Biohuman

Akali didn't give Keng long enough to answer. A light dagger grew out of thing air and pressed itself into the side of his neck. Her eye looked at him with a serious expression.

"Where's Lee Seng?" Akali asked. Keng gulped. He didn't dare let his eyes wander from Number 9. Akali shifted gear as she continued driving. Keng knew what a monster she was. He knew what she was capable of doing. Something she didn't even know Lee Seng knew about.

"He's—" Keng began.

"And don't you dare lie to me. I'll know it." Akali pressed the light dagger closer to his neck. He could feel the heat radiating off of it. It felt different from his and Lee Seng's light. It felt dangerous.

"You want the short story or the long story?" Keng asked. Akali looked at him before turning her eyes back on the road. She could tell he didn't have any intent on doing anything to her.

"Whatever makes sense."

"He's currently lost somewhere and I'm trying to—" The blade pressed deeper into his throat. He winced as it burned him. The light dagger wasn't like a normal dagger. It would cut and cauterize the wound in an instant. "Ow, I didn't even finish!"

"He's lost?!? What did you do to him? Did you take his identity or something? Why did you look just like him?!?" Akali shouted. The car swerved as Keng tried not to get a light dagger stuck in his throat.

"Then you want the long story!" Keng shouted, holding on to his dear life.

"Spill it!"

"You ever wonder why Lee Seng got powers all of a sudden? It wasn't because the Biohuman serum activated late. It already activated beforehand! A mysterious man put me inside of him and I gave him his powers!"

"What about his tail? Did you give him it?" Akali asked. The dagger pressed harder as the car moved faster through the lanes.

"His tail— Wait, you know about his tail?" Keng asked, looking at her. The light dagger burned into him as he let out a small cry of pain.

"What do you mean I know? Of course I do! The whole entire city and some of the world knows!" Akali shouted.

"I thought…"

"What?" Akali looked at him. The dagger moved away from him, giving Keng some space to breath. He pulled his hand up as the dagger pointed at him. He stopped. "What are you doing?"

"Healing myself." Keng answered.

"You can heal?"

"Lee Seng and I can both heal. WE can both do practically almost the same thing. We're linked together. The reason why I'm like him is because I can shapeshift."

"What?" Akali asked more confused. Keng's words weren't making sense and things were starting to sound crazy to her.

"Can I heal or no?" Keng asked. Akali grunted and moved the dagger away. She watched as a Silver light poured out of his hand. Keng removed his hand and the cauterized wounds were gone.

'He can heal…' Akali thought. She abruptly came to a stop at a red light, hitting the clutch and moving the gear to neutral.

"Continue." Akali ordered.

"Lee Seng gave life to me in a way." Keng continued. "I wasn't always a humanoid. I was a Fox. That's the reason why Lee Seng had a tail. Eventually, things got a bit hectic that he evolved."

"Evolved? He only had one tail though." Akali pointed out. The cars on the perpendicular lane zoomed by as Keng shook his head.

"He had two at one point…. Maybe three? The last two tails are a new thing." Keng bit his lip.

"You have five tails? You expect me to believe that?" Akali looked at him as the light turned green. The cars started moving as Akali shifted into gear and slowly continued.

"I can show you, but there's something I have to ask."

"You asking me a question?" Akali chuckled. "What?"

"Why do you remember he had a tail when nobody else didn't?" Keng asked.

"Nobody else knows? What do you mean?"

"Well from what I've observed… Lee Seng never had tails. But all of the stuff that happened surrounding him still happened. It's like something erased some evidence."

"Or someone." Akali added. Her cheek twitched as she focused on the road. "Anything else?"

"Mmmm… As for where Lee Seng is… He did show up for a split second on the radar in my head, but he's gone quiet." Keng quietly told her.

"Where was the last point?" Akali asked. KEng tilted his head. Something Lee Seng did often when he was in thought.

'He even has his mannerisms down. Too bad they weren't that great with me. Anyone who knows Lee Seng well enough would spot it out in an instant… Probably why the other Numbers didn't notice. They aren't that close.' Akali thought.

"Mmmm," Keng broke the silence. "Somewhere in the city? Close the edge? I don't really know. It happened too fast. I can't really tell."

"Well, that doesn't help…" Akali whispered. She moved to the left turn lane and came to a slow stop. "Why are you him? Are you trying to find him? Make sure nobody knows he's gone?"

"Well… That's where it gets more complicated…" Keng quietly told her. Akali looked at him. He wasn't lying to her. She knew that much. She grabbed the floating dagger and extinguished it in her hands.

"Tell me your name." Akali asked. Keng looked at Number 9. There was the Number 9 he was so used to. Her steady eyes and unemotional face waited for him to answer.

"Keng." Keng answered, looking at his hands. "He named me Keng."

"Keng…" Akali whispered. "Why have I heard that name before?"

"Lee Seng showed me to Akio, once." Keng told her. "Maybe that's why?"

"Maybe." Akali shifted into gear and slowly moved to turn left.

They quickly made their way to the left side of time and onto the highway. They were going in a direction Keng hadn't been before. The silence between them was nothing but background noise as Keng looked out the window. He didn't know if he should look at Akali or not. He was just a stranger to her, but she wasn't a stranger to him.

"Keng." Akali called him.

"Hm?" Keng looked at Akali. Her eyes had softened, again. They were filled with something strange. Something Keng hadn't really seen much in others.

"I'm going to take you somewhere. I… I think you might be able to help." Akali quietly told him. Keng began to ask "with what," when Akali continued. Her eyes twinkled like she was going to cry, but she held it in. "Akio and I have been on mission for the last four months. Things have been wonky, so my memory isn't great… When I heard Lee Seng was found, I was going to take him to this place, but… Seeing as you're not him, I need you to do something for me with that healing power of yours… I need you to heal Akio. S-something bad's happened to him."

The pain on Akali's face grew. She was the rock Lee Seng had relied on so much. She was the reason why he acted the way he did with problems. He didn't break under pressure as much because of her. Although he still cracked in that pressure, Lee Seng looked up to Akali for that reason.

"We traveled to the Southern part of the US and… There's corruption there that we weren't ready for. Our men died one by one and Akio eventually succumbed to the strange 'darkness' there. He-he's…" Akali's voice cracked.

"I'll do it." Keng answered. "I'm not the best healer, but if it's a Curse, I can probably deal with it depending on what it is."

"W-why would you help him?" Akali asked. "I literally almost killed you." Keng thought about it for awhile, drawing it out with loud "mmm's."

"Lee Seng would help in a heartbeat because you're his siblings. If I don't help his siblings out, he'd complain." Keng told her. Akali gripped the wheel harder as she signaled right. They exited as a calm silence fell upon them. Keng glanced at her a couple of times and noticed the twinkle in her eyes were gone. She had wiped them away when he didn't look and he smiled on the inside.

"I'm sorry about earlier. Thank you." Akali spoke.

"Mmm." Keng nodded.

"Is there anything else you need to tell me so I can wrap my head around this…? Explaining you got planted and born from Lee Seng and were the catalyst for what happened to him is… A lot. Maybe there's more, maybe there isn't. I just want to know what my little brother's been going through."

"Deimon." A quiet voice whispered in Keng's head. Keng sighed and looked at Akali.

"I'll tell you later. Akio should know. Lee Seng would probably want you two to know. I know he's been dying to tell you two, but…"