Chapter 15

None of them can deny the strange atmosphere lingering in the air farther down the path. To seasoned Espers, this eerie feeling is something to expect in a portal. Takao can never get used to it though. Simply breathing in the air makes his stomach churn.

"Entering dense area. Be prepared for confrontations," The Commander announces through their communicators.

The path soon leads into fences of tall bushy trees that create a roof over their heads, canceling all light cast from the moon. They are left with the lights from their motorbikes. A distance away from their right, they hear a roar.

"Detecting a large B-Class mutant 100 meters to the west," one of The Legion's Esper informs them through their communicator. Takao's heart makes a series of uneasy thumps. "It's coming closer".

"Stay in your path. Do not engage unless necessary".

"Holyshit. I think I see its shadow to our right," Wataru, who is riding as the right wing of their party, gasps to his communicator.

"Keep your head to the mission. Avoid engaging unless engaged first," The Commander orders. Takao can't help but be a little restless. Even from the left of their group, he can hear the flaps of wings. There's another large bird to their right, and it's coming closer.

Soon enough, they hear a loud boom. If Takao tilted his head to the right, he would see the shadow of the flying mutant falling behind the tall trees. The boom is followed by a high-pitched bellowing by the creature. "The mutant is engaged by a party of Espers. Its trajectory has stopped".

Takao releases a long-held breath. Thank goodness.

"Copy. 5 minutes until we reach the destination," The Commander replies.

The tall trees seem to move in unrest despite the lack of winds. As they speed through the path, Takao notices a couple of vines lurching towards them, only to be repelled by the shield created by the forcefield users in their party. "100 meters ahead, we'll see the carcass of the giant mutant we faced in Zone 3," someone, probably one of the Legion's Espers, tells them through the comms, "To your left".

When they're near it, it's hard to miss. In a clearing right next to their path, the large body of the bird mutant is lying with its wings bent at an awkward angle. Its mass has successfully broken more than just a couple of trees, especially around its long dragon-like tail. The head is located very close to their path and Takao easily measures that it's as long as the bike he's riding.

"Insane," Takao whispers. He notices that everyone should be able to hear him through the communicator that is connected to his mask. From the side mirrors, he sees Shuu watching the dead bird. Perhaps he too is surprised by what his ability can achieve.

They continue their journey past the clearing and up the cliff. "1 Minute before we reach the destination. Slow down".

Their speed lowers just as they ride across the bridge; on their right is the waterfall, while on their left is a large clearing where the lake is. From this distance, they can see an area by the lake where there are tents and makeshift towers. Lines of vans and Humvees are parked in the clearing, along with the vague shape of people walking around the area. "We're here," The Commander announces as she leads them to the next checkpoint. Finally, Takao feels all the tension leaving his body.

***

"What do you mean 3 vans!?" Takao hears the commander of their convoy yelling while he's putting all of the packages they carried into Zone 2's command center tent. She is facing another Legion-affiliated Esper in the middle of the tent, who appears stressed. "You told us we're going back along with 1 van. I only have a team of 5 bikes; that's not enough to watch over 3 vans full of injured Espers in the middle of unsecured Zone 2!"

The man, who Takao assumes is the head commander of Zone 2, has two hands splayed in front of him defensively. "Look, I understand how you feel but we have a situation here in Zone 2. Before we know it, we have a lot of injured Espers on our hands and all of them need medical attention".

"A situation. Tsk, I assume as much because suddenly there was a giant bird looking over our camp in Zone 3. You guys are losing control over Zone 2!" The female commander accuses, which the head commander, strangely, does not rebut.

"Yes. And it's utterly concerning".

From the stacks of boxes atop the bench in one hidden corner of the tent, Takao makes sure he appears busy. Next to the head commander, he notes the tall figure of Takahashi Dai, the head of The Garuda's, in complete YES uniform and is watching the female commander with mild annoyance.

"Come on! The overall level of the portal is a B; there shouldn't be many mutants around the area ranking higher than that and you guys cannot contain them?" She doesn't cease her rant.

"It's not about the mutants, Umeda-san. There's a more dire situation," The Head Commander exchanges looks with Takahashi, "One of our Espers in Zone 1 has gone berserk and is currently on a rampage".

At that, Takao swears he feels his heart drops to his stomach.

"Who!?"

"We... we don't know. We just know one of them are".

"How do you know someone has gone on a rampage and not know who it is??"

"Because of him," The Head Commander points at a spot next to Umeda, the female commander. Takao doesn't know how he did not notice it, but there's a man in Legion's attire standing there, smiling and waving at the woman.

"Yo!" The Esper greets, making Umeda squeak in surprise.

"W-what the - S-since when are you here!??" Umeda screeches, "Mamoru-san!?"

Ah, Mamoru Hibiki; part of The National Legion of Espers's core team, Team Alpha. If Takao is not mistaken, he's a skilled navigator whose ability involves sensing people's locations, mapping, and teleportation.

"I teleported here just now," the guy smirks, but sways dangerously to his right before he is caught by the head commander.

"I told you not to teleport with an injury to the head," the head commander grunts, "Nevertheless, Mamoru-san teleported here to inform us of the situation. He, as you can see, is heavily injured -"

Mamoru perks up, "It's not heavy. I told you it's light! A light concussion! Not heavy concussion!"

"... right. And he hasn't been right in the head since he teleported to our base". Mamoru does have a bandage wrapped messily around his head. That along with his childish smile makes him look a little ridiculous, despite the handsome face.

The Head Commander pushes Mamoru gently to a chair like a parent to a child. "Mamoru is in charge of watching over their base in Zone 3 to manage their communication and to observe everyone's locations. He said he was attacked while setting up a better communicator signal".

"And you, the navigator of the team, missed the presence of your attacker?" Umeda directs her sharp judgment to Mamoru instead.

"Hey! It doesn't work that way, okay? The person was just so fast I barely had time to react!" Mamoru defends himself with a pout and crosses his arms, "But I reckoned them as a team member, just not enough time to know which one". Mamoru looks up to the distance, as though reliving his attack, "They are very very fast. You can barely see them. It's like, they disappear into thin air before they appear next to you".

All of them exchange tense glances, "Who is it?"

"The likeliest suspects are the Class S members of Team Alpha and Phoenix. Team Alpha has 2 S-Class members, and Team Phoenix has 5".

"If it's super speed, anyone with physical-strength abilities would be suspicious. Segawa Hide, Tungsten, and Matsuzaka Kei".

"And Kikuya Rika. She can be a suspect of anything, really".

"True. How about Sora? He can disperse into thin air and reappear somewhere else. He technically has teleportation".

"Wait, aren't we just including everyone now? Except for Ohtani".

"I doubt it's Ohtani. It can also be Mirage's illusion".

"I don't think Mirage is the type to hit someone in the head and cause a concussion".

Takao clears his throat from the corner, "It's probably one of the Phoenixes," he points out.

They all turn to where Takao is, not looking completely taken aback that someone has been listening in to the conversation. It's not like Takao is trying to hide himself; he simply tried to appear like he wasn't paying attention as he moved the delivery packages to the bench. "I... I heard that Guide Hinata and his bodyguard are going to Zone 1 to attend to some emergency. So it has to be related to Team Phoenix, right?"

"Oya, oya, Ren-tan is here? No one told me! I need him, too~!" Mamoru's whining is cut short by a light smack on the upper arm by the Head Commander.

"Because we think he needs to tend to the rampaging Esper first," The Head Commander shakes his head, "And, no, it doesn't mean it's a Phoenix. You see, Guide Hinata, he..."

"He's our guide too," Mamoru fills in after the Head Commander; his smile is secretive as he tilts his head, "When it comes to dead-or-alive situations, Ren is obliged to tend to Team Alpha too. He's not exclusively Team Phoenix's, you know?"

Something in that statement strikes a nerve in Takao. Perhaps it's the challenge toward the most basic fact every YES member would know; that Guide Hinata's home is in their organization and nowhere else. To have it challenged so openly like this makes Takao want to raise his voice, which he is about to do, but Takahashi, seeming to read the mood accurately, cuts in.

"Guide Hinata never consults anyone when it comes to his ventures into portals. He works alone, with his bodyguard, or any Espers he is tending to. We only found out he entered Zone 2 because we were informed by the checkpoint at the borders of Zone 3. As of now, we know nothing else of his whereabouts," Takahashi explains plainly, sounding like he is not new to this behavior from the Guide.

"How about the checkpoints on your borders with Zone 1? Surely they would report back to you if they see Guide Hinata," Takao suggests. He believes that wherever Guide Hinata is would be where that rampaging Esper would be.

The Head Commander sighs heavily, "Yes, that is the problem".

When he hasn't said more, Takao turns to Takahashi for more information. The Garuda does not disappoint. "The camps around our border with Zone 1 have not responded to any of our calls in the last 20 minutes. The last signal we received around that time mark was an emergency beacon. We sent additional Espers to that area and they too have not said a word".

"... Shit".

The Head Commander adds to the explanation, "Not only that, our navigating system detects no movements from anyone in the area; implying they have been immobilized. Thankfully we have no fatality, but I am sure they are injured to the point of not being able to send any signal".

Takao frowns at that, "What is it, is it a mutant attack?"

The Head Commander shakes his head, "As Umeda has said, the mutants in this area are predicted to be Class B with the occasional appearance of Class A mutants especially nearer to Zone 0. Considering the amount of Espers we have at the borders, I don't think they would fall easily to B-Class mutants," The Head Commander eyes Umeda, "Now, between a horde of B-Class mutants and one single rampaging S-Class Esper, who do you think would most likely silence a whole camp?"

Takao swallows thickly at the implication. "Wait a minute," Umeda jumps up, "I-if the attack is on the Border, then the rampaging Esper is probably -"

"Yes," The Head Commander answers calmly, "They have entered Zone 2".

***

Takao almost feels guilty seeing Wataru and Chika laughing by the campfire with the other Espers in Zone 2, both from The Legion and YES, because he will have to ruin their fun soon and get their ass moving for a mission. But first, Takao needs to find his helmet. Now, where did he put it?

"Senpai".

Takao would like to believe he's not the type to squeak, but he just did. "Shuu!" He comes face to face with the prodigious teen. "You're here," Takao adds, almost like he is surprised by the fact. Truth be told, he totally forgot Shuu was there for a minute and is now realizing that he has to handle the arduous task of babysitting.

"I am here," the younger of the two copies while eyeing Takao's figure as the latter heads to the motorbikes, "Where are you going, Senpai?"

Takao halts and turns around. "Yes, Shuu, there's this... emergency I need to help Zone 2 with. I won't be able to -"

"I'll go with you".

Takao's brows meet, "You... Have you been here all this time?" They are both standing right outside of the tent where Takao has just talked with the leaders of Zone 2. And without Shuu answering the question, he has a good guess what the answer is, "You listened to our conversation, didn't you?"

"Not all of it," Shuu, still with his hoodie and his mask on, answers, "I'll go with you".

"No, you can't. You're a trainee," at the same time Takao says that the Head Commander exits the tent and sees them.

"Ah, that your bike partner? Good, he'll be in charge of our navigating system," The Commander passes the tablet to Shuu, "All right - Oi! You over there! We're going to the borders! Get your bikes!" And just like that, the man leaves them. Takao gawks at the tablet in Shuu's hands. He can see the smile in the younger's eyes as he throws the tablet from one hand to the other playfully.

"Looks like I'll tag along, Senpai".

***

Everyone's faces pale the moment 'rampaging esper' is mentioned. Naturally, their mind would connect it with any S-Class in Zone 1, due to how prone they are to overexertion. No one likes fighting against an S-Class, especially one that is going berserk.

"As long as we're not fighting them," Takao hears Chika saying as they all climb to their bikes. In his briefing, the Head Commander seems to deliberately leave out any words such as 'fighting', 'confronting', and 'engaging', instead stressing on visiting the border to 'evaluate' the situation. They also need to fetch the wagon they have sent with the previous rescue team to evacuate any injured Esper in the vicinity.

The base camp is surprisingly left not under the command of another Legion Esper, but is instead in the hands of Takahashi Dai, the Captain of Team Garuda and one of YES' bests. Takao and Wataru pat the guy on the back as a congratulation right before they leave the campground. Having any YES members except the Phoenixes be recognized for their skills is always a cause to celebrate.

They hit the path to go further south. Along with their original convoy of 5 motorbikes, The Head commander gathered more people from his camp including himself, forming a party of 10 bikes. On any other occasion, Takao would consider biking around the park in the middle of the night as refreshing. The full moon looks blue as it hovers above the lake. Its twin lingers on the surface of the lake. The forest looms around them; tall and silent. The air smells of earth and wet grass. Even the mystifying air of a portal trying to wrap its invisible claws to warp this forest into its new habitat feels somewhat calming. His mind is almost lulled into a false sense of security before it jumps awake at the reminder that any mutant can jump out from behind any tree at the moment.

They ride mostly in silence, except for the occasional warnings of mutants nearby. The Zone 2 Espers riding on the left and right of their convoy would then attack the approaching mutants with their corresponding abilities, protecting their convoy from any harm. "Any signals from the borders, yet?" The Head Commander asks the communicator in their ears. The question is directed to Shuu, who is holding the navigating system where they can detect the location of the wrist computer all Espers wear. The navigating system can also receive distress signals, and pinpoint mutants that have been marked by fellow Espers.

Takao feels Shuu moving behind him, probably to check the navigation system. But then, a shadow falls over their group; A large shadow with wings. No one seems to notice the large bat - one as large as one motorbike - and the Espers in charge of attacking any approaching mutants are too focused on checking what's on their left and right, completely missing what might follow them from the above. Someone gasps sharply to the comms the moment they finally notice the bat-like mutant; before a red flame surrounds the bat.

In a split second, the bat shrieks as the flame consumes it to crisps; leaving only ashes that disperse as they continue to speed through the path.

"Good one, Takao," Wataru remarks through the communicator. Of course, Takao did nothing. He, too, was surprised by the sudden appearance of the mutated bat. Wataru may think it was him, the fire elemental, who killed the bat. But Takao knows better.

Because behind him on this bike is someone who can wield more than just one element. And he wields each of them with such expertise.

Furthermore, Takao might be good with fire, but he has never burnt something to crisp so cleanly without a trace before. 

"Haha, yeah," Takao answers. It's not like he can humor anyone with that information. Everyone still thinks the person on the bike with him is Bunta, and Bunta is not an elemental.

"No signals yet, Head Commander," Takao hears Shuu answering the Head Commander's question without a single breath lost. That kid is good; too good.

***

They should know something is wrong when no mutants approach them. It's almost like they have cleared the area, or perhaps they have all been cleared from the area. Only 200 meters from the border, they discover the wagon that was sent to evacuate the injured. It is flipped upside down, and the two motorbikes that were sent along with it are thrown to the side of the road with their bikers passed out. 

They make a stop there to check the vitals of everyone on the site. Thankfully, no one is fatally injured. "We should split up and check the camp!" Someone shouts.

"I'll come with you!" Takao volunteers, already climbing back onto his bike. Shuu naturally follows him. Six bikes are continuing the journey down the path right to the camp. They haven't ridden long before they see the junction where a checkpoint into the camp has been placed, where they find even more of wreckage. The orange cones used to block the road are strewn around; the bench where the Espers assigned to guard the checkpoint sit is split into two, and, alarmingly, there are no Espers in sight.

"Where are the guards?" Someone asks.

"Let's hope they ran away to escape whatever was coming to get them. We should head to the camp".

They drive past the checkpoint and take a turn to the left to enter the camp; which has transformed into a complete wreckage. "Help!" Someone shouts from one of the tents. Some of their party run to the source of the voice, but Takao lingers behind to investigate the camping site. Just by a simple glance, he can see that everyone on the ground is all alive, but is either injured or has passed out. He wonders what can cause their wrist computer to fail to send any proper alerts because the device should be able to detect the Esper's vitals and alert the base camp of any serious injuries.

Takao crouches to one passed-out Esper and studies their wrist computer. To his surprise, the device is off.

Strange. In his career of being an Esper, Takao does not remember ever turning off his wrist computer. It's an integral part of your career that will warn you of any danger. Turning it off will compromise your safety. He cannot imagine any Esper that would turn it off, actually; especially not inside an active portal.

But wait a minute...

If this is indeed an attack done by another Esper, then isn't there one person among the team in Zone 1 who has such an ability?

Yes, there is. It makes a lot of sense that it is that person.

"Senpai?"

Takao looks to his right, finding Shuu holding the navigating system tablet in his hands. "I receive a signal of someone being attacked not far from here".

Takao turns serious. Maybe that person has reached yet another Esper and is in the middle of attacking them. "All right, you tell me where it is," this is dangerous, but it is better than letting the Esper that called for help face the rampaging Esper on their own. "Guys, I'll check out what's going on!" He informs the rest of the crew while dragging Shuu back to their bike. Everyone is probably too busy helping the injured at the camping site to notice him and Shuu leaving, but that is why he should be the one to go and check this out. Otherwise, they would never be able to find that rampaging Esper before it goes farther into Zone 2.

"Where do we go, Shuu?" He questions through his communicator as their bike reaches the conjunction where the checkpoint is.

"Straight ahead!"

Takao speeds up towards the direction opposite to where the campsite is. It doesn't take long until they reach a dead end. Ahead is a long stairway up the cliff that leads to the Temple of the Three Monkeys. "Shuu?" Takao asks.

Shuu is looking around; appearing thoroughly confused, "Yeah, sorry Senpai. I think we should wait here".

"What do you mean wait!?" He snarks. They can't wait at a time like this. Plus he's hearing some sort of noise from above; somewhere from the direction of those stairs. "Shuu!?"

"The reception is really bad here. I can't read any signal anymore!"

However, Takao has his eyes on those stairs. He is sure he hears something up there. "Shuu, hold on tight".

"What are you trying to do, Senpai?"

"Just hold the fuck tight!" Takao revs the engine of his bike, "We're going to climb these stairs".

"On the b- WOAH!"

Takao speeds up in the direction of the stairs. As the tires hit the steps, the motorbike bounces yet does not fail to catch speed. The stairway is probably about 10 meters tall; quite a long trip when you're on foot. This is the only way to go if they want to reach the top in time. Hence, despite the rough ride, Takao does not relent and pushes ahead.

They arrive at the end of the stairway mid-air after a sharp bounce from the steps. Suspended, Takao notices a few things. First, this is a large round terrace in the middle of the stairway to the top of the cliff. There is another series of steps further ahead, albeit a shorter one. But two, he also finds two Espers on the terrace; and above them are three large human-sized hornets that cannot be real unless they have been mutated by the portal; and one of those hornets has its eyes on their bike.

"I got it!" Shuu shouts. Like before, the hornet burns to thin air; not leaving a trace but a dust of ashes, right as their motorbike makes a rough landing and glides through the floor of the terrace with an ear-shattering screech.

"YOU TWO!" One of the two Espers on the receiving end of the other two hornets' onslaught screams, "HELP US!"

The two Espers, one a Legion Esper, and the other from YES, are huddled on the floor with one metallic shield protecting them. The metallic shield comes from the ability of The legion Esper, who looks like she is barely holding on due to her injuries. The YES Esper is completely unconscious.

Without much thought, Takao throws a fireball to one of the giant-sized hornets. It is thrown to the ground, twitching madly, before Takao throws another fireball to kill it. Meanwhile, Shuu has dealt with the other one without a drop of sweat.

"Are you two okay??" Takao runs to the two injured Espers. The woman sits up from her position on the ground, "We were attacked. We were already injured when we ran here, and suddenly we were faced by this mutant". From her voice, it's clear that she is shaken thanks to the whole ordeal.

Takao inspects their surrounding; finding a lot more dead mutant hornets around them. The two women had been fighting long before they arrived. "We have to run. These hornets; when they're hurt, they will send a signal to summon their colony here. We tried to fend against them on our own, but they won't stop coming and, in our condition, it's difficult to keep on fighting".

Takao checks for the other Esper's vital. She is still breathing, thankfully. But she needs medical attention. "You two take our bike. Ride all the way to the base camp. They'll take care of you there".

"B-but how about you guys!?"

"We're uninjured. We'll take over from here and fight these mutants. We can walk to go back". Takao helps the woman pick up the unconscious Esper and leads them both to his motorbike.

"Senpai! They're coming!" Shuu informs him as he looks out to the sky. Indeed, Takao can hear the buzzing noise from the hornets.

"We'll take care of this. You take her to the base camp -," He tells the Legion Esper again.

"But -"

"We'll be fine, just go!!"

The Legion Esper situates the unconscious Esper in front of her on the bike, before she starts the engine and rides off. Takao hopes those two would be okay riding in such a condition, but it is way better than staying because four more hornets have arrived. "Shuu!" Takao calls, "Hornets send a signal to call other hornets when they're attacked for backup. So you know what to do".

Shuu is already eyeing those four hornets. "You want me to kill them before they can call for more backup".

"Exactly".

They wait until the hornets lurch at them, ready to attack. Then Shuu extends an arm. Yellow sparks appear like lightning out of his whole arm before jolting the whole swarm of hornets. He continues to electrocute the insects, before letting go; allowing four dead mutants to drop to the ground. It smells like something is burnt.

"God, you're better than any bug zapper I can get from the stores," Takao comments humorously as he kicks the dead insect lightly with one foot. He then turns on the flashlight function from their wrist computer, "We should see if more hornets come. It's better to face them prepared than have them fly at us while we're doing something else".

"Yes, Senpai".

So they stand there, watching the sky for signs of any flying insects. And that's when Takao's mind makes a funny joke about how these bugs can get backups so easily, while their two Espers can't even get a single help. It's not that no one will come, but with their wrist computer off, and perhaps their beacon deactivated, it's not like they can call anyone.

Then, how did Shuu know they were here in the first place?

"Shuu, how did you know those two girls are asking for help?"

The eyes above the face mask widen in surprise. "Actually," Shuu takes off his face mask and looks down, "There wasn't any attack signaled on the navigation system".

Takao feels like there's something more to this. And from the guilty expression on Shuu's face; it has to be something he wouldn't like. Takao puts one arm on his hip, as the other holds the light from his wrist computer to Shuu. "I'm listening," Takao responds.

Shuu looks up, looking apologetic, "Well, I was -," his face freezes. For a moment, Takao sees fear flicker past Shuu's face.

"Hm?" Takao follows his gaze. He was gazing at the trees behind Takao. "What is it?" Takao looks around. There are only tall dark trees around them.

"Takao-Senpai," Shuu is whispering now, "Up".

Takao points his wrist computer upwards, towards the summit of the trees. As quickly as he does that, he believes he sees a flash of shadow passing. "Hold on, I think I saw -"

"Senpai, look out!!"

All the air is forced out of Takao's lungs as Shuu lurches towards him. His mouth and sight are suddenly full of Shuu's hair as a force Takao has yet to see sends them both to the opposite side of the terrace. He groans as his back slams against the fence around the terrace while Shuu's weight keeps him down.

"Urgh," Takao is seeing stars, but he opens an eye. "Shuu?" The younger's limp form is covering him from whatever just attacked them. He shakes Shuu, "Shuu? Wake up!"

The boy comes to with a weak grunt. Meanwhile, Takao tries to push himself up so he can have a better view of the attacker. He can see the silhouette of this assailant, standing a short distance away right where they stood just moments ago.

"Ugh, Senpai?" Shuu props himself up on one elbow. Takao keeps his eyes on the attacker's figure. And then, the figure just disappears.

"W-where'd they go!?" Takao exclaims, quickly pushing himself up to his feet. Shuu follows suit, scurrying to stand up despite not being 100% aware of what is happening.

"Senpai, the wrist computer; it broke," Shuu tells him when they try to turn on the flashlight function of the device.

"It's not broken," Takao summons his fireball and lets it hover above his palm as a light source. "Among the Espers in Zone 1, there's one person with the ability to deactivate all electronic devices within a certain radius," Takao explains as he swings around, trying to find the assailant.

"Who?"

"Someone with the right gear on them. Someone with a good grasp on technology".

"Senpai," Shuu pats him on the shoulder. His finger points at the torii gate over the stairs that leads down. Takao points his hand in that direction and, sure enough, he's there; clad in a broken mecha suit that barely hangs to his figure, the attacker crouches at the top of the torii gate with one fist propping his face as he looks down on them. His mecha suit is cracked in many places, exposing a whole arm, his whole torso that is clad only in a black tank top, and his left thigh. His mecha helmet is split in half; exposing half of his face. From where they are, Takao notices the eerie wide smile the Phoenix is sporting. It's unnatural, even for someone who smiles a lot like him.

"K-Koukichi-Senpai?" Takao hears Shuu whispering in horror.

"No. He's not himself," Takao warns Shuu, "He's on a rampage. Get ready, Shuu".

***

To be Continued.