Casey's got an aura of smugness about him. No doubt in my mind that he's conjured up a scheme to overcome this problem of ours. A sly smirk forms on his face.

"Xiao, your blood vials can form a small blood marker for one time use, right?"

Makira nods in Xiao's place. "Yes."

"Then give me one." Xiao obliges. "That candle there has just enough smoke on it for me to make two of my clones, but not for them to be tangible. That doesn't matter though since I'll–"

"–transfer your consciousness to the clone, use another clone to distract the man, apply the marker and bloodport all of us there. Good thinking."

"Wha–but–how–" splutters Casey at Makira's face. "Fine, just give me a second. Tsk." He starts waving his hands at the small wisps of candle smoke some dozen metres away from us. The aura's disappeared now.

"Nice, you really showed him."

"Showed what?"

"Nevermind."

Casey's illusion forms right behind the reception, where a large wooden board with the letters 'Kompleks Agama Putrajaya' separates the illusion from the back of the reception desk. The Casey next to us fizzles out in vapour, while his new form gives us a thumbs up from behind cover. He sneaks past the reception and behind a wall. He gestures for us to remain patient.

All of a sudden, Makira's eye widens and she almost tenses up.

"Tell him to hide, Kiah! Quick!"

"What?"

"Just do it!"

I focus hard and send a message over.

"Casey, hide!"

Without wasting any more time being confused, Casey puts his hands together and disappears into a fine smoke. Makira bolts upstairs, pulling my hand with her until we're concealed behind a low piece of railing. Harmony, Ramya and Xiao follow too.

"What's happening, Makira? I've never seen you–"

"The Director General's here!" she interrupts with pure venom seeping through her teeth. "Director General of JAKIS. I thought the bastard was out in Pahang doing negotiations with the state for leniency, but he's right here. That wretch must've been lying to the news outlets this whole time."

Great, that's trouble for all of us in absolute spades.

"We gotta save Case. We can't just leave him there."

"Nothing doing for now. We have to find another way to Jaxon, get him out and regroup with Casey later."

"Wei, come on la Makira! He's all alone down there!" Harmony protests, trying oh so desperately to keep her whisper-shouting from being too loud. "He'll get caught and end up just like Jaxon."

Our leader sighs.

"I've put faith in him. You should too. We go down there, we'll risk all of us getting caught and that won't do us any favours."

Harmony's not happy with her decision at all and tries to rebuke, but Ramya nudges her back and shakes her head.

We peek over the railing. The first thing my eyes focus on is a pure white serban atop a man's head. The man himself—standing tall, hands behind his back and chin held up in supreme confidence—strides through the darkness exuding an uncomfortable amount of nonchalance considering the situation.

"Haji Yusoff is a multifaceted man, with manipulation and a deep desire for control in each and every one of those facets," monologues Makira.

He strikes a lively conversation with a random Malay clerk he bumped into. We can hear his joyous laughter even from here, hands flying around as he gesticulates for comedic emphasis.

"All the policies he's reinforced, all the baseless beliefs he's peddled, all the donations he's embezzled..."

He sees a female worker walking past him struggling to carry a heavy box and rushes to her aid. The woman sheepishly thanks him and Yusoff does a little bow in his white robes.

"...and he's stolen from the poor Malays that are none the wiser with his charm. Pushing them into becoming religious extremists, ones that'll ensure he keeps his position and wallet in check. But I can see right through his guise of purity."

"He was in the newspapers you read this morning, kan? This must be like that Zakwan uncle then. All talk only."

"Well, whoever that Zakwan is, I can assure you that they are no match for that man."

>>

I send a telepathic message over to Casey. It took me a few moments to pinpoint his mind's location.

"Hey, you there? JAKIS's Director General is here for some reason. That's why you had to hide."

"For Pete's sake..." I sigh in relief knowing he's still with us. "Out of all the days?"

"I know right? Makira's adamant that we're being set up. Considering how calm he is, I think so too. We're up on the second floor. Where are you?"

"Uh... I'm behind some vending machines. You see them? I think I see your head."

"Vending machine... vending–ah, yeah, the couple of red ones by the corner. I see you waving."

Before I could wave back, I start sensing something else. A miniscule reverberation in the ground, so subtle I almost chalk it up to nervousness. 

"Case... you feel something off?"

"Can't say I can...? Should–should I?"

The glass double doors of the front entrance swing open. The loud bang makes all of us jump—but not Makira, whose scowl remains icy and unwavering despite her limited vision in the dark. I hold my breath.

One, two, three... twelve men enter. All in single file. All in complete tactical military gear.

Their rifles are fitted with red lasers that cut through everywhere we look. They start sweeping the entire first floor after having split up into four equal groups. Their strides are in-sync with each other, like they've done this exact procedure thousands of times in their camps. I immediately duck down a low piece of wall right next to the railing before one of those lasers catch wind of me.

"You still there?"

"Oh my holy God. They're the VAT 69 Commandos."

The VAT 69 Commandos are the elite of the elite. Thousands of men apply, but only a handful become part of Malaysia's top class counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency unit. Many of their operators are taken from the Senoi Praaq, a unit of the Royal Malaysia Police made up almost entirely of Orang Asli, who are the tribal people of Peninsular Malaysia if you needed a reminder. They're trained by the SAS. That's all you need to know of how good they are.

The Commandos have lots of missions under their belt from their decades of operations, most of them unseen by the public eye. One of their most important missions ever was the Lahad Datu standoff in Sabah, Eastern Malaysia. In short, Filipino terrorists tried to claim territory, Malaysia fought back. The Commandos were instrumental in maintaining the peace and limiting casualties through their skill in guerilla warfare.

As you can see, VAT 69 aren't simply deployed anywhere for any reason. They take the missions with the highest risk and of utmost importance to national security. Apparently, our presence warrants their presence too.

"Damn, I used to watch documentaries of these guys on YouTube all the time. Some of them were from the Semai tribe like me. They were badass."

"You should be flattered. We're big enough of a threat for your heroes to come barging into a concrete jungle instead of a real one. Seriously though, keep a low profile."

Casey nods from afar. He searches for some desks and walls to hide behind with haste. Haji Yusoff and his robed subordinates usher all the civilians out the front. Most of them are, for lack of a better phrase, scared shitless.

"Those are night vision goggles," notes Makira. I wonder how she's able to spot them without having night vision herself. "You're not invisible anymore. What I'm thinking is that we wait until they clear the first floor. With enough luck, they'll miss out on Casey. If they start coming up the second floor, Kiah can levitate us down. We regroup and open the locked security door that leads downstairs to the auditorium and mini-museum, where they're keeping Jaxon and perhaps a few others too."

"Auditorium?" Harmony asks, so does everyone else with their looks of confusion. "Mini-museum?"

"I told you in the briefing. Of course Kiah was the only one who listened–" she turns to me– "right?" 

I didn't. "Uh, yeah..."

"Right. I'll lead, okay? You have any doubts, just stay–shit, GET DOWN!"

She shoves me to the side and I get deafened by a disorientating symphony of gunfire. Shotguns, assault rifles, submachine guns, all of them. Their bullets go over our heads and hit the wall opposite us. The wall gets riddled with bullet marks, cratering every single inch of its sombre grey surface. The clanking of the bullet casings echoes with such a high frequency it almost sounds like someone shaking glass shards in a container. My ears start to ring.

I channel my inai amidst the chaos. I put my hands next to each other, palms side-by-side and facing outwards. Once I spot an opening in the gunfire, I peek out from behind cover and set up a glowing blue telekinetic barrier. At the sight of this, the Commandos empty even more of their magazines into it. I outstretch my arms to keep the barrier up with maximum integrity. Thanks to Makira's training, not even these high-velocity high-calibre bullets can make me break a sweat.

"Tembak mereka, tembak mereka!" / "Shoot them, shoot them!" shouts the voice of Haji Yusoff. Surprisingly younger than I thought, and not at all were his words shouted in desperation. They were commanding and grave.

"Nice job, Kiah! Extend the sides into a goal net shape! We can advance down the stairs with it and close the distance!"

I mould the barrier with my fingers to fit her orders. My friends huddle up behind me. With the help of my projected barrier that illuminates its surroundings, we go down step by step as bullets either whizz past our ears or blast right into the barrier. God, the noise hurts my ears so much. It's no wonder they use earmuffs at firing ranges. It's like they're exploding bombs right next to me.

"I can handle myself!" I tell the others through the incessant noise. "Split up!"

>>

I say a lengthy prayer under my breath and kiss the cross on my bracelet. We'll need all the luck and divine intervention we can get.

The Commandos are raining down covering fire on my friends. They've taken up formation where the men in front are crouched while their respective squadmates are standing just behind. The weapons they're using are an assortment of MP7s, Benelli shotguns, H&K 416s and Colt M4A1s. The documentaries were absolutely right.

But now's not the time. Not when they're deadset on killing me.

They haven't noticed me yet. Kiah's providing some great cover to the others with her projected barrier, and that's drawn all their attention to that side of the building. It's unbelievable how much she's improved under Makira's tutelage.

I go towards the locked security door. Ah, blast. Ramya's EMP took care of its electronic locks, but not its emergency mechanical ones. How in the world am I supposed to break through...

I ram my shoulder at the door. I do a run-up and front kick the lock. I even tried a drop kick but it didn't budge. What I need more is more manpower. There's no vapour around for any illusions though.

The Commandos are starting to be more cautious and passive, taking cover and potshots. Electric bolts and fireballs courtesy of Ramya and Harmony fly through the air and light up the floor. That coupled with the red lasers make the whole scene look like a rave. Makira takes shots with her revolver, fitted with real bullets this time. Their firearms are starting to release more and more smoke trails from their barrels. 

Smoke trails... that's it!

I wave my hands at them as they start veering in my direction. The Commandos don't notice a thing, but my friends do. They keep up the diversion at an even higher pace. In no time at all, I gather enough smoke to make six copies of myself.

"You guys ready?"

"Ready as you are."

"Let's do this."

We shoulder bash the door in unison, flattening it and granting us access to the mysterious lower levels. I take Xiao's blood vial out of my pocket and hurl it towards the ground. The vial shatters, and the blood spreads in a pool. After a few seconds, it dries up and takes shape in an intricate, many-sectioned circular seal.

I stand tall and wave to the others. The seal glows red and in a flash, everyone's bloodported here. Kiah restores the electronic door to its previous state and Ramya jolts a security panel nearby to life with her fingers, perhaps to make sure it never opens again. Everyone pants in exhaustion after that adrenaline dump.

"Thank fuck you were here," Harmony thanks with a hard slap to my back. Sometimes, I wonder why she can say one thing while her gestures represent another. "I was so sure we were cooked." Everyone says their own little appreciative words to me, even Xiao. I think.

"Nice work, Casey. My faith wasn't misplaced. Let's not make your efforts go in vain. Quickly now. We haven't won yet."

Makira holsters her revolver and turns her flashlight on. We walk down yet another flight of stairs that are pristine and well-kept without a single speck of dust or a stain. We end up in a wide green-carpeted hallway full of beautiful framed memorabilia on the walls.

This is where they're holding you, Jaxon? I wouldn't have questioned a single thing.

__

And the 22nd chapter of Kisah Masyitah Rukyah ends there. I first wanna apologise if my descriptions of the interior of the Putrajaya Religious complex sound pretty barebones. I'm laughably shit at imagining places I haven't been to in my head, much less describing them to any relevant degree of proficiency. I've been re-reading Roald Dahl's nonfiction works to learn how to, but I'm not blessed with his level of imagination and memory.

The VAT 69 Commandos are a real unit. Malaysians love them for good reason. They're just badass, and they've helped a lot in maintaining the country's peace. The Lahad Datu incident in 2013 is also real and to this day, Malaysians still reference it when talking about defense against terrorism. I hope I'm doing them enough justice.

People like Haji Yusoff exist in real life in Malaysia. They use religion as a means of spreading influence and lining their own pockets. What Makira sees in Haji Yusoff is similar to what I see in them. Some of my Malay friends have fallen victim to their words, and any attempt at me trying to help them will surely get me labelled as a puppet of the West, or a heretic.

I feel like I'm not showing the main six's abilities enough, or am I? Either way, there'll be a lot more of that being shown in the near future. Tune in next week for the next chapter of Kisah Masyitah Rukyah!