Woot, new computer and cable internet, I might just get nearly up to date technology wise in the next decade or so!
Not much to note here, just another chapter. Oh, and I haven't forgotten about Tira, we're soon to be reunited with her, in all her glory. Hope to see ya back soon!
Pit Of Greed
The dark knight made his way through the deep foliage of the small island, drawing ever closer to the presence of the one he sought. He was sure that the man would prove to be a worthy prey. Nightmare could sense the growing presence of a shard of Soul Edge with each step he took.
After a handful of hours marching through the dense, scraggly underbrush, Nightmare discovered a huge hole in the ground. It must have been a hundred feet wide, maybe even more. On the west side of the hole, a single rope bridge swung in the wind, leading to a large platform held aloft in the center of the hole by numerous ropes attached to the walls of the chasm.
Standing on the eastern edge of the platform stood the purple clad man. He hissed at Nightmare before turning and dropping off the metal grating and out of sight.
The dark knight roared with anger, and streaked forward. He ignored the bridge altogether and instead jumped the dozen feet from the side of the hole to the platform.
Shudders raced along the ropes holding the platform up when Nightmare landed, but they held fast. Nightmare glared hard down, and saw that the pit had yet another platform below the one he was on. It was a bit larger, halving the distance from the wall that his current perch enjoyed.
The man was not on the lower level either, but Nightmare could still feel his presence nearby. Nightmare jumped again, down to the lower platform.
Under this second level was a great deal of water, possibly concealing even more levels below. This did not interest the dark knight, but the rope bridge leading from his current position to the east wall did.
The wall in that area had been dug out, leaving a large tunnel in its wake. Torches flickered along the walls, lighting the path. The presence came from deep in this path, drawing Nightmare towards it.
After crossing the bridge, and making his way a few steps into the tunnel, Nightmare sensed something was out of place. Suddenly, several sharp blades ejected from the walls on either side of the dark knight.
Each blade was a round disk, with a razor sharp edge. Several of these blades flew from each side of the wall, at varying heights. A small time delay triggered more blades to emerge from the wall, both further forward and several steps behind, hoping to ensure that anyone that dodged the first volley would be caught by the second.
Nightmare did not attempt to dodge, nor did he have the need to. Though the disks were sharp enough to shred a normal person to death, and even seriously wound, if not kill, an armored foe, they were not enough to threaten him.
Soul Edge reinforced his armor, more than strong enough to deflect the flying projectiles with ease. The blades clattered against the dark knight and fell to the floor harmlessly.
Nightmare continued forward, not even giving the trap a second thought. A few more steps and he heard a slight creak of wood. A huge pendulum swooshed down from a groove in the ceiling that had been hidden by the shadows.
As the blade came flying down, Nightmare stepped to the side, and swung Soul Edge with all his might. The sword connected with the wooden shaft of the pendulum, and removed the blade from its support shaft.
The pendulum bounced on the ground, and settled to a rest with a deafening clang. Nightmare was becoming more and more irritated by all the childish traps slowing his progress towards the dark presence he felt.
Nightmare could see that the tunnel opened into a room not more than a handful of feet ahead of him. As he continued his march, he felt something that didn't feel right about the ground underneath him.
He jumped forward in a leaping dive. As his dive carried him forward, he looked down and saw the floor give way to a pit full of spikes. Right as Nightmare cleared the newly opened hole, a rumble emitted from the ceiling, and a huge chunk of rock fell down, smashing into the hole.
The ceiling rock fit the floor hole perfectly, apparently with the intention that if the spikes did not kill you, the stone would. Though whoever created the trap did not bet on someone like Nightmare making his way through.
Finally with this last trap negotiated, Nightmare was able to enter the small chamber at the end of the tunnel. The room was lit by torches as well, casting ominous shadows across the room. The area was bare except for two marble statues standing in each corner opposite of the entrance and facing the middle of the room, and a single golden table sitting in the center of the back wall, between the statues.
The statues were life sized, around six feet tall. They were both identical, the image of a man dressed in fine Italian clothing. His image seemed to portray him as quite wealthy. At the foot of each statue, carved into the pedestal that the stone man stood on, was one simple word: 'Vercetti'.
Nightmare ignored the cream colored statues, and instead turned his attention to the golden table. It stood about four feet tall, and appeared to be made of pure gold. It was covered in elaborate carvings of swirling leaves and other soft, natural looking shapes.
On the top of the table was a single dagger. The dagger was neither golden nor beautiful, but instead was a ghastly black, and seemed to be covered in blood. Nightmare's heart jumped as he realized that it was a large chunk of Soul Edge. He could not understand why he was unable to sense this piece, but was sure that the mysterious man had something to do with it.
Nightmare raced to the table and grabbed the dagger, feeling its dark energy washing over him. He closed his eyes, and drew out the dark power from the dagger, transferring it to Soul Edge.
After a few moments, the power of the dagger was gone, completely consumed by the dark sword in Nightmare's hand. He opened his eyes and stared at the dagger, which was now grey and bleak, looking like a corpse, and not like the living evil it was a moment ago. He threw the dead piece of steel away.
Nightmare was about to turn and walk away when he noticed there was writing engraved on the golden table where the blade had laid. Nightmare leaned over and studied the inscription, suddenly realizing that the last trap this place had to offer was yet to be unleashed.
On the table were the simple words:
YOUR DEATH NOW APPROACHES
AND THE REAPER'S NAME IS VOLDO
Nightmare smiled, eager to settle up with this Voldo, which had been toying with him for so long now.
A hiss cracked the air behind the dark knight, and the fight was on. Nightmare spun around suddenly, but not in shock, but instead to attack. Soul Edge flew out straight, aiming for Voldo's heart.
Voldo dodged the blow by bending over backwards, all the way to the point where his hands connected with the floor behind him. He strangely remained in this pose, like he was on his hands and knees, but with his stomach in the air instead of his back.
This position caught Nightmare off guard, for he had never seen anyone ever remain in such a pose. Voldo took advantage of the situation and shot forward like a creeping insect. As he reached Nightmare, he bounded back up from his pose, swinging one of his katars over his head and down, and the other up from underneath.
Both the katars met against Nightmare's armor in the same spot, sending sparks flying, and filling the air with the zing of steel on steel. The weapons did not pierce Nightmare's armor, but the force of the blow stagger the knight backwards.
Nightmare was able to recover quickly. He shot forward, right by the old man. He was too close to use Soul Edge, but the sword was not his intention. He raised his left foot and slammed it down, attempting to smash Voldo's foot with his own.
Voldo hopped backwards, nimbly avoiding the attack. Nightmare reached back and punched at him with all his might. Voldo was not prepared for this blow, and the dark knight's twisted, deformed hand caught him on the chin, sending him flying backwards.
Voldo did not hit the floor, but instead tucked himself into a ball, and performed a backflip away from Nightmare. The dark knight did not pause, instead he rushed forward once again, and stabbed at Voldo.
The old man continued his retreat backwards, and into the tunnel. Nightmare pressed on with his attacks. Voldo did not retaliate, but instead just kept up his retreat. He seemed to be leading the knight back out to the platform for some reason.
This was fine with Nightmare, for the tunnel was far too small for him to be able to effectively use Soul Edge. The pair worked through the hallway, and soon made their way back onto the platform.
Voldo began to launch an all out offensive. He snaked towards Nightmare, dipping and twisting in ways no human should be able to. He struck forward with his katars, slipping his blows through Nightmare's defenses.
Every swing of Soul Edge met with nothing more than open air. No matter what Nightmare seemed to do, Voldo was able to avoid and counter him. While the battle raged on, Nightmare's frustration and rage continued to grow.
In the midst of their clash, Voldo fell to the floor, and quickly began snaking himself around Nightmare's legs. He twisted in and out like and snake, and quickly worked his way up the dark knight's back before Nightmare could respond.
Voldo ended his slithering with his legs attached around Nightmare's waist, and his body pressed hard against his back. Voldo raised his katar in the air and shoved it down hard into the knight's neck.
The weapon cut through armor and bit deep into twisted flesh. Nightmare roared in pain, and threw the old man off of him. Black blood oozed down from the gaping wound in his neck, and ran down his armor, leaving dark trails in its wake.
The attack would have killed a normal man, but Nightmare was no longer human, the twisted flesh of his sword hand had spread all the way up to his neck, offering him protection in this particular instance.
Though his jugular was no longer a fatal weak spot, Nightmare was not immune to the pain that tore through him. He screamed out loud, a sound of pure rage and hatred. He allowed his hatred to take complete control of his mind and body.
The dark knight lashed out at the old man, slamming Soul Edge into Voldo's stomach. He was thrown back, but for some reason, the sword did not penetrate his body suit. The darkness that Voldo had given himself to seemed to offer him a great deal of protection as well.
That did not matter to Nightmare though, for no matter how strong the protection, Soul Edge was stronger, and would consume all that stood in its path.
Voldo stumbled and tried to recover from the blow, but was not able to before Nightmare was on him again. The dark knight grabbed Voldo, and pulled him close. Nightmare held his sword up above his head. When Voldo was no more than a few inches from him, he brought the sword down with all his might, crashing the hilt into Voldo's shoulder. He immediately raised the blade and repeated the motion on the other shoulder.
As the hilt came down each time, the air was filled with a sickening crack of breaking bones as Voldo's clavicles shattered from the force. A rasping, suffering hiss issued from the man's mouth, the only sound he could make, having long ago forgotten the art of speech.
Hiss or words did not matter to Nightmare, nothing would stop his assault. With both blows completed, Nightmare threw Voldo down. He waited a few moments to see what the old man would do, and to revel in the suffering he had caused.
As soon as Voldo hit the ground, he scampered backwards, scurrying with now useless arms flopping at his side. He backed up until he was at the edge of the platform, and somehow he twisted himself around to where he was kneeling.
Voldo hissed and grunted, a sad, pitiful sound. Nightmare imagined that had he not destroyed the man's shoulders, he would be holding his hands up in front of him in an effort to plead for his life.
Nightmare smiled, and walked towards the old man. Instead of immediately killing him, he instead reached down and ripped off the dirty white strip of bandage covering his eyes.
A ghastly sight met Nightmare under the wrappings, for Voldo had no eyes, but nothing more than black, rotting sockets where his eyes should be. The old man shook his head violently, wheezing and hissing as though the light somehow was hurting his vision.
Nightmare decided it had been a good day so far. Not only did he find a large chunk of Soul Edge to assimilate, he also was about to consume a very powerful soul steeped in darkness. Soul Edge would walk away from this pit nearly twice as strong as it had been when it arrived.
Nightmare raised Soul Edge, and set it horizontally on Voldo's shattered shoulder. The man wheezed in pain, but did not have the energy to do anything but pray for the end.
Satisfied that the sword was lined up for a perfect decapitation blow, Nightmare drew Soul Edge back. Right as he began his fatal swing, he heard the sound of metal clanking on the platform behind him, and caught the sight of something green tumbling down from above.
Had Nightmare known exactly what was about to happen, he might have tried to check his swing. Maybe.
