Returning to the staging area, Raphael and his team see that the other two groups have already arrived. “Oh, they're back...” he mutters to himself as he exits the van. After a few seconds, Raphael's mind comes to an understanding “Wait, Quib was leading blue team, and they must have...!” in a quick flash, Raphael runs into the warehouse, throwing it's doors open as quickly as he can to get to Jian.
Upon Raphael entering the room, he sees Jian on his back, clenching his chest. The other members of the investigation group are surrounding him, some trying to offer support. Most of the UMA soldiers are looking over Jian, checking his vitals and monitoring his heart rhythm.
Raphael and June stand at the entrance, both in complete shock. Carie yells Jian's name as she runs to him. Raphael mutters under his breath “Don't die, please god don't let it happen....”
Carie, rushing towards Jian, is held back by the soldiers in the room “Let me see him! Please! Jian!”
One of the soldiers holding Carie's arm states “Please ma'am, we need to check his vitals and give him proper care. Stay at a reasonable distance.”
“Jian! Let me talk to him!” Carie yells before realizing that her struggles are in vain. She ceases her attempts, but then turns to Raphael “You!” she exclaims to him as she walks closer.
“You're the reason this happened! You and Quib and your whole damned JB bullshit! We never asked for your help! You could have left us alone in our corner of the universe and things would have been different! Jian would have found someone else and his life would never have been in danger, never like this! You had to interfere! You just had to be the hero, and look at what it's gotten you. More death than could ever be needed, and now there's blood on our hands. All of ours! Now Jian might die, but how about everyone else! Every one of those people we killed had a family! Friends! Do you have any idea what the hell you are doing! Is this a goddamn game to you!”
Raphael stares at Carie, not saying a word, but she continues “You know what? I'm done. I don't care if this is our fight or not, but tonight opened my eyes. I went into this thinking it would be incredible to be a superhero, but now I see the truth. You aren't a superhero, you aren't some protector of the weak, you're a serial killer, and I won't be part of your fucked up game anymore! I'll keep searching for the Sigil head leader, without a doubt they're real and a threat, but I'm not following your lead anymore. We'll find them on our own!”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
As Carie finishes her speech, the UMA soldier looking over Jian completes his diagnoses “All vitals check out. He just needs a few nights rest and to get his mind off of the issue for a while.”
“Good, because we are leaving.” Carie states as she goes to Jian and picks him up in her arms. “I don't know about the rest of the group, but this is the last I will ever correspond with you. Goodbye.”
As Carie leaves the warehouse, Boz takes his baseball cap off and scratches the back of his head “I wasn't going to go that hard on ya, but she still has a point. After what happened with Lera, I don't mind getting my hand's a little dirty to protect the people I care about, but this is too much, man. Too many lives have been taken, all because you want us to have this 'hero's journey'. I'm sorry, but if you knew how to solve this, you should have already. I'll keep searching for the one behind this, but my own way, with a lot less fighting. This'll probably be the last time we talk, so I'll tell ya this: Next time, do the right thing. Put the lives of everyone first, not just a few high schoolers. A hero's journey isn't really worth it if there's piles of unnecessary deaths along the way. Lera, lets go....”
Without a word, Lera leaves with Boz, unable to look towards Raphael the entire time.
Sin glares at Raphael before walking over to him and punching him in the face, knocking him to the ground “This has gone far enough. Ignama isn't your playground, so don't think that any murder can go unabated.... I'll give you one chance, leave this planet and let us deal with our own problems!” he glares at Raphael for a few seconds afterwards, and then leaves the building.
Hoshi, standing nearby, says “The UMA said that you were supposed to be the backup that would stop all of this. I never expected so much death. I read the vision about us, so you had to have known where the machinery was that's causing this, and who's using it. You knew... but you didn't act on it, and relied on us to find out.... Was the cost really worth it....” he walks out of the warehouse after saying that, giving Raphael a pitying glance as he leaves.
Laying face down, Raphael doesn't say a word. June, in a panic, says “Raph, you need to do something! We need to go after them, convince them, anything!”
Raphael doesn't respond to June's inquiry. He stays on the ground, not moving a muscle. “Raph...?” June mutters in confusion.
A few moments later, a whimper releases from Raphael's mouth. A mutter of defeat and anguish as his understanding of everything he has done crashes down on him. A repeating series of words escapes his lips “I messed up....”