Zenless Zone Zero: The Front Line
Chapter 11: Line Of Work
It took a little time but Shion was finally able to find the Verdict hideout that Crystal frequented the most. It was getting to be later in the day when Shion finally found an opportunity to catch her by herself in the Hollow.
Crystal's usual way out of the Hollow was through a spatial fissure near an abandoned subway station. She was already feeling tired and ready to get back home to her sister, but while she was on her way there, an unfortunately familiar figure stepped out to block her path.
"You again?! Tremor!" She exclaimed in surprise.
"Hello, Crystal. We need to talk." He stated.
"I'm sick of talking to you already," Crystal pulled out her twin blades. "You need to leave me alone."
"I will...just tell me where to find Bloodhound and I'll be on my way." Shion responded.
Rather than respond verbally, Crystal rushed forward and swung her blades at her one at a time. Shion dodged one and then ducked under the other. He then threw a jab into her ribs to throw her off balance. Both his shock primers and the ice effect of her twin blades charged up at the same time.
Crystal swung both blades at the same time into him. Shion brought up one arm to block them with his primers. He sent out a shockwave that blasted her ice around them, blowing Ether dust off the ground and into the air with an organ-shaking rattle.
"Why do you wanna die so badly?!" Crystal questioned through gritted teeth.
"Why do you wanna protect an animal like Bloodhound? You think he'd do the same for you?" Shion said in reply, using his other hand to send out another shockwave that sent Crystal sliding back.
"Urgh...it doesn't matter. I'm doing what I have to...to survive." She said in a lower tone, spinning her blades around again and priming them once more.
However, before the fight could continue, a horde of Ethereals suddenly came out to investigate all of the noise and rumbling going on nearby. They snarled at both Shion and Crystal and began to close in on their prey.
"You gotta be kidding me." Shion said to himself.
"Great...Tremor, I'm calling a temporary truce until we get out of this." Crystal offered.
"Works for me." He agreed right away.
Shion charged up his shock primers and started firing at the dog-like Ethereals coming straight for him. This knocked them both backwards and into the air. At the same time, Crystal flipped over another smaller Ethereal and froze it with one sword then broke it into pieces with the other.
Surrounded by several more Ethereals, Crystal spun in a circle with her swords extended outwards. She cut through one and kicked another away with her foot. A third one swung its arm at her head. Crystal brought her swords up, readjusting her position as the swords cut the Ethereal's hand off.
As the Ethereal's appendage flew off to the side, Crystal turned and shoved both of her blades backwards through the Ethereal's chest, killing it. One of the dog Ethereals came right for her in that moment, looking to pounce on her.
Shion jumped in at that moment, catching the dog Ethereal in midair and slamming it into the ground with a closed fist. His shock primer went off after it hit the ground, increasing the effect of the impact tenfold. He then did the same with his other fist to finish it off.
The last dog Ethereal came charging towards them next. Shion stepped forward and suddenly turned his back to it, "Crystal! Come here! Lemme give you a boost!" He shouted to her, getting down on one knee and cupping his hands together.
"Huh?! Alright!" She exclaimed in surprise. As quickly as she came to understand his meaning, she ran towards him and hopped forward. She raised a foot and stepped onto his hands.
Shion leaned his body backwards and hoisted Crystal up into the air over his head. As the dog Ethereal leaped towards them, Crystal flipped above it and cut her swords down across the top of its head. Her ice took effect once again, freezing it as it hit the ground.
Shion had put his entire weight behind getting Crystal into the air. He fell onto his back after doing so. The frozen dog Ethereal flew right over him as he hit the ground. As it slid away from him, he sent a blast out through one of the shock primers on his leg, causing it to break apart in the ice.
"That was oddly intuitive on your part, Tremor. You trusted me to pull that move off?" Crystal inquired.
"I knew you could do it." Shion said in reply as he got up from the floor.
Suddenly, several more bigger Ethereals dropped down by them and roared aggressively. Both Shion and Crystal flinched in surprise and moved away. As it roared, Shion noticed a shift through the scanner in his helmet.
"Hey! The Hollow is changing! There should be a spatial fissure showing up right by you! You can use it to bail!" Manami spoke quickly and urgently. The spatial fissure appeared on Shion's display.
"Crystal! There's a fissure right there! Follow me!" He shouted to her, getting to his feet and running towards her.
"This is the worst!" Crystal growled as she ran behind him. The Ethereals were right on their tail as the two of them dove into the fissure.
They came out the other side and found themselves in a dark tunnel barely able to see anything. Shion tumbled onto his back and Crystal rolled right over him awkwardly. The two of them both groaned in pain as they laid down on the hard, uneven ground.
"Manami, where are we?" Shion asked.
"I'm not too sure. It can't be too far from where you are now."
"It looks like we're underground. Turn on the flashlights." Shion said with a strained grunt as he turned and got up to his feet slowly.
Two flashlights attached to the top of Shion's helmet switched on at his command, illuminating the path in front of him to reveal that they were inside of an abandoned subway tunnel. In fact, they were standing right on the tracks.
"Looks like we're trapped. The fissure's gone." Crystal noticed.
"We were pretty close to some stairs where we fought. I'm sure if we just walk, we'll find a way back up." Shion reasoned.
"Fine. Then you lead the way." She replied with an annoyed huff.
So the two of them started cautiously strolling down the tunnel. Every so often, Crystal would find a door or a branching path to look through, which helped them narrow their options down. Shion would use his shock primers to clear rubble while Crystal would look for paths with more light.
"You feel that? The pressure's lifting." Shion noticed.
"We're probably not even in the Hollow anymore. I wonder what side of it we're on." Crystal thought aloud.
"Seems like you know your away around the Hollows better than most. Even I need a scanner to see where the fissures are." He observed.
"I've been going in and out of Hollows forever. I've learned how to feel them out." Crystal responded simply.
"You must have one hell of an Ether aptitude score." Shion commented with a faint chuckle.
"Never been officially tested. I've got more important things to worry about."
"Like protecting Bloodhound?" Shion brought up again. Crystal rolled her eyes and groaned irritably.
"What is it that you want with him that's so important to you?" She questioned him.
"I was hired to find him and take him down."
"By who? Some rival gang?" Crystal presumed.
"By a young man who's father was shot in the back by your boss." Shion responded coldly. Crystal let out a sigh.
"Look, I have to protect myself and the people I care about...this is what I have to do to do that." She said seriously.
"I don't want to hurt you, Crystal. The only reason you've been seeing so much of me is because I know you know where to find him." Shion explained himself.
"Where do you even get a job like this? You do realize how insane you sound, right?" She questioned.
"I have a high reputation on InterKnot." Shion said in reply.
"You say that like I'm supposed to know what that is." Crystal commented.
"You...don't know about InterKnot?" Shion asked in disbelief.
"No...? What is that?" She asked.
"It's like a...uh...an app for asking for odd jobs. You can get people that know their way around the Hollows to do stuff for you. I get paid to do those jobs that people hire me for." Shion explained.
"That's...surprisingly more broad than I was expecting. And here I thought you were just a mercenary. And you make money doing stuff like that?" Crystal asked almost in disbelief.
"You build your reputation up and that opens the door to more and more work. So yeah, it helps a lot." Shion confirmed.
"Wow...look, there's the exit." Crystal moved ahead towards some stairs leading up towards a source of sunlight. The way was blocked by rubble but it was very clearly the way out.
"Not bad. I'll take care of this." Shion said.
With one blast of his shock primers, the two of them were finally able to get out from the subway. They stepped out into the setting sunlight. New Eridu was still some distance away, but at least they were out of the Hollow.
"Well that was a sticky situation...thanks for your help, Tremor, even though you attacked me." Crystal added at the end with a chuckle.
"Hey, you attacked me first, so..." Shion turned around to see that Crystal was running back away from him, slipping into the outskirts of the city and disappearing into an alleyway.
"Wow...she's quick. You gonna try to catch up with her?" Manami asked.
"Nah, I'm tired. That's a battle for another day." Shion said with a sigh.
"If only we could switch places. If I had the body and you were just the head then I could run after her and be way less tired." Manami pointed out.
"That's morbid." Shion couldn't help but chuckle at that...