Wise stared in absolute disbelief seeing Jane drop off Eous in the state he was in.

It was 1am, and he was coincidentally downstairs to find one of the documentaries Eous and Eliza had got from the shipment a week back after all the mayhem before spotting the two standing at the door in the dark.

He flipped on the switch and saw his neck and face littered with bite marks and lipstick.

Alternatively, it was much harder to tell that Jane's legs were trembling. She had her arm wrapped around his shoulder, feigning a gesture of friendship to use him as much needed support.

"Under control, huh?" Wise muttered bitterly to Jane.

Jane chuckled. "He definitely had it under control..."

Wise rolled his eyes as he walked to a shelf. "Protected?"

"As much as I'd like a nice long leave, I'd prefer it wasn't maternity just yet." Jane sarcastically mused.

"Protected." Eous answered his question with exhaustion.

Wise could already claim he wasn't fond of this woman. For their first interaction being her breaking news of her brother and coworker's kidnapping, to her taking his virginity— he had every reason to hold some disdain.

"Great. Now, if you'll excuse me." He picked up the movie he wanted and proceeded up the stairs.

Eous frowned at the look Wise held and stared into space with a hint of shame in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Jane asked curiously.

"Don't worry about it..." Eous ruffled his hair and turned to her.

"I feel like we're beyond the realm of you blowing off my concern. Grow up and talk about your feelings more. It's obvious you bottle them up." Jane rolled her eyes and pulled him closer.

"Since you're so good at reading people, figure it out." He flipped her off with a scowl.

"You wanna fuck me again so bad." Jane leered at him in annoyance.

"You couldn't handle it— now go ahead and stumble home like a moron." Eous smirked and removed her arm from his shoulders.

Sure enough she stumbled back into the door with a glare. She balled her fists seeing him smugly eyeing her up and down.

"This isn't over..." She muttered, slipping out of the store in a hurry.

Eous' smirk left as soon as she did. That wasn't how he wanted things to go. While the act felt good, the intent behind it wasn't exactly what he had in mind. He was stressed, tired, and unfortunately, very aroused.

He hoped that all that talk of trying to understand him was true, or he'd never forgive himself for forfeiting his virginity in such a state of weakness.

Who was he these days...?

He hadn't been helping much more around Sixth Street these days.

It seemed like all anyone needed was No—

"EOUS!"

He recalled Eliza shouting his name in desperation while she was being carried off by the Mountain Lion thugs. She needed him. She needed his help, just as his siblings.

He'd focus on his work.

Eous let his frown recede and made for the stairs to get a proper night's rest. Or at least what was left of it.

~•~

Belle wiped the lint off of Eous' shirt as stared into space. She tilted her head at his bed hair and shrugged, thinking the look suited him.

"Here's Billy's W-engine. Make sure he knows next time isn't free..." Wise tossed Eous the capsule, watching as he subconsciously caught it without looking.

"You okay, Eous? You've been like this ever since... her." Belle rolled her eyes mentioning Jane.

"I'm fine." He muttered.

Eliza left the back office after leaving her coat on the sofa, fully expecting today to be full of stress and sweat if it meant more Proxy work.

"Yo, you ready?" Eous had visibly perked up seeing Eliza.

"As I'll ever be." She walked to the door and waved him to follow before turning to the siblings. "Later!"

Eous shot the two finger guns and slipped out the store with a grin.

"Wha... What the hell was that?" Belle nearly shouted.

Wise chuckled. "I think that night taught him something, to say the least. Who knows..."

•

"Woah, you moving up in the world, Billy?" Eous strut up to the massive cargo truck with a smirk.

"Huh? Oh! Eous! And Eliza too! Glad you could make it!" Billy turned around with glee. "But, uh, note quite. I'm not sure if I should be saying this, but the truck and Bangboo belong to an Outer Ring biker gang: The Sons of Calydon."

"Sounds sick." Eliza nodded at the graffiti on the shutter door of the truck.

"The truck has a New Eridu entry pass, and recently, non-residents have had to queue for a long time to get in and out of the city. So I'm helping them transport goods. After all, I used to work for them."

Eous chuckled and eyed the red Bangboo in the leather jacket at Billy's side. "Who'd have thought..."

"B-But anyway, that same biker gang has intel on Perlman!" Billy exclaimed as with a fist pump.

Eliza wasn't buying it. "Are they a reliable source? And what kind of info exactly?"

"Well I asked, but that's info they don't give up easily. The problem is, they know you're looking for Perlman, and will only exchange that information if you meet face-to-face." Billy explained.

"Like, Nova?" Eliza was still incredibly skeptical. How would they have known when Shepard had only just told Wise and Belle about biker gangs credibility?

"Well, they didn't necessarily put it out like a job listing... but I guess they need a Proxy." Billy shrugged.

Eous and Eliza shared a glance as Billy shook his head.

"Anyway, I'll be helping the Sons of Calydon upgrade their Bangboo and purchase supplies in the city over the next few days, and then I'll head out to meet them."

"We're in." Eliza responded.

~•~

"Ugh~! I'm so glad I ditched that sweater again..." Eliza cheered, hovering her face over the air conditioning.

The three were in Billy's truck along a vast highway in the Outer Ring, a massive desert biome that seemed to stretch forever.

Eous wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, but with the truck being a two seater, and Eliza insisting she wouldn't dare have him sit on her lap or vice versa, he was stuck in the cargo unit.

He laid on top of stiff cardboard boxes, eyes squinted in disdain at how bumpy the ride was.

"What do you think, manager? Scenery is pretty nice in the Outer Rim, huh?" Billy asked while tapping the wheel in delight.

"You could say that— but damn these roads are real close to the Hollows. I've never even seen this many at one time..." Eliza glanced out of the window at the orbs of Etheric space littered across the canyon and valleys.

Billy chuckled and glanced at the nearest Hollow. "There's nothing we can do about it. The Outer Ring lacks Ether technology, making it hard to eliminate Hollows. They can't even mine Ether resources."

"The area we're passing is the Old Oil Field; the residents here still rely on petroleum for their livelihoods." Billy explained, pointing at the massive rows of rigs filed up below the cliff.

"Billy..."

"You know, fun fact—"

"BILLY, EYES FORWARD!" Eliza screamed in horror.

Billy darted his eyes forward to see a truck was driving the wrong way down the one-way road straight for them. "WHATS UP WITH THAT TRUCK?!" He screamed before Eliza grabbed the wheel and jerked it to the right.

Eous lifted his head slightly hearing a loud horn before suddenly crashing into the ceiling of the cargo unit.

Eliza had rammed through the guard rails and sent the truck plummeting into the Hollow just under the cliff as they screamed for dear life.

Eous suddenly tore out of the cargo unit through the roof just in time to see the truck plunge into the Hollow alongside him.

Grabbing the truck, he vaulted ahead of it while Ionizing to land just under it. With a grunt, he caught the truck with his claws and tails.

"E-Eous! You're okay!" Billy exclaimed from the driver's seat, peeking his head over the airbag.

Eous slowly set down the truck before reverting back to his casual clothes.

Eliza kicked the door of the truck open with a wheeze and fell into Eous' arms. He helped her to her feet before rubbing her bruising forehead in annoyance.

"Damn... a whole oil rig!" Eliza cursed.

"Thanks to your quick thinking, Eliza, we made it out of there alive. Nice catch, Eous." Billy praised, leaning against the grill of the truck in exasperation.

Eous looked around the Hollow and noticed the small rural town area it seemed to resemble. A truck stop, gas station, mechanic shop and car wash, etc.

Suddenly, a boisterous roar echoed throughout the small Hollow and forced the ground to shake.

"I've never heard that cry before..." Billy muttered.

"This isn't Pokemon, Billy...!" Eliza snapped, slowly cowering behind Eous.

A Ruthless Fiend Ethereal crept over the broken gas station rooftop, peering down at them with its jaw leaking Etheric drool.

With a sharp yelp it leapt into their air and began to plummet down towards them.

"Above—" Fairy warned, and it was all Eous needed.

Eous Ionized again and lunged upward to meet it halfway. He summoned his tails and formed them into claws to block the swipes of the massive Ethereal's own claws.

The two began descending right towards the truck, making Billy panic at the threat to his wares.

"Watch the goods, watch the goods!" He shouted, racing around the hood to cover Eliza.

Eous heeded his cry's and twist his claws to throw the Ruthless Fiend towards the street.

It crashed with a massive shockwave from its size and weight before rolling to its feet and standing on all fours. It found its target in Billy and Eliza, slowly planting its feet firm against the pavement in hopes to ram straight through them.

Eous landed across from it and fluttered his tendril-like hair to catch its attention and succeeded.

Its low growls grew louder and louder seeing Eous unfazed by its towering presence before a roar erupted from its jaws in frustration.

It lunged forward, cracking the ground with its powerful steps in attempt to skewer Eous on its horns. As it neared closer, all Eous spared was a bored leer per usual.

It bucked its head forward to pierce him, but only felt pain in return.

A massive spike of crystal had pierced through its body just in time to catch it before it could touch Eous, its horn a mere centimeter away from his chest.

Eous slowly lifted his claw to grab its core, before crushing it in his hand. The Ruthless Fiend Ethereal burst into pixels and splattered against the ground.

"W-Woah... He really is the strongest..." Billy awed.

Eliza gulped seeing his power again, still not used to seeing a single person hold so much. He was taking down high ranking Ethereals in no time flat. But what worried her more, was that he'd yet to say a single word.

"G-Good job, Eous! Thank you!" Eliza shouted with a wry smile, a bit annoyed that once again this mission would be full of stress and sweat.

Eous glanced over and gave a thumbs up, but a projectile was suddenly flying at his back.

"E-Eous, look out!" Billy warned in a hurry.

Eous leaned away and caught the shield that nearly sliced his back. He held it up in confusion before hearing the pop of an engine.

"Quarter-circle." Fairy suggested.

Eous ducked under a horizontal slash and spun away while releasing the shield. The woman caught it as she drove by and skid to a halt back to Eliza and Billy with a determined glare and a confident grin.

"W-Wait, big sis? What are you doing here?" Billy looked up at the eccentric woman in disbelief.

"Sis...?" Eliza didn't see the resemblance.

"It's not everyday you see two Ethereals fight for territory." A man in leather and a red scarf strut up beside Billy's sister. "Come on, brother, there's only one of them left."

"Caesar...! And Lighter, too! How did you find us?" Billy wondered.

"I sent a distress signal to what I detected was a nearby biker gang, but I forgot to calculate the intelligence of said biker gang..." Fairy appeared at Eliza's shoulder.

"You must be the legendary Nova! I've heard so much about you!" Caesar kicked out her bike's stand and got off.

"Wh-What...? No, no, I'm not—" Eliza wasn't given time to refute the idea.

"Don't worry, Miss Nova, we'll handle this Ethereal in no time flat and get you out of here! Let's go, little bro!" Caesar readied her sword and shield as Lighter adjusted his right arm's gauntlet.

"U-Um, actually, sis, that's Nov—"

Billy was interrupted by Eous appearing in front of Caesar with a sharp glare.

She yelped and staggered back into her bike in fright.

"You don't wanna do that." Eous lowered her sword and sized her up, making Caesar huff and raise her chest in defiance.

"Th-That's Nova..." Billy slowly slipped in between the two and gestured to Eous.

"The... The Ethereal is Nova? You kidding?" Lighter asked, his sunglasses falling a smidge.

"If anything I'm his sidekick..." Eliza muttered in amusement.

"This is the guy?! Guess they were right about him being unique, but where are the little Bangboo ears I hear so much about..." Caesar lightly tugged on his tendrils in curiosity.

He flashed to his Bangboo uniform, gave it a second, before flicking into his casual clothes: a black muscle shirt and shorts and compression pants.

"Name's Eous." He suddenly held up his hands to lightly move her back. "Can you put these away...?"

Caesar looked down and saw her chest was in his face, so she swiftly retreated back to the others and cleared her throat.

"S-Sorry, dear Proxy! I assumed you were some scary monster the way you looked before— No offense! I-I don't mean you look like a monster—"

"You're good. Don't sweat it." He waved her off and walked over to Eliza and Billy.

"Truck still okay? Goods intact?" Eous asked with a frown.

"Yup! Other than what you needed to escape the back, the truck's fit to drive and the goods are fine. You ready to lead us out?" Billy pat his shoulder with enthusiasm.

Since the Outer Rim held no laws against Proxies, Eous was free to function as himself and still be a Proxy.

"Let's go." He motioned them to follow with a smile.