The Legacy Of 2144: The Beginning (Part 2)

Chapter 3: Nightmares & Questions

"Great job, Jack. Thanks to you and your teammates, CHAOS's reign of terror has come to an end. For that Jack, each of you gets 30K gold coins for your contribution, and on top of that, Jack, have this new upgrade for your armour." Commander Mark praised me as he gave me what seemed to be a huge, metallic backpack, making me raise an eyebrow. "Commander Mark, what's this?" I asked him, holding out the "metallic backpack". Commander Mark looked at it and smiled: "That, Jack, is a Jetpack upgrade. Go to the upgrade booth and attach it to your armour. You earned it, soldier." Upon hearing about the new upgrade, my eyes widened in awe. "No freaking way! I got to add this new upgrade right now!" I exclaimed. "Well, if you say so, Jack. I'm going to...return to my dorm. See you." Justin yawned as he waved goodbye, joining the other 3.  Running to the upgrade booth, I anxiously watched as the mechanical arms slowly and carefully attached the Jetpack upgrade to the armour. As the upgrade was done, I read the notification of the upgrade, and to my amazement, I learnt that the Jetpack came with energy wings, which help with the manoeuvring of the user. "This would change the tide of my battles," I smirked, as the Jetpack attached itself to my armour.

Exhausted from the long day of my battle, I collapsed on my bed once night came and fell into a deep sleep. But sleep offered no refuge. Instead, I plunged into a dark, tumultuous landscape, a swirling vortex of shadow and despair. The air was heavy with the stench of decay and the ground beneath me seemed to shift and writhe as though alive. Amidst the chaos, a faint, desperate voice pierced through the darkness. "Jack... Jack, help me!" It was Yui's voice. I recognized it instantly, despite the distortion of fear and urgency. I tried to move toward her, but the ground beneath me seemed to pull me back, as though resisting my every step. I stumbled and fell, my heart racing as the voice grew fainter. "Yui!" I yelled out, but each time I tried to get to Yui, Yui seemed further away from me, instead of closer. Just as I thought I got closer to her and reached my hand out to grab Yui, the image of Deathwhisperer appeared in front of me, with his staff raised. Yelling a spell, a green beam shot out of his staff, hitting me directly on the chest. I jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat and breathing heavily. The pain from the dream felt so real that I frantically checked my chest for any signs of injury, or worse, a hole. I heaved a sigh of relief when I found none. But the dream left me with an unsettling sense of dread. Was Yui trapped in the Monster Realm? The guilt of not searching for her all these years began to weigh heavily on me, morphing into self-loathing. I couldn't shake the feeling that my quest for vengeance had blinded me to the plight of my sister. The thought of Yui's suffering gnawed at my conscience, reminding me of the promises I had made:  To protect, to care, and to never give up. Now, the very darkness I fought against was a constant reminder of my failure to safeguard the one person who meant the most to me. 

The next day, I stomped into Commander Mark's command room. "Morning, Jack. You look...rather grumpy. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Commander Mark asked, raising an eyebrow, seemingly shocked to see my fiery temperament at the start of the day. "Yeah, you can say that again," I growled. "You said that you were going to 'help me find my little sister'. Why haven't you done so?" Commander Mark paused, and placing down his coffee mug, he replied: "Jack, I had been trying my best to-!" "Oh yeah! 'Trying your best' my ASS! Do you call giving me consecutive missions without helping me find my sister 'trying your best'?! I don't get it.  What's the point of hunting monsters when they don't even lead me to clue as to where she is?!" I yelled. Commander Mark's face soon turned from shock to a scowl. "Jack, it is YOUR duty to kill every monster. They are ALL associated with the army of dark-" "Oh, is that so? Then why didn't you kill the robots then? What about the dragons protecting our realms this whole time, huh? HUH?!" I roared in fury. There was a moment of deafening silence. Unable to contain my anger, I grabbed my weapon and stormed off.  "....Where are you going?" Commander Mark asked, his voice still harsh. Glaring at him, I replied: "I'm going off to find my sister myself, thank you very much!" With that, I left without another word, leaving the stunned and enraged Commander Mark standing there, watching as I left with disappointment. As I stormed off, Justin, Zach and Darq were standing outside the command room. "Let me guess. You have another argument with Commander Mark?" Justin asked, looking at my expression. I shot him a glare. "This has nothing to do with you." Zach stepped forward, his dark blue eyes reflecting concern. "Jack, we're all in this together. If there's something wrong, you can talk to us." Darquesse, her purple eyes narrowing slightly, added, "We might be able to help, or at least understand what's going on." I paused. "....Commander Mark lied to me. He said that he's 'trying to find my sister's whereabouts'  when all he ever does is give me mission after mission to manipulate me!" I growled. There was a slight pause. "....I'm going to find her myself. I don't need YOUR help!"