As the trio watched the TV together, they switched to the News about a construction project to renovate the old metro area, which is being contracted to Vision Corporation after winning the bids against Belobog Heavy Industry.
The reporter is currently interviewing Charles Perlman, Ceo of Vision Corporation, on the plan for the renovation project.
It apparently involved the use of high-purity Ether explosive via a train to completely demolish the old metro lines, which would be transported through the Dead End Hollow and to Canvas Street.
"Huh? They really are going inside there? Hopefully, they don't encounter the big guy," Michael commented as he carefully analyzed the news.
"Big guy?" Asked Belle.
"You must be talking about the Dead End Butcher, right?" Wise guessed.
"Yep. Big guy. Fought with it once. I was winning but decided to retreat when things got too dicey."
"You fought with it and almost killed it? You really are powerful. Although, why didn't you just kill it?" Asked Wise.
"Well... you know how activities in the Hollows, such as mining, fighting, or even when a person gets corrupted, increase a Hollow's Ether activities and can cause a Hollow to expand?"
Belle and Wise nodded.
"What do you think will happen when two powerful Ethereals fight each other inside one, especially in a prolonged fight?"
"The Ether activity inside will increase drastically by the seconds, which..." Belle answered as her face turned into one of understanding.
"...can cause a Hollow to expand rapidly..." Wise continued.
"Bingo. This is why I always prefer speed and strength when fighting an Ethereal so that the fight ends quickly and the risk of expansion stays minimal."
"Wait a minute." Wise suddenly remembered something. "Last month, the Ether activity of various Hollows suddenly spiked up. I remember the HIA saying that the risk of an expansion was high before the Ether activity mysteriously dropped back down to normal. Was that...?" He looked at Michael for confirmation.
"Maybe..."
Belle and Wise could only shake their head at Michael's answer. They then turned their attention back onto the TV, the news segment almost concluding with Perlman fumbling the last question, having to be saved by a woman next to him, presumably his assistant.
"Alert. Street cameras have identified an unknown person approaching the store at high speed." The voice of Fairy warned them. "Speculation: This individual's video rental is about to expire, or they are plotting the destruction of Random Play."
Belle scratched her head at Fairy's description of the person. "That's a weird thing to say. They're probably just a customer. I'll open the door."
Just as Belle opened the door, a girl came barreling through with a bangboo. She faceplanted on the ground before getting back up. "Ow... My nose..."
Just as she nursed her nose, she suddenly pointed at the TV, specifically at Perlman, "Don't believe anything he says! He's lying!"
.....
"Uhm... Are you looking for a specific video? The '7710 and Its Cats' just came in." Said Belle.
The girl's ears perked up at hearing the title. "That sounds interesting. What's it about?" The girl then shook her head. "No, no, now's not the time..."
She turned towards the trio and addressed them as Phaethon, saying that she knew them from Nicole and that she got a Proxy commission for them.
Belle and Wise tried to play dumb, but when the girl told them her name, which is Nekomata, and even showed them Amillion, Nicole's Bangboo, they finally relented.
Nekomata tells them that Nicole, Anby, and Billy are in the Vision's blast zone. She tried to elaborate further about what they were doing there, but with the disjointed way she was explaining, her running out of breath, and the occasional 'meow', it was pretty hard for them to understand.
"What about this lil guy's visual data. Can we export it to the computer?" Michael pointed out as he picked up Amillion to inspect it closely.
Nekomata agreed with him. "That's right. Nicole's Bangboo. Surely you guys can do something, meow."
"Hmm... That's going to be difficult. As its owner, only Nicole can access its visual data. We can go to the Marcel Group to force access, but that's going to take a while." Wise explained.
"Beep beep."
Belle turned to the HDD. "Unless..."
"Question. Is the master's request to 'convert this Bangboo's visual recording into video output?"
The voice startled Nekomata as she frantically looked around the rooms for the source of the voice. "Who's that? Is there someone else in the room with us?"
Belle tries to calm her down. "Don't mind her. It's just our newest virtual assistant. So... Can you?"
"Affirmative. Just put the Bangboo in front of the HDD, and I'll begin the process."
"Whoa... You can extract visual data without the manufacturer? No wonder Nicole trusts you all." Nekomata snapped out of her amazement. "No time for compliments. We're running out of time!" She looked at Michael, who gave her a nod as he set the Bangboo on the chair in front of the HDD.
"Now, Fairy. Do your magic." Belle encouraged.
"Establishing Bangboo connection and reading visual data." After a few seconds, Amillion seemingly passed out. "Data read complete. Commencing playback."
Wise was rather impressed by Fairy. "Woah. We got an image, alright."
"Let me see." Nekomata went closer to the screen. "Ah! That's the day me and Nicole met."
And so, after Nekomata's confirmation, they silently watched the playback, beginning with Nicole being chased by the Red Fang Gang to exact revenge for Silver's death.
As they watched Nicole being saved by Nekomata, who then commissioned the Cunning Hares to retrieve a 'family heirloom' from the Red Fang Gang, Michael couldn't help but be suspicious of the whole interaction.
Call him crazy, but the way Nekomata commissioned Nicole to go into the Hollow to search for her heirloom... To him, it seemed like how a killer would lure their victim into a trap.
He shakes his head to clear his mind of that thought. Maybe it was just his paranoia.
Still, the idea itched at the back of his mind as he watched Nekomata, along with the Cunning Hares, fight a few Red Fang Gang members in the Hollow. The way she fights seems like something you would see from a gang member.
They paused the playback at the point where Nicole promised Nekomata to go to the Dead End Hollow.
.....
"Meow, really? Okay~ I trust you can find my family heirloom, meow!"
"Eugh. Feels embarrassing seeing yourself act cute." Nekomata grumbled out. "Meow!" She yelled out as a pair of hands gripped her shoulders.
"So you do genuinely meow," Michael stated after seeing her reaction.
"No, we no- No I mean of course we cat-people do!"
While Michael continued to tease Nekomata, Belle, after seeing the recording, finally understood what had happened for the Cunning Hares to end up at the blast zone.
"So that's how you all ended up at the Dead End Hollow. You were all looking for your family heirloom." Belle remarked.
"That's not important right now! Nicole and the others are still at the blast zone!"
Fairy then alerted them to the news broadcast still being played on the TV. The last of the Vision Corporation's trains that were loaded with explosives is about to depart and head straight to Canvas Street.
They all quickly come up with an idea on how to stop the train while hiding their and the Cunning Hares' identities.
Fairy comes up with the plan to intercept the train within the Hollow, to which they all agreed, considering that Fairy can also calculate the real-time location of the train.
"Now that we're all in agreement, I will take Nekomata and Eous to the Hollow while you two finish setting up whatever you need to do." Instructed Michael.
Nekomata looked rather confused at him. "We're walking? Won't that be too slow?"
Michael chucked a bit at her question. "Hehe. You'll see."
"What's with that look on your face, meow?" She questioned as her hair stood at the back of her spine.
.....
"Let me go! Let me go!" Nekomata screamed out as she struggled to break free from Michael's grip while she herself was holding Eous.
She thought that she and Michael were going to be running to the Hollow's entrance. What she didn't expect was for him to grow wings and fly. She didn't even have time to process his appearance.
"Calm down. I'm not going to drop you." Michael assures, trying his best to hold onto Nekomata's body.
Nekomata seemingly stopped her trashing as she nervously opened her eyes. Her eyes lit up in amazement at the breathtaking view below. "Wow... It's so beautiful..." She uttered in a quiet tone.
Michael only smiled at seeing her expression. His expression became focused when they were nearing the entrance of the Dead End Hollow. "We're here."
Setting them all down, Nekomata immediately chastised Michael for the abrupt flight. "Meow! You could've warned me, you know!"
"Where's the fun in that? Anyways..." Michael ignored Nekomata's glare, "Are you all set?"
Belle's voice comes through Eous. "All set. Ready when you are."
"Let's go!"
.....
"Hello? Belle, Michael, Nekomata, can you hear me?" The voice of Wise questioned.
Nekomata answered, "Loud and clear. This is so cool. I've never seen a Proxy who's been able to communicate in a Hollow..."
"Uh... You can save the compliments for later. Let's focus on stopping the train first. Before that, let's go over the plan again."
Nekomata recites the plan in detail. The plan is to put an obstacle in the train's path so the driverless mode will be forced to change to the tunnel route, after which the train will begin slowing down, allowing Belle to enter the train through its roof and head to the driver's compartment to shut the train down.
"The Dead End Butcher's location, however..." Wise sounded regretful. "Unfortunately, we still can't pinpoint its exact location."
"Don't worry about it. If we come across the big guy, I'll try to lead it to another area in the Hollow." Suggested Michael, to which Nekomata looked at him in worry.
"Meow? You're going to fight it alone?! Isn't that super dangerous..."
Michael reassures her that he will be fine. "It sure is, but I've fought bigger enemies before." Belle and Wise wanted to ask what he meant by 'bigger', but decided to keep shut and focus on the task at hand.
"Now, let us begin." Belle then began leading Michael and Nekomata in the Hollow.
Shortly after they've just started their journey, the Ether activity in the area begins to change. Just as Belle questions why it felt close, a pair of hands yanked Eous and Nekomata behind a nearby debris.
"Meow! Michael wha-" Nekomata's question was silenced as the sound of thumping was heard nearby.
They all took a peek over the debris just to see the Notorious Ethereal, Dead End Butcher, passing over where they were just a moment ago.
"That was a close one..." Belle sighed in relief, thankful that they didn't have to fight the Dead End Butcher. "Its aura is intense."
Nekomata nods her head in agreement. "Meow..."
After making sure the Ethereal had actually left the area, the three continued on their way, dispatching a few stray Ethereals along the way.
Arriving at the control terminal, the group quickly set about changing the train's route.
"And that should be it," Michael said as he weighed down one of the control panels with a heavy object. On cue, the sound of the train arriving signals that they need to hurry to intercept it. "Let's hurry up before the train's gone."
As they hurriedly went to grab more stones to re-route the train track, they were unexpectedly blocked by a train car.
"Looks like someone had a little trouble parking their train." Michael joked. "The big guy must've thrown this here."
"It's blocking our way. Proxy, is there any other route?"
"Wise?" Belle asked as Wise looked over.
"Unfortunately, no. With the anomalies here, we'll probably just get lost. We have to remove the train. Fairy?"
"Second Assistant is correct. There are no other routes nearby. Master will have to remove the obstacle to proceed further. I suggest Michael remove the train car as he is the strongest here."
"Affirmative. Removing the door should be enough." Walking up to the train car, Michael took a deep breath as he channeled Ether into his arms. Ether crystals begin to permeate them as he feels physically stronger.
"Your hands! Oh no, Proxy, he's getting corrupted!" Nekomata panicked at the sight of Michael's hands transforming as she frantically handed over an anti-corruption serum she had kept on hand.
Belle blocked Nekomata from giving the serum to Michael with her body. "Wait! Nekomata, he is not being corrupted!"
Nekomata's expression was one of bewilderment as she looked over to Michael, who was busy preparing to tear open the train car. "Huh? What do you mean? He's clearly experiencing Ether Corruption! You're going to let him die!"
Belle shook her head. "No, no, no! You see, it's... uhm... How should I put it?" She thought long and hard for a moment to phrase it in a way that would not expose Michael's secret. "It's one of his abilities... Yeah..."
"You mean he can control Ether...?" With a hesitant look, Nekomata accepted Belle's explanation. Still, she gripped the serum tightly just in case as she watched Michael's claw puncturing the door.
Creak
"Wahh!" The sound of a girl screaming broke Michael's concentration. Before he could ask if anyone was there, he heard a buzzing sound coming from inside the train.
"Hell-" ZZZZZZZZ
Michael ducked and let go as a circular saw sliced through the train, almost hitting his neck. His hands weren't so lucky, however, as the saw cut straight through its unarmored bits. He fell on his back as Nekomata and Belle checked up on him.
The saw continues to cut the side of the train in a rectangular shape before a final cut separates the door from it entirely, crashing onto the ground and kicking up dust in the process.
After the dust cleared up, they saw an olive-green-haired girl with bandages across her body and wearing a maid's dress who was busy patting herself down.
After she's done, she looks over to them before her eyes widen at seeing the handless Michael. She ran up to him, almost stumbling in the process.
"I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY, MISTER INVESTIGATOR!" With tears in her eyes, she repeatedly apologized as she pried his dismembered hands from the doors and tried her hardest to reattach them. She had even mistaken his right hand for his left and vice versa.
Michael could only look on awkwardly as the girl bawl her eyes out in despair. He looked behind him to see Nekomata with her mouth agape and even a look of concern from Eous.
With his stumps, he pats her head gently, which has the desired effect of somewhat calming her down.
He looked at her with a smile on his face. "I think you got the wrong hand."
She checked the hand she was holding and blushed slightly in embarrassment at it being the wrong one.
"I'm sorry, here." She then handed him the correct one.
He positioned his stump onto his hand, after which a light engulfed them. When it subsided, Michael's hand had seemingly reattached with no signs of damage. It had even reverted to regular human hands instead of claws.
The girl looked on in awe at seeing him repeat the process with his other hand. After he's done, both he and the girl look at each other in an awkward silence.
Michael faked a cough to get her focus. "Hello there. I'm Michael. Nice to meet you."