The EN branch headquarters had finally settled into a comfortable rhythm after months of reconstruction and reorganization. The building hummed with creative energy as talents went about their various activities, each room a bubble of controlled chaos that was, for once, actually controlled.
In Conference Room B, the larger one with the reinforced walls—lessons had been learned—HoloMyth was hosting a drawing stream collab. Gura squinted at her tablet, tongue poking out in concentration as she attempted to draw what was supposed to be a cat but looked more like a deformed potato with whiskers. Ina's canvas displayed an intricate eldritch horror that somehow managed to be cute, her tentacles—the hair ones—swaying gently as she worked. Ame kept erasing and redrawing the same line on her detective-themed sketch, muttering about proportions. Calli was surprisingly focused, her art style sharp and angular, very on-brand. Kiara's drawing was bright and energetic, though she kept getting distracted and talking to chat about random topics.
"Chat says my cat looks like a cursed emoji," Gura announced.
"That's because it is a cursed emoji," Ame replied without looking up.
Down the hall in the break room, HoloCouncil had gathered for what was supposed to be a casual card game. Bae was absolutely destroying everyone at poker, her pile of chips growing steadily as she called bluffs with unnerving accuracy.
"How do you keep winning?" Mumei asked, staring at her depleted stack.
"I'm Chaos," Bae grinned. "Randomness bends to my will."
"That's not how probability works," Fauna said, though she was also losing badly.
Kronii sat at the table but wasn't really playing anymore. She'd pulled out a compact mirror and was examining her reflection, adjusting a strand of hair. "Perfection requires constant maintenance," she murmured to herself.
"You've folded the last three hands," Fauna pointed out.
"And I looked flawless while doing it."
Sana's room—she still had a dedicated sleeping room—showed a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign. Inside, soft snoring could be heard.
IRys had commandeered one of the streaming rooms for a singing session, her voice soaring through a ballad that could probably make angels weep. She was an hour in and showing no signs of stopping, completely in her element.
HoloAdvent's section of the building was significantly louder. They'd booted up Phasmophobia, and the game was going about as well as expected.
"WHERE'S THE GHOST?" Nerissa shrieked, her character sprinting through the virtual house.
Shiori's laughter echoed through the room, unhinged and delighted. "This is fine! Everything is FINE!"
"I'm in a closet," Bijou announced. "I don't know how I got here. I might stay here."
Fuwawa and Mococo were both staring at a cursed doll their character had picked up. "Should we take it?" Fuwawa asked.
"But what if it's bad, bau bau?" Mococo worried.
"JUST DROP IT AND RUN!" Nerissa screamed from somewhere else in the game.
Meanwhile, HoloJustice was utilizing the dance studio. The music thumped through the soundproofed walls as Elizabeth practiced her footwork, surprisingly nimble for someone who carried herself with such regal bearing. Cecilia moved with elegant precision, every step calculated. Raora brought a different energy, more fluid and creative, occasionally throwing in moves that definitely weren't part of the choreography.
Everything was, for once, relatively peaceful.
And then the wall exploded.
Not metaphorically. Actually exploded. Chunks of drywall and concrete blasted inward as something orange and very, very fast smashed through from the parking garage, the screech of tires and roar of an engine suddenly filling the corridor.
In the HoloMyth room, Calli's pen skidded across her tablet. She spun in her chair. "What HAPPENED?!"
Doors started opening. Nerissa poked her head out of the Advent room, headset askew. Mumei appeared from the break room, Kronii right behind her, mirror still in hand.
"What happened there?" someone called.
"Eh?" Gura had abandoned her drawing.
"Earthquake?!" Fauna was gripping the doorframe.
"CALL THE ID BRANCH!" Ame shouted.
"TOO SOON!" Kiara shot back.
"Who keeps blowing things up?!" That was Ina, surprisingly annoyed.
"What happened to the wall?" Mumei was staring at the new ventilation.
And through the settling dust, an engine revved. The sound was throaty, powerful, expensive. An orange Ferrari SF90 XX Spider rolled forward through the debris, and in the driver's seat, Gigi Murin wore the biggest shit-eating grin any of them had ever seen.
She gripped the steering wheel with one hand and hit the gas.
The Ferrari's tires screamed against the polished floor. The backend kicked out as Gigi yanked the wheel, and the car entered a perfect drift, sliding sideways down the corridor at absolutely inappropriate speeds for indoor driving.
Time seemed to slow down.
In the HoloMyth room, Gura's jaw dropped, hanging open like a broken puppet. Ina just stared, ancient and unfathomable intelligence processing what her eyes were seeing and coming up with no logical explanation. Ame's confusion was written across every feature of her face. Calli's hand was outstretched, her mouth forming the words "what the fuck" in slow motion. Kiara was mid-brush stroke, her eyes widening until they seemed to take up half her face.
The Ferrari continued its drift, Gigi clearly having the time of her life.
IRys emerged from her streaming room just as the car swept past. In slow motion, Gigi winked at her. IRys blinked. Once. Twice. Her mouth formed a small, confused "huh?"
The HoloAdvent room's door flew open. Shiori stood in the doorway and immediately froze, her eyes going wide as the speeding car barreled toward her. In the slow-motion moment, Gigi raised one hand off the wheel and waved, her gremlin laugh stretching out into a low, menacing sound.
Inside the room, Nerissa was mid-blink, jaw dropping. Fuwawa and Mococo had both somehow ended up on the floor, their synchronized expressions of shock almost comical. "Is that a car?" one of them mouthed. "In the halls, bau bau?" the other added. Bijou's eyes tracked the Ferrari, and something in her expression suggested she absolutely wanted to be in that driver's seat.
Elizabeth stepped out of the dance studio. "What's going on he—"
She froze.
Slow motion again. The Ferrari was drifting, and now it was rotating to face her. Behind the wheel, Gigi's smirk was insufferable, and she waved, her mouth forming the words "Hi. Cap-tain!"
Elizabeth's response was equally slow. "Gi. Gi. What. The. Fu—"
But Gigi had already punched it. The Ferrari launched forward with a roar, blitzing past ERB and down another corridor.
Raora and Cecilia finally emerged, both staring after the disappearing supercar. "WAS THAT GIGI?!"
"Yes," Elizabeth said, her voice tight. "Yes it was."
And then another sound. Sirens. Actual police sirens, but wrong—these were the Japanese police car sounds, the distinctive rhythm immediately recognizable.
A white and black police car with Hololive JP markings careened through the same hole in the wall, and behind the wheel, Subaru was absolutely losing it. Her voice carried even over the engine. "OI! STOP IT! STOP, DAMMIT!" She was screaming in Japanese, her face red, one hand on the wheel and the other making violent gestures at the retreating Ferrari.
But she wasn't alone.
A second police car followed, this one driven by Fubuki, who seemed to be having a lovely time. She was humming happily, treating the high-speed chase through office corridors like a pleasant Sunday drive. Her fox ears were perked up cheerfully.
The third police car was driven by Korone, whose grin was manic. "YUBI YUBI!" she called out gleefully. In the passenger seat, Okayu had somehow produced an assault rifle. She leaned out the window with the weapon, her usual sleepy expression unchanged. "Mogu mogu..." she muttered, and opened fire.
The sound of automatic gunfire in an office building was, frankly, terrifying.
"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME!" Gigi's voice echoed back, and then there was another explosion—another wall, another exit created through the application of high-speed Italian engineering to Japanese architecture.
The police cars screamed after her, sirens wailing, and then they were gone, the sound fading into the distance.
Everyone stood in stunned silence.
Bae poked her head out of the break room. "What did I MISS?!"
Mumei, Fauna, and Kronii filed out, all wearing matching expressions of complete confusion.
The silence lasted exactly three seconds.
"LET'S GOOOOOO!" Bijou's voice rang out, and suddenly she was speeding down the hallway in a low-slung sports car—nobody saw where she got it from—her small hands gripping the wheel as she leaned forward eagerly.
Before anyone could process that, Ina appeared in a tiny purple car that looked like someone had shrunk a normal vehicle in the wash. It was absurdly small, comically so, but when she hit the gas it absolutely moved, blitzing past with surprising speed.
Shiori shot past on a flying black carpet, her legs crossed casually as she leaned back, her laugh trailing behind her. "This is my Tuesday!" she called.
Fuwawa and Mococo appeared on matching motorcycles, one pink and one blue, both of them looking determined. They revved the engines in unison and took off.
"Oh, we're going Fast and Furious now?!" Bae's eyes were lit up. She raised one hand, and reality bent. A massive truck materialized around her, and suddenly she was behind the wheel of a monster vehicle. "WAIT UP!"
Elizabeth was starting to panic. "Quickly! We must stop the others before we all get reported!"
"Oh god, the HR," Raora groaned.
"Forget HR, someone is going to get KILLED!" Cecilia was already moving toward the exit.
"And the civilians!" That was Fauna, actually concerned about collateral damage.
It was like a dam breaking. One by one, the EN members scrambled for vehicles.
Ame emerged in an 80s-themed car that looked like it belonged in a retrofuturistic movie, all chrome and angles. Calli climbed into a massive truck, and Kiara immediately called shotgun, somehow producing a sword and shield from nowhere and raising them like she was heading into battle. Gura settled into another seat in the truck, pulling out her trident and then, inexplicably, also a gun.
"Why do you have a gun?" Calli asked.
"Why don't YOU have a gun?" Gura shot back.
Nerissa simply extended her arms, and black feathered wings burst from her back. She took off through the hole in the wall, flying after the chaos.
"RIGHT! THE VAN!" Cecilia was sprinting toward the parking area. The Justice Van was a green minivan that looked like a soccer mom's vehicle, but Cecilia drove it like she was qualifying for NASCAR. ERB and Raora piled in, the door barely closed before Cecilia punched it.
IRys walked calmly to a sleek motorcycle, half magenta and half black, threw one leg over, and produced an AK-47 from somewhere. She revved the engine once and shot off after the others.
"Why does everyone have guns?!" someone yelled.
HoloCouncil was mobilizing. Bae was already ahead in her truck. Mumei closed her eyes, and a massive owl materialized beneath her—not a vehicle in the traditional sense, but it flew fast. Fauna raised her hands, and a shimmering unicorn appeared, because of course it did. Kronii pulled out keys to a Bugatti that definitely hadn't been in the parking garage that morning.
"Where did you get that?!" Fauna called.
"I'm time! I just borrowed it from an hour from now!" Kronii was already getting in.
The exodus from the EN building was absolute chaos. Vehicles of all types poured out of the various exits—conventional cars, motorcycles, the flying carpet, a literal owl, a unicorn, and several vehicles that seemed to violate the laws of physics.
They hit the streets, and all hell broke loose.
Gigi was three blocks ahead, weaving through traffic with the kind of reckless precision that suggested either incredible skill or a complete disregard for mortality. Probably both. The Ferrari's engine screamed as she downshifted, drifted around a corner, and left black tire marks on the pristine asphalt.
Behind her, Subaru's police car was doing its best to keep up, but Subaru herself was having a breakdown. "THIS IS NOT REGULATION! THIS IS NOT PROCEDURE! STOP BREAKING TRAFFIC LAWS!"
"YOU'RE ALSO BREAKING TRAFFIC LAWS!" someone pointed out over the radio.
"THAT'S DIFFERENT! I'M A POLICE!"
Fubuki's car stayed steady in pursuit, though she'd rolled down her window and was waving at civilians with her free hand. "Sorry! Excuse us! Hololive business!"
Korone and Okayu had taken pursuit to another level. Okayu was leaning out the window, the assault rifle barking as she fired controlled bursts. The bullets weren't aimed at the Ferrari—nobody wanted to actually hurt Gigi—but they were close enough to make the point.
"MOGU MOGU!" Okayu called out, reloading.
"YUBI YUBI!" Korone was practically bouncing in her seat, jerking the wheel left and right to avoid traffic.
Gigi glanced in her rearview mirror and laughed. She yanked the parking brake, spun the wheel, and the Ferrari rotated 180 degrees while still moving forward—a perfect J-turn—and for a moment she was driving backward, facing her pursuers. She threw them a salute, then spun back around and accelerated down a side street.
"DID SHE JUST—" Subaru couldn't even finish the sentence.
The EN members hit the chase at various points.
Bijou was directly behind the JP police cars, her smaller car darting through gaps in traffic that the larger vehicles couldn't manage. "This is AWESOME!" She was grinning so hard her face hurt.
Ina's tiny purple car was somehow keeping pace despite looking like a children's toy. Her expression was serene, completely at odds with the high-speed chase she was participating in.
Shiori flew overhead on her carpet, laughing and occasionally diving down between buildings just for the thrill of it.
Fuwawa and Mococo were synchronized on their motorcycles, moving as one unit. They'd flank targets, cross paths, and never once looked like they might collide despite how close they got.
"This is fun, bau bau!" Mococo called.
"Very fun!" Fuwawa agreed.
Bae's truck was a monster, and she drove it like one. She wasn't dodging traffic so much as traffic was dodging her. A car didn't move fast enough, and she just went over it, the truck's massive wheels climbing over the hood.
"BAE! PROPERTY DAMAGE!" Fauna called from her unicorn.
"CHAOS!" was Bae's only response.
Ame's 80s car was distinctive enough that civilians were stopping to take pictures even as it blazed past. Calli's truck rumbled along, and Kiara was standing through the sunroof, sword raised, looking like she was having the time of her life. Gura had her head out another window, trident in one hand, gun in the other, screaming wordlessly into the wind.
Nerissa flew overhead, her black wings powerful. She swooped down low, trying to cut off Gigi at an intersection, but the Ferrari just drifted through the turn and left her behind.
The Justice Van—probably the most normal-looking vehicle in the entire chase—was being driven like it had a jet engine. Cecilia's knuckles were white on the wheel. ERB was in the passenger seat, one hand braced on the dashboard. "We need to stop this before the actual police get involved!"
"The JP members ARE the police!" Raora pointed out from the back.
"The REAL police!"
"That's Subaru Sempai's Job!"
IRys on her motorcycle was a magenta and black blur. She pulled alongside one of the police cars and made eye contact with Fubuki. They nodded at each other—some kind of understanding passing between them—and both accelerated.
Mumei on her giant owl was having a great time. The owl hooted excitedly, clearly enjoying the exercise. Fauna's unicorn was graceful even at high speed, its hooves somehow finding purchase on the air itself. Kronii's Bugatti was the fastest conventional car in the chase, and she was using every bit of that speed, her hair streaming behind her through the open window.
They blazed through downtown, past shocked pedestrians and honking cars. Traffic was backing up as the convoy of chaos blew through red lights and stop signs.
Gigi took a ramp—an actual highway on-ramp—and suddenly they were on the elevated expressway. The Ferrari opened up, hitting speeds that were definitely illegal. Very illegal. Extremely illegal.
The chase spread out. The vehicles capable of higher speeds pulled ahead while others fell back.
Subaru's police car was struggling. "I'M A DUCK, NOT A RACECAR DRIVER!"
"YOU'RE DOING GREAT!" Fubuki called over the radio, still cheerful.
"I'M HAVING A PANIC ATTACK!"
"THAT'S NORMAL!"
Korone pulled alongside Subaru's car. Okayu leaned out and made a peace sign. "Mogu mogu!" She went back to shooting.
On the elevated highway, Gigi looked in her mirror and saw the full extent of what was chasing her. Multiple cars, motorcycles, a truck, a flying carpet, a giant owl, a unicorn, and several flying people. She started laughing so hard she almost lost control of the Ferrari.
"This is INSANE!" she shouted to nobody in particular.
She saw an exit coming up—not a proper exit, just a barrier and a long drop to the street below. Normal people would take the exit ramp.
Gigi was not normal people.
She aimed for the barrier.
"SHE'S NOT—" Subaru began.
Gigi hit the barrier at speed. The Ferrari launched into the air, soaring in a perfect arc. Time slowed again as the orange supercar flew, Gigi's hands raised off the wheel in celebration. She was laughing maniacally.
The Ferrari landed on the street below with a screech of suspension and tires. Sparks flew. The car bottomed out, scraped, and then Gigi was accelerating again like nothing had happened.
"WHAT THE F—" multiple voices called out simultaneously.
Bijou didn't hesitate. Her car hit the same gap and went airborne. "WOOOOOO!"
Shiori on her carpet just flew down. "Cheating!" someone called.
The motorcycles took the exit ramp like sane people. Mostly. Fuwawa and Mococo still did it at twice the recommended speed.
The larger vehicles had to take ramps. Bae's truck barely fit on the exit, scraping both sides. Calli's truck took the turn so hard it went up on two wheels briefly.
IRys on her motorcycle saw the gap and made a split-second decision. She gunned it, hit the barrier, and the motorcycle flew. She landed hard, but kept control, the AK-47 somehow still secure on her back.
"THAT WAS COOL!" Gura screamed from Calli's truck.
The chase continued at ground level. They were in a more commercial district now, wider streets but more traffic. Gigi wove through it like water, never slowing.
Ina's little purple car was somehow still keeping up. She drove with the same calm expression she wore while drawing eldritch horrors.
Kronii's Bugatti pulled alongside Gigi's Ferrari. They were neck and neck, both cars screaming down the street. Kronii glanced over, and Gigi glanced back. They grinned at each other.
Then Kronii fell back. "I looked perfect doing that," she said to herself, satisfied.
They hit a market district. Stalls lined the streets. Civilians scattered as the convoy of vehicles blasted through. Somehow, miraculously, nobody was hurt. Stalls were knocked over, produce went flying, but the Hololive members and their various vehicles managed to avoid actual people.
"WE'RE GOING TO NEED SO MUCH PAPERWORK!" Subaru wailed.
A fruit stand exploded as Bae's truck clipped it. Watermelons went everywhere, splattering on windshields.
"BAE!" That was Fauna again.
"CHAOS!" Bae repeated, because it was a good excuse for everything.
Gigi saw an opportunity. There was a narrow alley coming up, barely wide enough for a car. She yanked the wheel and dove into it.
"SHE WENT INTO THE ALLEY!" Bijou called out, and immediately followed.
Ina followed.
Shiori flew over the buildings.
The larger vehicles had to go around. "DAMMIT!" Calli pounded the wheel.
In the alley, Gigi was pushing the Ferrari to its limits. The side mirrors scraped against both walls. Behind her, Bijou's smaller car had a bit more room but not much. Ina's tiny vehicle was almost comfortable in the space.
They burst out the other side into a plaza. A fountain sat in the center. Gigi didn't slow down—she drove straight through the fountain, water spraying everywhere, the Ferrari hydroplaning for a terrifying moment before the tires caught again.
Bijou went through the fountain too, whooping.
Ina went around it, because she had some sense of self-preservation.
The rest of the chase group arrived from different streets, all converging on the plaza. It was chaos. Vehicles coming from four different directions, all trying to track one orange Ferrari.
Mumei's owl hooted in what might have been frustration. The unicorn Fauna rode reared up dramatically. The motorcycle engines roared. The truck engines rumbled.
And in the center of it all, Gigi did a perfect donut in the plaza, the Ferrari spinning in a circle, tires smoking.
"IS SHE TAUNTING US?!" ERB demanded from the Justice Van.
"YES!" multiple people responded.
Okayu, still leaning out of the police car, fired a burst into the air. "Mogu mogu!"
Gigi completed her donut, waved at everyone, and took off down the largest street.
The chase was back on.
They'd been going for twenty minutes now. The initial adrenaline was starting to give way to the realization that this was completely unsustainable.
"WE CAN'T KEEP THIS UP!" Ame called over the radio—someone had gotten everyone on a shared channel.
"GIGI HAS TO RUN OUT OF GAS EVENTUALLY!" That was Kiara.
"THE FERRARI HAS A BIG TANK!" Gura pointed out.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!"
"I GOOGLED IT!"
"WHILE IN A CHASE?!"
They were approaching the waterfront now. The industrial district. Warehouses and shipping containers lined the area. Fewer civilians, at least.
Gigi saw a warehouse with open doors and made a decision. She drove straight into it.
"OH COME ON!" Subaru was at her limit.
The warehouse was full of shipping containers arranged in aisles. Gigi navigated them with reckless precision, the Ferrari's engine echoing off the metal containers.
Multiple vehicles followed her in. The warehouse became a maze, everyone trying to track where everyone else was by sound alone.
Bijou drifted around a corner and almost hit Ina head-on. Both swerved, missed each other by inches.
Shiori flew overhead, trying to get a bird's eye view, but the ceiling wasn't high enough for her to see everything.
Fuwawa and Mococo split up, each taking different aisles, trying to cut Gigi off.
Bae's truck was too big for the warehouse. She stayed outside, circling. "WHERE IS SHE?!"
Gigi burst out a side door of the warehouse, the Ferrari catching air off a small ramp of pallets. She landed and kept going, heading toward the docks.
"THERE!" Multiple people spotted her.
The chase moved to the docks proper. Shipping cranes loomed overhead. Stacks of containers created a geometric landscape. The water glittered beyond.
Gigi drove between container stacks, using them as cover. The Ferrari would appear, then disappear, then appear again somewhere else.
The JP police cars were still in pursuit. Subaru looked ready to cry. Fubuki was still having fun. Korone and Okayu were treating it like a video game.
IRys on her motorcycle tried to cut Gigi off at an intersection between container stacks. Gigi saw her coming, hit the brakes, let IRys pass in front, then accelerated past behind her.
"WOW!" IRys actually sounded impressed.
The chase was getting more and more absurd. Mumei's owl was getting tired and had to land. Mumei hopped off and just watched the rest of the chase go by. Fauna's unicorn was also flagging—magical creatures apparently had stamina limits.
The Bugatti, the Ferrari, and several of the sportier cars were still going strong. The motorcycles were holding up. The trucks were powerful but slow. The Justice Van was somehow still in it, Cecilia's driving skills keeping them relevant.
And then Gigi made a mistake.
She took a turn too hard. The Ferrari's backend kicked out too far. She tried to correct, overcorrected, and the car spun. It rotated twice, tires screaming, and then stopped, facing back the way she'd come.
The pursuing vehicles all converged, forming a loose circle around the Ferrari.
Gigi sat in the driver's seat, hands still on the wheel, and slowly a grin spread across her face. She wasn't caught. This was exactly where she wanted to be.
She leaned out the window. "THAT WAS AWESOME!"
There was a moment of silence.
Then Bijou started laughing. Then Ina smiled despite herself. Then Shiori's unhinged giggle echoed from above.
"GIGI!" ERB's voice was stern, but there was a hint of relief. "Do you have ANY idea how much damage you've caused?!"
"Some?" Gigi offered.
"SOME?!" Subaru finally exited her police car. She looked exhausted. "You drove through THREE WALLS! You jumped OFF AN OVERPASS! You went through a FOUNTAIN! You—you—" She was running out of words.
"It was pretty cool though," Korone admitted.
"NOT THE POINT!" Subaru rounded on her.
Calli's truck pulled up, and she climbed out. "Okay. Cool. Fun chase. Now what the hell do we do about all the property damage?"
Everyone fell silent, looking around at the chaos they'd collectively caused. Broken walls, damaged roads, a very wet plaza, numerous traffic violations, and potentially traumatized civilians.
"Oh," Gura said quietly. "We're in trouble."
"SO MUCH TROUBLE," Ame agreed.
"The repair costs alone..." Fauna was calculating in her head.
Kiara had her phone out. "Uh, guys? We're trending. Worldwide. #HololiveCarChase."
"Oh no," multiple people said.
"Oh YES!" That was Bae, still thinking this was great.
IRys had parked her motorcycle and was sitting on it, the AK-47 resting across her lap. "So... who do we call?"
Everyone looked at each other.
Then, in unison, they all said: "ID Branch."
Thirty minutes later, the ID branch arrived in force.
Kaela stepped out of a van, took one look at the destruction, and sighed the longest sigh anyone had ever heard. "Seriously?"
"Hi Kaela," the EN members chorused sheepishly.
Moona emerged behind her, surveying the damage with a practiced eye. "Okay. Walls. Roads. Fountain. Got it. This is... this is going to take a while."
"We'll help!" Kiara offered.
"You'll sit there and stay out of the way," Kaela said firmly. "The last thing we need is more chaos."
Other ID members were arriving. Anya had a clipboard and was already taking notes. Reine looked amused more than anything. Iofi was taking pictures. Zeta had her hands on her hips, shaking her head but smiling.
"Every time with you EN girls," Zeta said. "Every time."
"To be fair," Gigi spoke up, still in the Ferrari, "this was mostly me."
"MOSTLY?!" Subaru's voice cracked.
Kaela walked over to the Ferrari, leaned down to look at Gigi through the window. "Nice car."
"Thanks! Wanna drive it?"
"No. Get out. We need to move it."
Gigi climbed out reluctantly. The Ferrari, miraculously, was mostly undamaged. A few scrapes, definitely some wear on the tires, but structurally sound.
Kaela examined it, then looked at Gigi. "Where did you even get this?"
"Would you believe me if I said I borrowed it?"
"No."
"Then I'm not telling."
The ID branch got to work with the kind of efficiency that came from having to clean up after Hololive chaos multiple times before. They had equipment, materials, and a work ethic that put everyone else to shame.
Walls were patched. Roads were repaired. The fountain was restored. Damaged stalls in the market district were compensated and fixed. Every bit of destruction was methodically undone.
The EN members, as instructed, mostly stayed out of the way. They gathered in a group near the docks, watching the repairs happen.
"So," Ina said after a while. "That happened."
"That happened," Calli agreed.
"Worth it?" Gura asked.
There was a pause. Then, from multiple people: "Yeah, kind of."
"We're still in SO much trouble," Ame pointed out.
"Definitely," Kiara nodded.
"HR is going to have a field day," ERB said.
"Probably," Raora agreed.
Bijou was bouncing on her heels. "Can we do it again?"
"NO!" came the unified response from everyone else.
Subaru was sitting on the ground, head in her hands. Fubuki patted her shoulder consolingly. Korone and Okayu were examining their police car, which had somehow survived mostly intact.
Gigi wandered over to the group, hands in her pockets, looking entirely too pleased with herself. "So, about that Ferrari..."
"YOU'RE RETURNING IT," multiple people said.
"But—"
"RETURNING. IT."
She pouted but didn't argue further.
As the sun started to set, the ID branch was finishing up. The damage was, if not completely erased, at least addressed to the point where it wouldn't make international news. Probably.
Kaela walked over to the gathered EN and JP members. "Okay. We're done. You're lucky Moona is a master builder and we had the materials on hand."
"Thank you," ERB said sincerely. "We're sorry for the trouble."
"You're always sorry for the trouble," Kaela replied, but she was smiling slightly. "Just... try to keep the chaos contained to your own building next time?"
"No promises," Bae said cheerfully.
"I figured."
The group started to disperse. The JP members headed back to their branch, Subaru still looking shell-shocked but recovering. The EN members started the journey back to their headquarters, moving significantly slower now that the adrenaline had worn off.
Gigi walked alongside her Ferrari—she was allowed to keep it, apparently, though she'd been given a VERY stern talking to about where and when it was appropriate to drive it. "Best day ever," she murmured.
Bijou fell into step beside her. "It was pretty cool."
"Right?"
"Next time, I'm driving first."
"Deal."
Behind them, Ina was back in her tiny purple car, driving at a reasonable speed. Shiori had landed and was walking her flying carpet like a pet. The Fuwamoco twins were wheeling their motorcycles. Everyone else was either in their vehicles or walking.
As they approached the EN building—now with two new holes in it that would need proper repair later—they could see staff members waiting outside. The looks on their faces suggested there would be meetings. Many meetings. Long, boring meetings about protocol and safety and appropriate behavior.
"Worth it?" Gura asked again.
The group looked at each other. Thought about the chase, the chaos, the sheer absurdity of the last hour.
"Yeah," they agreed. "Worth it."
Though they'd probably be saying something different tomorrow when the paperwork started.