With lunch still going on for the Sport's Festival Combatants, no one was around to see Peter and Kendo drag Takeshi into an empty hall they were sure would remain unoccupied for a brief time. The gunman was still unconscious and tied in a web cocoon, then stuck to a wall where he wouldn't escape. Knowing how easily he broke out before, Peter made sure to add several layers of webbing across the man's arms. Now it was a matter of waking him up.

Peter smacked his face a few times till he shook awake, his blurry vision taking a moment to focus on the two teenagers standing before him. Peter took front with his hands on his hips, while Kendo stood behind him with her arms crossed in worry. She should have known that trouble wouldn't end for Peter after Norman was put away.

"We have some questions for you," Peter stated as Takehsi focused his eyes on him.

"You won't be able to make me talk!" Exclaimed Takeshi, a shaking in his voice.

"You don't sound very confident about that," Peter stated, "I know you tried to kill me. Probably because I'm Spider-Man. Safe to say that's no secret anymore. What I don't know is why, when I don't even know who you are."

Takeshi turned his head away, biting his lip and refusing to answer. Simply demanded the truth wasn't going to work, but not because he was unbreakable. Takeshi was showing a lot of fear, that much was clear to Peter. The thought of being harmed is what kept him from talking, but if he was worried about experiencing harm from Peter, he would have spilled already. The fear was coming from someone else, a superior perhaps?
Peter checked around Takeshi's face and noticed there were oddly shaped bruises on the sides of his head and neck. They were shaped like rectangles, deep red markings around the outside of them. On the inside of the marking was the faint imprint of a house, the abbreviation R.I.P within it.

"Knuckleduster wounds," Peter stated, "I only know one guy who likes to use Knuckledusters of that shape. Tombstone is the guy who sent you, isn't he?"

"I'm not talking!" Takeshi shouted again, rather desperately.

"Peter," Kendo spoke up, "Can we talk for a minute?"

Kendo pulled Peter to the side, enough where a whisper would escape Takeshi's earshot. The look on her face was that of concern, and it was well earned. Looking at the man who tried to kill Peter, he doesn't seem like someone who would do this without motivation. He was terrified and delicate, but that doesn't mean his crimes aren't deserving of punishment, "Peter," Kendo whispered, "I get you want answers, but this guy tried to have you killed. I think we should take this guy to the police or a Pro hero or something, and maybe they can get something out of him that we can't."

Peter sighed, rubbing his face with his other hand holding on to the parallel arm, "You're right, we can't leave someone like him roaming free. Why don't you call the police and tell them everything that happened, and maybe grab the nearest Pro's outside? Mt. Lady and Kamui are working security so this is right up their ally. I'll keep an eye on this guy and make sure he doesn't go anywhere."

"Sounds good. We'll figure this out, Pete, I promise."

"Just make sure you don't miss the next challenge over this."

"…Right …" She nodded, turning away and walking in the other direction. He hadn't noticed the change in her tone, and she was grateful. Peter didn't see what happened during the second challenge, but she wasn't happy with how it resolved, especially since she didn't feel her team had done enough. Still, leaving Peter alone to continue the Festival after what just happened may have been the last push, she needed to make the coming decision.

…

Kendo carefully pushed through the crowd of people standing around outside, leaving her no time to admire the many activities available. There were many Pro's around, but she was looking specifically for Mt. lady and Kamui. Not only were they the ones Peter had suggested, but she had met them before when the school was attacked. They were the ones she had trusted the most to help her, considering how frightened she was. After what just happened, there was little chance she could bring herself to continue the Festival with a clear head. Her instincts told her to be by Peter's side in case something happens again. While she's proud of him for wanting to call Pro's and the police, that didn't ease her worry of him.

Finally, she found Mt. Lady with two other Pro's, Kamui and Death Arms. The sight of them gave her relief, a hope that everything would be ok. She called out to them "Mt. Lady! Kamui!" and waved her arm in the air.

Mt. Lady was the first to turn around and see her. It took a moment, but she did eventually recognize her from the school attack not that long ago. She remembered because she was the girl who Peter was with when they rescued them, "Hey! I remember you! It's nice to see you're doing alright," Mt. lady greeted Kendo with a smile, "Shouldn't you be inside, though?"

Kendo stopped and gave herself a moment to catch her breath, "It's Peter," She said, changing her voice to a whisper so the crowd wouldn't hear her, "Someone tried to kill him."

"What?!" Mt. Lady nearly shouted. Even Kamui and Death Arms tuned into their conversation now.

"He's ok," Kendo continued, "He has the guy …tied up now, but he wanted me to get help dealing with it. I was going to call the police as soon as I found you."

"Not a good idea," Kamui stated, crossing his arms and looking toward the ground, "If we involve the police now, we may send the crowd into a panic. They just got over the school attack, we don't need to frighten them again for one criminal, even if it was an attempted murder. We need to keep this quiet."

"What was your name again?" Mt. Lady asked.

"Kendo," She answered, "Itsuka Kendo."

"Itsuka. Take us to Peter."

…

Peter stuck himself to the wall parallel to Takeshi. Both members of the empty hall had been silent nearly the entire time Kendo had been gone. Peter wanted answers, but Takeshi wouldn't talk. The only thing Peter could understand was that Takeshi wasn't a typical murderer. Tombstone wanted him to do this, and he has a talent for making people do things that are out of character. At the same time, he's also a creature of habit. Considering the super strength and horns, cross referenced with Kamui's description of the assassin from the court house, there's a good chance this is the same guy. Either this is what he was good at, or Tombstone has a way with words, as well as his fists.

It wouldn't be long now before Kendo returned with help, so he wouldn't have much more alone time with the guy. If there was anything he wanted to say, this was the time to say it.

"… I once watched Tombstone bash in the head of one of his workers," Peter started, "He had been working an order for someone, making a bunch of large trucks and weapons. The worker, I think his name was Rick, messed up one of the materials they needed. He promised he'd fix it, but Tombstone wasn't buying it. So, he knocked Rick down, tossed him through a window, and stomped on his head. His skull was crushed, twisted under his foot."

The story sent fear into Takeshi, making him gulp, "Why are you telling me this?"

"If that's what Tombstone does to someone who get's an order wrong, what do you think he'll do to you?"

"I know he's going to kill me! He made it clear that if I didn't take you out, he would- …" A different kind of fear came over Takeshi's face, as he looked around the walls trying to find something, "What's the time?! Do you know what the time is?!"

Peter cocked his head to the side, "Why?"

"If I don't check in with Tombstone and confirm your death on the dot, he'll assume I failed and have someone else kill me! I can't be here much longer! You gotta let me go!"

"Who the hell is he sending?"

"Tombstone wanted this done quietly, that's why he sent me first. But if I couldn't get it done, then he'd send the guy who'd throw quiet out the window!"

"Why should I believe you?"

"Show me the goddamn time!"

"Alright!" Peter gave in, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone, "Geez, here."

As he lifted his phone to Takeshi, a purple colored knife suddenly pierced the device and stuck it against the nearest wall, causing it to spark with irreparable damage. The knife had also just barely cut one of Peter's fingers as he put pressure on the wound in shock. His spider-sense had gone off just a second too late, the speed of the knife too quick for an accurate reaction. He immediately looked in the direction of where the knife came from, and saw the man in question. He was tall, wearing dark armor plating over black cloths, his head completely covered by a helmet with a visor. His armor plating's were shades of black and purple. Around his belt were other knives and blades magnetized to the metal, easily to be pulled off by him if he wanted. His gloves had claws, stretching as if preparing to strike. No detail about him said he was going to play around.

Peter shook the pain out of his finger and stepped forward, "Who the hell are you?"

"You can call me 'Nightmare'," he spoke, his suit disguising his voice, "Because that's all anyone hopes I am when they meet me. Takeshi here failed to do his job, now I'm here to make it right," Nightmare's voice was young, perhaps somewhere in his mid-twenties. Yet the tone he spoke in said he was experienced, more so than he looked.

"Sorry, but I don't listen to guys so full of themselves they need a helmet to keep their heads from getting too big."

"I wasn't asking," Nightmare's hand rested on one of his blades.

"You guys never do," Peter got into attack position.

Though he assumed he was ready to move, Nightmare moved first, at least he thinks he did. In the time span if a single blink, Nightmare seemed to zoom passed Peter and slice his blade through the webbing holding Takeshi. The only proof he had even moved passed him was a small cut not appearing on his cheek as blood ran down it. Peter turned around only to be kicked down by Nightmare, who was now holding Takeshi up by the back of his shirt.

Peter landed on his back, one hand on his bleeding cheek as he processed what had just happened. He had never seen anyone move that fast before, not even mutants like Quicksilver back home. Even his Spider-Sense wasn't able to warn him in time, being nearly a half-second late. This guy was somehow faster than his own sixth sense, a feat that seemed impossible until now.

"Now," Nightmare said, dropping Takeshi and lifting his blade, which lit up purple across the sharper end, "Your punishment."

Just before he could strike down, Peter shot a web at his wrist and pulled on it, making him drop the weapon to the ground with a clank.
"For someone so fast, you did a poor job stopping that!" Peter exclaimed.

Rather than zoom at him, Nightmare pulled the webbing off and ran at him with a pair of knives. Peter pushed off his hands and got up onto his feet, just in time to start dodging the attacks one at a time. He was moving slow now, rather than just cutting him up with his incredible speed. It wasn't adding up, but that wasn't something he could worry about while being sliced at by a deranged killer.

However, Nightmare suddenly decided to use that incredible speed and slice across Peter's leg, then his arm before kicking him into the wall, a knife stabbing into his shoulder. Peter shrieked in great pain, trying to apply pressure to the wound despite the knife still being there.

Nightmare lifted another dagger, trying to stab him at a slow speed instead of a faster one. Changing his speed again and at such a strange time? There was a pattern. Taking advantage of his speed change, Peter kicked Nightmare away and pushed himself onto his feet, taking a deep breath before yanking the blade out of his shoulder and using his webbing to seal the wound.

"You're really bizarre," Peter stated, "You have all that speed and you only use it in …spurts," it had suddenly clicked with him as he tilted his head to the side in enlightenment, "Unless …that's your quirk. You can move quickly, but only in short bursts, am I right?"

Nightmare didn't answer him, but Peter could tell by his body language that he was right.

"Alright. I can work with that," grinned Peter.

Nightmare positioned himself, telling Peter that his speed was likely returning to him. Without hesitation, Peter lifted his back leg and pressed it against the wall behind him. Before his opponent even moved, peter leapt into the air and spun in a circle. Nightmare zoomed just under him, surprised that he was able to dodge him so perfectly, but unable to rest on the thought as he crashed into the wall, throwing himself into a daze.

Peter landed on the ground and webbed Takeshi, yanking him in his direction and grabbing him by the shoulder, "Run!" he said, pushing Takeshi forward as they took off through the halls.

Nightmare got to his feet to see them taking off. Anger swept over him while he picked up his knives, "Everyone runs," he said, "But no one can escape their nightmares."

…

It was only minutes after Peter left the hall and Nightmare chased after them when Kendo had returned with the Pro Heroes. She, Kamui and Mt. Lady had come into the hall ready to see Peter standing there, wondering what had taken them so long. Mt. Lady was in front, speed walking as she wanted to make sure the young arachnid hero was unscathed. Her fears were met however when they entered the hall and found nothing but webs scattered everywhere.

"I don't understand …" Kendo questioned, "He was here! Where did they go?!"

Mt. Lady looked around at the webs on the wall, where she assumed the murderer was being held before they up and vanished. She traced her fingers along the wall until she found a phone pinned to it with a knife. The knives design made her curious. It was almost shaped like a small kunai, painted to be black and purple, and sharpened to be thinner and smaller than the traditional model.
She pulled the knife out of the wall and held the phone in her hands, "Is this Peter's?" She asked.

"…Yes," Kendo confirmed, "What the hell happened?"

"We'll figure it out," Kamui said sternly, "But you need to go back to your friends where it's safe. Besides, the final challenges are going to start soon and you don't want to miss them."

"I can't continue the festival knowing that Peter is in danger!"

"Peter will be fine," She leaned down and put a hand on her shoulder, "He's a capable young man. I'll make sure nothing happens. If you aren't there for the start of the next round, you'll be disqualified," She stood up straight, "Leave this to the Pro's."

Mt. Lady and Kamui took off down the halls as quickly as she could, yet their words remained behind with Itsuka Kendo. That statement was one she had said often, one that she had told Peter more than enough times. When things seemed to dangerous, she always said that a Pro hero should handle it, not him.

Why was she questioning it now?

…

The opening speech was taking place outside in the arena, and teams were being told what was happening next. All peter could make out while he rushed through the halls with Takeshi was that it was a verses challenge, classic hero fights hero. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to partake in actually seeing any of the fights. Instead he was running through the halls, holding Takeshi by the wrist as he dragged him along. The halls were overall unoccupied, minus the occasional witness who left their seats to use the bathroom or grab refreshments. Each time Peter looked behind them, Nightmare was there, dashing closer in bursts of speed, daggers in both hands. He knew he would catch up eventually, no matter their efforts.

Knowing he was a single dash away from catching them, Peter grabbed Takeshi and threw him to the ceiling, webbing him there with an impact web. He then threw his back leg toward Nightmare just as he dashed forward, kicking him in the gut and sending him rolling away, though he managed to quickly get back on his feet, kneeling only slightly.

Nightmare came at Peter, this time without his speed. He dodged the incoming blades of his opponent and even caught one of his attacks at the wrist. Though he was only able to just barely lean back from a slash by the other blade, slicing his shirt and barely cutting his stomach. Thankfully, it was only a flesh wound, but that didn't stop it from hurting. Nightmare's blades were extremely sharp, as if getting a paper cut with every attack.

Peter, still holding onto his wrist, flipped over his head and landed behind him, twisting his arm into a handlebar position. The dagger dropped from his hand, his fingers having no choice but to release when he twisted his muscles. He tried to strike with the other blade, but Peter webbed it away with an impact web.

"So, what's your story?" Peter asked as he struggled to hold him in place, "Because you have a dark knight kind of vibe, or maybe Assassins Creed. You'd be a templar I bet!"

"My story isn't for children like you."

"I'll have you know I'm a teenager! I have chest hair!"

In a burst of speed, Nightmare freed himself from Peter's grasp and struck him with his palm, hitting his nose and causing him to stumble back. Peter's vision was blurred now, having taken a strike that may have broken his nose. Only after he recovered his vision did Nightmare hit him again in the same spot. Now he was dazed and confused, leaving Nightmare to grab one of his daggers and throw it at his leg. The pain forced him to fall to one knee in agony.

Nightmare kicked Peter in the face, nearly knocking him out as he pulled out another kunai. A quick execution wasn't possible, not with his speed still in recharge mode, which meant this was going to get messy.

"Tombstone should have just sent me in the first place, but he didn't want to make a scene," Said Nightmare, "It's time you face your fears in the afterlife."

Peter, in response, chuckled.

"What's so funny?!" Nightmare asked, gripping the Kunai tighter.

Peter chuckled as he looked up at the ceiling, blood dripping from his nose as a bruise had begun to form, "Face My Fears. That's uh …that's a Kingdom Hearts song."

Nightmare tilted his head to the side, "…What?"

"Aw …you guys don't have that? Or maybe you're just uncultured," He lifted his head, "You uncultured swine!"

Pointed his wrist up, he fired off a trip mine device from his web shooters that stuck to the ceiling. It shot off a blue light that stopped when it reached Nightmares back. The device then fired off a web and stuck it to him, retracting and dragging him upwards. When he collided with the device, it exploded and covered him in webbing that stuck him to the ceiling.

"That little doo-hickey is one of many web gadgets I've been developing on the side for the last few weeks," He gets to his feet, pulling the dagger out of his leg and webbing up the wound, "You're fast, but I'm smart. And …please don't follow that up with 'You're not smart enough.' I hate that line."

Peter wiped his nose, a decent amount of blood falling from his face. Having been struck in the head three times, he was feeling rather dizzy, even struggling to walk forward and having to use the wall as support. He blinked a few times, but his vision barely got better. The pain was forcing his eyes to eject tears, which only collided and mixed with the blood on his face.

"You're good, kid, just as good as he said," Nightmare admitted, "Which means you should know when a fight isn't over."

Stretching the webbing around his arms, he reached for a kunai on his belt and slicing at the webs. Hearing them snap and break, Peter groaned and turned around, lifting his fists up, "Alrighty …put 'em up then," he said as Nightmare freed himself and landed on one knee.

"You can't win this," he said, "You're dazed and weak. My speed is back and I have a knife in my hand. One dash is all I need to slice your throat."

"True …I'll give you that," Peter admitted, "Doesn't mean I'm gonna back down."

"I was gonna kill you either way."

"…Dammit."

Nightmare gripped his Kunai and dashed forward. Instead of slicing Peter's neck, however, the blade cut across a large piece of flesh that had suddenly grown and expanded in front of him. It was a massive hand that flinched from the pain, but still formed a fist and struck the villain back. Standing between them now was Itsuka Kendo, both hands grown to a massive size, and clenched with great strength. Her expression was one of determination, worry, and anger. She was breathing heavily, likely because she had to sprint just to make it in time.

"…Itsuka?" Peter questioned, "What're you doing?"

Itsuka turned to meet him eye to eye, a look of defeat in them, "The right thing, damn the rules to hell where they belong."

Peter was so shocked by her sudden appearance, that her words were enough to turn his tears from a defense from pain, to a response from her. That, or he may have a concussion.

"Another victim doesn't bother me," Said Nightmare, "You'll all be dead soon."

"Talk to me, Pete," She demanded, "Who're we dealing with?"

"He uh …" Peter needed a second to collect his thoughts, the weight in his voice showing how tired he was, "He can dash at incredible speeds but only for a second, then he needs at least 15 seconds to recharge. And yes …I counted."

"Let's not waste them."

Nightmare regained his speed and dashed forward again, only to find that he was unable to attack them as Kendo's hands acted as a shield. He only bounced right off her knuckles and stumbled back, managing to merely cut her skin and nothing further. When his speed ran out, she threw her fists forward one at a time and struck him, sending him against the wall where Peter then leaped over her and shot him with an impact web. It didn't hold him for long as he still had the Kunai in his hands, and cut through the web easily. His efforts though only led to Kendo striking him again with a left hook, and Peter coming in with a roundhouse.

The back and forth seemed to continue; Nightmare would charge in only to be stopped by Kendo, then for 15 seconds they wailed on him. Eventually he took the hint that the pattern needed to end. Using another burst of speed, he maneuvered around the two of them and made it to the other side of the hall, where Takeshi was still stuck to the ceiling. Peter quickly webbed his arms before they could grab any weapons, and tried to hold him in place. Kendo then came rushing in to attack, but Nightmare backflipped over her and pulled peter forward, making him crash into her as he landed behind them.

He threw a knife in Takeshi's direction, but Peter managed to leap upwards and catch it, sticking himself to the ceiling, "I think you'll find this is over."

Nightmare checked his belt and found he was out of knives and daggers. With 10 seconds left until his next burst, there wouldn't be enough time to grab another one from the ground and not risk getting knocked out by the girl with large hands. He just needed to bide his time for a few more seconds.

"Peter! Kendo!"

Mt. Lady rushed into the hall with Kamui trailing behind her, seeing the scene that was unfolding and immediately getting into an attack position. Nightmare looked between her and the kids, a look of worry on his helmet covered face. Two kids were one thing to handle, but two pro heroes were entirely different. He knew Mt. Lady wouldn't try and grow in such a small space, but small spaces worked to Kamui's advantage. One move and the entire hall would be covered in branches, making quick movements nearly impossible.

"Fine," Nightmare sighed, "I know when I'm beat. Guess I won't be getting paid after all. Just know this," five seconds left, "No one can escape their nightmares forever, not even the best of us."

Zero.

Nightmare dashed out of the room with a single burst, and was no where to be found. Finally, it was over.

Peter collapsed to the ground after the tension finally left his body, and Kendo immediately went to his side, letting her hands shrink back to normal. He was still conscious, but the blood loss was getting to him after going so long without treatment.

"Mt. Lady! Go get Recovery Girl! Please!" She begged.

"Are you sure you'll be ok?" She asked.

"Go! Now!"

She hadn't seen her quite like this before, but she nodded anyway and took off in the other direction. Kamui stayed behind and kept watch in the hall to ensure the villain didn't come back.

"…Kendo," Peter asked quietly, trying to hold his head up to stop the bleeding from his nose, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your class before you fight in the finals?"

She smiled warmly for him, caressing his hair gently, "I uh …I forfeited."

"You …what?" He asked with utter shock, though no strength to raise his voice, "Why would you do that? You trained so hard for this, and you …gave it up?"

"My team didn't do much during the second challenge, we didn't feel as though we deserved it. Besides …I couldn't keep doing the festival knowing you needed me. I couldn't just …leave it to the Pro's."

He chuckled, causing a headache, "You're starting to sound like me."

"That better be a good thing."

"That's up to perspective."

She laughed, but only slightly before she looked sad again. She took off her gym jacket and used it to try and stop the bleeding in his nose.

"So," Takeshi spoke up from the ceiling, "When will someone get me down?"

Kendo looked up, startled, "Crap, I didn't even notice you were there."

"It's ok …I'm used to that."

…

Recovery Girl pulled the covers over a now healed Peter Parker as he laid in an infirmary bed. Recovery Girls ability used up stamina from the subject in order to heal them, so Peter was rather tired after the ordeal. Once he was healed and cleaned up, he had fallen right to sleep with a faint snore. Recovery Girl patted him on the head as she used a wet cloth to clean up the last of the dry blood on his face. After drying it, she rinsed out the cloth in a sink and threw it into a bin labeled 'Dirty rags'. The entire time she worked, she hummed a tune to herself and tried to remain chipper, despite the three sources of worry in the room. The two Pro's and young student stood in the corner of the room and waited until they were given the ok. Kamui wasn't concerned in the same way that Kendo and Mt. Lady were, but he was still worried all the same.

Adjusting his pillow, Recovery Girl finally said "I'm all done. He'll be just fine."

With a sigh of relief and tension fading, Kendo was the first to approach the bed and check on him up close. His light snoring made her quietly chuckle, even smile a little.

"The poor child needs rest," Recovery Girl said, "He's been through so much these last several weeks. Fights a villain on his first day, then the attacks at the precinct and school. It doesn't seem to end for him, and I haven't the faintest idea how he deals with it."

"He's a magnet for trouble," Kendo answered, "When do you think he'll wake up."

"How should I know? Could be a few hours, could be a few minutes. It all depends on him, really. Now, I need to get my supplies ready. The second round of the fights are starting soon and I just know that Izuku boy is gonna end up in here one way or another."

Recovery Girl grabbed her cane and left the room. Now left with only the three of them, Kamui felt awkward being there. He didn't feel as though he knew the kid well enough that he deserved to watch over him.

"I'll go back to security," he said, "You coming. Mt. Lady?"

"I'll stay for a bit," She answered, "You go, I'll catch up later."

With a nod, he made for the door, but not without looking back at her once more time and wondering.

Now it was only the two of them. Kendo pulled up a chair and sat next to the unconscious young hero. She scooted up as close as she could, and started gently running her fingers through his hair. His consistent breathing pattern took her worries away. Finally, she could stop thinking someone was going to kill him today. It seems like he can't go one week without an assassination attempt on his life. Perhaps that's simply what a hero has to go through, something he would know better than her.

Mt. Lady moved closer as well, but found no seat she could sit on. Instead she leaned against the wall and watched how Kendo looked after him. It was sweet to see how much she seemed to care, enough to put herself in harms way for him. Being the flirt she was, she knew that kind of affection when she saw it, she knew when it was real.

"You two must be close," Mt. lady said.

"I mean …we're getting there," Kendo hadn't taken her eyes off Peter, "We've been through a lot together in such a short time. He's a good guy, if not unbelievably stubborn."

"The first thing he did when I met him was save the kids at U.A. All he ever seems to do is help people."

"It gets him into trouble, though. He doesn't understand the meaning of self-preservation and it really bugs me."

"I know. It's starting to bug me too …" Mt. Lady smiled, "I don't want anything to happen to him, the poor boy."

Mt. Lady didn't feel the same about Peter that she assumed Kendo did. The way she felt was rather different, more so a guardian than someone to love in that way. She would never admit it, not to the paparazzi, but she always wondered what it would be like to take care of someone. Someone like a child, so she could protect them and teach them right and wrong. Peter somehow shows her what it means to have a son, someone she can be proud of for their achievements, to see all their potential and wish only to help them reach it.

She would never admit it, but a small part of her wondered what it would be like to be a mother.

"You should go and cheer your friends on," Said Mt. Lady, "And I should get back to security. Peter will be ok without us for a while."

Kendo knew she was right, Peter needed time to rest on his own, "Ok."

The two heroines' left the room together, and Peter was finally able to sleep in peace, a sleep he so desperately needed.

…

Out in the activity stands of the sports festival, Nightmare was hidden away in a dark corner between stands, kneeling and hiding away from passing Pro Heroes. Thankfully for him, his dark armor made him harder to spot in the shadows. As impressive as he believes his quirk to be, even he couldn't take on all those Pro's at once. With every hero who works security now knowing about the assassination attempt, they would be on guard double-time, which meant any more attempts made on someone's life could easily result in being captured. He wasn't willing to take that chance with this, no matter how much he was getting paid.

Nightmare pulled out his ringing phone and reluctantly answered, seeing who the caller I.D was, "I know what you're gonna ask. No, he's still breathing."

"I thought you were supposed to be the best of the best. What happened?" Tombstone's voice rang with rage.

"Some new players I didn't predict. A red-head and two Pro heroes. They're on guard now, so even if I can get to the kid, they'd have me behind bars before I can do anything. I had to get out of there while I still could."

"I'm very disappointed in you, Nightmare. I expected more from someone of your skills," he sighed, "Fine. You'll just have to try again later, once he leaves the festival."

"If I can even get close to him, there's a good chance they'll get a protection squad together just in case I try and make a move. If you want this done, I need to be patient."

"Just finish it before the auction at the end of the week. I don't want him interfering."

"No problem," Said Nightmare, before hanging up the phone.