Chapter 50 Field Test: A Numbers Game

"They're here to stop us." The woman spoke. She brushed Lee Seng's face with her tendril hands. "Kill them." Lee Seng's ears twitched. He jumped backwards as a metal rope flew out of the ground, whipping itself at Lee Seng's leg. The metal rope tightened and pulled him down into the ground. A puff of smoke flew up and the metal rope tightened.

The tendril-infused Lee Seng lifted his hand and grabbed onto the metal. He crushed the metal rope and ripped the metal off of his leg before scurrying onto his feet. Wind blew the dirt cloud away. Lee Seng kept his head facing the direction he heard the two young men go. He lifted his hands up, releasing small worm-like tendrils onto the ground.

The tendril worms hit the floor and sunk in. They began to wiggle and grow at a fast rate. Abby flew out of the forest first. The wind whipping her brown hair and her black leather jacket flapping as she zoomed closer. She launched herself towards Lee Seng as the tendrils immediately grew and whipped themselves at her. She sliced the tendrils like butter and continued forward.

Lee Seng raised his hand and shoved downwards. Gravity grabbed at Abby slammed her onto the ground. Abby grunted as the force slammed her into the ground. She felt the pressure keep up.

"Go!" She screamed. Alex and Scarlet dashed out of the forest. Alex leapt in the air and slammed onto the ground, pushing the earth beneath him upwards and shooting him into the sky. Metal wires wrapped around the raised earth. Scarlet grunted as she pulled backwards and swung the earth towards Lee Seng.

Lee Seng raised his hand towards the large piece of earth flying at him. Gravity shot out of Lee Seng's hand and shattered the earth into dust. Alex slammed down on the ground and swung at Lee Seng.

"C'mon, kid! Snap out of it!" Alex shouted. He went for another punch as Lee Seng blocked the attack and went for a punch. Alex and Lee Seng blocked and parried attacks. Scarlet shot metal wires at Lee Seng. The wires wrapped around and tightened around him. The tendril-infused Lee Seng squirmed in his binds as Abby felt the gravity force let up. She blew herself back onto her feet.

"The young men have been dealt with." Dr. Valentin spoke through their comms.

"Go in for the secure, quick. Don't play around." Nicole commanded. Nicole watched the fight from the forest. "Bind." An invisible force wrapped itself around Lee Seng and the metal wires. Lee Seng felt everything tighten around him.

"Ahhhhh!" Lee Seng screamed.

"He's awake?" Abby asked, watching from a higher vantage point.

----

"Kill them all." The woman whispered in Lee Seng's ear. Lee Seng pushed the tendril woman away and heard her chuckle. "Kill them all!" Lee Seng glanced upwards and swam upwards. Tendrils shot out and grabbed him. He reached upwards and let out a scream. He watched as he was pulled further away from wherever he came from.

Lee Seng's body suddenly tightened and he grunted. The tendrils weren't wrapped around him, tightly. They only pulled on his legs. He felt the sudden tightness, tighten even more.

"Ahhhhh!" Lee Seng screamed. The murky waters began to bubble around him. The tendril woman floated backwards.

"There's no way." She shook her head. She pointed a tendril finger at Lee Seng. "You should be severed from your body!" Lee Seng felt the air squeezing out of his lungs. Lee Seng could see two different things. Alex and Scarlet in the tall forest and the tendril woman in front of him.

"Get away!" Lee Seng shouted. His body straightened as Alex worriedly watched Lee Seng.

"What's happening?" Scarlet shouted.

"He... gained consciousness?" Alex answered. "Lee, if you can hear me, snap out of it! Don't let the Protocol take over!"

"Don't let the Protocol take over?" The tendril woman repeated. "I'll make sure your mine!" She shot out tendrils at Lee Seng. They wrapped around him and he felt like he was gonna burst.

"Number 1, you need to tap into his head!" Abby's distant voice spoke. Alex worriedly watched as Lee Seng's eyes fluttered beneath the mask.

"Lee, you need to let her in this one time. She can get the Protocol off you." Alex pleaded. "She won't dig. She just needs to find where you are."

"You're gonna let 'her' in?" The tendril woman chuckled. "I thought she invaded your privacy so you kept her out, yourself."

"You... need to... get out." Lee Seng spoke.

"I need to get out?" The tendril woman laughed. She drifted closer to Lee Seng and brushed his face. "You'll be alone just like your father wants. You've delayed the inevitable. You'll have to pay the price." Lee Seng laughed. He could see both the tendril woman and Alex were taken aback by his sudden laugh.

"Get... out." Lee Seng spoke. "Get... out! Get out! Get out!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. From Lee Seng's right eye, he could see a huge blast of white paint across the water. The tendril woman was taken aback and moved backwards. The tendrils started to bubble and fizzle under the bright light.

From his left eye, he could feel the binds moving like they were breathing. Carter stepped into view next to Scarlet and watched.

"What the hell... Is this your doing, Number 1?" Carter's distant voice asked.

Lee Seng took this moment to move towards the tendril woman. He raised his hand and slammed down on her. He wrapped his hands around her and shook her.

"GET OUT!" He screamed. White wisp energy wrapped around Lee Seng's soul and real body at the same time. Lee Seng's body grabbed at the tendril mask and ripped it off. The tendrils burnt in contact with the white energy. Lee Seng watched as his connection with his body was severed and dropped into darkness. His dual vision was replaced with his soul's vision.

The tendril woman screamed in pain. She desperately clawed at Lee Seng's hand, trying to pry them off. Lee Seng tightened his grip around her.

"No...! No!" She squeaked. Light began to fill her and her body started to bloat. "No!" She burst into nothing as Lee Seng felt a pull upwards. He began to be pulled at a quick pace upwards. The murky-clear water rushing around him. He shot out of the water and was shot towards the gate. He fumbled and rolled.

Lee Seng gasped for air. His soul body finally felt free from whatever hold had been put on him. He pushed himself up and looked around. A large uneven hole was in front of him. The white rubble lay scattered around. He sighed in relief as he threw his head back.

"Lee!" Keng shouted. He heard the quick pitter patter. Keng headbutted Lee Seng in the back, sending him rolling onto his stomach. Keng happily nuzzled him. Lee Seng laughed, happily as Keng attacked him with licks. "You're okay! I couldn't get through the tendrils so I was worried."

"Yeah," Lee Seng laughed. "I'm fine." He pushed away and stood up. "I need to get back." Lee Seng glanced at Keng. Keng nodded and scurried towards the gate.

"Let's go this way. There's a access point over here." Keng lead the way as Lee Seng trailed quickly behind. "The soul world shook earlier. Did you feel it?"

"Yeah, I did. I think I have a clue of what that was." Lee Seng answered. "I think it's coming from my body. The connection seemed to relink."

"Strange. What happened to it?"

"I lost connection suddenly. I think I might've connected because of the Protocol."

The two climbed to the top of the hill. Lee Seng gasped in awe as they saw a huge tree at the top with a enormous view of the forest.

"This spot." Lee Seng wagged his finger. "I know this spot." Lee Seng came closer to the tree. The closer he got to the tree, the more familiar he became. "This is the spot Akio took me to years ago." Keng moved quickly pass Lee Seng and towards the tree.

,m "The tree is the access point. You should hurry." Keng turned around and looked at Lee Seng. Lee Seng could feel the familiar pull of the tree. He stepped towards the tree, raising his hand. He touched the tree and felt it shimmer and ripple. It felt exactly like the lake. He pushed his hand through the ripples and didn't see his hand. He glanced at Keng who was nudging at him to go.

"Go. You need to figure out what happened." Keng bega to headbutt at Lee Seng, pushing him into the tree.

----

Lee Seng gasped for breath. His body ached as his eyes opened.

"What the hell happened?" Scarlet asked. "Why did he just suddenly fall? Did you get through, Nicole?"

"I didn't. I couldn't get in even if I wanted to. His mental fortitude is as strong as ever." Nicole said exasperated. Alex and Carter pulled Lee Seng up and realized he was awake.

"Kid, you're awake!" Alex squealed. He pulled Lee Seng up into a hug. Lee Seng groaned in pain and tried to push Alex away.

"A-Alex, you're crushing me!" Lee Seng shouted. Alex pulled back. Lee Seng felt his sense of balance was off and began to fall. Carter quickly grabbed Lee Seng and wrapped Lee SEng's arm around his neck and pulled him up.

"You alright, kid?" Carter asked. Lee Seng felt a familiar energy around his face and lifted his left hand to touch his face. He felt a mask on his face and looked at Carter who stared at the mask. "When did that--"

Lee Seng ripped away from Carter and lifted up into the air. He panicked and shouted. Everything hurt and the mask was somehow still on him. Nicole held her hand up and walked closer towards Lee Seng.

"Enough, he might be deceiving us." Nicole said.

"But that mask isn't the same as the other one!" Alex protested. Nicole whipped her head and looked at Alex. "One, he had that mask on when he fought the archer and blood puppet." Nicole slowly turned her head to look at Lee Seng screaming to be put down. She sighed and dropped him. Lee Seng screamed, flailing his tired arms. A blast of wind caught him before he landed on the ground. The force let up and Lee Seng felt himself immediately make contact with the ground.