The sound of ringing was very prominent in Alex's ears as he felt himself be pushed back and slammed onto the bed.

He panted heavily, taking a moment to calm down until he was able to regain his bearings as his eyes returned to normal.

The boy faintly saw the smoke trail from the bullet faintly waft on the roof, and he felt small droplets of blood trickle down onto his cheek.

Somehow in an insane display of immense speed Mei had managed to close the gap between the two, turning the gun away from and pinning him down right as Alex fired.

The result of this was the bullet just slightly grazing Mei on her cheek which left a fairly sized cut.

Another thing that Alex noticed which was weird was that he no longer felt the gun in his head and when he looked up, he didn't see it in Mei's either.

'The hell? It disappeared? Was that another mind game?' Thought Alex.

He'd feel Mei let go of his wrists, slowly backing off as Alex sat up.

Before he could even say anything, he received a harsh slap from Mei as the boy yelped a bit from the pain.

"Y-You..................idiot!" Shouted Mei with tears in her eyes as she stormed out of his room and slammed the door.

Alex was just left there, holding a hand to where he was hit as he wasn't even all that surprised since he expected a reaction like that.

'Probably not wise to run after her. I do deserve that after all.'

Alex laid back down on the bed as he pulled his left sleeve back to look at the Honkai Infection markings.

"You're only gonna make my life even worse huh? Oh well. I signed up for this I guess." He said, sighing to himself.

The boy would close his eyes once more, this time falling asleep and not being sent back to the Theater.

[The Next Day]

To say things were awkward between Alex and Mei was an understatement as the two would conveniently run into each other many times throughout the day but wouldn't say a word to one another.

Raven would pick up on and notice this however she simply just chalked it up to awkward teens being awkward.

Currently, Alex was running another errand as per usual for Jackal and had just finished reporting back to her that he had completed it so he was now on a stroll.

During that stroll, he began to really assess what had happened the night more.

'That puppet thing, well more like those puppets to be exact are all one Herrscher. It seems to easily manipulate those with weak will power and lack of self worth to become a part of them. Not to mention that it can easily control weaker Honkai Energy like my arm. Just the fact that it got me to kill a person and nearly shoot myself is certainly no joke. Its power is immense.' Thought Alex before remembering something. 'Didn't Seele say that her and Bronya were looking into it under orders from Dr. Einstein? Bronya's a Herrscher now so she might be in trouble, and chances are likely that Kiana could end up roped into this somehow.'

With all that thought out Alex came to the conclusion that despite it not being a wise choice, he had to go back to the Theater and get more info from the puppet.

On the off chance he ran into Seele again or Bronya, then he'd be sure to inform them on what he knew so far.

With all that being said, Alex would pay the apartment a visit.

He figured that by now whatever was in Jane Doe's room had been thrown out already so he went to the large garbage bin nearby to see if it had been thrown away.

Sure enough he didn't even need to scavenge inside as he saw its arm sticking out of the entrance.

He'd pull the doll off as it somehow wasn't even dirty nor had an odor.

Alex would carry it into a nearby alley as he sat it down against a wall as he kneeled in front of it.

"Listen you, whatever stunt you tried to pull off failed and it ain't gonna scare me away from your domain so listen up. Seele mentioned how she ended up at the Theater by entering a storage space. If you can do that for her, then surely you can do that for me." He said to the puppet.

The item didn't move or speak however not too long after he said that, Alex's arm began to pick up on something just up ahead as he turned to the left and saw a door.

He'd approach it and as he did, the feeling in his arm got stronger and stronger.

'Seems like it was listening after all. This must be an entrance into that Theater.'

The boy would take a deep breathe, calming his nerves as he grabbed the handle and slowly turned it.

Upon opening the door and walking, he was met with a blinding white light as the world around him began to warp and distort.

This lasted a few seconds until his vision returned to normal as he was now falling down to the ground.

He'd smack the floor fairly hard, groaning a bit as he lifted his head up and looked around to see he was back in the Theater, this time in the initial long hallway.

After surveying his surroundings, he saw a pair of black and white boots in front of him followed by a white gloved hand offering to help him up.

He'd accept it as he got up and dusted himself off before seeing that the hand belonged to non other than Seele.

"Thank goodness you're okay." She said before noticing the bandages on his right hand. "Hm? What happened to you?"

Alex noticed her concern and immediately brushed it off.

"Don't worry about it. Just a few cuts and scratches. Nothing serious." He said.

"What're you doing back here?"

"Some things came up. Had to come back to clear some lingering thoughts I had. What about you?" Responded Alex.

"Those puppets attacked the base that we're staying at. Me and Bronya were fending them off until we came across a sudden rift. We entered it together and ended up here, however we got separated."

When Seele said that, alarm bells went off in Alex's head.

"Wait Bronya's somewhere here? Crap. That's bad. That's really bad." He said which quickly worried Seele.

"W-What's wrong? Is Bronya gonna be okay?" She asked.

"Sorry but there's no time to explain we have to find her now. Come on." Stently said Alex.

Seele nodded as the two immediately rushed off.

As they scampered their way through the halls of the domain, they heard the puppet's trademark laugh echo from just up ahead which caused them to pick up the pace.

The laughs would get louder and closer as just up in the distance was a puppet holding a hand out in front of her as something seemed to he suspended up in the air.

Alex would take a closer look and was in shock upon seeing who it was.

It was Bronya locked in a golden cage that was surrounded by a purple aura.

It didn't take Seele much longer to also see the predicament Bronya was in as she gasped.

"Bronya!" She shouted.

'Crap she's in trouble! That damn puppet's got her trapped!'

Alex immediately rushed ahead trying to get there as quick as possible.

As he got extremely close, the cage began to glow a bit as the voice in Seele's head seemingly sensed something.

"Seele stay back! That cage is gonna blow up!" It said.

"Huh!? Alex! Watch out it's gonna explode!" Shouted Seele.

Alex heard this and quickly tried to get in a position to catch Bronya.

Thankfully he'd get there barely on time as the cage blew up, smoke covering the area as Alex held his arms out and successfully managed to catch the girl in his arms as the blast sent him back, colliding hard into a wall as he groaned and slumped down.

"Bronya! Alex!" Shouted Seele as she tried her best to run through the smoke cloud.

Everything the smoke would go away as the puppet that was there had suddenly vanished though that was the least of everyone's concern as Seele would approach the two.

"Don't worry about me I'm fine. Just a bit winded." Said Alex as the two turned their attention to Bronya.

The girl had a pained expression on her face before slowly opening her eyes.

"Seele.......................A-Alex............?" Slowly said the girl.

"Bronya what happened?" Asked Seele.

Bronya would place a hand on her chest and closing her eyes again, seemingly trying to sense something until she opened her eyes in immense shock.

"I-It's gone.............." She said.

"Gone? What's gone?" Asked Alex.

"My Herrscher powers....................they were taken..............."

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What y'all thought Alex died?

Come on guys I'm not THAT cruel. 😈

Chapter 25: Complete