Chapter 7: Awakened
Name: Percy Rogers
Location: Federal Banking Building, Anniplex City
I gazed at the well honed claw that was doused in blood. The sight alone sent a chill throughout my body and I'm glad I wasn't the dufflebag. It lifted the bag to the shadows that hid its true form and seemed to almost be examining it for something, but couldn't find it. I slowly dove into my menu to find my metal bat and equipped it. Once selected I held my bat in a readied position to either block or attack, depending on which arose first.
With no sign of the Captain, I had to guess he had met his fate. And for whatever the reason, he defended that bag with his life. Assuming it had something to do with the bomb, I had little to no choice but to get it back." The monsters eyes met mine, the rain roared, and the papers scattered throughout the room. I kept my eye on the monster, making sure it didn't try to get the upper-hand. It tossed the bag back in the room and walked down the hall with an intimidating posture. It almost seemed to be ignoring me and held its concern elsewhere. I didn't mind this seeing as I got the bag back, but when I went to check it for any equipment, it was empty- and that monster probably knew that as well. My heart settled, but at the same time drew heavy.
That Nightmare was on a whole new level for sure, and I only lucked out that it ignored me this time. But was in the bag that it wanted; and why is it gone? Isn't Captain dead? Or maybe he's-" A bolt of lightning broke my train of concentrated thought. It was probably for the better that I try to find that monster and steal what its looking for rather than face it head one. "Argh, why am I always in these sticky situations...?" I decided to attempt contacting Charlotte via my emergency channel. It may be the only thing that still works, as long as the EMP didn't take out the TMOS (Telepathic Monitoring and Operator Systems) which are only activated by triggering a high concentration messaging system embedded in the user's mind to contact another person they can clearly see in their thoughts."
I used my energy to send out a communication chain to Charlotte about the situation. The signal got through- barely, but enough to get a message across. "H-hello, Percy?"
"Yea, this is me Charlotte." I told her about the titan, the Captain, and the new Nightmare." "So, you're trapped in the bank with a high level Nightmare and that pain-in-the-ass might be dead?" She was concerned but relieved that we were still alive. I felt her shaking as her voice choked when she spoke occasionally. "D-do you think you'll be okay?"
"Of coarse, I can't give up yet. If I can find out what the monster is after, I might be able to stop the bomb myself." I searched the room for supplies and information. "I'll contact you after I've found something..."
"And if you don't?"
"I turned to the hole in the wall and then at the dark hallway. Her question wasn't one that had a good chance of a happy outcome. I sighed and answered her, "you should find a way out of this city safely with your son. This isn't a good situation, and the only way to move forward is to walk through hell." She didn't like that answer but she accepted it better than I had imagined. She told me to be careful and started telling me about a place out east that was said to be home to the mercenary group known as the V12 Meisters. "If anything happens, meet there."
I agreed and signed off. My body was anxious, I could feel the rush of both fear and excitement overcoming me. I grabbed my bat and rushed to the door. My flashlight materialized in my hands, lighting the hallway with a bright glare off the glass that littered the floor. I could hear the glass crack and snap under my feet as I tried to sneak through without the Nightmare noticing me. The glass popped and rustled as I tip-toed through the hallways with care. "I turned every corner with great caution and precision. My light flickered off a broken mirror at the end of a hall and lit up the room to a great extent. The low level nightmares shifted by as though they didn't notice me, which was a relief. The less fighting, the better; and for that, I didn't mind sliding down the halls.
I chased after the Nightmare through several parts of the building with no end. I knew that as long as I kept my eyes on it, I could prepare for an evasive action to try and shake it from a chase... But its power was ominous and soared far beyond what I could handle alone, and in a close proximity. It strode into and open room, possibly the lounge. It looked around lifted its enormous arm and slashed through the railing of the second floor. The metal popped out with seemingly no effort from the beast, whom tossed the railing aside, breaking down the wall next to it. My body began to shake as I witnessed the feat it just performed, if it could get a hold of me, I be just as easy to rip apart; but, that wasn't the end of its horrific power." The beast hopped down to the first floor with a load boom, shattering the glass in the room. I covered my ears from the load ringing the crash caused, dropping my flashlight in the process. It slid to a nearby doorway, which was within reach. I glanced at the where the beast had jumped down from, making sure it didn't notice me, then reached over to pick up my flashlight. As I wrapped my hands around it, I noticed a claw, slide out from the darkness of the room and stop in front of my hand. Immediately I drew back and readied my bat for a fight. I flashed my light in the room and the claw withdrew, but from what I saw, it wasn't the beast, but a Saber-cat.
I began to shake uncontrollably, the anxiety of an immanent death nearly drove me insane. I had no choice but to take my chances with either the Beast, or the Saber-cat. I staggered back from the door, focusing on the shadows, and prepared to jump off the second floor to the ground floor. I managed to make it to close enough to peer over the edge, the Beast was gone. I sucked my teeth and turned back at the shadow of the door, but when my head focused back to the darkness the Saber-cat was already in mid-leap to pounce on me. I had a split second to react, but even that wasn't enough. I slammed the bat into the Saber-cat's vicious grip, diverting its fangs from ripping me in half, but the force of its pounce shoved me backwards and over the edge of the second floor. The beast's fangs dug into my uniform,but failed to pierce the lining.
We collided with the hard cement floor after falling for nearly an eternity. My body ached with a fiery pain all over. I tossed myself onto my side and readied my weapon to defend myself against the beast. It wobbled to its feet, glaring my way with a ferocious appetite. I could hear my heart beating slowly, and my sight was dimmed due to my low beast staggered to a pouncing position and beared its fangs. It got a running start and lept into the air, legs and claws ready to seep into my body and rip me apart; but it was stopped, suddenly being pinned to the wall by an ominous big black figure. I instantly pieced together the situation and knew that the figure was the Clawed Nightmare from before.
It lifted the saber cat, turned to me and crushed it in its claw. With my blurred vision, I struggled, crawling, to find something to aid me to my feet. The Nightmare started toward me, scraping its blood covered claw on the ground. I crawled toward the reception counter and pulled myself up to my feet. I peered at the Nightmare and stared at its scarred, distorted face, a face that struck me as familiar. For some odd reason, its face resembled someone I know, but I couldn't tell who, or why. The Nightmare picked up its pace, each step cracking the tiles of the floor from its size and claw slicing through the floor like butter. It reached me, leaning over to my face and staring me in the eyes. I looked away, but back at it again, this time in a deeper understanding. The Nightmare was trying to say something, but its mouth was laced shut with wire. Its eyes spoke a thousand words, each one I didn't want to hear. A lightning bolt flew across the sky, lighting up the room enough for me to see the Nightmares face clarity. My eyes instantly began to water, I turned myself around, my body was finally beginning to recover from the fall. I looked into the Nightmares eyes for the last time before looking away, but I couldn't take the overwhelming feeling of pain welding in my heart.
The Nightmare, the monstrous figure before me, was a strange dopple-ganger of my daughter. The second my mind registered the information, I went into withdrawn. The information was too much for me to handle. I fell to the floor in tears, not crying but in a blank state of denile. "It can't be her, she's at home. She's fine..." I stood up with my bat in hand. I knew what I had to do, even if it killed me.
