Lee Seng sat with his friends and the Numbers. Scarlet's quiet little sobs filled the space as she tried to steady herself. Uncle Nikolai sat with Zoe, who was still in disbelief that he was actually alive. Akio stood behind his seated sister while they gave the three Numbers time to process what was happening.
"Oh, Uncle." Lee Seng leaned forward. Uncle Nikolai turned his gaze over to Lee Seng and raised his eyebrows. "A lot of things happened and it seems like I've been given a second chance. I was wondering if you knew a teleportation rune by chance. There must be one by now, right?"
"You want to learn something you cannot wield?" Nikolai asked. He folded his arms together and leaned into the couch. "I can teach you it, but I doubt you can use it." Lee Seng smirked at this and raised a finger.
"If I remember correctly, this was the rune for multi-barrier, right?" Lee Seng drew the gold and silver rune for multi-barrier. It started like a circle and was then filled with four different curves. Two horizontal lines that almost touched each other, marked over by two vertical lines. When Lee Seng was done, he dragged his finger to the side as if he was going to activate it.
"Yes… but it couldn't possibly work." Uncle Nikolai whispered. Lee Seng slashed it and the entire room lit up in multi-layered shards of barriers that seemed to cover Lee Seng.
"Doesn't surprise me he knows that." Akio quietly commented to his sister.
"Aren't we trying to get information about the Brood Mother…?" Evan whispered to Lee Seng.
"What do ya say? Teach me teleportation?" Lee Seng raised an eyebrow. Uncle Nikolai thought about it for a moment and nodded.
"Fine, I'll teach you it, but under one condition." Uncle Nikolai stuck a finger out.
"What's that?" Lee Seng asked. Lee Seng's friends, Alex, Zoe, and even his siblings were all listening in now.
Uncle Nikolai lowered his finger as he began to talk. "Focus on killing the Brood Mother. If the others get in your way, get rid of them, but Brood Mother is your top priority. You have to kill her in order to end all that's happened and going to happen."
"What do you mean by that, Two?" Akio asked, curiously. Uncle Nikolai had been quiet about his knowledge on the Failed Ones. Very few of the Numbers even knew he was clued into what and who the Failed Ones were. He knew things the Creator did and those things would stay with him until the very end.
"Do you accept?" Uncle Nikolai asked Lee Seng, ignoring Akio's question. It was a very simple request; one he was going to do anyway. He nodded at Uncle Nikolai's request. "Good. If Number 4 has calmed down, I will begin." Scarlet wiped her eyes and focused her attention onto Number 2.
Even after all these years, Nikolai had still retained his presence. He was a man everyone looked at and for a man like that to "die" and reappear, she found it odd someone like Nikolai could stay in the shadows.
"As you know, the Failed Ones were the start of the Biohuman serum. They were failed experiments that went horribly wrong. Not many of the Failed Ones live. Most succumbed to the horrible effects of the serum, but those who were strong enough, were horribly altered and changed. Their entire being was changed by the unstable serum. The Creator put them underground, housing them and keeping them locked up.
"The Creator, your father, couldn't bring himself to put down the one person that mattered - Failed Experiment 001. She… lured him into thinking she was his love. She used her powers to twist and manipulate lies into reality. The Creator became increasingly obsessed with this and grew one track minded about her thus the bunker was made. All of these things were fail safes just in case he would succumb. He didn't want his child to go through this, but his madness only made him see her." Uncle Nikolai shook his head before continuing. "If you've found the bunker, that only means you're one step closer to ending all of this so…"
Uncle Nikolai pulled something out of thin air. It looked similar to the Void Storage Lee Seng was accustomed to storing and taking things out of. Uncle Nikolai plucked out an old vial. It had dad's dirty handwriting on it across some off-white tape that was turning yellow. A dark red liquid sloshed inside, untouched by time.
Lee Seng plugged his nose. Whatever Nikolai was holding was rancid. The others didn't seem to mind it. They all looked at it curiously.
"A vial of… whatever that is… it's gonna help our problem?" Evan asked.
"Correct." Uncle Nikolai nodded. "This was whipped up by a chemist to basically bind the blood of someone so they could be tracked. Uncork it and it'll lead you straight to your target."
"It's bound to the Brood Mother?" Lee Seng asked. Nikolai nodded and stood up to hand it over. Lee Seng flinched at the rancid smell before hesitantly taking it and putting it in the Void Storage. He let out a gasp, coughing and swatting the rancid smell away from him.
"Yes. It should work. The first one was very potent and accurate, so that one should be the same. Whatever happens after that is up to you and your allies here."
"Since you have what you need, you should go." Scarlet motioned. "You got what you wanted, go."
"Scar…" Alex whispered. Scarlet pushed her husband away, turning from him.
"They should go. It's not like he can do anything to help us. We have Nikolai. H-he can possibly salvage what's left of us." Lee Seng's eyes narrowed at Scarlet. His curiosity got the better of him and before he even registered it, he had made his way to Scarlet. He loomed over her with eyes full of remorse. She looked at him and glared. "Don't look at me like that."
Lee Seng sighed and drew the rune. He held his finger to the side, continuing to stare at Scarlet. The anger and the pain flared. She lashed out at Lee Seng, knocking him onto the coffee table and shattering it.
"Don't look at me like that! I don't need help!" Scarlet shouted.
"Scarlet." Alex grabbed his wife. She pulled her arm away, rising to her feet.
"I don't need anyone's help! I-If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess."
"That's what you wanted to say?" Lee Seng asked. He pushed himself into a sitting position.
"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess! He would've lived to see another day and… and…"
"And what?" Lee Seng's voice whispered. He looked up at Scarlet with the most sorrowful eyes. She didn't want to see her own sorrow reflected back at her but Lee Seng made it hard for Scarlet to look away. He slowly got back up onto his two feet and moved the rune in between him and Scarlet. "You know I didn't do that."
Scarlet's cheek twitched and the Number swung for Lee Seng. He slashed the rune and disappeared into a cloud of smoke. The twinkle of energy triggered behind Scarlet and the Number found herself turning to look at Lee Seng. He had a new rune floating next to him.
"Scarlet!" Alex yelped, reaching for Lee Seng. He grabbed Lee Seng's right hand and pulled him away. He stood up and reached for Scarlet. "Are you okay?"
"If it weren't for you… things could've been different!" Scarlet shouted. She tried to push past Alex but he wrapped his arms around her and stopped her from continuing onto Lee Seng. "You were the one who did all of this! This is all your fault!" Lee Seng winced. He could feel blood ooze out of the wound from his cheek.
'She's still quicker.' Lee Seng thought as he wiped the blood with his thumb.
"Lee." Ritsuka called out. "Let's just go."
"If it weren't for you, none of this would've happened! My daughter is out there! She is going to beat every person to a pulp because she feels that's the only way she'll feel useful! Why did you do that to her?!? You made her that way!"
"Me?" Lee Seng smirked. He flicked his finger and drew the rune to him. It melded into his body, disappearing. "I'm the one who caused it? Last I checked, you were the parent. You and him." Lee Seng's eyes pointed at Scarlet and Alex. He rose from his seat and brushed his shirt. "Why'd you make her think that she needs to be perfect and follow in your footsteps?"
"Lee Seng enough!" Alex shouted. "That's not your place!"
"And it's your wife's place to blame me for how your daughter grew up?" Lee Seng raised an eyebrow. "How twisted is that?"
"Lee, I think you should leave." Akali rose and started for her brother. Scarlet broke out of Alex's hold and pushed him to the side. She bolted for Lee Seng, whipping a metal wire at him. "Lee!" Lee seng's body wrapped in the metal wire as Scarlet moved closer. Metal wires wrapped around her left arm, sharpening it.
"Scarlet!" Alex shouted, trying to reach for Scarlet. Nikolai raised his hand to conjure a rune when Scarlet connected the punch to Lee Seng's face. The loud smack echoed and blood ran down his face.
"Give me my little girl back!" Scarlet shouted. She punched Lee Seng in the face again.
"Lee…" Evan whispered.
"Hey, enough!" Alex ran for Scarlet, grabbing her and trying to rip her away from Lee Seng.
"Give me my daughter back, you spoiled brat! Give her back to me!" Scarlet sobbed.
"H-hey!" Akio rushed over, trying to help.
"Get back!" Alex pushed Akio.
"I'm just tryna help!"
"Don't! You'll just make it worse!"
"Enough." Akali ordered. Two golden blades pointed at Alex and Scarlet's throats. Ritsuka and Evan rose from their seats while Calis watched with a thread of water dancing between his fingers. "Get away from my brother."
"Your brother this! Your brother that! You guys always fought for him! If you'd disciplined him correctly he wouldn't be the way he is! Look what happened to us! His father is dead because of him! His mother is dead because of him and everyone around him is just under the illusion that—"
Flames billowed out from Lee Seng, scaring Scarlet to think she was getting burnt. She screamed as the metal wires snapped. Lee Seng pushed his hand onto Scarlet's throat, eyes burning.
"I didn't do shit." Lee Seng pushed Scarlet away. He checked his hands, rolling his wrists as he watched the room. "Sara was desperate to get the attention of the Creator and secure a spot as the second generation of the Numbers. She wanted to live up to the expectation put onto her by you. She grew obsessed with it and gave into the juicer because she actually believed it would make her worth something in her own parents' eyes."
Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on free(w)ebnov(e)l.𝒄𝒐𝙢