Chapter Text
Corin steps out of the car, and immediately a chill breeze hits her, the weather hasn't been getting better. She looks around at the other cars, lots of other officers come out of them including a few bangboo, most are already in special hollow gear, except for Miss Jane, Miss Qigyi, and Mister Seth. They seem to be in the same clothes as before, maybe they have better ether aptitude than the others? Corin turns her head to look at where they all will go next: The Ballet twins hollow. Looking at it up close, Corin can't help but feel the dread deep inside her.
They all gather together to discuss further actions, Zhu Yuan steps forward. "We're about to enter the hollow, Rina, Lycaon and I will be in the front, protecting others if there's going to be a threat of etherials while we ascent to the base." "Right now ether activity is low so there should be no threat, but we still should be careful." Qingyi clarifies, Zhu Yuan nods and continues. "Once we reach the top, we'll separate in several squads: Lycaon and I will lead the first squad, Qingyi and Rina will lead the second, while Ellen and Seth will lead the third, each squad will be deployed from the different side of our target's base. As for Corin and Jane, you two will follow my squad and when we push hollow raiders away far enough you will go and find the captives and evacuate them from the hollow. Is there any questions?" Everyone signals that they're ready to go. "Then, let's begin."
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"Looks like it's my time to go, they'll arrive here any minute." Sage speaks to their friend. "Aww, but I wanted to talk for a bit longer :(" Hex answers, while also displaying emoticons on his face. "Stop that, and don't worry after this mission I'll have a little vacation so you will see me soon." "Yay! :D" "Please stop" In the answer Hex displays "NO" on his screen. "You're insufferable." They're about to open the door but Hex stops them. "Wait, do you have any weapon with yourself?" "No." Sage answers bluntly, catching the construct off guard. "I prefer to stay out of battles, you do remember that right?" "Yes yes yes, BUT you still need to protect yourself, especially considering what kind of chaos is about to ensue." Sage thinks for a moment, and they hate to say it but he's right. Thay can't really defend themselves, so it's really better to have at least something even if they absolutely hate fighting. "...well what do you suggest for me to get?" "I have just the thing! Just let me find it again." Hex runs off in search of that "weapon" for Sage.
A minute later he finally found it. "HAHA! HERE, LOOK IT'S THE MOST VERSATILE THE MOST RELIABLE AND-" "Hex, it's a frying pan." An old, sturdy looking frying pan, maybe it's even older than Sage themself. "Hey! Don't underestimate it's power, in the right hands it can do great things." "Still, it's a frying pan. But whatever." Sage takes it reluctantly, it's better than nothing at least. "...thanks, now I'm really gotta go." "Ok, bye, se ya later!" They exit the room, now with the frying pan in hand. They laugh to themsef. "God this is stupid."
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The air id tense, the agents have been walking for what feels like hours despite only being half an hour. At least they're already close to the base, she takes a better hold on her weapon. She can't mess this up especially when her friends are at risk.
Wait, how is she going to explain why and how she's here? She completely forgot about that! They only know that she's a maid but she never said anything about going into the hollows, how are they going to react when they inevitably find out? Didn't Ellen's friends were pretty accepting about her job? Maybe she still can ask Miss Zhu Yuan to put her in different team? Would that be rude? Would she get mad at Corin if she asks that? Corin sighs, how is she going to save her friends like that...
"Something on your mind?" Jane suddenly asks Corin, startling her. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you" Jane chuckles. "Are you nervous before the mission?" Corin looks away and nods. "Yes, a-and I don't know what my friends will t-think when they find out t-that I'm working in t-the hollows..." They probably think I'm dangerous and will won't talk to me ever again and probably forget about me very soon and- "I don't think they are going to be very against it." Jane interruptus her train of thought, Corin looks up at her. "You... Really think so?" Jane nods. "Mhm, I think after being kidnapped and held captive, seeing you would make them really happy." She's right, Coco, Susie, Lee, they probably miss their families, and meeting a familiar person would calm them down. And yet, would they still accept her despite her job? "And I'm sure they'll understand your choice of work too" Corin takes a deep breath. "I hope so... B-But, that is not important right now! We have to save them first, a-and no matter what happens I'll face it head-on!" "Now that's the attitude." Jane compliments her. "And looks like we're already arrived."
Corin looks ahead, she can see Zhu Yuan ordering in which direction other squads should go. She hopes everything goes well.
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Five minutes later.
It went... Not as bad as it could have been.
When all squads got into the position, they entered the base and Zhu Yuan ordered them to surrender. But instead they made a sneak attack by using machines, one of them tried to dash at them from behind but Lycaon was quick enough to parry it's attack. After it failed it used flamethrowers, and during that, thugs already opened fire. They needed to get rid of the shielded mecha quickly, Jane decided to distract it and then Corin dashes forward when it's turned around, revs up her buzzsaw, and cuts through the machine in half. Now it won't cause any harm anymore. Other squads also successfully dealt with the mechas, with Rina shocking it, compt frying it's system, and Ellen cutting through it like butter with her scissors.
Lycaon quickly returned to the front lines in order to help to push gang members further, with Jane and Corin helping too. (Though their leader has disappeared right after the sneak attack.) And soon, there's finnaly an opportunity for the girls to go to the captives. "It's time to go Corin!" "O-Okay!"
They run through narrow hallways of Renegades' base, finding several thugs along the way and quickly defeating them, and right before they reach their target their target, a huge man with red mask and gloves blocks their way, it's going to be a tough battle. "You're not going any-" His mask suddenly opens up. "What? Who-" BONK! Thug falls down unconscious after being hit in the head with a... Frying pan? After he falls down, a shorter person with a headband and colored hair is revealed, they look at the unconscious man and then on the pan in their hand. "...I think I get it now." They then look at the girls. "Hey Jane! long time no see." Jane relaxes and walks towards them. "It really was quite a while, and it's an interesting choice of weapon i have to say." Corin had to agree, she had only seen someone using a frying pan as a weapon in a movie about the princess with long hair, she never thought that it really could be used effectively in real life. "Hmm, just something my friend once suggested to me, that's all." They casually shrug. "I see, Corin this is Sage our newest undercover agent. They have been under my wing for some time and they had shown some great results" "It's nothing, just doing my job." They say, a bit flustered at the compliment. Corin walks forward and bows to them. "C-Corin Wickes of Victoria Housekeeping, t-thank you for your help." "There's no need to be so formal, but I'm flattered. Now let's go, i want to get it over with already." Jane and Corin follow Sage deeper into the base, everything seems to be going pretty well so far.
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Lee's ears twitch, he has heard something. "...the hell?" "Is something wrong?" Susie asks him. Lee tries to focus on what that sound is. "I hear... Footsteps, i think, and a lot of them." Susie and Voco share a worried look between each other, then, several loud bangs can be each of them. Sounds of gunshots in the distance follow immediately after. "What's going on!?" Coco panics. Lee gets up from his seat and tries to unlock the door, but it wont budge. "We need to leave, NOW!" Susie grabs him by the shoulder. "Wait, it's dangerous outside!" "We can't just stay here! What if, whatever is going on there is going to reach us!?" Coco stands between them. "B-But we also can't leave because the door is locked, let's try to calm down and think of what should we do." Lee looks around, there must be something that could help them. "Then..." Lee walks over to the chair and grabs it. "If someone walks in the room, I'll push them away with this chair, it can buy us some time to escape." "You're not doing it alone! I will help you!" Susie walks to him. "Me too, together we have better odds for success!" Lee opens his mouth then closes it, having nothing to say against it. "...then, let's wait."
And so they did, gunshots didn't quiet down at all, they heard people running through the hall but ignoring them completely. None of them had any idea what's going on, maybe the other gang has attacked the base, maybe it's PubSec, it's impossible to tell. But they hope it's going to be over soon.
Footsteps can be heard again, but this time they stop not far from them. They shout something to someone, it's hard to understand what they are saying, then the sound ls of a fight can be heard. "They're so close..." Coco says, barely above whisper. "Shh, stay quiet." Lee tells her.
The battle continues, but not for long, the moment some weird and very loud noise can be heard, fight ends very quickly. "Holy shit what do they feed you!?" That voice, is that Sage? "I... Uh, had a french toast for breakfast..." A shy, and oh so familiar voice replies to Sage, this voice is the last thing they expected to hear in this place.
"Huh?"
"What the fuck!?"
"CORIN!"
Coco zooms towards the door. "Corin! I'm here, can you hear me!?" She shouts through the door, catching the young maid's attention. "Coco!? Coco are you there!?" Corin rushes to the door where her girlfriend is. "Yes! The door is closed and we can't leave." "One moment, I'll open it! Just stand back!"
A loud noise can be heard on the other side of the door, and it sounds like some kind of engine. "Wait, wha-" A big saw blade slashes through the door right in front of Coco "AAH!" Three teens scream in shock as the blade tears through the door. Finnaly it falls down, cut in half, with each half falling to the opposite sides of them.
"Is nobody hurt?" Corin asks the three of them, while standing in the doorway she just tore through. "We're... good... yeah." Susie answers first. Corin then walks into the room and wraps all her friends into a big hug. "I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!!!" She cries out, the others return the hug. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!!" Coco also cries out. "IT WAS SO SCARY!!!" Susie joins them. "I'M NOT EVEN GOING TO QUESTION WHY ARE YOU HERE, I'M JUST REALLY HAPPY TO SEE YOU!" Lee cries out too.
At the same time, Sage and Jane have been watching this entire situation unfold. "I... Still have the keys, but i guess that works too." Sage shrugs. "Let's give them a moment, i don't want to ruin such a sweet moment." Jane tells to her companion.
...
Jane claps her hands. "Okay that's enough it's time to go." "R-Right, Coco, Susie, Lee, Miss Jane, Mx. Sage and I are here to save you and bring you home. Public Security hired me and Victoria Housekeeping to help with the operation." Coco tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Just what kind housekeeping you're doing? Especially with stuff like this." She points at Corin's buzzsaw. "I-I'm sorry i haven't told you about my job... B-But i promise to explain everything once we're b-back!" Coco gives her a kind and tired smile. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you, you don't have to tell us everything if you don't want to." Corin relaxes, a small blush appearing on her face. She almost forgot how cute dhe looks.
"Wait a second! You have been working for the NEPS this whole time!?" Susie suddenly exclaims while pointing at Sage. "What a plot twist!" "Haha, looks like I've been doing a pretty good job of being an undercover agent. Now let's go already." They were about to leave, but then...
BANG!!!
A sudden, loud explosion could be heard from the depth of the base, shaking the entire building. "Is this a part of your operation!?" Lee asked. "No, what in the." Jane replies.
BANG!!! BANG!!!
Two more explosions can be heard, this time it seems to be closer. "Is this an etherial attack!?" Coco shouted while she grabbed Corin's hand. "I-I don't think so, ether activity is s-suposed to be low." Corin answers. Jane uses communicator on her jacket. "Zhu Yuan this is Jane Doe, what's going on on your side? The entire building is shaking."
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Several moments earlier.
PubSec and Victoria Housekeeping took almost full control of the base, despite the gangs superior amount of people, they weren't able to keep up. And with all exits being blocked off, they barely stood a chance. Now all that's left is one last room where their boss Mike has been hiding since the start of the operation.
"You're surrounded! Open the door and exit with your hands up!" The only answer she got is silence. "This is your last warning!" Zhu Yuan shouts yet again, but in the end there's still no answer.
Ellen was already getting bored, they were already done with all the gang members, and this old man was only wasting her very precious time. Corin probably has already escaped with her friends and- wait.
Ellen notices- no, she feels something, some sort of hum coming from the door in front of them, and it's somethingvery big. She immediately tenses up.
"You felt that too?" Seth asks her, Ellen looks at him. "Yeah." She then looks at Lycaon, judging by how his ears have been moving, seems like he also noticed. "Zhu Yuan something is not right, we need to-" But he doesn't get to warn his teammates in time. The door explodes scattering dust and debris all around them, and after a moment, a giant, mechanical figure moves towards them. "Now THAT'S what I like!" Mike talks through speakers in the mecha. "We were supposed to deliver this modified Guardian mecha to the rebel army later this week, but this thing is just too good to give away so easily. Now..." Mike aims guardian's blaster arm. "Let's take this thing on a test drive!"
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"Jane! Mike is using a Guardian mecha to attack us right now! We can barely do anything against it!"
Another explosion can be heard, it's so strong it knocks out them off balance.
"Jane, bring the kids to the roof, it's the safest place right now and call for backup." Zhu Yuan urges. "It's too dangerous to try to reach other exits right now." "Understood, I'll call for backup as soon as possible."
"A GUARDIAN!? He was hiding that thing this whole time!? I was trying to figure out what was behind those doors for so long, and if i did we could have come prepared for it!" Sage shouted in shock. "There's no time for that we need to go!" Jane starts leading everyone to the roof. "What even is a Guardian?" Lee asks. "A mecha build by defence force, it's used to cler the front lines in the hollows. But rebel army had also been utilising and modifying them, making them even more dangerous than they already are." Jane responds to him.
This only makes Corin even more worried for Lycaon, Rina and Ellen who are now fighting really hard to protect eachother and everyone else down there, she can only hope that they'll be okay. She had seen one of those mechas in action and they are a huge threat to go up against if unprepared.
They finnaly reach the rooftop of Ballet twins, it's dark and cloudy outside, looks like it's going to rain soon. "We should be safe here." Jane says.
Another explosion occurs, this time it breaks the hole in the roof floor. Then the Guardian jumps through it and lands before them. "Found you!" Mike says, he the aims the blaster and shoots at them.
Corin was barely able to dodge it, she looks up, and when the smoke clears she can see everyone else lying down further away. Guardian then stands between Corin and her friends. "You." Mike says from inside of the mecha. "Being honest, i wasn't expecting to see you today. I thought you would be crying alone in your room after I kidnapped your girlfriend." Corin gets up and firmly grabs her buzzsaw with her shaking hands. "What d-do you want from m-me? What have you d-done to my family!?" The mecha starts moving towards her. "I would be more worried about what's about happen to YOU. You really thought you could leave after humiliating ME!? And then have the GALL to return and try to take down my gang? So now I'm going to get rid of you once and for all!" Corin hits a wall, she's cornered with no way to escape, and now she's going to get crushed by mike, she doesn't know if the rest of Victoria Housekeeping is alive or not, her friend won't get home, and she can't do anything to help.
Unless...
She looks at her arms, specifically on her shackles, those were given to her by Lycaon back when joined Victoria Housekeeping. For all those years they were restraining her strength so she wouldn't hurt herself or the others, and she was forbidden from taking them off. She didn't like the idea of taking them off now, but there's no other options, as clumsy as she is, without them she would at least stand the chance against this thing.
"And now I'm going to show you-" Guardian raises it's huge arm, ready to strike.
She quickly unclips both shackles and tossers them away.
"What happens to people who cross my path!!!"
He swings it's arm towards Corin-
Corin puts her buzzsaw in front of her and takes a defensive stance-
CLANG!!!
The loud noise wakes up Coco, her whole body hurts and her ears ring. She looks around to see where did the sound come from, and she can't believe what she's seeing.
Corin is standing in a corner, holds up her buzzsaw against Guardian's arm that was about to kill her. Her arms are trembling, and sweat is running down her face, it seems to take a lot of effort from her. After a few moments she just pushes it's arm away with all her strength, even mecha itself got pushed a bit. "Whoa..."
"What!? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Mike screams in fury from the cockpit. "YOU LITTLE SHIT!" He swings Guardian's arm towards Corin, Coco holds her breath, but Corin parries it once again, she revs up her buzzsaw and delivers a huge slash to mecha with all her might. The impact is so strong it pushes the mecha far from her, almost tumbling it down.
"I'm sorry sir, b-but I promised to bring my friends home, and I like to keep my promises!" Corin takes a fighting stance.
In response, mecha dashes forward at her. Corin dodges put of the way, and it hits the wall behind her, not being to slow down in time. She takes the opportunity and attacks it, one, two three upward slashes, and that was enough to completely destroy the blaster it has. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!!" He swings it's arm once again, but Corin parries it again and delivers three more slashes to Guardian's body.
But that wasn't enough to cause any meaningful damage, it's body is much better protected than it's arms. Guardian starts to quickly move away from Corin, creating a distance between them. It starts to shoot at her with a gun it has on top.
Corin runs away trying to avoid bullets. She needs to think of something fast, she won't be able to keep up forever. Corin glances in the direction where her friend are, she can see how Coco tries to wake everyone up. "Please! We need to go!" Jane is the first one to wake up. "...ugh, what?" "Jane! Please help me bring everyone to the safety!" "Okay, just a moment..."
What a relief, they seem to be okay, now all she needs to do is to keep Mike distracted so they can escape.
A bullet hits her leg, making Corin fall down and scream in pain. "FINNALY!" Mike shouted. Corin tries to get up despite how much it hurts to do. But Mike attacks her from the side, making her hit the nearby wall. "CORIN!" Coco shouted. Jane looks at where Corin is and tries to run towards her, but falls on her knees in pain. "Damn it!" She holds her leg, which was hurt during the explosion.
Guardian moves closer towards Corin, she looks up at it, it's huge figure looming over her. "You really put up a good fight, but this ends NOW." He was about to lift up mecha's arm and attack again, but before he could do that...
Lycaon appears seemingly out of nowhere and hits Guardian to it's side with his prosthetics at full speed knocking it away, and while it was stunned, he charges his engines, jumps upwards and destroys the gun on the mecha. Making it completely armless.
"Lycaon!" Corin shouted in relief, she's very happy to know that he's alright. Even if he's covered in bruises after previous fight. He quickly walks to her "Corin! Are you hurt? Can you still stand?" "I'm fine, just-"
"ENOUGH!!!" Mike screams, even with all the damage that was done, the Guardian is still standing and still is a threat.
Corin thinks of what they could do, and then her eyes fall on the pit that was made by Mike earlier. She looks at Lycaon. "The pit! We can push him into the pit!" Lycaon looks at her, then at the hole. Then he nods. "I'll distract him, and you will push him, can you do that?" He asked her, Corin nods in response. "I... I think I can."
Lycaon helps her to stand up, her body still aches a bit, and while her leg still hurts, there doesn't seem to be any serious damage.
Lycaon dashes forward to Guardian. He attacks the mecha but it doesn't do much to it. Mike dashes forward trying to hit Lycaon, but he simply dodges it, Mike stops, turns mecha around and dashes again.
This continues for a few minutes, Mike dashes at Lycaon who then dodged it. Lycaon has growing more tired as the time went on. He just needs to give Corin an opportunity, and eventually he does, He stands between the hole and Guardian that rushes towards him at full speed.
At the last moment he dodges, barely avoiding it. Mike finnaly notices the hole and tries to stop himself from falling into it. He stops barely a meter from it.
That's the moment when Corin starts pushing him closer to the hole with her buzzsaw spinning at full speed, grinding against the metal. "NO NO NO!!!" Mike screams, he tries to get rid of Corin but he can't reach her from behind. Meanwhile Corin pushes him closer and closer to the pit. 'Just a little bit more!' Corin thinks to herself.
And just when mecha is about to fall, Corin detonates her buzzsaw. It was just enough to topple it over. "NOOOO!!!" Mike screams as the Guardian falls down with him inside. The hard landing causes the entire building to shake, for the last time today.
Corin almost falls down, but Lycaon quickly catches her before she hits the ground. "I got you." He says, she could hear in his voice that he was pretty tired. "Sorry... I'm just a little tired." Corin replies. "That's okay, you did really well. But now let's go check on your injuries." "Wait!" Corin frantically looks around. "Where's Coco and-" "They already left through the exit, they should be on the floor below right now." Lycaon reassures Corin. "Okay..."
They exit the rooftop with Lycaon carrying Corin in his arms. "You took of your shackles?" He asked her. "Yes, I know that I'm not allowed to take them off, I'll go and take them back as soon as I can!" Lycaon stays silent for a few moments. "I don't think there's need for that, I believe that you can control your strength all by yourself." "You think so?" Corin says a little unsure. "I do, but if you don't feel comfortable with that and want your shackles back, I won't stop you."
Corin thinks about it, she was scared that she could accidentally hurt someone if she didn't restrain her strength. That's why she got shackles in the first place, but now without them on her arms, Corin doesn't feel like she will hurt someone. She even forgot about them until Lycaon mentioned it! "Well, being without them doesn't sound too bad. But can I ask for something?" She eventually responds to Lycaon. "Of course you can." "Can I get the same shackles but without them limiting my strength? I really like how they looked." She sheepishly asked, Lycaon lightly chuckled at the request. "Of course Corin."
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"There we go, you got lucky that nothing important was hit. It would have been perfect if you didn't get hit at all but oh well." A kind female doctor speaks to Corin who just got her treated by her. "Anyway, it should fully heal in a few weeks but for now just rest okay?" In response Corin nods while still holding her teddy bear. "Thank you." "I'm just doing my job~, now I'll go check the others, and soon you can leave the hollow." Doctor leaves her and goes into a different room.
Corin exhales, that wasn't too bad. Lycaon wanted to stay for her but he needed to help Zhu Yuan with something. As for Corin's injuries, aside from her leg she only got a few small scratches and bruises. Thankfully the same can be said for other Victoria Housekeeping members, the only unlucky one is Anastella who got damaged and can't fly for now, but she'll get fixed soon.
On another topic, every officer who didn't get injured, is currently arresting all gang members and also while Lycaon was carrying Corin to the doctor, she had saw how Qingyi, Sage and several other officers were trying to open Guardian's cockpit. Corin is not an expert but she can say for sure that Renegades have been fully neutralised. This long, long day is coming to an end.
While Corin was thinking about all that happened today, she had failed to notice how someone approached her. "Mind if I take a seat?" Corin flinches and then looks to the side where the voice came from.
"Coco! Of c-course I don't mind! Haha..." Corin responds to her girlfriend. 'Why am I getting so nervous!?" She thinks. Coco nods with a smile and sits down next to Corin.
For a minute they don't say anything, thinking about how to even begin the conversation. 'Oh God what do I say? I had lied to her and she shared so much with me. Does she hate me? Is she going to break up with me and never talk to me ever again and-'
"Does your leg hurt?" Coco decides to be the first one to speak.
"N-No, not anymore, doctor said it will heal in a few weeks." Corin replies, a bit startled by Coco suddenly asking her a question.
"Okay, but what about you hitting a wall? It looked like it hurt..." She says worryingly.
"It... Was pretty painful, b-but I'm fine! Doctor also confirmed that. The only thing is that my body aches a bit."
"Mhm." Coco hums in acknowledgement. Then to Corin's surprise she leans on her shoulder. "That was really scary, seeing you getting hurt like that." She says. "I... I was also scared for you." Corin quietly replies.
Both girls look out into the old dirty windows of Ballet Twins where the rain was pouring. "I'm sorry for not telling you the truth about me, I should have told you everything earlier." Corin once again apologies.
"Don't apologise, I'm not mad at all." Coco replies. "And also." Coco sits straight, and looks into her girlfriend's eyes. "You don't have to tell me everything at once, one thing at a time. But only if you're comfortable with that."
"Thanks" Corin replies with a relief. "But if you do have any questions you can ask me anytime." "" Coco answers to her
"Can you just kiss already?" Lee appears out of nowhere and startles the girls.
"K-K-K-KISS!?" Corin shrieks. "S-SHUT UP!!!" Coco shouted and covered her bright red face with her hands.
"Did you really need to ruin the moment?" Susie asks her thiren friend. "I'm just having fun. And if I'm not mistaken you are the one who wants to see them kiss the most, right?" Lee says in response. Susie opens her mouth to say something, but then closes it and nods. "You're right."
"D-Did the doctor finished checking on you?" Coco asked them.
"Yeah and we are tasked to bring you back over there." Lee responds. "WE'RE COMING HOME!" Susie shouts with excitement. "Also Victoria Housekeeping is looking for you too Corin." Susie adds and then comes closer to the maid. "By the way why do all of them look so cool?" She whispers to Corin. "Will you introduce us to them?"
"Hehe, I will." Corin stands up and offers Coco her hand. She takes it, and they walk together hand in hand.
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Corin exits the hollow, she takes a deep breath of fresh air and she can just feel the pressure leaving her body with rain still falling down.
"Okay, Susie, Lee, Coco, I'm going to drive you to the NEPS department where your parents are waiting." Seth tells to everyone. "Lycaon, thank you and Victoria Housekeeping for your help today."
"We are always glad to help, if there's anything you need you can call us anytime." Lycaon responds professionally.
The groups separate, with Seth taking the kids into his patrol car, and Victoria Housekeeping taking their own car.
"Bye Corin! I'll text you later!" Coco waves to her girlfriend and sits into the car.
Corin waves in response and gets inside her car. She relaxes as they drive off. "I feel like I could sleep for a week straight." Ellen complaints. "Try not to fall asleep before dinner, Butler put all it's effort into it." Rina responds to shark thiren. "Butler is cooking today? Kinda missed that." Ellen responds, thinking about what kind of beautiful dishes it made for them. "Me too, i like when butler cooks." Corin says. A nice dinner would be great right now.
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After absolutely FANTASTIC dinner, Corin goes into her room, the big plushie collection welcoming her home, her watercolor paint and brushes patiently waiting for their owner at the table, and of course Corin's bed, which was basically calling for her.
Cor goes through her evening routine: take a shower, brush her teeth, took off her work uniform and put her most comfortable bear pajamas.
She lays on her bed and gets comfortable. And as she was about to fall asleep...
DING!
A notification from her phone distracts her, Corin checks it, it's from Coco.
Coco: Hiii, are you asleep?
Corin: Not yet, how are you doing?
Coco: Good! Reunited with grandpa, and then he made a really tasty soup when we came home. ^_^
Corin: That sounds great! And what about the others?
Coco: Lee was crying like a baby when he reunited with his mom (i get him tbh)
Coco: Same thing with Susie
Coco: And I cried too (TT)
Corin: I would have cried too :'(
Two of them then chatted for so long they lost the track of time. Talking about everything and nothing at same time.
And despite the fact that they in general had a pretty good time, there was one thing that got hurt by their late night chat.
And it's their sleeping schedule.
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BONUS
Undisclosed amount of time later
"Oh man, words can't describe how much I love fighting etherials!" Hex said with joy after defeating yet another Thanatos. "What do you think?" He asked his friend.
"I think we should go already, i don't want to get in trouble for wandering inside hollow." Sage answers, annoyed that Hex was able to convince them to come here.
"Relax we're almost done here and- huh?" Hex gets distracted by something, Sage looks at where their friend is looking. "The hell is this thing?" They see a weird purple-black slime not to far away from them, it looks like it tries to... Form to into something?
"Oooh~ That's a doppelganger! I wasn't expecting to see one of them here." Hex excitedly says. "And what is that?" Sage asks.
"It's a type of Etherials that can replicate appearance of anyone who enters the hollow, even their combat abilities! I always wanted to have a mirror match!" Hex takes his weapon out and prepares to the upcoming battle. Sage takes a few steps back 'This is going to end bad' they think.
The form of a etherial shifts and changes, it turns into a short girl with two pigtails and a maid dress, who holds a huge buzzsaw in her arms.
...
"Is that Corin?" Sage is confused. "Well that's new. But, i mean, fighting her shouldn't be that bad right?" Hex shrugs at the sight of a new enemy.
Unexpectedly the etherial dashes forward, with buzzsaw spinning at max torque. "GET DOWN!" The two friends barely dodge it's attack, instead of them it hits the nearby wall, which gets completely destroyed by ethereal's attack.
Both of them look at the etherial with horror on their faces.
"Hmmmmm... Doppelgängers can copy everything about a person, including their physical strength... In our case it means two things." Hex speaks.
"A - That wet noodle named Corin is CRAZY strong. And B..."
Hex places a hand on Sage's shoulder.
"We are sooo fucked."