"I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye.
"I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind."
"I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart."
Jonathan recited those words as he strode confidently through the abandoned house. Several meters behind him, a group of soldiers followed cautiously, covering the corridors and rooms they passed.
They all kept their weapons raised, their eyes scanning every dark corner, ready to open fire at the slightest sign of an anomaly. In a place like this, even the smallest movement could signal the presence of something that did not belong in the world of the living.
"No anomalies. The air is clear," Bob reported after checking the reading on his meter.
Jonathan simply nodded and said, "This is the place…"
His gaze hardened as he mentally reviewed his memories of the location. He had not come here by chance. His dreams had shown him the place clearly enough that he had recognized it the moment he stepped through the door.
Somewhere inside the house was a portal, one of many scattered throughout the city that dark entities used to travel between different realities. It was the same passage Jake Chambers had used to reach the so-called Upside Down.
If his memories served him correctly, Jake had been extraordinarily lucky to find it. The portal was guarded by a servant of the Crimson King, and that creature had to be somewhere directly ahead of them.
Jonathan took a few steps back and raised a hand, signaling the soldiers to stop.
"Give my regards to the Crimson King. Open fire!"
The agents reacted immediately. At least ten weapons were aimed at a wall in the narrow corridor. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a hidden mechanism stirred upon realizing that its hiding place had been discovered.
It had no time to attack.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots thundered through the house. The creature emerged from the wall and lunged at Jonathan at an unnatural speed, not even slowing down as bullets began tearing through its body.
Jonathan drew one of his revolvers. As soon as the figure came into view, he could make out its grotesque silhouette, covered in metal pieces and sharp blades that appeared to be part of its own body.
He pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
The projectile struck the creature squarely in the center. The force of the shot was comparable to a cannon blast. The monster's body exploded, and a shock wave swept through the corridor, forcing the nearest agents to shield themselves.
"On the stairs!" one of the soldiers shouted.
Another hideous figure, shrouded in shadows, leaped down the steps. Several agents swung their weapons toward it and opened fire.
Blood, shell casings, and scraps of skin and hair splattered across the adjacent wall. Jonathan did not even spare them a glance.
"Cover my back and move forward!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The gunfire continued until every anomaly that had confronted them had been eliminated. Only then did the deafening noise subside, leaving behind the smell of gunpowder and an uneasy silence.
Jonathan walked among the corpses, taking care not to step in the blood covering the floor. He raised a hand and fixed his gaze on the eyes of one of the creatures that was still writhing.
"You're going to have to try harder than that. If you want to hurt me, stop sending your lackeys after me and prove that you can give me a decent workout."
The anomaly reacted to his words and raised an arm. However, before it could attack, a powerful magnetic force slammed it into the floor.
Wednesday approached a few steps, surveying the destruction around them.
"Are we done?"
Jonathan reloaded his revolver and turned toward the portal, which was beginning to activate in front of the group.
"Have you seen anything else in your visions?"
"Nothing important. All the enemies here have been neutralized."
Jonathan remained silent for a moment. Then he turned his attention back to the passage.
"From what I've seen in my dreams, I know exactly where we need to go. We can stop the attack on one of the human strongholds in the Upside Down."
With that, he stepped toward the portal. The agents followed without hesitation.
…
The Upside Down was a place where the sky seemed to belong to a reality foreign to any known world.
Jonathan was the first to step through the portal. His boots touched the damp ground, and he stood motionless for a few seconds, observing the landscape stretching out before him.
The soldiers began emerging behind him, one after another, their weapons raised and their senses alert. Wednesday was the last to cross.
Behind them, the portal began to close slowly until it disappeared completely.
Silence fell.
A silence that was far too deep.
An enormous medieval-looking city stretched out before them. Yet something was wrong. The streets were nearly deserted, horses stood abandoned along the roads, buildings were covered in dark vegetation, and several columns of smoke rose in the distance.
Jonathan narrowed his eyes. He knew this place.
Not because he had visited it before, but because he had seen it in his dreams.
"This is the place…" one of the soldiers murmured, looking at Jonathan. "Is this the city?"
"Yes. Realities are collapsing and merging with this world. It seems the Crimson King intends to rule over all universes by harnessing the energy of chaos."
Jonathan took a few steps forward, looked at Wednesday, and said, "That's why he tries to kill me in every reality except this one. He's afraid I'll interfere with his plans, and that's exactly what I'm doing now."
After saying this, Jonathan paused and turned his gaze back toward the city.
"And we've arrived just in time."
Wednesday frowned slightly, looking confused.
"Just in time for what?"
Jonathan did not answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the horizon.
Then he heard a distant sound.
BOOM!
The ground trembled beneath their feet. All the soldiers raised their weapons and searched for the source of the explosion.
BOOM!
The second impact was much stronger. Several hundred meters away, a building shuddered, and a cloud of dust rose behind its walls.
The soldiers prepared to open fire.
Jonathan, however, did not raise his revolver. He recognized that sound.
"They've begun a breach."
"Who?" Wednesday asked.
Jonathan pointed toward the ruined city.
"The monsters."
At that moment, screams began echoing through the streets. At first, there were only a few, but they quickly multiplied until they became a deafening chorus of panic.
People fled desperately. From their elevated position, they could see civilians running between the buildings as something enormous pursued them.
One creature.
No, dozens.
Deformed figures burst into the streets at terrifying speeds. Some retained vaguely human silhouettes, although their limbs were far too long. Others had enormous mouths filled with teeth. A few did not even seem to possess clearly defined bodies. They were masses of darkness dotted with glowing eyes.
The soldiers fell silent at the sight. One of them swallowed nervously.
"Sir…"
Jonathan raised his revolver and shouted, "All teams, prepare yourselves! The supernatural squads will wait for the order to join the fight."
"Understood!"
The soldiers immediately dispersed.
"Team One, secure the avenue! Team Two, search for survivors! Team Three, with me!"
Jonathan then turned toward the special agents, the students who had graduated from Nevermore Academy.
"The supernatural team will stay back and observe. They're children, after all."
The youngsters did not protest. They were far too busy staring at the scene unfolding before their eyes.
Jonathan started walking, and Wednesday fell into step beside him. As they advanced, she shot him an inquisitive glance.
"Did you know this was going to happen?"
"Not exactly like this, but I knew the battle would take place here, on the road to the Dark Tower."
"And did you know when?"
Jonathan checked his watch.
"Now."
A monstrous roar tore through the city.
GRRRAAAAAAAHHH!
The civilians screamed even louder. A creature leaped onto a vehicle and crushed it beneath its enormous limbs.
The soldiers opened fire.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets pierced the monster's body but barely managed to make it recoil.
"Aim for the head!"
The agents concentrated their fire on the creature's face. A barrage of bullets tore it apart, and the monster finally collapsed to the ground.
But three more figures appeared behind it.
"There are too many of them!"
Jonathan raised a hand without slowing down.
"Then shoot more."
The soldiers obeyed.
The avenue became a living hell. Monsters surged between the buildings, weapons roared without pause, and civilians ran for their lives, desperate to escape the slaughter.
Jonathan walked straight toward the danger.
A creature leaped from the top of a building. He raised his revolver and fired.
Bang!
The bullet pierced the monster's head, and its body crashed to the ground less than a meter from his boots.
Another creature appeared behind him. Jonathan pivoted on his heels and drew his family's whip with his left hand. The weapon whistled through the air, slicing the monster in half.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Jonathan continued advancing and firing with a calmness that contrasted sharply with the chaos around him. He knew that, no matter how this battle ended, his life would change irreversibly.
"I do not aim with my hand…"
He raised his weapon and fired again.
"I do not shoot with my hand."
Bang!
A creature was sent flying and slammed into a wall.
"I do not kill with my gun."
Jonathan slowly lowered his revolver.
"I kill with my heart."
Then a massive explosion shook the avenue.
BOOOOOOM!
The soldiers instinctively ducked. A nearby building began to collapse, sending up a cloud of dust and debris.
"The building!" an agent shouted, pointing at the structure. "There are people inside!"
Jonathan recognized the place. He had witnessed this scene in his dreams and knew exactly what was about to happen.
"Everyone, get back!"
Jonathan extended both hands. Energy began gathering around him, making the air vibrate.
Wednesday's eyes widened in surprise.
"Jonathan…"
The building finally gave way.
CRAAAAASH!
But before the structure could collapse onto the crowd, an invisible force stopped its descent. The debris hung suspended in the air, only a few meters away from crushing dozens of people.
Dust engulfed the street. For several seconds, no one could see what was happening.
Then, slowly, the chunks of concrete began to rise.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Dozens of tons of rubble floated above the avenue, suspended by the force Jonathan exerted with both hands.
The soldiers stared at the scene in astonishment.
Jonathan gritted his teeth as he kept the building suspended.
"Get the civilians out!"
"Yes, sir!"
The agents rushed toward the survivors trapped among the wreckage. They pulled out children, elderly people, women, and men. Some were injured, while others could barely stand. All of them wore expressions of sheer terror.
But they were alive.
Jonathan kept the debris suspended in the air until the last civilian reached safety. Only then did he clench his fist.
The mass of concrete crashed to the ground behind them with a deafening roar.
BOOM!
Jonathan exhaled and took a deep breath, trying to regain control of his body.
Wednesday watched the survivors. Some were crying, while others desperately embraced their loved ones, unable to believe they had escaped death.
A woman approached Jonathan, tears streaming down her face.
"I thought we were going to die…"
Jonathan looked at her calmly and said, "Not today."
The woman did not fully understand his words, but Jonathan knew exactly what they meant.
In his dreams, he had seen the city after the attack. He had seen thousands of corpses, streets reduced to rubble, and survivors dragged into the shadows.
He had also seen that very woman.
Dead.
Jonathan turned his gaze back toward the city. The future he had known had just changed.
But then something moved on the horizon.
A gigantic shadow rose behind the buildings.
The soldiers fell silent. Wednesday slowly lifted her head.
"What is that…?"
Jonathan studied the figure. It was far larger than any of the creatures they had faced so far. Its body seemed to be made of thick, impenetrable darkness, and two red eyes glowed from within the mass.
Behind it, hundreds of monsters began to emerge.
Jonathan holstered his revolver and said, "This isn't over yet."
Wednesday looked at him gravely.
"How many of them are there, really?"
Jonathan offered a faint smile.
"It's going to take us a while to finish them all off."
He turned toward the soldiers and raised his voice to be heard over the din of the city.
"Defensive formation! Have the support teams prepare the tanks to come through the portal!"
The agents sprang into action. As the civilians were escorted to a safe area, the soldiers regrouped and aimed their weapons at the approaching horde.
Jonathan stepped forward and said, "This city was destined to die today."
He looked at the enormous creature towering over the buildings.
"But I've decided to change history."
The creature unleashed a roar that made the windows throughout the city tremble.
Jonathan raised his hand and said, "Let's see how long it takes the Crimson King to realize we're here."
Bang!
The first shot echoed throughout the avenue.
Hundreds of weapons answered behind him.