(XXX) Choices

///Author's Note: It's XXX as in thirty! Not XXX as in... No! Stop! Get your mind out of the gutter!!!///

Samael stood with his palm outstretched as the bullets fell to the ground, stopping them from hitting their mark. His presence was shrouded as he stood with his back to the sunlight, casting a deep shadow into the bunker. 

He scanned through the room, not noticing his mother at first due to her being obscured by the people standing in front of her. Anxiety started welling up within him as he searched for her. 

'Where is she..?' He thought to himself, his eyes widening as he located the empty cot with his father's flag and medals placed on it and the dozen bags he had packed. 

'Who, Master?' Khrista asked but received no response. 

"Look!" A voice shouted as everyone turned to stare at the man pointing toward the entrance.

Everyone turned to where he was pointing as Kaitlyn and Nathan exclaimed happily and ran toward him but stopped a few steps away, staring at him incredulously. 

"Big bro..." Nate whispered, curling his hand into a ball and placing it against his chest as Sam slowly walked past the twins, ignoring their presence. 

Due to the people obscuring his view moving out of the way, he finally located his unconscious mother. An immense aura burst out from within his body, growing stronger with each step he took. 

The intense power radiating off the young man caused the entire bunker to recoil, the atmosphere growing thick as people started to cough and struggle to breathe. 

'Master! You need to calm down!!' Khrista shouted inside his mind, concern hanging on every word, but Samael assumed the worst as he approached. 

He couldn't hear her words as he approached, falling to his knees as he reached out and touched her cheek softly. Sarah softly moaned as she slowly opened her eyes and turned to him. 

"James..?" She asked, staring at the silhouette of her son as the sunlight shone behind him. She rapidly blinked her eyes as they focused before tears of happiness started to freely stream down her cheeks.

"No, mom..." Sam answered softly, choking on his words as he fought back the tears, smiling down at his mother, "It's me... Sam..." 

"I knew you weren't lying!!" She exclaimed, sitting up as she threw her arms around her son, hugging him tightly, dispelling his dreadful aura instantaneously. 

Camille sat behind Sarah as she smiled warmly, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes. Creating a dozen notifications to appear before Samael's closed eyes. 

[Camille: Intimacy +2(x8) (19/100)]

[Ichiko: Intimacy +1(x5) (17/100)]

"What happened?" The young man asked, breaking the embrace with his mother, concern flashing across his face, "Are you alright?" 

"It was nothing, sweetie! Here, help me up." Sarah replied, smiling at him as she slowly stood up, grabbing her slashed shirt and sweater and drawing them closed, "I'm fine! Where have you been?" 

Sam looked around, glancing at the six people he had helped save, and turned back to his mom, hiding his true intentions and smiling, "Saving as many people as I could..." 

[Camille: Intimacy +1 (20/100)]

[Ichiko: Intimacy +1 (18/100)]

"Honey..." Sarah muttered, lovingly reaching up and caressing his cheek as she stared into his eyes. 

"How did you know about the attack!?" Kyle demanded loudly, storming toward him, wagging his finger at the young man. 

"Ah, Mayor Abraham! I'm glad to see you safe and sound! How's your wife feeling?" Sam smiled, facing the man and shaking his head, "I didn't know about the attack." 

"But you warned Isaac! You can't expect me to believe you weren't behind this, do you?" He countered, pointing at his son behind him. 

"I told him and everyone else to have their families gather at the park so we could all enjoy the fireworks together, I didn't know that magical portals were going to appear and monsters start destroying everything!" He scoffed, rolling his eyes as he lied through his teeth. 

"Portals and monsters?!" Kyle exclaimed, "What the hell are you talking about?! Are you saying it's not another country?" 

"Absolutely!" He turned and pointed at his companions, "Every one of them will back me up on this!" 

"He's not lying..." Camille spoke up, standing up as she walked over and stood behind Samael. 

Ichiko and Serenity also voiced their agreement, moving to stand with him as the twins and Jijo joined in behind them, further adding to his words. 

"You can't be serious..." The mayor muttered in disbelief, looking around as an uproar erupted behind him, the crowd excitedly talking over one another. 

"Why would I lie..?" Sam asked, looking down at his wrist and sighing, wrestling with the idea of bringing Khrista out to end this ridiculousness immediately or keeping her presence a secret to be used later when needed. 

"I... I..." Kyle muttered, at a loss for words, when Isaac ran up behind him and grabbed his shoulder. 

"Dad... Just stop and go take care of mom..." He said, walking past him as he grinned and loudly called out his best friend's name, and the two greeted each other with a fist bump. 

"Come on, Kyle..." Sarah said, wrapping her arm around the mayor and leading him slowly toward Dora as they helped her back to her cot. 

"Where have you been? What have you been doing?" Isaac asked, bombarding him with questions as Amy, his girlfriend, ran up behind him and wrapped her arm around his, glaring at the three girls standing beside Samael. 

"Good to see you too, buddy..." Sam chuckled, patting his friend on the shoulder, "I was just going to explain that to everyone." 

Sam turned around and whispered to his group as they all nodded and walked toward the entrance of the underground shelter with him and exited briefly, each returning with the backpacks. 

While they exited the bunker, the young man sighed inwardly at the melted blast doors, cursing under his breath at losing the protective doors to his initial base camp and thinking of an alternative. 

"Can I get everyone's attention, please?" Sam yelled, holding his hands up as everyone in the bunker cautiously approached, scared of the unknown powers displayed by the women. 

The young man started explaining the events that led up to his arrival, leaving out the water dungeon he had just exited. He reached into one of the backpacks and brought out a Beast Core. 

He explained the appearance of mystical abilities granted by the crystals, then demonstrated his by producing electricity and had the rest of the group demonstrate their powers. 

He brought out a C Rank Beast Core and had Isaac approach, holding the crystal out to him and telling him to take it. Kyle protested from behind the crowd, unable to even approach to stop his son. 

He hesitated, unsure whether he should, finding everything hard to believe but unable to refute the evidence in front of him. Isaac had also received a C Rank Beast Core in his past life, and Sam wanted to test a theory. 

He took the crystal from his friend's hand, and it suddenly started glowing brightly as an aura radiated off his body, imbuing him with his Ability. 

Sam smirked as he dismissed the windows in front of him after confirming the truth of his theory and stepped forward. 

"You all have two choices; trust me, one is better than the other!" Sam yelled, "Follow me, and I will give you a Beast Core, and we can work on rebuilding, or don't and leave!"