Note: This chapter gets close to M territory.
The night was darker than usual. Greyson sat on his bed, reading the invitation he had received under the dim light of his scroll. He folded the note, and slowly slid it into his back pocket. He stood up, and peered out the window onto Beacon's moonlit campus. Finally, if only he could survive this night, the nightmares would be gone. Whatever lay in the dimly lit alley was the last threat. Live or die, he would save his friends.
Greyson looked over the sleeping forms of his teammates and sighed. Could he survive? That much was uncertain. The day before, he had found no way to properly say goodbye. He silently walked out the door.
No stars shone through the choking black sky. Only the Moon hung in the air protectively. A slim crescent, much like Azure's symbol. Greyson drove to the specified alley, flipping through radio stations to get his mind off the impending danger. One song caught his attention. At a volume just above his silver sedan's engine and the whirr of tires on road, Greyson let the music play.
"I may fall, but not like this. It won't be by your hand..."
"Right," Greyson thought. "No way I've come this far to die in an alleyway somewhere. Not like this." He slowed as he pulled up to his destination, a dimly lit, grimy alley between two run-down, deserted brick buildings.
Greyson stepped into the alley, Blitz and Nimbus in hand. The only sound he heard above the hum of cars on a distant, more traveled road were his own footsteps.
"Well, well!" an arrogant voice called, shattering the silence. A voice saturated with hatred. Greyson knew the owner. Dunder Leone, former leader of the expelled Team DARK.
"Surprised you actually came around. We've never fought before, so I thought you would be too cowardly to change that," Dunder remarked.
"Let's finish this quickly. I'd like some sleep tonight," Greyson goaded.
"Oh, it'll be over quickly," Dunder assured. "Kurai! Sylvia! You can come out now!"
Greyson heard something falling through the air, then the sound of two pairs of feet landing behind him. Kurai and Sylvia stood menacingly, outlined against the streetlights. Sylvia's sword was pointed downward. Kurai's dagger was poised in position to stab.
"You... you really messed up our lives, you know that?" Kurai snarled, voice quivering with a potent mixture of rage and excitement. "In payback, it's time for us to end yours."
"You two, weaken him. I want to kill him myself," Dunder ordered.
Kurai and Sylvia simultaneously charged Greyson. He ducked under Kurai's blade, tripping him up while diverting Sylvia's attack with both Blitz and Nimbus. As Sylvia slashed back at Greyson, he felt several paper-thin arms of shadow snaking up his right leg. He spun, tearing through Kurai's semblance and parrying Sylvia's strike in one fluid motion.
"Good to know I can cut through that," Greyson thought, staring down his attackers as the combat halted for a few seconds. "They're not as strong as I am, if I can take care of Kurai's semblance, I can beat them." Assured, he lunged at Kurai, relentlessly slashing in a combo he had zealously practiced for weeks. Kurai was driven to the wall, unable to defend against Greyson's furious onslaught.
Greyson's vision cut. Through his semblance, he saw Sylvia charge him from behind, landing a brutal strike across his back. His vision returned to normal.
Slashing at Kurai once more, Greyson turned to block Sylvia's attack. She pulled back, yelling as she attacked three more times. Greyson blocked each, then kicked outward, sending Sylvia to the filthy concrete.
Kurai dashed forward, nearly too fast for Greyson to react. He swiped at Kurai's dagger with Nimbus, landing a direct blast from the barrel of Blitz. Kurai stumbled backward, aura barrier depleted.
Kurai's fury showed through his psychotic grin. From next to a dumpster, behind a corner, between each brick and under himself, Kurai sent hundreds of shadow arms skyward. The eerie snakes of darkness blocked out the already dim light as the tips turned from hands to malicious blades, and bore down on Greyson.
Greyson shot upward, tumbled, and parried best he could. Several attacks still landed, grazing arms, legs, and stabbing at Greyson's chest. As the semblance faded, Greyson still stood. Panting heavily, but alive. Sylvia jumped forward.
Greyson held Sylvia's sword at bay with Blitz and Nimbus. Greyson and Sylvia both grit their teeth, looking into each other's eyes, arms shaking with the full extent of their strength. Greyson's vision cut out. Again, he could see himself, outside of his body. Kurai was sprinting behind him silently, about to drive his dagger deep into Greyson's back.
Greyson dropped to the ground as fast as he could. He heard the blade digging deep into flesh. Three drops of blood spattered to the ground, inches from Greyson's face. A full stream followed, bouncing off the concrete and landing on his hands and face. The blood was not his own. Looking up, Greyson saw Sylvia, with an expression of sheer horror on her face and Kurai's weapon handle-deep in her stomach. With a bloodcurdling scream of pain, she fell to the ground.
Greyson spun, cutting Kurai's right foot completely free of the leg. He jumped, turning in midair to perform a kick taught to him by Ember. Kurai's head snapped to the side and he fell against a wall, knocked out cold.
Greyson faced Dunder.
"Now can it be fair?" Greyson asked.
"Well, honestly I'm a bit surprised," Dunder admitted. "Who would've known a runt like you would be worth fighting?"
Dunder jumped forward, ax raised in position to kill.
Greyson tried to block Dunder's ax with Blitz, but underestimated the raw power behind his enemy's swing. The impact twisted Greyson's wrist backward, sending his weapon clattering across the ground. With both hands on Nimbus, Greyson fended off several powerful swings of Dunder's axe, until Nimbus too lay out of reach.
"Shit! His sheer strength is ridiculous!" Greyson frantically thought. "What's left for me to do?"
Dunder swung the blunt end of his ax into Greyson's cheek, smashing the jawbone and several teeth. Greyson staggered to the side, disoriented from the brutal collision. Another swing fell over the back of Greyson's head with a crack. Several swings later, Greyson barely stood, bleeding profusely, vision fading in and out as excruciating pain overtook his entire body.
Greyson struggled to breath through the blood flooding his nose and mouth. With every exhalation, a new wave of crimson spattered to the ground.
Dunder swung the blade of his ax at Greyson's upper thigh too quick for an injured Greyson to dodge. The ax deflected off the scroll in Greyson's pocket, cleaving it in two while saving its owner's life.
Azure bolted upright. Something was very wrong. She could feel it. She looked over to Greyson's bed, realizing in terror he was gone.
"No... no way..." Azure quietly lamented, pulling out her scroll and squinting as the artificial, cruel light hit her eyes. Her eyes went wide as tears filled them.
Azure's scroll dropped from her weakened hand as she began to sob. Ember rolled over, looking to it. She saw Greyson's aura bar completely empty, Greyson's portrait replaced with a red X.
"That can't be right..." Ember said in disbelief.
"Huh..?" Rusty tiredly asked. "What's happening?" Rusty froze as he looked to Azure's scroll. His heart felt as if it dropped from his chest.
Meanwhile, several more of Dunder's attacks left Greyson sitting with his back to the wall. A deep gash ran down his left arm, another scratch on his right. His breathing came in jagged gasps, which pained his body from head to toe. Greyson's head felt heavy as he channeled his last vestiges of strength into holding it up. Dunder stood over him, grinning like a maniac as he crouched to Greyson's eye level.
"How inconvenient, you're going to ruin some kind fellow's breakfast this morning," Dunder taunted, raising the barrel of his gun between Greyson's eyes. "So, how do you want it? Ax to the throat, or bullet through the head?"
Greyson attempted a reply, but his jaw could not move. It sat relaxed, leaking blood. "Is this death?" He thought, feeling his hands and feet become numb, his heart rate slowing. "Is this what all those Grimm have felt?" The numbness came to his knees and elbows. Greyson's vision began to fade. "No. It can't be. They have no soul. Killing them is mercy. But Lazula... She had to go through this. I'm... so sorry." Greyson could not see. The numb feeling slowly crept toward his heart. Greyson's head began to fall.
"I'm so sorry."
"Imagine what poor Azure will think, once she finds out her heroic boyfriend died the death of a coward," Dunder continued.
"Azure."
The name echoed in Greyson's head. His eyes snapped back open with a ferocious green light. Greyson could feel everything again. No wounds, just deep, pure hatred and willpower. He shakily rose to his feet, surrounded in an aura that radiated in all directions like grey fire. He remembered all of the times he had spent with Azure, and his team. Initiation, their first days, meeting Raven, asking Azure out, Christmas, his first kiss with Azure, and Pierce's lessons. He remembered it all.
"Not... yet..." Greyson managed. He coughed out a ball of blood, and faced his attacker.
"Oh, did I strike a chord? I guess beating you down further would be fun," Dunder welcomed. He swung his axe at Greyson's neck full-force. Greyson grabbed Dunder's axe, twisted, and flung it against the wall with enough force to crack the blade.
Dunder growled in an irritated rage. He aimed a vicious punch into Greyson's nose. In a single movement taught to him by Pierce, Greyson grabbed Dunder's arm, twisted as he jabbed his elbow into Dunder's eye, smashed his foot into Dunder's shin, and flipped him to the ground. Greyson pounced on top of Dunder, driving his knees into his opponent's forearms to hold him down.
"How are you still alive? You need to know when to die!" Dunder exclaimed, as Greyson held him down.
Greyson sent a fist into the side of Dunder's face, sending his head into the concrete. "Never question me," he bitterly returned.
"Okay! Stop! I quit, you win!" Dunder begged.
"A true enemy will never give you a chance," Greyson stated. He kept punching as his mind faded into a state of madness.
"That's right..." his internal voice narrated. "No more nightmares. End them. No more. No more. NO MORE!" He breathed heavily, grinning with frenzied excitement as he repeatedly drove his fist into Dunder's already bloodied face.
Greyson's mind returned. When he came to, Dunder was still, and Greyson's hands were covered in blood. His body ached immensely. Panicked, Greyson felt for Dunder's pulse. He could feel the heartbeat.
Greyson staggered to his feet, took a single, stumbling step forward, three to the left as he began to fall, and two more forward. He collapsed onto the ground, just shy of the sidewalk.
The last thing Greyson remembered before closing his eyes was hoping they would open again.