"Eli, that's enough!" James shouted. He pushed Eli backwards as Kiara moved closer to Lee Seng.
"He started it first! He called me stupid! He probably looks down on the rest of us! Why do we have to use him? We could've used anyone else besides him and stupid friends!" Eli complained. James pushed Eli away every time he tried to move past James.
"Eli, calm down. You said it yourself. Why are you taking offense to what he's saying? He's just stating a fact you just said!"
"I did say it, but he's rubbing it in my face! We should've just killed that stupid Fox and his friends while we had the chance! We're going on a suicide mission!" Eli shouted. Lee Seng let out a sigh. Kiara strapped the bow back in place and folded her arms.
"Forgive him. He's skilled in battle, but he lacks in everything else." Kiara sighed. Lee Seng smiled and nodded.
"I have a friend who's like him." Lee Seng motioned with his head. "They're good at healing and fighting, but when it comes to everything else, especially when it involves me, they're stupid." Kiara chuckled.
"Were you telling the truth when you said you grew up around someone who could play with your mind?"
"Yeah," Lee Seng nodded. "It was her way of keeping everyone together when they needed to be unified. She started to do it to me because it was a "habit." I still don't buy that excuse. I think she wanted to torment me and hold something over me, but rarely did she ever get in my head."
"So, she got into it?" Kiara looked at Lee Seng. Lee Seng nodded.
"It was a couple years ago. She had gotten into my head around Thanksgiving. I snapped out of it and realized what she did three to four months later. She messed with loads of people's heads and even tried to alter my memory."
"She's a strong Esper, then." Kiara bit her lip. "I understand where you're coming from. I knew an Esper like that once. He promised loads of bullshit and if you weren't in line, he forced you to be in line. If you managed to fight past that, you were tortured for endless hours by one of his other Espers until you caved."
"Espers finding other Espers… That's rare."
Kiara nodded her head. James had somehow calmed down Eli and Jane was physically the only one who was keeping an eye out. James patted Eli's shoulder and asked him if he would be fine. Eli took a couple of breaths and nodded.
"Good. Let's try to be civil, hm?" James asked.
"Yes, Sarg…" Eli begrudgingly agreed. James turned and looped his arm around Eli's neck and pulled him back to the group.
"Go on and apologize. You were in the wrong." James told Eli. Eli sighed and didn't even look at Lee Seng.
"I'm sorry." Eli slurred.
"Hm?" Lee Seng raised his eyebrows. Eli took another sigh and looked at him this time.
"I'm… So… Sorry." Eli slowly apologized. "I was the one who said I was weak minded… I shouldn't have taken… offense to what you said… Especially since I started it…" Eli's half-ass apology drifted into mumbles. James tapped on Eli to speak up and Eli sighed and rolled his eyes. He pushed James away and glared at James. "Why do I have to apologize to a kid? He's not even someone worth apologizing to."
"Eli!" James shouted. He pulled Eli close and held him in place. "Don't be mean! He may be someone we can kill if he acts out, but it doesn't mean you can treat him that way!"
"I don't want to apologize to someone who hasn't even done anything. I did all the work!" Eli ripped himself out of James' grasp and glared at Lee Seng. "I'm the one who will kill the fox!"
"But you just said—" Lee Seng began to speak as a familiar glint in Eli's eyes shone. James began to say something when Eli disappeared into white dust.
"Kiara!" James shouted. Kiara sighed as she grabbed Lee Seng and pulled him behind her. Eli reappeared blade pointed straight at Kiara's neck as purple poured into Eli's irises.
"Give him to me!" Eli shouted. "He's a threat!"
"Dude, he isn't even a threat! You're making a scene for no reason!" Jane shouted. She grabbed Eli and watched as he lashed out at her. Jane's spectral axe blocked the attack and Jane snatched Eli and pushed him onto the ground. "It'll pass! Just let it pass!"
"ARGH! LET ME KILL HIM!" Eli screamed. Lee Seng watched as James and Kiara quickly rushed to help restrain Eli.
"Why did you have to spike now!" Kiara grunted as she held Eli's legs down. James pulled a small instrument out of his pocket and pulled the cap off. Lee Seng watched as James brought down the strange contraption down onto Eli's head and hit him with it. Eli's body froze in place as James pulled the contraption away.
'Is that a… stamp?' Lee Seng wondered. A black triangle mark on Eli's head began to glow. Purple energy physically appeared, pulling into the black triangle mark. Eli screamed as he tried to break free.
"Let me out! Let me kill him! Let me do us all a favor!" Eli screamed.
"C'mon, Eli! Just hold still! It'll pass!" Jane grunted. Eli continued to scream as Lee Seng watched James, Jane, and Kiara hold onto Eli for their dear lives. The black triangle mark quickly grew purple, fully turning purple. Eli slowly stopped moving as the bloodlust died down. James and the others sighed in relief, removing themselves off Eli. They all sat, exhausted, as Eli's eyes closed.
Lee Seng inched over and noticed the purple triangle mark glowing with intensity. He squatted down and tilted his head and studied the energy.
'It's definitely unstable…' Lee Seng thought. The energy circled within the triangle. It seemingly spoke to Lee Seng like it wanted him to take the energy. Without much thought, Lee Seng found himself resting his thumb on top of Eli.
"What're you doing?" James grabbed Lee Seng. Lee Seng turned and looked at James. James pulled Lee Seng away and watched as the stream of unstable energy they had just secured away, moved with Lee Seng. The energy flowed like strings. It quickly began to move into Lee Seng and before they knew it, the purple triangle was black, and the last bits of unstable energy were hanging in the air.
Lee Seng watched the energy pull into him and let out a sigh of relief as a pop-up came up.
[Unstable Deimon Energy has been absorbed. Should I process this?]
'If I killed the one who talks to me, why are they still here?' Lee Seng wondered. 'Process. Let me know who did this.'
[Understood.]
"What did you do?" James asked, loudly. James quickly got on top of Lee Seng and punched him. Lee Seng fell onto the ground and felt the sting of the punch. He sucked a breath as he turned to look at James. The Sergeant was clearly confused and angry about what just happened. "What did you do?!?"
"I absorbed it." Lee Seng answered. James grabbed Lee Seng's shirt and pulled him up.
"Why?!?" James shook Lee Seng as Lee Seng noticed small remnants of similar energy appearing around James.
"James, you should calm down before it triggers." Jane warned. Kiara and Jane watched as their leader raised a fist at Lee Seng. Anger burned in the usually calm and collected man. Lee Seng's strange behavior had taken them by surprise. They had witnessed something they hadn't ever witnessed before. It only confirmed their accusations; Lee Seng is a Deimon.
"Why?!? Why did you absorb it? Why do you care what happens to him? He tried to kill you!" James asked. Lee Seng watched as the fist came down at him. It stung. James' grip was strong. He had no intention of letting Lee Seng go. "Answer me!" Another punch flew at Lee Seng. He couldn't even get a word in. Lee Seng hissed at the pain and looked at James.
"I don't know why I did it, okay?" Lee Seng answered. "Everything happened so fast. By the time I even registered what I was doing, it was already done. I'm a moth drawn to the flame of unstable Deimon energy." James grunted as he held his punch back. His arm shook as Jane and Kiara took the opportunity to grab their Sergeant and hold him back.
"James, enough. You're going to break the contract at this point." Kiara warned him. The two women pulled their leader off Lee Seng and looked at Lee Seng with a wariness. They didn't know what Lee Seng had done but were scared he might retaliate.
"Don't do anything." Jane warned Lee Seng. "It'll just be worse for you." Lee Seng sat up and nodded. He rubbed his cheek as a golden light washed over his bruises, healing him instantly. James bared his teeth, gritting them as he tried to hold himself back. James had no clue what Lee Seng was capable of and now one of the scenarios he had conjured up was coming true.
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