Biohuman

Chapter 171 The Underground Maze

The group stood in a circle in the middle of the room. They all looked at Lee Seng as his face went through many different phases of processing.

"Did they mention who they want?" Lee Seng asked. The group shook their head.

"They didn't say anything. If we followed their orders, they would've probably found the person by now." Liz answered.

"You're taught early on to follow the procedures and protocols in case something like this happens. They usually run a drill like this later in the year, but we thought it came early." Manny waved his finger back and forth from him and Liz.

"We were wrong. They would usually use actual people. It's scary when  it happens, but I didn't think it would be an actual guy with creepy energy beings in armor suits."

"Creepy energy beings in armor suits?" Lee Seng questioned. "Those red and black energy things that chased after you guys?" The group nodded.

"Now we just need to move through the sewer systems and get to the safehouse." Manny nodded over at the door. Lee Seng and the others turned their attention to the door as Manny and Liz moved past them. "This will lead us to the underground network beneath the Academy city district. It's gonna be hard getting to the mansion north of this district, though."

"That's at least ten miles to get to." Liz noted.

"Mmm, but we should follow the procedure all the way."

"What if those hound guys know where we're going?" Evan asked.

"Then we'll just have to deal with them as we go." Manny shrugged. He unlocked the lock and put his hand over the door handle and twisted it open. The dim lights of the underground system gave a creepy vibe. It was just as Manny and Liz had said. There were many students moving and passing their door as Manny pulled it all the way open.

"Come on, let's go." Liz motioned. Lee Seng hung back and followed Manny  while Liz kept herself near Evan and Olivia. Ritsuka had decided to stay near Lee Seng as the new students' eyes looked around as the underground system opened.

"Holy shit." Evan whispered. The underground system was bigger than they had all expected. Many people filtered into this large section and were following the northern paths.

"They are all going towards the same area. It's wild that they know how this works." Lee Seng whispered. Lee Seng and the gang filed into the fourth north option. They were following a large number of people as they all followed the same paths. The path went for a while until the sounds of pulsing were heard. Manny threw up his arm and watched as the other students in front of them had stopped, too.

"What's that?" Lee Seng looked at Ritsuka. Ritsuka had turned his head to look behind them and noticed the other students were looking around, too.

"That's the sound the gold hound guy made. It made the red hounds go berserk." Ritsuka explained. The silence enveloped all of the students as they all waited with anxiety crawling in their guts. Lee Seng could hear something echoing from far away.

'Was that… gunfire?'

Screams began to echo and the groups began to panic.

"Move! Move!" Students yelled. Students began to scramble and bump into each other, forcing their way through. Lee Seng and the group were forced to pin themselves against the wall and watch as all the other students started to scatter. The group didn't move for a long time. Explosions echoed all around and Lee Seng found it hard to concentrate on the source.

"We need to keep going!" Manny shouted. "Tell the others!" He motioned. The girls motioned for Ritsuka and Lee Seng to continue to follow.

"We're going into danger? Shouldn't we go back?" Ritsuka shouted.

"The explosions probably mean people started to force their way into the labyrinth of different lanes! There's going to be another opening soon!" Liz shouted. Ritsuka and Lee Seng hesitantly nodded and the group continued forward. They pushed past students running by and slowly made it to the large opening. Smoke and screams echoed throughout the large opening. The sound of slashing and pulsing echoed throughout the large chamber as red hounds and a couple of gold-accented hounds blocked the northern passage.

"No one goes anywhere until we get who we want!" One of the gold-accented hounds shouted.

"Give us the Eleventh Protocol and we will set you free!" Another gold-accent hound shouted. Lee Seng gulped.

'Shit, they're here for me.' Lee Seng glanced around. A red hound flew over towards Lee Seng and the group. A purple lightning bolt flew out and struck the red hound straight through the chest, poofing the red and black energy to nothing.

"The Eleventh Protocol? What do they mean by that?" Evan asked.

"Why would they go through all of the students just to find whatever that is?" Olivia added.

"Who knows? I don't care. We have to push our way through and just make distance!" Manny reeled the group back into their goal.

"What about the mansion?" Liz asked as she shot another bolt of lightning at a pair of red hounds.

"They're blocking it!"

"OHHHHHHHHHHH, BABY!" A gold-accented hound with a star on its helmet cheek clapped. They pointed straight at Lee Seng's group. "I think I found the match! Get them!" The red hounds all turned and rushed at the group.

"Fuck, what do they want now?!?" Manny growled. Lee Seng sighed and pushed past the group.

'Do I tell them or not?' Lee Seng pondered. He pulled the gold and silver katana out of its sheath and twirled it. The hounds all turned to look at Lee Seng and screeched louder.

"THERE IT IS!" The star hound shouted. "Get him!" The hounds leaped as three loud pulses were heard. The hounds' body began to shake and they all lashed out red energy slashes at Lee Seng and the group.

"Move now!" Manny started to pull Lee Seng away. Lee Seng pulled away and sighed. He slashed the air a couple of times and watched as gravity erupted out of his blade. The red marks thinned as moved and raised his shield. The shield grew bigger as the large blasts began to impact him.

"Argh!" Evan shouted. He was sliding backwards. "Lee, help… me!" Lee Seng grabbed Evan and held him in place. The force of the slashes felt like they were never ending.

"What do they want with Lee Seng?!?" Olivia shouted.

"I don't know and I don't frankly give a shit! Liz, Ritsuka, thin them out!" Manny ordered.

"I hate it when you order me around." The energy around Liz cracked as she raised both of her hands up. "I also hate using too much of my power. If I get a major migraine, you're taking care of me, stupid!"

Ritsuka's hand wrapped around the black obsidian blade and pointed it at the ground.

"Black Void: Scattered Augment." The sword splits into many different swords and hovers around the group.

"Release the shield and duck!" Liz shouted.

"Alright!" Evan pulls the shield back and watches as the shield shrinks. A group of red hounds leap into the air as the purple electricity around Liz intensifies. Lee Seng, Evan and Manny duck down.

"Electrical Current!" Purple electricity arced out of Liz's hands and connected with the red hounds. The purple electricity chained and started coursing its way down the path of red hounds. The purple electricity bursted in a bright purple light as Lee Seng shielded his eyes. The loud cries of screams reached Lee Seng's ears as quickly as the electricity dying down.

"Come on! Move!" Manny motioned. The group hopped back up and started their way towards the path labelled, "W."

Groups of students were scattering and moving away from the chaos. Liz had created enough time for the students to pull out and move away or continue thinning out whatever was leftover. Lee Seng followed Manny and Evan as they kept point.

"Why do they want you, Lee Seng?" Olivia shouted.

"I don't know!" Lee Seng lied. He actually had a BIG idea of what they wanted and it probably had to do with his Protocol.

'What do I do in this case? If I continue to run with them, they'll get caught in the crossfire. Th-they want me.' Lee Seng thought.

"Just keep going!" Manny's voice interrupted Lee Seng's thoughts. "We'll figure this out together!" They continued to follow the western path for awhile until they reached one of the drop off points.

"What the hell?!?" Evan slid to a stop. Lee Seng bumped into Evan and quickly lashed his hand out, grabbing Evan as he started to fall forward. Manny quickly grabbed Evan and the two heaved him back over.

"It's a drop off point." Liz shook her head. "This won't do. We have to go back." Lee Seng closed his eyes and listened. He could hear running around them. He could hear the red hounds screeching as pulse noises slowly grew louder.

"We don't have much time." Lee Seng notified the group. "I've never done this with a group, but now's the time to try." Lee Seng jumped back and forth in his spot.

"W-what're you thinking of doing?" Evan asked, nervously. Manny looked at Lee Seng and recognized Lee Seng's nervous smile with his wild eyes.

"Oh, shit… You aren't going to…"