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~5~

It had been a good hour since the militia occupied the shopping mall, and they were becoming restless. They were jumpy as well, reacting to every little noise. It helps matters much since it was pitch black in some parts of the mall.

One, the militia was lazily paroling one of the darkest parts of the southern area, only to be pulled in by a shadowy figure without making a sound.

Still, it was enough for some to be cautious and sprint to that area. A minute later, three were huddled around to see what was happening. Then, the man felt a pinch in his neck. He grabbed his neck and immediately collapsed to the ground.

The remaining two went over to check on him to see an arrow sticking out of his neck. It didn't kill him, but it was a needle filled with a sleeping agent at the end of it. He could have gotten all three, but he wanted to prove a point.

Then, one of the men was shot with an arrow as well. But this one screamed in pain, leaving the last one to run for cover.

« Nous avons une situation ici ! On nous tire dessus ! » the militia member said on his walkie-talkie, running down the hall.

As he spotted his members on the other side of the hall, he felt a snag on his left ankle. Something wrapped around it and yanked hard, dislocating his ankle. He fell to the ground immediately as he nursed his injured bloody ankle wrapped in snare wire. Screaming in pain, trying to get free, he mustered enough will to see where the snare wire was coming from. It led to a pitch-black hallway.

Afraid of his life, he tried to crawl away but felt something was dragging him into darkness. This made him scream for help. Finally, help arrived from two more members. Only to be in vain as she screamed murder for help in French with the others watching being pulled into the dark hallway.

The three militia members open fire into the hallway with their machine guns. They almost emptied their magazines, but one of them had enough sense to stop firing. One was brave enough to advance forward and at least had a flare to shine it inside the hallway.

Nothing was there... Not even their fallen comrade...

He was shot in the back with the same tranquilizer arrow for his bravery. The two other members turned around and immediately fired at the roof, knowing the arrow was shot. Then, something fell, making a sick thud hit the floor.

"Threat neutralized. Confirming kill," one of the militia said on his walkie-talkie. Advancing towards the downed enemy, they shined a flashlight on him, only to see they had shot and killed their injured comrade.

One of the militia immediately gave an update, “We have lost the target! I repeat, we have lost--”

Then, out of nowhere, a shadowy-winged figure swooped out of the darkness and attacked them. The shadowy winged figure was Mordechai as he disarmed one of the militias by punching his ribs and breaking them. The other acted out of fear she was about to shoot. Luckily, Mordechai was quick enough to take his gun and shoot the scared man in the kneecap.

Finally, Mordechai finished off the broken-ribbed man with a hard punch to the head, knocking him out cold, and then he took the screaming man with a shot knee by chucking him off the ledge and into the fountain filled with water.

That caught the attention of a couple of dozen who circled the fountain. He couldn't ask for a better setup as he transmuted another arrow and shot it into the fountain. Immediately, the arrow reacted violently to the water as it boiled, creating a thick, sweet-smelling fog that filled the floor in seconds. With no time to react themselves, they were choking on the fog.

A few seconds passed, enough time for the chemicals to work. Mordechai descended the lower floor using his wings to break his fall, disappearing into the fog. With one of the militia members sick and delirious from breathing in the fog, he watched his comrades being taken down by the shadowy-winged figure. They fired their guns; they had their number advantage; it made no difference. Hearing the hard-packing sounds of broken flesh and bones was even more terrifying in the dark.

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One minute later, the fog started dissipating, but the fog still affected the men as most writhed in fear. Then, the shadowy winged figure whisked some of the fog away with his wings as he approached the man on his knees. Still, with his gun raised, he was too scared to fire. He hallucinated to him as he saw a winged muscular monster with red eyes and big fangs. But in reality, it was a small 14-year-old boy.

Realizing this, Mordechai snatched his gun from him and disarmed it as the man collapsed from exhaustion.

“Wh-what’s wrong me?!” the frightened man yelled.

"You are experiencing a psychotic episode. The effects are temporary." Mordechai answered.

Then, the overheard communications on one walkie-talkie, "Juliet Alpha Victor Echo Lima India November. Juliet Alpha Victor Echo Lima India November. 10 Mikes."

Mordechai knew what that meant as he picked up the frightened soldier by his collar, “they are ordering a missile strike on the city! How do I stop it?!” he demanded.

"I don't know! It wasn't supposed to be one!" the man hollered.

“Your superiors lied to you!” Mordechai bellowed.

"It was supposed to be a street sweep! No aerials!" the frightened man yelped.

"They are covering up their tracks by taking out all of you by any means necessary." Mordechai analyzed while throwing the man to the ground, not before he took his walkie-talkie. He had to act fast since he got 10 minutes.

Mordechai ascended to the upper level and ran to the nearest electronics store. Fortunately, they had their backup electric generator for their machines and internet.

He went to the nearest terminal and connected the walkie-talkie using a 3.0 USB cable. It was then he accessed the talkie-talkie and all of the system files. Hacking through its system, he found an intranet PAL system. With it, he could manipulate their weapons' access control security device.

Mordechai managed to get to the splash screen, but he needed a 7-digit code to gain access, and he would only have to attempt before being locked out. He was stunned, and Blackjack could help, but it would take too long. There are 720 different combinations for a seven-digit number.

Racking his brain with many combinations, he would calm down and brainstorm anything biblical. Three existed until he found a clue in shape on a background image: Michelangelo's 'Asa-Jehoshaphat-Joram.' The man on the left is generally considered to be Jehoshaphat.

“Real cute, Maria... Sad but cute.” Mordechai said as he figured out the seven-digit-code combination while typing in 2-1-7-1-4-1-8.

And just like that, he was in.

Then, it was smooth sailing from here on out since they were using the military alphabet. He accessed the INI file filled with a cheat sheet of codes. And, of course, he found the abort codes he was looking for.

Electronically, he typed down the following: November Golf. Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta.

Mordechai waited for a few moments and got a response for another numerical code entry. This time, it was just a blank screen, a white box with a cursor.

He did a Hail Mary with two minutes left and went with the only number that means forgiveness, 4-9-0. Then something appeared...

LIMA CHARLIE. SIERRA HOTEL INDIA ECHO LIMA DELTA. NOVEMBER GOLF.

Mordechai celebrated while he felt about to cry, falling to his knees. He successfully aborted a missile strike, saving hundreds, if not thousands.

The little boy had to pull himself together as he left the store and ascended to the roof with his wings. It was safe to fly since everyone had been neutralized in the mall. He opened up the roof window ceiling and made it on top of the roof. He took off the visor to look closely at what was happening. Multiple fires were happening throughout the city as gunfire echoed around him.

Seeing the aftermath of what just happened was infuriating. He called Blackjack to see what was happening, " I'm still in London... The city has fallen."

"I was about to say. I tried calling you and got no answer." Blackjack informs.

“They must have been flying UAV drones throughout the city to jam radio signals,” Mordechai explains.

"I'm more concerned about you, Mordechai. Are you okay?" Blackjack sounded concerned.

“I’m not injured, but that doesn’t mean I’m okay,” Mordechai said while hanging up.

His flying to safety was out of the question. He felt propelled to stay and resist. It might have been selfish of him to do so, but he meant what he said to Blackjack moments ago.

A few hours later, the British Armed Forces would finally be deployed and take back control of the city of London. Mordechai's night wasn't done either, as he improvised while playing it by ear, saving civilians in the city and taking out many of the Third Revelations militia forces. Mordechai was exhausted. But his great reward for a wonderful night's work, getting back alive and uninjured to a pissed "babysitter."