Soon, it morphed into Anby and dashed forward, only to be parried by Anby, who seemed to have recovered instantaneously.

Feeling vindictive, the white-haired girl brought out a piece of concrete and smashed her copy’s face with it, letting the rubble shatter into pieces as the Ethereal felt the impact.

Seeing it on the ground, she smacked the thing with another piece of concrete, shattering it instantly as it hit its face.

Once that’s done, she raised her sword, hovered it over the Ionized Ethereal’s head, and…

“Agh…”, Fell to her knees.

The weight of her body suddenly increased as her mind became dazed, suddenly coughing whilst gasping for air as her breath became ragged, her arms slumped down, and her legs? They wouldn’t let her stand up.

And seeing this, the Doppelganger took its opportunity, healing its appearance, it intended to deal a blow right at Anby’s neck, only stopping as Anby made a desperate attempt to block it with her own sword.

The Doppelganger looked down, its eyes devoid of any life, only purpose.

To kill.

It grabbed Anby’s right arm, squeezing tight till the girl wailed in pain, making her drop her sword. The Doppelganger took the sword Anby had, observing it momentarily before returning her gaze to her prey.

She swung the sword at her face, but Anby caught it in the nick of time, her face filled with rage, and a desire to destroy.

Anby grabbed the Doppelganger’s hair, quickly acting on instinct, the Ethereal Mutant changed into Billy, aiming right at her head, but Anby was fast, she grabbed the fake Billy’s hand, aimed its revolver at its own head and shot it at its mechanical cerebrum at point black range, making sure the Ethereal still held the revolver when shooting.

Now stunned, the Ethereal wailed in pain, screeching in all 3 voices, but Anby gave no attention to the wailing beast, her focus right now lay on her legs.

“Work.” She stated coldly, hitting her legs repeatedly, “Wake up.”

Upon recovering, the Doppelganger glared at the white-haired girl, shooting many rounds toward the Cunning Hares' soldier.

“WAKE UP!” Anby shouted, hitting her leg one more time as the sensation started to come back to her, and on instinct, she instantly dodged the bullets aimed at her.

Upon seeing this, the Doppelganger turned into Nicole, sending out another Ether blast toward Anby in an attempt to keep her in one place, yet Anby managed to escape its pull in the nick of time.

Anby was tired, she was injured, her legs gave out, and she had to wake them up, and now her weapon, her sword, taken by the copy as it turned into her, duel-wielding both her sword and its conjured copy.

Both of them stopped, eyes unwavering as they gazed into one another’s souls, even Anby, who was now bare-handed, didn’t falter, even as the Doppelganger held both weapons high like a prize.

Her eyes focused, seemingly on the Doppelganger, either waiting for a strike or an opportunity to strike.

The Doppelganger turned into Billy and shot rounds from one hand whilst holding the sword in the other, deciding to shoot from a distance first.

Anby side-stepped, dived down, avoiding the bullets coming at her before lunging at the copy. In response, the copy turned into Anby. striking the girl with two swords in hand.

But Anby’s focus wasn’t on the Doppelganger.

As the Ethereal turned into her, Anby jumped up, landing on her own head and using it to propel herself. She took out the portable charging pack on her back, swinging it at the cluster of Ether crystals that was behind the Doppelganger, focusing solely on the weak points of that cluster as a blast emanated from those crystals, sending the Doppelganger flying.

But that didn’t matter, for what came out was exactly what Anby needed.

Two pieces of Ether crystals, one longer than the other, but both enough to be used as weapons, or more precisely, temporary swords.

The Doppelganger turned around, a bit confused. Anby turned as well, her eyes resolute, as she gripped the two makeshift weapons tightly.

The Doppelganger growled with its mixed voices, like the beast it was, then again, Anby was no different from her.

The Doppelganger gripped its two swords tightly, both standing across one another, lightning struck between them, the grey clouds coloured the sky, as the two locked their gaze with one another, both pairs of Amber eyes, waiting to eviscerate.

A drop of water then rippled the silence between the original and the copy; they both took notice, but their gaze was kept on one another.

Then the fifth water dropped.

Then the eighteenth

The thirty-seventh.

The one hundred eighty-second.

All followed into… the downpour, the Ether-infused rainwater ringing in their ears as every drop hits the ground, hitting every fibre of the 2 combatants as it soaked them.

And as the lightnight struck...

The Ethereal struck first, charging with the right blade as Anby parried with her left, making sure to hit the flat side of the blade as Etheric sparks seemingly came from the Ether crystals’ friction.

Anby then attacked with her right, cursing herself as she went by instinct and went for a hit instead of a thrust, not that it mattered since the Doppelganger did the same as her.

Both followed the pattern of parries and dodges, doing swift but precise movements, shuffling between offence and defence in an attempt to sway one another into a moment of weakness.

Anby expected it to change, to morph into someone; she was more than ready to fight Billy or Nicole, knowing they weren’t even the real ones, but instead of changing, it stayed as her, parrying and dodging every strike as Anby.

“Why isn’t it changing? Did you lose that ability?” That was her first thought, noticing this. However, Anby shook it away almost immediately. Even if corrupted, Ethereals could still feel fear and panic; it’s something all living beings have, corrupted or not. “But I know me. Its movements are too precise to be afraid; is it planning something?”

As the Ether crystal slid along the sword, crackling it with etheric sparks, the Doppelganger suddenly jumped back, creating some distance between the two.

Anby immediately held her crystals firm, ready for an onslaught of bullets from Billy, but instead, the doppelganger ran, entering an abandoned parking lot.

Confused, Anby quickly followed her Ethereal look-alike, the damp ether-filled scent hit her nose the moment she entered, the downpour having made her dripping wet, with the Doppelganger nowhere in sight, only a trail of rainwater it left behind.

As things slowed down, the injuries she had were beginning to resurface, especially after being hit with rainwater, but she couldn’t let this stop her; she needed to make this thing pay for what it had done.

Cautiously, she followed the trail of water, the thundering downpour outside still roared, as thunder occasionally came down crackling as if signifying her coming end.

Anby breathed slowly, controlling her breath in an attempt to calm down from the sinking anxiety she was in, telling herself to get ready in case another one of Nicole’s Ether blasts was coming from the Doppelganger.

“Where are you scum?”

Anby, however, got her answer rather quickly.

After following the trail for a bit, it came to a sudden stop, water dripping in the exact spot where the trail had ended. Looking at the ceiling, Anby saw a flash of herself quickly throwing a sword.

Anby quickly moved aside, dodging the surprise attack as the Doppelganger lunged at her from above with dual swords. Electricity crackled with its blade as Anby parried with one of the crystals; the sharp edges of the blade colliding with condensed Ether she had used, causing it to crack, forcing Anby’s weapon off her dominant hand.

Immediately, Anby struck with her other crystal, making sure to thrust and aim for the head, but the Doppelganger tilted slightly, making sure to dodge the crystal as its other sword came toward Anby’s head.

Instinctively, Anby dropped the cracked crystal from her hand, catching the sword with her hand, causing it to bleed with the blade sinking into her skin.

And then Anby heard crackling… her eyes then widened as she saw the blade she held crackle with electricity, swiftly consuming the sword as it etched into her fingertips, and flowing right into her body.

“AAAAAAAAAGH!” Anby shrieked, the electricity affecting every one of her senses, amplifying the already damaged body she had, the water from the rain making it all the easier for the currents to travel through her body.

Anby would’ve fallen there, defeated by her own copy, but the Doppelganger did more; it turned into Billy, grabbing the girl by the hair and kicking her out of the abandoned parking lot and back out into the rain, her body skidded out as the blood mixed with the puddles, and to make it worse, an Ether blast from Nicole was shot, dealing even more corruption to Anby if the Hollow-infused air and water weren’t enough.

Anby wailed quietly, the pain of everything that had happened in this Hollow coming up instantaneously, the exhaustion, the bruises, the electrocution, all accumulating to send the girl down, and making sure she stayed down.

The Ethereal copy ominously approached, turning from Nicole into Anby as she loomed over the beaten girl, kicking her to the side and violently stomped its foot right on her face, the sword in its hand crackled with electricity as it aimed directly at the white-haired girl’s eye, claiming victory in the battle.

For a moment, Anby closed her eyes, feeling her veins pulsing as her muscles burned, with her brain keeping itself together just so she could stay awake as she lay on the wet ground, her blood spilling out into the puddles as her senses were all over the place due to being electrocuted, she thinks back to everything.

Her old life…

Her new life…

The Proxies, Billy…

Nicole…

“I'll have to put my trust in you wholeheartedly, don't let me down now, got it?”

The doppelganger stiffened, seeing Anby somehow get up, grab its wrist tightly, the sword centimetres away from her face. The girl then tightened her grip, forcing the doppelganger to drop both swords as she kicked it in the gut.

“I haven’t died yet…” Anby muttered as the doppelganger was reconstructing its sword, as one of the ones in front of Anby perished. Anby picks the sword up, gripping it tightly despite the scar it gave her, the blood painting the handle as Anby firmly pointed at her copy.

They both lunged forward, Anby striking without constraint as she didn’t need to worry about her weapons breaking that easily anymore, relentlessly clashing as the adrenaline rushed to her brain, giving her every power boost she needed.

The Doppelganger stumbled back, turning into Billy and aimed directly at the girl, but Anby was ready for this shit and turned the gun back before it could shoot and pulled the trigger, making sure the Ethereal still held the gun.

Feeling Anby close, the Doppelganger sucker-puncher Anby with Billy’s metal hand, before quickly turning into Nicole, trying to send the girl away with an Ether blast, Anby then proceeded to spit on the Ethereal with the fresh blood she got from the sucker-punch and quickly punched Nicole, giving it a double right hook on the cheek, followed by another on the left, it was considerably easier since Nicole’s face was the softest among the three.

Anby then pushes the Doppelganger down, pinning it with her body weight as she raises her sword and stabs fiercely at the chest without hesitation, not even letting her mind process anything. She goes back to her default settings.

Desperate, the Doppelganger tried to talk its way out of it as Nicole, “Anby!”

Anby didn’t care, feeling the frustration and exhaustion seethe under her amber eyes as all she was focused on was killing this bastard of an Ethereal.

“Anby ….wait,” Billy spoke, but for nought, as Anby just stabbed Billy in the head.

Finding the silence comforting, she aimed mostly at the head, wanting to cherish that silence even more, intent on not letting this Ethereal say another word out of its fake mout-

“Captain?”

Anby froze. The face that appeared in front of her right now was of herself, yet slightly different, younger, innocent…

Her hands shivered, memories came flooding back to the days before Nicole, to the days of-

“Captain… pleas-” Anby stabbed the girl in the head, her eyes teary as the thunder crackled through the sky.

Her rage was unfiltered, unrelenting, her red-rimmed eyes evidence of her emotions as she kept stabbing the Ethereal.

“How dare you!” She cried out, shouting uncharacteristically as she stabbed the Ethereal in the face repeatedly, her emotions swirling inside as the tears welled up, “Don’t you dare try and be THEM! DON’T YOU DARE TRY AND MOCK MY MEMORY OF THEM!”

The roar echoed through the Hollow as Anby kept stabbing the Ethereal, and soon, after a gruelling 2 minutes of endlessly stabbing its Ionized body, the Ethereal finally dissipated, leaving behind one cracked, weird-looking gem in place of its head.

With her victory, Anby could only shiver, her breaths strained and shallow as she instinctively took the gem with her, going by pure instinct to look around her to find the exit as the adrenaline started to wear off.

The blood from her hands was still dripping, mixing with the water as she walked towards the exit in a daze. Her mind slowly went blank as she struggled to stay awake, waltzing herself, pushing herself to the metal gate.

Rather quickly, her mind finally went blank as she fell through the metal gate, feeling the sensation of coming out of the Hollows; finally breathing fresh air in her unconscious state, feeling hard, rough concrete collide with her face as she fell through the Hollow exit, feeling the lack of Ether in the air as she ultamitely fell deep in her slumber.

???

???

Anby's eyes fluttered open, a bright fluorescent light assaulting her eyes, her breath rapid yet calm, a weird feeling to most, but Anby was pretty much used to it, although this time it felt a tad bit different, feeling like she had been in a very long dream it was difficult to piece things together.

Sitting up, she immediately looked around instinctively, cold sweat trickling down her forehead as she analysed her surroundings, this wasn’t her resting pod, the Cunning Hares never had a base of operations, so she was pretty used to waking up in unfamiliar places from day to day.

About 3 beds, including the one she’s in, white walls, floor and ceiling, a brown desk filled with equipment, and double sliding doors that she presumes are the exit to this room. Honestly, she would think this is a hospital, but she knows Nicole couldn’t-

“Nicole…” Her eyes widen, glad that she remembered Nicole, but immediately shift to terror at remembering what had happened.

She tossed her blanket aside, not giving any attention to the fact that she was now in a hospital gown instead of her usual attire, as she got up from the bed, feeling the ache in her muscles immediately after standing on her two feet.

She grunted, but shoved it down; she couldn’t stop now, she needed to find Nicole.

Sliding the door open, Anby frantically waltzed into the hallway, looking around. She spotted the nearest door to her left and lightly sprinted that way, outstretched her hand to open the door, only for it to open itself with a man she recognised in her view.

“Anby?”

“Pro- Manager…” She addressed, correcting herself before slipping out the man’s identity as a proxy, but while she felt at ease seeing a familiar face, Nicole was still nowhere to be seen, “Nicole, where is sh- Agh.”

“Hey, hey, calm down,” Wise tried to assure, catching Anby who stumbled onto him, catching her with his body, “You shouldn’t even be up yet.”

“I need to know, where is she?”

Wise sighed and nodded, “Alright, at least let me help you up.”

Anby agreed, letting Wise wrap an arm around her neck as he helped her up, helping her walk into the room, looking around. Anby spots Belle, who was sitting beside a hospital bed, and in that bed…

“Nicole…” Anby tried to rush in to see her, only being stopped by Wise, taking a closer look, her eyes grew wide at the haunting sight. She was bandaged around her chest area, multiple IVs were connected to the veins of her arm, and a tube was inserted into her throat. “How is she?”

“She’s alright,” Belle assured, glancing back over at Nicole, “I took her here just in time, although the doctor says she’ll need to rest, she’s fine and recovering.”

Anby felt a weight lift off her shoulders hearing that, relief flooded over her nonchalant face as her knees gave out, forcing Wise to tighten his grip on her to keep her up.

“Anby?”

“She’s alright…” Anby muttered, her voice shaking, “She’s… alive.”

“Anby… are you okay?” Belle asked Anby.

“I’m sorry you had to see that….” She apologised, gazing at Belle, “Did you bring me here?”

“We both did,” Wise answered, “Billy and Belle took Nicole to this clinic and I stayed behind to wait for you in case you come out, when you did come out, you were covered in bruises, and your clothes were ripped in some place, I had to pick you up and carry you for a bit before seeing Belle and Billy, then I put you in the car before hopping in myself.”

“I’m sorry to burden you, I must’ve been heavy to carry.”

“Not at all compared to Billy, you’re light as a feather.”

Anby’s eyes then widen, “Billy… where is he?”

“We dropped him off at Enzo’s after you got care,” Belle answered, “since he is an android, it’s more of his expertise than a doctor’s.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m sure Enzo will treat him very well.” Anby let out, the haze and groginess coming back to her after she calmed down, losing her strength. Wise tightened his grip to keep her up, making sure he didn’t let her go.

“Maybe you should go back to sleep,” Wise suggested.

“Mmm, I’ll do that.”

With Wise’s help, Anby went back to the room she was in before, leaning even more on Wise as her muscles involuntarily spasmed randomly at times, making it rather hard to walk on her own for the moment.

As Wise carried the girl back to bed, he glanced at her. Remembering how she cried over seeing Nicole. It was a normal reaction to have, yet seeing Anby cry of all people, it was jarring.

He knows it’s normal, but it never really clicks in his mind that Anby could do that; despite logic saying otherwise, he couldn’t even imagine what she went through.

What happened in that Hollow? That thought scared him, and his curiosity made him want to ask the witness herself, but with things as they are, it felt inappropriate, especially since she had come out bruised and exhausted.

So Wise kept silent, getting her to bed, Wise helped the movie enthusiast down, letting her body rest on the bed.

“Sorry, we couldn’t be here with you before…” Wise said apologetically, “Belle just felt really guilty after what she said to Nicole before all this, so she’s sticking with her more, and I didn’t really wanna leave her alone in this.”

“You need not apologise, I would’ve done the same thing if I were her.”

“Still, someone should’ve stayed with you; it would’ve been easier for you if someone had explained.”

"I wanted you by my side, because that’s the safest place you can ever be,” Anby quoted, pulling the blanket up to cover her, “A wise man said that once, and in the matter of this context, it’s good that you were with your sister, having company is truly the safest place one can be.”

Wise smiled, “That man must be very wise, then.”

“A very wise scientist who risked half of the world for his wife, even when foolish, he was wise.”

“Of course it’s a movie quote.”

“Still, we should’ve been here; you deserve someone to be beside you, too, you know?”

“No… I don’t…” Anby mumbled quietly under her breath, Wise only being able to catch a bit of it.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, speaking of. How long have I been asleep?” Anby inquired, changing the subject entirely.

“Considering it’s fifteen minutes to eleven,” Wise said, turning to the clock on the wall, “I’d say around six hours.”

“You and your sister should probably get some rest, even if you’re not combatants, rest is still important.”

“Then you should get some rest too, “Wise suggested, “After what you’ve been through, I’m sure six hours isn’t enough sleep, plus I think you need to let those stitches heal.”

Anby paused, “I have stitches?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”

“I barely knew they were there, actually,” Anby answered, moving her hand to confirm Wise’s info; sure enough, he was right. “Pain itself is an old comrade of mine in a way, I’ve felt worse than this.”

“That… is not easing me…”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.” Anby’s eyes then became fatigued, growing tired again as her head felt attracted to the pillow below her, “Agh.”

“Anby? You okay?”

“I’m fine…” she answered grudgingly, yet swiftly. “It seems I just need to rest, as you said. You should go back to your sister; she’ll need your company.”

“What about you?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you going to be alright alone? I can stay here if you want.” Wise suggested.

“There’s no need, your sister is probably getting worried, you should return.”

Wise sighed reluctantly, but agreed, “Alright, just make sure you rest alright?” The grey-haired proxy said, walking out as he slid the door closed, leaving Anby on her own.

Walking down the hallway to the other room, he laments about everything that's happening. Today was… chaotic, and not in a good way.

Sometimes, Wise just hated being a bystander to most of these things, but with this being how his job worked, he had no choice; this was his job after all, no one expected him to fight. But even then, it didn’t make him feel any better; he still feels guilty for somewhat abandoning them, whether intentionally or not.

Though he figures it was probably worse for Belle due to this morning. After everything she had said about Nicole, after shouting at her for something like breaking the radio, it probably made Belle feel even more guilty after seeing Nicole exit the Hollow with a stab wound.

He remembered the utter face of horror plastered on his sister's face, basically almost begging him to take her to a clinic.

Wise sighed. He can’t think about this now; today had been hectic for everyone.

He needed sleep.

Returning to Nicole’s room, Wise spots Belle still sitting beside Nicole, this time resting her head on the bed, not wanting to leave the girl alone.

Wise sighed, going over to the bed to drag his unconscious sister away from Nicole to let her sleep peacefully.

While dragging Belle away without waking her up, Wise could see the tints of water down her cheeks, leftover from all the crying his sister had done before.

“I shouldn’t have said that to her… I wouldn’t have screamed at her like I did before… What if she doesn’t make it?! I know I cursed at her in my room, but I didn’t want this!”

The worry his sister had for Nicole at the time, the guilt as if this was all her fault, it really broke him seeing her like that, all he could do at the time was try to reassure her while giving tissues to at least make things easier, and as Anby said, be the company she needed.

Setting his sister down, covering her with a blanket he had brought from home, Wise eyed the two women in the room, breathing deeply, feeling the cold air of the clinic as he sank his hands in his pockets.

“Hmm?”

He then felt something rough… and small in his pocket.

A bit confused, the proxy brought the object out. It was a weird red gem; cracked as it gleamed in the light of the clinic, honestly, it was kinda pretty.

“Right, this is what Anby was holding when she got out of the Hollow,” Wise remembered, turning his gaze to the door, “At the very least, I should ask her about this.”

Holding the gem in hand, Wise walked back out of the hallway, going over to Anby’s room as quietly as he could, making sure he didn’t wake Anby if she was asleep.

However, when he neared the door to open, he heard… sobs.

Crying…

A bit confused, Wise slid the door open, and suddenly, the crying had stopped.

“Manager? Is there a reason you came back?” Anby said in the same nonchalant voice, however, this time it was notably a bit quicker.

“I came to ask you something, but…,” he replied before trailing off, walking into the room and gazing into her swollen eyes. “Were you crying?”

“You’re mistaken,” Anby spoke a bit too fast, “It doesn’t count as crying if you don’t make any sound.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“You heard me, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“I see,” Anby clutched her hands closer to her chest. Wise could just feel the tension.

“Are you… Alright?”

“I’m fine, proxy,” Anby assured, “I was simply thinking of a scene in a movie that moved me to tears.”

“Anby, don’t try to lie to me,” Wise walked to the front of her bed, lowering himself on his knees to meet Anby at eye-level, “I’m a proxy; it’s my job to be observant.”

The girl stayed silent…

“Anby…”

She averted her gaze from him, he just sighed.

“I guess I can’t force you to talk.” He stated wryly, before trying to prompt her, “But I honestly do think it’s better if you have someone to talk to this about, it’s never healthy to bottle it up, “ He says speaking from experience, “Look, I won’t laugh, I won’t judge, and however it goes, I won’t see you any differently if that makes it any better.”

Anby seemed to hum thoughtfully at that, turning her gaze back to Wise as her eyes narrowed, her arms fidgeted, her mouth quivering as she hesitated to voice her thoughts.

“Proxy, have you… Ever cried in a movie?”

It seemed like a ridiculous thing to go over, and it was definitely not why she was crying, but seeing her eyes, full of intent, Wise answered seriously.

“I guess sometimes,” Wise admitted, “I remember the first time I watched ‘The Heartbeat', when the boy came back with his mother, I couldn’t help but cry at the scene the first time.”

Anby’s eyes seemed to look down before returning to Wise, “I feel the same, but I suppose what makes it even more powerful is the desperation the mother went through just to get to the boy. Even when everyone told her that her son was a lost cause.”

“Unlike her, I would’ve also thought the same, especially when-”

Anby stopped herself stiff, an image of Nicole in that moment flashed before her eyes, followed by the many ghosts of similar-looking people, all with white hair, all with the same face as-.

“Anby…”

“I… couldn’t protect her…” The white-haired girl stated coldly, her voice ever stoic, “I should’ve reached her faster… then perhaps I would have been on time… she was right in front of me…”

“Anby, it wasn’t your fault…”

“No, it was…” she stated firmly, “Even without what happened before, I was the one who awoke the Doppelganger… it changed into me, and I got startled enough for it to knock me down. If I had been more observant… none of this would have happened, Nicole would be alright, Billy wouldn’t need repair, and we wouldn’t be here needing help.”

Anby bore a somber look; now gazing right at Wise, “When she was stabbed, I felt every vein in my body pulse… looking at her, a part of me was sure she was dead. But another part of me couldn’t accept that. But I refused to let it escape, so I picked her up and headed to the exit, throwing her through before I went back to fight.”

Wise’s eyes narrowed, remembering that a bit, how Nicole came crashing into Belle, the horrified faces of he, Billy, and Belle upon seeing what had happened to her, and the panic everyone went through before Wise told them to go find a hospital before she dies. It was… terrifying.

“I wasn’t even thinking at all at the time, and a part of me was sure she was as good as dead, and I hated that, I hated that I had abandoned all hope to the point that I didn’t think about anything else other than vengeance, I hated that after she got stabbed, I gave little to no care of her ‘corpse’, because it simply wasn’t alive, I hated that I believed I was going to die fighting the Doppelganger.”

“At a time when Billy had just joined the Cunning Hares, he commented how we were sisters… but now I know how false he was….” Her grip tightened, “We’re not sisters, because if we were, I would’ve treated her better… I would’ve made sure she was alright, I would’ve made sure to be beside her in her most trying time, I would’ve cared for her, I would have protected her.”

Anby then placed a hand on her chest, hovering over her heart as she squeezed her hand, “I had my doubts before, but now I’m sure… I don’t deserve to be Anby Demara. I don’t deserve to be her sister.”

Anby says nothing more after that… her shame now clear as day. She didn’t really intend to say all that, but for some reason lately, she’s been finding it hard to control her emotions, despite how good she was at it. She felt the need to look away from the proxy, but in a mix of curiosity and peculiarity, Anby gazed into his eyes.

It wasn’t out of pity, at least it didn’t look like it, it didn’t look like sadness either. Instead, he just looked… observant? Yet there was a glint to it. She was confused about why he looked the way he does now, breathing slowly and rubbing his chin as he stared at her with his eyes focused only on her.

“Proxy?”

“Anby…” He replied, “Do you really think Nicole would think that?”

“Huh?”

“Do you think Nicole would really think that way?” Wise repeated, attempting to be clearer.

Anby ponders the question for a bit, before finally answering, “No, she wouldn’t, even if she heard everything I had just said, she would still welcome me, but that’s only because she’s too kind.”

“I see,” Wise stated matter-of-factly, his face shifting before asking, “What do you intend to do then? Will you quit the Cunning Hares for her sake?”

“I… I don’t know…” Anby admitted, fidgeting her hands in a daze, “I know if I did, she’ll search all of New Eridu for me, she said that herself.”

“So you don’t want to leave?” Wise prompted, looking intently at her, “I thought you didn’t care about Nicole.”

Anby’s eyes widened, her jaw left agape at that remark as it rang through her ears, “I-I never said I didn’t care about her.”

“So you do care…” Wise points out, “You care enough that you send Nicole to us, you care enough that it upset you when I said you didn’t care, and… you care enough about Nicole that you stuck around with her, going through tough jobs with her no matter what.”

“It’s because she saved me,” Anby retorted, “If it weren't for her, I would be dead, I was remaining loyal to her, it’s as simple as that.”

“But you care enough that you were devastated she died, aren’t you?”

Anby didn’t retort; she only looked down at her battle-thorned hands.

“I don’t know why you think you wouldn’t care, Anby, but from everything I’ve seen, it says otherwise,” Wise sums up, prompting Anby to look back up to him, “You do care, more than you know, and whoever you were in the past isn’t who you are now.”

A glint in Anby’s eyes seemed to shimmer, her hands shook as she gulped the air before asking, “How do you know I’ve changed? You don’t even know me from before, and even now I still can’t tell the me from the past and the me now.”

“You hated that part of you, didn’t you?” Wise pointed out, “In a way, that’s you wanting to change, to be different from who you were, it doesn’t happen instantly, mind you, it’s a very… slow process.” Wise then scoffed, “Trust me, I would know.”

The proxy then looks up to the ceiling, reminiscing on days he wasn't particularly proud of.

“Thing is, Belle and I weren’t always like this,” Wise admitted turning to his left, “We were so focused on one thing, we forgot about everything and everyone around us, it took us a while to change, and even now we’re still making some dumb mistakes, like screaming at Nicole, forgetting to run our video store,” Wise then turns to Anby, “Or not accompanying you when you need it.”

A glint seemed to shine momentarily in Anby’s eyes as Wise said that, because even now she was startled by kindness that seemed to come out of the blue. It happened once when Nicole found her, when Billy joined them, and now with the Proxy.

“Have I really… changed?” She questioned the Proxy as he rubbed his chin.

“That’s for you to decide,” Wise said simply, “Looking back on myself, I really wasn’t proud of it, and I’m a bit ashamed. But without that shame, I wouldn’t be me today, not to mean that it was all bad… There were some good moments.”

“Good… moments…” Anby mumbled, her eyes closing as she seemed to reminisce about something.

In that place she called hell, where the most crackling fire is the cold demeanour of her superiors… she felt sad, conflicted, anger, upset, bloodlust…

But she also felt… happy… graceful… warmth… love…

Love…

Opening her eyes, she felt tears overflowing. Streaking down her cheek as it dropped to the blanket, her body shivering as she recalled many things, many devastating, many joyful, many sorrowful.

Looking back up, she saw Wise, who sat there this whole time.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“I wasn’t crying.”

“Is that what you’re focused on?”

“I made no noise.” She swiftly wiped her tears.

“Don’t try to hide it now,” Wise teased, earning a bit of a glare from Anby. “Anyway, feeling better?”

Anby blinked, hovering her hand in front of her as she stared into her palm, closing her eyes as she breathed in heavily, “Good.”

“Good, even if a bit, it still helps”, Wise smiled, followed by a yawn as he felt his eyes droop.

“We should probably sleep,” Anby suggested.

“I agree on that,” Wise mused, stretching his arms high, ready to let the bed sink him in and take his soul. “You should probably rest up, too.”

“Mm,” Anby nodded, letting gravity pull her head down to the pillow below her as the lights were turned off, but she was quickly confused when she didn’t hear the door open. Sitting, she found Wise lying down on the sofa near the door.

“Proxy? What are you doing?”

“Accompanying you…” He answered simply, “So you’re not alone.”

A glint could be seen in Anby’s eyes, but still she relents, “You really don’t have to stay, I can be on my own.”

“Don’t complain now, I’m already here, just accept it.”

Anby sighed, admitting defeat as she lay down in bed, “If you’re alright with it… Then thank you… W-Proxy.”

Wise raised an eyebrow before smiling fondly at the girl, “You’re welcome.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Proxy..?”

“Hmm?”

“Will Nicole really be fine?”

“Still worried about her?”

“I know you said she’ll live,” Anby mentions, “But I still have doubts that she might not make it, especially after seeing her like that.”

“I’m not a doctor, Anby, but Dr. Hanaya said she’s going to be fine. Why wouldn’t she be? She has you.”

Wise couldn’t see it cause of the dark, but Anby’s lips pursed in her bed, her eyes fluttering closed as she muttered, “Do I really deserve to be with her?”

“That’s not for me to decide, Anby,” The man stated softly, “But I think you already know the answer.”

Hearing that, Anby ever so slightly smiled fondly, “Thank you, Wise.”

Wise sighed thoughtfully, “You’re welcome, Anby.”

As they stopped talking, Wise couldn’t help but see Anby in a new light. Like before, he knew it was normal; having emotions is a part of any living being, it’s just that he didn’t expect Anby to do it. While he knew the girl would probably have emotions, the silver-haired girl was a lot more emotional than he thought.

Maybe he was just biased to see those types of people as colder, still. While she saw the girl in a new light, it didn’t really change that much; it just showed him a different side of the girl.

Getting himself comfortable, Wise then just remembered the thing that he’s been carrying in his hand all this time. Lifting it in the dark room, he felt the cracked gem in his hand, holding it firmly as he peered toward Anby.

“Nah, I can’t talk to her about that now,” He figured, tucking it in his pocket as he turned over to let himself sink into slumber. “Asking her tomorrow won’t hurt.”

Wise then proceeded to sleep peacefully, letting his eyes drift through the echoes of his mind.

==============================

Wise woke up abruptly, blinking a few times as he felt his head in a daze, feeling like he had a long nap, yet a short one. Managing to see a bit, he could make up a few beds, making him remember that he was in the clinic, the chilly air sending shivers down his spine.

Honestly, it wasn’t really smart to sleep without a blanket, especially in a room that’s meant to be cold. That’s at least what he figured gave him a rude awakening. Well, what can he do about it now, anyway?

Standing up, he flicked the light switch.

*Click*

Nothing….

Darkness still presided over the room.

“Did the lights go off?” He questioned internally, grunting in annoyance before he panicked slightly, remembering who needed electricity more than anyone.

“Wait… Nicole!.” He ran out the door, running through the hallway as he made it to the room.

However, his panic morphed into a puzzled look, while the room looked the same as he remembered last time; nobody was there.

Nicole wasn’t on her bed, and turning to the sofa, yep, Belle wasn’t there either.

“What the?” He mumbled, walking around the room as if to inspect anything out of the ordinary, trying to see any clues as to where the 2 girls may have gone.

But there were no clues.

No signs of a struggle.

No signs of being taken.

Nothing.

The bed even looked like it was made, no one ever even being in it, but the machines keeping Nicole alive were still there. Turning to the corner of the room, he wonders if he could question the Avocaboo, but it wasn’t there either.

It was like the people in the room simply got… deleted.

Walking out of the room, he went back to Anby’s room, hoping the girl was still there so he could at least talk to someone. Opening the door, the lighting of the room had somehow gotten better than before, as when he inspected the bed, it was clear enough for him to see that it was empty; not even a crinkle in the blanket was seen, all left untouched, as if no one had been here.

A feeling of unease crept down his back, which Wise took as his cue to leave the room, unsure of what to do. For now, though, he decides to at least try to find the clinic's doctor, Hanaya Taiga, even though the chances of him being gone are high. It was still better than nothing.

Walking through the hallway, however, a faint light shone through a window, shining light on Anby Demara wearing her patient gown.

“Anby? Is that you?”

The girl didn’t answer; instead, she just stared at him, making Wise feel her gaze pierce through his soul.

“Anby, do you know where Nicole and Belle are? They weren’t in the room.”

The girl gave no answer or explanation; instead, she turned around and walked through a door that Wise could’ve sworn wasn’t there.

“Hey!” Wise shouted, sprinting towards the silver-haired girl as he walked through the door.

Only to find Anby on the other side of the long hallway, the lighting getting eerily better for some reason as Anby went through another door.

“Anby! Where the hell are you going!?”

Wise’s only answer, however, was a door slam.

Grunting a bit, he sprinted through the hallway, getting to the door as quickly as he can to at least try and catch Anby.

Sadly for him, in these many events, the door was locked.

“Why do I feel like I’m in some kind of horror movie?”

With what little choice left, Wise decided to try and pry the door open. He didn’t know what he was expecting, honestly considering his arms were not built for this, but he thought he had to try.

“Anby! Can you please open the door?” He yelled, hoping to reach the girl, but all he met was silence.

After a few tries, he adamantly gives up, kicking the door out of spite before turning around to try and find the others.

Wandering through the halls, his mind wandered aimlessly, weirdly feeling a bit too easy-going despite the situation he was in. He was confused about it himself, but it never stuck long enough for him to care as he passed by doors of classrooms and labs.

He still needed to find Nicole and Belle, and maybe Anby too, because she was definitely not in the right state of mind. Did she hit her head? It’s possible, or did the Ethereal do something to her? Maybe it was the Ionized Doppelganger all along?

“But we’re outside the Hollows,” He thought, trying to make sense of what just happened as the lighting gradually got better. Then Wise clicked his fingers, “Maybe there’s something in my locker that can help.”

Sprinting through the halls, he could hear a few teachers scold him for running and telling him to slow down, but he didn’t care. He needed to find-

“Ack-!” Wise grunted, crashing into a pair of legs, making him fall on his behind.

“Ow…”

“Wise? What are you doing?” A female voice inquired. Fluttering his eyes opened, Wise was greeted with the sight of his teacher and surrogate mother.

“Miss… Carole?”

“Are you alright?” She asked, rubbing the young teenager’s forehead, “Honestly, I’d expect this sort of behaviour from B- Woah!”

Carole was cut off, a sudden hug from Wise came crashing, taking her by surprise, “W-Where is this come from?”

Upon realising what he just did, Wise reeled back, “I-I’m sorry, Miss Carole, I don’t know what came over me…”

Seriously, though, why did he hug his teacher? He saw her every day, so why did he have to hug her like some pre-schooler?!

“While the hug was nice, I’m more concerned with why you were running before.”

“Oh, that, I was running because…” Wise eyes furrowed, scratching his head as a look of confusion plastered all over him. “Why was I running again?”

Carole just facepalmed. “Forgetful now? You better not be repeating this when in class,” She warned, before nearly forgetting to add, “Whether mine or others.”

“Y-Yeah… I’m sorry, Miss Carole, it won’t happen again.” He panickly assured, making the teacher sigh before a small smile appeared on her face.

“I hope to Lady Sunbringer it won’t, honestly. I know you’re turning into a teenager, but I’m still not looking forward to it,” She murmured, pinching her temples. “And my workload is still getting higher.”

Carole then turned around, gesturing for Wise to follow her. “Alright, come. I was going to ask you to do something anyway, unless you have something else planned.”

“No, I don’t think I do.”

“Alright, come with me then.”

Adamantly, Wise walked with Carole, agreeing to help with whatever she needed despite still feeling a bit uneasy.

Why was he uneasy anyway? He just can’t shake it off. In an attempt to remember, he rubbed the sides of his head together.

He was in Helios Academy, and was running through the halls, thinking there might be something that could help Belle and-… and-

…

…

…

Who was it again?

And wasn’t he frustrated over a locked door? Why was that?

“You seem perturbed.” Carole stated, as she turned her head slightly, “Care to shar your thoughts?”

“I-I don’t know what to make of it Miss Carole,” Wise explains briefly, “I can’t seem to remember anything now, but it had something to do with Belle… and locked doors.”

“What? Was your sister trapped in a room?”

“M-maybe? I’m not really sure, but I think I saw 2 other girls? But it’s all just getting blurry for some reason.”

‘Girls trapped in a room….” Carole muttered before turning away, “I know you’re at that age, but what kind of imagination are you having?”

“I-I wasn’t thinking of anything like that.”

“And how do you know about that exactly?”

“Ah-“ Wait, how DOES he know about that?

“Never mind,” Carole cut off, “we’re getting off topic, not to mention we’re already here.”

Walking into his teacher’s office, what greeted him instead was a mess of a room. It wasn’t a dumpster per se, but it was still filthy. His teacher was never one to keep things clean, and he always hated that.

So why was he getting emotional seeing this room?

“I just need your tidying up a bit,” Carole explained, turning a side eye to Wise, “And you don’t need to worry, I’ll be here to help… this time.”

Wise groaned, “Can’t you just get Belle to do it?”

Actually, where is his sister?

“I did ask her. She said she had to go to the bathroom, then ran the opposite direction,” Carole explained briefly with a low voice, earning a deadpanned look from Wise. “Don’t give me that look, you know your sister, she’ll hide in an oven if it means she has to skip cleaning.” That sent a chill down both their spines, “Better to just let her hide, at the very least if she thinks I can’t find her, she won’t go to somewhere dangerous.”

Wise couldn’t refute that.

“Just help me tidy up the floors. I’ll do the piles of paper; everything will be done before you know it.”

Wise just groaned internally, grabbing a broom that stood beside the doorway. Seriously, she was never this messy when he was younger, so why was she now? Did she wait for him to grow up to be her personal cleaner or something?! And why does he always help?!

“I’ll make you noodles tonight, and make sure to let you can go see that movie you always wanted to watch.”

Can’t argue with that.

Walking into the office, Wise went to help his teacher, picking up a few pieces of trash as Carole went over to her desk to tidy up some files, sorting them up and putting them in the drawers behind her as Wise got to work sweeping everything with a broom.

Since he was reaching the ripe age of thirteen, it wasn’t really too hard for him anyway. It’s just that he wished he could do other things.

But that movie was so worth it; he had heard they were using new Ether technology to make the special effects look more realistic, especially on a videotape. It was all going to look so cool!

He wonders how good they look, probably even better than.

“Nicole… Nicole please! Just wake up… I’m sorry”

Wise’s ears perked up; he gazed out of the office doors. The surroundings surrounding the halls began to seemingly distort. “Belle?”

But that wasn’t right, the girl sounded too old to be Belle, yet Wise couldn’t imagine anyone else with that voice.

“Wise? Are you alright?” His teacher asked, cutting him off from his usual thought process. Seriously, what is up with him today? First he heard…

What did he just hear?

“Are you spacing out again?”

“Ah,” He mumbled, turning his head to his teacher, “Sorry, Miss Carole, I’ve been a bit out of it lately.”

“That’s quite obvious, “She stated, walking over to Wise, “Think you can hold out a little longer?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just cleaning up anyway, I’ve done it lots of times.” He assured, sweeping the trash off the floor, “I just thought I saw something…”

Wise shook his head, rubbing his eyes straight after. He needed to get it together. He’s been wanting to watch this movie for a while; he can’t just throw away this chance because of some weird sounds, he can’t-

”P-Proxy…”

Wise’s eyes opened upon hearing it.

“So this is the name you’re going by, ‘Phaethon’, is that right?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Charon isn’t actually my codename…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Now now, I’m not one to snitch, but then again, I wonder who’d pay to know that the famous Phaethon was actually 2 regular video store managers on Sixth Street?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Nicole, I don’t trust them…”

“Anby, I know you’re not the trusty type, but it should be fine, besides they wouldn’t want their identity getting leaked…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Lemme treat you to dinner, my treat. Consider this payment for the commission, since you two were such good proxies ~~”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I gotta admit, Nicole’s starting to grow on me…”

“Are you sure you’re not saying that cause of her personalities?”

“Belle, you know I’m the farthest person from that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m desperate ok! I know I have a money problem!”

“That’s not the point! We’ve been here for hours, Nicole, even Eous is tired. I think it’s about time we go! Actually, we should go! NOW!”

“Or what? Are you just gonna leave me here? Are you really gonna do that, Wise?!”

“Maybe I should just leave you here! This was your fault to begin with!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

”You’re lucky she didn’t get stabbed in the heart…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Manager, I can’t just-”

“You need repairs, too, Billy. Nicole wouldn’t want to see you like this, would she?”

“A-Alright… but will they be fi-”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I don’t deserve to be Anby Demara.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wata-Ehn-ah…. Ehne-nuh… Ehn-nah…(Will she really be okay, Wise? She just needs to be repaired, right?)”

“Wise… did you think we took it too far with our talk about her before?”

“Wake up”

“Wise? Wise?”

Wise’s eyes widen again, turning to his teacher, “Sorry, Miss Carole, how long was I-.”

“About ten seconds,” The teacher answered softly as she handed a bottle of water. “Are you sick? If you are, you can just tell me, I don’t want to force you to do anything if you’re unwell.”

Wise rubbed his head, “Not sick, I think, I’m just having a lot of-”

“Wake up”

Wise winced a the voice; it sounded mechanical, almost like a bangboo, yet he could also understand somehow.

“Well, if you’re sure… I also do have something else to show you after you’re done.”

“Only to me?”

“No to your sister as well,” Carole stated bluntly, “Although I guess since you agreed to help, I can tell you what it’s about, just don’t tell your sister.”

Wise’s eyes lit up, “Really?”

“Mhm,” Carole nodded, “At the very least, this’ll motivate you,” She said, adjusting her glasses, “You see, it’s about my research on how we can control Etheric Matter, I think I’ve made a breakthrough in-.”

“Wake up!”

No.

The sound of his teacher talking seemed to have been voiced out, as Wise mentally replied.

“Wake Up!”

A blue-greenish shade of light suddenly erupted around him, forcing him to look down.

Can’t I just have this? Can’t I just be here with her? Everything was fine back the-”

“WAKE UP!”

===========================

Wise awoke abruptly, sweat trickling down his face as he crashed face-first on the floor, his breathing becoming heavier by the second.

His mind raced with questions as he looked around, slowly getting the context of everything back into his mind.

“What was that?” He questioned internally, “That felt too real to be a dream… What-”

“WISE!” Belle shouted, breaking his train of thought as she ran through the door like some Ehtereal on heat, if there ever could be something like that. Wise also distinctly heard Anby wake up.

“Proxies?”

“Oh- sorry, Anby, I forgot you were there.”

“It is fine,” Anby assured with her usual stoic voice, “What is the matter?”

“It’s Nicole! She’s awake!”

Wise’s eyes immediately shot up, followed by Anby, who got up immediately, having seemingly felt no pain as she ran past Belle and into the other room.

A bit stunned, Belle took a moment to process before turning back to Wise.

“Wise? You okay?”

“Y-Yeah…” Wise muttered, rubbing his eyes as he forced his feer to push him up, "Just... I had a weird dream."

Whilst he stood, an ominous red light emanated from his pocket, unbeknownst to the two siblings.

"Let's go..."