CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Clinton watched as Ronnie's black hole opened up inside his office. The first one that crossed was Alec, followed by Jet, and then Ronnie. It hadn't registered in his mind that Alice wasn't with them until Ronnie closed the portal behind him.

"No luck?" he cautiously asked, observing the somber look in their faces.

Jet slumped down on the sofa, releasing a deep, long sigh. "We did,"

Clinton gave him a dumbfounded look. "Then, where is she?"

Alec rushed towards the set of monitors to see that the sky was still the same as before. But—nothing changing was a good sign according to Alice. He sat down on the chair and browsing through the hundred cameras they control.

Ronnie quickly wore his earphones back on and rushed towards the coffee maker. Using his Dimension Manipulation repeatedly causes energy deplete and he was in dire need of caffeine. As soon as it was ready, without a care for its temperature, Ronnie downed a whole cup in one go.

"Ahhhh," he exhaled. "Coffee is seriously the best!"

Clinton glared at his men who just decided to ignore him and kept him in the dark. He crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat to get their attention. But Alec continued to ignore him as he watched the monitors while Jet was already snoring. It was only Ronnie who made a notion of even seeing him.

He stalked towards Ronnie and slammed his hand down on the counter to get his attention. Ronnie jumped up in shock and his second cup of coffee splashed towards him.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, putting his cup down and removed his shirt. He was fanning his chest as he turned to his boss with a glower. "Excuse you?"

Clinton rolled his eyes at him. "So, care to fill me in?"

Ronnie sighed as he gave Alec a glance. "We found Alice. But—she can't return with us since her physical form isn't here," he explained then he lowered his voice. "Don't ask Alec about her state when we found her. It wasn't pretty. The Nightmare imprisoned her in a cage without a lock and chained her hands and feet,"

"So, where is she now?" Clinton asked, staring at Alec's back.

Ronnie gestured towards Alec. "That's what he's trying to find. Alice said she was near the sea Jet and Alec went to before and that she'll be appearing in front of a camera once she wakes up,"

Clinton nodded. "And—did you also found out what the hell is happening outside? And what the fuck is this 'Nightmare' that you mentioned?"

Ronnie walked towards Alec and he pointed Clinton to one of the cameras. It was a CCTV in the park where the eye of the storm seemed to be at. "This—this thing is the one Alice called 'The Nightmare',"

"Alice has been in war against him for years," Alec interjected. "And she had spent most of her time asleep just to keep him locked up,"

"Then, how did it got out?" their boss asked.

Both Ronnie and Alec turned to stare at the snoring Jet on the couch. The younger man looked dead to the world as he slept with his mouth hanging slightly open. Clinton glanced at the kid in confusion before he turned back to Ronnie and Alec. That was when he realized what they meant.

"Wait. This Nightmare used Jet to get out?" he guessed. "That's the reason why he fell into a coma?"

Ronnie started shaking his head but then nodded; "Yes and no. It seemed like Nightmare used the mental connection between Jet and Alice. He captured Jet and gave him, well, nightmares. But Alice fought against him and got Jet to dream instead. Though, by doing so—she left herself vulnerable to his attacks. That was why she couldn't even appear long enough in Jet's dream to actually wake him up because she was busy trying to keep both of them safe,"

"And when she had no energy left to fight—Nightmare finally broke through the walls Alice had created in the dream world," Alec finished.

Clinton sighed as he sat back down. After all the information that was thrown at him, he had no idea what to say. To think that such a kid was silently fighting a big war all alone for years and the Agency had the nerve to put her in the wanted list!

"There's a little problem, though," Ronnie added and Clinton waited with bated breath. "She's too weak right now to even fight him much less to lock him up once more,"

Silence enveloped them as no one could find the right words to say. Alec returned to watching the cameras, praying under his breath for Alice to appear. Ronnie returned to the coffee machine and gulped down his third cup of caffeine. While Clinton started calling a few more people to the office.

"Just in case shit goes down," Clinton explained when Ronnie silently asked him why. He walked back towards Alec. "Any luck?"

Alec started to shake his head but suddenly bolted up to his feet. "Alice!"

Ronnie rushed towards them as well and watched the monitor. In one of the CCTVs near the sea, they last saw her was Alice. She was just standing in front of the camera but they all felt as if she was staring straight at them. Her crystal blue orbs glowed.

"Whaaaa!" Jet suddenly exclaimed as he jumped up from the couch and three pairs of eyes turned to him in panic.

Jet's eyes darted around the room and the fright was obvious in his dark orbs. He grunted as he ran a hand through his hand, gripping it once before letting go. And then, he walked towards the three of them and slammed his hands in the table as his eyes roamed the monitors.

"I really hate your damn sister," Jet muttered under his breath which earned him a very angry glare from Alec. The older man was about to slap him when Jet turned to him. "She's telling us to not go. Like hell, I'm just going to sit here,"

"Whoa!" Ronnie pushed Alec away to get in front of Jet. "Are you serious?"

Jet rolled his eyes. "What would I get by lying?"

Ronnie shook his head. "No, I mean. Are you seriously saying that you won't sit this down? The Jet I know would take all the chances he gets to get out of work,"

Despite the dire situation, Clinton and Alec couldn't help but agree to what Ronnie had just said. Jet rolled his eyes at them as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I owned the damn girl my life. The least I could do is return the favor," he grumbled under his breath. "Anyways, she plans to go to the park alone. So, we should leave—wait, where's Ao?"

"The crow?" Clinton asked in confirmation. "I let her out just before you guys came back. She kept pecking at the door,"

"I think I just found Ao," Alec interrupted, pointing at the camera where Alice was and they all saw Ao sitting on top of her head.

"Well, we're not just going to sit here, are we?" Ronnie asked with a smirk.

The three men with him all nodded, their faces determined. With all the light show their enemy was giving, it was obvious the fight would be life or death.

And they were all ready.