After walking for a while, we were able to bring back Yanagi and Miyabi. Both of them were still shaken from what they saw, but I didn't bother to ask.
Right now, we aren't safe, and we won't be until we deal with one of the immortals. With each step we took, our surroundings began to feel different.
It was silent, and the air was becoming colder by the second. Yet, no one mentioned it. As we walked deeper into the hollow, I kept seeing more objects floating.
Being dragged off to somewhere, even larger pieces of metal and stone. Only when I saw an abandoned car floating, it became too late.
The ground began to shake, and cracks appeared across the ground, with a few buildings slowly breaking. The windows shattered and fell, forcing us to jump back to avoid the glass.
But instead of falling, they were slowly being drawn towards something, just like the rest of the objects.
Soon, we began to float, and the ones who panicked were both Belle and Yanagi.
"Okay, I said I wanted to experience low gravity, but not like this!" Belle shouted, clutching onto Eve.
Eve herself was floating above her wheelchair, surprised at what was happening. However, that didn't last long, thanks to Bai Yi, who grabbed her under her arm.
While K.K grabbed the wheelchair, they both landed safely on a wall. Miyabi herself landed next to them, staring at what could be the cause.
Yanagi, on the other hand, was panicking. She tried to stop herself from spinning, but she didn't know how, since one hand was holding her weapon.
However, her panic didn't last long. I soon grabbed her with both arms and used my body to protect hers as we landed on a piece of the road.
As we stopped rolling, both of us looked at what could be drawing everything. In front of us, we could see a larger sphere, and we could see more objects merging with it.
And a part of it was open, which was where we were flying towards. However, I realized that we weren't slowing down.
"Brace for impact!" I screamed, hugging Yanagi once again. As soon as the road merged with the sphere, we were sent forward, rolling across the ground a few times.
By the time we stopped, I was on my back and sighed. This was actually tame compared to the rest of the operations I've done.
Yanagi then rolled off me, breathing slowly to calm herself from what had just happened. "I... I think I'm going to take a page out of Harumasa's book."
I couldn't help but laugh, and had the same idea forming in my mind. "I could... use a day off." I said, and soon heard her giggling.
"Hey, seems the both of you are having fun!" BaI Yi called out to us, when we both looked towards her, we were shocked to see that she was standing on the wall.
"By the way, how are you guys laying on the wall, that's kinda cool." She said, her eyes narrowing to see if there was a trick.
"I should be asking you that, but I think Summer may have an idea." I looked up to where Summer was hovering, scanning the inside of the sphere.
"Well, we can already tell that the gravity is caused by Dreyha, which we can assume is being enhanced by the ether." She said, and a few drones separated from the main canons to scout the area.
"And it looks like we can't take the straight road to reach her." Summer swiped the air, sending two holograms.
One for me, and the second one to Miyabi. On it was a large map, showing the entire sphere growing bit by bit.
And inside it, were chibi versions of us on the edge of the sphere. "Right now, the sphere is expanding, constantly absorbing the surrounding area."
The map soon moved closer towards the center, to where it stopped and showed multiple crossed areas.
"This is as far as I can scout. Along the way, we'll encounter multiple ethereals, and…" Summer went silent, but our group knew what she wanted to say.
"The rest of the Whitestone staff." I finished, and the hologram switched to a camera, showing multiple corrupters roaming.
Some fought ethereals, while others wandered through the sphere, searching for victims.
"There, go back!" Miyabi shouted, pointing at the screen. It showed a staff member was hiding between a wall and a car, letting the monsters pass by.
Before anyone could say anything, a yellow line was already forming, leading us to their location.
"Let's go then, if we're lucky, we can save them before they mutate." Summer said and moved forward, acting as a guide.
"Thank you. I'd feel horrible if we hadn't found a single staff member." Yanagi called out to Summer.
"Eh, it's fine." She replied, waving off the thanks Yanagi gave. Seeing this, Yanagi looked confused about why this happened.
"Summer isn't really a people person; she prefers to focus on her work rather than interacting." I explained, hearing this Yanagi sighed, but smiled.
"That is good to know, and concerning." That was all she said before turning serious. I didn't need to ask why, because the sounds of roars and metal scraping against stone were heard.
"K.K hold them back, Bai YI, pick them off one by one!" I said and skidded to a stop. As both of them ran past me, K.K placed Eve to my side, who was back in her wheelchair.
Bai Yi jumped in the air with her hand on the handle on one sword, drawing it as soon as she passed an ethereal.
K.K herself slammed her fist on the upper half, sending it flying. At the same time, the lower half of the body stood in place. "Boss, stop running ahead."
Hearing K.K's scolding, Bai Yi gave a smug smile and shrugged her shoulders. "Can't help it, I'm just bored from the lack of jobs."
She then stepped to the side, letting a corruptor miss, and stabbed its head with ease.
"Besides, isn't this exciting? We're on the clock, getting paid when we're done, and we have a place to sleep. What more can a girl ask for?" Bai Yi then flickered, and multiple purple lines appeared on the ethereals that were running towards her.
When she reappeared behind the horde, her blade was nearly sheathed. Only when her blade was fully sheathed did the ethereals fall.
"Still, you can't just run off to do something else, don't you remember the last time you did that with the last client?" K.L grunted, lifting an ethereal with ease and slamming it onto the ground.
CUTAWAY
"Ah, Bai Yi, I heard from a friend that you take any job, as long as the payment is good, right?" Said and old man, who held a box under his arm.
"That's correct, just sign this form and tell me what you need us to do." She said with a smile.
"Oh alright, alright, just pass me a pen will you?" Said the old man, signing the paper with shaking hands, and handing it back.
"Good, now with that done, what do you need us to do?" She said with an expecting smile.
"I just need you to send this letter to my boy, who lives in Eastside." As the man gave the letter to Bai Yi, she smiled and accepted the letter.
"Of course dear client, we'll have the letter delivered by the end of the day." She said and soon left.
TIME SKIP
"And then, I slew multiple corruptors with one strike, saving the orphanage!" Bai Yi slammed her foot on the table, raising a glass in the air with a drunken smile.
CUT AWAY END
"Oh yeah, I never got the letter delivered." She said, sitting on the back of an ethereal. "Oh well, nothing doin'." She said and ran forward, cutting down the ethereals with ease.
K.K could only vent her frustration on the ethereals, slamming the end of both tonfas on the bodies of the ethereals.
Once in a while, she would be struck by one of them. But she would grab their arm and slam it with her shoulder, breaking it with ease.
Behind her, one of the ethereals raised a street sign high above themselves, yet they were shot by a pink laser.
"Geez K.K, I keep telling you to keep an eye on your surroundings!" Summer called out, safely floating above the battle field.
Her drones circled around her like a squad of solders protecting an important figure, firing constantly to suppress any corruptor and ethereals that got too close.
As for me, I stood next to Eve. Not only providing suppressing fire, but also protecting her from any enemies that got too close.
"Chief, you don't have to stay by my side. I'm well cared for." She said, looking at the large teddy bear that was dealing with an ethereal and corruptor.
It raised both metal claws, stabbing through both of them. Once it pierced through, it raised both arms, slamming both of them on the ground.
"Are you sure?" I asked, aiming towards a few ethereals that were closing in on Yanagi, a few shots later, they were already dissolving back into the hollow.
"I'm sure, you need to find her anyways." She said and continued to focus on the battlefield in front of us.
She had a point, I couldn't stay back here for long. If I wanted to find her and subdue her, I had to go to the front lines.
"Summer, stay close to Eve!" I shouted and began to rush forward, while shooting and dodging the ethereals and corruptors that tried to block me.
"Chief, are you crazy?!" K.K shouted after me, slamming her tonfa on the leg of a corruptor, snapping it with ease.
"Your welcome to follow me if you like!" I shouted back, dodging a swing that was aimed towards my stomach.
I then jumped up and slammed my knife on the head of the corruptor with my entire body weight.
As the both of if fell, I twisted my knife for good measure, ending the staff members suffering.
"Good balance, and good technique." I was surprised to see Miyabi in front of me, staring at what I did.
"You trained well, not only with close ccombat, but with a sword, and a firearm." She commented, holding out her hand to pull me up.
Once I was up on my feet, the both of us began to run deeper into the sphere. Miyabi would rush forward, cutting down the monster to at got too close, while I provided support.
The both of us were somehow in sync, anticipating each others movements. Miyabi would go left, cutting down an ethereal, while I fired to her right.
I would stab my knife onto the core of an ethereal, she would draw her blade to slice a corruptor in half.
"Is it just me, or are those two dancing?" Summer asked Eve, who was observing both me and Miyabai.
"In a way, I guess they are. Neither are the follower, or the leader. Instead, they're both communicating with one another." Eve replied, squeezing her grip on poor Eous.
"Eve, your hugging too tight, too tight!" Belle screamed, flailing the bangboos body. The next second, the sound of metal could be heard bending, and the screen of Eous cracked.
The sound was enough to snap Eve out of her moment, and she soon realized what she had done.
"Oh, I'm sorry, are you alright?" Eve asked, staring at the now glitching screen.
"I-I-I-I'm fine, but- but- but I can't say the same for E-Eous." Belle replied, her voice glitching and changing octaves.
"Summer, can you fix it?" Eve asked, handing Eous to Summer. She hummed and began to observe the outer body, before removing the outer skin.
"Give me a few minutes." Was all she said before tinkering on Eous.
Back to both Miyabi and I, we continued to force our way through the monsters. Constantly covering each others blind spots, but that soon ended when all of us saw a horde in front of us.
Miyabi was about to rush forward, but was forced to step back when Summer hovered in front of her.
"Let me deal with this, I've been meaning to test a new invention of mine, and now's a good time." She said with a smile, which was more maniacal.
All the drones she controlled soon floated in front of her, forming a circle. Soon, they began to latch onto one another, creating one large gunner drone.
"Mk 2 of the ether canon, test number thirty five, inserrting ether crystal." She then pulled out a piece of ether placing it on a slot that was on the canon.
"Commencing charging, readings are stable, energy levels at twenty percent and climbing steadily." She then pulled up multiple holograms, each containing the data of the weapon in front of her.
"Thirty, fourty, fifty, sixty percent, increasing density of canon." More drones began to pile on the canon, which began to tremble.
"Damage to barrel, two percent." The inside of the canon began to glow and it began to rumble.
"Run!" I shouted and picked up Miyabi unconsciously, running away from the danger.
"Ether canon fully charged, firing!" Summer laughed and pressed the holographic screen.
The canon soon hummed louder and louder, the canon began to tremble and clouds of ether began to spew from the sides.
And the horde of ethereals and corruptors ran towards her, ignoring the impending doom. A few even jumped forward, their weapons extending towards her.
Yet, she smiled, not worried about the impending danger.
The next thing I knew, everything went white.
[You know, I shouldn't be surprised, but it's Summer we're talking about. She always wants to make a new invention when something interesting happens. Anyways, send them power stones to show support, and I hope to see you guys soon. Bye Bye!]