章 66: Chapter 17.3
Raphael narrowed his eyes when he heard Jason's warning. Despite feeling the heavy atmosphere that was suffocating everyone, he still spoke his mind.
"You know something more, don't you?" he asked as he let out the breath he was unintentionally holding in. "You've fought before?"
"As you mentioned previously, I talked to Q-tip before his death," Jason said, trying to deflect Raphael's question. "That's probably why he was killed."
"What do you mean?" Suni asked, opening his mouth for the first time. His hoarse voice indicated that he believed Jason. After all, he was with Raphael the longest and both had seen some crazy shit before.
"I'm the only one to have escaped his grasp," Jason said. "He got a bit of a fixation on me since then."
"So, what? He kills anyone that upsets you?" Junco asked suspiciously. She found it highly irregular that the Reaper would aid someone who he considers his prey.
"Nope, he's killed others as well, including Alina's father," Jason's hands were tightened into fists as he spoke. "He did that right after her mother died, trying to break her spirit ... and that was because he knew how precious the kid is to me. He does whatever he wants, based on his mood, or a whim. Sometimes, he helps me, other times …"
The room was silent once again as everyone was lost in their thoughts.
"Stay away from him," Jason said after a long pause. He pressed his holo-watch and tapped on the holo-screen that popped out before standing up and leaving. "The Reaper is the one enemy that I refuse to fight. Again."
Raphael didn't answer and looked at the video where Jason was fighting the headless ghost. This happened years ago, judging from how young Jason looked. Despite fighting the ghost to a standstill, it was clear that he was struggling to fend off that monster, even though he was using his Esper abilities.
Would I be able to handle such a creature, no, a monster?
His musings were interrupted by Annie who arrived with a bill.
"That would be 85 in total," Annie said, shocking Raphael.
"What? But ... how?" he asked after looking at the table. There were only three doughnuts left but he couldn't see why the bill would be so high from just a few snacks.
"He ordered takeout," Annie answered while pointing at where Jason had left with tilt her head. "He said you'd foot the bill."
"Son of a …"
Jason who left the diner with a bag full of food whistled as he watched as his motorcycle which was flying towards him, slowly land in front of him. The four wheels which were positioned horizontally at the sides of the bike slowly folded in on itself until it was back to its normal vertical position. He mounted the bike and sped off quickly as Raphael burst through the door yelling obscenities at him. Jason chuckled and flipped the middle finger at him before sharply turning the bike and disappearing from sight. [2]
"Hey, could we place this in our mission expenditures?" Raphael asked rather desperately while breathing for air, exhausted from shouting at Jason.
"No, sir. This wasn't a mission so…" Junco answered.
"So …" Raphael looked at his three teammates, hoping dearly that they would split the payment between themselves.
"It comes out from your pockets, yeah," Suni answered, finishing Raphael's sentence while Dhole nodded.
"Indeed, this was your idea, after all, boss," Dhole added. Suni patted Raphael's shoulder before walking away and Dhole followed after him.
"But-" Raphael was nearly in tears when he saw Junco give him an apologetic look and walk away as well.
"Uh, hey. You paying up or what?" Annie who was at the doorway asked with her hips at her hand.
Raphael sighed as he sorrowfully paid the bill, his heart bleeding at this unexpected downfall.
***
Selena tapped her fingers as she sat on her chair in the CEO's office. She was looking out the window, admiring the technological structure of Atlantis when she sighed and turned back to her desk. She dialled a holographic video call that was connected to two private satellites, waiting patiently for the call to connect. A moment later the call went through as a woman appeared in 3D holographic format over a portion of her desk.
The woman had hair that settled slight below her shoulders and her bangs that was pulled back behind her ears. The dark brown hair was dyed with several highlights, the most prominent being red, orange, and gold. Combined together, it gave her hair an appearance similar to flames. Her fair skin was currently caked in mud as she fought a wolf the size of a grizzly bear. Her armour was similar to Jason's under-armour, however, the plated armour she wore was black and more archaic. Her shoulder, chest, and gauntlets had a feathered texture on the metal, and the flames burning around her talon claws burned the flesh of the wolf.
"Oh, hey, Selly," the woman said as she dodged the wolf's gaping maw. "Don't tell me the executives figured out I'm not in Egypt?"
The woman dodged the wolf's attack again and raised her left arm. A section of the gauntlet rose up, turning into a hand cannon, which she aimed at the wolf. A ball of compressed flames shot out and flew towards the large predator. The ball became elongated as the heat turned the very air into plasma; it struck the wolf head-on and imploded, the force of the explosion caved inwards as opposed to outwards. The wolf howled miserably before collapsing, whimpering as it let out its last breath.
"No, your cover is safe," Selena said while rubbing her eyebrows, shocked at how fast Katherine Rogue, the woman in the hologram, was progressing at. If given more time, perhaps she could stand amongst the strongest Practitioners but Selena knew that she would instead exit her seclusion once she told her the good news. "I'm calling about your family. I … Kat, I found Alina Sage. She's here, in Sanctuary."
[1] Jason's had bad experiences with scientists so he doesn't like them, especially after finding out his sister was a lab rat. Also, vitalism is an old theory that has been refuted.
[2] Like the Lazareth LM-496, a real-life motorcycle that can transform into a hovercraft. (When I wrote the first chapter, I based the motorcycle on the older bike, the Lazareth LM-847, but I always envisioned it as a flying bike too, that's partially why I selected 4 wheels to portray the vehicle. But earlier this year, the creator Lazareth, bless his heart, created the successor called Lazareth LM-496 which was a real - honest to god - flying hoverbike!)
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