Chapter 323 Vanished

Manny paced in front of the Hole building. He tapped his fingers as Penumbra guild members watched him. He had been specifically told not to go back in and every time he tried to go back, the Guild members stopped him.

"Manny!" Ramirez called his name. Manny turned to see Ramirez jogging over to him from the medical tents. "The rest of your teammates has gained consciousness."

"They have?" Manny asked. Ramirez nodded.

"Come with me. Ritsuka told me to come get you." Ramirez led Manny back to the tents where he friends were. Ramirez held the tent door for Manny as he stepped inside.

"Manny, over here! They're all awake!" Ritsuka waved him over. Manny jogged over to the second bed and looked at Liz, Olivia, and Evan.

"You guys are okay?" Manny asked.

"Fine…" Evan groaned. He raised his hand to massage his head. "I just got a splitting headache from that Shifter. A shame I couldn't kill her. I had to trap her."

"At least you did that." Ritsuka commented. "Who knows what could've happened to you and Olivia if you hadn't trapped her like that. You've improved a ton."

"Yeah, but it sucks." Evan told him. "We couldn't even dent it hard enough. We managed to scare her but we couldn't execute her. Ahh, dammit all!" Evan pounded the bed with his bundled fist. Olivia sighed, keeping her eyes shut.

"Are you alright, Olivia?" Manny asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just… a migraine." Olivia told him. "Is everyone here?"

"Well…" Ritsuka looked over at Manny.

"Everyone but Lee Seng." Manny completed the sentence. Olivia opened her eyes, wincing in pain as she pushed herself up. Ritsuka moved over to help her up as Liz and Evan also tried to get up. Manny moved over and helped Evan up while Ritsuka turned and helped Liz up.

"What do you mean Lee Seng's not here?" Liz asked. "We were right there! He couldn't have gone anywhere."

"Do they have a way of tracking him?" Evan asked.

"The comms should be trackable, right? What about the glasses? Does he have the glasses?" Olivia asked.

"Calm down. One at a time, everybody!" Ritsuka spoke loudly. "I know you're all worried like we are, but us panicking up here isn't going to help."

"But he could be god knows where!" Olivia shouted. She turned to look at Manny. "What happened?"

"Well…" Manny sighed. "While the liquid metal and earth was being extracted out of Liz, I went to the other end where Lee Seng was…"

Manny stared at the large wall. Earth powered Biohumans were trying to break the earth open, but something wouldn't let them.

"What the hell happened here?" Victoria asked. "Why can't you crack it open?"

"Ma'am, there seems to be another force stopping us from opening it!"

"Can you try going around it?" Victoria suggested. The earth Biohumans easily tore the walls around it. Victoria noticed Manny's foot tapping. "Be ready for anything, Valentin." Victoria told him. Manny snapped out of it and looked at her. "This isn't the first time Shifters have decided to take people. If they've threatened you and your friends about that, the same threat could go for Chang. Let's hope he's inside."Manny nodded as he waited. It seemed like forever. The earth Biohumans were about to break into the otherside when the whole cavern shook.

"Brace yourselves!" Victoria shouted. She grabbed Manny as the Earth Biohumans wrapped them with earth, creating a layer of protection around them.

"What's happening?!?" Manny asked.

"The Shifters in there must be ripping the room apart by now. Hold on!" Victoria told him. The cavern shook for a long time before it suddenly went quiet. The sound of the wall tearing came, followed by voices.

"All clear! Ma'am, you should look at this!" A Earth Biohuman shouted. The earth around them pulled into the ground. Manny ran out of Victoria's hold and wandered in. Everything had disappeared. The metal pillars, any signs of bodies, Lee Seng, and the Shifters that were fighting him.

"What the fuck just happened?" Manny asked. "Where's my friend?!? Where is he?!?" Manny ran around the room desperately trying to find a trace of his friend. There was nothing. "LEE SENG! WHERE ARE YOU!?! LEE SENG!"

Manny sighed as he finished his story. He shook his head. Ritsuka looked away. He still felt bad about the whole thing.

"If I had come back just a little sooner maybe we could've gotten him." Ritsuka blamed himself. He had followed the plan accordingly. He aided the techs back and tried to follow Victoria and her gang back, but Victoria had deemed it too risky. The Silver mission had suddenly become Platinum. Ritsuka was forced to wait above ground, unable to do anything as his friends fought for their lives. "If I—"

"If I was a bit quicker, we could've gotten him before he disappeared." Manny sighed.

"Does Tiffi and Marcus have a location for him?" Liz asked. "Can't they ping where he is off of his comms? He wears that ring and fiddles around with it all the time. He wouldn't get rid of the one way out."

"What if those Shifters he fought came with him?" Evan brought the worst scenario up. His teammates all looked at him. "I know I'm saying the worst case scenario but what if that's the case?"

"No, it's not the case." Manny shook his head.

"But it could—"

"Shut your damn mouth!" Manny shouted. Evan closed his mouth, shocked. It was the first time Manny had gotten so upset over something.

"Manny." Liz's voice broke the awkward silence. Manny turned and ran out of the tent. "Ah, shit. Manny!" Liz pushed herself to move. She stood up and followed after.

"Liz?" Ritsuka called after her. She ignored him and moved out of the tent.

"Am I wrong to bring up the worst case scneario? Shouldn't we be ready for that sort of thing?" Evan looked at Olivia and Ritsuka. Olivia sighed and stood up. She moved over to Evan and patted his shoulder.

"Losing someone is one of the worst case scenarios. We all know this, but I don't think you should've said that out loud." Olivia gave him a half-smile.

"I… I…" Evan's eyes looked away. Olivia pulled her hand away and moved out of the tent. She was going to follow them and figure this out.

"Come on, Ev." Ritsuka motioned. "You said something bad that Manny didn't want to hear, but what's said is said. Let's figure out what we need to do to get Lee Seng back."

"They're not gonna let us go back." Evan told him. "Shifters are B-rank humanoids. They're at least high Platinum, low Diamond adventure rank monsters. Do you think they're gonna let us go down lower than we have to?"

"You've been fine for all these months and now you're scared to go find Lee Seng?" Ritsuka asked. "You're acting like you did when you first came to my house. Three months before the Exam and you already made up your mind that you weren't worth anything. You managed to push through that and do SO WELL. So goddamn well you got First Place in the fucking Solo test. You managed to lock a Shifter away, too! And now you're saying it's impossible to get Lee Seng back?!? He's a goner and we should let someone who is more qualified find our friend?" Ritsuka stepped forward. Evan didn't make eye contact with him. "If you knew half the things I know about him, you would not want to say that to me or Manny!" Evan forced himself to look away. Ritsuka sighed in frustation and started to walk outt.

"Fine, stay here and do what you're told, Mr. Perfect. Be a scared Trainor who doesn't risk their lives to do what's right." Ritsuka waved.

"Manny!" Liz shouted after him. Manny was marching straight towards the Dig out Building. "Manny! Manny!" Liz ran after him. Manny tried to move past the Guild members but was stopped.

"Let me through!" Manny shouted. "Let me the fuck through!" Manny swung at the Guild members. One of them got socked in the head, tumbling backwards while the other one dodged and grabbed Manny, pinning him against the wall.

"You can't go in, Valentin!" The Guild member reminded him.

"LET ME GO! YOU AREN'T GONNA FIND MY FRIEND! YOU'RE ALL USELESS!" Manny cried.

"Manny!" Liz and Olivia shouted. Liz looked at Manny as he cried.

"You all won't help me find my friend!"

"That's not what we're saying, Valentin! There's procedures—"

"FUCK YOUR PROCEDURES! I need to find him! I need to make sure he's okay!" The guild member groaned and watched three students move up. The other guild member stood up and moved to block them from entering.

"You can't go in. Orders are orders." The guild member told them.

"Manny, we can't go in." Liz told him.

"You don't wanna help either! None of you do! He doesn't look like a normal person, so just let him die like the monster he is!" Manny cried. Liz sighed. Olivia stepped up and raised her fingers at Manny.

"Cool off for a bit." Olivia pushed her hands towards him, knocking him out.

"Why'd you do that?" Liz asked Olivia. She turned and looked at her.

"Would you rather shock him unconscious or do it my way?" Olivia asked.

"But he's—"

"He's panicking and that's not gonna give us a game plan." Olivia told her. "Evan's thinking of the worst case scenario and already thinks we can't do anything because orders are orders. Manny wants to go vigilante and ignore the orders and go find Lee Seng. We can't do either!"

"Then what do we do?" Liz asked. "He's just gonna want to go after he wakes up."

"That's why you need a third party opinion." A male voice spoke. The two girls turned to see Ritsuka standing with a two Asian men in suits.

"Who are you?" Olivia asked.

"Family." The man told them. He turned to look at the blonde haired Asian man. "Chan-Yeol, you cleared my schedule, right?"

"Yes, HQ can handle Penumbra without you, sir." Chan-Yeol answered.

"Good, good."

"S-sir!" The two Penumbra members started to salute.

"Keep your hold on Valentin. It's alright." Akio spoke.

"Akio?" Olivia tilted her head. "Why're you here?"

"Why wouldn't I be here? I got an emergency call saying one of the students went missing because of trap. Four students injured, one who guided the techs out and the scout of the group, Lee Seng Chang, vanished without a trace." Akio answered. "I see you're all in a predicament and I want to see you myselves. I have an offer. Would you like to listen to my offer or should I force you back to the Academy on house arrest?"