Summary: The group in the dream world now faces the final and only enemy in this world, Nocturne. Will they be able to defeat the "Eternal Nightmare?"
Nocturne, in Adrian's body, charged forward at Wanny, he slashed at him savagely, trying to take a slice of his flesh with one of the jagged blades of his. Jonathan used "Zenith Blade" to snare Nocturne in place but an odd ghostly, blue shadow appeared around Nocturne that protected him from the spell. When the ghostly shadow disappeared, Nocturne's attack speed only doubled.
"That must've been Shroud of Darkness," Jonathan said. I jumped out from behind Jonathan by using "To the Skies" and slammed the hammer down upon Nocturne.
Nocturne put up one of his blades to deflect the attack and then threw me off using his off hand. With the opening I provided him, Wanny opened fire with several "Mystic Shots" and "Essence Fluxes," bombarding Nocturne with repeated light abilities.
When Nocturne recovered, he picked up his blades and continued to slash randomly at whoever was in his attack range. He dashed toward Rin and swung both blades down at her.
"Riposte," she commanded, and she deflected the attack and returned some of the damage at him. Then she followed up with several rapid attacks with the power of "Burst of Speed." The body that Nocturne was using was getting beat and cut up, but he still wouldn't back down.
Darren used "Dredge Line" to pull himself closer to Nocturne and stunned him with one swing of his anchor. Then, Darren used "Riptide" to damage Nocturne further, but Nocturne recovered yet again and slashed at Darren. Darren was unable to keep up with deflecting the vicious attacks with his anchor, so he activated the spell "Titan's Wrath" which shielded him from further damage.
Jennifer played the keyboard in the background, she provided healing and movement speed boosts whenever it was necessary. When Darren's barrier faded away, Jennifer healed him of his injuries, and when Wanny finished his barrage of spells, she healed him as well.
The battle continued, but Nocturne, who needed rest from the fight, fled to another stained glass battlefield. He jumped up several platforms, and reached one very high up in the darkness.
We used the lighted stairways to follow him up the platforms, at the first platform, there were a group of minions that were easily cleared out. They were only melee and castor minions, but as we got higher, the groups of minions began to change, but we managed to beat them all.
Somewhere on the seventh platform, we encountered the Lizard Elder. The giant reptile swung its tail at us we were all knocked to the sides of the platform. Wanny fell off the platform, but I caught him just in time. When we all got back up, the Lizard Elder roared ferociously.
We soon noticed that behind the monster was a pathway that led to the final platform that Nocturne had reserved for himself. He glared at us, and suddenly a wide gate opened back into the dream realm, and Nocturne walked through it. The gate shut behind him.
"Shoot," Wanny said, "how are we supposed to, A) get past this monster, B) reopen that gateway?"
"We'll figure something out," I replied, "hopefully."
"I'll take on the Lizard," said Darren, "you guys go on ahead."
"Me too," Rin added.
The rest of the group, Wanny, Jennifer, Jonathan, and me, went on to the next platform while Darren and Rin stayed behind to take on the Lizard elder.
8th Platform
"Now, how are we going to get through this," I asked myself. I stared up at the gigantic gateway, puzzled by its power.
"Let me lend you a hand," the voice whispered.
The Mercury Hammer glowed with a golden aura.
"Now break open that door," the voice commanded. I brought the hammer behind my head and swung at the door with all my might. The door burst open and revealed the top of a skyscraper. The weather on the other side was conveniently stormy weather with powerful gales of wind already pouring through the opening I had created.
Nocturne stood at the center of the helicopter pad on the skyscraper and waited for us to cross through the doorway into his final field of combat.
7th Platform
Rin and Darren squared off with the Lizard Elder. The giant reptile roared revealing its powerful fighting spirit and the buff that it possessed.
"If I remember correctly," Darren said, "that red aura surrounding the lizard gives it the ability to inflict burning damage upon enemies that engage it."
"Well that sounds great," Rin said with a hint of sarcasm, "I guess we just can't let it touch us then."
"Go figure, we're both using melee based abilities. We have to get close."
"We'll figure out a plan," she replied. The lizard swung its gigantic tail at them once more, and Darren blocked it with his gigantic anchor. Rin soon followed up by lunging at the core of the beast. She was able to inflict some damage but not nearly enough to bring the Lizard down.
The giant reptile roared again and slammed its hind legs against Rin.
"Riposte," Rin commanded. She parried the attack and reflected some of the damage back at the Lizard Elder.
Darren followed up with an attack with his anchor that stunned the Lizard. He then said, "Riptide" and swept the monster off its feet with the waves that came out from beneath Darren.
Rin came in for another lunge type attack but the Lizard recovered itself quickly from Darren's attacks and charged up a beam of energy in its mouth. Rin stopped in her tracks, knowing that she was unable to block the next attack.
Darren stepped in front of her and positioned himself to block the attack. "Titan's Wrath," he calmly said. A barrier surrounded the two of them, and the Lizard Elder launched a deadly flamethrower like attack upon them. The barrier created by "Titan's Wrath" was able to shield the two of them from the flames, and Rin jumped out from behind Darren.
She unleashed a flurry of slashes empowered by the ability, "Burst of Speed." She finished off the Lizard with a set of two lunges at the beast's chest and back.
The lizard roared one last time and then fell down. As it fell, it turned into ashes and all that remained was a crimson red relic that represented the power it once had.
"It's yours," Darren said, "you laid the finishing blow."
"Well that's interesting."
"Yeah, and your blade will also inflict burn damage on anyone it cuts."
"Well that's good to know," she said, "let's catch up with the others."
They headed out across the lighted pathway onto the 8th platform.
Skyscraper: Adrian's Dream World
Wanny, Jennifer, Jonathan, and I stepped onto the wet concrete of the skyscraper. The wind assaulted us from all sides, and one misplaced step could lead to falling off the skyscraper to your doom.
"You finally caught up with me humans," Nocturne yelled into the wind, "now it is time for me to show you the reason why I'm the eternal nightmare."
Nocturne's flesh body burst into flames and revealed his well known dark cloud of terror. He armed himself with his blades of darkness, the Umbra Blades. He disappeared with a gust of wind and reappeared right in front of me.
"Unspeakable Horror," he said maliciously. A pair of dark chains locked my wrists together, they caused such pain in me and transmitted horrible images into my mind that it was nearly impossible to focus.
"Get away from him," Jennifer cried, "Crescendo." A powerful wave of music ascended from her keyboard but Nocturne countered the ability with one of his own.
"Shroud of Darkness," Nocturne ominously spoke. A blue shield surrounded him blocked the wave of music causing it to distort and turn into a horrendous tune that shattered our ears.
"Zenith Blade," Jonathan said. He launched his sword toward Nocturne and pulled himself into him. Nocturne lost his control over my mind, and I slowly recovered from the horrors he had shown me. "Eclipse," Jonathan murmured. Jonathan's shield turned the defensive energy stored by "Eclipse" into a wave of light energy that burned through Nocturne's dark being.
Nocturne, knowing Leona's abilities, knew that his defenses would be temporarily weakened until the power of "Eclipse" was recharged. He used the attack speed boost provided by blocking the powerful "Crescendo" ultimate to bombard Jonathan with a series of quick attacks with the Umbra Blades.
Jonathan was only capable of blocking so many hits with his shield, but Nocturne's raw power and speed overwhelmed him and threw off his near perfect guard. Nocturne had dashed behind him and cut him down.
Jennifer went over to Jonathan and did whatever she could to help him out.
While Jennifer was helping Jonathan, Wanny stepped in to make sure she doesn't get harmed. "Essence Flux," Wanny commanded. His glove fired out a small wave of balls of light at Nocturne. These balls of light burned through Nocturne's body of darkness. "Nice," Wanny said to himself.
I recovered from Nocturne's initial attack and saw that Nocturne had taken significant damage from the magical power of Wanny's glove. Nocturne soon charged right at Wanny, so that the distance between them could be closed, and Wanny would have a lot harder time aiming the skill shots at him.
"To the skies," I called out. I jumped over Nocturne and slammed him into the ground, and then I followed up with a "Thundering Blow." Nocturne knew that was going to happen, and he became a formless cloud of darkness. My attack went through him. "No way," I said, "I don't remember that ever being one of Nocturne's powers."
When I spun back around, Nocturne returned to his normal form. "Duskbringer," he said calmly. He pointed one of his ghostly arms forward and fired a fist of darkness right at me. I reacted by falling backwards, but the attack went through me. I opened up my shirt and saw that a huge bruise in the shape of a fist on my chest. I coughed up a bit of blood and glared at Nocturne.
He pulled up one of his Umbra blades and was about to bring it down upon me, but I saw someone coming from the corner of my eye.
Rin flashed in front of me and blocked the attack with her Rapier, "Riposte." She parried the attack and whirled her blade. She slashed off a part of Nocturne's body, and Nocturne quickly burst into flames because of the Lizard Elder buff Rin had.
"Dredge Line," Darren called out. An anchor was thrown all the way from the entrance of the portal to Nocturne. He sent Nocturne flying towards him, and then delivered a devastating blow with his anchor, stunning him for a second.
When Nocturne regained his strength, Rin flew towards him again. Both of them had a marvelous exchange of swordsmanship. They were relatively equal, each being able to block and counterattack each other with relative ease.
"Let me help you out," Darren said loudly, "Depth Charge." He sent a torpedo flying towards Nocturne, but Nocturne knew that one of them was going to do an attack like that.
"Shroud of Darkness," Nocturne whispered. When the torpedo hit him, it turned into dust, and Nocturne absorbed the strength of the attack, "you humans are so predictable." Nocturne soon latched another set of chains to Rin for his spell, "Unspeakable Horror" and channeled the dark energy into Rin. He then followed up with a series of brutal attacks.
I recovered my strength and dashed toward Nocturne. "Get away from her," I said. I used a "Thundering Blow" that knocked Nocturne to the edge of the skyscraper. Meanwhile Jennifer helped Rin recover, but Rin, through sheer will, got up. In her eyes burned a fire unlike any I've seen in a very long time.
"I'm tired of you, Nocturne or Adrian, time to end this," Rin declared, "Blade Waltz." Rin soon flew across the skyscraper straight toward Nocturne and like a butterfly flew around him, but each time she struck him, Nocturne burst into flames.
"Kyah, you humans, I should've ended you all when I had the chance in your own dreams, I could've driven you all into madness, but I underestimated you," he said, "No holding back now. DARKNESSSSS!" The whole world became consumed in darkness. I held out my hand in front of me, or at least I thought it was in front me, and I brought it closer. I couldn't even see it even though, supposedly, it was right in front my face. I look around, and for as far as the eye could see, was plain darkness.
"So this is what it's like," I said, "Nocturne's ultimate ability, Paranoia." I start to think about what might happen, the thoughts of having that blade suddenly shoved through me without notice filled every corner of my mind. I see shadows moving in and out in the distance, but I step farther back thinking that those shadows might be Nocturne.
"Adrian, Adrian come back," I hear Jennifer say in the distance. I run toward the sound, but I trip over something. I slam my head against what I think is a flight of stairs. I get back up and wave my hands around to feel for something. I touch someone's back.
"Who is that," Rin asked.
"Oh it's just me," I reply.
"Did you hear Jennifer," I asked.
"Yeah, let's go."
We soon trip over a body, but it was just Jonathan who was aching from the damage he received while fighting Nocturne. We eventually find Wanny and Darren huddled together in a corner. The darkness is lifted, and we see Jennifer suspended in mid-air, held by none other than Nocturne.
"Poor girl," Nocturne said, "to believe you would fall for the Adrian trick not just once, twice, but three times, pathetic."
"Let me go," Jennifer demanded.
Nocturne hovered over the side of the building. "Should I let you go now," he asked.
Jennifer stared down into the abyss below the building; she made no comment.
We rush over to her and Nocturne. "Let her go or I swear," Nocturne cuts off my heroic phrase.
"You swear you'll do what," Nocturne said with a smirk, "attack me, the girl dies, or don't attack me, and I'll experiment with her. Guess what that experiment is?"
"What," I asked.
"We'll see if falling in a dream really leads to death in real life," he laughed.
Jonathan gets up and uses the Zenith Blade as a crutch. He begins to say a phrase that we'll always remember.
"I."
"What are you doing, I thought you were a goner for sure," Nocturne said.
"AM."
"No stop it," Nocturne puts up one hand, "Duskbringer."
Jonathan puts his shield and blocks the attack."SUPPORT! SOLAR FLARE!" he cried out.
A circle of sunlight surrounds Nocturne, and Nocturne pulls up his "Shroud of Darkness" but the power of the sunlight cancels out the effect of his shield. "No, this can't be." He drops Jennifer, but Darren uses a "Dredge Line" to pull her to safety.
"To the Skies," I jump up to Nocturne and slam him with a "Thundering Blow." I see Darren's anchor, and I grab onto it as he is pulling Jennifer back up.
Nocturne breaks free of the "Solar Flare" that Jonathan set up, but Wanny takes advantage of the moment.
"Nice going, Jon, now time to lay down the hurt," Wanny said. He smiled, and then unleashed a barrage of spells at Nocturne. He threw down several "Mystic Shots," "Essence Fluxes," and even the bolts fired from his "Arcane Shift."
"Wanny," I called out, "End this now. You are the only one that really does a lot of damage to him for some reason."
"Ok boss," he replies, "I'm going to need someone to root him down."
"Got it dude, just tell me when you are ready," Jonathan said.
Wanny pulls his glove in front of him. The glove begins to give off a powerful aura of blue energy which then materializes into a bow of light.
"KYAAHHHHH," Wanny cries out.
"NOW JONATHAN," I command.
"Zenith Blade," he exclaimed. A beam of light is shot out from Jonathan's blade, and Jonathan turned into a ray of light and rematerialized next to Nocturne. He held him down for as long as he could.
Wanny's glove now fully charged, emanated a golden aura, the bow was now nearly 10 feet long. He pointed the magical bow at Nocturne.
"This can't be," Nocturne cried out.
"TRUESHOT BARRAGE!"Wanny exclaimed. A golden arc of fire burst from Wanny's glove and went straight toward Nocturne. Jonathan released him at the last second, but Nocturne only stood there gazing into the light as it passed straight through him. The golden arc sliced Nocturne in half and he fell into the abyss below the skyscraper. A dark energy pulsed throughout the dream world, and then faded. The storm that had hovered over the skyscraper the whole fight faded, and the sun shined through.
The sun grew significantly stronger and then an instant we all disappeared.
Unknown Field
The grass gently waved back and forth in the light breeze. I stood there in awe of the untouched beauty of the environment. Then I saw someone sitting on a rock enjoying the scene just as much as I was.
The rest of the group entered into this unknown world right behind me and followed me to the rock.
The person sitting on the rock was a woman with odd looking goat legs and a horn on her head.
"Greetings heroes," she said calmly, "do not be alarmed, I am the one who has helped you."
"Who are you exactly," I asked.
"I am Soraka," she said.
"Woah no way, that's just, wow," I stammered. The rest just stood there.
"In a few moments, all of you will wake up, I will use my abilities to restore you all to full health, and you will be back in reality as good as new."
"Wait but."
"I'll explain more at a later date, but I will be helping all of you from time to time to defeat the evil that has come to your world."
We were once again engulfed in light.
Hospital Bedroom
I slowly open my eyes.
My body feels like lead with an unnatural weight near my hip.
I look around and see Hannah looking at me. Our eyes meet, and she puts her arms around me.
"Welcome back, Thomas," she whispers into my ear.
Everyone else slowly rises up.
The rising sun bursts through the windows of the hospital room. I shut my eyes again in response to the light pain in my retina. My eyes slowly, but surely, readjust to the light after being in the darkness for so long.
"How long has it been," I asked Hannah.
"Three days," she said.
I get off the bed and rise up to my feet. I grab the Mercury Hammer keychain and walk out of the room.
To be Continued…