"You're certainly a very strange man." Hopper felt that Jonathan's strange behavior was connected to the entire aura surrounding this place.
"I'm a priest." Jonathan had no reason to feel offended by that—it didn't affect him in the slightest.
Eleven didn't understand half of what the others were talking about, so she stayed silent as she stepped into her worst nightmare: the walls of this laboratory that had tormented her for so long.
Humans with super abilities were very peculiar—some had strange fetishes, and others simply did whatever they pleased, since they were practically free in every sense.
This was truly the kind of freedom so many had always longed to have.
Everyone thinks they're free, but in reality, only a few truly are.
While Jonathan was lost in thought, they arrived at the dimensional portal that Eleven had opened. Thanks to Hopper, they got there much faster than Jonathan had expected, judging by the situation in the last few moments.
"We might have company," Jonathan murmured as he pulled out two high-caliber pistols and handled them with effortless precision.
Hopper just stood aside, watching Jonathan's movements and how he manipulated objects that suddenly floated in the air.
Eleven was amazed—she had never met anyone with powers like hers before, and that made Jonathan someone very special.
"Do you know how to close it?"
Eleven shook her head, a little frightened.
Jonathan frowned, thought for a few seconds, and asked, "What did you feel when you connected to the Upside Down?"
"I don't remember. I just focused my mind on a different world, and after a while, I appeared where I wanted to be." Eleven didn't know how to explain it any better.
Hopper pointed his gun toward the tunnel, though he knew it was useless, considering that all the agents who had died before couldn't do anything against what was there.
"Do you have enough energy?" Jonathan needed to know if Eleven was capable of closing the dimensional tunnel she had opened herself.
Eleven tried to concentrate, but soon felt dizzy and almost collapsed to the ground. Hopper caught her and shouted, "She's still weak—she can't do what you're asking her to do!"
"Well, you're right." Jonathan gave up on that and walked toward the dimensional portal. He extended his hands and began applying mental pressure to it.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Jonathan was using more and more of his mental energy to close the portal and to gain the knowledge that could help him in the future.
When the pressure grew so great that even space itself seemed unable to withstand it, the portal began to close—but at the same time, a tentacle shot out from within and pierced Jonathan's heart, dragging him inside.
But at that very moment, just as he was about to be pulled to the other side, Jonathan's eyes turned red. Blood and an overwhelming mental force exploded outward with such power that it completely disintegrated the tentacle.
Boom!
"I'll find you later," Jonathan said with total seriousness. He snapped his fingers, and everything closed shut.
But the effort caused him to lose consciousness for a few seconds, leaving Hopper frozen by what he had just witnessed.
"Is he dead?" Hopper approached Jonathan, who was lying in a pool of blood.
Eleven, still overwhelmed, walked closer and said with complete confidence, "He's gotten up from worse injuries."
"Worse? His damn heart was just pierced—who is this guy, Jesus from the Bible?" Hopper was about to say more when he saw Jonathan move his hand through the pool of blood and slowly get to his feet. "I think I was close to dying. Damn it."
"Your heart exploded like a damn kerosene bomb."
"Were you in the war?"
"No…"
Jonathan, now standing, muttered, "I got a little excited for a moment—sorry if I scared you. Well, now that everything's over, I'll need you two to keep this a secret."
"That's it?" Hopper wasn't sure what Jonathan had actually done in this place.
"Take Eleven out of here. And my things too—I'll pick them up at your house once I finish dealing with what's left here." Jonathan didn't know what else to do first; he needed to prepare to receive the guests who would probably arrive in just a few hours.