The portal closes idly behind the group after they have cleared it, shutting with an odd 'pinging' sound. Raphael gives Marinth a quick walking salute as he walks to the entrance of the portal room, turning around at the doorway with his arm's crossed.
“Welcome to the JB Bunker, my friends. This here is the portal room, as you all have probably already figured out. This guy to my left is our lead portal tech,William Marinth.” says Raphael while motioning to the man to him. “Go ahead Marinth, introduce yourself to your new comrades.”
Marinth gives the group a solid salute before stating his claim. “Tech sergeant William H. Marinth, portal technician for this bunker. It's a pleasure to make all of your acquaintances, commanders.”
“At ease, sergeant.” says Raphael with a twitch of his right fingers. “I have a few things to discuss with the rest of the J.B., so I'm afraid that you won't hear from me for the rest of the tour. Chiot, I'm leaving the tour of the bunker to your capable hands.”
“I don't know, kid.” admits Chiot with a shrug of his shoulders. “I haven't even been given a full tour. Miyra would be a lot more inclined for this kind of thing, don't ya think?”
Raphael gives Chiot a cold stare as he speaks “Miyra isn't available right now. You told me that before the registration ceremony. If giving a full tour would be too much to ask, then at least bring the UHG squad to the barracks so that they can get settled in.”
The cold glare that Raphael is giving Chiot ends as he looks over his UHG squad. Lendlock hadn't come with them, most likely because he is going to get a portal back to his ship from the UHG main building, Raphael predicts. With a smile, he says “Good luck everyone, and I will see you all tomorrow.” and he walks out of the room.
Raphael can hear Chiot speaking rapidly to the members of the UHG squad as he leaves and walks down an opposing hallway. He knows that despite Chiot's hesitation, he has at least a rudimentary understanding of the layout of the bunker, so he should be able to give them at least a partial tour.
As Raphael wanders past a hallway turn, he starts to realize that he has no idea where the JPB is even meeting at. Seeing as Yen is a communication expert and Miyra probably ran the whole thing by her first to gather together the soldiers for the fake group, Raphael decides to head toward the C&I room.
As Raphael passes into the hall that leads into the C&I hallway, he noticed that he can hear a large commotion coming from inside the Communication room. “Okay, either there's a party going on or there's some kind of emergency.” he thinks. Seeing no other reason to slow down, Raphael runs down the hallway and into the C&I room.
The C&I room is in a complete uproar. There are communication techs and soldiers running in all different directions and everyone is screaming. This confuses Raphael. There isn't supposed to be any missions or anything like that going on today, so how could anything be going wrong....
Then it hits him. Sherah must have become fully possessed and be running a muck through the bunker. Raphael runs straight down the catwalk and over to Yen, who is at the far end of the room on a large computer, communicating with soldiers throughout the rest of the complex, as fast as he can.
He yells to her as his foot hits the last step on the catwalk. “Yen!” he yells “What's happening? Did Sherah get fully possessed!?”
She hears Raphael's voice as he nears closer. Without delaying for a second, she pulls off her headset and begins yelling back to Raphael. “Worse,” she proclaims “she hasn't been fully possessed yet, but she's going ape shit crazy on that JPB shit you tried to pull on her! From what I can see on the bunker's cameras, Miyra's been severely injured in the fight and we have multiple soldiers down. You need to get down there and you need to get there fast!”
Raphael looks past Yen and sees Miyra laying motionless against a wall in a room that he has never seen before on a live security camera. Next to the screen that is projecting Miyra is another screen that is showing a scene that can only be described as horrific.
On the screen, Raphael can see Sherah battling against multiple soldiers that have complete fear in their eyes. Sherah isn't even using her sword, she is simply just beating down anyone she can see with whatever she can find. In the corner of the screen, Raphael can just barely make out June, huddled in the corner of the room and clearly scared for her life.
“Where are they...?” asks Raphael coldly, but with a hint of haste in his voice.
“Go through the left exit on this floor, make a left, a right, and another left and the room is at the far end of the hallway.” says Yen as quickly as possible. “And please, be careful....”
With a cold bead of sweat trickling down the side of his head, Raphael gives Yen a nod and runs off to the side exit.
Following Yen's directions, Raphael arrives at the site of the battle in a matter of moments. From what he can tell, the room looks like, and probably is, the war room that Miyra had neglected to show him yesterday. The room is made purely out of shining white metal and would blind someone immediately if the light's had not been dimmed.
The white of the room, however, is painted in red sploshes. Past the large metal table that is supposed to be used for discussion, but is now being used as a gurney for about seven people, Raphael can see Sherah at the opposite end of the room punching a UMA soldier's visor in before mule-kicking another in-coming soldier in the ribs, putting a large dent in his armor. He can also see June taking cover by the side of the wall while attempting to drag Miyra out of harm's way.
Without hesitating, Raphael leaps onto the table and starts sprinting toward Sherah as she attempts to strangle the last remaining soldier in the room. He knows that he has to remain quiet as he goes if he wants to not be Sherah's next target.
When Raphael is only about fifteen feet away from Sherah, he leaps into the air and curls his legs up into his body mid-flight. He twists his body to the left and then springs his legs out when he is only five feet away from Sherah, which is exactly how tall he is.
He nails Sherah clear in her back, sending her straight into the soldier that she was strangling moments ago and making her head smash against the projector screen. As Raphael comes down from his drop kick, his head nearly hits the edge of the table, but misses by a mere inch.
He raises himself immediately, prepared for another battle, but Sherah, it seems, has been knocked unconscious by the hit that her head took when she hit the screen. Raphael looks down at Sherah, praying that this possession thing can be resolved more easily now.
Knowing that Sherah is no longer a threat, Raphael turns his attention away from her and over to June, who is sitting on her knees by the wall with Miyra. He can tell by the way that June is holding Miyra that she is gravely concerned for her.
Raphael moves over to the two and kneels down to examine the injured Miyra. “June, let me look at her.” he asks her before she hands Miyra over to him.
Raphael examines her from head to toe, judging body ligaments and her vitals before drawing to a conclusion. “Miyra,” he asks in a calming voice. “can you hear me?”
The only words that come from Miyra are moans and grunts, making Raphael believe his initial hypothesis is true. “I think she has a concussion. June, what happened to Miyra?” he asks her.
“The whole June's Protection Battalion thing was going alright at first, but then Sherah got all pissed off in the middle of the vows. She started saying that the soldiers that Miyra picked weren't good enough and that she needed to test them first.” says June sadly as she stares past Raphael toward Sherah. “Before Miyra could even say another word, Sherah ripped the projector system out of the table and threw it at her. The projector hit her in the head and she started to walk away while holding her forehead in pain. Sherah nearly leaped over the table at her, but one of the UMA soldiers that was sitting next to her grappled her and then all hell broke loose.”
“Did anything else happen to Miyra?” Raphael asks as he cradles Miyra's head in his hand.
“No. At least I don't think anything else hit her. Last thing she did was walk a few feet against the side of the wall before she fell to her knees and placed herself up against the wall. A few minutes later and you showed up.”
“Alright, if that's the case, I know exactly what to do.” proclaims Raphael as he places his two fingers to Miyra's forehead and mutters a few angelic words, with Miyra's eyes flashing open after the incantation. “Huh?” she mutters before loosening herself from Raphael's grasp and looking around the room.
“Oh yeah, that's right, Sherah lost her freaking mind....” says Miyra while looking toward the open door on the other side of the room. “Raphael,” she says as she shoots her head up to look at Raphael. “I didn't bring my communication glasses with me, so your going to have to call in Yen. Tell her that we need to have Sherah escorted back to her room and have around-the-clock guards looking over her. If her reaction earlier is any kind of sign, then it's that she is really close to becoming fully possessed.”
“Okay, how long do you think we have?” asks Raphael as he rises to his feet and calls in Yen on his glasses.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Two, three days tops.” says Miyra as she helps June up off the floor.
“So that's what's happening...” says June as she looks down at Sherah. Although she has been fighting the thought, she had started to feel a sense of evil coming from Sherah a day prior. “Raphael... I'm scared...” she tells Raphael as he finishes speaking to Yen.
Raphael thinks to himself for a few moments before speaking again. “Alright, I know what to do. Miyra, your going to run personal guard sessions with Sherah until a UMA priest arrives for the exorcism. If she becomes fully possessed before he or she arrives... well, we'll just have to run it by ear then. June, your going to be staying at my house until Sherah is exorcised. Go to your room and gather up some clothes and some gear and meet me at my house. Staying at the bunker right now is too dangerous with Sherah around.”
“But Sherah would never hurt me, she told me I was like a daughter to her!” yells June, her eyes filling with tears. Despite her words, she knows what Raphael is about to speak is true.
“June, listen to me. The Demu that is possessing Sherah has no other reason to possess her then to kill or capture you. Having you as far away from her right now as possible is the best thing we can do to keep you safe.” says Raphael with a cold look on his face.
June nods to Raphael and they are about to walk toward the room's exit when Miyra suddenly calls out Raphael's name. “This is just in case...” Miyra grabs Raphael's hand and places a 1270 Mk.2 semi pistol in his hand. “If Sherah becomes fully possessed and breaks through our defenses....”
Raphael looks wide-eyed at the handgun that Miyra had just placed in his hand. With his mouth slack, he says “Miyra, I-”
“I know you don't want to...” says Miyra, interrupting Raphael as he attempts to speak. “but we have no choice! Raphael, this is war, we have to do whatever is necessary to keep June safe!”
Raphael looks at the gun as he contemplates his choices, and eventually draws up the conclusion that he has no other options. Killing Sherah is an absolute last resort, but he has to at least be prepared for it. “Miyra... you're right. This is a very dire situation and we need to be prepared to deal with the consequences.” Raphael's head shoots back to June, who is now standing behind him. “June, while your getting your clothes, grab a scythe from the armory.”
June looks back at Raphael with a sense of pain in her eyes. Raphael immediately understands how hurt she is by the series of events that are now taking place. “I'm not saying that you are going to need to use it against Sherah, it's just in case of Demu assassins that might be wandering the neighborhood.”
“No, no, I understand. We have no other choice, we need to prepare ourselves for the worst now, and that's just what I'm going to do...” With tear's still flowing in her pain-filled eyes, June turns away from the group and leaves the room as UMA personnel come in to carry Sherah back to her room.
Raphael wants to speak more with Miyra about what is happening, but he knows there is nothing left to say. Without another word, he pushes past the UMA personnel and leaves out the room's doorway.
Raphael presses the elevator button back to his backyard and sighs. He can't believe what is happening. If anything goes wrong, he is going to lose one of his friends and a very valuable ally.
“I guess... that's the price of war....” he says as he walks up onto the elevator pad and it slowly levitates up to ground level.
Although Raphael has taken his sweet time getting to the ground level elevator, June still hasn't caught up with him. He understands her pain, because it effects him too. He wants nothing less then to bring happiness to his friends and family, and as far as June's Battalion is concerned, they are his family. Which makes the thought of having to harm Sherah even harder to bear.
“Sherah... please be safe...” Raphael's thought's drift as he attempts to push his thoughts away from the delicate topic of death, but he can't stop himself from being drown back to the fact that the situation is getting very serious and Sherah could lose it at any minute of the day.
Once the elevator has fully elevated to ground level, Raphael steps off of the plate and allows it to go back down with his head still sunken low....
Looking up into the sky, he notices what time of day it is. “Oh... nighttime already....” he mutters to himself in melancholy.
His senses suddenly kick in and he begins to feel someone within his house. Not only does he feel a presence, but he also feels evil.
He slowly edges closer to the side of the house while summoning up his icicle spell and drawing the pistol that he had just received. Since the sun has gone down and the area is now covered in darkness, he can move through the cover of the shadows.
He peaks his head in through the kitchen's triple windows and examines the area in a figurative stealth mode. The lights are on in the house, and he knows for a fact that he hadn't turned them on before leaving for the day.
As he continues to examine the kitchen, he sees a shadow creeping out of the office, which is directly across from where he is currently positioned. A man appears in the room's doorway moments later carrying the family's flat screen computer monitor.
The man is dressed in- “Oh, who cares what they are dressed in, going to take them down anyway....” he thinks. Raphael sprints down the side of the house and arrives at the den backdoor with his icicle's ready in his left hand.
He peaks over the blinds that block half the sliding glass door and can make out another person disconnecting the den lamp. Seeing as the man's back is turned to him, Raphael decides to take action. He moves in front of the doorway and aims his icicle towards the man.
The only thing the man hears before he is hit is the shattering of glass. Raphael smiles as he watches his icicle fly through the glass frame of the doorway and slam into the man's esophagus.
The man looks at Raphael as he enters the house, but he doesn't move a muscle or say a word, for his wounds are too great. Raphael looks at him for a few mere seconds before turning his attention away back to the rest of the man's friends.
As far as Raphael knows, there could be any number of enemies in the house. He advances into the area between the living room, den and kitchen with his icicles pointed towards the living room and his pistol aimed toward the kitchen.
An enemy suddenly appears with an AK47 from the office. Raphael has to drop his icicles to send up a barrier to block the shots before firing back. The barrier catches all five bullets before Raphael fires two rounds into the man's chest.
Another man appears from the living room with a sawed-off shotgun. Raph sees him, but isn't able to aim his gun fast enough to get off a shot.
The shotgun shell hits him dead in his chest and sends him reeling backwards. Luckily, he had gotten the nanobot treatment, or the blow would be lethal. As he goes down to the ground, Raphael fires off a shot from his pistol that grazes the thief's shoulder.
Thinking on his feet, Raphael rolls to his side and crawls to cover behind the kitchen wall. He can hear the thief moving closer, but doesn't dare poke his head out to check. The man's footsteps suddenly stop and he can hear the man gauging another shell into his shotgun.
Raphael has no time to think of a battle plan, he just acts on instinct. Using his wall phasing ability to move through the kitchen's wall, he appears behind the man in the living room.
The thief never sees him coming. Raphael fires three shells into the man's back and he drops to the ground in a heap.
He exhales deeply as what he thinks is the last of his enemies hits the ground. “Well, that wasn't too hard, I suppo-”
Raphael suddenly feels a sharp pain ring through his back. He attempts to reach back and find out what is wrong, but the pain's coming from an area that he cannot reach. He looks into the T.V. to see what is hitting him. It is a knife from a final attacker that he did not see coming, and it is sticking right out of the center of his back.
Raphael feels his legs suddenly go limp, but he uses all the strength in his body to keep himself up. I... have to get away.... he thinks wearily. He stumbles forward and hits the TV with his shoulder. He recoils off of the T.V. and wobbles in the other direction and plows straight into the freezer in-between the kitchen and the den, his blood trailing on the floor.
He can hear the man who hit him coming ever closer and closer, following his every footstep. Raphael falls to floor as his legs cannot hold him any longer. He crawls in pain over to the microwave cabinet, but his strength gives out halfway there.
With all of the strength that he can muster, he pushes himself over onto his side to see who his attacker is. The cold, evil eyes that he sees can only be described as that of a murderers. Using what little stamina he has left, Raph moves his hand toward his attacker, prepared to use his flamethrower spell.
As Raphael chants, the man reels his hand back, ready to deal the final blow with the knife he has in his hand. Raphael knows as the man moves to attack that he won't be able to finish the chant fast enough. This is it, I'm going to die....
A fine-toned scythe blade suddenly appears behind the man and slices off his knife arm in what seems like slow motion to Raphael. The man screams in pain while gripping the bloody stump where his arm used to be. The scythe blade makes another swing and catches him dead in the chest and throws him against the radiator door.
June steps out of the shadows with an intense look in her eyes. She is in a blood fury. With every breath she takes, she slams her scythe blade into the man over and over and over again.
“June....” Raphael says after using his telekinesis to pull the knife out of his back with a yelp of pain and gaining back at least a little of his strength. “Please stop, he's dead now....”
Raphael's request doesn't even register in June's mind. She continues to slam her blade into the man's corpse without relent. Raphael stumbles to his feet and places his hand on June's shoulder.
June shoots her head up at Raphael as soon as he touches her shoulder. Her face is beet red and her eyes are tearing uncontrollably. Before even muttering a word, she plows her face into Raphael's chest and starts crying as hard as anyone possibly can. “Raphael...” she says past her sobs. “I'm scared... I'm so fucking scared....”
Raphael drops his guard and falls to the ground with June as she cries into his shirt. “I know, June. I'm scared too....”
“Oh god! I don't want to lose her!” screams June into Raphael's shirt. She is bowling so uncontrollably that Raphael believes that June would die of dehydration if she continues.
Raphael pats June on her shoulder and lifts her up as he stands up himself. “Come on June.” he says to her. “We're going upstairs, we both need some rest....”
June walks with Raphael as he holds her up against him, still crying. They walk past the downed man with the shotgun, paying no heed to his corpse. They move up the stairway and go straight into Raphael's bedroom.
Raphael flips on the light switch when he enters his room, still holding June in his arms. He isn't even sure how June is going to go to sleep with how viciously she is crying. “I guess she's just going to have to cry herself to sleep then....” Raphael thinks as he moves June to his bed and sits her on the bed's edge.
“Oh God, please don't make Sherah leave me! I don't want to lose my family again!” June prays through an ever-flowing river of tears.
Raphael wants to comfort her, but she is right in her worries. There is a real chance that they could lose Sherah. With a sigh, he places his semi-pistol on his nightstand and climbs into his top bunk bed. Even though he has a slight fear of the top bunk, he really doesn't care at this point.
Using his telekinesis, he turns off the room's light and lays himself down to bed. “Please June,” he says with a low tone. “just go to sleep, crying and bowling isn't going to make anything better....”
After sniffling a few more times, June says “Okay...” and shifts herself under Raphael's blanket. Slowly, her tears begin to lift as her thoughts drift away from what is currently happening and to the possible future if the JB prevails through their current crisis.
Raphael waits for June to fall asleep before he closes his eyes. Unlike the peaceful sleep that he had received the night before, he barely can even keep his eyes shut. He is too troubled by the current state of affairs to fall asleep. But eventually, his body finds an uneasy peace.
But tomorrow, everything would go horribly, incredibly wrong....