"I won," Ramona said then she collapsed to the ground.

"Oh goddammit," Julius swore.

He immediately shot towards her as whatever boosting magic she had been using gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. He pulled one of his more potent health potions out of his pocket as he reached her prone form on top of the pile of dead lurkers.

Ramona's skin was a terrible tapestry of bruises and blood. Her once caramel complexion was marred by savaged cuts and purple bruises. Her left arm hung limply, broken and twisted, while her hands trembled. The bones in her hands clearly broken, and her every laboured breath was a wet gasp of agony.

Even as Julius reached her, she convulsed, vomiting blood down her front, staining herself in a nightmarish display. The familiar stink of copper perforated the air and filled Julius with despair as he started to treat her.

Even as he admitted the health potion, he realized it wouldn't be enough. Her body was too far gone for a simple cure-all. Ramona was dying.

Taking out three additional potions, he forcibly fed them to her. She struggled as he shoved the bottles down her throat, but he didn't stop. The potions would end up inside of her. Whether it be the lungs or her stomach didn't matter so long as she drank.

The first potion Trolls Heart was designed to stimulate the production of red blood cells in her bone marrow to replace everything she had already lost.

The second potion, a poison known as Mage Bane, would cleanse her body of the mana that was poisoning her.

The third and final potion was the most difficult to produce. A Hydra Decoction, the essence of what it means to be a hydra, boiled down into a bottle. In particular, the hydra's ability to rapidly regenerate from all injuries not inflicted by fire or frost. Normally he kept this potion in reserve in case someone was decapitated. Now he just prayed it would be enough.

Julius gave a silent prayer that it would be enough to repair her insides.

Immediately after Ramona ingested the decoction, her body began repairing itself instantly. A few seconds after he began to administer the Decoction, she shot up, sputtering awake as she tried to push him off. But given the dire condition her body was in and having all her mana temporarily stripped from her, she was nowhere near to her previous strength, and she was going to drink her medicine.

"What the?!" she sputtered.

"Shut up and drink, you idiot!" he ordered, force-feeding her the remainder of the potion, despite her continued resistance.

When she finally finished consuming the soda bottle-sized health potion, he released his grip and allowed her to breathe.

"Gaaaaah," Ramona gasped. As he released her immediately, she started coughing heavily as she recovered from the forceful feeding.

"Were you trying to kill me?!" she asked angrily.

"No, I was just making sure you didn't drop dead." Julius deadpanned.

"Uuuh, what?" she asked, confused.

"You used your mana to push yourself well beyond your limits, and now you're paying the price," Julius stated coldly.

"Um, I'm sorry," Ramona apologized.

"You're sorry?"

Julius felt his anger rising. He smacked her over the head, though he made sure to hold back enough to avoid further injuring her.

"Ow, what was that for?!" she asked, enraged.

"You were cooking your own organs, you stupid girl!!" Julius shouted at her. "By all rights, you should be dead! Worse, I don't know how long it will be until you're fully recovered. Why did you even push yourself so hard in the first place?!" Julius asked.

"I thought you all died." she stuttered.

"What?" Julius asked, stunned. "No, we … I mean, we did lose three people, but it wasn't that grim."

She looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"I saw Dick get impaled through his chest. Everyone was getting overwhelmed, I couldn't even see you and this one guy with his organs scooped out. How is that fine?!"

Julius frowned a little.

"I did tell you Lycanthropes have powerful regenerative abilities, right?"

"No!!" Ramona punched his arm, some of her strength already returning to her. "You never told me anything! You've just waved your hands and said you'll explain later! I nearly died again, by the way, so I would argue I was justified in whatever the fuck I did."

Julius let out a sigh. She was right. He hadn't bothered giving her basic information because anyone in her position was supposed to already know these things. In her perceived position, he would have pulled out all the stops too. But he wasn't going to tell her that.

"You're right. You should have been told at least that much before you were allowed to join this mission. So let's just set the record straight. Dick and the wolves are Lycanthropes, were animals or whatever you want to call them. They have powerful regenerative abilities regrowing limbs, producing more blood, repairing organs etc. It's not perfect, but compared to humans, it's leagues better."

"So, like Wolverine?" she asked.

"What, no, they aren't," Julius signed in exasperation. "Yes, they're like Wolverine."

"Am I going to become a werewolf?" she asked nervously.

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"No, as a general rule, the BPA doesn't want its agents to be Lycanthropes. Don't ask me why, but I'm pretty sure the reason is racism. Furthermore, It's actually illegal to turn someone into a vampire or lycan without government oversight. So unless you're dying again, don't expect it to come up." Julius said, happy about the change of conversation.

As Julius helped Ramona along on shaky legs, the duo rejoined the rest of the group.

"Hey, if it isn't Ramona the barbarian, back from her mighty conquest." Oak cheered.

Ramona smiled as she was slapped on the back and welcomed as one of the team. None of them realized just how close they had come to losing her.

Julius quietly left her with the wolves as he moved over to Dick. His old friend was kneeling over the four fallen wolves, each one carefully placed inside of a body bag.

"May you find peace in your next life," he whispered as he zipped up the bags.

Julius placed his hand on his friend's shoulder as he mourned the loss. People just kept leaving.

Julius was broken out of his thoughts as Dick stood up. The body bags go into Dick's storage items to be removed later for their funerals.

"Thanks for being here for me," Dick said

"Anytime" Julius nodded.

What would he be like when he was the one putting Dick in a body bag?

Julius crushed the thought as soon as it popped into his head. He would not think about that ever.

"Alright, we need to move!" Julius spoke up, addressing everyone in the room, "We just smashed through the front door. Let's keep going before they can counterattack."

"Oak," Julius called out.

"Yes sir," Oak stood at attention.

"Did anything escape?"

"We don't think so, sir."

"Alright then, let's head deeper in."

🜃🝈🜈🝔🝃🜖🝗🜲

Ramona followed Julius as he led them toward the chasm. Her entire body felt like one massive bruise, her every step was shaky, and she felt weak. Not as weak as she had been, but definitely less than she was.

With each step they took, the ground beneath their feet grew steeper, and the air became thick with a sweet earthy scent. The chasm yawned before them. The strange light they saw before emanated from below, beckoning them downwards.

Without hesitation, Ramona extended her hands, seizing hold of the sturdy vines that dangled from the edge. She could feel the coarse texture against her palms as she used them as lifelines, slowly lowering herself down the precipice.

The faint whispers of the wind mingled with the distant echoes of water trickling far below. The deeper they went, the more the air around them changed. The cold, dry air started to get warmer, and the air started to get more humid.

Ramona's felt her heart pounding in anticipation. What was she going to find down here? With each passing moment, the light grew brighter.

Finally, the team touched solid ground, the soft crunch of the earth beneath their boots marking their arrival. Ramona stared out into the new world around her with … disappointment.

"Did we travel to the center of the earth or something," she asked.

Gesturing at the large underground jungle in front of her.

A massive glowing stalactite hung from the ceiling like an artificial sun. At the bottom of the stalactite was a massive grotesque hive growing out of the bottom of the rock like a tumour.

Beneath the stalactite, a massive jungle spread out across the cavern floor in all directions, except for two anomalies. The first was a large strange, looking pyramid off to the left side, and in the very middle of the cavern below the hive was a clearing.

Julius pulled out a pair of binoculars and started to scan the area.

"I don't suppose there are any dinosaurs in there?" Ramona asked as the other wolves made it down to their position.

"I doubt it, but if you want, I can show some real-life dinosaurs later," Julius muttered.

Ramona felt her eyes bug out at his statement. Was there a secret amusement park filled with dinosaurs she didn't know about?

"Dick, have you got a visual of our targets yet?" Julius asked.

"I think I found the research team. They’re making the pyramid thing down there. Some of those things are watching over them." Dick said, pointing to the pyramid.

"It's a ziggurat, you uncultured rubes. It's probably a giant ritual sight. If they were working on a portal, I'd bet you anything that our guests from the other side want to make the portal bigger and bring more people over. Blah blah blah, evil scheme. Any sign of Doctor Winters or the rest of the research team?" Julius asked.

"No sign of them. But I'm seeing a lot of activity down by the ziggurat. Could be them." Dick said.

Ramona tried to see what he was talking about, but she couldn't see anything from this distance.

"You see, that's just not fair," Julius muttered.

"What isn't?" Ramona asked.

"Lycans get healing powers, enhanced senses, and superhuman strength. Total bullshit." Julius gripped.

"That is so cool!" Ramona said. "Are you sure I can't be a werewolf or something?" Ramona asked.

Julius rolled his eyes.

"See what you've done, Dick? I'm already losing her to you lot." he moaned.

"Complains the Eternal Alchemist." Dick shot back.

"Hey, none of that, or I'm going to start calling you the lion king again." Julius shot back.

"So, how do you want to play this?" Dick asked, forcibly changing the subject.

"Im thinking the people we're looking for will be at the ziggurat down there. I'll take Ramona the Barbarian down to the center there, a good place to plant the bomb." Julius said.

"Football?" Dick asked.

Julius nodded.

'What does football have to do with any of this?' Ramona wondered.

"Football. I'll see if anything there is anything worth the effort, but we’re nuking the place beyond that." Julius said.

"Timetable?" Dick asked.

"How long do you think it would take them to tunnel out of the entrance after we blow it with C4?" Julius asked.

Dick pondered the question for a minute.

"Depends if they have a geomancer. Without one, it could easily take a couple of hours."

And Ramona had officially lost the conversation. What the hell was a geomancer?

"Let's say eighty minutes," Julius said

Dick kept nodding before speaking. "That sounds right any longer, and it will be night, and I don't think we could do it much quicker."

Julius nodded back.

Ramona started to wonder if this entire conversation was just an inside joke that she didn't get. Why did they keep nodding at each other?!

"Come on, Ramona, we have a nuke to plant," Julius declared, his voice resolute as he seized Ramona's arm and pulled her along with him.

"Me?!" Ramona exclaimed, taken aback. "Hold on, where did you even get a nuke? Hell, when did you get a nuke?"

"Don't concern yourself with the details," Julius brushed her off.

"I am deeply concerned! I've been by your side all this time, and you've been carrying a nuke? Should I be worried about radiation?! Do I have cancer now?!" Ramona anxiously inquired.

Julius didn't say anything as he dragged her forward.

"Stop smiling and say something! Why on earth do you have a NUKE!?" Ramona protested as she was dragged into the jungle.