Lee Seng bashed the security guard's head against the wall, dropping him onto the floor. He glanced around and noticed the unconscious bodies piling up around him.
"Is he… okay?" Olivia whispered to Keng. They watched Lee Seng move out of the pile of bodies and continue forward.
"I don't know…" Keng answered back. "It seems like his suspicions are getting… crazier." The others passed Keng and Olivia, taking a straight path through the unconscious bodies to Lee Seng. Keng and Olivia followed, hovering in the back.
"He didn't seem too happy with whatever he learned. I'm just worried he might be going into this… head first." Olivia shared her concern to Keng. "We're already in the middle of everything, anything else that happens from here on out will only be trouble."
"He hasn't gone off the rails yet. That's good at least."
"Yeah, but…" Olivia looked down.
"Chin up. We don't entirely know what's happening down here, yet. What we learned was only a tiny part of the entire picture." Keng nodded at Olivia and continued forward.
The group made their way further down the underground, eventually reaching Floor -38. Here, something odd lingered in the air.
"What is that smell?" Evan asked, pinching his nose. The others pinched their nose. Lee Seng peeked through the stairway door window, noticing an access point. He opened the door slowly and smelled the putrid air fly out.
Everyone coughed, feeling their stomachs rumbling and letting out what little they had in their stomachs. Lee Seng wiped his mouth and gagged.
'What the hell is that?' Ritsuka asked. Lee Seng moved into the room, slowly scanning his surroundings when he saw it. An odd meatball with tendrils plunged into a Biohuman. The tendrils sucked as the meatball slowly grew larger. The dead body slowly shrank, turning into a weird shriveled husk like the rest.
Juices oozed out of the meatball as it hummed. Its tendril pulled away, revealing a sharp end. The meatball lifted into the air, pulling its tendrils back into place.
"A meatball with spaghetti arms." Lee Seng commented aloud. The meatball turned, revealing its massive eye. "Oh, I said that aloud." The meatball extended its tendrils outwards, shaking them violently as a screech echoed through the hall. The meatball flew forward, releasing its sharp tendrils out at Lee Seng. Lee Seng summoned the Sun blade, deflecting both tendrils and letting out a blaze of fire.
The putrid air lit up in flames, spilling out into the stairway.
"Ah!" The group screamed. Keng lifted his hand, blocking the flames. The meatball shrieked as it exploded into bits. Lee Seng turned, disgusted. He pulled the flames back towards him, balling it to float in his hand. The putrid air lingered and shrieks followed by explosions echoed throughout the halls. Lee Seng glanced at the access terminal.
'It's still intact.' Lee Seng thought.
"Who dares burn me?!?" A voice screamed, echoing through the halls. Keng and the others filtered into the area, looking left and right. Bubbles of flesh grew all around them as the group kept their backs to each other.
"What the hell's happening now?" Ritsuka asked.
"Focus." Jiro held his longsword up. Ritsuka, Evan and Keng conjured their weapons. Olivia pulled out her dagger and held it up close while Liz lit her hands up in lightning. Tendrils exploded out of the floors, attacking Lee Seng and the others. Liz was the first to react, blasting lighting down the hallway while Jiro and Evan kept the other tendrils at bay.
Keng blasted the opposite hallway while Ritsuka, Olivia and Lee Seng made quick work of the tendrils around them. The group kept close, keeping the tendrils at bay. Lee Seng and Keng's ears twitched. Their tails slashed the tendrils, slamming onto the ground and releasing a gravitational pulse.
"Argh! Puny Biohumans!" A deep voice shouted. The tendrils splattered as the fleshy exterior past the group and into the hallways Lee Seng was staring at. The fleshy exterior bubbled upwards, growing a large bumpy monster with eyes all over his body. "You dare attempt to make a fool out of me?!? I see all things! I know how you act! I watched from the depths of my prison, waiting for a day when—"
SHWING!
Lee Seng watched the monster cut in half, exploding in rotting blood. The eye monster screamed in pain.
"Don't got time for you to spout your back story! I don't care to know." Lee Seng pointed his sword at the eye monster. The eye monster's screams of pain turned into laughter. The severed halves of the monster melted into liquid flesh, merging together and forming a humanoid shape.
"The Creator's son doesn't know how to have fun. I was really looking forward to our eventual meeting." Gray eyes stared back at Lee Seng and the others. The man's shoulder-collar bone area had many eyes on it. The man's lips curled as he covered his two eyes on his face. "They call me Failed Experiment 004. It's unlucky you met me, Creator's son. I will take you to Mother by any means possible."
"If she's where the Creator is, I might take you up on that offer." Lee Seng twirled his sword. 004 removed his hand from his eyes and smiled. The eyes on 004's body flashed, instantly freezing the entire group in their place.
"A shame you won't keep up with me." 004 appeared in front of Lee Seng. His eyes looked in different directions, taking in every member in Lee Seng's group's faces. "I see all so I know all." Lee Seng and Keng moved, swinging straight for 004's head. A pressure flew onto the twins, holding them in place while 004 disappeared.
A chop came to Keng's neck, knocking him out instantly and dropping him to the ground. Lee Seng snapped out of the stun, turning for 004. Another stun flew at him, followed by 004 disappearing.
"GRAH!" Ritsuka grunted. He broke out of the stun, turning and throwing Obsidian Glass behind Lee Seng. 004 materialized, watching the katana impale him. 004 stumbled backwards as Ritsuka summoned the bow. He notched an energy arrow and pulled backwards, letting it go.
The arrow turned, flying into Liz's back. Liz screamed in pain, leaving Olivia and Jiro to break out of 004's stunning hold. Olivia pressed her hand onto Evan, breaking him free. Jiro and Evan rushed for 004, watching the Failed One disappear. Obsidian Glass fell to the floor as the group looked around.
'This guy's on another level.' Ritsuka thought. 'Lee Seng and Keng didn't stay stunned as long as the rest of us did. I managed to break out of it, but—'
Whoosh!
A pressure pushed onto Ritsuka, sending him into Jiro and Evan. Ritsuka pinned Jiro and Evan together, freezing in place as Lee Seng blinked into 004. He swung his sword, stopping mid-swing and flying backwards into a wall.
Liz bolted 004, watching the bolts freeze. 004 nodded his head to the right, turning his attention to Lee Seng as Liz flew away.
"Just stay there and be good." 004 told the group. He appeared next to Lee Seng, grabbing him by the arm and lifting him up easily. "I'm taking this one. The rest of you can fend for yourselves."
004 and Lee Seng vanished, reappearing somewhere deeper within the underground. It smelled like the lab. 004 carried Lee Seng through the darkness as if he was already used to traversing in the dark.
'My eyes can't see anything down here…' Lee Seng noticed. His Fox Spirit capabilities made him able to see in the dark, but this darkness felt… different. Lee Seng squirmed, unmoving from 004's hold.
"We're almost there, Creator's son. Don't do anything stupid and you might not die from everyone else." 004 warned Lee Seng. 004 moved in a straight line, eventually turning and coming to a stop. He released Lee Seng without warning and listened to Lee Seng grunt as he hit the floor. 004 turned and stepped away, eventually stopping and turning.
Something moved to Lee Seng's right. He could hear something large was coming forward. Lee seng pushed himself up onto his hands and feet, turning to look. A large foot slammed down next to Lee Seng. He gulped as he looked further up. Before he could say anything, a light flicked on behind Lee Seng. He noticed he wasn't even looking at the face of the large footed thing.
"Well, it seems you've found me." Dr. Chang spoke. Lee Seng turned and immediately noticed the Creator standing just short out of the light.
"Cr… Dad?" Lee Seng whispered. He slowly stood up, noticing that there were way more things around him than he realized. He felt like he was being watched from all angles. Dr. Chang stepped into the light, revealing the disheveled Creator Lee Seng was used to seeing. The Creator looked… different than all the other times. He looked sickly.
"You've finally come, my son… You've come to me in a trying hour. Turn and greet your Mother. She's been wanting to meet you and now… Now you're finally here."
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