Chapter 110 Keng's Deception
Keng moved turned to move out of the bathroom and noticed he didn't have a tail.
"C'mon, I need a tail." Keng clapped. He wagged his butt side to side and watched as a white tail sprouted. He gave a thumbs up to the mirror and scurried out. Keng had quickly understood the balance with his new form and moved to grab the tank top on the floor. He slipped it on as Scarlet pounded on the door again.
"C'mon, Chang, open the door. I just want to know if you're okay." Scarlet spoke with worry in her voice. Keng started over to the door when he realized if someone came into the room, they would see Lee Seng twice.
'Just tell them you've been resting away. You'll get a check up when you've fully rested and you will do whatever you need to when the time comes.' Keng thought to himself. He moved over to the door and pulled the door open as Scarlet started to knock.
"Chang open the do--" Scarlet's worried face instantly disappeared. Manny stood next to her and it looked like Dr. Valentin was behind them as well. "Lee, I thought you barricaded yourself. Are you really alright?"
Keng scratched his neck and groggily nodded.
"I'll be fine." Keng said, mimicking Lee Seng's voice. Scarlet stopped and stared at Keng for awhile.
'Please work, please work, please work.' Keng's mind raced.
"Are you okay? You sound a bit different. Did you get sick or something?" Scarlet asked.
"Oh," Keng coughed. "I-I'm fine. I think I'm just too tired from what happened at the, uh-- Uh, city today." Keng quickly corrected his voice to regular Lee Seng. Scarlet nodded slowly and then pointed behind her.
"Is it okay if we have Number Five check on you? I'm just worried you could possibly have been bitten by a zombie or gotten something from the dirty city."
"No!" Keng shook his head.
"No? C'mon you're up already. It's just a little check." Scarlet said.
"Yeah, c'mon, dude, let Dad check on you. Aunt Scarlet was worried when you locked her into the telepad room." Manny added. Keng looked at Manny and rubbed his temples.
"Give me a couple more hours of rest, please." Keng whined. "I have a splitting headache and my chest feels wonky still." He started to rub his chest and Dr. Valentin sighed and nodded.
"Scarlet, let's leave Lee alone for a bit longer. Rest is usually the best remedy for anything power related. I think he just overexerted himself too much today." Dr. Valentin spoke. Scarlet looked at Dr. Valentin who motioned her and Manny to come. She looked back at Keng who yawned and nodded.
"Mmm, let me sleep. I'm fine. I'll make sure to call Dr. V when I'm up." Keng smiled. Scarlet nodded and turned. Manny gave Keng a weird look.
"That includes you, Manny. Let him get some rest for a bit. You can come back later." Dr. Valentin told his son. Manny sighed and gave Keng one last weird look before turning.
"Fine, Dad." Manny groaned.
"You can help me with something at the lab." Dr. Valentin wrapped his arm around his son. Manny moved his shoulders up and down a few times before allowing his dad to take him away.,
"What do you need help with?" Manny asked. The three began down the hall and Scarlet turned to wave Keng a goodbye.
"Get some rest, Lee Seng." Scarlet waved. Keng waved back and nodded. He shut the door and turned his back onto it. He let out a breath of relief before he went back to Lee Seng. He kneeled down and rested his head near Lee Seng.
"That was weird, but I pulled it off." Keng smiled. He poked Lee Seng's pec a couple of times. "You owe me, counterpart." Keng's body glowed a bright white and flew into Lee Seng's body. The clothes dropped onto the floor and Lee Seng shifted in his sleep.
An Hour Later
Lee Seng opened his eyes and wondered where he was. His body ached. He pushed the blankets off of him as he sat up. His whole upper body ached and he confusingly looked around. He noticed his tank top and orange shorts lying next to the bed.
'Was that...?' Lee Seng pulled the comforter away and realized he was in orange shorts. 'How did...?'
'You're welcome,' Keng spoke in Lee Seng's voice. Lee Seng wondered if he thought that himself. Keng cleared his throat. 'You're welcome. It was all me.'
"All you? What do you mean?" Lee Seng asked confused.
'I woke up from the evolution and heard Scarlet pounding at the door and realized I had a human form. I looked exactly like you and found out I can mimic your voice, too. I put your old clothes on and slipped on those new shorts on you.' Keng explained.
"Wait, you turned into a human? How?" Lee Seng moved out of his bed and stood up. He rounded the twin bed and into the bathroom. He stared into the mirror and watched as his tail seemed larger than it usually was. Lee Seng moved his tail and watched as the huge tail split into two.
"HOLY CRAP!" Lee Seng jumped backwards. He watched as his tails rejoin back together and split again. "I-I-I... I really did evolve!" He wiggled both of his tails and turned side to side to look at his tails. They were white with streaks of gold in them.
'We've officially gotten two tails.' Keng happily announced. Lee Seng continued to flex his two tails and watched as they both moved in and out. 'I'd be happy that you got something good like shapeshifting, but I would see where the excess souls went.'
Lee Seng stopped moving his tails and nodded. He heard the door click open.
'How did you shapeshift?' Lee Seng thought.
'Well, I didn't have a tail and wanted a tail. I shook my behind for a while and a tail showed up.' Keng explained his process.
'One tail, one tail, one tail!' Lee Seng thought. Lee Seng watched as both of his tails disappeared and Lee Seng yelped.
"L-Lee? Are you up?" Manny's voice called out.
'Come on! I want a single tail!' Lee Seng screamed in his head. He waited, for what seemed like an eternity, and nothing happened.
"Are you in the bathroom?" Manny's voice grew closer. Lee Seng turned and sighed. He moved and a single tail sprouted behind him.
"Hmm?" Lee Seng asked. He leaned against the door, trying to hide the face he was 'tail-less'.
"Oh, you're up. Are you feeling better?" Manny asked. He peeked and Lee Seng turned.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. I just needed to rest." Lee Seng smiled uncomfortably.
"O-oh, alright." Manny nodded. He sniffed and instantly plugged his nose. "Dude, you reek. I heard you guys got put into the Ruined City. I would do a deep scrub if I were you. There's extra loofas in the bathroom closet if you need one." Manny stepped backwards to stay clear from the smell of rotten flesh and puss.
"Ah, right. I smell." Lee Seng remembered. "I gotta burn my sheets and clothes now..."
"Oh, don't do that. The laundry machines are actually really good and get out much nastier things than rotten flesh and puss."
"Good to know. Imma shower then." Lee Seng moved to the closet, wondering if Manny would make a comment about him not having a tail, but Manny didn't say anything. Lee Seng plucked some comfortable clothes out and boxers and moved to the bathroom. He grabbed his towel and noticed, from the corner of his eye, a single tail.
Lee Seng sat his clothes on the counter and hung his towel. He turned the shower on and moved to the back where the bathroom closet was. He opened it and noticed Manny had stocked the closet with an array of bathroom supplies. He pulled a loofa out and closed the door. He pulled his shorts off and realized Keng had literally put shorts on him and that was it.
He stepped into the shower and spent the next ten minutes scrubbing himself and making sure he didn't reek of puss and rotten flesh.
'If you're done, you should check the soul bead. I think it merged with the Guardian orb. Check your skills.' Keng reminded him.
'I could've done that all this time?' Lee Seng asked.
'Yup.'
'Why didn't you tell me?'
'You didn't need to know until now.'
'What's the Guardian orb, anyway? That thing the Hat Man gave me?' Lee Seng asked.
'It's the gift the Fox Spirits get when they finish their test in Limbo. I'm not entirely sure what the orb does, yet, but it's powerful enough to change the White Fox Cloak.'
Lee Seng sighed and grabbed at his chest. He did the pull motion and slowly felt a larger object being pulled out. Lee Seng watched as a white and gold orb floated in front of him. He raised it and closed one eye and moved forward to peer into the white and gold orb.
Skills Unlocked:
Soul Eater Lv. 3 20/300
Dark Matter Eater lvl. 3 1/300
Partial Fox Form (White Fox Cloak) Lvl. 2 43/200
Tail Manipulation Lvl. 2 2/200
Shapeshift Lvl. 1 1/100
Other:
Guardian Orb of Life
Soul Bead Lvl. 2 1/500 (700)
"WOAHHHH." Lee Seng spoke aloud. "I thought the levels would be... bigger but I guess that's okay. How much was it to level the soul bead?"
'Mmmm, not sure, but if those numbers are how many souls you need for the next evolution.' Keng explained.
"500 to level but I have 700? What does that mean?"
'The soul overflow limit. Make sure you don't go past that like you did this time. If you do, allocate whatever extra into what you want. When you evolve, you'll randomly get to choose a power that comes with your tail. This time the soul bead chose Shapeshift. You're lucky."
Lee Seng nodded and moved the white and gold soul orb back into his chest. He felt better now that he knew what skills were available to him.