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 its neon green LED eyes showing how angry and upset it was as it 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 its 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.