Chapter 341: Intruder alert

"I’ll go up, and clear a path." Kellen said. The Guides they had just met stirred, looking horrified and hopeful all in between one moment and the next. Brent, however, looked pissed. He crossed his arms, glaring at his fellow Field Guide.

"Kellen." Brent admonished. "You can’t! That’s too-"

"I’ve ingested the most potent poison that has ever been observed on this planet thus far and came out alive on the other side. I can do it. Besides, I’m not planning to go alone." Kellen turned his gaze towards the Wind Esper. "We’ll go together and I’ll make sure to break a window. Your job is to make sure the floor is drained of the poison and help me dispose of the source of the poison. Do you have an imprint?" Kellen asked. Kellen realised that maybe that wasn’t the best way to ask after he caught the stunned look on the Esper’s face, but he recovered quickly.

He wasn’t dealing with the run of the mill Espers, after all.

"I do. They’re in the research team. They speak about you nonstop." He admitted. Good. They were next door to where the meeting was happening. They would be in the safest location.

"Good, and sorry that they speak about me so much. Brent, you’ll watch our back, Sergei and our other Telekinetic, we’ll have you two move her to a place closer to the next stairs." Kellen turned to the Guide who had the gun. "May I? I’ll need it to shoot the windows." Kellen asked and watched as she shook her head.

"I already tried. It didn’t work." She admitted. Kellen felt his gut drop.

Damnit, Aunt Dina! You got the strongest windows? That practically made this a death trap. It was helpful to keep people out, but it was not helpful when something dangerous was happening!

Kellen sighed, frustrated but not completely annoyed. After all, he was fairly certain that Rhys had done the same thing for Kellen, either before they attempted to kill his father or after. He ran a hand over his face, the eye patch on his eye shifting slightly.

Kellen wasn’t aware that his eye was open and a few of the Guides caught how his eye wasn’t glowing blue like the other, but a bright gold, the shade of coins. They kept it in, but shared a look with each other as the eye patch fell back into place and Kellen was busy already trying to make another plan.

"Okay. So, the gun won’t work. Keep it then. I’ll figure something else out." Kellen was sure between his A Class Esper strength and his S Class Guide strength, mixed with his own training that he would be able to punch a hole in the glass.

He glanced around the room, noticing a cloth, and Kellen grabbed it. He tucked it into his waistband and nodded.

"Plan stays the same, sans the gun. Let’s move. We don’t have a lot of time." Kellen ordered, not liking the idea that they had potentially enemies between them and the others. It would make sense since they had had access to the elevator before they shut down the power, but that didn’t mean that he had to like it.

Brent moved as soon as Kellen gave the order, the others moving as well. The Guides who were in the room were the only ones who hesitated but Kellen’s Esper bodyguard moved with him down the hall and towards the next set of stairs.

Kellen could smell the poison before they were within 4 door lengths from the next stairwell. The Esper coughed before he set out a protective bubble around them and Kellen gave him a grateful look. He looked grim.

"I won’t be able to do this for the whole floor." He said. Kellen chuckled.

"I’m just grateful for the help now." Kellen told him. Kellen was scanning the area, paying attention to any little movement. That was when the Wind Esper halted Kellen before they got to the stairwell. "Something’s wrong. I can hear movement upstairs." He said quietly. Kellen groaned.

"They probably have gas masks or something similar." He hypothesized, pissed. These assholes thought that they could invade his Aunt’s Guild like this and that they could get away with it? They were going to have a rude awakening. "Throw them out the window if you can, or slam them into the concrete. We don’t have to worry about being delicate right now." Kellen told him.

The Wind Esper nodded. They were in a hostile takeover. Decorum was out the window.

"Understood." Kellen glanced at him, nodded, and then flung the door open. He was right when he said he heard footsteps, as Kellen came pretty much face to face with three people covered completely head to toe in black. They were dressed like they were a special ops team, similar to how Field Guides dressed.

Kellen felt a chill run down his spine, wondering if that was intentional.

He noticed how there were only three of them, and that they were wearing gas masks and night vision goggles. They looked ridiculous, and it was clear that they weren’t completely trained properly since they didn’t shoot as soon as the door opened like the Guides had done.

They clearly weren’t expecting anyone to be able to come up the stairs, let alone open the door. That worked in their advantage. Kellen moved into the thick cloud of poison in the stairwell before they could react, slamming his arm into the throat of the first person he saw and taking them down. They fell onto the platform, Kellen’s head and the attackers dangerously close to the first step up. However, Kellen didn’t pay it any attention, too focused on his own survival.

The Wind Esper followed in behind him, the air immediately easier to breathe behind him as the Esper slammed the other two members against the cement until Kellen heard something crack. It was either the people or the cement, and at this point? Kellen didn’t really care.

He was busy yanking the gun away from the intruder’s hands, slamming his knee home in the groin. Man or woman, that was a sensitive spot and as his knee made contact, he noticed it was a man. The pained, choked gasp was another telling sign.

Kellen’s arm pressed down harder, restricting his airflow as Kellen then used his other hand after knocking away the weapon to claw at the mask that was covering his face. He would not get free of the poison that he had cast. Kellen wouldn’t allow it.

He tried to fight back, but it appeared that Kellen was that much stronger than him. Kellen watched on as he struggled before the mask was knocked off and he desperately grasped at his throat.

Kellen stole the gun from him, then waved the Wind Esper over even though the man was practically right behind him.

"Gather up the three of them and we’ll have the others deal with them." Kellen ordered, patting the gasping and thrashing man down until he found more ammo and more weapons. He wanted to pat down the others too, but they should share the weapons with Sergei, Brent and the other Esper.

He knew that this was rather callous of him, but he had lines he had to draw. Too many people were in danger and Kellen was not about to let this continue.

The Wind Esper didn’t hesitate. He hauled the two unconscious people by the arms, dragging them. If they were injured Kellen knew they shouldn’t be moving them, but then again, fuck them. They would have shot them if they had had two more seconds to process, Kellen was sure of it.

Kellen, for his part, grabbed one of the legs of the man he’d attacked and dragged him towards the door behind the Wind Esper. They tugged the three attackers down the hall and out of the poison, the man who had attacked Kellen going limp and becoming dead weight about half-way through the poison.

He was either dead, or unconscious. Kellen guessed they’d find out shortly.

Brent rushed over once they rounded the bend in the hallway and caught Kellen and the Wind Esper coming.

"Only three?" Brent asked and Kellen nodded.

"Three so far. Thankfully, they gave us their masks and goggles." Kellen told him. Brent chuckled.

"Three, in fact, which means I’m coming with you." Brent said. Kellen paused.

"Brent, you can’t." Kellen argued as he began stripping one of the three people who had attacked of their weapons and masks.

"It’s not up for debate, Kellen." Brent said with a smile. "You said that I am one of the people who know this tower the best. You’re right. I am your best shot right now. I might not know codes and shit, but you do, and we’ll be fine. Plus, Sergei and our other Telekinetic are needed here. Their powers are more useful in an office environment and they can protect everyone here." Brent grinned. "I’m not missing out again." Brent warned and Kellen felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

He had a feeling if he argued with Brent longer and delayed them, things would only get worse. He might even have to take Brent with him to get rid of this chill that was threatening Kellen’s mind. He was still new to how these powers worked, but it was clear that they were making a statement right now.

He needed to have Brent with him. Understood.

Kellen sighed, turning his gaze towards Sergei who watched his partner with a look that felt like something Kellen shouldn’t see. However, when he met Kellen’s gaze, Sergei gave a wry smile. He knew, about as well as Rhys did, that he couldn’t stop Brent, and he wasn’t going to hold him back. That alone endeared him to Kellen.

"Alright, fine. I won’t argue since we don’t have time. We have no idea if they had communication with each other so that might have alerted someone. Grab a mask, grab a set of goggles, and we’ll head on up. The mission is still the same. Get a hole in a window and push the gas out. My guess is that all of the floors connected to this stairwell are full of the gas." Kellen said and Brent nodded.

"Sounds good, Kellen. Shoot to kill or shoot to harm?" Brent asked.

"Harm for now." Kellen said and Brent nodded. He had a boyish grin on his face, excitement pulsing through him. Before he put on his mask he turned to Sergei and gave him a kiss.

"Stay safe, big boy. We’ll see you soon." Brent put on his mask, his voice slightly muffled. "Hopefully not with more blood on our hands, but we’ll see." He said with a non-committal shrug. Kellen groaned.

At least he was funny.

Sergei watched him, nodding in agreement.

"I hope so. We’ll hold the fort here, Kellen. I’ll keep the area safe." He promised and Kellen believed him. The Wind Esper had also stripped one of the intruders of his weapons and masks. This was one of the times that Kellen really wished that he had use of both of his eyes again, but alas, here he was.

At least Brent had use of both of his arms again.