Chapter 709 Lookin' For Clues

Lee Seng could feel the tension in the air. What he assumed was supposed to be a sweet reunion turned sour. Tyrone's energy flared just enough that it caught Lee Seng's immediate attention. Olivia glared at Jordan and Hayley while Ritsuka and the others tensed.

"You used to be for the same cause and now you're playing by the rules?" Tyrone asked. "I don't think someone who walked the same path should be talking. Especially with what you've done." Olivia gulped and took a hesitant step back. Jordan and Hayley smiled and took a step back.

"Built the perfect image for yourself and now it might crumble down. Back down and just let your new friends think you're exactly what you want them to know you as." Jordan spoke with poison. He knew Olivia wouldn't do anything. Lee Seng sighed and put a hand on Olivia.

"I guess turning a new leaf still makes people skeptical of you." Lee Seng sighed. Olivia looked at him like he was crazy. "I guess that's why people are skeptical of me." Jordan and Alex immediately focused on Lee Seng. He had taken the bite.

"Hmph." Jordan smiled. "And that's exactly why you'll fail. You have too much to lose. If any of your so-called 'friends' stay with you, they'll only get burnt, Liv, so I would tell them to back off now."

"Hey, you asshat!" Manny shouted.

"Enough." Olivia told them. "They won't give us anything we don't already know. We should look elsewhere. Getting information from these vigilantes isn't worth it. Come on." She grabbed Lee Seng and started to spin him around. Out of the corner of Lee Seng's eyes, he noticed Tyrone's hands were moving.

The strange smell of something acidic grew in the air. It was just enough to pass by normal Biohuman senses, but Lee Seng's nostrils burned.

"Got you." Jordan smiled. "Have fun tryna see something you can't see." A large pool of purple liquid bubbled from below the group. In an instant, Lee Seng was swinging his arm upwards, barely dodging the poisonous pit.

"Get us out now!" Olivia shouted.

"Aren't those guys your friends? Why are they asses?" Lee Seng asked, pushing them higher into the sky.

"Alex." Hayley spoke. Alex was already moving and following the floating group of shiny energy.

"I'm already on it. Are you sure this is the correct choice?" Alex asked. "They could help us."

"They won't. Don't you remember what she did to us last time?" Hayley reminded them. "She betrayed us!"

"Where are we going?" Evan screamed. His eyes were squeezed shut as he held onto Liz for his dear life.

"See that building?" Olivia pointed. "That's the school! Go there!"

"Will they follow us?" Liz asked.

"One of them has exceptional sight and hearing. I'm pretty sure he'll follow us." Olivia answered. "Just get us there!"

"Roger!" Lee Seng blasted towards the school, zooming past trees, and noticing a large forest around the school. Olivia directed them onto the roof as Lee Seng glanced behind them. Lee Seng could feel a strange energy surging behind them.

'Did we fall into a trap? What's going on? It wasn't too bad in the first half and then they all of a sudden became sour.' Lee Seng thought as he safely dropped his friends onto the roof. Evan gasped as he dropped to the ground while the rest looked around.

"What's happening?" Manny asked. "I thought they were your friends!"

"They are." Olivia truthfully answered. "I don't know what's up with them."

"Did you do something to piss them off before you left?" Ritsuka asked. Olivia shook her head as she grabbed the fence and watched the area they had just come from.

"No. I don't… I don't know why they were like that. Yeah, Hayley and I have some unfinished business, but it never ruined our relationship."

"Why did Jordan or whoever get defensive?" Manny asked. Another surge of energy drew Lee Seng's attention towards the direction they had come from. Something was coming at them, and it was coming fast.

"He has a thing for Hayley. I dunno. Maybe they figured things out since I've been gone." Olivia guessed. Everything grew quiet as they watched the direction they had come from. "Let's get inside." Olivia turned and walked over to the door. She grabbed the handle and turned it. The door swung open as she waved for her friends to follow.

Olivia led them down the dark stairwell and into the third floor. The usual dim lights were on and there wasn't a student in sight.

"A lot of people used to come to this school before the Serum Point happened. It was just a high school but now it's reduced to a few rooms and maybe a hundred students at most. The village runs K through twelfth grade here because we're so small." Olivia told them. She led them down the hall until they hit another set of stairs leading downwards. "The school was modeled after a Japanese school the founder had seen overseas while he was volunteering after the war. He built the high school after that."

"Is this really the time for a history lesson?" Manny asked.

"I was just sharing for anyone curious." Olivia told him. She stopped on the first floor and looked at Manny over her shoulder. "If you don't want a historical lesson then we can talk about what we're going to do next, leader. Do you have a plan on how we're going to find missing people?"

"While supposedly being chased?" Liz added. Manny rolled his eyes and looked away. "Exactly. We might as well get the good ol' history lesson since we're sitting ducks."

"You feel anything strange?" Olivia asked Lee Seng. Lee Seng looked around and shook his head.

"It's silent now." Lee Seng told them. "I think we'll be fine for now. Why don't we search the school since people have gone missing around here?"

"We should split, then." Manny suggested. "We'll go solo since everyone's who's gone missing were on their own. Maybe then, we can figure something out."

"And if one of us vanishes? How are we gonna know who was where?" Liz asked.

"Liv can divvy us up since she knows this place." Manny motioned at Olivia. "We'll meet at a specified time and if one of us is missing, we'll roughly know the section where that person was. If anything happens, we're all one ping away with these things." Manny pulled out a crystal ring. "What're these called, again?"

"Communicators. Just like our school issued ones." Lee Seng replied. "As long as you're wearing them and you're within the range, you should be able to communicate just fine. If you go out of the communication zone – which is far – you'll be cut off from communicating and showing up on the maps."

"They didn't even tell us how to use these." Ritsuka touched his bracelet. All their accessories had a set of small white gems on them. "How'd you even know?"

"Keng used one, technically." Lee Seng shrugged. He pulled out the necklace and put it around his neck. "Once you're wearing them, you should be able to tap to see a map." They all tapped their respective jewelry and watched as a map popped up.

"Whoa." Liz gasped. "It looks a lot like the tech we use from school."

"Tap it once for the map. Double tap to turn on comms and it should turn on." The group double tapped, and a strange feeling grew over them.

'What the heck is this?' Evan thought.

"Oh! I can hear you!" Ritsuka pointed. "Huh… It doesn't sound like I'm talking. Is it working?"

"Let's split up first and try it. I think we're too close for us to hear each other." Manny suggested. "Olivia, put us where you want us to go." With the map's help and Olivia's instructions, the group split up.

Lee Seng lowered the map and put it off to the corner like he usually did. He had gone through the basics of utilizing the map. An X-mark was on the map and Lee Seng slowly filled the map in.

"The map isn't filled on our side. Why is it filled on yours?" Liz asked.

"Maybe cause I've been here before?" Olivia guessed.

'Knowing a place essentially gives you free information.' Lee Seng thought as he turned the corner. 'That'll be handy going back to places I've been before.' The bounce of a ball alerted Lee Seng. He stopped in place and listened as a ball bounced. It grew closer, bouncing across and hitting the bottom wall before slowly bouncing back the way it came and coming to a stop. Lee Seng glanced at his map, noticing the others weren't anywhere near him.

'Who's that?' Lee Seng wondered. He slowly moved forward, making as little as possible. He slowly came to a stop at the corner and peeked out. The basketball had come to a stop in between him and the open gymnasium door. Lee Seng's eyes rose up to the gymnasium door, noticing it was completely black.

Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.

'Another one?' Lee Seng thought.

Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.

A basketball sailed out of the pitch darkness, straight towards Lee Seng. Lee Seng pulled himself away from the edge and listened as the basketball slammed against the corner, rocketing to the parallel wall and hitting it. The basketball bounced between the wall a couple of times, slowly dribbling to a stop.

Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.