Stranded in the unknown (lll)

Dennis and Sin made their escape without being followed. They were both tired from running that they had to stop soon. Once the coast was clear, they ended going to road tunnel that was blocked off. It had warnings signs and board saying that it was closed because of repairs. With no other building or structure in sight except for a huge forestation that would go miles over miles.

"I think I lost a few pounds on that run..." Dennis says. He then collapses to the ground while trying to catch some air.

"You said it... But this place isn't that bad once you know the place..." Sin says to Dennis. He seems aware of his surroundings, but Sin was ready to draw out his weapon as soon as trouble starts. A few moments pass and Dennis gets up. He looks at Sin, ready for another fight. But there was nothing in sight that would approach them. Dennis left eye glowed, he looked around but didn't see nothing that would react to it.

"Something is off... My eye is reacting to something but I don't see it, unless..." As soon as Dennis realized, he looked at the sky and saw something falling towards them, but it was too late. Whatever the thing was, landed right in front of them and pushed them through the roadblock of the tunnel. Sin landed on his feet while Dennis flopped on the ground.

"Dennis!!" Sin shouted. He helped Dennis get up and noticed that his friend wasn't feeling well. "Wait... Why didn't you tell me that your low on magic essence!?" Sin asked. Dennis then gave a faint laugh and was getting tired.

"If the enemy knew I was this weakened... They would have my head on a silver plater... Also, what's going on with you?" As Dennis soon ask. He sees Sin's clothing changing by a white flame. Sin panicked, but once it was over. He ended up wearing a full dark suit of royal clothing, as if he was a prince with a neon white glow.

"What is this? This is something I have not experienced before..."

"I think I know what it is... When Lod took a part of my DNA... It contained fragments of powers that I could tap in the past." As Dennis explained. They soon heard hard foot step clanking metal. When they looked over, they noticed it was the armor that they encountered at the end of their recent battle. Dennis's left eye twitched while Sin had a concerned expression of what might happen next.

"Dennis, we should make a run for it..." Sin says to Dennis in his ear. But as to in that moment, Dennis saw a glimpse of a vision. He saw a small faint light showed up behind them and ended up hitting them.

"Move!" Dennis shouted. He pushed Sin away from him and with that momentum, Dennis got himself out of the way and what Dennis saw happened, but its target ended up being was the armor. As soon as it got hit. They heard a monster's scream of excitement from within.

"We need to run!" Sin shouts. He gets up and helps Dennis get up. They both started running deep into the tunnel. Soon later after the screams ended, the armor followed into the tunnel.

Meanwhile, along Dj and the others. They ended up somewhere out of time. They ended up in a white hallway with pillars for walls and at the very end they see a gray-colored door.

Owen soon asks what is this place as he keeps walking forward. Yen and Ace couldn't help to be uncomfortable with the atmosphere. Dj saw all this, but he was seeing something else besides the door. He saw something far worse than his expectations.

"What in the world... Are you doing...?" Dj asks while the thing he saw was his own shadow. Armed and ready while waiting for a response. His shadow gave a faint smile and twisted into what he feared the most. It could have been one of his family members, his wife, daughter, an enemy, someone that he may have net recently, but it turned out to be the person he trusted the most. He saw his shadow turn into his best friends. It started by turning into Spike.

"You could have done better... Everything would have been prevented if you didn't hold back..." the shadow said. It then switched to Claire.

"What would the rest of us do when we find out when you let us down Dj? What will you do?!" the shadow said. It the. switched into Dennis, but he was different. It turned himself into a younger version of Dennis, but his clothing was the same but oversized. Dj tried to keep a straight eye contact with it, but he wasn't able to see his eyes.

"You only have one chance to make it right... Now go before it's too late." the shadow said. It soon disappeared into ashes while Yen and Ace approached him.

"Uncle Dj, are you okay?" Yen asks. He was concerned for Dj's well being, buy Dj nodded and gave him a smile.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm just... having second doubts..." Dj said. As soon as he gave an answer. Owen was opening the door. When he opened it. He saw a room with a clock, a table with five chairs, along with cups of tea.

"Hey guys! I think we are in the dream world again!" Owens shouts. The rest gathered with him and saw what Owen had found. It was hard to understand, since no one else was around except for them.

"I don't get it... There should be someone at least here..." Ace said. He soon approached once of the chairs and from out of tin air. A lady with white skin with silver long hair and dressed in white and gray with her eyes closed walks from behind Dj and moves along to the chair far side the door. They all kept quiet until she sat down and took a sip of tea. Owen and Dj looked at each other while going down for a seat. Yen and Ace did the same and sat next to one another.

"Excuse us... But who are you?" Dj asks. The lady gives a small giggle and soon opens her eyes and saw the four sitting down and nervous. When they saw her eyes, it was pure as gold.

"What are you boys waiting for? Come, have a drink. We have so much to talk about?" The lady said. The guys then tried out the tea and were sweet, but Dj soon started coughing from it. Owen stood up patted Dj on the back to help. He soon looked over at the lady with anger.

"Dj! What did you do to him!?" Owen asks. The lady gives a smirk and drinks more tea.

"My name is Kronos. You four went into my domain. Your friend here consumed a mixture that helps cleanse the corrupted." Kronos says to Owen while standing up from her chair. "And we have a lot to talk about."

Meanwhile, back with Dennis and Sin. They were still running deep into the tunnel. After a while, they got tired and slowing down with each passing minute.

"We need a place to hide." Sin says. He tried to look around, but it was just along with no end in sight. The place had dim light caused by the entrances.

"Running won't do us any good... We need to fight and take this thing down while we have the chance." Dennis says to Sin. He prepares the guns he picked up from his previous fight. Starting off with the shotgun, but Sin hands over his rifle.

"You have a better chance with this." Sin said to Dennis. He puts the shotgun away and grabs the rifle.

"Okay then...Time to see what we have here..." Dennis said. He immediately takes aim and saw the armor walking in the distance, but it wasn't alone. Behind the armor, more people wearing masks followed. "Shit... we need to go..." Dennis said in a low voice and starts shooting the people in masks.

"Dennis, what do you see?" Sin asks.

"We need to go!!" Dennis shouted and pulled the trigger one more time and the bullet landed on the armor. They both started running again while the armor pulled out a sword and pointed it at them. Soon, the people wearing masks ran towards Dennis and Sin. As they ran, they soon saw the exit and when they made it out. Dennis cast an ice wall to buy them enough time.

"How long do you think that will last?" Sin asks. When he turned over to Dennis. He saw him sitting on the ground with his left arm trembling. "Are you okay?" As soon as Sin asks. Dennis grabs a hold of his left arm using his right arm and looks over at Sin.

"Yeah... I'm fine... Just nervous... I don't use magic by a lot for combat lately... Everything is getting cold each passing minute..." Dennis said to Sin. He then got up and started walking away from the area. Heading in deeper into the nearby forest. Sin then followed him while making sure that their tracks were covered.

Hours later. Dennis and Sin walked onto a path that lead to a cabin. When they arrived, they saw no one was home.

"We can lie low here for a bit..." Sin said. He walked towards the main door to open it, but when he tried, it was locked.

"This place... I was here before..." Dennis said to himself. He then noticed a pot that had water, moved it, and found a key. After Dennis finds the key, Sin noticed Dennis was lost in thought.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sin asks.

"You see... I was here about two years ago... I was with my family and had trouble with some locals. We got into a fight, but in the process, my daughter was marked. Bringing life to someone important..."

Once Dennis finished talking. He went and opened the door with the key he found. When they entered. They saw that the place was well maintained. It had a fireplace, a kitchen, a bathroom and three bedrooms. Sin then went and sat down near the fireplace while Dennis went over to the kitchen and found a letter addressed to him.

"Huh... That's odd..." Dennis said to himself. He then opened the letter. When he opened it, Dennis saw it was a set of instructions to reach a specific location that can open a portal.

"Hey Sin! I think I know how to get us out of this place." Dennis said to Sin. He walks over to him and passes down the letter to him. When Sin saw it, he was surprised none the less, but shocked. Sin knew what awaits for them, but doesn't have the confidence to say it.

"You should get some rest... I can't have you collapsing along the way." Sin said to Dennis. Dennis nodded to him and went to take a brief rest. After a few hours later. They were finally rested up and ready to go on to their next destination.