Chapter 537 The Fortress Below

David thought for a long moment on what he should do. He really didn't care for Lee Seng, but the Fox in front of him wasn't as chaotic as the old man made him out to be. Yeah, Lee Seng may have accepted that chaos would follow him no matter what, but it didn't dictate how he would act. David gritted his teeth.

"She would skin me alive if she knew I abandoned you for her." David stuck his hand out. Lee Seng smiled and grabbed David's hand.

"Her word must mean a lot to you." Lee Seng replied. The golden light began to wash over David. David gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Am I going to react like she did?" David whispered.

"Unless you have something traumatic hidden in that head of yours, no." Lee Seng replied. Lee Seng's comment only made things worst for David. His body became rigid as Lee Seng watched the healing slowly take effect.

'I wonder if AI is okay…' Lee Seng thought. 'AI, speak to me.' There was nothing but white noise from a TV. He let out a sigh as David was fully healed. He was cut off from his AI and somehow Lisa was the cause of it.

"We're done." Lee Seng told David, letting go of his hand. He stood up and watched David slowly go from a rock back to regular David.

"It didn't trigger any traumas!" David squealed in excitement. Lee Seng smiled and turned his attention to finding a way out.

"Werewolves and Vryks were sent here by conveyor belt. Where did they put the horses then? I saw them here." Lee Seng asked aloud.

"They were being taken to another location." David stood up and brushed the bone dust off of him. "I raided two other fortresses and noticed the horses were being split into different directions. When I tried to follow the belts, they were locked in the end."

"And you couldn't bone saw your way through?" Lee Seng looked at David.

"No, I couldn't. Not everyone has immense power like you do."

"Noted." Lee Seng nodded. "So what do we do now?"

"Find the belt that took the horses and hope they didn't close it." David replied. "I think that's our best course of… Why am I even explaining this to you?" Lee Seng smiled at him and David immediately shook his head. "No! I'm not warming up to you! We're just doing business. I'm not being nice to you because of…"

"Sure, sure." Lee Seng waved. "Maybe you aren't all brawns. Maybe there's a brain in that scrawny body of yours." Lee Seng tapped David's head. David swatted his hand away and Lee Seng let out a chuckle.

"S-stop it!" David shouted, embarrassed. In all of his many years in Limbo, David had never come across someone such as Lee Seng.

'No. Don't think that he's cool!' David shouted in his head. He shuddered as he looked away before Lee Seng could figure it out. 'Just business. Nothing else! You're doing this for Lisa!'

"Okay, brawns. Where do you think they'd put the conveyor belt for the horses then? There was two clear paths that connect down here and it took a long time to get down here. I didn't remember seeing the horses track." Lee Seng asked.

"L-let's get out of here first." David cleared his throat. "We'll follow the way the other Thieves went. They're probably on high alert. We'll need to play stealthy. Can you even do that?"

"Of course I can." Lee Seng shut off his aura and David witnessed Lee Seng shapeshifting in front of him. The Human form of Lee Seng stood in front of David again.

"Wait." David pointed at Lee Seng's shirt. "What's that?" Lee Seng looked down and noticed the Dark Matter suit had wrapped itself around him.

"I don't remember putting that on…" Lee Seng whispered. He urged it to move and slowly did.

"What the hell is that, dude? That's… Creepy."

"A question I have, too." Lee Seng looked up.

'Was this the reason I couldn't talk to AI?' Lee Seng wondered.

[/// La12398 nal XI]

? 'Nope. AI is busted.'

"Come on, you take point, Bones." Lee Seng motioned.

"Can you stop calling me that!" David complained. "It sounds weird."

"Bones. Bones. Bones. Bones. Bones. Bones. Bones. Bones. Bones." Lee Seng annoyingly repeated the nickname over and over again.

"Stop!"

"Not until you get used to it, Bones." Lee Seng smiled. David ran off up the broken steps of the arena seating and made his way to the nearest door. The strange white noise still played in his head as he followed.

'Why did XI's memory come to me? That portal… Why did it show me that?' Lee Seng wondered.

"Hurry up, Foxy!" David shouted.

"Coming." Lee Seng climbed the destroyed steps with ease. David and Lee Seng followed the underground passages for awhile. The passages seemed to lead in different directions, slowly ascending upwards. "This place is confusing."

"Ugh, its like that maze all over again…" David groaned. They stopped at an intersection as Lee Seng came to a stop besides David.

"Which way do we go?" Lee Seng asked.

"Uhhh…" David looked left and right, scratching his head. Lee Seng took a step forward, letting out a pulse. He closed his eyes and watched the paths fill in his mind.

"Right goes up." Lee Seng pointed.

"How do you… Know?" David asked. He looked at Lee Seng while he kept his eyes shut.

"I can manipulate gravity. I learned to track with it." Lee Seng opened his eyes. "But it's hard to keep the layout in my head after awhile." David nodded as Lee Seng led them towards the right path. They followed the path as Lee Seng periodically checked which way to go. The underground fortress was vast… and empty.

"Why isn't there anyone here?" David asked the golden question. Lee Seng let out another pulse. This time, he could see moving objects.

"There's people." Lee Seng answered. "They're… above us?" He pointed upwards as David looked up.

"Directly above us? How many?"

"Ten or so. It feels like they're talking."

"Can you hear what they're saying?"

"No. My hearing might be sharp, but the earth is too thick." Lee Seng shook his head.

"I guess we're in for a surprise then." David nodded.

"I'll send a scout ahead." Lee Seng pointed his index and middle finger forwards and an Echo image of Lee Seng stepped out from his spot. Lee Seng covered the eye portion of his mask and watched his vision shift. The Echo crept forward towards the stairs. The Echo looked around as Lee Seng took over.

"What do you see?" David's voice asked.

"Nothing yet." Lee Seng replied. The Echo climbed the stairs, dropping his head as soon as he noticed movement. Three thief guards were slowly patrolling the area. "Don't be too scared when it happens."

"When what happens?" David asked.

"When I switch." The Echo slowly crept, peeking his head out. He looked left and noticed some guards standing around to his left.

"Yeah, the announcer is dealing with the intruders. They shouldn't have a chance with him if he uses the serum." Guard 1 spoke. The Echo spun around and leaned against th wall, keeping his head low.

"What if they kill the announcer with the serum? What's next?" Guard 2 asked.

"We'll just have to resort to plan B." Guard 3 replied.

"We've already notified HQ that the intruders are here. They're sending back up. Even if they get the old man's horses, they won't make it out alive." Guard 1 continued. "We just have to do our jobs and use it if necessary."

"But… Doesn't it… corrupt you forever?" Guard 2 asked.

"It does but it'll be worth it." Guard 3 replied.

"What're they talking about now?" David whispered into Lee Seng's ear.

"They have those serums that turned the announcer into a pseudo-demon. They'll use it if we get the horses out and stop us from running because back up is coming for us." Lee Seng told David.

"What do we do?"

"Status report." A walkie-talkie beeped.

"Group 32CD, go." Guard 1 spoke into the walkie-talkie.

"The Announcer is dead. The intruders are gone. Initiate Lockdown."

"Doesn't that mean—" Guard 23 began to say when they noticed something popping out form the stairs. "Who's there?"

"And it's time." Lee Seng announced.

'Distract them.' Lee Seng ordered the Echo, pulling his hand away from his eyes. He startred to sprint down the hall as David followed after. When Lee Seng was close enough to the Echo distracting the guards, his body began to shimmer.

"Illusionary Step." Lee Seng and the Echo swapped as his katana appeared in his hand. "Slash and Dash." Lee Seng flew at the guards, slashing the three of them with ease and ending up on the other side of them. He flicked the blood off as the bodies dropped and turned to look at the other guards who noticed him.

"Hey! I found him! They're over here!" A guard announced. Lee Seng lifted his hand up. The ceiling caved in on itself as the Echo led David to Lee Seng.

"What the heck was that?!? What did you do?" David asked.

"I switched spots. There's a range and I can't deal with it all at once."

[BBZZZZ! %# !#@ Reset starting.]

[1 Pseudo-Demon Soul… #@!# Collected.]

[3 Thieves S3!$%!… #ed.]

[Initiating restart. Please hold.]