The Hollows transformed themselves, changing their appearance, giving themselves the ability to speak in another person's voice, and even to use their weapons. All this, however, wasn't enough, not against Luke's Threads of Mana.

  "Monster core," Luke shouted, wrapping Leonardo's core in one thread as he cut through the monster's mana channels with another, using Needle of Life. Before anyone could even react, he raised his hand into the air, holding the core up for all to see.

  Inspected Item: Hollow Monster Core: The core of a Hollow.

  It was a round, smooth item about the size of his fist, and when he showed it to the gathering of Integrated, all hell broke loose. The other cops lunged for Luke, but Lucy ducked forward and was among them, punching her katars into them again and again, leaving deep wounds as Ken fell back, pushed by another Integrated trying to get to the Hollows.

  "Wait!" one cop shouted, raising her hands, but it was too late. Lucy sliced into the monster's thigh before moving past her, heading for the next Hollow.

  Inspected Integrated: Carolyn. Titan. Level 4.

  The other Hollows who'd come for Luke regenerated as expected, but not her. Carolyn wasn't a Hollow.

  "They aren't all Hollows!" Luke shouted, getting down next to Carolyn. "Restrain them, but no killing!"

  The fighting moved closer to the portal, leaving the two of them in a bubble of relative quiet. Hand hovering over her thigh, Luke looked into her wide eyes. She was afraid.

  "You're a Titan?" Luke asked. "Like in Greek mythology?"

  Her thin lips were pale, like the rest of her face, and she only glanced up at him for a second before looking back at the wound in her leg. It was gushing blood. Must've hit an artery. "That's me. Always wrecking things."

  "I'm good at putting things back together," Luke said as he began his work.

  Carolyn let out a short yell, then bit down hard, whimpering as he closed the wound after finding the artery to stop the blood flow.

  “There,” he said, standing. “You’ll live.”

  "Thank you," she said. Carolyn looked at the dead Hollow right next to her and shook her head in disgust. "What happened?"

  Luke craned his neck, trying to see over the crowd, but it was futile. He really needed to go, but Carolyn's frightened expression told him she needed an answer, however brief. "Did you lose sight of the others at any point?"

  Her cheeks reddened a little. "I had to go, you know, so I went around a corner, but it was just for a minute."

  "They're quick," Luke said.

  Carolyn swallowed hard. "So, they're gone? The others?"

  "I'm afraid so," Luke said. Then he remembered what one of the Integrated had shouted earlier. "You let some people through the portal?"

  "Three," Carolyn said. "On Ryan's orders."

  "That's not good. You'll need to inform whoever it is you report to now. Hollows are already in Chicago."

  "I will," she promised.

  He gave her a nod, then turned to make his way through the crowd. Luke soon found it impossible to make any headway. Instead, he went around and found a space where he could push through. The cops were being restrained, held on their bellies against the ground.

  Ken and Lucy were standing by the portal, hands in the air, waving for people to calm down.

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  “You can’t leave,” he heard Lucy say.

  She turned to him when Luke approached. “There you are,” she said. “Is that injured cop okay?”

  “She’s fine,” Luke said, turning to face the Integrated. “Make a line!” he shouted. “Those of you who want to leave can, but you’ll have to let me examine you first!”

  To his surprise, they lined up in front of him. Once he’d checked the cops, killing four more of them, including Ryan, by extracting their monster cores, he began checking the Integrated who wanted to leave. It was a quick process. After about ten people made it past without issue, he thought there might just not be any Hollows hiding among the Integrated.

  A cute girl, almost as tall as him, with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and a face full of freckles, stepped up and gave him a look “So your class is a Hollow detector,” she said, holding out her arm like everyone before her had done, accepting his examination.

  Luke cleared his throat and blinked, feeling a little self-conscious all of a sudden. “Something like that.”

  Threads of Mana entered through her arm and quested inward. He was about to yell out for the next one to get ready when he froze.

  “Please wait until you’ve heard what I have to say,” the Hollow in front of him said.

  He looked up into her eyes, seeing no malice in them. "What do you have to say, Hollow?"

  “I have information that I’d like to share before you bring me to the great beyond.”

  Luke searched her face, but the sunny smile he saw gave nothing away. He nodded off to the side. “Wait over there and don’t go near the portal.”

  She nodded and gave him a smirk, leaning in a little to whisper, “There are at least four Hollows waiting in line. Be careful.”

  “Who are they?”

  She shrugged her bare, narrow shoulders. “I don’t know. Once we take shape, we’re cut off from the greater will.”

  "What was that about?" Lucy asked, having heard the conversation.

  "Guess we'll see," Luke said. "Keep an eye on her."

  "It," Ken corrected as the Hollow sauntered over to a spot past the crowd and sat down, not all that far from the injured cop.

  Luke returned his attention to the crowd and cleared his throat. “Change of plans! Each person will be held in place while I examine them.”

  “You’re not holding shit,” the next person in line said.

  He was huge. At least 6’4”, with a wide, muscular frame and arms that reached almost to his knees, like a human ape.

  Inspected: Integrated: Chuck. Bruiser. Level 5.

  Ken and Lucy wouldn’t be able to hold this one down, no matter what. “How about this? Once I’ve made sure you’re not a Hollow, you’ll help me instead, restraining others.”

  “Fine,” the Bruiser said. “But if I’m going to work for you, you need to pay me."

  "I’m doing this to keep Hollows out of Chicago," Luke said.

  Chuck shrugged. “Don’t care about that.”

  “Raise your arms over your head,” Luke said.

  The Bruiser narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

  “You can’t, can you?” Luke asked. “Not your left arm, at least. Your shoulder’s all screwed up. I can fix it. How’s that for payment?”

  “You sure?” Chuck asked. “Health potions don’t do a thing.”

  Luke stepped up to make sure the big lout wasn’t a Hollow. "I'm sure."

  Once Chuck passed with flying colors and Luke fixed his shoulder, a torn tendon, they examined every Integrated in the crowd. Three Hollows fled. Two of those died in an instant, blown apart by exploding fire. The third made it farther, but then a loud crack rang out, and it too fell, a wide hole through the middle of its back.

  Inspected: Integrated: Natasha. Sniper. Level 6.

  She stood, hefted her impressive sniper rifle, then blew a long, curly strand of red hair out of her face and winked at him.

  The fourth Hollow made a mad dash toward the portal. It had taken on the appearance of an old man, but was quick, dodging away from several hands reaching for it, and even ducking under a spell streaking through the air, only to be stopped by Chuck. A meaty fist cracked into the old man’s face, slamming the Hollow to the ground, allowing Lucy to step up and skewer its monster core, killing it.

  Twenty people remained inside the dungeon. Simon and that merchant woman were both gone, and Luke hoped they'd left before things got chaotic. Carolyn returned to Chicago with the Integrated who wanted to leave, promising to report what had happened. Wishing Kirk or even Mateo were there to take charge, Luke stepped up in front of the crowd.

  "We need to keep the Hollows from leaving! Many of you will need to stay and guard the portal!"

  A couple of people volunteered, the sniper included, but most wanted to help find the Queen. Some argued Luke should stay behind to check every Integrated who approached, but those arguments fell away when they realized that would mean heading deeper into the strange city-scape dungeon without a healer.

  With things at least somewhat in hand by the portal, and everyone informed of what Luke and his group had found out about the Hollows and their intentions, it was almost time to set out again. First, though, they needed to have a talk with the Hollow.

  Luke looked at her sitting there on the pavement, staring at him from across the gathering of Integrated. She gave a little wave and an inviting, all too human, smile. This Hollow would either be dangerous, the monsters attempting a new tactic, or she could be a treasure trove of information.

  The problem was figuring out if he could trust her or not. Luke's gut told him yes, but all logic spoke against her. This mess was about to get even messier.