Wise sorted through a cardboard box with a thin smile. Carefully making sure that each tape was carefully arranged, he began to set them amongst a shelf until he heard a thud.

"Wise, you may wanna take a look at this." Belle urged, waving him to follow her into the back of the store.

Quickly jogging into their office, Belle sat down beside an unconscious man while Wise stood behind the couch they were on.

On the small tv in front of the arrangement, the news was playing.

"Fourteenth Street? Isn't Public Security conducting a manhunt over there?" Wise questioned.

"Yup. Janus Quarter. They say the hollow already breached level-three controls."

"Guess evacuation isn't going as expected." Wise walked over to his computer set-up by the wall and began typing.

"So you're saying?" Belle asked with a smile.

"We should get ready. Business will be coming our way soon." Wise boot up a program and smirked, walking back over to the couch.

He lightly shifted the unconscious man to sit him between he and his sister, allowing him to continue sleeping as he pleased.

"All we do now is play the waiting game."

•

Inside a high-rise building on Fourteenth Street in the Janus Quarter of New Eridu, a chase ensued.

Billy Kid, Nicole Demara, and Anby Demara sprinted down a hallway in a panic. Choosing a random room to seek solitude in, Billy kicked the door off its hinges and crept in with the others.

"There's a window! Boss, we can get out this way!" Billy announced.

"But that's a hollow down there..." Nicole wasn't impressed, but drastic times called for drastic measures. "Fine. A way out is a way out. Can you break the glass, Billy?"

"Easy! Leave it to me-"

They found out the glass was bulletproof. The bullet ricochet off the glass and into a tv on a shelf, that quickly fell down on Billy's head.

"This glass must be tough." Anby mumbled.

"Damn. I knew it wouldn't be that easy." Nicole sighed.

"It's reinforced bulletproof glass. You won't be able to break it." A solemn voice informed.

The Cunning Hares turned to see that their pursuers had caught up.

"Why...? Why would you steal from the Red Fang Gang? M-My men went through so much trouble to..." For whatever reason, he was sobbing uncontrollably, leaning on his sheathed katana as he stumbled forward.

"You stole the strongbox from the institute! We're just returning it to its rightful owner!" Nicole tucked the small safe under her arm with a smug smile. "Don't make it sound like we're the bad guys."

"We're all trying to get by on the same streets. Why... why would you be helping the cops?!" Miguel Silver, the leader of the Red Fang Gang, continued to weep.

"Sorry to inform, but it's not Public Security that commissioned us- but that's none of your business anyway." Nicole snapped.

"Of course it is! They had people steal from my territory, so I have to teach them a lesson!" Miguel snapped back. His goons slowly crept forward with firearms aimed at the two. "W-Why don't you just give it back to me? It's so important to us... th-that I'm willing to exchange it for your lives!"

"So you need the whole gang, armed and ready, to handle three people? This is the 'Silver Tears?' It's even weirder than the rumors..."

Nicole was going to laugh until she noticed something on a lackey's hip.

"Is that a flashbang?"

"Correct. It's a GS2 high-lumen military flashbang. The blast quite is quite strong." Anby replied.

"Awesome! Time to wake up, Billy!" Nicole sung.

Billy reached up from the floor and grabbed the flashbang. "Eyes open, everyone! SAY CHEESE!" He pulled the pin.

All the goons were too late to block their eyes, screaming in pain and shock as they staggered around. Miguel himself shielded his eyes and saw Nicole standing by the window.

"So you choose to resist... In that case, I have no choice but to kill you all!" Miguel lunged forward and drew his sword.

Nicole only laughed as he approached, "You've made a mistake, mister. We aren't your enemy. That is~"

She, Anby, and Billy all gestured to the Public Security Air Force craft outside of the window.

"Falcon 4 to Command. We've arrived at the source of the light and found the Red Fang Gang. Repeat, we've found the Red Fang Gang. Awaiting orders..." a voice boomed from a megaphone.

"Boss, it's the Air Force!"

Nicole rose her hands to the sky to display her cooperation. "You can stay and fight us, or you can run, and we all get to live." She wagered.

"Damn you, Cunning Hares!" Miguel cursed.

"It's in a hare's nature to avoid getting caught~. Don't hold it against me."

From the news on the same tv that fell on Billy, they heard a furious reporter interrupt the investigator to shout to rain down justice with the biggest gun the Air Force could find.

Suddenly, a mechanical whir caught everyone's attention. "Falcon 4, attack order received." A missile was fired at the room.

Everyone's faces dropped in disbelief.

"We're done for..." Nicole muttered in shock.

With a massive explosion, Billy and Anby were flung out of the building and plummeting down towards the Hollow below.

"I WANNA FILE A COMPLAINT!" Billy screamed as they fell, right before being hit by the strongbox.

~•~

"Three, two," Wise stopped his countdown and looked at the door just as Nicole barged in with ragged breath.

"Hey, listen up! I was there when that explosion took place. This is an emergency!" She stormed over to the tv the siblings were watching on and turned the volume down.

"Billy, Anby, and the target of my commission have fallen into that Hollow! I need Phaethon's help- Now!"

"Hello, Nicole... It'd be nice of you to knock next time." Wise greeted.

"I feel like I hear of your emergencies at least three times a month, Nicole..." Belle added. Wise and Belle stood up and paced over to their computer set-up.

"You can make fun of me all you want after you help me deal with this crisis." Nicole urged in desperation.

"What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?" Wise asked as he took a seat at his desk.

"I'll be brief- the commission went south and Billy and Anby fell into a Hollow. I have to get them out! And I need to get back what I've been commissioned to deliver! You're the only ones who can help!"

Belle gave a sly look to Wise, before turning to Nicole with a smirk. Nicole grew flustered seeing them hesitate to help, so she upped the stakes.

"Finish this job, and I'll clear my entire bill in one go." She promised.

"Hm. Sure. Just this once." Wise shrugged.

"Still no good? Then I'll add- Wait, you'll do it?" She dropped her jaw in shock.

"Come on, you should've held out for that bonus, bro." Belle mused, sliding her own chair over and taking a seat.

"Great! There's no time to waste!" Nicole trot over to the couch and grabbed the sleeping man by his collar.

"Eous! Eous, wake up! We've gotta job to do!" She shouted, shaking him relentlessly.

Groaning as he weakly reached out to stop her, Eous grabbed her cheeks and began to pull them as hard as he can in a sudden burst of rage.

"Cut it out! I'm up, I'm up!" He snapped. She let go of his collar with a smile, if you could call it that with her face being stretched.

"Great! We've gotta go rescue Billy and Anby! Phaethon, thank you!" Nicole swat his hands away and picked him up easily over her shoulder.

"Huh?! What's even happening?!" Eous cried in confusion.

"Lock in, Eous!" Belle shouted, tossing him a white backpack before Nicole dashed out of the backroom.

•

"Eous? Can you hear me? Are you ready?" Belle sung.

Eous was combing his brown hair with his fingers, trying to fit it under his mask. Nicole was trying to help but kept getting distracted by the bunny ears of his hood.

"Uh, one sec! I really need a haircut..." Nicole finally focused and slicked his hair back enough for him to slip on the mask.

The all black cloth had a synthetic material that emit LED lights to make a virtual face. With blue slits and white orbs, he blinked several times to see Nicole give him a thumbs up.

The two slipped out of the van Eous took and stepped in front of the purple wall of distortion. A wall of dark matter stood between them and their friends, emanating a pulse of a varying colors.

"Alright, Eous. You ready to sync up?" Wise asked.

"As I'll ever be." Eous shrugged, his eyes becoming loading circles.

With a shudder, Eous felt tingles in his eyes that began to course through his head.

Back with Wise and Belle, the two could then see through his eyes on the monitor in the middle. There was a small UI at the bottom to show surrounding Ether activity, as well as his own Ether level.

"All good?" Wise asked.

"Yeah. Feel fine."

"This Hollow's pretty new, so if there's any connection issues don't worry. We'll be quick to stabilize on our end." He reassured.

"Sit tight." Eous pat Nicole on the shoulder and dashed into the Hollow.

•

Warping through reality, Eous found himself falling out of a blue sky, plummeting towards an old metro station.

"Woah! Why is it always like this?!" Eous screamed, correcting himself with a jerk.

Luckily from his altitude, he spotted Billy and Anby nearby meet a similar fate after running by an overpass. They landed in stride and looked around noticing they happened to be right back where they started.

A group of Ethereals that happened to be chasing the two spotted them below and jumped down to keep up pursuit.

"Damn, another fight?! At the rate my ammo's depleting, I can say goodbye to my efficiency bonus..."

The Ethereals didn't seem to care about his pay and charged forward anyway.

"Incoming, get ready-" Anby and Billy suddenly saw a black and purple orb strike the leading Ethereal.

A burst of sparks struck the monsters, kicking up a small smokescreen for the two.

A loud crash was heard behind them, making the two turn back and spot Eous roughly sprawled out over a derailed train car.

"Th... This way...!" Eous weakly shouted.

Billy and Anby could recognize the Proxy Vigilante anywhere. They rushed over behind the same train car as he slipped down from his dent in the top.

"It's the proxy in the bangboo costume." Anby reminded Billy, who began to beam with hope.

"Phaethon! You've come to rescue us!" Billy gave Eous a big hug.

"On the nail." Eous pat his back before he was released. He held out his fist to Anby, who stoically bumped it with her own.

"Let's get you guys outta here."