I feel kind of guilty to milonine that I haven't worked on this story for so long. So, I'll upload a new chapter! Still, this is a very, very, difficult story for me to write, even though I want to write it. Plus, between university and Fanfiction, I keep getting sidetracked by writing other stories!

Chapter twenty-four

Aside from the collisions from outside the hotel and the thundering movement from the dream level above, most likely from attacks on the plane, audible movement and angry shouting could be heard from inside the room where Wes and his team were. Lucian, right when Wes stopped him from reaching for a needle, turned to look at the door as well. Barry gripped his Poké Ball and threw it.

"Go! Ditto!" he shouted. His Pokémon blasted out of the Poké Ball to land on the floor. Already his Torterra was there with leaves at the ready. Kellyn had already got his Pokémon at the ready too. Mars simply stood near the back.

"Who's going to open the door?" Wes addressed.

When no one else answered him, a moment of silence followed. Finally, Cyrus walked up, saying, "I'll do it. Just make this quick."

Wes walked on the other side of the door across from Cyrus. He lowered his head slightly to face the door, eyed Cyrus, and nodded.

Cyrus' hand went for the door handle, whipped it open, and a group stormed in. Wes acted quickly by whipping a Master Ball at one of the group, and he was satisfied to see that it was a Pokémon. Barry, on the other hand, gave the command for Ditto to transform and ordered Torterra to immediately use Leaf Storm. After all that happened, Wes brought a fist down to hammer a man of the kill team projections, but halted when he saw who it was.

"Wallace?" Lucian said, astonished. "What are you doing here?!"

"Those kill teams are all over you and me, Lucian," Wallace said, out of breath.

Wes reached out a hand to pick up Wallace's, and Wallace was back on his feet. "Here, I'll give you some time to rest."

Wallace nodded. "Thank you."

The break took some time, but this gave Lucian more time to look at what Wallace had been through. He was covered in scratches and cuts…

"Hey… Lucian," Wallace said. "There're still more of them coming from behind that door."

"Who are they?!" Lucian responded, alarmed. "They can't be the guys coming to take over the bank, are they?"

Wallace shook his head. "No, it's much worse. All this conflict… it's about the contract papers for handing over HSBC to the Plasma Company."

Wes saw Wallace ready to stumble back to the floor, so he helped him to the ground slowly. Lucian then kneeled down to Wallace's level.

"What about the papers, Wallace?" Lucian asked. "Why does the Plasma Company want them so badly? Are they that desperate?"

"The papers, Lucian, those papers?!" Wallace emphasised. "Those papers are a testimony against the Plasma Company that they have no right or reason to take over the bank. They hired – they hired, you hear me? – Those kill teams to track down our movements. They were the ones who kidnapped us from the beginning to now… as we speak the kill teams hired by the Plasma Company continue to look for those papers!"

"So now they're trying to get at us to choke out the papers. Hah…!" Wallace gasped for air, his eyes tired. "This bank is yours, Lucian. The Plasma Company won't have anything good for HSBC's future if you leave. We have to find those contract papers… it's the only way we can save the bank from falling into the wrong hands."

He wasn't dying, but Wallace's state of consciousness fell to a drop. His head hit the floor, and Wallace moved no longer.

"Wallace…" Lucian said to himself. "Why?"

Lucian turned to Wes. "I think I've got it already. That was exactly the truth, wasn't it? Why did they have to take the life of Wallace…?"

"Honour what needs to be done," Wes cut him off. "The truth is uncovered: the Plasma Company has a lot to do in this dream. We have to find out what the Plasma Company is thinking of… otherwise we might – you might bring everything to a crash."

"I know," Lucian said. "I remember… things from a while back: the people want me to use the bank again. But I still can't believe the Plasma Company would do such a thing… I have to know more. Could you help me find out what it is?"

Wes was glad to hear and see that the primary concepts had worked at long last. It wouldn't be long before they planted inception. Hopefully, they could get it done before the kick.

"Right away," he said. "Barry, do you have the case?"

The hotel room uncovered another metallic briefcase. Cyrus was the first to attach a needle to himself and putting in a Poké Ball, followed by Kellyn who was busy injecting needles into Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia. Mars…

"Wes," she said. "Can I have a word with you?"

"Sure," Wes shrugged. "Barry, help Lucian with the sedative."

Wes and Mars silently walked away while Barry went to prepare using the sedative. He made sure that Cyrus' Poké Balls and Mars' were secured inside the briefcase. Then he injected Kellyn's Pokémon with a few needles and helped out Lucian with his own. After that was done, he waited for Wes to come back.

"What is it now, Mars?" Wes said irritably. "We need to make our time as efficient as possible. If there's anything important –"

"I want to talk about that riot, Wes," Mars said coldly. "There was no way we could have initiated it by ourselves, and we were never on the streets and roads below! Do you have any guesses as to how that might have happened?"

Wes turned around. "Perhaps that security has been heightened in the area. There's a reason why we have to be careful when we deal with the projections. Even so…"

"I'm talking about Rui, Wes," Mars said.

Wes glared at her, his fists slightly clenched. "Leave her out of this. There is no way I will allow that possibility. I know her too well."

Mars also had her fists clenched. "Think about it, Wes. Rui warned you ahead of time that there would be a riot, and yet there is a riot right now that not even we know how it came like that. But what if she was the one who… was the cause of that? Isn't that possible?"

"Also," she continued, holding a hand up to prevent Wes from talking. "The projections, you said, are getting rallied up."

"Mars, that's natural," Wes shook his head.

Mars flicked a wrist. "What if Rui somehow could pass intelligence about our plans and presence in the dream? She might be the cause of all that we failed at. I'm getting really burned out on it. True, it might be natural for the projections to get more aggressive, but that doesn't explain how we didn't start that riot. If Rui…"

Mars paused, then resumed. "If we go deeper into this dream, I suspect that Rui might become more and more hostile to all of us. I can see that, Wes, so why can't you?"

"If Rui is as bad as you say she is," Wes said in a warning tone. "Then why hasn't she come out with a full-fledged assault, huh? Don't you think that you're going a bit too far in the details? Or is it because you're missing out on the big picture, Mars?"

Mars scoffed. "Try answering them yourself, Wes."

"I trust Rui," Wes said shortly. "If you can't, then you might as well leave. That should be enough for you, so make up your mind. We have to pay attention to now."

He turned away from Mars to attend to the rest of his team, and Mars shook her head, wondering if she had made the right choice of doubting Wes. Still, things would be very complicated either way. But then again, she could reserve the time for argument at a later future.

"Okay, Barry," Wes said. "Is everything in order?"

"I just hope things will go and carry out smoothly," Barry replied, his breath short. "Sweet dreams, I hope. But then again, maybe that won't happen."

Wes lay down on the bed, with a needle in his wrist, with others of his team on the ground or on the chairs also with connected needles.

"Ready guys?" Barry asked with his hand ready to push on the button.

Before Wes could even say anything, his thought dwelled on Rui for a brief moment, and then it was covered with Mars' doubts. Would it be possible that Rui would try to sabotage his mission? No, it couldn't be. Rui was his trusted friend, even though she was only a projection. He made a promise…

"Hey, Wes, you ready?" Kellyn shook his shoulder. "Mars and Cyrus are ready too."

"Yeah, yeah…" Wes snapped to his present location. "I'm – I'm fine. Let's get this over with."

Barry pressed the button so that the sedative would rush through each needle. In seconds, the sedative would work its way into each mind connected to that case.

Once again, Mars never liked (let alone hate) the feeling of the sedative into her head. To Cynthia's credit, it wasn't as painful as the one she tried with Wes. At least it worked.