Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wise hid inside a burning building, clutching a handgun to his chest like it was his life. Outside, he heard noises as Ethereals ransacked the place, his plan having failed completely. It was supposed to be simple. Set a fire to ward off the Ethereals and wait until it went out before walking through the ashes and back to the exit of the Hollow. His teacher had once taught him to navigate a path out of any Hollow, which had made him very confident that he could pull it off.

However, he hadn’t anticipated how large the fire could grow in a Hollow and how fire-proof some Ethereals could be. As a result, he was currently, stuck inside a burning building with just a gun he picked up from a dead body and surrounded by high level Ethereals. He also hadn’t anticipated how long the fire would last, which he really regretted because, now, he was stuck inside the second storey of a burning building, between a horde of Ethereals and the fire itself. He took a peek to assess the situation and started counting. ‘Three Armoured Hati, two Energised Goblins and one Blastcrawler. If I blow up the Blastcrawler, that might give me an opportunity. I can use that to get out of here. If that fails…’ His thoughts drifted to his sister Belle and an image of her giving him a radiant smile came into his mind. “I will come back Belle. I promise.” He whispered to himself.

With that, he gripped the handgun and took aim at the Blastcrawler and pulled the trigger. The bullet soared towards the target and hit its mark, causing the Ethereal to blow up and disorient the other ones in the area. He quickly took the chance and dashed through the flames towards the staircase. His legs and lungs burned but he pushed on. ‘There!’ He ran towards the square of light, but unfortunately, his luck ran out.

He heard a screech from above and with no other warning, the roof crashed down. Wise screamed and time slowed down as he dropped the gun and ran for the exit. He almost made it, but right in front of him, the building collapsed.

Everything was dark. Wise felt like he was floating in the air. He was scared. He was cold. He was… lonely. “Am I… dead?” He asked himself. “Is this it?” He had always been a perceptive kid, and even their teacher had said as much. “I’m sorry Belle.” His sister’s face burned itself into his mind as he closed his eyes and decided to let go.

Suddenly, his eyes were forced open by a warmth on his face and a scream ripped out of his throat as all the pain came rushing back. His head hurt; his body burned but his heart beat. “Please! Someone help me!” He shouted into the air as everything went dark again.

“You wish for help? Very well… just sign here and you’ll be safe. Afterall, it is never bad to have a backup.” Wise felt his hand get pricked. “Perfect… For now, enjoy your childhood, my rider.”

Wise woke up on his bed in a cold sweat. He took deep breathes to calm down his heart and reached for the water bottle on his nightstand. He drank well over half of the bottle before finally calming down. Even if it was years ago, he still remembered what happened as clearly as yesterday. By the end of it all, he had woken up in a hospital hooked up to several machines trying to keep him alive. When he opened his eyes and looked around, he had seen a teary-eyed Belle, holding a sleeping next to his bed on a spare bed in the ward. When she’d heard the sheets moving, she had woken up and buried her face into his chest in a teary hug. It had felt somewhat uncomfortable, but he had refrained from saying anything and simply reciprocated the hug. The girl had cried so loudly, that she had managed to attract the hospital staff as they checked over the ten-year-old with the girl still attached, no one having the heart to separate the girl from her family.

He took off his shirt and sat down on the sofa in his room to cool off a bit more. “Something is coming.” A voice spoke. Wise sighed. “What’s coming Zarathos?” He asked aloud, sure that his sister was sleeping.

He heard a sigh from the Spirit of Vengeance and Justice. “I do not know, but it is neither just, nor righteous. Besides, are you sure you want to discuss this matter with that… computer listening.” Wise let out a playful scoff. “I guess you never truly left your role as the Spirit of Vengeance huh? Also, don’t worry about Fairy. She should be recharging at this time. The Bangboo too, so we should be safe.”

He talked with the spirit for a good while before deciding to go back to sleep. Afterall, he had a store to run, a sister and a store promoter to lie to, a potential Solider 11 blackmailing him into paying for her noodles or doing a 10 kilometre run (with a side of either 100 push-ups, sit ups squats or all of them) in the middle of the night, and a Nicole Demara to tease about debt.

Belle woke up quite early with a long yawn. ‘Am I on the floor again?’ Spoiler alert; yes, she was. She pushed herself off the ground with a groan and stretched her body before making her way to the bathroom to start her day. Once she was done, she went downstairs to greet her brother, but to her surprise, she only saw Heddy outside the door, waving awkwardly. Belle quickly let the promoter in and closed the door behind her. “Good morning, Heddy. Didn’t Wise open the store today?”

Heddy shook her head. “No. Maybe he just overslept?” She supplied confusedly. To be honest, the grey haired manager never appeared to her as one to ever shirk off his duties. Despite this she has noticed Wise looking more and more tired with each day.

Belle shook her head. “Maybe he did. Wanna go, and see?” She asked with a smile. Heddy thought about it for a second before agreeing. Why not help out. So, just like that, Belle and Heddy headed upstairs towards Wise’s room, completely ignoring Bangboo 18, and knocked. When she didn’t get a response, she tried again, this time a bit louder. When she didn’t get a response that time, she outright banged on the door while Heddy watched with a mortified expression as Belle banged on her brother’s door with all the intent to break down the poor piece of wood. Eventually, Belle got fed up with this. “Alright Bro! I’m coming in!” She opened the door and waltzed in, followed by Heddy.

When they went in, the room was empty and everything except for his bed and closet looked perfectly fine. While Heddy thought he might have left in a hurry, Belle just stood there, motionless. In a flash, she pulled out her phone and dialled her brother. By the third ring, she was on his couch, her knee bouncing up and down in worry. After a solid minute, the call went to voicemail and Belle dropped her phone. She curled herself into a ball and Heddy sat down next to her, placing a comforting arm on her shoulder. “Hey, Belle. You, ok?” Belle shook her head. “Wanna tell me about it?” She stayed silent but Heddy pressed on. “Talking can help you know.” She said gently. “I want to help you, so can we please talk?”

Slowly, Belle stood up and Heddy instantly noticed the tears in her eyes. “Ok… *deep breath* When we were still kids, living in the old capital, Wise went missing when he was ten. Back then I was just seven, so I though he may have just left to go see a friend or take a stroll. So, I waited. I waited and waited for three days, and on the fourth day, we found out that Wise had been swallowed up by a companion Hollow and that he was now in the hospital. When we got there, he was unconscious and… and…” Belle broke down in sobs and Heddy stroked her back. “He flatlined three times, and three times, he came back. When he finally woke up, I was ecstatic! I hugged him as tight as I could and he told me, ‘Don’t worry Belle. I won’t ever leave you.’ Then, eight years later, when he turned eighteen, he disappeared on his birthday. It took him three years Heddy. It took him three damn years to come back. When he came back, he told me that he was kidnapped by some people and brought to the Outer Ring. He had managed to escape and had to work there for three years to get the people there to get him a way out. I don’t want to lose him Heddy. I really don’t.” She broke into more sobs and the promoter pulled the shorter girl into a hug and she cried her heart out.

Just then, one of their Bangboo, Eous if she recalled, climbed up the stairs and gave Heddy a note. The promoter took the note and pointed to herself and the Bangboo nodded. Curiously, she opened the note and read through it. “Hey Belle, look here. It’s a note from Wise. Says he’s gone on a ride to clear his head.”

Belle snatched the note and read through it before calming down significantly. She sat on the couch for a few more minutes with Heddy before standing up and wiping her eyes. “Sorry you had to see that Heddy. It’s just that his birthday is in a few days, and I always get like this when he isn’t around those days.” The promoter had been working in their store for a solid few months, so she had earned their trust up to the point where Belle considered her somewhat of an older sister and Wise… well, she didn’t know that. If there was something she knew about her brother, it was that he had an overwhelming sense of duty, which somehow rendered him about as dense as a black hole to everyone who was crushing on him. “Oh, also, sorry about your shirt. Maybe you can wear one of mine for today?”

Heddy smiled and took the offer, glad that the younger manager was feeling better. “Sure thing. The note said Wise already prepped everything, so why not?”

Just then, a Belle’s phone rang, and a smile lit up her face when she saw who was calling. “It’s Wise!”

-A few minutes back-

Wise was on his motorbike, speeding through traffic (at a reasonable speed of course) towards his destination. He had been out for a few hours after he had been unable to go back to sleep last night. On the way, he saw a familiar graveyard and took the turn. Within minutes, he arrived at the small chapel at the center and the familiar Chopper parked outside brought a smile to his face. He parked his own V-max next to it and knocked on the door. In seconds, the familiar face of his mentor and fellow rider, Johnny Blaze opened the door, letting him in with a warm smile. “So, why did you call me here, Blaze?”

Johnny smiled. “Straight to the point I see. Recently I received a call from our brother in the Outer ring about people trying to smuggle in Ether related supplies. He believes that there is someone conspiring with some companies over here. From what we know, they have been busted by the Vanquishers but some of the supplies have gone missing. Me and Slade will be investigating it with him so I want you to hold down the fort here. Can you do that kid?”

Wise nodded and crossed his arms. “Sure thing Blaze. If you need backup, just let me know. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“No need to worry about that.” The gravelly voice announced the entrance of Carter Slade, the oldest of the three riders and mentor to Johnny Blaze. “We old folk can still hold our own against a simple Ether explosion.”

Wise sighed and leaned on one of the walls of the small chapel. “I trust you can, but what about the people nearby? From what I’ve gathered, the outer ring doesn’t have any sort of Hollow tech and the people there still use oil. And also, if this is all you had to say, then why did you call me here? Couldn’t we have talked this over the phone? You know how clingy Belle can get this time of year.”

Johnny sighed. “I do, but ever since you got that new Ai, your phone is being monitored, so, I get us these.” The older rider pulled out a pair of burner phones and chucked one each to the others. Wise caught his one and flipped it open. “You already know our details and I’ve set up some burner emails for us. If you need to call us, use the phone and contact us with the email until we get something else setup.”

Wise nodded. “Understood. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back before Belle wakes up. I left the door open for Heddy, but she usually waits for me to open the door and let her in.” With a short goodbye, he walked back to his bike but he decided to check his phone first.

“Missed call from Belle? Better call back.” He dialled the number and in five seconds, his sister answered, shooting him with a barrage of questions before he could even say hello. It was cute and made him chuckle. “Hello Belle. Good to see that you’re up early. …Yeah, I just had a nightmare last night and went on a ride to clear my head. …Well, so far, it’s working wonders. How’s it going back there? …Ok, do we have anything from Victoria housekeeping? …Ok then. You get Eous there and I’ll be on my way back. I’ll deliver Eous after that. …Stay safe. Love you too.”

He hung up the call and tightened up his gloves. ‘If Rain’s kidnappers are still at the Ballet twins, now might be a good time to catch them. I should get going.’ He put on his helmet (for the sake of avoiding PubSec) and started speeding back down the path he came from, even doing a sick wheelie on the nearly empty road. It was on a cliff that overlooked the ocean, and the sight of the water gave Wise an idea. ‘Belle won’t mind if I get there faster would she? Nah!’

Deep inside him, Zarathos sighed. “You should stop hanging out with Blaze so much.”

Meanwhile, Belle quickly answered the call and by the end of it,  she was relieved to hear that Wise just went for a ride. Call her over-reactive but this was her only family you were talking about and when it came to that, anyone would be protective. With a sigh, Belle gave a summary of the situation to Heddy and left downstairs for her side hustle. She let Heddy take care of the store and gave Eous a final look over before waiting for Wise to return.

In just a few minutes, she heard the thrum of Wise’s engine and quickly ran to the back to greet her brother. He opened the back door and walked in, catching Belle in a hug as she nuzzled into his chest, just like she did all those years ago. The people in the store smiled at the touching scene.

Wise held her for a few good minutes before she ran to the backroom and came back with Eous and a cute little helmet to fit on the Bangboo’s head. The Bangboo jumped on to his arms and he patted both his sister and the little robot on the head before telling Belle that he has some errands to run in the city, so he might be late.

He walked back outside and put on his helmet. He swung his leg over the bike and got comfortable on the seat before giving Eous a hand to pull himself up and get situated between him and the fuel tank of his motorcycle. The Bangboo let out a sound of discomfort and Wise quickly lifted him up. “Sorry Eous. It’s been in the sun for a good while, so it’s quite hot.”

Eous responded with an “En-na-tha! (It’s alright master!)” making Wise smile. He reached out to grab a cloth from the Random-play car next to him and put it under Eous before placing the Bangboo back where he was. “En-Nah! (Thanks!)”

Wise smiled and gave Eous a head pat. “Hold on Eous. I’m going to go a little fast.” He started his engine and Eous held the fuel tank with a determined look on his face as they sped off towards the Ballet twins.

Meanwhile, back in the store, Belle decided to link herself with Eous, just to see what the Bangboo felt when he was on the road. Unfortunately, she didn’t bring in the gap she felt when she connected, and the next second, she was hanging by Wise’s hand as he pulled the Bangboo back onto the bike. “Belle. Is that you in there?” She giggled sheepishly.

The sheepish giggle coming from the Bangboo told him all he needed to know. He sighed. ‘Good thing the roads aren’t crowded.” He’d had to do a whole 360° spin to grab and put Eous back on the seat. ‘At least Belle enjoyed it. Now to hope I didn’t get caught by a speed camera.’ With a laugh of his own, he turned the throttle and went towards the Ballet twins at a faster speed.

-Timeskip-

In a few minutes, he arrived at his destination and handed Eous/Belle over to Lycaon, the head of Victoria housekeeping. The faction had decided to team up with them when they had found the Cunning Hares snooping around inside the building. When they told Victoria about their stance, they had agreed to team up with them and they had agreed because the Cunning Hares had to be present for their court appearance.

Speaking of the faction, the wolf thiren picked up the Bangboo and the housekeepers headed into the building. Seeing that he had nothing to do till then, he decided to go for a joyride (Rider style of course). Say what you want but Wise was sure that being a rider came with the undisputed urge to splurge all your money on motorcycles until you found the one. Slade had told him as much when he was on his horse and Zarathos had never said anything different, so he just assumed the same was true with motorcycles.

He shook his head to clear it and got on his bike, deciding to leave his helmet behind, and started it up. He gave it a few good revs before turning it around and gunning for the Hollow. Inside, he willed the Hellfire within him to roar, making it burst through his body with a scream, burning up his face and leaving behind a blackened skull covered in fire. His bike wasn’t spared either, as fire spewed out of the engine and spread to his wheels. Black smoke bellowed from behind him as he rode around the Hollow for about an hour, taking out some powerful Ethereals along the way before eyeing a skyscraper jutting out of the Hollow. ‘Blaze did tell me he rode up a building. Who knows, Victoria housekeeping may need a hand.’

“Right. It’s because you want to help. Totally not because you want to ride up a building like Blaze did. Completely believable.” He just responded to Zarathos with a mental middle finger and sped off towards the building.

‘Sorry Lycaon’s employer, but I need some fun.’ As he reached the building, he pulled up and turned the throttle, making the bike do a wheelie and hit the side of the building. Instead of falling over, the bike stuck to the side of the wall, going vertically up as he let out a whoop of joy. He revved the engine, going up faster and faster, thanking whoever built the building’s armoured mode strong enough to withstand his weakest Hellfire. He also thanked Zarathos for helping him control the Hellfire as he sped straight towards the top of the building.

As he reached the top, he stopped toning it down and revved the engine all the way up, flying over the short wall at the top and scaring some poor rebels who didn’t expect to see some guy with a flaming skull on a motorbike to just appear from the Hollow. One of the rebels moved closer to his partner and whispered, “Hey man? Think that’s a new Ethereal?”

“Maybe, but it’s out of the Hollow.” His partner whispered back. Wise was tempted to say that he could hear them, but decided to stay silent to keep the suspense factor going. Instead, he opted for slowly getting off his bike and walking towards them while fiddling with his chains. He could kill all of them at once, but maybe he won’t just yet.

While he was thinking it through, the leader of the group finally got his wits back. “Don’t just stand there! Attack!”

Wise shook his head with an unheard sigh. ‘Always the coward’s response. Better to use the Penance stare on this one.’ He raised his hand and flicked it, making a molten chain appear from his sleeve and coil around the leader’s feet. A single tug sent the man’s neck into Wise’s waiting hand as he tightened his skeletal fingers around the man’s neck. He could’ve just burned him to a crisp right then and there with his Hellfire but he needed to send a message.

With that in mind, broke the man’s mask and brought his face closer to his own. “Look into my eyes.” The man, out of curiosity or madness, took a glimpse and found himself entranced by the hollow eye sockets of the rider. “Your soul is stained by the blood of the innocent.” He trembled in the rider’s hands, as tears streamed out of his eyes and drool flowed out of his mouth. “Feel their Pain!”

For an instant, he screamed loudly before his eyes glazed over, like a broken crust over molten lava. Wise just tossed the body away, before giving the closest guy a hard stare. “Run.” He obeyed without a second thought, running inside the hollow without a thought of what maybe going on inside. Without sparing a second, the others followed. Wise inwardly chuckled at their cowardice. ‘Well then, time to make an appearance.’

Lycaon parried an attack from a spinning marionette with his cybernetic legs while Ellen did the same with the other. Meanwhile, Rina and Corin launched an attack on the distracted Ethereals, managing to land a heavy hit that left them dazed for a good bit. The team took the opportunity, with Ellen and Corin landing two heavy hits on one Ethereal’s core and Lycaon doing the same with Rina.

Unfortunately, Rina’s Bangboo were a little drained from the previous attack, meaning that she didn’t fully kill the Ethereal, and before Lycaon could follow up with a second kick, the Ethereal managed to recover and dodge the hit. However, instead of attacking, it went over to its twin and started doing a slow dance with an eerie melody. “What’s it doing?” Ellen asked in her tired voice. Suddenly, the Ethereal they had downed started to move and within seconds, it was up and running. “What? This is getting on my nerves.”

For the first time in a while, Lycaon found himself agreeing with the shark thiren but he still prepared to fight. If he was right, they had just under two minutes left and one of the Ethereals that had taken them well over ten minutes to beat was back at full power. ‘No… not back to full.’

Sure enough, when he looked closely, that second ethereal still had some cracks on its body and its core looked a bit wobbly while other one swayed a bit on its feet. ‘So the live one transferred some of its energy to the downed one. Not a bad tactic, but it renders both of them weaker, so they should be more killable.’

Lycaon opened his mouth to relay his findings, but before he could, a Rebel soldier ran into the Hollow. The second he saw the assembly, he froze for a moment, confusing both the Ethereals and everyone else with his presence. Then he just ran, followed by a whole lot more people who came from the same place. They slipped and ran, ignoring their former hostage (Rain the hacker) and the deadly Ethereals. Eventually, around ten people had run through the battle and before it could restart, the sound of a motorcycle engine rang through the air. “Is that a motorcycle engine?” Rain asked with some fear.

The question was answered the next second as a flaming skeleton in a leather jacket on a flaming motorcycle flew through the Hollow exit, leaping over the Ether crystals and landing between the Twin marionettes and Victoria housekeeping plus others. The man on the bike kicked down the stand and casually got off the seat before staring down the Ethereal. He turned to look at the others over his shoulder and motioned them to move.

Lycaon didn’t sense any hostility from the man, so he gave him a nod and guided the others to the Hollow exit. The Ethereals however, were not happy about this. With a screech, they moved towards the housekeepers, but before they reached them, red hot chains wrapped around their torsos as they got pulled towards the Rider giving the others a chance to escape.

The Marionettes took this in stride and fell into sync as they spun around each other before one of them went hurtling at the Rider at full speed, only to be countered by a fiery punch, stopping the spin completely, before grabbing the head and throwing it toward its twin, sending them tumbling away like a pair of tumbleweeds. Wise flinched when he saw a giant Ether crystal fall down and hit one of them on the head.

Shaking it off, he walked towards them with his Hellfire-infused chains snaking around him. The Ethereals recovered and seemed to realize that dealing with him is a bad idea, because they gave him a bow and disappeared. Wise froze for a second before looking around. ‘Huh. Talk about anticlimactic. Anyway, better get back before Belle finds out I’m gone.’

To be continued…

Chapter Text

“Ok… Consider it your last *bzzt* wish. It’s called A Sacrifice.” Belle and Wise froze at the name. It had been only a few days since they saved Rain and in return, she had shown why she was a well-known hacker by breaking into the files in the logic core within said few days. Now, they were cooped up inside Random Play’s Staff Room with some of the staff from Belobog industries, listening to the recordings obtained from the corrupted core of the Prototype. So far, they revealed that Khors Belobog, founder of Belobog construction father to Koleda Belobog, had been murdered when he decided to use the Prototype to hold off the monster they had found inside the monument. Despite the melancholic atmosphere in the shop, what caught the sibling’s attention was that last word, Sacrifice.

“Wise… Did he just say Sacrifice?” Belle asked shakily. All eyes turned on them as Wise nodded grimly. “So that monster in the monument…”

“What’s up with you, Phaethon? Do you guys know something about this?” Grace asked them with a comforting hand on Koleda’s shoulder. The woman was in charge of taking care of all things tech down at Belobog, and, despite her obsession with machines (something that made Eous shiver and the siblings pray for Billy’s safety if they ever met), she was an integral part of the company. On a side note, she is also Koleda’s adopted sister, which made their bond that much stronger.

Speaking of siblings, Wise and Belle shared a glance and a nod, showing their mutual approval of the faction. “We’ve heard that name once today.” Belle started, taking a mental note of how everyone’s eyes focused on them. “From a reliable source.”

“They also told us that the reason someone was going after the court airship was to do away with Pearlman.” Wise continued. “That means they need to take him out of the board, but why?” Belle also fell into brainstorming with Wise while Belobog contemplated why they had chosen to share this info with them.

“Wait! So Perlman’s related to what we’re investigating here?” Koleda asked confusedly. She looked up at Grace and lightly stomped her foot. “What am I missing here.”

After a solid minute, Wise blinked and narrowed his eyes. “Wait. Fairy, pull up the plans for the railway system that Perlman and Vision were building and overlay it on a map of Hollow. See if you can also get the locations where the explosives were meant to be and their estimated blast radii.”

Belle (and the Belobog people) looked at him with confusion in their eyes. “What are you trying to do Bro? What did you figure out?” She asked, looking at her brother’s narrowed eyes that were focused on the HDD.

Just then, the HDD pinged, showing the locations and the estimated blast radii for the explosions for the railway project. The older Proxy’s keen eyes quickly honed in on what he was looking for. “Got it. Look here.” He tapped a finger at a specific explosive and traced a line to a familiar looking structure. “That’s the monument, and its well within the blast radii of multiple explosives. Any guesses what that means?” Realization dawned in their eyes.

After a moment of silence, Belle spoke. “So Pearlman was trying to release the thing in the monument? The Sacrifice?” She asked Wise who was still thinking everything over.

“No. I don’t think so.” He said after pause, making everyone stare at him confusedly. “They were ready to destroy the airship to take down Pearlman and that seems quite strange. I feel like Perlman was expendable here, but he learned too much. Why else would they try to take care of him like this when they could’ve just let him take the blame?”

Belle nodded along. “The only way to know for sure is to question Perlman, but from what the news said, he took the airship and escaped somewhere to the Outer ring, so he should be in hiding right?”

Wise agreed. “True. The best we can do is just wait and hope that some intel surfaces. Excuse me please. I need some air.” With that, he left the room, walked out the back door and pulled out the burner phone Johnny gave him. He looked around and made sure the coast is clear before dialling his mentor’s number. Withing three ring, Johnny picked up. “Blaze. Did you hear about the whole Perlman escape thing?”

“Straight to business I see? I like it, and for your information, I also heard about a ‘flaming skeleton on a sick bike’ being on the scene.” Johnny’s reply came out a bit scratched but Wise dismissed it as the Burner being the Burner. “Ignoring that, why did you call?”

Wise quickly explained the situation in a very abbreviated way without giving away too many details. “Listen. I can’t say much more because I feel like there’s someone watching me here. So, because you’re already in the outer ring, can you keep an eye out for Perlman?”

He heard a hum from the other end of the call. “Sure thing. We can do that. By the way, we’re on the road now so I’m going to hang up. You and your sister stay safe. Godspeed.”

“Godspeed Blaze. Send the others my regards.” He hung up the call and contemplated about Blaze’s words. He looked around for a good few seconds before going back inside. ‘Let’s hope you don’t do anything stupid Victoria. The last things you’d want to face is hell’s rouge bounty hunters.’ With that thought in mind, he walked back inside.

Meanwhile two figures watched the store from their neighbouring roof. “Sir Lycaon. What do we do about them? They are investigating the same subject as us.”

Lycaon hummed at Rina’s question. “We do nothing. They are already too far involved. Besides, we have new orders from our Master. ‘Let them continue and aid them from the shadows.’ That is what Master said.” Rina nodded, content with the plan. After the talk, they turned around and left, completely aware of the bounty hunter that had his senses trained on their every move.

Meanwhile, in Lumina square, Office Zhu Yuan from the Janus precinct of Public Security was working her butt off on a series of very strange cases. To recap, it all started with a case that mentioned a motorcyclist with a flaming skull and a custom bike on fire, riding at speeds going more than three times the normal speed limit. Why anyone would report their ‘drunken hallucinations’, she did not know. She was about to dismiss the case but still skimmed through it out of habit, only to realise that a third of the people questioned had requested a sobriety test and only about two of them had turned out positive. She then went through a whole lot more from the same shelf and had a mental breakdown when she realised that all of these were about this, so called “Ghost Rider”.

That was two days ago and since then, she had gone through the whole shelf in detail, along with the next three on both sides which she had also discovered to be of the same being. So yeah, she’s earning her overtime pay. On the bright side, her research revealed that there were, at least, three different Ghost Riders; one who rode a horse and wore a hat, one with a custom bike and spikes on his outfit, and one with a normal bike and a burnt skull.

She also learned that the one with the whole custom motorbike was responsible for embarrassing PubSec a while back. She had pulled up the footage multiple times and even tried to find the culprit they had arrested, but to no avail. “Johnny Blaze… We’ve combed the area to find you and you still appear at night. Where could you be hiding?” She thought to herself with a sigh. One of them was already driving her nuts and she still had two more to track down, and if that wasn’t enough, all they had on the others was that one of them had an accent and one of them rode a Gen 2 Yamaha V-MAX, a bike that she had heard one of her officers have a wet dream about (how that was possible, she did not know, but maybe it was just men).

Just as she was sinking even deeper into the rabbit hole, a knock from on door distracted her and she told the person to enter. With a crisp twist of the handle, in came a white-haired cat (or lynx) thiren with some papers and a smile. “Captain! I have gathered info on all the registered V-MAX bikes in New Eridu and right here in Lumina, just as you had asked!” He responded enthusiastically.

“Thanks Seth. It’ll help a lot in solving this case.” Zhu Yuan said with a smile. Seth Lowell was a rookie cop, but he had managed to earn the whole precinct’s admiration (and some people’s mockery) for being the most honest person to grace the place. The only qualm Zhu Yuan had with that attitude is the liability it posed on the field. The world wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t at all kind to good people like Seth.

“Um… Captain, if I may?” Zhu Yuan looked at him and motioned for him to go on. “What is this case about? You’ve been stressing over if for days and from what your partner said, you never work this late on a case. I hope you understand that we’re all worried for your wellbeing and we are ready to devote all our resources to help solve this case.”

Zhu Yuan shook her head with a smile. ‘Guess this is why he’s famous with the newer girls.’ She stood up and walked to the window, looking out over the city. “Well, this case has been open for a good ten years and as of now, the ones involved are getting more and more active.” Seth made a noise of confusion, making Zhu Yuan turn to him. “Have you heard of the Ghost Riders?”

Unexpectedly, Seth’s eyes lit up. “Yeah! I’ve even met one of them! He saved me from a burning building as a kid!” Zhu Yuan tensed. This was news. “I even saw him take down a lot of bandits that tried to salvage things from that place. He also did something where he looked into someone’s eyes and killed them, but from his words, it feels like he punished the man for his sins or something.” This was big news.

While Seth continued to ramble about the Ghost Rider like he was his hero or something (now that Zhu Yuan thought about it, it didn’t seem all that impossible), the Captain gained a new insight about this ‘criminal’. ‘So he punished people who have committed sin? But what exactly classifies as a sin, and how does he kill them with a look in the eyes? Seems like there is far more to this guy than what the reports say.’ She thought to herself. She’ll have to dig deeper.

But before that, she needed a break and she knew just what to do about it. ‘Wonder if Random play has any new movies in stock. Guess I’ll go there tomorrow.’

-The next day-

Wise tightened his gloves and checked himself over and nodded in approval before moving to check on Eous. He looked over the Bangboo’s get-up and gave him his approval, making the little guy give a sound of happiness. Wise chuckled at the cute gesture and patted Eous’ head, making the Bangboo hum; something that reminded Wise of a cat. In the meantime, Belle threw the keys to Heddy and came out of the back door, wearing a leather jacket and a blue coloured helmet. “I’m ready Bro! How’s Eous?”

Wise’s smile widened as he hopped on his bike. “Good. Hop on then. Let’s get going. Scott Outpost is quite far and there is bound to be some traffic later on. We best going on early.” Belle nodded and pulled herself onto the bike behind her brother while he secured Eous in front of him. “Ready?” She wrapped her arms around her brother and nodded. “Hold on tight then.”

With that, he turned the key and revelled in the thrum of the engine, before twisting the throttle, pulling out of the parking lot and turning towards the road to Scott outpost. In a few minutes, they were out of the city and Wise twisted the throttle again.

The bike responded in kind, fuelling the engine and speeding up like a wild horse. Behind him, Belle moved her head to the side and let out a whoop of joy, revelling in the feeling of the wind hitting her face through her opened visor. Wise laughed at her antics and revved the engine, almost going over the speed limit on the sign nearby. Looking down, his smile widened when he saw Eous, who had his arms up and his eyes called in happiness. “En-Nah! (This is awesome!)”

The older sibling looked back at the road and revved his bike, speeding up a tad bit more. After a few more minutes on the road, the outpost came into view. Scott base stood tall like a statue in the ominous shadow of Hollow Zero, daring anyone to cross the border to the wasteland that lay beyond. Wise maneuvered his bike inside the nearly empty public parking lot of the base and parked it near the gate. He then helped Eous get off the bike and handed him to Belle before getting off the himself and going through the side bag he packed up.

While he was doing that, Belle took Eous to the interior of the outpost, giving a wave to Dr Ray and a professional nod to Captain Roland, before hooking Eous up to the system. It didn’t have all the functionality of their HDD, but with Fairy’s help and the Resonium provided by the researchers, they were able to make up for it. A few minutes later, Wise walked in, wearing a long black cloak with gold accents along with some fingerless gloves with the same colour palate. This was a custom piece of combat wear made for areas with high Ether concentrations like Hollow Zero. It was capable of absorbing Ether energy and reducing the wearer’s chances of being corrupted, making it a vital piece of kit for any Hollow explorer. This specific piece was made out of a leftover piece of material from their days in the old capital which Wise modified to great success. Wise leaned over Belle to look at the computer and she gave him a thumbs up.

The older Proxy nodded and picked up Eous before walking towards the entrance to Hollow Zero. From a young age, Wise boasted a particularly high Ether Aptitude, making him waltz around Hollows without a care in the world. At least that was the case until the incident. Since then however, Wise’s body had almost adapted to the Hollows, with his Ether Aptitude increasing up to a point where he’s basically immune to Ether corruption. Of course this partially came from a certain fiery spirit in his body, but no one had to know that. To avoid explanations, he wore the modified cloak, even though he didn’t really need it.

With one final check, Wise set down the Bangboo and walked into Hollow Zero behind Eous. ‘Let’s see what the Hollow has in store for us today.’

*Smol Timeskip*

A lot. That’s what the Hollow had in store for them. Waves upon waves of Ethereals charged at Wise as he used a pair of custom-made handguns to ward off the monsters around him. He mentally thanked Billy and an old acquaintance for training him as he shot another Ethereal in the head. While he was busy shooting the hell out of the Ethereals, Belle was piloting Eous to run around him, alerting him of any new Ethereals while finding a way to get out of their predicament. Wise shot another one in the head before executing a perfect kick on its friend. “Any idea how we can get out of this Belle?”

“Hold on Wise! I’m trying!” Belle’s voice sounded more frantic than he expected; it brought a smile to his face to know that his sister was trying so hard for his sake. He shot at two more Ethereals and let a projectile glance off his cloak before dispatching its sender with a quick shot. “You ok Bro?”

Wise shrugged and twisted his shoulder where the bullet had hit. “I’m fine Belle. How about you go to somewhere that has a little less commotion? If you do that, I can draw away the Ethereals while you go and gather some Hollow Data. If the worst comes to pass, I can find a way out of the Hollow myself, but whatever happens, we can’t lose Eous. He’s our teacher’s gift to us. Also, if you feel any large Ethereal signatures, let the people there know, so that they can send some backup.”

Belle blinked. “No! I’m not leaving you Wise! Not now, not ever!” Wise was about to refute, but the slight crack in her voice stopped him. “I almost lost you to a Hollow once before. I don’t want to go through that again. Not now, not ever!”

Wise sighed with a sad smile and knelt down in front of the Bangboo. “I’m sorry Belle. I won’t ask you to leave me again, I promise. But are you sure you want to go deeper in with me? There are larger Ethereals and we’ll be a lot farther away from any backup.” The Bangboo nodded and Wise pat its head. “Ok then, but if something happens, promise me that you’ll get backup. You know I won’t get lost in the Hollows and I honestly have a bad feeling about this.”

Truthfully, Wise had been feeling a certain tingle in his spine from the moment they started nearing their last checkpoint, which was why he wanted to get Belle out of the location if possible, and true to his expectations, they’d met heavy resistance from a lot of small hornet-like Ethereals; the calling card of the bigger Ethereal known as Nineveh.

Belle was about to refuse, but paused her train of thought when she saw Wise score a hit on an Ethereal without even looking. Deep down, Belle was still scared. If you met the siblings in two different places, you probably won’t be able to tell that they were siblings because of how different their personalities were. He outgoing, extroverted personality was the exact opposite to Wise’s quiet, calm one. He even had a greater Ether Aptitude, which had led Belle to see Wise as a protector, a shelter, and someone she could confide in. She saw him as the rock of her world, an immovable barrier that protected her from the fierce gales of reality. All those notions had shattered when she’d seen him in laying the hospital that day, unresponsive and comatose. That day, she had secretly promised herself to not rely on her brother as much. She’d decided that she’d be as much of a rock for her brother as he was to her.

So, with a reluctant look, Belle agreed. Wise pet Eous’ head with a smile. “Thanks Belle. Anyway, what do you say we start heading back? I have a bad feeling about this place and the hornets here aren’t making me feel any better.”

Belle agreed and they started making their way back to the outpost. As they were walking, Wise felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Out of instinct, he grabbed Eous and ducked behind a broken wall, lifting it up over himself and the Bangboo with a level of strength he shouldn’t have. He heard 7 thuds as the makeshift barrier almost crumbled in his hands. Wise looked at Eous and mentally gritted his teeth at what he was about to do. “Belle. Get backup. We have Nineveh on our tail. The ‘Garden’ isn’t too far from here, so I’ll try to draw her there. Tell everyone there at I’ll be drawing Nineveh to the Garden.”

Back at the outpost, Belle froze before realising that she could just tell them from where she was sitting. She temporarily disconnected from Eous and turned over to Dr Ray. “Dr Ray! We have a problem! My brother encountered Nineveh and he said he’s going to lure her to the Garden! Please send him some backup!”

For her part, Ray took a few seconds to process three things. One; that this investigator and her brother had managed to stumble into Nineveh, again after Operation Foliage hunt,
Two; said brother was out there now, drawing Nineveh to her nest, code named ‘The Withering Garden’, and
Three; they could not let this opportunity pass, be it for some data on the Ethereal or an opportunity to drive her to overexert herself.

So, she dashed up to Captain Roland, who had heard the commotion and was already scrambling Section 6. She then went back up to Belle and calmed the younger girl down. Not sure what to do, she pulled her into a hug and ran her fingers through her hair. Once she had sufficiently calmed down, she decided to take a gamble and leaned down to look Belle in the eye. “Hey Belle. Listen. The route we have to the Garden is a good route, but it is not the fastest. I believe you and your brother discovered a faster one?” Belle nodded and sniffled. “Section 6 will be here in a few moments, and it will take us a while to scramble the forces and get them all Carrots. Until then, can you guide Section 6 to the Garden? At best they’ll be able to hold them off till something happens.”

Belle wiped her tears and nodded. “I’ll get Eous back here then. Please ask them to hurry.” Ray nodded and rubbed Belle’s head one more time. The smaller girl pulled away and quickly got back on the computer and began guiding back her Bangboo back to the outpost. Her face was still stained with tears, but her eyes held a resolute and determined glint. ‘Hang tight Wise. Help is on the way.’

True to their words, Section 6 arrived in just a few minutes and Dr Ray relayed the plan to them. Seeing as the other option was waiting for hours, they agreed for Belle to guide them to the Garden. Little did they know, what they found there would be something unexpected.

“Well, this is a predicament. You can’t transform, you can’t use your chains and you can’t even call your bike. What will you do now?” Zarathos’ voice rang inside Wise’s head as he took cover behind a small wall of Ether crystals. He was in the Garden, holding out until the backup got there and right now, Nineveh was basting the ground with Ether energy, creating a constant stream of Ether that would probably corrupt anyone without protective gear. Luckily for Wise, the blast also created decently sized Ether crystals in random locations which could serve as small shelters. Unfortunately, they also had the property of exploding when Nineveh was done with her attack, so he had to time everything properly.

‘Shut is Zarathos. Besides, I have a plan.’ With that, he channelled his inner Hellfire into his guns, making them deform and burst into flames. ‘Now then,’ He took deep breath, letting the power of Hellfire invigorate him. It wasn’t enough to transform, but it was enough to turn his eyes the colour of blazing fire and enhance his body to superhuman extents. “Let’s begin.”

Wise jumped into the air with a spin, just in time for the makeshift barrier to explode, sending bits of shrapnel that were small enough to be disintegrated upon coming in contact with his cloak. Landing in a crouch, the rider wasted no time and started running around the Ethereal, looking for any weak spots in its armour. While he could just kill it, that would look suspicions and that’s the last thing he wanted. So, just like any good strategist, he bade his time, evading attacks from both Nineveh and her hornets as he returned fire whenever he could, slowly but surely breaking through the Ethereals armour, creating weak points where he could find none.

Just as he was making progress, he remembered something. ‘Wait. Didn’t Harumasa say she gets harder to kill the more pissed off she gets?’ As if by a spell or comedic timing, Nineveh gave out a roar and slammed into the floor, letting a out a wave of Ether in preparation for a larger attack. ‘Oh shi-’

Section 6 raced through the Hollow towards the Withering garden with Eous in hand, determined to not let the private investigator perish. They had only met Wise a few times but they hung around Belle for long enough (mostly when they were on break at the Scott outpost) to know how important her brother was to her. “Take a right! There’s a fissure that should cut down around half the travel time to the Garden!” They took the turn and leapt into the fissure, arriving at a very familiar place close to the garden. It surprised them that their own Carrots never provided alternative paths through the Hollows like this, but they put the thought aside in favour of helping their guide’s sibling.

And then they felt it. A wave of Ether energy much more powerful than the previous blast coming directly from the garden. The Bangboo let out a sound of distress and Section 6 moved faster to the site of the explosion. Before they got there, the Ether energy stopped flowing just as suddenly as it had appeared, perplexing the team and the Proxy with them. Regardless, they hurried up and ran as fast as they could, hoping to find the lost sibling and not an Ethereal in his place.

Wise panted as he lowered his smoking gun. In front of him was Nineveh, stunned by a single fiery bullet sent through her central core. While she looked vulnerable now, Wise’s keen senses knew she’d recover from this in just a few minutes. ‘Either I have to scram, or I have to keep fighting her.’ He took a deep breath and let out a short chuckle. ‘I have to hold her here till Belle gets the reinforcements. Looks like I’ll have to endure some more attrition.’ Wise checkled again, this time a bit louder has he cracked his neck. “No matter. Bring it on, Swarm!”

As he raised his guns, a pattern on his cloak glowed. It was an upgrade he made to the piece of clothing that let him take the Ether it absorbed and convert it into energy. As of now, the tech was crude and could only really power his guns, but he was still pretty proud of it. He spun the guns and took aim. With a deep breath, he pulled the trigger, unleashing a hail of molten lead towards the prone Ethereal. As he’d expected, the pain woke Nineveh from her slumber as she flew up and started gathering energy in her multitude of tentacles, aiming them all at the man that had brought her down.

Wise just grinned and took aim, shooting at the tentacles as she unleased several beams of concentrated Ether at the Proxy. He dodged the attacks and moved in closer, a subtle application of Hellfire making him quicker as he closed the distance. Nineveh saw this and screeched, gathering energy and spinning like a tornado barrelling towards her assailant, causing him to jump out of the way with some injuries to his arms. Not one to be deterred, Wise holstered one of his guns to summon a molten chain and threw it into the living tornado’s wing. It pierced through and Wise let it glide between his fingers, slowly tangling the Ethereal in the chains and immobilising it.

Seeing the plan work, Wise smirked. He wrapped the chain around his hand and pulled. “Get over here!” And she did just that. Much to Nineveh’s surprise, she was reeled in like a fish on a line as Wise took aim at her central core once more. “See you never!” With that, he pulled the trigger, sending another fiery bullet towards the struggling Ethereal, making it let out a shriek of pain as it slumped back to the ground. With a sigh, Wise tugged on his chain, dismissing it to who knew where. Then, he went up to the wall of the garden and slumped down. ‘Belle should be here with help anytime. Best to take a breather. Using Hellfire without transforming feels weird.’ With that thought, he slumped onto the wall and closed his eyes, waiting for reinforcements.

Section 6 paused when they heard the familiar shriek from Nineveh. Miyabi and Yanagi gave each other a nod and the former split off from the group, running towards the garden at full speed. She leapt into a fissure as Belle instructed and arrived there in under a minute, only to be surprised by what she saw.

Nineveh was lying on the ground while the person they were looking for was slumped on the wall of the garden with his eyes closed. She could clearly tell that the Ethereal was still alive, but to stun her to this degree is no easy feat. ‘Did he… take her on his own?’ She let the thought linger for a second before shaking it off to go and give the sibling a check-up. As she checked him over, she couldn’t help but be surprised at how little damage he had sustained. ‘That was a long battle and all he got out of that was some rather deep scars on his arms… How in the world is that possible?’

Filing the thought away for later, Miyabi crouched down and took his arm into her hand with the intention of administering First Aid. What she didn’t expect was for the man to grab her hand and point a pistol at her. His eyes flew open and honed in on her with the speed of a jet and the precision of a trained killer, only for them to relax when he noticed she wasn’t an Ethereal. He let go of her hand and glanced past her at the still prone form of Nineveh. He set down his pistol and slumped back with a sigh. “Sorry about that miss. Just the nerves from the fight acting up.” Wise then took a good look at the newcomer’s face, feeling like he’d seen her somewhere before his eyes widened in realisation. “Wait a minute. You’re Hoshimi Miyabi of Hollow Special Operations Section 6!” Wise blurted out, startling Miyabi thanks to her heightened hearing. “I’m very sorry for pulling a gun on you. I just confused you with a Hornet.”

Miyabi shook her head and fixed him with that same blank look. “It’s alright. There was no harm done, so let’s keep this between us. On that note, may I ask how you managed to take down Nineveh?” She asked curiously while reaching out for his wounded arm. “May I?”

For a moment, Wise was confused before remembering the wounds on his arm. “Sure?” He cautiously held out his hand. The Thiren quickly gave it a look and pulled out some medical supplies from somewhere while Wise started talking. “When Nineveh uses any high level Ether attacks, she exposes her central core. Fire a sufficiently powerful shot to the core and you get that.”

Miyabi nodded absentmindedly, listening to the conversation while tending to the wound, multitasking being very easy to her after spending a few hours on paperwork and fidgeting each day. ‘And Tuskishiro said that makes me less productive.’ She thought triumphantly. “Ok. Another question. Why did you not try to exit the hollow? I’ll admit, you’ve given us a golden opportunity and indispensable intel, but surely it was safer to run away than to face Nineveh alone.”

Wise sighed. “Well, it’s because I didn’t want to bring her to the areas with newer investigators. I personally know how it feels to be a rookie with Nineveh on my tail. If you weren’t there to save us that day, then there’s no telling it I’d have made it back to my sister.” Miyabi noticed how his voice softened at the mention of his sister and her ears twitched imperceptibly at the fond tone he used.

Just as she was done with the bandage, the male proxy suddenly pushed her out of the way and raised his pistol. For a second, Miyabi was surprised, until she noticed that Nineveh has started to rise from her slumber. She quickly grabbed her sword and drew the weapon, ready to fight the Ethereal, but Wise stopped her with a hand. “Wait. She’s very agitated, so any minute now…”

She watched in confusion as the “investigator” pulled down the hammer on his gun, his finger on the trigger like a scene from an old movie. She watched as he waited, focused on the Ethereal as his sharp eyes scanned for anything they could exploit. As if she was tired of the waiting game, Nineveh let out a roar, raising her abdomen and charging up a powerful Ether attack. “Cover your ears.” Without skipping a beat, Wise pulled the trigger, sending a powerful blast of charged Ether energy at a seemingly random location on Nineveh’s body. Miyabi mentally facepalmed as she saw that the shot wasn’t aimed at any weak spot of the Ethereal, only for her to gawk when she saw Nineveh let out a shriek and fall onto her own Ether sphere, obscuring her in a cloud of smoke.

The investigator blew off the smoke coming out of the barrel of his gun and holstered it with a flourish. “High levels of Ether and sudden interruptions.” He spoke as he tightened the bandages Miyabi had put on his arm. “Two things that must never be combined, unless you want that.” As the smoke cleared, Wise took out both his guns and reloaded them as the prone form of the Ethereal was once again revealed. “If it isn’t too much, may I ask you to fight alongside me?”

Before she could question why, a distinct buzzing sound started filling the air, giving an answer to something she’d been wondering for a while now. ‘So that’s why they’re late. They got stuck fighting some Ethereals.’ She was startled out of his thoughts when Wise started firing, taking out hornet after hornet without the slightest problem.

Meanwhile, the others weren’t exactly stuck behind some Ethereals as Miyabi had deduced, but rather they had jumped through the wrong fissure and were sent to an area close to the entrance. This meant that they were back at the starting point, which had led to Belle freaking out that her brother was left out there in the Hollow. As the team was about to go back into the Hollow, Yanagi received a transmission from Miyabi. As she listened, she grew both confused and concerned. ‘Why did Chief tell us to stay back? According to her, Nineveh is down for the moment and the person with her claims he can find a way out of the Hollow himself. But if that were the case, why did he ask his sister to leave him behind? This is both confusing and suspicious. I should look into this.’

Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, she cleared her throat to get the attention of the others. “Listen up. Chief Miyabi just contacted me and said that she’ll be finding her own way out with the investigator. Miss Belle, I’d like to know if your brother can actually find his way through the Hollows on his own.”

Belle calmed down at the mention of her brother and got to thinking. After a minute, she spoke. “Yes. After he was…” She paused before changing the subject. “Ever since the incident, he always had an uncanny ability to be very well attuned to Hollows. It’s almost like he knows everything about it. From paths to fissures, approximate number of Ethereals, to even the times it would take for a person to be corrupted, he knows almost everything inside of a Hollow after stepping inside on.”

Yanagi nodded, filing the information away for later investigation. “Alright then. Can we trust your brother to find a way out of the Hollow, or do we have to go back in?”

“Did they tell they’re coming back?” She asked quickly before regaining her composure. “Sorry. If Wise said he’s going to make his way out of the Hollow, then he definitely will. If you’re asking for my opinion, then I trust my brother completely. We just have to wait.”

Yanagi nodded again. “Ok then. We’ll be retreating now. Section 6! With me.” As they made their way out of the Hollow, Yanagi’s thoughts lingered on a certain titbit of information Belle provided. ‘She mentioned an incident. To give someone abilities like Belle described, it couldn’t have been an ordinary incident. Whatever it is, looks I’ll have to do an investigation into it.’

*Shing~*

Miyabi’s sword slashed through another Ethereal as a shot flew past her shoulder, tearing through several more and clearing a path for her to unleash a devastating slashing attack. Behind her, she heard the sound of more gunshots and the death cries of dozens of Ethereals as they dissipated into dust.

“This area’s clear.” Miyabi said after one last look around. Wise caught up to her and they started walking towards a seemingly random direction in a comfortable silence. In around a minute, they arrived at a fissure.

Wise closed his eyes and held out his hand in front of it for a good twenty seconds before withdrawing it and pulling out his guns. “The Ether concentration on the other sides is higher, which could mean Ethereals; so best be ready.” He said calmly.

It somewhat amazed the Thiren how Wise’s voice served to calm her even now. Normally, she held onto her rage and anger, using it as a catalyst for power in her quest for vengeance, but when she was with him, his calm disposition seemed to quiet down those raging emotions. Aside from that, there was also another thing that caught her attention. “Say, Wise?” He turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “How can you say that we’ll encounter Ethereals on the other side, just after holding up your hand to the fissure? I’ve never seen something like that done before.”

Wise’s gaze drifted to the ground, his eyes growing unfocused like he was wondering what to say. His sudden change in behaviour told Miyabi that she may be prying at something personal, but before she could rectify it, Wise gave out a loud sigh. “Well, it all started with an accident. Back when I was a kid, I was young and reckless, so I’d always go and play in Hollows, even when everyone told me not to. Then, one day, I got surrounded by Ethereals and almost died. I don’t know how I survived, but after that, I possessed an overwhelming sensitivity to Ether. From what doctors told me, my body would constantly try to absorb it, almost like it was trying to mutate into an Ethereal, but something was stopping it.” Miyabi’s breath hitched and her ears twitched; now fully aware she was treading into very personal territory. “So, I made it a point to stay out of hollows like they told me, until Belle fell into one. She doesn’t remember any of this because she got a concussion when she fell into it, and I’ve never told her about it either, so only me and some close confidants know about it. That’s about as much as I’m comfortable telling to anyone. If you’d keep this from Belle, then I’d appreciate it very much.”

After hearing the explanation, Miyabi felt a bit conflicted. “Ok, but why tell me this? Isn’t this something very personal? If it were me, I’d keep it to myself.” Ashe said slowly.

Wise closed his eyes and sighed again. “Well, it’s because of 2 reasons. One of the reasons is because we’re in a Hollow, and no one else can hear us. As for the second, I just feel like I can trust you, so I did. Call it a gut feeling. My gut is never wrong, and it has saved me many times.”

Miyabi’s ear twitched. ‘Trust…’ Something she was very familiar with. ‘Can one truly trust someone they just met? I would never make such a mistake, but he readily told me this. Why?’ Unable to keep it to herself, she voiced her question. “Even so, why tell me? Surely you have better confidants that you could talk to about this. If it were me, then I’d have kept this to myself.”

A low chuckle escaped Wise. “You’re right, but I’ve been keeping this to myself and a few very close friends for the better part of two decades. Is it wrong for me to fine someone else I could trust?”

Miyabi closed her eyes as the weight behind his words settled in. “Maybe you’re right…”

*Timeskip*

After the emotional talk, the duo jumped through several more fissures, killed even more Ethereals, and eventually arrived back at the entrance of Hollow Zero. “Hmm… It appears you weren’t bluffing about your ability to navigate the hollows. Your skills are commendable. Next time, I will not show mercy.” Miyabi said with conviction as they walked into Scott outpost.

Wise paused and tilted his head in confusion.  “I’m sorry, what?” At that moment, a blue blur dashed out of the outpost and slammed into Wise, making him stumble before he caught himself and the figure of his sister that clung to him like a very strong magnet. He held her tightly, physically reassuring her of his presence, telling her that he was there and not lost in a Hollow again.

After a solid minute, they moved inside. Wise had to carry his sister because of how clingy she was acting, but he didn’t mind. If anything, he was worried about her as her separation anxiety seemed to be getting worse. After several minutes, Wise realised that Belle had fallen asleep on him. ‘Yep. It’s definitely getting worse.’

With a small sigh, he gently placed Belle on a chair and covered her with his cloak before checking up on Eous. Once he was sure that Eous was ok, he sat by Belle for a bit, letting her drooping head rest on his shoulder as he gently stroked her hair. He had never admitted this to anyone, not even his closest confidants, but seeing Belle like this hurt him more than he showed. Ever since the accident, he had quietly been blaming himself for causing his sister great pain, and it only got worse when he returned from the Outer ring. No matter what Belle or anyone told him, he’d always blame himself for hurting her like this.

“You’re putting yourself down too far you know? None of this is your fault.” The familiar voice of Zarathos said in an attempt to comfort him.

Wise just sighed and stroked Belle’s head, with a self-depreciating smile. ‘Maybe, but I still hurt her Zarathos. For that, I can’t forgive myself.’ The spirit also sighed and gave up. After a few more minutes, Wise gently shook Belle’s shoulder to wake her up.

She let out a small yawn and stretched out her arms. “Wake up Belle. We need to go home.” Belle nodded and started looking around for her things, only for Wise to raise his hands. “Relax. I already packed everything. All we have to do now is go back.”

Belle gave him a bright smile and nodded. Before long, they were on Wise’s bike, riding back towards Random Play. 'One day Belle. One day, there'll be no more secrets between us. That, I promise...'

Chapter Text

Belle was lying down on the soft couch in the staff room, blissfully rubbing her face on the arm rest like a cat as she took a nice, long nap after an afternoon of Proxy-work. While she loved it, the work was tiring and, unlike store management and housework, she couldn’t just ditch it on to Wise. She didn’t know how, but for some reason, Wise’s ocular implants just won’t connect to the HDD system. Why? She didn’t know, but what she did know is that she had to do it anyway. From housework to cooking and even deliveries (though that might just be an excuse to bring out his bike) her brother did a lot around the place, and in her opinion, Wise already did enough and she should pull her weight. Sure, she adored how her brother treated her, but she couldn’t just take it all and give back nothing.

That being said, she was also entitled to breaks; one of which she was fully enjoying by taking a nap on the comfy couch in their staff room. A long, well earned, peaceful and undisturbed-  *bzzzt*

Well, so much for undisturbed. Despite being faced with the unrelenting vibrations of her phone, Belle did not budge, her unmoving form a testament to her ability to sleep through practically anything. As it just so happened, their trusty promoter (who was more like a sister with how long she spent at the store) was in the store and heard the sound. Curious, she opened the door and walked in, ignoring the multi monitor setup that she’d grown used to after the first few times. After confirming it was Belle’s phone that was ringing, she decided to take a risk and pick it up. “Hello! This is Heddy from Random Play. Miss Belle is asleep right now, so she can’t answer your call right now.” She spoke quietly. 

“ Oh! In that case, is Wise there? ” Asked the -now identified- voice of Nicole Demara on the other end with a sense of urgency. Just as she was about to refuse, the door to the staff room opened and the older sibling walked in.

Heddy walked up to him and handed him the phone. He took it with a smile and thanked the promoter before sitting on the office chair in front of the HDD and continuing the call. “Hello. This is Wise. Who’s on the other end.”

“ Proxy! It’s me, Nicole. ” Wise subconsciously relaxed after confirming that it was an ally that was talking. “ I wanted to tell you that we have info on Perlman. From what we were told by Billy’s old gang, he was found with the court airship in the Outer Ring and he’s in a coma. They said that they wanted to meet Phaethon to talk about an exchange. ”

Wise narrowed his eyes and feigned surprise. “So he fled to the Outer ring. Not a bad choice, considering that Pub-Sec and even TOPS has little to no authority there. Thanks for the info Nicole. We’ll head there as soon as possible.”

“ Oh, one more thing. ” She said before he hung up. “ Billy is doing a supply run to the Outer Ring tomorrow, so you could go with him. I already told him and he agreed. ”

Wise smiled. “Thanks Nicole. You’re the best.” The girl on the other end giggled and thanked him before hanging up, leaving Wise alone with Belle and his thoughts. ‘So, Johnny was right. They did find Perlman in the Outer Ring. Hmm… Might be a better option to send Belle with Billy and I can arrive later after meeting up with the others. Either way, this is big news and I need to play my cards carefully. I should wake Belle and talk to her about this.’

He knelt down next to the sleeping girl and softly shook her awake. “Hey Belle. Time to wake up.” She groaned and snuggled deeper into the pillow. “Phew. Belle, your breath smells! When did you last brush your teeth!”

In just two seconds, Belle jolted up, catching Wise in the chin and sending him tumbling to the floor. “You take that back this instant! My breath does NOT smell!” Despite the pain, Wise fell back to the ground, laughing at his sister’s reaction, which led to the girl pouting at him for a solid quarter of an hour while he explained about Nicole’s call and Perlman’s appearance in the Outer Ring. 

“So you want me to go to the Outer Ring with Billy while you close up the store and join me later?” She asked. Wise nodded, nursing his bruised jaw. Sure, he could heal it with Hellfire, but doing that in front of his sister was a no go.

Speaking of said sister, she thought the idea over. ‘It’s a good plan. It also gives Wise an excuse to bring his bike along. Wonder if he knows anyone from there…’ She broke out of her trance when she heard Wise calling her name. “What?”

“So, what do you say?” Asked her brother, now sitting on the floor and looking at her with his game face on. 

After a long pause, she answered. “Yeah. Let’s do it.” 

-Timeskip-

The sun blazed in the sky as a generic supply truck drove down a road in the middle of a barren landscape dotted with Hollows. Inside were Belle and Billy, the latter driving towards the Outer Ring while explaining the reason for the high number of small Hollows dotting the landscape. “Since this place is cut off from the city and still uses oil, large companies don’t really like this place. Life is slow, but it is what it is.” Belle took in everything as they drove across the desert. 

Out of nowhere, another truck rounded the corner in front of them, heading straight at them with no intention of slowing down. In a moment of instinct, Billy turned the wheel and sped into a Hollow without hesitation. Belle held on for her life as the truck passed through the wall of the Hollow and disappeared. 

The truck that almost hit them stopped and a trembling driver stepped out. He was covered in sweat and shaking as he looked over the ledge. “Oh my~ They actually drove into the Hollow.” The driver turned around as a well dressed man walked up from behind him, guarded by a dark skinned Thiren.

The driver gave him a scared look. "L-Lord Lucius!" They didn’t care about the fear in his voice.

What they didn’t see was a figure looking at them from above, his stare calculating as he watched the man threaten the driver.

While Lucius was scaring the poor driver, Belle and Billy were in the Hollow, the former working on a data pile while the latter kept guard. The crash had been surprisingly mild with Belle only suffering a small bruise on her arm and potentially Ether corruption due to her lower than average Ether resistance. Due to the latter reason, they decided to find some data piles so Belle could find a path outside the Hollow as soon as possible. While the Proxy worked, Billy slaughtered Ethereals, keeping her safe till she was done. After being done with one, they moved to another, but unfortunately, a large Ethereal had caught onto their presence. 

Two minutes later, they were running away as Belle shouted about how she wasn’t built for this level of activity. In the end, they tripped and Belle comically crashed into Billy, leaving them both on the ground, which is where we find them now.

The automaton reached for his gun, but before he could do anything, the roar of an engine cut through the air as a bike with two front wheels leaped over a pile of debris and ‘ran over’ the Ethereal with its rear wheel before flipping around and stopping protectively in front of Belle and Billy. Seeing the figure, Billy waved his hands. “Big sis!” Belle looked confused, especially when the woman on the bike saluted back. 

“It’s been a hot minute lil’ bro!” She said back before looking at Belle. “And you must be the Proxy. The name’s Caesar!” With a small chuckle, Billy moved to get his guns lying on the ground, but got distracted by a figure running past. The figure launched himself off the ground, doing some fancy spins and slamming his fist on the Ethereal, sending it flying, before giving Billy a look and lowering his shades.

“Long time no see brother.” He spoke in a deep voice. “You gotten rusty~” He then looked at Belle. “Hello there~ The name’s Lighter.” Billy made a small gesture at Lighter, almost like they had hidden beef and composed himself, before picking up his guns to join the battle again. 

Without hesitation, Lighter sprang forward with Caesar lagging slightly behind while Billy stayed back to provide covering fire. The trio were deadly efficient; Lighter took point as he weaved through wild swings to land hit after hit on the hulking Ethereal while Caesar blocked any stray shots. After enduring thirty seconds of this, the Ethereal switched gears, choosing to go for Caesar with its large fist, only for Billy to shoot it in the eye and its target to bash it in the face with her shield. To finish it off, Lighter came in with an uppercut to its stomach before landing a flying hit straight into its eye. 

With that, the Ethereal crumbled into Ether dust, prompting the trio to cheer. With that same expression, Billy turned to look at Belle, only to scream when he saw the Proxy. During their fight, Belle had fainted, but that wasn’t what scared him. No, what truly scared him was the girl’s freakishly strong and overprotective brother that could be speeding here right now. So, without a second thought, Billy picked up the blue haired girl in a fireman's carry and hopped on the back of Caesar’s bike. “Come on! We have to go! The proxy has a very low Ether Aptitude, so we have to get out of here! She already worked out a path, so we can use that!”

In less than a minute, they were on their bikes, speeding towards the exit Belle had pointed out earlier while Billy was dreading the call he’d have to make later. 

Meanwhile, Wise was outside the shop, mentally going through a checklist of things he had done before he was ready to head out to the Outer Ring. He’d organised the store, prepped the Bangboo charging stations and given an extra set of keys to Heddy, just in case she wanted to come in. The girl had become somewhat of a sister in their family and she was surprisingly relaxed after learning about their Proxy activities. Why? Wise had some idea, but he kept that to himself. 

In the meantime, he lifted his hand to his mouth and took a drag out of a cigarette, exhaling with a frown at the thought of how his friends and Belle would react when they found out he smoked. Transforming into the Rider incinerated the smell, and even though he was still behind his fellow Riders in terms of control, he’d practically mastered how to use Hellfire in multiple aspects, including healing himself. Aside from that, Wise rarely smoked, so almost no one knew. Well, no one aside from the cute black cat that was curled up at his feet that is. 

As he was taking another drag, he got a call from Billy. He burned the remains of the cigarette with Hellfire and answered. “Billy! What’s up?” A beat of silence passed as Billy conveyed everything. Another moment of tense silence passed as Wise took in everything. “So, Belle is unconscious? She hasn’t woken up?”

“ She has a pulse, but she’s still unresponsive. I also believe the sons are organizing a funeral… S**t! Sorry Manager! Gotta go! ” 

“Billy! Wait!” Without waiting, the android hung up on Wise, leaving him afraid of his sister’s fate and what kind of long term consequences it could have. “F**k.” Without thinking twice, he put on his helmet, hopped on his bike and gunned it towards the Outer Ring at full speed; any care for any speeding rule he may be breaking buried under the concern towards his sister. 

Halfway through, he transformed, letting the Hellfire speed up the V-MAX to literal demonic speeds as he pushed it to his limit. Billy and Belle took two hours to reach the Outer Ring by truck on a clear day. 

Wise took 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, at the Sons of Calydon HQ, the group were preparing for a funeral. Belle lay on an old couch with flowers all surrounding her as Caesar looked at her in a sad way. “It’s all my fault. If only I’d been faster.” She took a deep breath and let out a sigh. “Well, there’s no use crying over spilt milk. Let’s give our friend the most extravagant funeral possible.” She walked up to Lighter, sitting on the bed of an old truck. “Lighter. You’ll carry the coffin.”

The champion pushed up his glasses. “That’s a… heavy responsibility.” The pun was noticed, but .o reaction was given.

Caesar solemnly nodded and went up to a blonde girl with a pair of flamethrowers. “Burnice. You’ll be in charge of the cremation. Make sure to give our friend a fiery send off.” The girl's eyes widened and sparkled. She nodded eagerly and began blasting her flamethrowers in the air. Before she could talk to the last member, the sound of a bike drew her attention. She turned around just in time to deflect a spiked bat (with the spikes retracted) using her shield. 

Swinging the bat was a shorter girl wearing a helmet with a spike on the top. “What are you going, you stupid boar?! These are our esteemed guests and instead of helping them, you’re trying to burn them?” The girl kept shouting at Caesar for a few minutes, ranting about her stupidity and how this was disrespectful to the guests and all sorts of other things. 

The ruckus was so loud that Belle heard it in her coma. Groggily, she opened her eyes and started moving. “Wise… is it already morning?” Her quiet question was drowned out in the ruckus that also muffled another sound. 

“That’s why no one - Wait!” Caesar interrupted Lucy’s rant. “Do you hear that?” Lucy opened her mouth to deny, but then she heard it. The low growl of a powerful engine swept across the barren landscape, getting louder and louder as the seconds ticked by.

Then, out of nowhere, a black V-MAX jumped off the cliff nearby and landed cleanly on the ground before speeding towards them. As it closed in on the group, the biker slammed on the brakes and turned the bike ninety degrees, using his leg to keep his balance as it slid along the ground (A/N: Akira slide) . 

The Sons of Calydon watched as the man got off and threw off his helmet to reveal gray hair and green eyes before running towards the now awake Belle. “Belle! Are you ok? Are you hurt? Billy told me you crashed. You aren’t wounded, are you?”

The girl shook her head with a small smile and let out a yawn. “I'm fine. Just a little tired. Thanks for worrying about me, Wise.” She spread out her arms and let out another yawn before sitting up. “Oh yeah. I forgot to thank them for helping us. Thanks guys!”

Caesar smiled and opened her mouth, but Lighter beat her to it. “Sure. It was nothing.” Everyone stared at him weirdly and the champion shrugged. “What? Would you rather Caesar give one of her speeches about being the coolest?”

Caesar blinked and sheepishly scratched her head. “Yeah… he’s probably right.” Everyone also shrugged and accepted it. Wise, however, held the champion’s gaze for a bit longer before disengaging with a small nod. 

Before they could talk anymore, a loud voice boomed over the area. “Wise? Is that you, boy?” Everyone turned to look at the large boar Thiren that had just walked in with a hint of surprise. “It is! I didn’t expect to see you here so soon again!”

Wise returned a smile at the Thiren and went up to him. “Big Daddy! It’s been a while!” The two shared a firm handshake and walked back to the group, who looked at him weirdly. “Oh, right! Big Daddy, this is my sister Belle. Belle, this is Big Daddy. He was one of the people who helped me find a job in the Outer Ring and he even paid off part of the loan I took for my bike. Thanks again for that.”

Big Daddy shook his head and patted Wise on the back. “Don’t mention it my boy.” He then looked at Belle. “As for you, it’s good to finally meet you, Miss Belle. Wise talked a lot about you in his time here. One of the reasons he’d refused to join a gang was because he needed to get back to the city to see his sister again. You’re lucky you have such a good brother.”

Belle gave the tall Thiren a shaky smile and nodded. Before the blue haired Proxy could feel any worse, Caesar cleared her throat. She explained that they wanted the Proxy here because of the upcoming Tour de Inferno, where they’d be selecting a new Overlord for the Outer Ring’s biker gangs. She explained the history behind the race and how they throw a Sparkstone into Cinder Lake to commemorate the first Overlord’s feat and keep the oil flowing in Old Oil Fields by using the Sparkstone to break up any residual Ether crystals that may have begun to form.

“Let me guess,” The elder Proxy spoke towards the end of Caesar’s speech, “because the Tour is a race through a Hollow, you need a Proxy, and we are the best you can get your hands on.” His assessment was met with nods and he looked towards his sister. They stared for a long time, silently conversing with their eyes until they broke off and Wise gave a warm smile to the Sons of Calydon. “Well, you can count us in. But before we start anything, can we take a rest? Belle just suffered a crash, and we need some time to discuss the game plan for the Tour.”

Caesar nodded and gave them a smile. “Sure thing. We can talk about this tomorrow. For now, I’ll ask Kasa to give you a room in Blazewood.” Wise nodded, but Belle looked confused. Caesar noticed and smiled again. “Oh, right! Kasa is the mayor of Blazewood. It’s a small town around here and lives on oil, but it’s a nice place.”

Belle slowly nodded and Wise raised a brow with a smile. “Ah? Kasa is the mayor now? Been a while since I’ve seen her.” Just then, he felt a chill go down his spine and slowly turned to look at Belle. His sister wore the smile he’d seen many times before when she was about to do something crazy. “What?” He asked the little gremlin. 

“Oh, nothing~” She sing-songed, making Wise sigh. “I was wondering if you had any lady friends here.” Caesar and Burnice stifled a giggle when they understood what was going on.

For his part, Wise just groaned. “Belle, for both our sakes, please shut up.” He mumbled as his gremlin of a little sister started cackling.

- Timeskip -

After talking a bit more and getting to know each other a bit better, the group moved bases to Blazewood. Much to everyone’s surprise, the people there were quite welcoming and much to Belle’s surprise, Wise seemed quite well acquainted with the town’s mayor Kasa. When she asked, Wise revealed that Kasa had provided him with a place to stay when he was stranded in the Outer Ring. 

That was some time ago, and the sun had almost set on the Outer Ring, letting Wise see the moon and some stars much more clearly than he would’ve seen at home. Hiding behind a building near the place Kasa had lent them, he took one more drag from his cigarette and held it in, before quickly hiding it and exhaling when he heard footsteps. “You still smoke?” Asked the calm voice of Big Daddy as he rounded the corner. “I thought you’d have quit that by now.”

Wise sighed. “I thought so too, but recent events have been… stressful to say the least.” Big Daddy didn’t say anything and just stood next to him, ready to lend an ear. With another drag of his cigarette, Wise began speaking. “Recently, an underground organ trafficking ring has popped up in the main city. It’s pretty weird. No one goes missing, but the organs just… turn up. I asked some informants, but they said they had no ideas, so I traced it back myself. *sigh* Since the others are investigating the Ether companies’ expansion into the Outer Ring, I’m left to investigate this. On top of that, PubSec has started focusing on the Riders again.”

Big Daddy nodded next to him. “That’s tough. Handling all that at this age must be demanding.” Wise nodded and the Thiren placed a hand on his back. “I take it Belle doesn’t know about the Riders?”

The grey haired sibling took another drag and shook his head. “No. She doesn’t and I’d rather keep it that way.” His fond tone didn’t go unnoticed by the Thiren, who let a small smile spread over his face. “As much as I hate to say it, Belle and I live in different worlds, and she is too good to enter mine. Then again, I bet you feel the same about your past, don’t you?”

Big Daddy let out a chuckle. “Well, you couldn’t be more correct. Even so, I’ve buried that past where it belongs. But, enough about that. Why are you out here?” 

“The others are out there, and I want to talk to them face to face.” Wise said. “If the situation gets as bad as I think it’ll get, we need a backup plan. Aside from that, they also contacted me, so I was going to meet them after a smoke.” 

“Then I’ll leave you to it.” Said Big Daddy. “The Outer Ring’s future may be in your hands. Also, if you meet them, tell the Sons that the Caretaker said hello.” 

Wise let out a chuckle and took one final drag before burning the remains. “I will.” With a grateful nod, Wise got on his bike and quietly sped off into the desert. Once he was far enough, he revved his engine to the max and let out a whoop. 

Speeding down the windy mountain roads, the boy couldn’t help himself as he laughed. He heard Zarathos laughing as flames consumed him and his bike. Normally, it’d be over in an instant, but Wise willingly prolonged the transformation, just to feel the familiar warmth of the Hellfire on a cold night. With another laugh, he turned off the road, jumping straight into a canyon and speeding along it until he reached its mouth. He sped up even more and gunned towards the mentioned coordinates. He kept going for a few minutes until he picked three trails on the ground. ‘Two bikes and a horse. They’re also burned into the ground. It’s them.’ Around a kilometer later, he spotted three flaming figures, in the distance, riding towards the sunset.

Without hesitation, he revved his bike, speeding up and joining the formation on the right. They didn’t even look at eachother, but they shifted formation, leaving a burning trail and emanating enough power to incinerate anything near the four, as a poor lizard was unfortunate enough to find out. 

They rode for over an hour after nightfall at a moderate speed towards a familiar place, still an hour away. At an unspoken signal, they sped up, closing in on their destination faster and faster until they met a swampy marsh. Their mounts (including the horse) crossed it with ease and slowly closed in on the abandoned town of San Venganza; the place where Johnny Blaze defeated Legion and made the Rider’s curse his own. Now, it was their base of operations and served as a meeting spot far from prying eyes. 

As they entered the town, they split up, each taking a different direction to sweep the old town from and make sure no unwanted guest was hiding in their gathering place. Wise took the west side and revved his bike through the central road, taking twists and turns until he reached the well, where the other Riders were already waiting. 

With a chuckle of acceptance, Wise joined the others, leaving behind his mount and joining the others at the well. One by one, they let go of their transformation, revealing the familiar faces of Johnny Blaze and Carter Slade, both smiling after the ride to San Venganza. The last to let go was Pompey, Overlord of the Outer Ring’s Motor League and leader of the Vanquishers. 

“Wise! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you! How are you, and what brings you here, my boy? ” Pompey asked with a smile.

Wise chuckled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “I’m doing well, Overlord Pompey. As for why I’m here, the Sons of Calydon contacted us about Perlman and discussing a deal about potentially handing him over to us.”

“Perlman? Isn’t that the bastard who tried to bury some innocent citizens to cut costs for the Hollow train project?” Pompey asked with visible disgust in his voice. “I wasn’t in the city or pay attention to the news, so I only know some snippets these two tell me.” He said with a small head tilt towards Johnny and Carter.

Wise nodded. “Yeah, that’s him. Leader of Vision Corporation and professional scumbag.” He let out a sigh and fished out a cigarette. “Aside from that, there’s been word of an underground organ trade. All I’ve gathered on it is that it’s definitely real.” He paused, putting back the cigarette and settling for a deep breath of the cool night air. “Honestly, it’s just a massive pain in the ass for now. If anything, I’m glad to just come here and do something else for once. Also, the Caretaker said hello.”

Carter chuckled. “Oh? How’s that old boar doin’? Hope he can still walk.” Johnny and Pompey chuckled with him while Wise sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “Either way, tell me more ‘bout this… ‘underground organ trade’ you were talkin’ bout. Sounds mighty interestin’”

Wise let out a sigh. “Basically, more and more unregistered organs have been popping up all over New Eridu’s hospitals. Most organs are from donors, but these ones are untraceable and no one’s gone missing either. It’s no secret that these organs are sourced unethically, but it’s hard to say where they come from. So far, I’ve connected the trade to the Ravenlock Family, but nothing concrete has popped up yet. Ignoring that, what have you found?”

Pompey sighed heavily. “Not much and nothing good.” He replied. “From what we know, some big Ether companies have made a contract with someone to sabotage the Tour de Inferno, but we don’t know who it is, or how they plan on doing it.”

“Except we do.” Johnny butted in. “Earlier today, I saw Lucius and Mors threatening the driver who almost crashed Belle. From what I gathered, Lucius threatened the driver into doing it, so we can assume he has a hand in this.” He watched Pompey, curious how the Overlord would react. Much to his surprise, Pompey just took a deep breath and sighed, his eyes hardening with a determined glint.

Wise hummed in thought. “That makes a lot of sense. He’s one of the Vanquishers and right hand to the Overlord, so he doesn’t need to work for their trust. Chances are that he has some people already following him.” He also let out a heavy sigh. “Any ideas on what to do?”

“We have a plan.” Johnny said. “But you may not like it.”

Wise leaned in with a smirk. “Try me.”

To be continued…