Occult Revelations: Darkness of Seraphim

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the author created characters and concepts. Thanks to Ranger Red 2.3, Mistycharming and SA June for their OC's used in this fic.

An echoing sound of water dripping each second was the only sound heard as Sera snapped open her eyes and looked around. She had been out cold on the damp concrete ground of what appeared to be a small room of a large underground complex. As she sat up, she felt some dizziness, soon coming to remember what happened prior to her passing out. Looking around, she saw that Joe was also in the holding room they were now in, leaning against the wall as he kept a close eye on the door.

"H-Hey, Joe?" She said, standing up and shaking herself awake. "What happened, after we got attacked?"

"Glad to see you're awake Sera. We got attacked by these monster dogs and they knocked us out. Then we woke up here. The door's locked, so whoever's doing this to us wants something. I'd get why'd they want me, but you're an innocent bystander in all this." He explained to her as he turned around to talk with the teen further.

Joe however was wrong, she wasn't an innocent bystander. 'I don't want him to know who I really am, but I'm the reason all this' happened. Seraphim captured both of us because I questioned them, now I know what they're really like. I hoped that I could have a real friend for a change, but I owe him the truth, even if he hates me after it.' She thought, glancing away for a few seconds with an expression of sadness in her face. Swallowing back her doubt about it, she focused her gaze on the red ranger and took in a deep breath. "Joe, there's something I need to tell you. I'm not who you think I am. I'm really Seraphim Twelve. A few weeks ago I was ordered to infiltrate your life, that's when I became Sera." She told him, pausing to let Joe take it in what had been said.

He looked her with shock. He'd been lied to and betrayed by yet another person who had been close to him. He just stared at her silently, taken aback by what she had just told him.

"When you and I first met, after you and Saya destroyed that monster, my loyalties were with Seraphim. They said you were a threat, but each time I encountered or talked to you, you were the same helpful and selfless guy. I began to doubt them more and more. Now though, I can finally see the truth. I'm sorry I lied to you, and I wouldn't blame you if you hate me now. Before those Hellhounds cornered us and took us here, I thought maybe I had a chance at a normal life, that I had a real friend, now I realise I don't deserve any of that." She added, hanging her head low, it was hard for her to admit to it and it saddened her that he looked to be hurt from such a revelation.

Not wanting to face her after telling him who she really was, Joe turned away, hanging his head low too. "You were my friend Sera, that's thing. I can't trust you, but I don't hate you. When we do get out of here though, you have to leave and never come back." He told her without moving from where he stood.

"I-I understand…" She said, on the verge of tearing up. Before she could let it out however, loud footsteps came from outside the small room, becoming louder with each second. "Someone's coming." She told Joe, informing him of the coming presence of their captor.

The door creaked open, revealing the Handler to the two teens. The Seraphim agent looked to be rather tall and strong now he was stood upright and face to face with the two teens. He had a menacing stare as he looked at the two.

"You're lucky Seraphim still wants you both back after the latest mess you caused, guess they prefer screw ups. If I had it my way, I wouldn't keep doing this, but orders are orders. Now come along with me and this'll be over quickly." The Handler explained to them, heading out the door, shortly followed by his two captives.

As they walked down the hallway, Joe clenched his fists tightly. In an attempt to get the drop on him, Joe swung at the handler, believing his plan to escape would work. Though the Handler took the initial hit, he quickly span around to meet Joe head on, clasping his large hand around Joe's neck and pinning him up against a wall, raising him off his feet as he did so.

Joe glanced over to Sera, who looked at him, concerned for his wellbeing now that the Handler had a hold of him, despite his immortality. "Sera… Go… Save yourself…" He said, struggling to breath.

"Hah, we've had this little struggle enough times now that you'll always lose and the agent over there runs away, then I catch her too. I bet you're wondering what I'm talking about, maybe I'll tell you, you'll not be remembering it after we've finished here though." He explained to Joe, sparking more questions than answers.

From where Sera stood she shook her head. 'No, I'm not leaving, I'm not leaving you behind.' She thought to herself as she charged toward the Handler.

Leaping into the air, she extended her leg, striking the Handler in the side of the head knocking him to the ground and into an unconscious state. As the Handler collapsed, Joe dropped to the ground too. Sera moved to him extending her hand out to help him up. In that moment, a strange flash of memory came to both of them, the same memory, yet from their different perspectives.

[Flashback]

The ten year old versions of Sera and Joe stood in what looked to be a training center, other kids their age lined one side of a set of padded mats. Everyone there appeared to be wearing black sparring gear. The Handler stood in the middle of the sparring mats, with the younger Joe behind him and Sera to the side of him. From those present, it appeared to be some kind of Seraphim training session. As the Handler called for them to attack, Joe charged in from behind, swinging at his opponent. Just like what had happened a few moments ago in the long underground hallway took the hit before spinning around and gripping Joe by the neck, raising him up in the air. Coincidentally, Sera charged in just like she had done, leaping into the air and kicking him to the ground. Though not enough to knock him out, it was enough to impress the Handler.

"Well done Twelve, One down there could learn a thing about well placed techniques from you." He congratulated, getting up from the mats. By One, he appeared to refer to Joe.

Sera didn't take take notice though and moved to help her friend up, extending her hand out. Joe taking hold of her hand, she helped him to his feet, the former then putting his arm around the girl. "Thanks for the help there. If you weren't there to help me out, I doubt I'd make it through half of this training.

"What're friends for? Besides, we did promise to never leave each other behind." the young Sera simply put.

"You're my best friend you know? So no matter what happens, we'll always be friends, always have each other's backs. No matter what." The younger Joe replied as they headed off the mats.

[End Flashback]

The two froze for a moment, both surprised by what they saw. Putting aside his mistrust for now, he took her hand, Sera helping him to his feet. 'Another memory… So that girl I saw… She really is Sera...' Joe thought to himself thinking deeply about it for a few moments before she snapped him out of it.

"Joe, he'll not be like that forever, we have to get out of here." She told him, explaining the urgency

"Right." He confirmed with a nod. Without a moment to lose, they headed further down the underground complex. As they ran, Joe couldn't help but wonder what Sera thought about what they had saw. Although she hadn't said a thing, Joe knew the look she had on her face. He was now unsure how to feel now, knowing that they had been friends for so very long before all of this. He only hoped that as they escaped, more of the past might reveal itself to them.

[Occult Circle]

Skidding around a corner, the two escapees kept running. Though they were out of breath, it was best to put as much distance between them and the Handler as possible.

As they neared the end of the underground corridor, Sera spotted a door off to the side. "Looks like this' the only way to go from here. If we backtrack, we'll be in trouble."

From just behind her, Joe kept his gaze focused on the door in front of him. "Let's hope that this' the way out then." He commented as Sera barged into the door as she ran to quickly open it. Even though he wanted to talk about what happened back there, he thought it would be best to save that conversation until they've escaped.

Heading into the next area, they were surprised to see a large room which appeared to be some kind of old rundown lab that had been repurposed for medical treatment. Only one other door was in the room, standing adjacent to the one they had come from.

Looking around the room, something odd caught both Sera and Joe's eyes. Set between two medical beds was a metal table. Two small bottles of a strange blue liquid. Cautiously making their way to the table, they picked up a bottle each and examined it. Printed along the bottle was one word. Reset.

"This bottle, the liquid in it, it's so familiar… Why can't I remember though?" Sera asked out loud, she wasn't the only one asking that however.

"I feel like I've been here- No, we've been here before." Joe said to the girl beside him. "You saw the same thing back there didn't you? I still don't understand why I couldn't remember anything from before, until yesterday anyway. What about you?" He asked turning his head to her, surprised by his question somewhat.

She hadn't entirely thought about it until now. Until first meeting Joe, her entire life had been at Seraphim, she hadn't gone a day without being Seraphim Twelve. "Back when you mentioned the Orphanage, as far as I knew, I'd never been to one. Since then though, I've got this strange feeling, like I did grow up at one and you were there with me."

A deep and almost mocking laugh filled the air as footsteps were heard behind them, coming nearer with each one. Quickly turning to face the figure, their eyes met with the Handler's once more. "Looks like the two of you are starting to remember it all. It's a pity that it won't be long until you forget everything again."

Joe tensed up, seeing his captor blocking the way they came in. "What are you talking about? What's going on here?" The red ranger asked, clenching his fists as he braced himself for a fight.

"Since you won't remember a word of this when we're finished here, I think it's fair you knew the truth. Seraphim recruits unwanted children from Orphanages and hones them into weapons. That's what happened when we found the two of you. Twelve quickly took to the training, afraid of the repercussions of failure, she became the best recruit in a long while. You were troublesome, because you're immortal and can't feel pain like humans can, it was harder to teach you. The two of you were good as a team though, but for you Twelve, One was a bad influence." He explained to them, confirming that Joe was once an agent of Seraphim just like Sera.

"What happened to us? Why can't we remember a thing!?" Sera demanded, seeming distressed that she'd been lied to for what seemed like her whole life.

"Eventually you escaped, rather than executing you like the other rogue agents, the boss wanted to try reprogramming you. The liquid you hold is the perfected version of what we used on ou the first time. It completely resets you, erases your memories, everything. The previous versions of the mixture always left something behind, but this latest scerum works perfectly. Everything you were, are and could be will cease to exist." The Handler finished, leaving the two in a state of anger and shock.

"How many? How many times did you do this to us? You only told us about the first time, so how long has this been happening to us. Answer me!" Joe demanded, his rage quickly building.

"I've administered Reset to you too many times to count, but it's been going on for years, ever since we brought you in. I had to Reset the two of you last summer, I had her, but you, you escaped mid-procedure. My Hellhounds hunted you down and almost had you, but you escaped by the skin of your teeth, badly wounded in the streets of Numin."

Joe's eyes widened, remembering vaguely what happened that day. "That's when Gabriel found me… If it wasn't for his help, I wouldn't have gotten away."

"I won't make the same mistake of letting you escape again." He told Joe, pulling a remote from his pocket and pressing the button.

Within moments a section of the wall slid open, revealing a large pack of Hellhounds, snarling and barking with a demonic tone as they skulked into the rundown laboratory. One overeager hound raced forward toward Sera, opening its maw and clamping down quickly on her leg. As she let out a pained scream and dropped to the floor, Joe turned and kicked the beast away. Though he had made the beast retreat and force the others to be more cautious, Sera was now out cold.

The Handler laughed, humoured by the pain his hellish dog had caused Sera. "They're a little jumpy today aren't they? I guess that's what happens when you stop feeding them. The girl's injured, the hound's bite contained a venom that temporarily knocks out anyone bitten. Give up while you still can, since they're drawn to blood, they'll be all over her, that is unless I call them off. But for that to happen, you'd have to give in, and accept your fate. Maybe this time there won't be any problems. All you have to do is surrender her and yourself to me."

Joe quickly shook his head, immediately dismissing the idea. Without a moment of hesitation, he spread out his arms to protect Sera from anything that the Handler might try. "I'm not giving up anyone, especially Sera. After what you've put us through, what you put her through while I wasn't there for her, I'm not leaving her behind ever again. Before I go though, I'll make sure you pay, you hurt her and that I won't forgive."

The Handler laughed once more, cracking his knuckles as the Hellhounds skulked the rundown laboratory. "And what can you do to me boy? Nothing, by yourself you've always lost to me and you'd be a fool to think otherwise."

"That was then, now I have something else." Joe responded, not wavering with his newfound determination, beginning to raise his hands.

"What's that, some foolish nonsense about the power of friendship? I bet the time spent in the outside world with everyone else fried your brain." He mocked, attempting to taunt Joe to attack him recklessly.

"I was thinking about something more practical in a fight." Joe said, waving his left hand over his right to reveal his Occult ring. "You're gonna regret going to work today. Occult Breakout!" Joe called, transforming in a flash of red Occult energy into his ranger form.

Not giving the Handler or his tamed Hellhounds time to react, Joe drew his saber and dashed forward. The Handler went wide eyed in surprise as Joe landed a quick yet weak strike down the arm of the Handler. It hadn't caused any serious injury, yet the strike had made Joe's foe bleed, which was all that counted.

As Sera began to regain consciousness and tried to get up, Joe made his way over to her, helping her up as they made their way to the door. The Handler hadn't realised exactly what Joe had done or why he had struck so weakly, because of this he took a few steps forward, into the centre of the room.

"You barely manage to scar me and then run away? So much for all that talk on being able to beat me with whatever power that ring holds. You're the same coward you were when I first met you One." The Handler slandered as Joe prepared to leave the room.

"You calling me a coward is like me calling you smart, a big lie. I could've finished you in one hit, but that'd be too good for someone like you. You said that they're drawn to blood, my guess is since you haven't fed them in a while, they won't care who you are to them. You're lucky this' all you're getting." Joe finished as he opened the door, helping Sera through it before slamming it shut.

As the Hellhounds lost Sera's scent, they picked up another, the scent from the Handler's blood that was still dripping from his arm from Joe's prior cut. One by one, the Hounds surrounded him, snarling and rearing up until they were all in position before finally leaping at him.

As Joe hastily made his way through the corridors beyond the old laboratory, helping Sera along as he did so, the two heard the echoed screams of the Handler as he met his end.

"I guess that's it then, he's gone… I'm finally free of them." Sera murmured as they neared one final door.

[Occult Circle]

Opening the door, Joe and Sera found themselves in the topmost basement floor of a parking garage, the light of day shining just over the sloped tarmac. Slowly making their way up, the two finally stopped just outside the parking complex.

Joe let go of Sera, letting her stand on her own so that they could both get their bearings. "We're finally out, and safe from Seraphim." Joe said to her as she turned away from him.

"I'll be leaving then… You made it clear you didn't want me around anymore, after lying to you about everything…" She said, her tone sad as she began to limp away from him.

Joe shook his head, jogging up behind her before placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her around. "You're right, I didn't want you around. I couldn't even look at you without feeling betrayed, after everything you confessed to me at first. After everything that's happened today though, none of that matters. You remember what I promised back then? What the old me promised?" He asked, the other teen giving a silent nod as he looked at her with a smile. "I'm renewing that promise, and this time, it's gonna be different. No matter what they try, they'll never separate us like that again." He told her before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in to give her a warm hug. Though it surprised her at first, Sera appreciated it, returning the hug with a smile of her own. A few more moments passed before the red ranger spoke up again. "You know, these past few days, I've been wondering who I really am, but there's only one answer that really matters right now."

"What's that?" Sera asked curious as to where the red ranger was going with this.

"Your Friend."

|Occult Circle|

Seraphim Protocol - Rogue Agents - When it comes to rogue agents, Seraphim doesn't take such an issue lightly. If any agent is suspected of turning, they are watched closely until they're cleared of suspicion or they go rogue. When rogue their number is removed from their name and they're marked with an X. Other agents are then tasked with the elimination of this individual. In the rare cases of Seraphim Twelve, Seraphim One and other unknown Seraphim agents, the Reset drug has been used on them as part of experimentation trials to retrieve rogue agents instead of having to dispose of them and have their talents go to waste, though the results have varied with each version of the serum.

So that's chapter 12 there. This chapter really varied here. To begin with, Sera finally chose a side and revealed the truth to Joe, while he didn't take it well at first, they slowly began to reconnect through the memories that came back and through the horrid truth about what Seraphim did to them, Joe managed to get past it and the two are finally together properly. It was revealed that Joe was known as Seraphim One, but his real name along with Sera's are still lost to them, which I'm unsure on revealing at some point in the series or just leaving that part a mystery. While the Handler suffered an ironic fate, he did unknowingly help the two come back together in the end, so he had his uses.

The episode's ending themes were to add a little happiness and end them on a lighter note after revealing how dark an organisation Seraphim is, fortunately Sera's out of there now. The others didn't make an appearance this episode, but they'll be back next time for some group action and the reveal of the renovated clubroom. In the next few days I'll have some more stuff out so look out for that, until then everyone.

Next Chapter: Occult Revelations: Silverbolt Legacy

Synopsis: As things return to sense of normalcy for the rangers and they enter their newly refurbished club room and get set to properly open their club, a new issue arrives in the form of a Werewolf under the banner of the Abyssal Cult. During their first encounter, Max and this new arrival are at each other's throats. What's the story behind this new rivalry? Find out next time on Power Rangers: Occult Circle.