NiGHTS the Accidental dream.
Chapter 9: New World Order.
*Min's point of view*
The blackness is overwhelming. It seems to over power us as if it is trying to strangle us. NiGHTS doesn't seem affected, which was normal as she was from the Dream world, but Elliot, Claris, and I are. It was like nighttime, except without the moon, stars, or most lights. The only lights we could see we're the ones we were 10 feet away from. Luckily for us, a shop's lights were on, which seems like the perfect place to hold out for the moment.
"NiGHTS!" I shout. "We should head for the store and create a plan!"
She looked toward the store before nodding her head. "Alright, come on everyone!"
She flew with ease through the doors of the store, flinging them open loudly. The cashier seemed terrified, as he held to the desk in fear. The rest of us charged through the doors, walking up to the desk.
"Is everyone here?" Claris asks. "Did we leave anyone behind?"
Quickly counting everyone, she was glad to know that everyone had made it. NiGHTS looked around the place, making sure no nightmarens had followed us.
"Alright NiGHTS, what do we-"
"Get away from me!"
We turn to meet the voice that just screamed to see the cashier, huddled at his desk shaking in fear. His head was in his arms, so it was out of sight. Elliot looks to me, giving me a shrug before walking over to him.
"Uh, hey are you alright?"
"He...IT..." He manage to mutter. "I want it out..."
NiGHTS eyes seemed to focus in on something we could not see. Whatever it was, she seemed to be really pursuing it. She floated over to the cashier, before making one sudden and swift move. Her hand quickly passed through the man, grabbing something inside of him. Quickly, she pulled out a large dark shadow. The shadow seemed to emit pitch black gas as two purple eyes and bony hands appeared.
"What is that? A nightmaren?!" Claris exclaimed.
"Not one that I've ever seen..."
NiGHTS's other fist quickly impacted the nightmaren in front of her. The nightmaren let out a loud horrible scream before disappearing in a cloud of black smoke. The cashier scurried away while this happened, and in all fairness I couldn't blame him.
"...What..." Elliot had a lack for words.
"These nightmaren... How come you've never seen them before NiGHTS?"
She seemed to be uneasy. "I have a theory... Wiseman could of created nightmaren specialized for the human world. He must have been planning for quite a long Time..."
"About 16 years worth of preparation..." I sigh.
"hey wait a minute!" Claris exclaimed. "That Nightmaren looked like the thing that grasped my leg earlier! There must be many more of them!"
Then it hit me. "They must be flooding the city with Nightmaren!"
Suddenly, a loud, strong, tremble was felt. It didn't stop with one, the trembles got faster, and louder with every second. It looked like it was coming from the door. Before long, I began to see the glow of two giant red eyes.
"Stay back!" NiGHTS yelled as she put her arms protectively in front of us. "I have a feeling I know who this is!"
The full figure of the creature began to show as he got closer to the light. It seemed to be a large piraña, it's body was thick and fat, but that didn't mean it was slow. It was a light blue color and had bright yellow needle like spines on its back. It had large mighty teeth and its fins were covered in yellow spikes. The fish like creature drags his body to the door.
"Run away! I'll take care of Him! Go! Now!"
NiGHTS pushed us away, leaving us to run up an escalator to the second floor. We heard a loud shattering sound as the fish like nightmaren slithered in.
"Come at me, Gulpo!" I heard from down stairs.
Elliot was the first to make it upstairs, Claris and I following swiftly behind him. We looked at each other utterly confused.
"Well, what now?" Elliot says, very confused.
"I don't know, I don't think we are still safe at this distance of the fight." I say. "We should move to a safer location."
We slowly walk away from the fight as we go into another walkway, which lead to a large open area, different shops on the second and first floors.
"We're in a mall?!" I yell in outrage.
It seemed nearly deserted, the only people here were in shops, screaming, probably being tormented by nightmarens, but we couldn't help them right now.
"Well...it's better than nothing." Claris reasoned.
I hear a loud, weak groan coming from behind us. So I turned around fast before Elliot and Claris could even grasp the situation. On the big store we had just left, close to 45 dark nightmarens were clinging to the logo of the shopping center, like moths. Upon noticing us, the figures started to stir. I turn back to Claris and Elliot, who by now have definitely noticed the nightmaren.
"Keep walking normally...we might not be that big of a target." I instruct them
Apparently Claris and Elliot's version of walking normally is sprinting away like idiots. This angered the nightmarens as several got up from the wall and began floating toward us at high speed.
"Oh come on!"
I struggled to catch up to Claris and Elliot, who were about 15 feet away from me, give or take 5 feet. Right as I started sprinting toward them, the entire wall the nightmarens were perched on broke apart, crushing most of the ones still on it. The giant fish emerged from the rubble, roaring loudly. NiGHTS was seen harshly kicking his jaw, knocking him over. Gulpo quickly recovered from the hit as turned right side up once more. NiGHTS flew into the open air of the mall as Gulpo broke down everything in his path on the way to catch her.
I continue to run from the nightmarens hot on our tail as I almost catch up to Claris and Elliot. The nightmarens grew more and more determined to catch us the longer we avoided them. They started to claw at the air in a desperate attempt to hit one of us, which really wasn't a long shot as we were only about a five feet away from them. They're outstretched arms occasionally nicked a piece of my jacket or hair.
Gulpo breaks down a stand or two that are on the first floor, trying to catch NiGHTS. NiGHTS spun fast, so fast that it made NIGHTS look like a purple drill bit. She dove toward the nightmaren and hit his exposed stomach, a watery scream escaping from Gulpo.
Gulpo's red eyes focused on NiGHTS as his tactics changed. One of its find coiled around NiGHTS, and threw her into his jaws. Gulpo caught NiGHTS with its's razor sharp teeth and started to close its jaw, NiGHTS putting up considerable resistance.
"NiGHTS seems to have her hands full, we're on our own." I gloomily say.
"Maybe if I dualize with her, we can beat that ugly piraña!" Elliot stated, putting his fist in the air.
"If you haven't noticed Elliot, we're a bit busy!"
The shadow nightmarens werent Picky on what there targets were. They aimed for the shoulders, hair, feet, legs, arms, and even the hands. We came up on a sports center, and this seemed like a miracle to me.
"Elliot, Claris, Hard turn right now!"
For once they did what I said and dove into the sports center. Claris and Elliot took to hiding in different isles, I didn't even try. The nightmarens piled into the store, there was about 16 of them now. However not all of them could come in at once because of the small entrance.
I grabbed a baseball bat that lay on the ground. I shifted around in my hands, trying to find the right way to hold it. This'll do some damage! I swing hard and nail a nightmaren's 'face' if you can call it that. It seemed to crumple a bit as it landed on the floor, but it appeared to be still alive. Another maren dove toward me, it's clawed hands outstretched.
Elliot came from behind me with a golf club and whacked the awaiting nightmaren with it. He gave me a quick smile before attacking another maren. Claris decided to pitch in the fight as she too brought a golf club and stood to my right. We stood, backs against a check out counter as the black, cloaked nightmarens floated in place hissing and shouting.
NiGHTS got out of Gulpo's jaws with much difficulty. The fish let out a loud, deep, roar as something seemed to form in its mouth. A black ball formed inside of its mouth, and it's shot the ball at a high speed toward NiGHTS, but she sped away the blast as it impacted the wall behind her, making a small crater and explosion. The fish let out a chuckle before firing several in random directions, probably hoping for one of them to hits NiGHTS. To
At the same time, I swung my bat against another nightmaren as it fell into a pile of tennis equipment. The nightmarens began to change their tactics, as they attacked in pairs instead of randomly. I noticed that they were aiming at the weapons we were carrying now instead of us. They could be trying to snatch them away.
Claris clubbed a nightmaren in its 'jaw' but right as she did this, four nightmaren attacked her at once, knocking her into the floor.
"Claris!" Elliot shouted.
While he was off guard, four more ganged up on him and forcefully threw him to the ground. I immediately ducked when I saw Elliot go down, and I was right to do so. Four nightmarens flew right over me, crashing into the wall behind the counter. Now there are only about 10 nightmaren total still left in here.
I immediately turned to the ones on Claris and started swatting away at them. Screams filled the air as three of them turned into a black fog after being struck, but the fourth seemed to pass right through Claris. I didn't waste any time, so I attacked the other...three on Elliot, one must have gone through him as well. After somewhat easily defeating the nightmaren on him, i crouched to his level.
It was now a lot quieter in the room, seeing as all the nightmaren except maybe one or two hesitant ones are killed. Elliot seemed motionless not even uttering a word, his eyes were shut. I look over to Claris, the same was with her.
"Elliot? Claris? Get up!" I demand.
They still lie motionless on the ground, there bodies not responding to my plea. Then all of a sudden, their eyes flashed open in unison, a bright purple replaced there normal eyes. They got up together, picking up there golf clubs at the same time.
Noticing something was wrong I raise my bat. "Guys? What are you doing?"
When I said this, their heads turned to me as they sprinted my way, their clubs ready. This caught me off guard as I quickly backed out of the sports shop. I put up my baseball bat sideways, as they jump at the same time toward me. Both their clubs hit against my bat at the same time I try to shove the clubs off my bat, but the force of the clubs was too strong.
"Your possessed! You don't want to cross me!"
Their eyes had no sign of remorse or hesitation. While Elliot continued to put pressure against my bat, Claris took her's off and swings her bat at my face, knocking me to the ground. Pain rattled through my body as I try to recover front the hit. Elliot swung his club toward my face, but I rolled just enough out of the way so it hit the floor instead. I took a grip on the bat and swung as hard as I could at Elliot's legs, forcing him to the ground. I don't want to hurt either of these two, but I'll have to in order to survive!
Claris came to the side of me, and prepared to swing her club. I punch her forehead, and she fell to the ground. I can keep stalling them until NiGHTS is finished killing that fish thing...then she can stop these two. But it's not even a guarantee that she will kill the thing, I might just be on my own here. If that's so, then I might have to injure these guys. This is bad if I win or lose...
NiGHTS swung down from the air, aimed for the stomach of the fish like nightmaren. She sped up significantly, spinning wildly toward him. She spun at the belly of the fish, as it roared, flying into a nearby wall. It groaned, rising back on its stomach, it's eyes becoming Fierce once again.
It opened its mouth wide, producing several blasts of the dark energy and throwing them toward her. She dove out of the way of the blasts, but they scattered, hitting many walls, stores, and windows, collapsing them with a loud crushing sound.
"I can't let you wreck havoc anymore Gulpo, it ends here!"
She spun into her drill drive, flying into the awaiting piraña like nightmaren. She drilled into his side, and continued to push him into a clothes store near, breaking a system of escalators and windows. Gulpo screamed as he was thrown upside down, his scales and skin cracked up as he struggled to get up, to no avail. NiGHTS stopped drilling into him, flying over to his stomach that was now in very clear view and gave one swift kick. Just like that, Gulpo shattered like millions of pieces of glass, almost like dust.
Where I was, I continued to defend against both Elliot and Claris, but the two worked together so flawlessly that they were overwhelming me. These nightmaren may not be the best looking things, but they sure are strong! I was driven back to a bridge, that hung on the second floor of the mall. Elliot relentlessly slammed against my baseball bat with his club, forcing me to defend while Claris ran to my side and clubbed my hands. I cringed, dropping the baseball bat as Elliot struck me on the shoulder with his club.
I was thrown to the ground with the force of the club and hit the tile with a groan. Claris and Elliot stood by one another with this creepy grin plastered not their faces. At the same time they put one foot on my stomach and prepared to strike my face.
"Quit it! You don't know what your doing!" I shout.
Just then when they thrust the golf clubs toward me, and with a loud metallic sound, it calmed down. I opened my eyes to find NiGHTS with an protective arm over me, shielding me from the clubs that struck her arm. The two possessed teens cringed and grunted at the sight of NiGHTS's intervention. She quickly used both her harms to grab the golf clubs and toss them over the edge of the second floor. The two seemed to back off and raised their fists. NiGHTS however didn't seem to want his to drag on.
She sped right between the two and grabbed their chests. They shook erratically and made distorted screaming sounds before dropping to the floor motionlessly. Out of the two's chest came two dark shrouded nightmaren, both seeming wounded of sorts. Before they could get away, NiGHTS grabbed both of them and shoved them into a nearby wall, making them fade away like a cloud of black dust. As soon as this happened, Claris and Elliot took a deep breath and woke up with a start.
"What? What are we doing over here?" Claris wondered. "Ow... And why does my forehead ache?"
I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck. "Uh yeah, sorry about that. But you guys were attacking me."
"We were attacking you?!" Elliot exclaimed. "Why don't we remember?"
"You were possessed by one of those nightmaren, you should be more careful what your doing-"
Just then, another one of the cloaked nightmaren sprung up from under the bridge and tackled me. It's dark claws holding me down as it entered my body forcefully. The others in the group were alarmed at this and quickly rushed to my aid.
"Min!" Elliot shouted as he knelt down beside me, cradiling my head. "Speak to me!"
My body vibrated violently, convulsing and twitching almost like a seizure. My eyes were becoming harder and harder to stay open, as if I were being forced to go to sleep. The muscles in my body were out of control as my eyelids shut before me.
...!
My eyes flashed open, radiating with purple light. I stood up and outstretched my arms, knocking Elliot over in the process. The nightmaren trying to enter me was expelled from my body and disintegrated soon afterwards. Everyone around me was astounded at this, while I was more focused on what caused this. My eyes settled down to their original color as I gained control of my muscles once more. NiGHTS flew over to and looked at me straight in the face.
"Min..." He said, in a very serious tone. "Do you have any idea what just happened?"
I looked at my hands, cradling the palm with my other hand. I fear...well...I hope it's not true...
NiGHTS raised her hand and gently lifted it to my chest. A small pulse emitted from her hand and it seemed to be absorbed into me. When this happened, the 5 colorful ideya formed outside my body. They rotated colorfully around me, but something seemed off...I looked carefully. What I saw shocked me, a tiny violet sliver was there in its own space also rotating around me. NiGHTS simply nodded her head and took her hand off my chest, the images of the ideya disappearing as well.
"It's what I feared..."
"What?" I demand.
"I'm afraid the sixth ideya is gone from you...but I think it's growing back."
"What?!" I shout. "How is it growing back? I thought it was gone!"
Claris put her hand on my shoulder. "Well, all ideya grow back if they have been stolen by a nightmaren. Like if the ideya of hope was taken, you'd grow it back in time and make your own hope."
NiGHTS nodded in agreement. "Yes, she's right. The sixth ideya isn't different, apparently. I think, it will soon become the form of the sixth ideya and you will carrying it again. It's lucky Wiseman doesn't know about this, I don't know what he would do."
I hang my head low at this news. Looks like I haven't seen the last of the sixth ideya, nor the ambitions of Wiseman. I think he'll figure out I have it soon, he is a master of ideya and all. If this is the power he has with one of those ideya, imagine two. He'd be even more unstoppable than he already is. Wait...that gives me an idea!
"NiGHTS!" I look up to her. "This could well be our strongest weapon!"
She shook her head with a closed look on her face, obviously objecting what I said. "With the cost of your soul? I don't think it's worth it."
"It won't if I learn to control it, after all I have lived with it all my life. When I had it before, I took on Wiseman and Reala all by myself, imagine how strong we could be if all of us used it against Wiseman?"
Elliot pondered this, tapping his foot against the marble of the mall tile. "Maybe, I don't think we have much of a choice, the entire waking world and dream world are at stake!"
NiGHTS knew this was true, and that the stakes were too high to be picky with the choices they had. He sighed and looked right at me.
"Alright Min...but if there is another option I will take it. I don't want to see you hurt."
"Alright done deal!" Elliot exclaimed. "We have a plan! Now we just need to carry it out!"
"Elliot, in case you haven't noticed, there is a giant, pitch black, nightmaren infested horror fest out there!" Claris objected. "It's not as simple as you think."
"She's right basketball guy, remember that giant fish? It came from that darkness, who knows what else is out there."
NiGHTS looked out one of the the many skylights in the mall, obviously staring into the blackness. She crossed her arms and was obviously thinking hard.
"What is it NiGHTS?"
She floated down gracefully toward us, stopping a few feet above. "I can see clearly through the blackness, and let's just say if we go through without a plan it's like us walking into a nightmaren buffet!"
"That's encouraging." I sigh."
"But."
I look up at NiGHTS, who has a sparkle of hope in her eyes, giving us a grin.
"I think we can make our way toward the Twins Seeds tower if we are quick!"
"But what about us? We can be controlled by nightmaren remember?" Claris mentioned.
"Hm, quiet right. I think it's best you two dualize with me, giving us more strength and you won't be able to be controlled."
I blinked. "Your saying...those two goofs can dualize with you?"
"Hey!" Elliot exclaimed. "We can dualize just as good as you can. Any person can dualize with NiGHTS, in fact, i think we have lots of more experience what you."
"Don't push it blueberry."
NiGHTS motioned us toward and intact escalator leading to the first floor of the mall. We hesitantly went on it, keeping a keen eye out for any nightmaren. Fortunately, there were non in sight. As we arrived on the first floor, I started to lead the group to the the exit of the place.
"So NiGHTS, do you even have a plan for how we are going to survive the onslaught outside?"
"Well we already figured out how to keep Claris and Elliot safe. I'm a nightmaren, so I shouldn't be a problem."
I clear my throat. "I think that leaves one of us exposed to all the darkness."
"You can just hold on to my hand min, and since you can't be possessed, you just need to bare through it. Okay?"
I nodded slowly as we approached the pitch black windows that surrounded the entrance. Elliot and Claris seemed less that excited, and to be honest I can't blame them. NiGHTS went to the front of the group and turned to all of us.
"Okay listen everyone, the path to Twin Seeds tower isn't going to be easy. There are going to be thousands of nightmaren out there waiting for us to come out, so we just need go as fast as we can there."
"Right, ready when you are NiGHTS!" Elliot exclaimed.
She nodded and held out her hand to both Claris and Elliot. They held out their hands too, as a shining white aurora surrounded the trio. And when the shining light faded, the two were gone.
"Oh, so that's how dualization is like from this view..."
"Pretty much." Elliot says inside NiGHTS. "Jealous?"
"Hardly."
"Ha, we'll see about that in a few minutes."
"Quit fighting you two, we have to save are strength for the nightmaren and Wiseman himself."
I nodded in agreement with the now dualized NiGHTS as I held up my baseball bat, prepared for the onslaught. NiGHTS took me by the hand as she put her other hand on the door.
"Are we Ready?"
Everyone nods with confidence. NiGHTS shoved the door open and threw ourselves into the storm of darkness. The sounds of howls, storms, and lightning booming in our ears.
"Then let's go! Hold on!"
