Author: Nadz
Email: vegitto02 at yahoo dot com

Disclaimer:
The title "Nightmare", as well as its storyline, is owned by the author.
All Tekkaman Blade characters are the property of Tatsunoko.
Any original characters are strictly owned by the author of this fan fiction.
This story may not be distributed to anybody without the author's permission due to version control. However, the author does encourage you to welcome your friends to read Nightmare on FanFiction dot net. Much thanks...

Tekkaman Blade III: Nightmare (Third Saga)

Chapter 52 - Influence

'Dead, Hayato, please get there in time,' silently pleaded Milly, trying her hardest to maintain composure in front of the other Space Knight personnel. So many worries were racing through her mind, and she had no choice but to lend brainpower to each of them. She scanned the room around her, seeing the comm. officers maintaining contact with Beta and Epsilon. It seemed so easy what they were doing – so easy that it almost made her jealous. She now knew what Freeman must have felt like so many times.

Returning to the situation at hand, her mind traveled to her fiancé, hoping that he was alright with Shinya. She also hoped that Delta would stay far away from them as possible… and far away from herself.

"Remember, don't tell Beta and Epsilon about the attack here," she ordered. "It'll distract them."


The alarms blaring in the hallway outside of her room had woken her up from her rest. Seline's eyelids quickly opened, her sight adjusting to the lights overhead. Immediately, she knew that there was something seriously wrong occurring. She heard several laser shots being fired, followed by screaming.

Lying on her infirmary bed, Seline averted her eyes to the doorway. In that moment, a nurse skid across the hallway floor, leaving a blood trail as she disappeared from view. Then, the sound of footsteps grew louder. They were no ordinary steps; they were the rhythmic sound of metal hitting the ground tiles.

Seline began to feel a funny, familiar feeling on her forehead, and she widened her eyes in dread. Into view came the black and gold armored form of the Warlady, who stopped at the doorway and paused.

Beneath her visor, Delta's eyes narrowed for a moment as she stared at the patient lying before her in a pathetic state – Seline was dressed in a blue hospital gown, half her body covered by a white bed-sheet and a thick bandage protecting the base of her neck. Delta took a step forward, anger beginning to take her.

"No…" Seline whispered, her mouth trembling as the black monster approached menacingly.


"Natasha!" Goliate said, circling the ship around and making a run towards the girl who was being beaten around by two Radam warriors, one of whom was Anita's killer. Yet, another bugger got in his way and forced him to swerve. Three of them chased him relentlessly, preventing him from aiding his comrade.

Vesna cried out as she spun to her right, only to be hit again from a different direction. The two Radam were not holding back at all, and they were using tremendous force against her. Bane socked her in the stomach, and Natasha fell to the ground before briefly rolling in the dirt in pain. Both Radam watched.

"I'll handle this from now on, Bane," Noal muttered. "Save your own strength for any surprises."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to leave you to finish it," Bane said. "It looks like she's just about done."

"Not… yet…" Natasha rasped, struggling to rise as she licked the trickle of redness from her lips. Her entire body was trembling from pain, especially her right leg. Nevertheless, she took a step forward and crouched, only to spring up for an attack. Wraith evaded and grabbed her injured leg, twisting it hard.

Vesna cried out again, her body paralyzed for a moment from the sharp stinging sensation. Noal then began to spin around, increasing his angular velocity with every revolution as he held onto her ankle. She began to feel disoriented, and she hardly noticed when Wraith released his grip on her with a heave.

Noal watched as the body of Vesna flung towards the wall of a cliff, and he fired his thrusters to race towards her. Just as she reached, Wraith plowed into her at full force, slamming her into the rocky wall without hesitation and burying her into the rock face. The wall of the cliff crumbled, and large stones and small boulders dropped to the dirt twenty feet below. Vesna's unconscious form fell along with them.

She landed hard with a thud, narrowly missing the resting stones. Wraith lowered next to her and was about to bend down when her body faintly glowed. A translucent shell shaped like her crystal covered her, and it faded seconds later, revealing her sprawled human form. Her crystal lay an inch from her hand.

"Even better," said Noal, scooping her up and placing her over his shoulder. "Mission achieved."


As they approached, Hayato zeroed in on Natasha. Through his console's video panel, he could see that she was out cold and in the hands of a grayish Tekkaman, who was about to fly off into the red sky.

"Damn, we're too late! Please, Dead, help her," pleaded Hayato; the other man gave a subtle nod.

Tekkaman Dead burst out of Epsilon and headed for her, only for someone to appear in his path.

"Now that you've finally shown your face, you want to leave so quickly?" smirked Bane, pointing his sword at Dead. Several hundred meters behind him, Wraith turned and fired his thrusters, heading into the distance. Hayato cursed and attempted to follow, but a bugger got in his way and hindered his pursuit.

"Natasha!" the youth yelled. A laser shot then came in from the upper-right, drilling through the creature and resulting in its explosion. He looked up in surprise – it came from Beta, piloted by Goliate.

"Thanks, big guy," said a relieved Hayato, who now had a clear path before him. Adding extra juice to his jet's engines, the youth burst Epsilon craft forward in the direction Wraith had gone. Goliate remained behind, fending off buggers but silently wishing that he could be the one to save the young lady.


Unable to move her arms and legs, the young woman could merely look upwards at the dark being that loomed over her. Delta only stared downward, remaining still as her breaths become deeper and more intense. She uncurled her index finger from her first, and she slowly moved it forward, softly placing its tip on the area just above the girl's left ankle. Seline's eyes widened, sensing the cold metal digit on her flesh.

"Can you feel this?" Delta whispered, gently moving her fingertip along Seline's leg as if to tickle it. The girl's thigh twitched, and she watched with dread as the Warlady paused… and quivered with rage.

Without warning, Delta shot out her hand, grabbing Seline's left ankle, and pulled callously with a snarl. The girl gasped as she was dragged sideways along the bed, the wires connected to her skin popping out as her side grazed against the railing. She flew off the bed and crashed to the floor, crumpling in a heap.

"You useless… lousy bitch," Delta rasped, ignoring the moans. "You ruined everything!"

With a yell, the Warlady lashed out a kick, nailing the woman squarely in the abdomen. The girl shrilly cried out, still able to feel pain despite her condition, and she rolled several times on the floor until she collided with the wall and came to a halt. Her arms and legs lay sprawled about, with her hair a mess.

Seline's face was contorted from the agony, yet she could not even move her hand to her stomach.

"Screwing up Xyla by taking it into your own hands was bad enough," Delta grated, taking a step towards her victim. "But then you helped the enemy, and because of that, he took back his son and mine!"

"You got… what you deserved… for lying to me… and my brother!" Seline managed to spit back.

Delta reached out with anger, grabbing the woman's hair and pulling up hard. Seline grunted.

"Did my son deserve what that repulsive bastard Honda did to him? Did he? And you allowed it to happen while you were there!" Delta yelled, pulling the girl's head in a downwards arc and smashing her face into the floor. She released her grip, and Seline trembled, watching her blood leak from her split skin.

"… He… never told me… anything… I even gave him… my crystal… in case… he needed it…"

"It doesn't matter," the Radam returned, flashing a scarlet eye. "You still didn't protect him!"

"Then maybe… you shouldn't use those… who love you… like my brother Kyros… or Okita!"

"Shut up!" Delta boomed, immediately thrusting out her hand and wrapping her fingers around the girl's throat. She raised her arm high, elevating Seline a meter off the floor with her back against the wall. Delta dug her sharp, armored fingers into the girl's skin, drawing trickles of red, and Seline gasped for air.

"I am going to snap your neck… this neck you stuck out for Blade!" Delta said with pure venom.


The sound of scraping metal screeched through the air as the edges of their swords grazed harshly, and the Space Knight pushed his adversary away several meters. Dead End then turned to the direction in which Wraith had recently left, and he began to power his thrusters. Yet, the Radam appeared in the way.

"Am I that boring an opponent?" Bane said. "Or do you uncharacteristically wish to play hero?"

"Play hero? You've got to be joking," snorted Dead. "I only care about keeping the odds even."

"I suppose you would, considering they've been against you for much of your life," replied Bane, getting a curious glance from his opponent. Bane jerked his weapon upwards, knocking the other's aside.

"Tekkaman Akuma told us plenty about you. We know how much you've suffered," the Radam continued. "And that is why it's surprising that you would help the girl whose father destroyed your home."

"So, you want to spin it that way, do you? Don't insult me! I'm not dumb enough to fall for that."


As his eyes remained focus on the object attempting to get away in the distance, he could feel the controls softly shaking in his hands. He was really pushing the jet, and he was using up fuel at a high rate. Yet, he didn't care; nor did he have a choice. He couldn't let Natasha be taken into the hands of the enemy.

His target, Wraith, was being quite resilient, trying to break away by frequently changing course – over flat lands, around hills, and through canyons. Sometimes they flew high; other times, they flew so low that Hayato could see the ground rushing by beneath. It wasn't that Wraith was necessarily faster than the jet; Epsilon could have caught up had they been traveling in a linear fashion. It was that a former ace like Noal knew the limits of fighter planes and could predict maneuvers performed by lesser experienced pilots.

Hayato quickly realized that his prey knew exactly what he was doing, and it only frustrated him to the core. He knew that if he had still had his Tekkaman powers, he would have been far more effective.

'I could have caught up by now,' the boy thought, gritting his teeth. 'Maybe even rescued her!'

The distance between them continued to increase, as did the aggravation in the youth's mind. He could feel sweat on his forehead and the adrenaline coursing through. His fists tightened on the controls.

'If only I was a Tekkaman… if only I could use my powers…' he thought desperately, his eyes widened as if almost in frenzy. He squeezed even harder on the steering, feeling a slight pang in his wrist.

"If only I could transform…" he said, his face contorted. "If only I could become a Tekkaman!"

At that moment, a jolt of pain went through his right arm. Hayato cried out, averting his eyes to his wrist and seeing the red vein-like lines quickly appearing and disappearing just beneath his light skin. In reaction, his hand jerked to the side, pulling the steering to the right, causing the craft to swerve sharply.

Wraith turned his head and observed the plane break away to the right. Hayato cursed, trying to overcome the feeling of needles in his arm as he tried to maneuver the plane left and regain some sort of control. Noal watched amusedly at this curious event, and he knew he had his chance to make his move.

With a heave, he hurled his lance at his pursuer. Hayato tried to avoid it, but the weapon did its work, damaging part of the wing as well as one of the engines. The boy did his best to prevent the plane from spinning out of control, and he eventually stabilized it. Yet, by then, Wraith was far in the distance.

The boy shut his eyes tightly, knowing that he had lost. Given the damage, he did not possess the speed and maneuverability needed to keep up the chase, especially now with the tremendous gap between them. There would be no point going forward. Hayato slammed his left fist on the console for his failure.

"Natasha… Space Knight Command… I've lost her…" he whispered, turning the craft around.


Milly felt like a brick had hit her. Her knees felt weak, and she grabbed the chair in front of her for support. She quickly realized that she was in no way prepared for this burden and pain – that under her command, a Space Knight had been captured. She tried to maintain poise, but it was taking her all she had.

"Hayato, you've done all you could," she said, her throat tight. "Now do what you can for Dead."


"I have no intention of belittling you, Tekkaman Dead," Bane said, blocking the strike. "I merely wish to show you another way of looking at things. You've suffered quite a lot, and you continue to do so."

"I already had a friend who showed me another way of looking at things," spat the Space Knight, contorting his eyes with a flicker of ire. "And he did ease my suffering… before you Radam killed him!"

"Ah, you mean the late David Kruegel… or Tekkaman Zommer," Bane responded after a pause, pushing his enemy away. "But maybe he didn't help you like you think. He may have just held you back."

"That's enough!" said Dead, bursting forward. "If you talk about him like that again, I'll kill you!"


In the secret levels of the Command Center, Neilus paced frantically. Milly was in danger, and he couldn't even go to help. He cursed in frustration, but then something caught his eye and made him freeze – Shinya had stopped crawling and sat still, his face pale and his irises illuminating with a soft green glow.


On the ground, a group of tanks broke through and entered a region of Primary Body troops, who immediately began to exchange fire. Powerful shells were shot, landing between the Radam forces and, in some instances, hitting Primary Body troops head on. On a small rock ledge on the side, two men steadied a launcher before firing a rocket propelled grenade at one tank, causing it to burst into flames. They even managed to destroy a second tank, only to meet their end when a third one aimed and fired directly at them.

In the air, buggers continued to battle air squadrons. The jets were aided by Beta craft, which out-maneuvered some creatures and managed to blow others away. Many military fighter craft were destroyed, and some buggers proceeded with directly attacking the West Asia base itself, taking out military soldiers.

Not too far away, two Tekkamen charged each other head on – one a Space Knight and the other a Radam. Those who watched from afar could see the sparks of energy but could not hear the words spoken. Bane kept on tantalizing the other with probing questions, and it began to scrape away at Dead's willpower.

"Shut up…" spat the Space Knight. "I'm not listening to this! And why do you care so much?"

"Is what I said so far from the truth, Tekkaman Dead? Are you telling me you've moved on from your past entirely?" challenged Bane. "Or… is the truth rather that you sealed it inside because of him?"

Dead End clenched his jaw, and the two collided again, their weapons scraping against each other.

"Did your so-called friend really set you free? You kept nothing bottled up? … Not one thing?"

"You bastard…" Dead rasped, glaring through the other's visor. "Even… even if I did, so what?"

"So what? It means everything!" returned Bane, his voice bordering on excitement. "You finally admit it! I knew you couldn't have removed every last bit of resentment from your mind… and your soul."

"What are you getting at?" the other demanded, retreating a meter. "What do you want from me?"

"I only want you to listen, Tekkaman Dead," smirked Bane, retracting his weapon and gesturing to the battle below. "You say you want to even the odds, but are the odds worth evening? Just what are you fighting for? We both know that you still loathe the military for what they did to Prague. Yet, by opposing me, you're essentially helping them destroy your brethren – the Primary Bodies! Did you consider that?"

Dead looked in the direction Bane had indicated and observed a group of military commandoes in the process of sneaking up behind several Primary Bodies for an ambush. Dead gripped his weapon tighter.

"Primary Bodies…" he narrowed his eyes. "But Natasha was right… You're only using them…"

"Maybe from her narrow point of view, but you know better," Bane countered. "You know their oppression more than anyone, Dead End. And you should be able to see that we are giving them a chance to battle their persecution – from the hands of the public… and the military. We are giving them freedom!"

Dead widened his eyes, for Bane did have a point. Up until the time Delta came, Primary Bodies were still living in depravity and misery due to oppression. He knew that feeling too well, and it made his temperature rise every time he thought about it. Indeed, Radam were giving them a solid chance to rebel.

"But it's not just them; nearly every Tekkaman under Delta has firmly held a grudge against the military. And through her graces, we've been given the chance to avenge ourselves from their injustices!"

The corner of Dead's mouth twitched. He reverted his glance to Bane, paying him full attention.

"The military has wronged many of us – including you and David. But you don't have to remain passive about it like he did," urged Bane. "With your power, you can give them what they fully deserve!"

Dead tightened his grip on his weapon, and his hand trembled… but with a sliver of excitement…

Meanwhile, the commandoes took several quiet steps closer towards their unsuspecting targets…

"I…" whispered Dead, his breathing steady but his heart slowly pounding. "… No… but I…"

"Now's your chance; do not hesitate!" blurted Bane eagerly. "You cut my comrade Plague in half without hesitation – for David! Didn't you enjoy the rush of revenge? Didn't it quench your thirst for our blood? Then why deny that feeling again – especially against those who destroyed your family and home!"

"I…" said Dead, his blood boiling as memories of the past flooded him. "But I shouldn't… I…"

"You shouldn't? Then deny that you enjoy watching me to do this!" hollered Bane, who instantly fired his thrusters and burst downwards. Within seconds, he appeared above the group of commandoes and began to charge the cells on his shoulders. The men looked up stunned, and dread began to fill their hearts.

Dead watched frozenly, cold sweat rolling down his back. The men fired at Bane but to no avail.

"For Prague… Vol Tekka!" Bane hollered, red-crystalline streams of energy pulsing from his cells and plowing into the group of commandoes without mercy. The men let out feral cries of agony, only to be silenced momentarily. A large explosion ensued, throwing up the ground in the beam's path and spreading debris around. Bane halted his firing and observed that none of the Primary Bodies had been wounded.

However, he did not stop there. Rising into the air, he turned towards the cluster of tanks nearby and headed straight for them. They tried to turn their cannons in his direction, but he was just too quick. He threw his sword, digging it into one tank and destroying it before retrieving it and heading for another.

In the air, Dead watched on, hardly realizing his open mouth had curved into the slightest grin. His sword-wielding hand quivered, and his heart raced. He couldn't help but soak in what he was seeing…

"Dead, snap out of it!" Hayato's voice yelled through the link in his cowl. Dead quickly turned his head to see Epsilon craft coming in from the distance and firing at the buggers that were hounding Beta. Dead realized the reality of the situation and cursed under his breath, firing his thrusters and bursting forth.

The Radam grunted in surprise as Dead appeared before him and blocked his sword in mid-swing.

"Make no mistake, I still hate the military," Dead narrowed his eyes. "But these are small fish."

"They're no less a threat," returned a vexed Bane. "I'm disturbed you'd do this, after all I told you. But if it's that way, so be it. As long as you choose to remain my enemy, I'll fight you… and destroy you!"

Dead clenched his teeth, ready for the battle between them to ensue.


Author Notes: It might seem a little random how Bane has taken such an interest in Dead and seems to know so much about him. Well, he had been defeated badly by Dead in the space battle at the end of Second Saga, so he has had two weeks to ponder his loss and study his enemy via information received from Aki. He is ready to attack Dead on an emotional front as well as a physical one. Let me know your thoughts.

Also, I had Natasha's crystal appear after her de-transformation due to what occurs in Tekkaman Episode 6, where D-boy's crystal appears (and then shatters) when he's forced out of Tekkaman mode. I figured I could use that to force Natasha's crystal to appear so that Noal could take it. Even if it didn't, he probably could have used Spectrum Interference crystals to keep her from transforming. It works out the same way at the end...

Thanks for reading!