Biohuman

"There are very few people who I can't read" Olivia told Keng. "And Lee Seng is one of them." Keng's entire body filled with anxiety. He could feel his breathing seizing up in that moment as she turned away from him. Even Evan and Ritsuka were astonished at that. "What?" Olivia raised an eyebrow at the boys. "I can't with Lee Seng. That's what makes him interesting to me."

"I just thought you liked—" Ritsuka froze in his spot.

"Shut up." Olivia shushed him. Ritsuka felt the weight pull off of him as he leaned into Evan for support.

"Olivia, if you knew then… Then why didn't you tell us?" Evan asked quietly.

"I wanted to know who our friend was and what he was doing." Olivia turned to look at Keng. "And it seems he was really trying to look for Lee Seng, too." Keng's body twitched. He let out an unstable sigh as he tried to clear his mind.

'She knew this entire time and didn't say a word.' Keng thought. 'Olivia's the scariest one out of the entire group!'

"So, who ordered you to keep quiet?" Olivia turned to Manny. "Answer.'

"I can't." Manny told her. "I told you I—" Olivia kicked him in the back, pushing him onto the ground. Manny's head hit the ground before gravity quickly took over and flipped him.

"Liar. Tell the truth." Olivia spoke in a neutral tone.

"Have you…" Ritsuka whispered to Evan. "Ever seen her like that?"

"No." Evan whispered. "She has gotten pissed off at a few annoying girls who were talking shit about Lee Seng, though. That doesn't compare to this."

"Why is it… kinda hot?"

Evan pushed Ritsuka away, hitting one of his bruised spots. Ritsuka yelped in pain as he collapsed on the ground. Olivia paid no attention to him as Liz's eyes fluttered open. Keng was the first to notice Liz's turn. The two of them made eye contact and the realization grew on her face.

"I remember." Liz mouthed. Keng smiled and continued to watch her.

"Tell me the truth, Valentin. Who ordered you to do it?"

"I can't tell you!" Manny shouted. "I'll get in trouble!" Olivia kicked Manny onto his back and shook her head.

"Liar. Again." Olivia ordered.

"I can't." Manny told her again.

'He's telling the truth about that… But something's mixed about this one.' Olivia thought. She put her foot on him and pushed down a bit.

"You have more wiggle room than you think you do with that question." Olivia told him. "Tell us."

"I… I really can't!" Manny grunted. Liz slowly sat up and took in the scene around her. Keng was on the floor, frozen as he simply stared at her. Ritsuka was bloodied and Evan nervously knelt beside him as Olivia stood on top of… Manny?

"Liv?" Liz's voice called out. Olivia removed her foot and turned to her. "What's going on?"

"Manny says he can't tell us who ordered him to keep his little secret." Olivia told her. "I'm trying to get him to tell us."

"But if he can't then…"

"He can. He just doesn't want to get in trouble with them, right?" Olivia turned to look at him. Manny gulped.

"I want someone to—" Ritsuka began to say as Evan punched him, again. "Ow!"

"Shut up." Evan told him.

"I don't… I don't understand…" Liz stood up. She gave room for Keng, looking at him as she moved to stand besides Olivia. "What does this have to do with the memories that were altered?"  Olivia looked at Manny and motioned at him.

"He would know." Olivia replied. Liz looked at him in confusion. Manny's face froze as he realized something was different about Liz.

"L-Liz." Manny stuttered. "Are you… Okay?"

"Playing catch up, Valentin. Don't you see I'm confused?" Liz replied. His eyes grew wide.

"Shit. It is you." Manny replied in disbelief. "What did the doppelganger do to you? Did he hurt you? Can I kill him?"

"Damion Valentin." Liz shouted his name. A rogue lightning bolt sparked off her mouth as she spoke his name in a serious manner. Manny twitched hearing her say his actual name. "This isn't about Keng right now. Tell us, who's ordering you to keep your mouth shut?"

"I c-can't tell you. I really can't!" Manny shouted. He recoiled waiting for a punch or a strike, but a gentle stroke of his hair made him jump. He opened his eyes to confront whoever was stroking his hair, but his frozen body didn't listen. He noticed Liz was kneeling next to him.

"Is it one of the Numbers?" Liz guessed. Manny didn't shake or nod his head to that. He kept quiet. "Is it Number adjacent?" Still nothing. "Did you do it for your own good?" Manny nodded. "Mkay." Liz stood up and turned to Olivia.

"Don't press him on it. It's probably someone in the ring of the Numbers." Liz told Olivia. Her eyes wandered over to Keng. "As for him… You can let him go. He's telling the truth."

"I told you!" Ritsuka shouted. "It's the truth!" Evan sighed as Olivia turned to look at Keng.

"He's been like that for a while now. I didn't freeze him. Only Manny." Olivia told Liz.

"Then… Why is he—" Liz asked as Keng interrupted them.

"I used a really strong spell to knock some sense into you." Keng interjected with an answer. "Now my body's as heavy as a billion tons."

"He has the same exact Negative as Lee Seng?" Olivia asked.

"Of course, he does." Ritsuka spoke up. He stood up as Evan supported him. "He's just like Lee Seng." Ritsuka stumbled over to Keng with the help of Evan. The girls watched as Ritsuka pointed over at the front side of Keng and Evan helped Ritsuka sit. "You okay?"

"I've been better…" Keng chuckled. He winced at the pain and slowly managed to roll himself onto his back. Liz and Olivia were standing at the edge of his eyesight as he took time to breathe.

"What now?" Evan asked. "Are we keeping him or… Leaving him?"

"You make that sound like he's a stray." Olivia commented. Evan's face turned beet red as the lanky tank shook his head.

"I didn't—" Evan turned to look at Keng.

"I'm just kidding." Olivia chuckled. She turned and snapped her fingers, releasing Manny. Manny let out a sigh of relief as he went slack on the floor.

"He'll come with us." Liz answered Evan's answer.

"Huh, but he's—" Manny began to say when a lightning bolt hit the space right next to his head. Manny flinched, closing his eyes as Liz shook her head.

"Heal yourself and get to healing the group. We wasted so much time, I'm wondering if those monsters are coming for us." Liz took a better look around. It was a jagged hole but it had a couple of paths leading in different directions within the walls. Manny groaned as his body lit up. It didn't take long for him to heal as he pushed himself onto his feet and looked at Liz for direction.

"Him first." Liz pointed at Ritsuka. "I don't know why you two get so physical. Keng didn't kill me or anything."

"But he entered you without permission…" Manny muttered.

"Hmm?" Liz raised her eyebrow at him.

"Nothing." Manny moved past the girls and squeezed between Evan and Keng and stuck his hand out to Ritsuka. "Let me heal you." Ritsuka turned his head away, waiting for something. "Come on. Let me heal you, Ritsuka."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Ritsuka asked. Manny sighed and knelt down. He rolled his eyes as he scooted over and put his arms out. "What're you doing?" Ritsuka asked, looking at Manny.

"I'm sorry." Manny hugged Ritsuka, patting his injuries as the two of them lit up.

"H-hey! You don't need to hug me, Valentin!" Ritsuka shouted. Manny chuckled, squeezing harder as Ritsuka tried to fight his way out of it. Evan and the others chuckled as Keng watched in amusement. "Come on. I just wanted an apology, not this!"

"I'm sorry I beat you to a pulp and you didn't even try to fight me." Manny apologized.

"Hey! That isn't an apology!" Ritsuka shouted.

"Sucks I'm stronger than you in hand to hand combat." Manny added. The two began to bicker and fight, almost acting like some weird old couple. Keng let out a sigh of relief. He felt better about this now.

"Hey." Liz quietly spoke to Keng. Keng moved his eyes to look at her. She was kneeling down to his left as Manny and Ritsuka fought.

"Hm?" Keng asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"How much do you know about Lee Seng?"

"Why do you ask?" Keng glanced at her. Liz stared off at Ritsuka and Manny, making sure they weren't going to horseplay, again.

"Just wondering." Liz replied. She let out a sigh as Ritsuka pushed Manny away. His injuries were fully healed as Evan hovered between them.

"Alright, enough." Evan warned the two. "I'm sick of being in between you two."

"Get comfortable." Manny smiled. Evan rolled his eyes as he looked at Ritsuka. Manny turned and noticed Liz was quietly talking to Keng about something.