Fabio shook his head. "No, Jack. I'm telling you the truth,believe me. If you really want to protect this world,then stop fighting me and join me."
Jack stared at him, his jaw clenched, his breathing shallow.
Fabio continued, his voice calm but firm. "Nina is part of this too. She's seen things that prove we're not dealing with just another criminal. This is bigger than us, Jack. Bigger than this city."
Jack sighed heavily, rubbing his temple. The tension in his shoulders was still there, but the gun slowly lowered until it was pointing at the floor.
"This is insane," Jack muttered.
"Yeah," Fabio admitted. "But it's real."
Jack stared at him for a long moment before finally, reluctantly, slipping the gun back into its holster.
"You better be right about this," Jack said. "Because if you're wrong, I'm putting you down myself."
Fabio let out a small, relieved breath. "Fair enough."
Jack still didn't believed Fabio, He knew there was something off, but he cannot proceed as he does not have the rights to.He left Fabio's home instantly as he have nothing to do.
Jack exhaled as he left Fabio's house, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel as he started his car. The engine rumbled softly in the quiet town. He didn't trust Fabio. Not entirely. There were too many missing pieces, too much uncertainty.
He had hoped to squeeze something useful , but Fabio had remained steadfast, giving away nothing that could help Jack make a clear decision. And that Asahi guy… There was something dangerous about him, something controlled yet unpredictable. Jack had dealt with criminals, killers, and masterminds before, but Asahi was different. The way he carried himself, the way he answered questions,it was like he already knew how people would react before they even spoke.
Jack sighed, driving down the empty road, city lights flickering in the distance. He reached over and turned on the radio, letting the low hum of a news broadcast fill the silence.
"Breaking news. Spain's most brutal criminal, Asahi Rei, has escaped from jail earlier today. Authorities have yet to confirm how he managed to escape, but officials warn that he is highly dangerous and should not be confronted under any circumstances. More updates to come..."
Jack's grip on the wheel tightened.
His instincts had been right.
With a swift motion, he spun the car around, the tires screeching against the pavement. Fabio, Artur, Nina, Luka,were they working with Asahi? Were they being manipulated?
No. Fabio was too stubborn for that. He wasn't the kind of guy to be easily swayed.
Then what the hell was going on?
Jack pressed the accelerator, his car speeding down the road, the trees blurring past. He reached Fabio's house within minutes, but as he pulled into the driveway, he felt it.
Something was wrong.
The air was thick, heavy, vibrating with an unnatural force. The hairs on Jack's arms stood on end as an unnatural warmth spread across the area. He stepped out of the car, his hand instinctively reaching for his gun.
Then he saw it.
The front of Fabio's house was gone.
No door. No walls.
In its place stood a massive gate, glowing with an eerie, blinding light that pulsed with life itself. The sky had split apart above it, a swirling vortex of energy crackling against the darkness. The ground trembled slightly beneath Jack's feet, and right in front of the gate, something even stranger was happening...flowers.
They sprouted rapidly, blooming in an instant, their colors impossibly vivid, their petals opening and stretching toward the light as if reaching for something divine. Jack saw these flowers blossoming on dead bodies before.
Jack felt something pull at him.
Not physically, but something deeper. His mind, his very being, felt entangled in the presence of this… thing.
He took a cautious step forward, gun still in hand.
"What the hell…?" he muttered under his breath.
The light from the gate twisted and shifted, forming patterns that almost looked like something was moving inside. Not a person. Not an animal. Something… ancient. Something vast.
Jack swallowed hard.
He had seen many things in his life. War. Death. Bloodshed.
But this?
This was something else entirely.
His body felt frozen, caught between the instinct to run and the overwhelming pull of curiosity.
Then, from within the glowing gate, a whisper.
It wasn't in any language he recognized, yet he understood it.
"Step forward, and witness."
Jack clenched his jaw.
He wasn't the kind of man to back down.
But something told him..this time, stepping forward might change everything.
Moments before he realised, Jack was in his room.
Jack blinked.
The blinding light, the flowers, the pulsating energy...gone.
Instead, he was sitting on the edge of his bed, drenched in sweat, his heart slamming against his ribs like a trapped animal. His breath was uneven, fingers digging into the sheets as if to ground himself. His gun was still holstered at his side, his clothes unchanged. Everything in the room was exactly as he had left it before heading to Fabio's place.
But he knew he had been there.
The warmth in the air, the impossible gate, the sky splitting apart...it wasn't a dream. He could still feel the way his skin tingled, the way the light had pulled at his very thoughts.
Yet, here he was.
Had he imagined it? Had he passed out? Was he losing his mind?
Jack stood up, the motion disorienting, his balance slightly off. The walls of his room felt too still, too normal. The weight of reality pressed in on him, yet it felt fragile...like something was lurking just beyond the surface, waiting for him to notice.
Shaking his head, he grabbed his keys and stormed out. He needed answers.
The drive to Fabio's house was a blur. He wasn't even sure how he got there...one moment, he was gripping the wheel, and the next, he was stepping onto Fabio's porch. But something was different.
-TO BE CONTINUED.