Biohuman

Chapter 625 A Truth Unheard, Part 1

"Who are you?!?" Liz shouted. Purple electricity coursed around her, pulling around her body and up her arm. A single dense ball of electricity sparked off of her fingers as she held the finger gun up at Keng. Keng kept his gaze on Olivia, wondering if her odd truth ability could make this easier for him or not. "Who are you?!? Answer me! Where is the real Lee Seng?!?"

,m A bolt of purple lightning flew at him, hitting him on the right side of his shoulder and chest, forcing him onto the ground. Lightning coursed around him as he groaned. Manny was sat up from his spot, staring with a shocked face.

'I really blew it.' Keng sighed. He slowly got up, only to be met with another bolt of lightning. Keng's instincts fired before his thoughts could. A watery cosmic shield flew up as Hydrosphere appeared in his right hand. The orb on the dagger shimmered brightly as water swished within the jewel. Keng let out a sigh as Evan quickly pulled Olivia away and Ritsuka watched.

"He—" Ritsuka began to say when Liz cut him off.

"Ritsuka, get over here! He could be the enemy!" Liz shouted. She held the pointed finger gun charged with lightning at Keng as Keng took a casual glance at Manny. He was shocked, for sure, but there was something about the way Manny was looking at Keng that bothered him. Keng stood up as Liz freaked out. She fired another bolt of lightning at him.

The cosmic water shield ate it, redirecting the lightning to course around Keng as Keng turned to face Manny.

"I really thought this would go longer…" Keng sighed. "But I guess it's no use anymore… What I'm dealing with now, this isn't worth the secrets."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Liz stuttered. She was defensive and she wondered why this imposter put his back at her. Ritsuka moved over to her, standing in front of her. "W-what're you doing, Ritsuka? Th-that's—"

"Just listen." Ritsuka sighed.

"You know something?" Evan scowled at him. Ritsuka sighed and looked at Evan and Olivia. Olivia seemed to be the only one who wasn't necessarily showing any emotions. She was neutral and that was worrisome.

"Just… Listen to what he has to say."

"What if he's lying?" Liz asked. "What if he's lying?"

"He isn't, but if he is, Olivia can sniff that out, right?" Ritsuka turned to look at Olivia.

"Y-yeah." Olivia nodded. She pulled away from Evan's side, who reached for her, but stopped as Olivia turned to look at him then Liz and then Ritsuka. An inflection of confusion appeared on her face as her eyes quietly told her friends she would find out. She stepped towards the cosmic water holding "Lee Seng" inside and sighed. "You heard them. Explain yourself. If you're telling the truth, I'll know." Keng turned to look at her. Manny had given him nothing, so Olivia was a welcomed sight.

"Mmm." Keng nodded. "Ask away."

"Are you Lee Seng?" Liz asked.

"It's complicated, but no." Keng shook his head. Liz audibly gasped as she moved Ritsuka away. Ritsuka stood at her side, nervous as Olivia watched Keng through the shield. Her eyes narrowed at Keng and then softened.

"Truth." Olivia answered. "Next question, who are you then? Are you a friend or foe?" Keng sighed and dissolved Hydrosphere. The cosmic water barrier faded leaving silence amongst them.

"It's easier if I just show you." Keng sighed. He took a step back, Evan summoning his shield and Liz lifting her hand up at him.

"Show us?" Olivia raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just… You'll see." Keng's body began to shift, growing smaller yet longer. A white fox with silver and gold accents stood on all four paws in front of the entire group. Everyone gasped including Ritsuka, who hadn't seen Keng's true form before. Five tails billowed behind Keng as he glanced at Manny and then the others.

"This is who I really am." Keng answered. "I'm a friend born from Lee Seng's will to be something in this world."

"W-what?" Manny finally spoke up. "What do you mean…?"

"Truth." Olivia informed the group with a sigh. Everyone but Ritsuka grew even more confused.

"Born from Lee Seng? Who are you then?" Evan asked. Keng's form shifted, once again, growing to be the same height and donning the same clothes he wore previously. His face was slightly altered, and his red and blue eyes shimmered with the silver halos as a smile curled on his lips.

"My name's Keng." Keng answered. "I'm a—"

"A gumiho?" Olivia asked. She pulled the dagger Keng hadn't even seen on her and watched in one smooth motion, Olivia stopped the dagger at his neck. "You're a Nine-tailed Fox, aren't you? Are you here to eat our souls?" Olivia asked in Korean.

"No." Keng answered in Korean. Olivia's eyes shook for the first time. Her grip tightened on the dagger as she wanted to press it closer. "I'm not a Nine-tailed Fox… Not yet at least. Look at my tails. I only have five." Keng switched to English. "I won't eat your souls. There are boundaries I kinda must follow."

"Boundaries?" Manny asked standing. "What boundaries?"

"Lee Seng considers you all friends. Even you to an extent, Manny." Keng slightly turned to look at him. The blade knicked him, quickly healing away and leaving a small trace of blood. Manny's eyes widened.

"How—"

"Look," Keng sighed. "This is going to be the most absurd part about all of this, but you all got to believe me. You've been all memory wiped or altered or something by someone powerful. This whole city was manipulated to not know the true existence of Lee Seng. You all knew before he had a tail. Something bad is going to happen soon and someone wants no one to remember about this."

'He knows?' Manny gulped. He took a step back as those cold red and blue eyes watched him. 'He can't really know that, right. I-I'll play dumb.'

"W-what're you talking about?" Liz asked, confused. "That's not… That's absurd. No one has that much power to wipe a whole city's memories away."

"It's the truth." Ritsuka spoke up. Olivia pulled the blade away, turning to look at Ritsuka with the others. "He's telling the truth. We did get our memories altered or wiped. Well, a lot of us did from what we're theorizing."

"How do you know this?" Olivia asked. "Is your memory not altered?"

"It… It was, but…"

"But?" Evan interjected. "If your memories are cleared, how did you do it?"

"Well… Y'see…" Ritsuka licked his lips. "Lee Seng somehow was able to cancel it with evidence, I guess?"

"Evidence, what evidence?" Olivia asked. His friends were all cornering him. They were all confused and frankly, didn't believe what was being said.

"You knew his identity this whole time and didn't tell us? We've been living with an imposter since… Since when? He came back?" Liz asked. She poked at Ritsuka's chest, who only shrank. He began to stutter something about him telling the truth.

"I might be able to break the spell." Keng spoke up. They all stopped and looked at him. "But you'll have to trust me in order for this to happen."

"Trust you?" Liz gave him a stinky look. "Why would we trust you? What if you hypnotized Ritsuka or something? What if this is all your doing?" Lightning crackled across Liz's entire body. She started to glow as lightning wrapped tightly around her. "You're just lying!" A blast of lightning flew out at Keng.

A silver mark faded off of Ritsuka as Keng appeared in front of him.

"Liz!" Evan shouted rushing forwards. He swung his shield straight for Keng, who dodged away from Ritsuka. Evan swung once more only to be met with Ritsuka's Obsidian Glass.

"Enough!" Ritsuka shouted, pushing against Evan. "Keng's telling the truth! I'm not brainwashed! Olivia!"

'Our memories have been altered? Who would even be able to do such a thing?' Olivia thought. Her mind raced as her focused slipped. Evan shoved Ritsuka to the side with a burst of kinetic energy and rushed for Keng. Keng hopped backwards as Evan suddenly moved faster.

'Wait, is that a –' Keng began to think as Evan tackled him into the ground.

"Imposter!" Evan shouted. He raised the shield, anger in his eyes like Evan was staring at a monster.

'Monster.' The nightmare came to the forefront of his mind. 'You're just a monster. You'll be a monster.'

"No!" Gravity rippled from Keng, pushing Evan and everyone else away from him. Evan slammed into ceiling groaning as he began to plummet while the rest were knocked out of their feet, twenty feet away.

"Ahh!" Evan shouted.

'Monster! That's what you'll be! You'll kill everyone!' The voice shouted in Keng's head.

"No!" Keng screamed, clutching his head. A gravity bubble rippled outwards, suddenly suspending Evan in the air as Keng pulled his legs up, assuming the fetal position. "No, no, no, no!" The voice grew louder in Keng's head as he violently shook the entire cave with each pulse.

'Just give in, Keng…' Lee Seng's voice whispered. 'Give in so I can kill you.'