Dean's feet touched the ground as Ha-eun slowly moved closer to him without doing another charge attack as it seems she's gotten bored of doing the same attack and decided to go for a fistfight against a sword.
Though with her endurance and ability being a higher rank, the best Dean could do with his current strength and enclosed space was leave scratch marks on Ha-eun's metal skin.
So instead of a pointless struggle in close quarters, Dean backed off slowly with his sword out.
"Scared Dean?"
His piercing blue eyes stared coldly at Ha-eun's approaching chrome-like figure.
His expressionless face showed no fear as if Ha-eun's taunt and show of power had no effect on him.
His silent defiance was not deterred by Ha-eun's intimidation nor her increased strength.
"Tch, you never talked much. Always studying, training, or....hanging out with Mel in that dumb cooking club."
Then suddenly, Dean stopped moving and readied his stance almost as if he was taunting Ha-eun to come near. He stopped in the middle of the hallway after exiting the spacious student housing office and was now far away from the open ceiling vent with the steel cables where Ha-eun is currently under.
"Oh did I touch a nerve? Was it because you're a loner? Or...", Ha-eun's playful tone suddenly shifted to an ominous one, "....the only person who put up with your quiet serious antic was the craziest bitch in this academy."
The lights around the two were flickering indicating the intense fight in the digital space of the building, but with Ha-eun's glowing red eyes and veins, it only made her more terrifying to the average person.
Sadly for Ha-eun, it didn't affect Dean mentally as he slowly slither the steel cable behind her and aimed for the nearest pillar.
"She's not crazy."
Dean finally spoke which halted Ha-eun's movement as she might have finally struck a nerve with the most quiet person in the academy. Little did she know, Dean was simply buying time to prepare for the impromptu trap.
"At least not the craziest person..."
Once the cable was tied tightly to the pillar mentally, the lasso end was subtly floating above Ha-eun.
"...that goes to either Sylvie Lionel or....the current you", Dean finished talking and pushed his glasses up as the lasso came down to tie Ha-eun in one place.
Ha-eun quickly tried to move which prompted Dean to go for her waist instead of her legs or even her slim neck.
"Ha, I didn't know you were into bondage. I guess hanging around my ex-bestie flipped a switch in you, Dean~", Ha-eun said arrogantly as it seems she wasn't fazed by being tied up knowing Dean can't hurt her....at least to her knowledge.
"Tch, crazy bitch...oh excuse my language I meant Miss Ha-eun."
A deep rough voice resounded behind her as a short beam of coldness hit her back. Then....
"You're up boy."
...a javelin was thrown and shattered her metal skin leaving the soft flesh exposed for anyone to exploit.
"OH MY GOSH IT WORKED, LOOK SIR.....I mean Bob."
Two muscular men had dropped down behind Ha-eun and hit her with the makeshift cryo weapon along with homemade javelins. The third one just dropped down from the ceiling as Ha-eun's eyes widen feeling her entire back exposed.
"FUCK!!! SLAVE KILL THE LIGHTS WE'RE LEAVING."
"SHIT THROW ANOTHER ONE, THIS GUN STILL NEEDS SOME TIME TO RECHARGE."
The two men were preparing to do another attack as the third one simply put up an energy shield and modify it to be solid one-way.
Dean used his telekinesis to bring the nearby melee weapons down on Ha-eun as she yelled for her retreat.
All of this took two seconds for everyone to react but for a paxian it was enough to do their task.
[It's done mistress Ha-eun], a mature female voice resounded throughout the ground floor as if she wasn't in a intense fight herself.
This caused Dean to widen his eyes, terrified that something might have happened to Kat thus distracting him long enough for the lights to go out.
Flicker
Dean and the others sent their attack at where Ha-eun was hoping to put an end to a powerful monster.
Dean sent all of the weapons he could muster.
Fred threw another javelin aiming for her, but his power only works as long as he had a clear line of sight.
Mercury strengthen his energy shield in case Ha-eun tried to run through them.
Bob aimed the cryo beam, lighting up the room with its blue color.
The blue light flashed for a moment revealing Ha-eun to still be there, but in the next flash....
.
.
.
.....she was gone.
Dean quickly turned his smartwatch's light on and the same goes for the other three people with him.
They looked around them to see if Ha-eun was still around, but luckily or...unluckily she was gone possibly retreated back to Pleasantville.
"FUCK SHIT"
Someone cursed loudly and kicked a nearby chair in frustration since they almost had her. Ha-eun Cheong was one of the strongest foes they faced aside from the usual monsters they've seen so far. Now that she escaped, it was going to be even more challenging next time to take her down.
The three men chose to sit on the ground or a nearby chair as the few seconds of tension along with hours of being cooped up in a tight space were finally let go.
Even though they failed in putting down one of the strongest foes so far, there was another chance as the 2nd strongest Esper in the academy was with them this time.
At least that was what Bob quietly thought, as his years in the UHA marine corps taught him that 'as long as you're alive, there will also be another chance for payback against the sumabitch.' Well...it's more from his former NCO (non-commissioned officer) who never knew when to give up but knew when it was time to retreat to fight another day.
Dean, on the other hand, didn't care for their failure as he was more concerned about Kat's wellbeing.
"Kat are you there?"
He went to a nearby computer to see if he could reach her as her main 'body' was currently in the 4th year building's system.
BaDum~
His heart starting racing as she wasn't in that monitor then he went to another while calling her name out.
"Kat?"
BaDum BaDum~
.
.
.
Then at the final computer monitor, Dean stopped and look as his heart froze seeing his newfound best friend's current state. He suddenly recalled a hidden memory from his childhood.
'It's okay Dean....everything's going to be okay.'
**********
A/N: A cliffhanger?
For current readers it's a sin.
But for new readers or bingers, it's something to chuckle or call pathetic at my attempt. T__T