Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Author Note: (I am incredibly sorry for the constant re-writes for this story. But I’ve been trying to stick a landing with a story I feel confident in or something that I can continue off with. Doing some thinking, I was more thinking of making this more akin to a special episode. Having a proper introduction to Cassidy’s character and having her encounter the Cunning Hares and the rest of the character. More after the end of this chapter, so here we go…again! XD)

-New Eridu, Lumina Square-

9:00am

In the bustling city of New Eridu. Driving through a lively shopping district amongst Lumina Square. A light gray car containing four people within the car drove through the street. 

In the driver seat was a cyborg with spiky white hair, wearing a red leather jacket and black jeans. Next to him was a pink-haired young woman with two pigtails. She wore a black sleeveless leather jacket showing her white shirt, black shorts and single knee thigh stocking. 

In the back were two other young women. One behind the pink-haired woman was a young silver haired woman. Wearing a green jacket revealing a bit of her white shirt underneath, she wore a short black skirt. The other was a black-haired young woman with distinguishing cat ears and a tail that split into two. She wore a mixture of a white and red kimono and what looks to be a cybernetic outfit.

The pink-haired leaned her head against the window as she watched the buildings and car they were passing by. Letting out a tired sigh.

“You okay, boss?” The cyborg asked.

“...no.” 

“Is it about the commission?” The silver haired asked.

“Or is it about how the Cunning Hares are facing another bankruptcy, nya~.” The cat thiren teased. 

The pink-haired woman grumbled underneath her breath. Looking over her shoulders at her target. “Nekomata.”

“Nya? Yes?” 

Nicole gestured her to lean closer to which she agreed, only to receive a flick on the nose. Causing her to yelp and hold her nose in pain. 

“Zip it.” 

“Oww…” 

“Haha! Better watch where you land, Nekomata. Nicole is in a really bad mood today.” The cyborg chuckled a little.

Nekomata glared at the cyborg. “Gee, thanks for the heads up, Billy.” 

“But hey, Nicole. Don’t worry about it. It’s not the first time we’re going bankrupt. With our track record, you should be use to-”

“Billy.”

He only stopped when he glanced over in Nicole’s direction and noticed the dangerous glare she was giving him. A sense of dread filled his body. 

“Are you implying I'm a terrible boss?” Nicole said.

“N-No! I wasn’t saying anything like that!”

“Really now? Because it almost sounds like you're saying how much I DON’T provide for this team. Like feeding you guys, providing you guys fair pay, keeping us off the streets-”

“Right! Right! Sorry boss! I didn’t mean it like that! I was just trying to cheer you up, that’s all!” 

Nicole could only glare at the cyborg with a pout before looking out the window again. “Doesn’t matter, hopefully this commission we’ll get us out of the rut.”

The silver-haired woman leans her head to look at Nicole. “What’s the commission?”

She didn’t say as she only brought up a document folder with a picture of their objective. The green clad woman grabs the document and looks at the picture with Nekomata leaning in to get a closer look. The picture appears to be a…flash drive?

“We’re retrieving a flash drive?” Nekomata asked.

“That’s right. He didn’t provide much details, but he mentioned how he needed the flash drive back.” She said.

“Oh. That’s it! Should be easy for us to pull off!” Billy said.

“...it’s in the possession of Skull-Storm.”

Not a word spoke out in the car as they all held similar expressions. Nicole didn’t need to look at them to see what they were feeling. Their silences were strong enough.

“Yup.”

“No way, you mean THOSE hollow raider gang?” Billy asked. 

“Trust me, I had a similar reaction when he brought their name up.”

“And you still accepted it?” The green clad woman said.

Nicole grumbled. “H-Hey! Don’t say it like that, Anby! I only accepted it because…well you already know the rest.”

Anby sighs to herself. “Nicole…I feel this is a rather rash decision. Not that I’m saying we can’t handle it, but going up against the infamous hollow raider gang like Skull-Storm seems almost like a death wish. Plus, I’ve been hearing that Skull-Storm has been pretty aggressive as of late.”

“Nya. I bet that video of their gallant leader is the source of his aggression~.” Nekomata snickered a little.

Nicole readjusted herself as she lays her back on the car seat. “I know that. But what choice do we have, Anby? We need the money.”

“We could take part time jobs.” Billy suggested. 

“Good luck with finding anyone who would take us in.” Nekomata countered. “How about we do some treasure hunting.”

Nicole blinked as she looked in the rear view mirror. “Treasure hunting?”

“Yeah. Bet you we can find lots of goodies in the hollow~.” 

Anby thought for a moment. “Treasure hunting…doesn’t sound like a bad idea…but we would possibly need the help from the proxies for that to work.”

“And we still haven’t paid off our debt yet either.” Billy was brought up.

Nicole WAS on the idea, but what Billy just mentioned made her reconsider. With her asking for their help, she still needs to pay off her debt to them. And with them going bankrupt soon…looks like asking for their help was far beyond them now.

“Perhaps our den mother can sweet talk them into helping us~?” Nekomata said. 

Nicole blushed. “Shut up! You make it sound like it’s one of my techniques to get the proxies to help us!” 

“I mean…you said it yourself the other time-BOP ow!” Billy was bopped on the side of the head by a flustered Nicole.

“Shut up and drive us to NEPS!” Nicole said.

“Huh? NEPS? You’re giving up on life now?” Nekomata said.

Nicole slowly looks at Nekomata with a warning glare. Causing the cat thiren to flinch under her glare. She looked the other way as she started to sweat a little. Nicole sighs to herself as she goes back to her own seat.

“We need to renew our citizenship card.” 

“Oh that’s right. I nearly forgot about that.” Anby said.

“You got all the documents, right?” Billy asked.

“I do. Everything should be in order so we shouldn’t have any trouble. Anby, you and I will be heading inside to renew our cards. Hopefully this will be done quickly.”

Anby reached over with her hand extended. Nicole grabbed the message as she handed her the documents and all. She checks through all the paper work to see if everything is in order, all seems to be in check.

“Nya? Rather surprising seeing Nicole abiding by the law.” Nekomata snickered.

Nicole looks over her shoulders. “You really are on a roll today aren’t you? Don’t think I’m aware you hold all of your savings of those dennies under your bed. You can use those as payment when I charge you for talking back to your boss.”

“NYAWHAT!? How’d you….ANBY!” 

“Yes?”

“YOU TATTLETELLER! YOU SNITCHED ON ME, DID YOU!?”

Anby only looks at Nekomata who glared at her with a pout. The silver-haired woman looked the other way as she covered her mouth with the documents. 

“Nya.”

“YOU’RE NOT FUNNY!” 

Nicole looks in the rearview mirror, looking at Nekomata arguing with Anby who remained silent on her end hiding her mouth with the documents. The scene made Nicole smile a little at their banter.

-NEPS Building, Front Lobby-

The two members walked inside the front door. Being greeted by a grand lobby of the area. Plenty of officers dressed in blue and vest, small bob hats and pants. While others had the standard uniforms of white shirt and black pants.

Anby and Nicole head towards the front desk. Being greeted by a fellow officer. 

“Hello, my name is Amy. How may I help you today?”

“We’re here to renew our citizenship card.” Nicole said.

“Ah yes. Go ahead and take your number from the machine and wait for your number to be called, thank you~.”

Anby already moving fast, she shows Nicole the number…

57…

“Of course.” Nicole thought to herself as she stared at it blankly.

“We’re gonna be here for a while.” 

Nicole and Anby went over and took their seats next to a young woman and her bangboo which was dressed in what looked to be a gakuen delinquent uniform. The young woman next to them had black hair with a single red highlight in the front. She had a long pony tail that reached towards the back of her neck. She wore an oversized jacket, revealing her white tank top, black trek pants. She wore headphones over her head while reading a comic. 

Nicole sat next to the young woman as Anby sat on the end chair. 

“Ugh…hopefully our number isn’t too far behind.”

[Now calling number 45…]

“....nevermind.”

“It’s okay Nicole. Just be patient a little. Do we have any left over money? Do you want me to buy you some drinks from the store?”

“Nah, it’s fine. I can hang for a little bit. I just need to find something to pass the time.”

“Want to listen to some music? We can share it.”

Nicole thought for a moment. “Nah, I don’t know if your headphones can stretch that far anyways. I’ll just do some poking through Inter-Knot.”

Anby nodded as she sat patiently, while Nicole poked through her phones. 

Couples of minutes have passed as each number has been called up front. Anby was still patiently waiting, with Nicole tapping her foot, waiting for their number to be called up. 

However, as she was waiting, she swore she felt some eyes looking at her. Or no…just one pair of eyes from the sense of it. Not that she doesn’t mind people looking at her, it means she was at least eye-catching to them. But that feeling of being watched (or observed) felt closer than she initially thought. 

“Damn she’s a lot to take in, isn’t she?”

“Ehna!” (Cassidy!) 

“Oops!” 

Nicole blinked. Now she knew that sounded way too close coming from her…right? She looks over and spotted the young woman was still listening to her music while reading off her phone. Not paying mind to Nicole and Anby…or at least that what she assumes. 

Nicole looks over at Anby who was already staring back at her with her usual neutral expression. “Anby…just now did you hear someone…”

“I did.”

“Huh? Really?”

“And I know who.”

“Who?”

Anby didn’t say as she pointed at her culprit. Nicole blinked as she looked over at her target. Indeed, the same young woman who she assumes was innocent. She leaned closer and took notice of how the woman was blushing a little, her eyes trying to stay glued to the phone. 

Nicole made a suspicious glare before tapping her on the shoulders. The young woman nervously looks up at Nicole to which she then gestured to her to remove her headphones. The young woman sighs as she removes her headphones.

“Y-Yes, how may I help you, young lady?” She asked, trying to sound confident.

“You see something interesting?”

The young woman's cheeks flustered for a moment. “Whaat~? Nonono. I think you’re mistaken. I’m not looking at you…I mean, don’t get me wrong, you look really attractive…I was…just looking at your fashion, that’s all. It’s really cool looking…and really eye-catching.” She muttered.

Nicole raised a brow with a smirk. “Ooh~. Am I really that captivating to you~?”

“I mean I’m not trying to…” The young woman was now starting to become a stuttering mess before sighing to herself. She received a nudge from her bangboo. “Fine, fine…let’s start over. My name’s Cassidy. Cassidy Jones.”

Nicole couldn’t help but release a giggle as she extends her arm out and shooks hers. “My name's Nicole Demara.”

Cassidy blinks for a moment before finally calming down. Her eyes looked down at her nails which she noted were different colors. 

“Oh wow, like your nails there. Very vibrant.”

“Thanks. My nail artist says that this color scheme attracts money~.” Nicole said as she showed her nails to the young woman.

Cassidy looks closer at her nails, getting a better look at her color scheme as they had a similar pattern: lime green, light blue, dark blue and pink. Her bangboo got a closer look as well, being attracted by its color.

“Heh. Certainly looks pretty cool. Better not break a nail if you don’t want to go bankrupt.”

Nicole grew a flat look with a pout. Only to blink as she looks back at her nails to inspect something. Growing concerned, she looks over at Anby. 

“Anby! You don’t think that the reason for our financial issue is because I broke a nail, right!?” She said in a worried tone.

Anby could only stifle out a chuckle. “I’m sure it’s not because of that, Nicole.”

Nicole breathes out a sigh of relief before she looks back at Cassidy and her bangboo. “Oh. And this Anby. She’s a friend of mine. And is also a member of my team.”

“Oh yeah,” Cassidy said with a smile before extending her arm out to Anby. “Nice to meet ya, Anby.”

Anby took her hand and shook. “Likewise.”

“Ehne-na.” (Don’t forget about me, Cass.)

“Don’t worry buddy, I haven’t forgotten about you. This is my little buddy, Chip.” Cassidy introduced her friend. 

“Ehnee!” (Hello!) He waved. 

“Aww~. He looks adorable in his little outfit.” Nicole commented. 

Cassidy let out a small chuckle. “Thanks, but um…he was supposed to look intimidating honestly. You know, to give another bangboo a warning not to mess with him…but um…” 

“Guess it worked with the opposite result, right?” Anby said with a small smile. 

“....yeah.” Cassidy glances at Chip who gave her a blank stare. “What? I was trying to help out at least. Give me some credit here, buddy.”

“Ehne-na-ehnana.” (I told you it wasn’t going to work, regardless. I don’t know what you were suspecting from the result.)

“I thought it would work. Maybe if we add you with some brass knuckles.” She thought to herself. Only to have her bangboo to form an ‘X’ with his stubby arms in front of her face. “Fine, suit yourself. Still gonna get them though.”

Anby notice of the two interactions. “You seem pretty close to your bangboo.”

“I mean, why wouldn’t I be. Me and Chip go way back, he’s been my partner for a long time.” She said with a warm smile. 

Nicole smiled softly at the two. “It’s nice that you're close to your bangboo. Not many good people out there who treat their bangboo right.”

Cassidy rolled her eyes as she wore an annoyed expression. “No kidding. I’ve seen plenty of assholes out there. Either ways, what brings you two here to this painful torture of hell?”

Nicole lets out a laugh at her description of NEPS. “We’re here to renew our citizenship card. How about you?”

Cassidy didn’t answer as she looked the other way with a blush. “Speeding ticket…again.”

“..............huh?”

Cassidy sighs as she allows her back to fall on the chair. “I got a speeding ticket for going too fast again. I would’ve gone ahead and used the ‘gotta go fast syndrome’ but according to Zhu Yuan, I can’t use that as an excuse anymore.”

Nicole couldn’t help but laugh at Cassidy’s attempt to get out of paying a speeding ticket. “Seriously now…”

“I respect your effort…but I think you should try harder than just coming up with an excuse.” Anby said. 

Cassidy nervously chuckled. “Heh, I’ll think of something that Zhu Yuan hasn't heard before…”

[Number 55…]

Cassidy looks at her slip. “Oh! That’s me! Sorry, better go. Nice meeting you two.”

“Likewise.” Nicole said as she waved bye to Cassidy and Chip with Anby following a similar manner.

“Come on, Chip.” 

Cassidy got up from her seat and headed over to the front with Chip following Cassidy. The two approach the desk.

-Lumina Square, Coff Cafe-

9:30am

Cassidy and Chip were on the top balcony of Coff Cafe, sitting down with Cassidy drinking some coffee she ordered. Chip was scavenging through Cassidy’s phone.

Cassidy was staring out at the river, the town across from where they were at. Not looking at anything particular, but was thinking back to the two members of new potential friends they just met a few minutes ago.

“I wonder who those two were…sure looks like an interesting bunch…” 

“Hey, Chip. What’s your thoughts on those two we just met?”

“Ehne? Ehna-naa-ehne-noo.” (You mean those two? I think they look interesting and nice enough. But they do look like the troublemaker bunch.” Chip said.

Cassidy thought for a moment. “I mean, you’re not wrong. But they look interesting. Especially Nicole, definitely an eye-catcher there, huh?”

Cassidy thought back to the pink-haired young woman from the way she was dressed, her colorful nails, and her rather curvy figure, she certainly wasn’t hard to miss. 

“Ehnee?” (Cassidy?)

Cassidy shook her head. “Huh? Y-Yeah?”

“Ehnee-na-ehna? Ehne-ehna.” (Were you thinking about Nicole? Your face is red.) Chip pointed out.

“Whaaat~!? No! Of course not! I was just thinking when Orchidea is gonna get here!” She lied. 

Chip gave her a flat look.

“What?”

“Ehne-naa-ehna.” (You’re not that hard to read, Cassidy.) Chip said.

Cassidy cheeks flushed faint red as she looked the other way. “Whatever…”

Mature Female Voice: Ah, Cassidy and Chip. You’re here earlier than I anticipated.

The two look over to find a mature woman approaching them. The woman had a mixture of dark green, light-green and white hair. Clipped into a ponytail in the back. She wore a light blue dress, long dark blue skirt and sandals.

Cassidy smiled. “Hey, Ms. Orchidea.” 

“Ehnee!” (Morning, Ms Orchidea!) Chip waved.

Orchidea smiles as she waves back at them. She approached them both as she sat down at the same table as them.

“Morning you two. I’m rather surprised you got here early, Cassidy. Normally you would sleep in due to drinking too much or staying up all night playing videogames.” Orchidea said with a teasing smile.

Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Come on, give me some credits. Sure I stay up all night on these occasions, but I’m not THAT bad. I have a schedule.”

“You mean you have Chip to keep you on schedule, right~?”

Cassidy was about to open her mouth to say something, but soon found out she had nothing to add on due to her being right. She forcibly sat quietly with a blush, ignoring the laugh from Chip. 

“I’m only messing with you, sweetie. I know you’re plenty capable if not a little reckless.” 

“Yeah, yeah, anyways, that order you were expecting the other day, I managed to get it back for you.” Cassidy said as she rummaged through her bag and got out the package and set it on the table. “And let me tell ya, it wasn’t exactly easy.”

“I assume it wasn’t going to be easy. But thank you for retrieving it for me, dear.” She said with a smile. “You’ll get your pay.”

“Thanks…”

“By the way, how’s the treasure hunting business been going for you as of late?” 

Unfortunately, the only answer she got was the annoyed expression from Cassidy and the worried expression from Chip’s visor. She could bear a half-hearted smile to the young woman. “Not good, isn’t it?”

“It’s more of I feel like I’m being ripped off by my Dealer and he’s the one who’s taking more money than we were promised to be given. So no…we haven’t been having an easy time with the treasure hunting as of late.”

“Hmm. I see.” 

“But it’s not too bad, honestly, we’re still working our part-time job and then there’s working on those commissions as well. So I wouldn’t say it’s too bad for us.” Cassidy said with a small smile.

Orchidea smiled at the young woman. “Well, it’s good to see you doing good. Sometimes I do worry about you. Well, hence, I say sometime, Chip is there to keep you on track.”

“Oh come on, you make it sound like Chip’s the one who takes care of me. I’m a grown young adult. Sure he’s the one in charge of keeping track of my schedule, watching my diet, when to pay off my bills, in charge of internet connection when I’m spending too much time on Inter-Knot and….”

She only stopped when she noticed the stares she was getting. Orchidea looks at her with an unreadable expression as she just smiles at the young woman. And Chip only responds with a face palm.

Cassidy's face flushed for a moment. “Look, the point is that I’m a grown adult and CAN handle myself pretty well.”

“Haha. Says the woman who once served one of her customers a cinnamon bun with hot sauce.” She said with a smile.

Cassidy pouts as she looks the other way. “I was experimenting.”

“Jack sure was mad.”

“He just doesn’t understand creativity. Besides, the customer wanted to try out the sample anyway, so at least there are people who would be willing to give it a shot…even if they suffer tongue burn.” Cassidy countered.

Orchidea could only laugh at her denial of serving the customers something that they weren’t expecting and possibly end up burning their tongue in the end. 

“In any case, its good to see you two doing well. What are your plans for today?”

“Well, we don’t have work today, guess we can use this day to go hollow raiding and find some treasures. Hopefully our luck turns around on this one. Hopefully.” Cassidy muttered. 

“I’m sure luck will turn around on you this time. Who knows, maybe luck will come in a different way for you and you might have a treasure with values that are worth more than any of the treasures you’ve found thus far on your exploration.” She said with a bright smile.

However, this only made Cassidy and Chip confused on what she is implying. 

“Hold on, what are you trying to say right now?” She asked.

“Oh nothing, just wishful thinking. Anyways, I should possibly go now, I won’t hold up anymore of your time. Be safe out there, you hear?” 

“Come on, Orchidea, look who you are talking to.” Cassidy said as she pointed to herself with confidence. 

Looking at the smug look on Cassidy’s face for a moment or so. The woman directs her attention to Chip. “Make sure you take good care of her, Chip.”

“Ehne!” (I will!) 

Cassidy: Oi….

Orchidea released a giggle as she got up from her seat. “I’m kidding. I know how strong you are, so both of you will do fine. I’ll see around, okay?”

On that note, Orchidea leaves the two on their own. 

Chip turns to Cassidy. “Ehne-naa-noo?” (So are we going treasure hunting again?) 

“You bet! I heard there was some nice haul around a construction site area inside the hollow. I already got a spare carrot from Desmond the other day.”

Chip tilted his head with a curious expression. “Ehne-na-ne-ehne?” (Where does Desmond even get these carrots from anyways?)

Cassidy could only shrug. “Who knows. I mean, the guy is practically shady himself. But as long if it doesn’t get us into trouble with any of the top dogs who run the place, we’ll be good, right?”

Chip didn’t respond but only held a concerned look on his visors. 

Cassidy is already taking note of this. “Relax, we’ll be fine. Now come on, let's get moving on. My gears are all set and ready. So head towards the location.”

Cassidy (with Chip following behind) walks down the stairs and heads towards the parking lot where she parked her motorcycle. Getting on it with Chip riding up front, being squished between the seat and Cassidy, the young woman starts the engine and drives off onto the streets. 

Heading towards their destination.

Nearly taking a few minutes, the two finally arrived at their destination. Arriving on Fifty-first street where they are near a construction site. However, blocking their path was a giant dark sphere like matter in front of them: The hollow.

Cassidy gave out a stretch before reaching into her bag, taking out a dark skull metal mask as she put it over her mouth while putting on her hoodie over her head. 

Cassidy looks down at her bangboo who uploaded the carrot on himself. “You all set.” 

“Ehnee-na-ehna.” (Yeah. The carrot will expire in 50 minutes. Should give us a good hour to explore.) 

Cassidy nodded with a thumbs up. “Let’s do this.” 

The two steps into the hollow.

Once they stepped through the threshold, Cassidy felt a wave of nausea before recovering. Slapping both of her own cheeks, she looks around the place.

It looked similar to the outside world. Aside from the dark gray rocks that sprouted from the ground with green fluids running through them. Small green particles floated in the air. 

Buildings all around them. With a good majority of them not even being close to finishing with construction. Vehicles such as forklifts were left unattended. Sacks of cement in bags, barrels, containers and many more left abandoned. 

Cassidy claps her hands together feeling energetic. “Right, let’s get to work, buddy! Let’s show Top Hat by gathering enough treasures that will sure to knock his socks off!” 

Chip nodded as they both explored the hollow. 

The two spent a good minute or so inside the hollow, following the map according to the carrot that Chip had uploaded to himself. Navigating through the hollow.

Crossing from buildings to buildings via steel beams or solid floorboards that stretched across. The two came across some stuff that could look like something valuable. Inside a room, Cassidy sees a supply box that was inside a forklift. She inspects the box in front of her before opening it. Revealing some neat stuff inside.

“Looks pretty good enough. Luckily they’re not corrupted, so it should see some value in this.” She said as she stuffs it in her bag. 

The two continue onward, navigating through the space. The two made a rather small enclosed area surrounded by steel beams and barrels. 

Cassidy stops in her tracks, scooping up Chip, she runs over to the nearest container and hides behind him. Shushing her small companion before gesturing her head on the other side of the container. Chips pokes its head out and takes notice of the creatures surrounding the area. 

Dark mutated creatures surround the area. Two different groups. Taller ones with green fluids within them and dark core on top of its torso. On their arms were sharp blades for a hand with their other hands free. 

The ones near it were slightly smaller in size, with similar color schemes, but were holding blunt objects as weapons.

Cassidy scanned her enemies in sight. “Heh, Tyrfings and Fauns. Not much of a challenge but a nice little warm up for me to practice on.” 

“Ehnee-na-nee.” (I-I can try and help you out…)

Cassidy pats the bangboo on the head as she winks at him. “Nah, I can take these guys on. You hang tight while I get the treasure for us.” 

Cassidy steps back a little before jumping up on top of the container. Bringing out her blade from her case, which was a stylish blade. A small grin crept on her face as she tapped her blade on the container. The ethereals growled in response looking around.

Cassidy whistled. Grabbing their attention as she slings her sword over her shoulders. “Alright, which of you wants a good clobbering from the Shadow Raider~?”

A Tyrfing immediately lets out a roar as it charges at Cassidy. The hollow raider grins as she springs off her foot and launches herself at the ethereal, launching her knee right into its face. Sending it hurling back. 

Cassidy lands on her foot and stands tall as she looks at her enemies. With a click on her weapon, her sword was infused with an ether. The young woman raises her hands towards the ethereals gesturing them to have at her.

Tyrfing(1) roared as it pointed its sword at Cassidy, prompting all of them to attack her. Cassidy rushes into the horde. She swings her sword horizontally at Tyrfing(2), knocking it to the side. Then swings her sword again at Tyrfing(3), knocking that ethereal off to the other side. She steps on her one foot, spinning her body before extending her left foot and kicking Faun(1) right in the face. Sending it flying back at Tyrfing(1) direction (what she assumes to be the leader). 

The Tyrfing(1) swings its blade arm as it slices the Faun in half, right in  front of it before letting out another roar. Dashing at Cassidy with its blade scratching against the ground, sparks flying. It leaps in the air before coming in for a lunge attack at Cassidy. 

Cassidy quickly jumps backward, dodging the blade as it stabs the ground. Landing on her foot she grabs the hilt of her blade as she charges at the ethereal swinging her blade. The Tyrfing blocks it with its blade. The two engaged in close quarter combat, slashing away at each other, blades clashing, sparks flying before Cassidy dodges it attack. The Tyrfing stumbled forward, leaving itself open. 

Cassidy kicks the ethereal in the face sending him flying before she grips her blade, jumping off her foot she slices the ethereal in half. 

Landing on the ground, she stabs her blade to the ground next to her, standing tall. 

“Too easy.”

But it was too soon to celebrate as she heard a death crying roar near them. She looks in the direction where the roar was coming from. Charging right in her direction, busting through unstable walls. Comes out an even bigger ethereal.

It was larger in scale, coated in crystallized etheric rocks in the color of gray and black, making as if an armor around its form. It raises its giant fist at Cassidy before impacting the ground. Causing a slight tremor in the area.

“Ehna!” (Cassidy!) Chip cried. 

As the dust clouds settled, the ethereal tilted its head in curiosity, knowing how it fist was trembling against something. The clouds settled down, standing tall, with her blade raised against its giant fist, but could see she was struggling against it might. 

“Heh! W-Whoa there, Big fella. I-I know you want to join in on the f-fun!” Cassidy said through her clenched teeth. “But you gotta have an invite first!”

“Ehnee-naa-ehnana!?” (Is it really the time for you to throw jokes!? Why didn’t you dodge!?)

“Hey, if someone throws a punch at me, I ain’t running from a fight!” 

“EHNA!?” (WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?)

Cassidy pushes the ethereal off of her, knocking it off balance. Cassidy stumbles back a little before regaining her footing. She looks up at the giant ethereal before her as it roars in her face. 

“Tyrfings, Fauns and now a Farbauti. Now this is what I’m talking about.” She said as she grabbed the hilt of her blade. Pushing on the trigger as the blade begins to be infused with pure ether energy. She swings her blade over her shoulder as she makes a gesture towards the Farbauti. “Let’s go big boy.”

The Farbauti releases a roar as it jumps in the air, raising its two fists over its head and slams them towards the ground. Making another slight tremor as dust clouds rise in the air. Cassidy manages to slide away from danger. Appearing behind it, with her blade all fired up with ether. She charges at the ethereal from behind and swings her blade down, releasing ether energy waves, cutting it back. 

The mutant releases a crying roar before twisting its body around, swinging its giant fist. Cassidy manages to parry it, sending both of them tumbling from each other. Cassidy stabs her blade to the ground to stop herself. 

Pushing on the trigger some more to infuse her blade with more ether energy as it starts to glow. She dashes at the enemy with her eyes locked on. The Farbauti releases a roar as it raises its arm and charges right at her. Cassidy stops herself in track, with all her strengths, she throws the blade towards the Farbauti core. 

Making a direct contact with its core, the sword releases a burst of energy right on it. As the Farbauti cries in agony, Cassidy uses this opportunity and makes contact with its form, using its huge body as a stepping stool for her to rush up towards the blade that was stuck to the core. 

Once she was in arms reach, she grabbed onto the blade. Holding on to it as Farbauti tries to wiggle her off. 

“What’s wrong big boy!? Can’t take the pain! Here,” Cassidy grins behind her mask as she pulls the blade out of its core and uses her leg to jump off the ethereal. While in the air, Cassidy pulls on the trigger once more. Fueling the blade with more ether before it was overloaded. “LET ME GIVE YOU A PAIN RELIEVER!” 

Cassidy swings her sword down right onto the Farbauti. The burst creates a huge gust of wind, prompting Chip to hide behind the container to avoid being blown away from the blast.

As the wind died down, the area was covered in dust clouds. Chip pokes his head out from behind the container, looking around out of concern for his partner within the dust clouds. 

“Ehneee….” (C-Cassidy….)

As the dust clouds settled down, Cassidy was seen standing with her hand on the hilt of her blade taking deep breaths. “Phew…possibly too much energy…”

Chip rushes towards Cassidy. Approaching her leg as he gently touches it. “Ehnene-naa-ehne?” (That was a lot of energy you were pouring into that fight. Are you sure you are alright?)

Cassidy releases a sigh of relief before looking at Chip winking at him. “Relax, buddy. I’m all good! Just need to be careful when not using that much energy on this blade.”

She said as she raised herself up. Putting the blade back in her case. Rotating her shoulders hearing satisfying cracks. 

“Right, let’s see what’s inside these babies.”

Cassidy and Chip immediately go for the supply boxes. Prying them open, the two find many useful things inside. 

“Hehe~. Looks like we hit the jackpot, buddy~!” Cassidy said with a smile.

“Ehnene-naa-ehana-noo?” (You think Desmond would go for these treasures?)

“He better. I say we deserve it at least after that epic fight.” Cassidy said with a satisfying smile despite it being hidden under a mask. 

Successfully scavenging through the supply boxes. The two walk away from the scene and continue their way through the hollow. 

“How are we on the carrot?” Cassidy asked her partner. 

“Ehnee-naa-ehne.” (We got about 35 minutes left. I think we can hang around in the hollow a little longer if you want to look for more treasures?)

“Hell yeah, the more treasures the better. We’ve been on a roll so far.” 

“Ehnene-naa-ehnana.” (Luckily it was only ethereals. It’s one thing with them, but I would rather if we didn’t run into Skull-Storm. They're the last group who I would run into.)

Cassidy snorted. “Please, those dorks are an easy cake walk. They better think twice before running into me.”

Chip could only sigh in response. “Ehnee-na-ehnana.” (You’re being too cocky, per usual.)

“Relax, Chip. I was only trying to hype up the moment. Besides, we are lucky enough to even run into those goons anyways.”

As if on right on cue, they hear a couple of voices close by. 

Male Voice(1): Where the hell are those clowns!?

Male Voice(2): They could be anywhere within the hollow?

Male Voice(3): Well keep looking!

Cassidy and Chip stop in their tracks as they hear voices that were nearby. The hollow raider eyes scanned the area. “Huh…those voices…”

“Ehnana-nee-nana.” (Are they hollow investigators or Pubsec?) Chip panicked. 

Cassidy bends down as she shushes Chip to lower his voice (and calm down a little). She then gestures to him to follow her as they both hug the wall to see who the voices belonged to. Peeking her head from the wall, she sees a couple of humans in the hollow. All of them were dressed in white tank tops, cargo pants with a strange device on their backs. Their most distinguishable feature would be their masks which were in different colors.

Cassidy narrows her eyes. “Hollow raiders…”

Chip peeks out too. Confirming Cassidy’s suspicion. But that’s not all. He sees a badge attached to them that he’s familiar with.

“Ehnee-naa-ehnaa.” (T-They’re Skull-Storm).

Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Just our luck…” 

Skinny Hollow Thug: Damn it! How the hell they manage to give us the slip! We had them right there.

Muscular Hollow Thug: If you guys have been more observant! Then we would’ve had them!

Skinny Hollow Thug(2): Hey don’t look at us! We didn’t know that they were going to jump into the hollow!

Muscular Hollow Thug: Ugh! Damn those Cunning Hares. Well, we manage to separate them anyways, so I say we pluck them out one by one and grab that flash drive from them!

Cassidy raised a brow. “Flash drive? And who the hell are the Cunning Hares?”

As Cassidy was thinking to herself, Chip attempts to get a closer look before he accidentally kicks an empty can. Startling him for a moment he stumbled forward and fell on face. 

“Gah! Chip!” 

This, unfortunately, grabs the hollow raider group attention. One of the shorter hollow thugs points his gun in their direction. 

“WHO GOES THERE!?”

The two stop in their tracks. Just as Cassidy was about to help Chip up, the two froze in place. Both factions were in a standoff. Cassidy blinks with a single sweat drop against her forehead. 

One of the hollow thugs looked closely at the young woman. 

“Wait a minute…I know you…YOUR THE SHADOW RAIDER BITCH! CASSIDY!” The Muscular Hollow raider pointed out. 

“Hehehe…sorry for the intrusion, boys.” Cassidy said as she helped Chip up. “Don’t mind us, we’re just passing through.” 

Just as Cassidy was about to walk off with Chip in hand. She was forced to stop when a bullet struck the ground next to her. Cassidy froze in place as she clutched onto a scared Chip. 

“Not so fast there, Shadow Raider!” The Muscular hollow raider said. “We may not have the Cunning Hares or the flash drive. But I think the boss would be most pleased to have you as captive. We may even get a little bonus out of it!” 

His team started getting similar ideas as they began to laugh. 

Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Oh please, get real. You guys can’t even go against me in a one-on-one match. So what makes this any different.”

Cassidy looks amongst the small crowd that had their gun pointed at her. 

“Aside from the obvious.”

The muscular hollow raider laughs. “Heh. Dumbass. You don’t get it do you. You’re practically surrounded.”

Cassidy looks around the crew. “I only see 4 of you.”

“True. But,” He said as he brought out a radio. “I can signal Flint to cancel our search for those Cunning Hares chump and nab you as an award. So what’s it gonna be, wanna test your luck? Or fight us and lose your dignity? Either way you're gonna lose.”

Cassidy narrows her eyes at the group before them. Chip whimpered in fear against her chest. The hollow raider grew a smirk. 

“Hey, Mitch. You wanna know a little secret.”

The muscular hollow raider tilts his head at the young woman. “Huh? What are you on about?”

“Come a little closer, it concerns what's going to happen to you in the next few seconds.”

Mitch could only scoff in response. “Alright, alright. I’ll play along. What is it?”

“A little closer.”

Mitch did so.

“A little more.”

So he followed.

“That’s right…” 

Cassidy flings her own head back and slams her forehead hard against Mitch's head. Hard enough that his mask cracked from the pressure until it shattered.

Mitch cried in pain as he was knocked onto his butt. 

Skinny Hollow Thug(1): Whoa! You okay!?

Skinny Hollow Thug(2): That must’ve hurt!

As the three hollow raiders checked on Mitch, Cassidy (with Chip in hand) made a break for it. 

Mitch grumbled as rose up. The glass frame broke on his mask, revealing his bulky face that was fueling rage. “THAT BITCH! GET HER!” 

Cassidy and Chip were a good distance away from them. Running through the empty ruined lot. “Owowowowowowow, geez, that hurts.”

“E-Ehnee…” (C-Cassidy…)

“It’s alright little buddy, just…ow….just a little headache that’s all.”

Behind them, Mitch and the others were right behind them. Mitch threw his mask off as he looked ahead with fire in his eyes. 

“Damn bitch! You’re not getting away from me! Good thing I brought my big boy with me!

Mitch stops in his tracks with his men stopping behind him. In Mitch hand, was a giant RPG. Locking onto his target immediately, getting a clear shot of the two. 

“SAY GOODNIGHT, SHADOW RAIDER!” 

He fires the missile! 

Cassidy hears the commotion behind them. Only for her eyes to widen when she sees a missile coming right at them at bullet speed. 

“WHOAWHOAWHOAWHOAWHOA!!!!!! ARE YOU CRAZY RIGHT NOW!?”

“EHNE!?” (ISN’T THAT A LITTLE OVERKILL!?) 

Cassidy's eyes locked ahead. She sees a small tear that appeared in the air. 

“A fissure!” 

She looked behind them, the missile closing in! She looks down at Chip who clung to her. Releasing a sigh.

“Sorry, Chip. But it looks like we need to split for a moment!” 

“E-Ehnee…” (W-What?)

Without answering, she threw Chip inside the fissure. Chip visors widened in horror as he tried to reach out for his friend. Cassidy gave him a wink before facing the missile that was launched at her. 

“EHNEEE!” (CASSIDY!!!!) 

Everything went to black. 

-Somewhere in the Cretan Hollow-

Gunshots fired across the air. 

Running as fast as she could, a young woman with long pink hair wearing them in pig-tails. She wore a black jacket with a white top and shorts. 

Running behind her was another female, covering her from behind. A young white-haired woman wearing headphones over her head, green jacket over her white top, wore a black skirt and with a pack on her back. She was deflecting bullets as they came raining down on them.

“There’s too many of them!” Anby said. 

“Let’s lose them for now! We need to think out of this situation!” Nicole said.

Looking ahead of them, she sees an abandoned building. She gestured her fellow companion over, once they reached inside, seeing an open space room, she rounded the corner and slammed her back against the stable wall. The white haired young woman followed her lead and hid behind.

“Where’d they go!?” 

“They could’ve gone far! Let’s hurry!” 

With their footsteps going further away from them, the two young female women sighed with ease. 

“Okay, let’s rest here for now…” Nicole said as she allowed her body to slump against the wall. “This is not how I imagined the commission turning out.”

“Do you still have the flash drive on you?” Anby asked. 

She reaches into her pocket and finds the chip still in one piece. “Yup. Don’t worry, Anby. It’s still on me.”

Anby nodded with a hum and sat next to the young woman. Letting the wave of exhaustion overtake her body, she looks up at the semi stable ceiling. “I wonder if Billy and Nekomata are okay?”

“I know what you mean…” She agreed. “It was supposed to be a simple escape plan…but then they caught us off guard…ugh. This feels like deja vu with our first commission.”

“Yes. But the only difference is that you’re here with us. Nekomata is part of the group…and what’s worse, is that we have no means of getting out without the proxies or having any carrot with us.”

Nicole could only give Anby a flat glare. “Hey, hey, no need to make it sound worse than it already is.”

“Sorry. But it’s true though…” Anby said with a somber tone. “Nicole…we’re running low on options here.”

Nicole sighs to herself as she lets her back fall against the wall. Closing her eyes as she thought for a moment. “I know…this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. If we’re lucky enough, we could find the exit and get the hell out of here. But knowing our luck…”

“Our chances are about 50/50. Or perhaps in our case…20/100.” 

“No need to rub the salt in the wound, Anby…but you’re right.” Nicole looks at the flash drive in her hand. “All this for a flash drive, what’s even in this thing anyways.”

“It could be important, given that Skull-Storm is after it.”

“But this is Skull-Storm we’re talking about here, what would they possibly be needing this for. I mean, if it’s something so important for them to have the whole group over here inside the hollow of all things…”

“Hmm…” Anby hums with an answer. 

“Heh, how many of you wanna bet that it’s another love song to Astra Yao. That was pretty embarrassing how it was broadcast across New Eridu.”

“Hmm…..”

Nicole took notice of the similar response that Anby been giving. “Anby?”

“Hm?” She looks up.

“You okay?”

“...sorry. I’m….I’m really worried about Billy and Nekomata.”

Nicole thought for a moment before getting up from the ground. Dusting off herself, she turns and offers her hand to Anby. “Then let’s not waste time. Let’s go find them.”

Anby nodded with a determined hum. She grabbed her hand and got up from the ground. “But do we know where they’re at?”

“I’m not sure. But we still have to find them, right? And besides, even if we find the exit, one of us will go to the proxies while the other stays behind and hopefully finds Billy and Nekomata.”

“Even if there’s a chance that they’ll raise the bill on us?”

Nicole grimaced at the thought. But if anything to save her friends/teammates. “What choice do we have?”

Anby gave a nod. “Right…”

“EHNNAA-NAA!” (HELP! SOMEBODY!) 

Both Nicole and Anby got interrupted at the moment. 

“Did you hear that?” Anby asked.

“That sounded like a bangboo…here in the hollow?” Nicole said.

“AFTER HIM! HE WENT THIS WAY!” 

“GET HIM!” 

They hear more of those hollow raider thugs. 

Nicole led Anby out of their hiding spot. Approaching the exit of the building, they stopped and hid behind the standing wall. Poking their head out, they see a black bangboo running away from three hollow raider thugs. 

The bangboo wore bandages wrapped around his body and wore a blue oversized coat and hat with the beak torn up. 

“A bangboo…is it by itself?” Anby asked. 

“Hold on…” Nicole's eyes lingered on the bangboo that was running away from the two hollow raider thugs. “That bangboo…is that….”

“Nicole?”

“No time to explain! Come on!” 

Nicole grabs her suitcase, with Anby following behind her.

The poor bangboo was running for its dear life. Not wanting to look back at the hollow thugs who were behind him. One of them is shooting at the bangboo. 

It screamed with a yelp as it covered its ear, hoping to run faster to avoid them. He made several sharp turns, knocking down several objects to lose them. But whatever he tries to toss at them, they always either move around or jump over them. 

The bangboo turned a corner, only to find itself cornered. Cowering a little, he turns around only to find the three hollow thugs right in front of him. One had a gun on him. 

“Hehe. Don’t even think about running.” Said the aggressive hollow thug. 

“You’re trapped now, little guy. Hehe.” Mocked Thug(2). 

The bangboo whimpered in fear as it backed up towards the wall. 

“E-E-Ehnnaa-noo…” (C-Cassidy…please help.)

“Aww. Look what we have here, boys. Little Chippy here misses his dumb friend.” Hollow thug(3) said. 

“I say we take him back to the boss and lure that bitch into a trap.” Hollow Thug(1) said. 

Hollow Thug(2) laughed out loud. “Not a bad idea. I’m sure Armstrong would be really pleased to hear that.”

“E-Ehnna-noo-nana…” (P-Please no!) 

“Too bad little guy. You and that bitch Shadow Raider have foiled us one way too many times. Now you’re gonna-THWACK!” 

Hollow Thug(1) was cut mid sentence as he fell to the ground. 

“Huh? Hey, you…all….right? Hollow Thug(2) looked over his shoulders to find that his comrade was on the ground unconscious. 

Both looked at their fallen comrade to look up at two young women with glares. 

“W-What the!? Who the hell are you two!?” Hollow Thug(3) said. 

“Hey, hold on! Aren’t those two parts of the Cunning Hares!” 

“Hey! You’re right! Quick call for-”

“Not gonna happen~!” 

Before they could take action. Nicole swung her briefcase square in Hollow Thug(2) face. His body went limp as he was sent flying and knocked against the wall! Hollow Thug(3) was just about to make a run for it. But Anby immediately kicked him in the face. His body fell to the ground, rendered unconscious. 

Nicole flips her hair off her shoulders. “Hmph. Picking on a poor bangboo.”

The bangboo cautiously looks up at the two young women. “E-Ehnnena…” (W-Who…)

Chip got a good look at his svaiors…and immediately recalled the two familiar figures before him. Anby bends down to his level as she reaches out for him. 

“You okay, Chip?” Anby asked.

“Ehne! Ehnana-nee-nana!” (Ah! You’re Nicole and Anby from NEPS this morning!)

Nicole winks at the bangboo. “That’s right, little one~.”

Chip immediately rushes up to Anby and throws himself onto her. To which she happily embraces him back.

“I’m glad your safe Chip.” Anby softly said.

“Ehnene-na-noo.” (Thank you for saving me.) 

Nicole looks at the bangboo with concern. “But hey, seriously. This is a rather odd place to be meeting you. Why are you here and where’s Cassidy?”

Chip blinked before he looked the other way. “E-Ehnee…” (C-Cassidy…)

Anby and Nicole took notice of his expression. 

“E-Ehnnee-nana-ehnana-noo-ehnee….” (W-We were exploring the hollow looking for treasures, then we ran into Skull-Storm….)

“Skull-Storm….” Anby said as she narrowed her eyes.

Chip nodded. “Ehnee-nana-ehnana…e-ehnee…” (We ran away from them…b-but Cassidy…)

Chip ears drooped, a single makeshift tear dropped shaped on his visor. 

“What happened….”

“Ehnee-naa-ehna-nana!” (They launched a missile at us and she threw me into a fissure to protect me!)

A short gasp escaped both Anby and Nicole. Hearing the bangboo poor tale. Chip buries his face into Anby’s chest. 

“Ehnene-no-naaa-ehneeee!” (I need to find Cassidy! But I don’t know where she is after that! I don’t want to lose her!)

“Shh…” Anby cooed in his ears. “It’s alright. I’m sure she’s fine…”

Nicole pondered to herself. “If what the little one is saying is true, then that means that Cassidy is also a hollow raider herself, huh? Who would’ve thought.”

Chip flinched. “E-Ehnana-naa-no-ehno!” (Y-Yes we’re hollow raiders! But we’re good hollow raiders! Please we’re not bad people!)

The pink-haired leader gently rubs Chip’s head. “Hey, hey, easy. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m glad you understand the nature of hollow raiders and all, but I can easily tell Cassidy is not a threat to the Cunning Hares. Especially for how much of a dork she is~.”

“Ehnee…ehna! Ehene-naa!?” (Cunning Hares…ah! You guys are the Cunning Hares!?)

“Yes. Is that a problem?” Anby asked.

“Ehnee-naa-no-ehnana!” (Skull-Storm is looking for you guys! We overheard their conversation before we were spotted by them.)

Nicole grumbled. “Ugh. Those guys are so annoying. They're like debt collectors.”

“Ehne?” (Debt collector?)

Nicole cheeks flushed a faint red before speaking again. “U-Um…nevermind that. But hey, what a coincidence we all found ourselves in. You got separated from Cassidy and we got separated from the rest of our members. How about this little one, you want to stick with us until we find Cassidy.”

Chip visor brightened at the idea. But soon drooped when reality hit him. “E-Ehnee-naa-ehnana?” (B-But what if we don't find her?)

“We will.” Anby said.

“Ehne?” (Huh?)

“Don’t quote me, I’m not certain. But we are bound to run into her soon. Don’t worry Chip, we will find Cassidy for you.” Anby said with confidence. 

Chip's eyes widened as his ear straightened up. He then hugs Anby once more. “Ehnaa…” (Thank you…)

“Um, Anby.” Nicole spoke up to get her attention. “Your heroism pulls my heartstring once more, but there’s something you're forgetting. We also need to get out of here as well. Even if we find her and the others, we don’t have a carrot or a proxy to help us…”

“Ehna! Ehene-nana!” (Ah! I got a carrot!)

“YOU DO!?” Nicole immediately pushes her face against the bangboo. 

“Ehna-naa-noo-ehnana.” (I still have about 25 minutes left on my carrot data. If we’re quick and find the others. I can guide us to the exit which isn’t far from here.)

Nicole practically squeals as she scoops Chip from Anby’s hand and hugs him tight. “OH THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU~! YOU’RE A LIFESAVER, CHIP!”

Chip was unsure of what to say, but embraced Nicole either way. 

“Right then, how about we get started on finding the others! Who knows, we may run into Cassidy along the-”

*Radio Static Noise!*

Chip flinched at the noise, quick to hug Nicole who instinctively wrapped her arms around him. The two turn to find a lone small pocket radio near one of the mens.

???: [HEY! HELLO! Is anyone there!? Answer me damn it!]

Male Voice: [Flint! We found two of those clowns from the Cunning Hares! The cyborg and the cat thiren! We got them right where we want them!]

Flint: [Ha! Good work! Send everyone the coordinates now! Keep those two pinned down until we send for backups!]

Male Voice: [You got it boss!]

Nicole and Anby both looked at each other, panic written on their faces.

Nicole/Anby: Billy and Nekomata!

Somewhere in the Hollow…

In a larger open space, a horde of hollow raider thugs were shooting at the lone container in the middle. With a familiar figure giving the orders.

“Keep firing boys! We got them pinned down!” Said Mitch. 

“Tch. We may not got that Shadow Raider, bitch. But we got the next best things…the Cunning Hares! We’ll use them to lure out their leader and grab the flash drive!” 

Hiding inside the container were two familiar figures. Both Billy and Nekomata were being pinned down by the barrage of gunfire being shot at them.  

“Ugh! Damn it! I’m out of bullets and at a time like this!?” The cyborg swore. Feeling the pressure of bullets trying to pierce through their only protection. 

“W-What are we gonna do! They have us pinned down!” The young cat thiren asked with a panic tone.

Billy looks between his partner and the oncoming barrage of bullets trying to pierce through the metal. Noticing how much weaker their protection was becoming. 

“Nekomata, listen up. I’ll draw their attention. That should give you enough time to escape.”

“H-Huh!? No way! I’m not leaving you behind!” 

“We don’t have much time left! Besides, Boss and Anby are still out there with the flash drive. Our top priority should be getting that drive to its safe location. Which is our client’s hands!”

“Out of the question! Billy, I’m not leaving you! We just need to think of a plan to get out of this…”

Phew! Clunk!

Both of them jumped a little, seeing a bullet piercing through the metal! Acting out of instinct, he grabs Nekomata and pushes her down. Using his body to cover as the metal began to weaken. Bullets penetrate through the metal. 

“Nekomata! Run! Now!” 

“But what about you!?” 

“It’s okay! Just go!”

“HIT THEM HARD BOYS!” Mitch said with a smile. 

All looked lost for the Cunning Hares…

Clang! Thunk! Thwack!

Out of nowhere. A weapon spun against the ground, knocking off several of the hollow thugs' weapons off of their hands. Before any of them could react, a knee to the face, followed by a series of kicks. All of the front lines fell one by one. 

“W-What the!?” The muscular thug exclaimed in confusion. 

The stylish sword collided with an incoming wall. Spinning in the air and landed right back on the young woman's hand. 

Billy and Nekomata note how the bullets stopped and heard the noise outside of their protection. Poking their heads out, in front of them was their savior. 

An unfamiliar (yet familiar) figure appeared before them. A young woman had black hair with a single red highlight in the front. She had a long pony tail that reached towards the back of her neck. On her face she wore a black mask skull mask that only covered her mouth. She wore an oversized jacket, revealing her white tank top, black trek pants. The blade of her sword was fused with ether. 

She swung her weapon over her shoulders with a grin on her face. “Heya boys~. Miss me.”

“IT’S CASSIDY!” Mitch screamed at the top of his lungs. “FIRE AT WILL! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!” 

Without hesitation, they all aimed their guns at the young woman. She pushes her weapon forward, beginning to spin it around like a propeller as she deflected the bullets. Sending them straight back at the thugs. One-by-one, each of their weapons were deflected off of their hands and into the air. 

Once the barrage stopped, Cassidy sprung off her foot and charged right at them. She goes up to raider thug(4), kicking him straight in the face. His body flew into the air as he crashed right into raider thug(5). Raider Thug(6) lit a molotov and threw it at her. Cassidy jumps out of the way and dodges it. Following up with a spring off her foot, leaping in the air in front of Raider Thug(6) and kneed him in the face. 

Using her hand as she landed on the ground, she extended her leg and swept at least 4 thugs off of their feet. Stopping herself, she pulls the blade tip off the ground and aims it at Raider Thug(11) further from her. She throws just over his right shoulder, piercing through his clothing as he was carried and impaled against a wall. 

With her disarmed, at least the 4 remaining thugs charged at her. Ready to lay the smack down on her. Cassidy simply charges head on at the man in front of her. With one big yell, she leaps in the air and kicks Raider Thug(12) in the stomach. Sending him flying off his feet. She leaps off of him, rolling in the air just as she landed on Raider Thug(13), crushing his head between her legs. With enough strengths and bends her body backward and lifts the man off his feet. Carrying his whole body as he swung him with her legs and smashed him against the ground. 

The two remaining Raider Thugs just stood there. Watched as she just handled them with ease. Cassidy got up from the ground and just stared at them. Tilting her head as her eyes closed, she made a smile behind her mask.

With one scream, they all ran for it.

Raider Thug(11) who was still impaled against the wall noticing that they were leaving without him. “H-Huh!? Hey! Wait! Don’t leave me here with her you cowards!” 

Cassidy rolled her eyes. “They always run.”

Cassidy walks up to the other thug who was trying his best to pull the sword off his shirt. But he couldn’t pull it out, no matter how drastically he tried. 

He only stopped when Cassidy reached him and effortlessly pulled it, allowing him to fall on his butt. Looking up at the young woman who pointed her blade at him. 

“So, wanna go or do you wanna run?”

Without answering, Raider Thug(11) immediately got up from his butt and ran. 

“HEY! GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT HER YOU COWARDS!” The bulky muscular Raider said.

But his threat failed on death ears as they all just made a run for it. Leaving him behind with the young woman. 

Cassidy merely smiled as she pointed her weapon at Mitch. “Right then, Mitchy boy. Guess it’s just you and me~.” 

Mitch clicks his tongue. “Cocky schmuck. You think you can take me on!?”

“Get real, Mitch, I still need to pay you back for that little stunt earlier.” She said as she furrowed her brow.

“SAY YOU! LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO ME!? YOU BROKE MY MASK! THESE THINGS AREN’T EASY TO FIND NOWADAYS YOU KNOW!”

“Oh really, ah man I’m really sorry to hear that. But personally I could care less,” Mitch could only snuff out some steam. “So. Here’s what’s going to happen. You got two options, you could 1, walk away with some dignity left. Or 2, you could stay here and get pummeled by me~. Either way, it’s your loss. No shame in it. Maybe a little~.”

Mitch gritted his teeth as he smashed his gauntlet's hands together. A sparks flew from them. His target was the hollow raider in front of him. 

Cassidy releases a small laugh as she swings her sword down. “Let’s have a proper match. You and me, Mitch. Let’s see if you earn that promotion.”

“Heey! Do you need any help!?” Nekomata yelled from their hiding spot.

Cassidy looks over her shoulders at the two. “You two stay there! I got this!” 

While Cassidy was distracted, Mitch took the opportunity and made the first strike. Cassidy immediately side-steps, with her one foot out as he trips him! Mitch tumbled into a pile of crates. 

“Really now? Where are your manners? It’s rude to attack your opponents when they’re not facing you, naughty boy~.”

“FUCK YOU!” 

Mitch explodes as he lunges at her. He threw his fist down at her. Cassidy parrys the attack, but Mitch wasn’t done yet as he swings at her again. Cassidy parrys the other one. Managing to catch him off guard. Cassidy springs off her foot and swings her sword down at him! Slashing across his chest, landing hits on him before she switches it up and throws physical attacks at him. 

Mitch stumbles back a little before locking gaze with Cassidy. With a glint in his eyes, he charges at Cassidy and goes a powerful strike, Cassidy dodges the incoming attack, side stepping to the side, he throws another one, Cassidy keeps on dodging as he continues on his barrage. 

“HOLD STILL YOU BITCH!” 

“YOU KIDDING! I KNOW HOW HARD YOU HIT ASSHOLE!” 

Mitch gritted his teeth as he raises his fist together and attempts to smash Cassidy to the ground. The hollow raider raises her sword to block the attack, knocking her back a little. 

“GOT YOU NOW!” 

He springs off his foot and attempts to throw a powerful punch at her. Cassidy stomps her foot to the ground, jumping off her one foot and bends into a perfect arc, avoiding his punch. She uses her hands for support and spins on the ground. With her leg out, she kicks Mitch in the face across his cheeks, sending him off balance. 

Using this opportunity, she bends her body into a crouch position before using her one arm for support and swings herself around, sweeping Mitch off his legs. Falling on his back. 

Mitch grumbled as he smashed his arm to the ground. 

“You cocky little!”

“Want some more, big boy~? I’m just getting warmed up!”

“YOU ASK FOR THIS!” 

Mitch smashes both his arms to the ground as he uses them to lift him off his butt and charges at Cassidy. The young woman grins behind her mask, as she stabs her blade to the ground and intends to finish him off with her fist. Springing off her foot and charges at her.

Both raise their fist, Mitch comes at her with a yell as he intends to finish her here and now. Both were in close proximity. Mitch throws his punch, with Cassidy merely nudging her head to the side and throws her punch straight into his face. Knocking him across the face as spit flew from his mouth and a single tooth. 

Mitch was rendered unconscious before he fell to the ground. 

“Phew…gotta hand it to ya, Mitch…still got it.” Cassidy said as she stretched herself.

The young woman looks back where Billy and Nekomata were hiding, they were still watching from afar, completely amazed by her fighting skills. Cassidy flustered a little as she scratched the back of her head. 

“You guys alright…”

Billy rushed up towards her at lighting speed. Surprising the young woman as she flinched. Judging from how close he was to her face. 

“OH WOW! YOU WERE INCREDIBLE! WHERE’D YOU LEARN TO FIGHT LIKE THAT!?”

Cassidy blinked as she flushed a little. “Hehe, it’s really nothing special. Just learned a thing or two from my master, that’s all.”

“Still, you were incredible there! The way you moved and threw punches. And swordwork! Oh man, that was soo awesome!”

Cassidy scratched the back of her head. “Oh come on, no need to make it such a big deal.”

“Hey, Billy. Knock it off. You’re gonna scare her off if you keep crowding her like that.”

“Right, sorry.” Billy said as he realized how uncomfortable he was making her. 

Nekomata walked up to them. “You’ll have to excuse my friend here. He can be a little overexcited. But thanks a bunch for saving our skin back there. Thought we were done for.”

Cassidy smiled. “Nothing to it. By the way, mind telling me why Skull-Storm was after you guys? It was pretty unlike them using that much force on you guys aside from chasing me.”

“Nya? You know them?” 

Cassidy nervously chuckled as she lightly scratched her cheeks. “Yeeeaaah, um…you could say I’m on their wanted list as well.”

“Huh? What did you do to get on their bad sides?”

“Right, um…by any chance, do you guys know that video where Armstrong was singing that love song to Astra Yao, right? The one that went viral.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that. I thought the song was pretty good, but the dude was definitely off key.” Billy said.

“Not only that, he was totally crushing hard, he was literally singing to a cardboard cut out of Astra. So um…what about it…”

“Yeeeaaah…so about that video…I was the one who recorded him and uploaded it.”

…………..

Billy & Nekomata: YOU!?

“Yup. You’re looking at her.”

“No way! You’re the one who uploaded that video! Dude that’s hilarious…and uh…kind of low to be honest.” Billy admitted the last bit.

“Yeah well, let’s just say it was to payback. He did some nasty deeds to a friend of mine back then and has not once forgiven him for that. So, that video was me getting even with him.”

“What did he do?”

Cassidy didn’t say, but her eyes half lid as she looked the other way. “Don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Well, anyways, thanks for saving us back there. But we should really try to find Nicole and Anby.”

Cassidy's ears perked up at the mentioning of the name. “Hold up, Nicole and Anby…you know those two?”

Billy and Nekomata blinked. 

“Huh? Yeah, we know them, Nicole’s our boss. And Anby is one of our members…do you…know them as well?”

“Well, not personally, but I did run into them back at NEPS when I was there for…business reasons.” She said hiding the true fact that she was there. “But I encountered them while we were waiting for our number to be called.”

Nekomata tilts her head. “Nya? I didn’t know about that. Guess we missed out. But since you know them, guess we should introduce ourselves. My name is Nekomata. This is my co-worker, Billy. We’re part of a small agency group known as Cunning Hares. Pretty sure you heard about us.”

“Cunning Hares…oh yeah! Mitch was just talking about you guys when I came across him and his goons.”

“You mean the big guy you were fighting? Yeah, they’ve been chasing us all over because of the flash drive we took back from them.” Billy said. “Really persistent group, I gotta say.”

“Yeah, their pretty persistence alright…too persistence. But anyways, I never thought I would run into you guys here. Where is Nicole and Anby?”

“Ugh. We separated when we jumped into the hollow to get away from those clowns. We tried looking for them, but then those goons found us first.” Nekomata said.

Cassidy let the words sink into her mind. “Right, so that’s what happened. Welp. No worries, these guys are a total cake walk for me. But I ended up getting separated from my little buddy, Chip.”

“Chip?” Billy asked.

“Yeah, he’s my bangboo. We were inside the hollow exploring and then those clowns got the drop on us and we got separated. I had to push him through the fissure, but who knows where that landed him.”

“Oh wow, sorry to hear that…” Billy said.

“I just hope he’s okay. He normally doesn’t do good when he’s worried about me. And he doesn’t do good around strangers either.”

“EHNAAA!” (CASSIDY!) 

“Sigh I can almost hear his cute voice calling out to me.”

“I know what you mean, I can hear it too. He’s saying, ‘Cassidy’.” Billy said.

Cassidy stopped for a moment as she gave the cyborg a flat suspicious look. “Heeey, hold on. How come you can hear the same voice that I’m hearing.”

“HEY YOU GUYS! WHERE ARE YOU!?” 

“Huh? Funny, now I’m hearing Nicole’s voice.”

“BILLY! THAT IS NICOLE’S VOICE!” Nekomata pointed out. 

The cyborg and the young woman stopped as they looked around. Off in the distance, they found two familiar female figures, carrying a black bangboo wearing familiar delinquent-like garment. 

Anby: Nicole! I found them!

Nicole: Oh! Hey! Over here!

Chip: Ehnnaaa! (Cassidy!)

Nekomata/Billy/Cassidy: Guys!/Chip!

They all ran up towards each other. With Billy running faster as he charges straight towards Nicole for a hug. 

“No wait! Billy don-GAH!” Nicole was too late as Billy hugged her tight. 

“Boss! I’m sooo glad you and Anby are alright!!!” He cried as he was nearly crushing the pink haired leader. 

“Gah…o-okay, Billy! B-But I’m n-not gonna be ok…ay…if you don’t…stop…squeezing me!” Nicole could barely talk from how strong Billy’s hug was.

“O-Oh! Sorry about that!” Billy let go of Nicole as she gasped for air. “But how’d you find us?”

Nicole took a moment to catch her breath before reaching into her pocket and brought out a phone that showed the coordinates of where they were. “We found those goons and used their map to find you guys.”

“Oooh! Smart thinking!” Billy gave the thumbs up.

Anby let go of Chip as the bangboo ran up to Cassidy. The young woman got down on her knee and invited Chip into a hug. The bangboo jumped in the air and smushed his face against her chest. 

“Glad you’re okay, Little Buddy.” Cassidy softly said. 

“Ehnnaaa-nooo!” (I thought I lost you!) Chip cried. 

“Shh. It’s okay little guy, I’m right here.” She cooed into his ear. 

Anby approaches the two. “It’s nice to see you again, Cassidy.”

“Heh, hey. Never thought I ran into you guys again…inside the hollow seeing my…other line of work.”

“I’ll say!” Nicole said as she approached the young woman causing her to blush a little. “I had no idea you were a hollow raider!” 

“I mean, hollow raiders are illegal, so it’s kind of a…hush secret.” Cassidy said.

“Oh boss! You should’ve seen her in action! She was fricken awesome!” Billy praised. 

Cassidy couldn’t help but blush a little at that. “Thanks, but again, think you're overpraising a little too much there, buddy.”

Nicole looks from Billy to Cassidy, a smile creeping on her face. “Well, either way. I’m glad we’re all here. But now is not the best place for an idle chat. Chip here mentions he has a carrot to get us out of here.”

Billy & Nekomata: HE DOES!

“Oh yeah, Chip! How much time did we got on that carrot?”

Chip took a moment to calculate before answering. “Ehna!” (20 minutes left!)

“Then that’s a good time for us to get out of here. Kay, partner, show us the exit!”

Chip nodded as he was calculating on where the exit was. Until he found out. “Ehna!” (That way!)

They all look towards where he was pointing. They could hear in the distance people voices coming their way. 

Hollow Raider Thug: I think it’s this way!

Hollow Raider Thug(2): Come on, let’s get them!

More unwanted company coming their way. 

“And that would be our time to run! Let’s roll!” Cassidy said as she led the way with Chip.

Nicole gestured the rest to follow. “Alright! Cunning Hares! Fall back! Let’s go towards the exit!” 

With all of them in sync. They all follow Cassidy and Chip towards the exit.

Somewhere else within the hollow. Standing on a rooftop with the roof completely gone. He looks over the top with his arms crossed standing tall. He wore a black metal mask that showed sharp teeth. Only covering his mouth as his face was shown. He had a mohawk hairstyle as it drooped to the side of his face, with piercings on his eye brow. He wore a green leather fur jacket, revealing his white tank top and his camouflage trek pants.

Male Voice: [Flint! Flint are you there?]

The man sighed as he grabbed the device from his waist. “What is it? You better have found them?”

Male Voice: [There’s a bunch of unconscious men here! And the Cunning Hares are gone!]

“WHAT!? We had them right in our hands! How could they-UGH! I’m gonna start deducting your guy’s pay from this!”

Male Voice: [Um…Flint…you don’t even pay us. That’s Armstrong saying.]

“DON’T CORRECT ME!”

Male Voice: [Flint Sir! We found them! They’re heading towards the exit! And Cassidy is with them!]

“WHAAAAT!? SHADOW RAIDER IS WITH THEM! DAMN IT! Out of all the rotten luck, not only did we get wrapped in this hollow, but now that annoying hunter is in here with us!”

Male Voice: [What should we do!?]

He cursed under his breath. “Alright, listen up! Everyone! There’s a good chance that those bastards are going towards the exit! Where were they heading?”

Male Voice: [Southwest from where I’m standing boss!]

Flint made a small chuckle. “Then we’ll beat them there. Keep me updated in case they change course! Failure is not an option!”

Everyone: [YES SIR!]

Cassidy and the Cunning Hares charge straight through the hollow. Pushing their way through many buildings and alleyways. 

They ran into a couple of stragglers, looking to detain them. But Cassidy secured the front, with Anby and Nekomata providing from behind.

Making treks along the way, they stopped for a moment to rest within a building.

Cassidy pokes her head around to find more goons popping up. Sighing in relief. “Looks like we’re in the clear for now. Chip, timeframe…”

“Ehnaa-naa-nee.” (About 17 minutes. We can make a good resting stop here for now.)

She noticed how the group was almost exhausted. Nicole slumped her back against the wall trying to catch her breath. Anby sat next to her taking a breather. Nekomata was almost exhausted. 

“Sounds good to me.”

Cassidy sat next to Nicole. Her eyes couldn’t help but to drift towards the pink-haired leader once more. Her eyes catching a good look on Nicole appearance. While she could note that she was all dirty from the running and dodging of bullets no less, but in Cassidy’s eyes, she was still a rather eye catcher.

“Geez, even when she’s all bruised up, she still looks gorgeous. Bet she really knows how to take care of her body really well.”

Her eyes then look up towards Nicole’s, only to find the young woman she was checking out happen to be looking right at her with a knowing smirk. 

Cassidy's face flushed red as she tried to look the other way. Hopefully finding something else to speak about so Nicole doesn't blurt it out loud. Luckily she did as she looked up and noticed how Billy was not out of breath. 

“H-Hey, um…B-Billy, right?” Cassidy was able to bring up despite the stuttering.

“Trying to avoid me as I see~.” Nicole suddenly said with a teasing grin.

Cassidy tries her best to calm her beating heart. “S-So um, how come you're not out of breath!”

“Huh? Me? Oh! It’s this new Respiratory module! With it, I don’t have to worry about lacking air!”

“Oh yeah, sounds pretty nifty. Ugh…actually, that does sound like a cool idea right about now.”

“Really! You think so!? I think it comes in handy!”

“Only problem, Billy can’t switch it back to intake mode.” Nekomata commented.

“W-What!? Hey! Come on! At least it got us out of that blimp situation! So in the end, it wasn’t a total loss.”

“It was still pure dumb luck that got us out of that mess. Don’t give yourself too much credit now. Nya~.” Nekomata commented that only made Billy more mad.

“Blimp?” Cassidy pondered before realizing. “Oh yeah. You are talking about that blimp incident back then. Now that I recall, you guys were part of that incident, right? It must have been scary.”

Nicole shuddered at the thought. “You have no idea, though me, Anby and Nekomata were knocked out because that Potato Sack, Pearlman had to open the suitcase and knocked everyone on board unconscious, even himself. Then again, those jerks from Vision had more to do with it than him.”

Nicole sighed to herself.

“Oh well. Luckily, he’s serving punishment for endangering not just those homeless citizens, but also endangering us as well.” Nicole said as she flipped her hair. 

Cassidy chuckled a little. “Well, at least some goods came out of it, right?”

“By the way, why are you two even in the hollow anyways? Are you on a commission or something?” Nicole asked.

“Not really. I mean, we do commissions and all, but we were hunting for some treasures. Guess I can tell you guys this. But Chip and I are treasure hunters.”

Nicole perked up at that. “Treasure hunters…”

“Yup. We go inside of hollows in search of rare treasures. We turn them in to our dealer and he evaluates them. Depending on their value, we score a good amount of dennies.”

“Wow really! That’s pretty cool there!” Billy commented. 

“Hold on!” Nicole was practically in Cassidy’s face, her eyes sparkling. “How much we’re talking about here!?”

“U-Um…Chip? How much was it again?”

“Ehnana-nee.” (Between at least 10,000 - 90, 000. But if you’re lucky enough, you may just get about 200,000 dennies worth.)

By this point, Nicole was already blown away by the amount of dennies they get in return. She could imagine the life of the Cunning Hares with that much money. Living in a more luxury-like apartment, all the food they could buy without going hungry, upgraded gears and so much more. And the best part…paying off their debts! They’ll be free from the shackles! All of their worries would be over. 

Nicole scoots closer to Cassidy, pushing herself against her, causing the young woman to blush a little. “Well, well, well~. Not only an experienced hollow raider, but also an experienced treasure hunter. Who would’ve thought the Cunning Hares would run into a person like you~. So tell me, how much money do you make exactly from this business…”

Hoping to get an answer from Cassidy. But what she got instead was a flat, dissatisfied glare. 

“Hm? What? Is it something I said?”

Cassidy looks the other way. “I don’t want to talk about it?”

“Huh? Why? You said you're a treasure hunter? So what’s the problem?”

Cassidy groans a little as her cheeks flushed. “Um…the business isn’t all the way stable to be honest.”

“Huh?”

“Ehnaa-ehne-nana.” (Sorry, Cassidy wasn’t clear on that. You do make money from treasure hunting, but it’s not exactly an easy job to keep up, financial wise.)

“I see...I’d figured as much.” Anby said.

“Ehnne-ehne-naa.” (We’ve been only making about 5,000 to 9,000 dennies for the most part. Because some of the treasures we bring in aren’t that valuable enough. Cassidy even has a part-time job to keep up with the money.)

“Really? A part-time job?” Nicole looked towards her. Cassidy was not exactly pleased with herself at the moment. 

“Ugh, don’t look at me like that. It’s not like we’re constantly in the red or anything. We’re living off pretty well by ourselves.”

“Ehnana-nee-ehnaa.” (One time, Cassidy almost blew off our entire savings on a gacha game.)

………………

And there it was. All of the Cunning Hares members stopped and looked towards Cassidy who was practically hiding her face, saving herself from the embarrassment. She hears a certain cat thiren busting out laughing.

“Nyahahaha! You spent your money on a gacha game!?” Nekomata burst as she was holding her stomach, laughing out loud. “That’s the most ridiculous and dumbest thing I’ve heard all day!” 

“It’s not funny.” Cassidy muttered. 

“Wow, so you like…blew off that much money…how much did you spend…”

Before Chip could answer, Cassidy  glared at him. “CHIP! DON’T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT ANSWERING THAT QUESTION!” 

“Wow, talk about setting up your character so well and it all comes down just like that.” Nicole said with a smirk. She leans in closer to an embarrassed treasure hunter. “You know, the more I look at you, the more I think you look kinda cute~.”

Cassidy snaps her head at the pink-haired young woman. Both her hands grab onto her sides and begin to tickle her. “BE QUIET ALREADY! IT’S NOT MY FAULT I WANTED TO GO FOR A RARE 5-STAR CHARACTER! BUT I KEEP LOSING PITY EVERY GOD DAMN TIME!” 

“HAHAHA!!!! H-HEY! KNOCK IT OFF!!!! PLEASE SPPFFTTT!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!!” Nicole burst into laughter from Cassidy tickling her sides. 

Nekomata leaned towards Anby ear. “Why does it feel like Chip is the most responsible one between him and Cassidy?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case.”

Chip poked at Cassidy, getting her attention. “Ehnana-nee-naa.” (We should possibly keep moving. Before more of those goons show up.)

Cassidy stopped tickling Nicole as she looked at the others. “Oh yeah, why are those assholes chasing you, anyways?” 

Nicole could only respond with a groan. Bringing out the thing to all of their troubles. “Those bastards! They’ve been chasing us all day because of a single flash drive.”

“Man, this flash drive must be really important for them. Why do they want it so bad?” Billy said as he pondered for a moment. 

Cassidy looks towards Nicole with a raised brow. “Say, what’s in that thing anyways. Did your client tell you anything?”

Nicole became frustrated. “No, he didn’t. Ugh, when we’re done with this commission I’m gonna give that guy a piece of my mind! The trouble we’re going through just to get this flash drive or getting trapped in the hollow.” 

Cassidy sets her hand on Nicole’s shoulders. Giving her the thumbs up. “Relax, we got your guys back. And we’re halfway out of the hollow too. So before you know it, this commission will be done and over with.”

Nicole gave a soft smile towards the young hunter. 

Anby got up from the ground dusting off herself. “Shall we keep moving?”

“I’m ready for action!” Billy declared. 

“Billy, you're out of ammo, remember.” Nekomata said with a grin.

Billy stopped for a moment before he deflated and felt ashamed of himself. “...oh. Right.”

Nicole laughed a little at their interaction before getting up. “Alright, everyone! Let’s finish up this commission and get a decent pay for this!”

Cassidy/Billy/Anby/Nekomata: YEAH!

On that note, they all continued to push forward towards the exit. With Chip leading them, Cassidy and Anby took the front line, while Nicole stayed in the middle, with Billy and Nekomata behind them.

Throughout their quest, they have encountered several of Flint’s goons. Cassidy, Anby, Nicole and Nekomata took center action. Billy had some actions of his own by throwing some kicks and punches, but remained stationary protecting Chip.

All went smooth sailing for them as they reached an open space area.

“Ehna!” (The exit is just up ahead!) He points up ahead. 

Cassidy grinned. “Heh, looks like we finally made it.”

“Finally! We’re home free!” Nicole smiled brightly. 

“Ah man, our luck really made a turn for the goods today! We never get this lucky!” 

Thunk!

Billy was met with a slap on the back of his head. “Ow! Nicole!” 

“Don’t just say that out loud! Especially in front of Cassidy!” 

“I mean, Billy isn’t wrong, though~.” Nekomata grinned as she hid behind Billy avoiding Nicole glare.

Cassidy chuckled at them. “Nah, it’s fine, Nicole. I mean, I get some bad days myself as well.” 

“Ehna-nee-ehnana.” (Like that time you accidentally used up all of Miss Lucy’s toner and you tried to replace it with water.)

“OUT OF ALL THE MEMORIES YOU HOLD, YOU MENTION THAT!?”

“Huh? Lucy…oh! You know the Sons of Calydon!” Nicole asked.

Cassidy nodded with a groan. “Yeah, I helped them out a few times before. Armstrong usually has his base within the Outer Ring and has caused some troubles for them in the past. So I helped them out whenever.”

“Wow! You know Big sis and everyone there. I wonder how they’re doing?”

“Huh? Had no idea you were well connected.” Nicole said.

Cassidy rubbed the back of her head. “Me? Nah. I only know a select few people. Aside from treasure hunting I even do commissions and well. But that’s a story for another time. Shall we get going?”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.” Nekomata said.

Just as Chip was about to take his first step. A rain of bullets shot near its feet. Chip screamed in terror, running back to hide behind Cassidy’s legs. 

“The hell?”

Muscular Voice: WE GOT THEM SURROUNDED!

Males Voice(1): All weapons pointed at them now!

Males Voice(2): Don’t let them take another step!

Out of nowhere, they found themselves surrounded by a horde of hollow raiders thugs. Sizes ranging from small to bigger body frames. All different types of weapons pointed at them. All positioned in different areas. From the top of roofs, second floors of rundown buildings and on ground level. 

“E-Ehnenee.” (W-We’re surrounded.)

“Calm down, Chip.” Cassidy said.

“Hehehe…great work boys. You got them right where we want them.” 

Coming from the middle of the horde, Flint walks confidently, flexing off his moves as he approaches Cassidy and gang. 

“Oh great, it’s Flint.” Cassidy said sarcastically. 

“Spare me the attitude, Shadow Raider.” 

“Shadow Raider?” Anby thought to herself as she looked between Cassidy and Flint.

Flint pointed his finger at them. “Alright you! Hand it over! That flash drive is something the boss needs.”

“After all the mess we went through just to retrieve, forget it!” Nicole said.

“Tsk. Don’t go making this any harder than it needs to be, young lady. That flash drive is very important and the boss isn’t gonna wait any longer.” 

“Just what the hell is your deal with this flash drive anyways?” Cassidy asked. “It’s nothing special or anything.”

“Nothing special!? That flash drive isn’t any ordinary flash drive! It’s a map!” 

All of them got confused at this. 

“A…map?” Cassidy asked. 

One of the hollow raider thugs leaned near Flint. “Um…sir. I don’t think we’re supposed to release any information regarding that.”

Flint fumbled for a moment before glaring at his subordinate. “Gah! I know that!”

“So then why’d you tell them?”

“SHUT UP!” Flint yelled before glaring at the others. “And you guys! You didn’t hear anything about the whole treasure map thing! Nothing I say!” 

Nicole blinked as she looked back at the flash drive in her hand. “This little thing…is a treasure map…”

Cassidy thought for a moment. “A treasure map…all in that flash drive…” 

Nicole looks at the flash drive before shaking her head. “Thanks for the info on this treasure map, but the Cunning Hares still have to give this to our clients. So no deal.”

Flint grumbled under his breath. “Why you damn no good, HAND IT OVER NOW!” 

Flint raised voice and scared Chip as he whimpered behind Cassidy’s legs. “Sheesh, calm down, Flint. I mean, if you don’t want your ass to get kicked, I suggest you back off.”

Flint simply smiled, combing his hair back. “Cassidy, Cassidy…have you forgotten that I have the advantage here. Meanwhile you…well…you don’t. I have over 30 of my troops pointing their weapons at you and your friends. Even if you make a move, I doubt you want to endanger your new friends here.”

Cassidy looks around them. All of them ready to fire at will if she were to even dare make a move. “Well…you are right? I don’t want to endanger my friends here…”

“Good, so you realize the situation here. Heh. Thought you-”

“However…” Cassidy interrupted him. Crossing her arms. “I could make this fair for the both of us.”

Everyone, even the Cunning Hares were confused by this.

“Huh? What the hell are you going on about? You ain’t got a plan. Hell, you don’t even have any backups with you aside from that scared little wimpy bangboo of yours.”

“Ehneee.” (C-Cassidy.)

Cassidy closed her eyes as she tilted her head. “Flint, buddy. Did you forget I have one more buddy with me?”

“...you do?”

Cassidy removed her mask, revealing her mouth. Flint noticed the grin on her face. Cassidy took a deep breath before whistling between her fingers. Her whistle carried through the air. The men got on edge, as if a sudden instinct kicked in. 

Roar!

They hear a distant roar from where they stand. 

Hollow Thug(1): W-What was that!?

Hollow Thug(2): I think that was an ethereal…

The Cunning Hares got on edge for a moment. Anby stuck close to the group with her grip on the handle. Nicole gripped her briefcase ready for a fight. Nekomata hid behind Billy as the cyborg was on guard. The only one who wasn’t fazed was Cassidy who puts the mask back on.

“H-Hey…w-what game you’re playing here, Cassidy!?” Flint asked. 

“Hmm? Game? What game?” Cassidy said with a sly manner. “Have you really forgotten about my good boy, Halo.”

Flint and the others flinched. Suddenly a sense of dread loomed over them. Memories rushing through their head. Each of his men tried to huddle together for comfort. Whimpering in fear. 

Flint shook violently. “N-N-No way! No! You didn’t! You didn’t call t-that monster.”

Cassidy leaned her body forward. “Aww. Why the hesitation…my good boy Halo just loves to play with you all.”

Roar!

The sound approaches them closer. 

“C-Cassidy…what or who did you even call?” Nicole asked.

Cassidy tilted her head to the side. “Relax, he won’t bite you guys.”

“Huh?”

Muscular Hollow Thug: IT’S HALO! RUNAWAY!

Skinny Hollow Thug: I DON’T WANNA DIE TODAY!

But it was too late. Leaping over the buildings and over the widened and shock expressions of the Cunning Hares. Seeing the huge four-legged black-creature with green fluid on it’s body and a huge mouth.

It landed right in front of Cassidy, the young woman still not fazed in the slightest. But Flint was stiff as a board as it towered over him.

The Cunning Hares could only watch in horror and fear. 

“I-Is that…”

The Bulky Hollow thug screamed like a girl and started to run. Only to be stopped as Halo roared once more and pounced on him. Catching him with his paw. 

Bulky Hollow Thug: NO PLEASE! NO MORE PLAYTIME!

And the rest was just brutality. One after another as Halo basically went after each of Flint’s men. Their agonizing and horrid screams ripped through the air as Halo ‘played’ with them. The Cunning Hares could only watch in horror as the hollow raider thugs were being thrown aside, their clothes being ripped, their body shaken and being juggled in the air by the ethereal. 

Flint could only stand there in silence. Stiff as a board as he watches his men being tossed around roughly by the ethereal. Their screams scratched against his ear. One of the bodies flew past him and hits against the wall. 

Once all of his men were either thrown to the side or even ran away from the scene. Leaving only him to himself. Halo approached him. Growling at him. 

“...y-you…you don’t…s-scare me…”

Halo simply roared in his face. Causing Flint to scream at the top of his lungs and run away with his hands up. 

Halo then turns around and spots the Cunning Hares. 

“Uh oh. We’re so dead.” Nicole muttered.

With a roar, Halo charges right at the group. Anby got in front of Nicole and the others, ready to defend them. 

“HALO STOP!” 

The ethereal stopped in his tracks, using his four limbs to stop himself, skidding to a stop. He finally stopped right in front of Cassidy who held up her hand. The ethereal sat on his butt, his tail wagging from left to right. Almost like a dog. 

“These guys are my friends. So no playing with them, you hear?” Cassidy told it.

The Cunning Hares looked between her and the ethereal with confused and stunned looks. Meanwhile Chip sighs to itself.

The ethereal whimpered a little. 

“Oooh~. I know, big boy~. It was a simple mistake. But always remember who the bad people are and the good people? Understand?”

Woo.

By this point, Cassidy grabs the ethereal face with both her hands and starts rubbing her nose against its face. “Aww~ Who’s a good boy~? Who’s a good boy~? That’s right, you are! You are!” 

Halo rolled over on its back, inviting Cassidy for a belly rub. The young hunter excitedly rubbed its stomach. “Who likes a belly rub~?” 

As she was rubbing its belly, the ethereal was kicking its leg in the air, enjoying the rub it was receiving from Cassidy. The young woman was enjoying herself, entering full on adorable mode as she was interacting with…an ethereal of all things.

The Cunning Hares were still left in the dark. Wondering what in the world they were witnessing here. They looked towards Chip who simply gave a shrug with his ear drooped in embarrassment. 

“Um…Cassidy?” Nicole asked.

“Yeah?”

Nicole blinked. Doesn’t even know how to form a sentence but instead pointed to the ethereal. “Whatca got there?”

Cassidy blinks. “A Hati.”

“...let me restate that…why and…how?”

“...oh! You asking how I met Halo?” Nicole responded by nodding. “It’s kind of a long story so I’ll just be brief with you. Me and Chip found him injured, I felt sorry so I patched him up and gave him some food and we became best friends afterward.”

“That’s incredibly vague right there.” Nekomata stated. 

“Ehnene.” (Because it’s true.) Chip clarified. 

Anby softly let her guard down. “S-So…it’s not gonna hurt us?”

“Of course not. He’s just a little cuddle monster once you train him hard enough. Wanna pet him?”

Nicole, Nekomata and Billy shuddered at that. 

“U-Um…yeah no. I’m not risking getting bitten by-” Nicole stopped mid sentence when she spotted Anby already by Halo side. “ANBY!?”

Anby ignored Nicole’s protest as she extended her hand in front of it. The ethereal edges closer to her hand before he starts to rub against the palm of her hand. Anby eyes widened as it glittered with sparkles. 

“He’s adorable.” Anby said.

“I know, right? Oh yeah! Hang on!” Cassidy said as she dug into her bag. “I got something for the big guy. Ah ha! Here we go!” 

Cassidy brought out a container that had food in it. But from it being see-through, they could easily see the purple liquid and other mixed things inside. Nekomata edges closer to it to get a better look.

“Um…what is it?”

Cassidy responded by opening the food. Immediately everyone was affected by the smell. Nekomata's hair and tails stood on edge, she ran away and hid behind Nicole who covered her nose. Billy however was completely unaffected by the smell.

“GAH! THE HELL IS THAT SMELL!?” Nicole yelled. 

“It’s Ethereal food!” Cassidy said with a smile even though she was pinching her nose tight shut. 

Anby looks closer at the food. Scanning the purple liquid. Somewhat live fish stuck out on top and she swore she saw it moved a little. Flinching with a sense of dread. “Isn’t that…Rina’s food?”

“Oh, you know that senior lady from Victoria Housekeeping. Me and Chip don’t personally know her, but we only know her because we helped Ellen out before. She offered half of her lunch made from her senior as a consideration. But when me and Chip found Halo here, he was absolutely crazy for this.”

Speaking of the devil, the ethereal sniffed the food in Cassidy’s hand. Its mouth opened up as it was panting very rapidly. His tail wagged from left to right. 

“Aww~. You want the treat, big boy?”

Woooo!

“Is this Hati literally acting like a dog?” Nicole thought to herself.

Cassidy got up from the ground, she handed the food to Anby who flinched at the smell. 

“Okay boy, let’s see if you still know a few tricks. Now then, right claw.”

Halo gives her his right claw.

“Left Claw.”

Halo hands her his left claw.

“Down.” 

Halo lowered its whole body.

“Good boy. Anby go ahead and set the food down.” 

The young white-haired woman did so. Setting the food down in front of the Hati. Halo immediately scarfed the whole thing down, along with the container. 

“Good boy, Halo~.” Cassidy cooed as she scratched under its chin. 

Anby slowly joined in, petting the ethereal. “Good boy.”

“I cannot believe what I am witnessing here.” Nicole thought to herself with disbelief. 

“Guess it’s not dangerous…” Billy said.

“Just a giant puppy, as Cassidy said.” 

“Ehnene-nanana.” (It’s really not that dangerous.)

Nicole blinked as she looked at her friends and back at the scene. She noticed how Anby was smiling as Halo rubbed its head against Anby's cheeks. She couldn’t help but smile softly at the scene.

After a few minutes, Halo dashes off into the distance away from the group. 

“Stay out of trouble now!” Cassidy said. “Haa, it’s a shame that I can’t take Halo out of the hollow. But I probably have Miyabi on my tail if that was the case.”

“Ehnene-nana-nee!” (You know you’ll get in trouble!) Chip said.

“Yeah, yeah. I know Chip.”

“Oh, you mean, Samurai Fox. She may look all mean and serious, but she’s really just a softy.” Nicole said. 

“Oh yeah, do you guys know them?”

“We got off on the wrong foot before. But we ended up working together in the end.” Anby said.

Cassidy grins. “Sounds like you had some fun.”

“Hehehe…not really. At first for the most part.” Nicole stated, causing Cassidy to chuckle. 

Cassidy felt a poke at her leg, she looked down to find Chip looking up at her. “Ehenen-na-ehana.” (We should possibly get going.)

“Right, you guys ready.”

“Oh yeah. We still need to turn the flash drive into our client.” Nicole said. “Alright, is everyone ready. Let’s head out of the hollow.”

On that note, The Cunning Hares, along with Cassidy, heads through the small tear in the air that later turned big as they exited the hollow.

-Somewhere in Janus Quarter-

Stepping out of the hollow. The team were greeted with the familiar fresh air. Cars honking and the sound of people chatting. 

Billy gave a big stretch. “Ahhh yeah! It’s nice to finally get out of that mess!” 

Anby looks around. “It looks like we’re in the Janus Quarter. But we shouldn’t be too far from our car.”

Nicole dusted herself off. “Right. We should possibly head out and get the car first before we meet up with our client.”

“Hm. I agree. I think you’re parked in a no parking zone anyways.”

“GAH! Then we REALLY should be going! I’m not getting a parking ticket! Oh! And Cassidy,” Nicole's expression quickly changed from panic to friendly. “Thanks for helping us. You really saved our butts there.”

Cassidy smiled. “Hey, no problem. Just glad to be of service to you guys. Anyways, I shouldn’t keep you guys waiting. You still need to complete your commission.” 

“Oh hey wait!” Billy said. “You wanna trade contact info! You know, so we can stay in touch!” 

Cassidy blinked for a moment, a little stunned by the offer but grins either way. Bringing out her phone, but before she could even do so. Nicole immediately swipes the phone away before she could even blink. Working quickly, she puts it back in Cassidy’s hand. 

“There we go. Now you have both mine, Anby, Billy and Nekomata’s.”

“...that sure was quick.” Cassidy said.

Nicole smirked at her. “Hey, don’t underestimate my skills now. Well, we should possibly be going. Thanks again, Cass. Hope to see you around again. Maybe we can invite you to a treasure hunt someday~. Bye~.” 

“Bye! Thanks again!” Billy waved goodbye.  

“See you around you two!” Nekomata waved.

“Thank you for helping us, again.” Anby parted ways.

One by one, Cassidy watched the Cunning Hares walking off into the distance. Heading back to where it all started. Mainly to get their car.

“Ehnene-naa-ehnene-ehnaa.” (They seem like a pretty interesting group. A little weird, but also pretty fun too.)

“Yeah, they do, don’t they…” Cassidy said with a smile. “I wonder if we’ll run into each other again in the near future.”

-Somewhere in the Janus Quarter-

In the alleyway, near a construction zone. Flint was in the middle of catching his breath. Leaning his body against a wall.

“Gah…damn that monster…next time I see it, I ain’t hesitating on blasting it in the foot.” He said as he growled in frustration kicking a nearby can. “Damn it all! We were so close on grabbing that flash drive too! What am I gonna tell the boss?”

Vrrrb. Vrrrb. Vrrrb. 

Flint flinched as he felt his pocket vibrating. In a state of panic, he reached into his pocket and accepted the call. “B-Boss!?”

Mature Male Voice: [Ah. Flint. I finally reached you. I was trying to call you to see if you got the flash drive, but it seems I lost contact the moment I tried calling.] 

“R-Right! About that boss! Me and the fella’s got lost in the hollow and-”

Mature Male Voice: [What?]

“N-Now hold up! Let me finish! You see, we had them cornered and…well…” He started to trail on his words. 

Mature Male Voice: [Well, Flint. I’m waiting for what excuse you have for failing your mission.]

“....whaaat? No. I didn’t fail it. In fact, I had everything planned and thought out. We got the flash drive.”

There wasn’t an answer on the other end. Nothing more but a slow breathing noise.

“B-Boss…”

Mature Male Voice: [You don’t have it, do you?]

“S-Sorry boss! I swear we’ll get it back! One way or another!” 

Mature Male Voice: [You better have a backup idea then, because if you don’t. Then don’t expect any holiday pay!]

“Oh come on boss! Don’t be like that! Don’t you worry! This time I got a plan that will get us that flash drive! One way or another! B-But I’m possibly gonna be needing your help from our…new member of course.” 

Mature Male Voice: [Oh do you now…mind telling me your plan first before I think about sending ‘him’ down there.]

Flint could stifle out a chuckle. “Trust me boss, this plan is solid, that you will be one step closer to the treasure.”

Mature Male Voice: [.....I’m listening.]

….

And that’s a wrap. The Cunning Hares managed to finish their commission and made new friends with a hollow raider known as Cassidy and her bangboo Chip. But little do they know that this will NOT be their last meeting. And a sinister threat moves within the shadows. The beginning of a new tale in New Eridu is about to unfold…

First of all, once again. I’m sorry for the constant re-write of this story. Been having trouble trying to get this story off the ground to a good start. But I’m having a good feeling with this one. This time I am positive. Of course you don’t have to believe me, I don’t blame ya. But here we are with a new version of my ZZZ story. This time it is called “Raiders of the Storm”. Hope you enjoy it. A little nod to one of the video tapes at Random Play known as Raiders of the Hollow. XD

I’m writing this story to be more akin to special episodes that ZZZ usually does. With these, I can have a set central focus on which factions I will be focusing on. With this story, the Cunning Hares will be the central focus, but Cassidy will be the main character we will be following with the Cunning Hares sharing the spotlight. Plus, with this, I can easily implement Cassidy and the other original characters in the story without it feeling too out of place. Plus, I do like the idea of Cassidy meeting the Cunning Hares and bonding with them as the story progresses. I’m a sucker for character interactions so we will be seeing more of this as the story continues. The story will still take place after Season 1 and before Season 2. 

Anyways, sorry for the constant re-write, but thank you for bearing with me if you caught up. That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and I will see you all in the next chapter…don’t worry, it's an actual chapter. XD

Thank you for reading my Zenless Zone Zero story so far. I’ve been enjoying writing this story and Cassidy’s character is so much fun to write along with the Cunning Hares. I am writing this now, because I promised myself and to you guys that I would add more to chapter 1. I just felt it was lacking a proper introduction to Cassidy and Chip’s character. Now with the extra content added, the chapter feels like a proper flow and a good introduction to my two OCs in the story. I’ve also made some changes to chapter 1 so it flows properly. I could be doing the same for chapter 2 ending due to how chapter 1 ended. Either way, I hope you’re enjoying the story.

See you in the next chapter!

Edit Timestamp: 9/24/2025