Chapter 99: What the hell was that, with the Captain

Rhys had enough time to freeze the worms that he could see and to get the group of rescued Guides up to the next level. Rhys, after seeing two monstrous worms attack the level that they had been in previously, knew they were in trouble.

Now he understood why the walls were so poorly done. Why the cells were the strongest containers built, and why nothing else was on these lower levels. It wasn’t something he had noticed during the first moments of their breaking and entering, but it was now something he was painfully aware of.

Why hadn’t he paid attention to the fact that the cells had thicker bricks, thicker bars, and strange protective barriers that didn’t prevent them from entering, nor triggered anything when they broke the locks? Why had he been so stupid? So unobservant?

This wasn’t like him, but Rhys would blame the fact that he was so focused on getting to Gunther that he let a few details slip. With each level down Rhys’ mind raced to the worst possible outcome. Were they too late? Had they somehow found out about their sudden infiltration and either moved him or killed him?

Rhys had no idea how that would have made sense, but he wasn’t sure how Kellen’s…visions worked. God, it felt like nails on a chalkboard even considering that Kellen had visions like him. It was hard to acknowledge the changes that were happening to Kellen because that would mean acknowledging the role that he played in it.

That didn’t mean that he could do that, though. Especially since it was Kellen’s visions that got him here, in the base of the E.A.G. with fucking giant worms attempting to ruin all of the hard work that he’d put in to releasing everyone.

“Esper Blake! Protective shield!” Rhys called. Esper Blake gave a call, letting Rhys know that she heard him. The Guides were terrified, shaking as the rest of the group ushered them into a pocket of safety. Rhys was holding the lower level together with his powers. He had to. The fuckers had built their own base as a trap of some sort, and Rhys had walked into it not knowing it either.

That meant that Rhys wasn’t going to underestimate them again, but they clearly didn’t know their monsters well enough. While Rhys had shown a great deal of power holding together several blocks of buildings mid explosion, something like this? He could do with his eyes closed and hands tied behind his back.

Plus, he had several other Espers around him, including a telekinetic from the Nemesis Guild. These fuckers had underestimated them by thinking that if they did a rescue mission it was only going to be one Guild, or a smaller group, possibly just Rhys.

Asssholes.

Rhys wanted to see their blood spill, and not in a pretty way.

“Captain, what should we do about the monsters?” It was one of the D.E.C. members, her eyes frantic, but her actions calm. She was a Physical Strength Esper named Hailey Vanderbelt, one that occasionally competed with Hill for fun. Rhys would have been rather disappointed if she had been one of the shitty, incompetent Espers that the D.E.C. had.

She was also the one carrying Gunther, since Rhys needed to have his hands free.

“Keep your head down, don’t worry about the monsters for now. We need to keep moving, and make sure that there are not more traps that we could trigger. Got that?” He raised his voice, making sure that the other Espers heard him. The Guides were going to panic no matter what, but the Espers seemed to calm down with Rhys’ authoritative voice.

They didn’t need to know that Rhys was picking up more monsters coming, and they didn’t need to know that Rhys was holding back all the ones that were in the lower level, ready to thrash and kill. Rhys hated fucking monster worms. They were gross, wriggly, and had too many teeth for Rhys’ comfort.

He’d heard once that someone wanted to farm the monsters for meat in a gate once, and Rhys had taken it on himself to make sure that never happened. They were unpredictable, and dangerous, and it would have been another strike against eating meat if it had happened.

Thankfully, his weight was enough to crush the hopes of the would-be farmer, and it was also backed up with data. Rhys wouldn’t just crush someone without facts. He had more of his sanity than other S Classes. Most days.

It also helped that the would-be farmer had never actually worked with the worms before in the first place. When they had encountered them for the first time? Absolute pandemonium. They would have withdrawn their own petition if it hadn’t already gotten too far into the system.

Rhys felt the ground tremble underneath his feet, his body shaking with the force. That was not a good sign. Even Esper Blake glanced back at Rhys with concern. They were on the fourth level, making their way towards the stairs going up towards the third floor. It did not bode well for anyone that the ground was shaking.

“How is it looking up top?” Rhys asked into his mic, hoping to hear good news.

“Bad news, Captain. It looks like a bunch of Espers have arrived on the scene. Ones that…yeah, they appear to be E.A.G. members. Um, I, I recognise a few as former D.E.C. members.” The one on comms was D.E.C., and when the words filled his ear and that of the others, the D.E.C. members looked upset.

Rhys sighed.

“Any faces from the other Guilds?” Rhys asked. He hadn’t lost any members recently, outside of the damn gate, but that didn’t mean that the others hadn’t.

“None as far as I can tell, but the comms team has a better visual of their faces then the rest of us, Captain.” A Nemesis Guild member spoke, and then the Saturn Guild member confirmed as well. Without the Peach Guild here, Rhys couldn’t be completely sure that they were in the clear, but it looked…relatively okay.

Besides, everyone knew that the D.E.C. wasn’t picky about who they accepted into their ranks, and that as a government agency, they weren’t really allowed to be. It wasn’t a mark against the D.E.C. in Rhys’ mind. Not yet, at least.

“No panicking. Just send out the signal, as practiced. We have a lot of Guides down here that are going to need extraction, and we have a heavily injured Lieutenant down here as well.” Rhys didn’t say his name, didn’t need to.

“Sounds good, Captain. We’ll send up the flare. The press conference also ended without any issues. Just got the report now.” The comms member told him, and the tightness in Rhys’ chest waned. He hadn’t even really been aware that he’d had it, but then again, of course he did.

Kellen had a way of getting himself into trouble, all the time. For something to not happen at the press conference? That was a damn miracle. It was also his partner. His man. His Guide. Rhys felt his shoulders relax. He didn’t have to save his powers now. Kellen was safe, so he didn’t need to hold back completely anymore.

Rhys felt his eyes heat as the level of his powers grew, the rumbling beneath their feet stopped, and Rhys’ hair began to stand on end. The other Espers were able to tell that something had changed. Esper Blake glanced back at her Captain, concern in her gaze.

“Let’s keep moving, everyone. If Espers begin to show up, protect the Guides. Esper Jordan, go to the front with Esper Blake. If you sense anyone is coming, attack. Our people know better than to come here right now.” Rhys ordered. “Esper Vanderbelt, stay where I can see you. Esper Car, keep the walls up around us while we’re moving through. Once we’re out, focus on the next section. Esper Douglas, at the front as well. I’ll keep maintaining the rear.” The only Esper that Rhys didn’t mention was the other Esper from the D.E.C.

That was for good cause. They were keeping the Guides calm, their presence alone was enough to soothe them, and for good reason. They weren’t nearly as powerful as Pamela when it came to crowd control, but they were doing their best. Rhys didn’t even know that they had another person like Pamela so close by, but then again, why would the D.E.C. tell him that anyways?

It was a secret power, one that not many knew about because it was so rare. In all of the Espers that Rhys had met who had the power, Tucker Johnson was only the second that he had met that was a man. All the others had been women, like Pamela.

His pink eyes glowed and Rhys could feel the slight tug on his own emotions. Calm, but urgent. Keep moving, everything would be okay if we kept moving. It was an interesting way to use his powers, one that Rhys would be bringing to Pamela. Even if she never went to the front lines, if they found someone else that wanted to go, it would be interesting to test that kind of power on monsters. It might even work. Maybe he could even convince Tucker to leave the D.E.C. with enough of an incentive.

Rhys needed to focus. He could worry about recruiting new members later. He barely had time to focus on the ones he had now. He needed to make sure that everyone got out of this safe and in one piece, per Kellen’s orders. He knew that Kellen said that they didn’t have to be in one piece, but that was only for Gunther.

Rhys knew his orders.

They began their climb up the third set of stairs, their movements slowed by the group of Guides. It was only made worse when Rhys felt a large group of worms approach suddenly and with great force.

“Brace for impact!” Rhys yelled, knowing that he was going to be able to stop them, but that it was rock the ground beneath them. Freezing time could only do so much when the others still needed to move.

The Guides screamed, the Espers braced for impact, and Rhys was impressed that Esper Blake’s shield didn’t even flinch. Bending with the group. Her powers had grown substantially since Rhys had trusted her with Kellen’s protection. She probably viewed it as her failing, but Rhys didn’t. It was clear that she had taken what had happened to heart, and Rhys was now even more sure that she would be the next member to enter the Lieutenant circle.

She had Kellen’s trust, she had Rhys’ trust, and she was proving to be an asset in tense situations like this.

“Keep. Moving!” Rhys shouted over the sounds of the ground around them trying to crumble. Rhys was breaking out into a cold sweat, but that was about it. He’d barely touched his powers, and with the confidence that Kellen was safe, he was in tighter control of himself as well. It was a good feeling.

He was looking forward to when he let everything go once everyone was safe and the consequences that would befall the E.A.G. once the Guides and Gunther were safe.

Rhys was going to crush them between his fingers.

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