"Can you take her?" Zhu Yuan loaded her pistol as she strut up beside Eous.

"I can take anybody. Question is dead or alive...?" He leered at her in disinterest.

"A-Alive, of course! We're here to uphold the law, Proxy..." Zhu Yuan shook her head as Qingyi stepped up beside them.

"This look... you've been busy, huh?" She asked him.

"Could say that." Was all he gave.

"You two know this... thing?" Seth, the Lynx Thiren asked skeptically. He looked Eous up and down before crossing his arms.

"We've hired him on duty before. Very dependable." Qingyi smirked and gestured to the fact Eous was no longer there.

Blurs of black and blue were racing around the floor with sparks of Ether. The concrete began to crack and scrap from their bout leaving the spectators shocked.

"Sh-She can keep up with Eous?" Eliza muttered.

Fairy appeared beside her and shook her head. "He is only able to use 10% of his power as to not mortally wound the woman. He is holding back significantly."

"That tracks... kinda wish he didn't have to—" Eliza was cut off by a loud shriek of metal.

The Rat Thiren slid back from a vicious kick from Eous, having blocked with her knives and slowing down via the blades in her shoes.

"You're quick... too quick. I can't get a single trick in. Your fame does you justice, Nova."

"So does the name." Eous charged a ball of Ether in his hand before firing it at her.

She sliced it in two before racing away from the proceeding fire. She slipped in and out of the small pops of Ether, catching a glance of the other three officers combatting her thugs.

"Those guys stand no chance. We need to bail..." She whispered to herself.

"You can try." Eous appeared behind her with his fist cocked back.

Jane weaved under it and tried to kick his jaw, but he ducked and threw another swift jab. His punches were getting closer and closer to landing as he increased how much power he used against her— the sheer force behind them making wind shoot from his fists.

"This was a blast, sweetie, but I'm afraid our little date's coming to a close. Same time next week?" Jane vaulted overhead before dropping a smoke bomb at her feet and kicking another towards the hostages.

Eous stopped his punch an inch from Jane's descent.

The woman hadn't even noticed his fist behind her head as she dashed out of the smoke and rounded up her lackies.

They had burst out of the smoke again and looked down at Eliza and the construction worker.

"Leave them. They'll only slow us down." Jane ordered, but a brolic Elite Enforcer snatched Eliza by her arm and slung her over to a grunt.

"We'll need a bargaining chip. You've seen what that freak can do!" The Enforcer argued.

"Let them go!" Seth emerged from the smoke and held out his baton and shield with a glare.

Eous appeared beside him leering at the grunt holding Eliza and construction worker.

"Sh-Shit... Only if you two take their place!" The Enforcer demanded.

Seth glanced at Eous and saw him shrug. The two turned back and nodded.

Eous held out his claws as Seth tossed his baton and shield to the grunts.

"W-Wait, really? That worked?!" The Enforcer couldn't believe they'd give in. Zip ties were placed around their wrists before they were ushered over to the other hostages.

"You really thought we'd give them up? Idiots!" The Enforcer smacked Eous' back roughly, but felt his hand nearly go numb.

He looked down and saw Eous wasn't interested in him in the slightest. His gaze was focused on the ground as he and Seth were walked along with Eliza and the construction worker.

"What were you thinking...? I know you can take them out..." Eliza whispered after shuffling beside him.

"I'm gonna wipe all of them out. Every last one. From the source." He whispered back with a sharp glare.

Eliza knew he'd see it through, but she hoped things wouldn't be complicated with her as a hostage.

Jane eyed Eous up and down, wondering why someone of his caliber would do such a thing. She'd need to keep a close eye on him.

Zhu Yuan and Qingyi stood ready as the smoke began to clear, only to find no one left. The two glanced at each other seeing even Seth and Eous gone, making them wince knowing they'd have to break the news to Wise and Belle.

•

'Fairy, how many?' Eous asked.

'Over a hundred. Approximately, 133 not counting those on patrol.'

'And which Hollow?'

'Ballet Twins. It would seem they've begun to occupy it after the owners gave up trying to salvage its renovation.' Fairy explained.

'Eliza's health?'

'Small bruise to her arm from the Enforcer's grip.'

'Find his heat signature and note his biometrics. He's first on the list.'

Eous was face down against the ground, keeping Ionized as a few grunts kicked and prodded at his body.

Eliza was in the corner with the construction worker, and what seemed like a few more civilian hostages from other patrols and heists. Her gaze was strained as she watched him be beat by the thugs too bored to do anything else.

Seth grit his teeth from beside her, wishing he could've done more if not for the constraints around his wrists and lack of weapon.

A massive figure, and probably the largest man anyone had ever seen was slowly stomping over to where Eous was being messed with.

"This is him? This thing?"

"R... Razor... The Mountain Lion himself...!" Seth whispered in shock. Eliza's worry only grew seeing Eous lifted by his collar by the bulky figure.

The helmet covering his face had eight glowing slits staring down at him while Eous looked up defiantly.

The helmet opened up and revealed a pale face with a scar running over his right cheek and eyebrow. Blue eyes leered down at Eous in disgust.

"To think, that legendary Proxy was just some wolf in sheep's clothing. You're a goddamn Ethereal, playing pretend as human and hero. Just some sick freak for the fun of it." He berated him.

"We've got more baggage than just the creep there. PubSec ambush nearly cost us the run, but we snagged an officer." Jane jerked her thumb over to Seth.

"You damn thugs have no honor! Let him go!" Seth shouted.

Razor glanced over at him before sighing. He dropped Eous to his feet before cocking back his fist and punching him directly in the ribs.

However, Eous remained unfazed.

The lackies in the vicinity shuffled back in disbelief seeing someone eat a hit from Razor with his gauntlets on.

"That all, tough guy?" Eous asked lazily directing his gaze to the fist on his chest.

Razor clicked his tongue. "What did I expect from an Ethereal... Guess you'll need to be broken in."

The other massive gauntlet— spec'd out with a taser attachment— was slammed right into Eous' face. This cocked his head back, but his eye slowly rolled around before looking Razor directly in the eye.

"Tickles."

"I don't have time for this." Razor clicked his tongue and turned to everyone else. "If we have their officer, then those Public Security clowns are still after us. I'm gonna go find out what they're up to. Lay low here for now. I'll arrange to get you back to the den safely, in groups. You got that?"

"Crystal clear, sir! Long live the lions!" Echoed around the room.

Razor activated his helmet again and left the room.

Jane turned her leer from Razor to Eous, who stood still— going back to staring at the ground.

It didn't take long for him to be dragged back to the floor and kicked across the jaw. The Enforcer from before joined in on the fun, stomping down on his back with a cackle.

Jane shook her head and paced over to the guards around the hostages.

Eous debated using his tails to wreak havoc, but there were too many variables that would put Eliza and the hostages at risk.

'Fairy, can you contact Wise and Belle?'

'There is a signal jammer somewhere in the vicinity. Each camp we passed had one, leaving no interval for communication.'

Eous glanced up despite getting his head stomped into the ground. 'And Eliza's Ether resistance?'

'Nearly 90%. She is surprisingly well suited for a Hollow.' Fairy noted.

'How long do I have to make a move before she's in trouble?'

'Assuming the hostages are a necessity and they are escorted along to the Lion's Den, approximately 18 hours before she may show sign of Ether corruption.' Fairy calculated.

Eous hummed, suddenly lifting his head and catching the next stomp. The Enforcer stumbled back in shock, before reeling his foot back with a kick.

Eous turned his torso to the side, watching as the kick struck his fellow lackey in the chest and sent him into the wall.

"O-Ow! What was that for?!" They whined in pain.

"Wha... What?! That wasn't on me!" The Enforcer barked in annoyance.

Eous walked away from their growing argument and took a seat against the wall adjacent to the one the grunt was slumped against.

Just as he was ready to sit, he was tossed face first into the floor again before feeling a weight on his back.

"Get off." Eous growled seeing a familiar tail curling around the woman above him.

"No, thank you. I find this spot rather comfortable." Jane sat on his back, legs crossed as she leered down at him.

"You have five seconds before I prioritize you on the lists of noses I break—"

"And you have three before I make your little girlfriend the first victim here. Only the officer there is important, so any more games with you and we leave only him alive here." Jane coiled her tail around his throat and grabbed his mass of tendril-like hair.

Eous glared down before jerking his head from her grasp.

"Good boy. Now tell me, Nova. You have a good head on your shoulders? Can take a hint?"

"Far better than most." He muttered.

"Good. Then I need you to understand your damn position here and act right." Jane used her tail to lift up his head and leant down to whispered in what she assumed was his ear. "There's only one way I get everyone out of here alive, and that's if you cooperate with me, Proxy."

Eous kept quiet, slowly beginning to understand what she meant.

"Undercover?" He whispered as quietly as possible.

"Good head after all, huh..." Jane let her tail slowly unravel from his throat and sat up properly.

"Ew..." Eous visibly recoiled from her phrasing.

She merely giggled at his reaction and got comfortable on his back. She looked at his appearance and hummed.

"Have to say. The rumors about you don't do you justice. You were holding back."

"I don't normally kill. Even though I'm real ready to after what you all have done." Eous admit, glancing over to see Eliza was being fed a protein bar.

"Relax. We work together than its all under control." Jane let out a long sigh as she hunkered all her weight down in exhaustion.

"Could you get off? This is doing far more damage than those other idiots." Eous decided to ask 'politely' this time.

"Nope. Not sorry my ass is fat." Jane smirked down at him, knowing full well he was fed up.