PROLOGUE

Nightmare was in a drop pod in a city, still in stasis. The pod's emergency beeping jerked Nightmare out of her hibernation. She peered out of the small port, a missile barreled towards her with explosive power. Nightmare braced for impact. She was already plummeting, what was the purpose? Nightmare leapt out of the soon to be destroyed supply of ammo, tech, and money. She leaped out in the nick of time for her ride to be blown up. Nightmare scanned the earth for any signs of life. There was another alien lifeform, similar genetics to humanity, and a group of humans. Nightmare snaked out her tentacles, making a living wingsuit. She glided towards the group, dodging another missile. Nightmare landed down in front of the team. She pulled a dagger out of a sheath, and held it to the first person's throat. The other alien stepped towards her.

"Give me the knife, it's okay. We're all afraid sometimes." Nightmare grunted, and spoke.

"Gimmie my tech back." Nightmare threatened. The other lifeform flew towards her, and punched Nightmare in the face. Nightmare recovered, and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. "Some welcoming committee." The other lifeform's name was supergirl. Supergirl was very mad. She beat nightmare, punching and kicking. Nightmare stood her ground, taking the hits. Supergirl kept attacking, full of anger. Nightmare took the brute force of the blows, and waited. Supergirl would tire, or Nightmare would. Nightmare stared into the eyes of her attacker, a deep stare. Blood trickled down her mouth, her flesh but by her own teeth. Nightmare struck back. Nightmare gave her an uppercut. Supergirl flew backwards, distracted by the stare. Nightmare fled, seeking solitude. She found a little isolated suburban home. She knocked on the door. A man opened, peering out.

"You need an ambulance?" He asked, looking at her face. Nightmare walked past him, to the nearest computer. Some embarrassing websites were up. The man caught up. "You don't talk much, do ya? Oh, I was just startin." He said, once Nightmare pulled out the chair.

"Can I use this for a sec?" Asked Nightmare. The man nodded. Nightmare flung herself on the computer, typing insanely fast. Websites popped up and disappeared. She closed some websites, leaving some up, presumably to load. Nightmare opened the file explorer and did something, then switched to another document. She began to type furiously, and then observed a map. Nightmare worked at the computer for some time, then got up.

"I fixed your virus issue, and I got this site up. It's way better than what you were watching. Oh, and use incognito, you won't have to clear search history. I also fixed up your lag issue, and got you a new magma account, so you'll be able to buy games from there." Nightmare concluded and walked away. The man looked back at his computer, then at the door. The mysterious lady also left two hundred dollars, and a note. Use this for your kids, don't waste it. The note said.

Nightmare found the city from the map on the computer. Nightmare ran with four mobile tentacles, mocking the leg movements of a cat, or sheep. If she strode, she'd be spotted and killed. She couldn't run fast enough. She flew through the desert, close to the ground. Nightmare turned a desert orange, camouflaging into the rock. The city crept towards her. Nightmare jumped, and landed on her back, checking the sun. There was still an hour of daylight. Rainclouds loomed on the horizon, churning in their black depths. Another figure was in the sky, most likely supergirl. She lived here, too. Nightmare watched with suspicion at the unaware threat. Nightmare jumped up into the sky, calculating speed and wind. They'd intersect. Nightmare landed a blow to the back of Supergirl's head, then dropped down and kept running. Nightmare arrived at the city, and found an alley to sleep in. She woke bonded. Some asshole gangsters were startled at the heavily drugged woman, who was now thrashing. They laughed, realizing she couldn't get free. Nightmare pushed her stinging tentacles out of her back, only to be prevented by a wooden post. Nightmare built up the pressure on her ropes and the wood. The post shattered and nightmare viciously stabbed two of their throats, allowing them to drown in their own blood.

"I-I have a family!" One yelled, backing himself onto a wall.

"They'll be seeing you in hell, too." Nightmare reassured him. She lifted him up onto the wall with one hand, and stabbed a tentacle into the left side of his chest. Nis heart stopped beating, and blood gushed onto Nightmare's chuckling mouth. Nightmare would make sure that the press got her name right, the gangsters would talk about how she haunted her dreams.

Nightmare found where the other hid. As an assistant, the least likely job for a superhero to have, which was why it was the first place she checked. Nightmare could play this game, too. The job interview was made difficult by a sexist pervert. He didn't want any inferior women getting hired at catco, so he made it harder than it should've been. She got hired, and she started work the first day on the job. Sort papers, clean desks, move up. Nightmare sorted the papers, reading the title and pushing off the table, perfectly making stacks in boxes. Nightmare brought the boxes to the next room, and cleared out desks. She neatened the desks in a matter of seconds, and reported back to her boss. He gave her a tedious task: read and sort every letter in the mail room, which Nightmare did. As there was no work for her to do left, Nightmare was told to work in the IT department. Nightmare bumped into supergirl, now known as Kara. She spilled coffee over herself, and went to clean up.

As Nightmare slunked around supergirl's other work place, and planted a listening device. She escaped back into the city. She could now hear everything they said.

"There's this other alien, Right?" A male asked.

"She's faster and stronger than me. We don't know anything about her, and she might not have been in fort rozz." Supergirl thought

"We've found three dead bodies the night she appeared, and the cause of death is nothing like we've seen there's nothing like her from the database." Another man announced.

"Sir, we've found some of the alien's blood. It's a hydrogen compound, and some unknown chemical is also present." Another man said.

"On another note, we've had reportings of another alien, highly adaptable shapeshifter at kittens and co. cat and internet cafe." A reporter spoke Nightmare was there at that time, petting an adult tabby and sipping coffee. She put the animal down, and strode outside. The shapeshifter morphed into a human male, and Nightmare pushed her weaponized tentacles out. Nightmare stepped forwards, and attacked. She fought with fists against wrist spikes that the shapeshifter pulled out. Supergirl arrived then, and began to fight them both. She blocked an kick from supergirl and grabbed the shapeshifter's wrist spike, then stabbed into his shoulder, squeezing her internal venom sac. She leaped backwards, plowing into the charging supergirl's gut. "Learn your fights." Nightmare advised, punching the shapeshifter's jaw as it collapsed into it's knees. The agency arrived to retrieve the other alien.

"Freeze, and put your hands up." The retrieval squad pointed their guns at her.

"Where you gonna aim?" Taunted Nightmare. "Where's my real head, how do you I even have a brain?" Nightmare stealthed, and walked into the kitten shop. She opened the door, knowing they couldn't shoot at kittens and cute fluffy cats. Nightmare apologized, and went back to the sad orange tabby. She watched them return to their vans, and drive off. Nightmare put the earpiece back on and waited for them to get back. It took about half an hour.

"What do we know about Nightmare?" Asked a man, voice matching to an african american from earlier.

"She's not fort Rozz, she has maroon blood, and can fight." Said a female, with short hair. "Supergirl?" Nightmare could remember all the voices, and recreate them.

"Nightmare has these tentacles, and she can use them to sting, she's not afraid of me or guns, stronger and faster than me, smart, and able to go invisible." Supergirl told them.

"Observant little agencies, aren't we?" Nightmare asked through the base's speakers.

"How did you get into our mainframe?" Asked the man, looking around.

"It's a secret, and i'm none your business." Nightmare said.

"Then whose business is it?" Supergirl asked.

"Wrong question, I'll give you three questions, anything aside from the two you already asked."

"Why are you here?" Asked the short haired woman.

"I was sent here to establish a base, make a storage facility and stop further spread of the institute. I'll rank up if I also collect kryptonite DNA for HIVE membrane improvements. "

"Who sent you?" The man asked, staring at the security camera.

"Ayrbal, highest ranking member and creator of the OMAY Hive." Nightmare answered "That's all three questions." Nightmare cut connections, and resumed listening. There was a rush of wind into the microphone, presumably supergirl leaving. Nightmare paid for her time at the counter, and walked outside. It looked like rain, which was good, and bad for her laptop. Nightmare ran back to her apartment, put her computer on the table, and hid her wallet in a safe.

Nightmare went out onto the balcony, and climbed over the rail. She jumped off, freefalling. Nightmare landed onto the cement without destroying it, and strolled into the street. Cars honked at each other, trying to get home. Nightmare crossed, running over the hoods and dodging the bumpers of the cars. She reached the park, and sat down. She thought over whether to make good use of the storm, and give a PSA, or to enjoy the downfall. Nightmare looked at the sky. Towers blocked the skies, preventing her from fully calculating what to do. Nightmare chose to get a better view. She unwound her six mobile tentacles, and jumped over traffic. She climbed the tallest building she could find, the Catco tower. There would be plenty of news, that's for sure. Nightmare reached the top, exhausted. It was hot before the storm, and now there was a high-speed cold wind threatening to blow her off her six legs. Nightmare lowered her body to the ground, observing. It looked like the rain cloud would last for a few days, plenty to enjoy the moisture, and the upcoming storm would be massive, then with heavy showers. Nightmare leaped from the tower to her short apartment, and landed on the wall. She slid, coming to a stop. Nightmare sat, planning.

The reporter stood in the street, yelling into a microphone. Nightmare made sure she was in frame, before killing the cameraman and scaring off the reporter. The camera landed sideways in the rain. Nightmare picked it up,staring into the lens.

"Humm humm dun, dun, dun." Nightmare hummed the trigger for her little program to start. Her computer hijacked the audio to the radio towers, broadcasting to all TV channels and radio frequencies. Nightmare waited four measures. "Guess who's back, back back." Nightmare whispered into the microphone. The pre-recorded symphony repeated the notes much louder.

"She's back again." Nightmare sang "Back again, back again, back again, " The program echoed, distorting the voice. All music cut out.

"TO instil fear, fear, fear." Violins accompanied her haunting voice and blood-soaked smile The rain pattered as the camera zoomed in on the dead body. Suddenly the trumpet section blared. "In your small head.

"Head, head." A chorus sang. "You won't survive, survive vive."

"CUS YOU'LL BE DEAD, dead, dead" A different voice sang.

"SHE IS COMING SHE IS COMING SHE IS COMING SHE IS COMING." Nightmare finished. The music played, then stopped. The program ended, everything cut out. The song was over.

Nightmare's plan worked flawlessly. At catco, people were humming the tune, people recorded the song on their phones, and uploaded it to youpipe, hoping to get a couple subscribers. #Nightmare was exploding on chirper, and people drew art as to what they thought she looked like. Stage one of the plan was working perfectly.

"Miss grant?" Supergirl asked, looking ashamed. Nightmare sat on the adjacent couch, listening. What a perfect emotional moment.

"And behind every window is a story. Someone cooking, playing board games with your kids, and whenever I help one of those lights, they become part of me." Supergirl, the tragic tale spoke.

"Hmmm, what a tragedy. The woeful hero, fighting with her inner self. I have to do that fight every second of my life, supergirl. I have to stop myself from killing absolutely everything. We're all demons in the end, we all have a little bad in us. If you don't let that bad out, It'll grow." Nightmare interrupted.

"Oh, and what do you know, Nightmare?" Asked Cat Grant.

"I know this from experience. One thousand years, adrift in space can make a simple seedling a goliath redwood." Nightmare stuck to the backstory that she came up with. "And when you cut it down, burn the stump, destroy the trunk, what do I have left?" Nightmare asked.

"You have a massive hole in your soul." Supergirl guessed.

"How did you get here, Why are you here?" Cat Grant asked.

"Fast internet and I love how rustic and shadowy it is. It's just like home." Nightmare explained. "Gaming is a hobby, as well as kickboxing."

"Fight me." Supergirl requested.

"Where?" Nightmare asked. "Nevermind that, I'm not in the mood."

Nightmare fought off DEO goons, viscously killing them. She grabbed one of their "Special guns" and mowed down as many of them as possible before reloading. They just kept coming, and Nightmare wasn't in the mood for a slaughter. Supergirl came down, and slapped the gun away. Nightmare gave her a brief punch in the gut, then spun around to grab the broken gun and slap supergirl upside the head with a blow that broke the barrel. Supergirl went out, cold. Nightmare dropped a cloud of tracking nanobots, and continued to massacre the DEO agents. Slowly, they retreated. All but supergirl, who was out on the floor. Nightmare brought her back to her lab, securing her in a chair. Nightmare sat and fell asleep, eyes becoming vacant. Sometime later, supergirl woke up. She looked at Nightmare, who was still resting.

"Where am I?" Asked supergirl. Nightmare woke up, shook her head once, then replied with

"In my lab. My biotesting one." Nightmare answered, climbing up out of her small foldable chair.

"What are you going to do to me? You know I have places to be, right? People depend on me" Supergirl asked.

"Oh, I know that. I've been tracking your behavior for quite a while. I made a droid to cover for you, two of them. One for your office job, another for saving people."

"A droid? Robots are stupid!"

"I'm good at programming. The office one can recognise the genetic makeup of all of your friends, and your boss. It'll tell your friends that it is a highly advanced droid working for you as you take a vacation. It has a database of phrases to say to your boss, and will work thirty percent more efficiently than you. Plus, you get paid." Nightmare rattled off. "Same thing for the other one, It reads thoughts to determine who has bad intentions, and I can disable them from here. There is no way it could go wrong. Nothing I make ever does."

"You never told me what you were going to do to me."

"Figure it out. The robots only have a limited battery life, and there's no surgical tools anywhere. The straps are weak, so they're not for keeping you stuck."

"Am I go-"

"We started out a bit rough. I've been chased around, can I've had to make split-seconds decisions," Nightmare explained.

"You want to talk."

"And I'd like to show you around. This place probably has something tougher than your average supergirl suit." Nightmare said, cutting the straps off.

"Is there any sunlight, wherever I am?" Supergirl asked, looking at the ceiling. It was gray, with clusters of light bulbs every five feet. A mess of cables and wires hung suspended from metal beams.

"Have you requested: Sunlight?" The stupider A.I. asked.

"Yes."

"Imitating: sunlight." The light bulbs changed, some growing darker and others lighter. One hummed, but emitted no light.

"Set intensity to 3." Nightmare commanded, watching the intensity lower. The hallway became dark and shadowy.

"What's with the darkness?" Supergirl asked.

"I'm more comfortable here that outside, so I relax, not constantly controlling my senses. It's the same with you."

Nightmare during the myriad.

Nightmare felt a wave of nausea wash over her, blasting her off her chair. Something was up, something big. Her lab here wasn't equipped for doomsday, at least not yet. Nightmare locked everything, and activated the various cameras and camera bots around the city. All other lights shut off and a single, large screen flickered on. On it were millions of screens, million views and sidewalks and streets and houses and warehouses and everything that was to interest to her. She activated the nanobots she sprinkled onto supergirl the last time they met. [DATA LIMIT REACHED. TERMINATING LOG]