The Nightmare Gateway and Beyond (III)

Along the way back to get thing settled up. Dennis, Dj and Lota were passing by the park. It was the quickest way back to the house, but something was bothering Dennis. Dj took notice of it and stopped him under a tree to stay away from the sunlight.

"Alright, what's wrong Dennis?"

Dj asked. Knowing how Dennis would act, he would avoid eye contact if something was wrong, but Dennis was looking at Dj straight in the eyes.

"It's about Celeste and Sally with the rest of the guards. I fear that we may have less than a few hours before hell can brake loose."

"And by that?"

"Me and Hearltess trapped Amaltus inside the nightmare gate, and it shows up today. It's like if it was a Monday if you ask me."

Dennis said to Dj. They then continued onward to the house while Lota took the lead.

"So, how was it back at your home?"

Lota asked Dennis. She then turned around and walked backwards.

"You mean my home or my home here?"

"Your home."

Lota said to Dennis.

"Well... From being sunny 24/7 it gotten pretty cold. An eclipse occurred and things went bad. Now you find me here doing my job that I should have done back home."

Dennis said to Lota. He then took off his glasses to clean them.

"And I'm getting sick and tired waiting here to go back home to find it destroyed."

"Then come on! Race you back to your house!"

Lota said. She then adjusted her bag so that it doesn't fall off and she quickly sprinted away.

"She seems fast."

Dj said.

"But not fast enough..."

Dennis said to Dj. They then strolled, but after a few seconds. They were already running. Dennis and Dj were neck a neck on speed. It even reached a moment where time almost felt slow.

"I think I can see Lota."

Dj said. He then turned his head to his left and saw that they were passing by the farm.

"Okay. Dj, you go ahead to the house, I'll go get Lota and find us a ride."

Dennis said to Dj. They both went on different paths. Dj took a sharp turn to the right while Dennis went on ahead to catch up to Lota.

"Man... I can't find the house..."

Lota said to herself. She was looking around in all directions while running. She only saw was the pathway to the beach. Dennis was right behind her. He used this opportunity to catch up and take her to find a ship.

"Wait... This is the path to the beach, but it seems different..."

Dennis said to himself. He then felt his left eye was glowing.

"Damn it... Worst time to be active right now... But I guess is better than later..."

Dennis said to himself. He then went past by Lota, creating a gust of wind that pushed her onto his back. She then grabbed on to his coat to go along with Dennis to the eminent danger.

Meanwhile, back at the house. Dj was rushing in. He couldn't stop running. He ended up using the front door to stop himself. Sadly, he took down the door to get in. Everyone saw him and by everyone, it was only his friends, Nidializ, Claire, Owen, Dwight, Donte, Spike and his wife Paige. They saw Dj pass by to end up taking down the door to the briefing room that was used for mission updates.

"Dj!?!"

They all asked while calling out his name. Paige was the first to get a check on him, but Dj got out of the room before she could even check.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... I just need to get things ready..."

Dj said to Paige while looking at the guys.

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

Dwight said to everyone.

Back at Dennis. He already made it to the beach while carrying Lota on his back. As the sound of the ocean was calming for him, it only called out danger ahead.

"So... What you have planed?"

Lota asked Dennis. Since nothing showed up. He answered Lota's question while walking towards the destroyed Arc-xenal.

"Taking matters into my own hands, going back home to fight back, hunt down a specific individual and bringing my son with me for training."

"Anything else?"

"Does beating someone into a bloody pulp sounds reasonable to you?"

Dennis asked Lota. She was giving it a thought while getting close to the ship.

"Sounds reasonable enough for me, but don't go all killer happy, okay? I don't want you going insane..."

Lota said to Dennis while they entered the ship. Dennis took the same path and found himself at the same location he met with Stalker.

"I'm probably going to do a lot more than usual, but I got no other choice."

Dennis said to himself. He then stomped hard on the ground with his right foot to force a teleported to take them to a different location. As they got teleported, Dj was getting everyone set.

"Alright, you guys are set... now I just need to get Yen and Ace..."

Dj said to himself. Then the girls approached Dj, but Paige was the one to take the lead.

"Dj, do you really have to leave so soon?"

"I know... But I promise you I'll be back."

Dj then turned around, but Paige stopped him and forced him to turn back.

"I'm not letting you leave without a gift~"

Paige said to Dj. She then jumped on to him and forced a kiss on the lips.

"Now that's a keeper."

Dwight said. Donte and Owen looked over at Dwight and messed with his flattop. But shortly after, Yen and Ace showed up with their bags where ready to go with everyone. Claire then looked at them with concern. She approached Yen first to see if he was okay with this.

"Yen, sweetie, are you sure that you want to do this?"

Claire asked Yen while kneeling in front of him, while placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Mom, I'm okay with this. I know things are hectic but it will be fine, I promise."

Yen said to his mother. He then hugged her and she cried.

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye out for Yen as if he was my brother."

Ace said to Claire. She then waved her left hand at Ace, showing him to join the hug. He quickly joined in and cried.

"Both of you, take care and be safe. I will wait for you all to return."

Claire said. She then stopped crying, and the pathway to the house split in two.

"What in the world is that?"

Nidializ asked herself. She then approached towards it and a bright light came out. It was hard for everyone to see what it was, but when the lights went out. They all saw a brand new ship that was half the size and identical to the Arc-xenal.

"Wait, so the ship got fixed?"

Owen asked. He was seeing how the new ship could be compared to the old ship.

"It seems smaller."

Dwight said. He then pointed it out after noticing that some areas were missing.

"Seems to me like it's not that powerful and I can tell by just the look of it."

Spike said. He then grabbed a rock and tossed it at the ship, but it got destroyed by a small energy blast. They all got surprised soon after a door opened, revealing Dennis and Lota behind it.

"You better take your words back and get the hell on. We got things to do, and the clock is ticking. The enemy will not wait for us with a red carpet."

Dennis said. All the guys grabbed their stuff and went on board.

"Claire, Nidializ, Paige! I'll contact you guys as soon as we make it to the other side!"

"Get ya butt moving! I want my man back in about a month!!"

Paige said to Dennis while yelling. Dj then came back to grab Dennis.

"We shall be back in a month, and I hope everything stays peaceful here till I return."

Dennis said to everyone. He then gave a salute, and the ship turned on its engine on the wings to ascend. Once the ship was up in the sky, it changed course towards the castle.