Chapter 3: Welcome to SADE
"ALRIGHT!" Layla jumped into the air, pleased with the current events. "He did it! Layla one, Takeru zero;" She said excitedly. "Now then… Everyone head to the nearest exit now! We'll handle this!"
The remaining civilians who remained heeded her advice and didn't hesitate to move as far away as possible.
Nick and the Ant Dreamon meanwhile dodged each other's attacks back and forth, but with Nick's enhanced speed, he was able to gain an upper hand on the Dreamon. He drew his Katana and began to slash the monster, before kicking it further out across the hallway.
"Nick, take a look at your Brace!" Layla called out to him.
As the Ant Dreamon recovered from the beating, Nick took a quick glance at the brace and noticed additional buttons.
"What is this? A move set?" He asked.
"In a way…" Layla admitted. "The CLAW System is powered by your subconscious. In other words, the more knowledge you have of the warrior class, the more you can exploit the system. There should be something about the Katana, right?"
Nick looked down and saw the icon. He tapped it and following it, three more icons appeared.
"Fire Art: Slash, Water Art: Slash, Lightning Art: Slash…?"
"Choose one of them and see what happens! I promise it'll be awesome!" Layla said with a smirk.
Nick looked at her unsure. But then he thought about it; after everything that's happened thus far, what could happen? He tapped the Fire key.
"FIRE ART: SET! SLASH ATTACK GO!"
Nick's Katana suddenly began to glow red and started to exert heat from it. He looked at the blade and back at the monster and charged him. As he swung the sword, flames leapt from the blade, pushing the Dreamon back with each strike.
"This… is impossible!" The Dreamon said angrily. "I will not fail Lord JACK!" The Ant roared and charged Nick.
"Layla, anymore tricks?!" He yelled as the Ant continued to charge.
"Use your Final Slash Attack to finish it off!" She replied.
In his distraction, Nick didn't see the Ant Dreamon appear in front of him. The Dreamon tackled him and sent him flying back and rolling back to Layla. She knelt down to make sure he was still breathing.
"A… Final what?"
"A Final Slash Attack!" she helped him up. "When you fight, the system builds up energy within itself to unleash one powerful attack that's enough to defeat one damaged Dreamon." She grabbed his arm and took a look at it. "It's this flashing blue gauge right here."
Nick looked at it as well and saw it flashing as well.
Layla then pressed the icon labeled "FSA", which prompted Nick to slide the CLAW onto it.
"Don't screw up." Layla patted him on the back. She hopped back to get back from the impending attack.
"So what do I do now?"
"Follow instructions! Slide the CLAW from your belt onto the Brace and follow it from there!"
Nick took the CLAW from his belt and did just so.
"CLAW SET: FINAL SLASH ATTACK!"
"I'll take over from here kid." Tigerton suddenly told Nick through his headset inside the helmet.
The Helmet's eyes and the Brace both started to flash green as two clones of the Ninja materialized next to Nick.
"Oyasumi Nasai!" The combination of their voices told the Dreamon.
The clone duo drew their blades and charged, quickly disappearing and reappearing as they slashed the monster in all directions. Nick then followed them, taking his Katana and finally impaling the monster, sand leaking from his wounds.
"Blade…" Nick and his clones jumped into the air, rejoining themselves as his right foot began to glow in a jade colored aura.
The Ant Dreamon couldn't do anything but look up in horror at his assailant.
"…Kick!" Nick finished as he flipped and sent a landing kick into the blade, pushing it and the Dreamon into the ground.
The Dreamon screamed in agony as it exploded in flames. Nick landed in front of the flames with the blade following. He grabbed it, swung it around and slid it cleanly into its sheath on its back.
Nick regained control of the suit of armor and turned back, seeing the lifeless body of a young man covered by the sand of the Dreamon. He felt his body go cold at the sight of him, slowly turning back to Layla."Is he...?"
"He's not. He's just unconscious." she said walking up to him. "By the time he's awake, he'll be in a hospital being checked out, probably not having any memories of what happened either." she reached over and pressed a button on his brace, the armor de-materializing off his person with Tigerton hopping onto the floor.
"Just what was that thing? What are Dreamon?" Nick asked immediately.
"To put it simply: Your worse fears come to life." Layla said easily. "Just like how Tigerton is your dream self, Dreamon are that as well; basically."
"So what, does that make me afraid of tigers?"
"No, that makes you afraid of being more open with people around you." It responded as it hopped onto Layla's shoulder.
"The Dreamon are monsters that are created from the fear in one's heart. The fear gets to the point of leaking over, and a Dreamon can take over, like a parasite.
"And you mentioned 'Dream Drivers?' what is that?"
"Ever watched Inception?"
Nick nodded.
"Sorta like that. If the Dreamon seems to be more of a threat than initially anticipated, like say for example, turn into a giant monster, 'Dream Drivers' are able to dive into the subconscious of the victim and cut the Dreamon from the roots. Maybe next time, we'll end up heading into the dream world to do one. That is…" she turned to Tigerton. "If a certain Tiger keeps his claws from potential Dreamon and actually gives us a chance to do something."
"I'm a ninja." Tigerton replied. "I'm quicker than you humans are."
Layla rolled her eyes and looked over, noticing the huge crowd of people coming from one of the exits of the terminal.
"Ferry's here, let's get a move on." Layla told the two of them.
"Nah, that's ok. I got all of my answers for one day." Nick told her, turning around.
"Where do you think you're going?" Tigerton stopped him.
"Home; I did what you wanted me to do and I got what I came for." He continued to walk.
Layla clenched her teeth and balled her fist up. She then reached over and pulled his shoulder, sending a right hook into his face, knocking him on the floor. She reached down and grabbed his shirt collar, the once arrogant teen actually scared once again.
"I have HAD IT!" She screamed at him. She was drawing attention to them, but she didn't care. "You have no idea what kind of mistake you're making by doing this; Why can't you get it through your ignorant skull that whether or not you like it you're stuck with me from here on?!"
Nick looked around, putting aside his stinging cheek to notice the people staring. "Uh Layla…?"
"Shut up!" She snapped again. "You are coming even if I have to drag you there understand!? So do me a favor and drop this stupid poser attitude of yours and let's go!"
"Layla…?" Tigerton spoke up.
"Because if you dip on me now, I swear I'll make the rest of your senior year and beyond a living hell for the rest of the term. "I lied about transferring from Stuyvesant High School, I was kicked out for Anger Management issues, so trust me when I say—"
"LAYLA!" Nick and Tigerton interrupted her.
Layla suddenly snapped out of her rant and looked at them both.
"The doors are closing we're about to miss the boat!" Nick pointed.
Layla looked over and saw the doors to the boat begin to slide shut. She quickly got up, pulling Nick to his feet and grabbing Tigerton in her other hand.
"Run for it!" She ordered them both as they flew towards the ferry…
They just barely made it, sliding through the doors and onto the boat safely, as it began to pull off…
Outside, a young boy bopped his heads to the beats coming from his black and red Skull Candy headphones as he watched the ferry boat pull off from the terminal. He wore a red shirt and a black hoodie, with black jeans and red sneakers. He adjusted his glasses and leaned his head back over the bench, his inverted vision taking in the upside-down view from behind.
"Well then; guess that's the last time I decide to use Ants to do a Spider's job." The boy sighed. "Dang these humans are getting more annoying…" he reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out a deck of black-backed cards. He closed his eyes and then began to shuffle them with his one hand.
Moments pass and he opened his eyes, something grabbing his attention. He looked over and saw two fairly attractive Japanese teenagers walk towards his direction towards the doorway inside the terminal. He sat up and jumped over the bench in front of them, not letting go the deck of cards.
"Why good afternoon ladies..." The boy smiled, bowing. "How are you today?"
The two girls looked at each other, confused as to what was happening.
The boy looked at them. "Don't speak English?"
One of the girls looked at him as her friend took a step back behind her.
"Sorry… um… how may we help… you?" she spoke slowly, trying to remember her English phrases.
"I am a street magician, is all, hanging around to entertain beautiful visitors such as you to my humble city of New York. How are you two doing by the way?"
The former girl nodded with a small smile.
"We are good." The spokesman of the duo told him.
"Excellent. As I said, I'm a magician, one who specifically specializes in Card Magic." He shuffled the cards around him effortlessly before revealing each of them to be a "Jack of Diamonds".
"Pick a card." He told them.
"They are all the same…" She told him.
The boy raised his eyebrow. "Are they?" he looked at them. "No… take a closer look." He turned the cards back to her and showed that they were all numbered from A-K, but with all of them being a Diamond card.
"Diamonds have the ability to reflect off of any surface, making things seem to look the same." He explained. "My card magic is more of an illusion than real magic. It plays with the mind. The cards are all Diamonds I assure you, that part is true."
She nodded and reached for a card.
"Ah-ah ah… Not you, your cute friend here." The boy stopped her.
"Oh! Sorry…" She apologized. She motioned for her friend to take one of the cards and she shyly reached for one.
"Excellent choice…" The Boy smiled. He shuffled the deck. "Alright, put it back into the deck."
She nodded and slid it into the middle of it.
He began to shuffle the deck more. "Tell me; are you afraid of bugs by any chance?"
The shy girl looked at him and nodded. "Kabuto Beetles…"
"Oh? Well now, that seems interesting." He nodded. He finally stopped shuffling. "Alright. Your card is on the bottom of this deck. Ready?"
The girls looked at each other and then back at him. They nodded.
The boy smiled. "Is this your card?"
He revealed the bottom of the deck, revealing a 'Jack of Diamonds'."
The girl shook her head.
"Sir, she did not choose this one…"
The boy smirked. "As I said I'm an illusionist. I manipulate the minds of people. I never asked you to pick a card. I was asking my cards to pick one of you. And my cards, chose you."
The Card began to glow with a red and black aura as it shot towards the girl, hitting her in the chest. She flew back, her friend frantically turning around almost instantly.
The girl screamed, feeling her body absorbing the card into her body. At the same time, the thoughts of Kabuto beetles continued to flood her mind, causing her screaming to amplify. After a few moments she stopped screaming and fell unconscious.
"Miyuki-chan! Daijobu?!" Her friend said frantically, trying to shake her awake.
The boy smirked and reached in his pocket. He pulled out a red pocket watch and opened it, revealing it to be set to 8:00.
"Sweet Dreams, beautiful. Your nightmare starts: Now…" he pushed the button on the top, the clock ticking backwards.
Miyuki's eyes sprung open, her eyes turning black and her once hazelnut irises now red. She shot to her feet and roared, a spiral of red and black sand enveloping around her. Once it broke, the once Japanese girl was replaced with a red and black Beetle-like Dreamon. She had ruby red armor covering her torso and bladed wrist guards. On her back she held a black bo staff that was attached to the back of the armor.
The other Japanese girl, horrified by her friend's sudden transformation, screamed and ran for help afterward. The Beetle Dreamon looked over her shoulder and laughed.
"Leave her be." The boy said. "I have a job for you."
The Beetle Dreamon bowed before him. "Yes Lord JACK."
"The Ninja of Dreams has crossed over from the Dream World and has joined forces with the Dream Drivers." JACK explained. "ACE wants him dead and has me doing all the hard work. Lazy nerd… Anyway, they're heading to Manhattan. You know the drill: Kill, destroy, and build the fear in the humans. More fear, means more of our Dreamon brethren breaking through from the Nightmare realm; and more of our brethren here on Earth in this dimension…
"Means that we will take the Earth for ourselves…" The Beetle Dreamon finished.
"Atta girl." JACK said patting her shoulders. "Now then, off you go."
The Beetle nodded and extended her wings, flying off towards the city on the other side of the water.
JACK hopped back on the bench and watched her fly off. "Thousands of years dealing with these humans and barely anything to show for it..." He scoffed. "Unbelievable…" he blinked, his eyes turning black and red as well. "Guess it means that we should start taking this seriously now…"
Nick, Layla and Tigerton stopped in front of the familiar tall building in the heart of Manhattan.
"This is…"
"The building from your dream, isn't it?"
Nick nodded without hesitation.
"This is SADE HQ: The Secret Association of Dreamon Extermination."
"Wait, if it's secret, then why is it so blatantly exposed like this?"
"SADE is a subgroup of the FBI in NYC, which specializes in counter terrorist operations involving dream-related cases, most of the time, Dreamon Extermination. Tigerton is Mark IV of SADE's 'Cybernetic Lethal Animatronic Warrior' System, also known as: CLAW."
The trio walk inside and Nick quickly takes in his surroundings, the crowed building filled with agents and civilians going back and forth in different directions taking care of whatever business they might be involved in.
"Come on." Layla grabbed his arm. "We're going to see Takeru."
"Whoa wait a second!"
"Nope, not happening." She replied, continuing to drag him. "Came too far for this..."
"Not for nothing kid, but I think to save you from getting a second earful from her, you should just go along with it…"
Nick sighed and nodded. "Fine… Hey wait a sec, did you say that Tigerton?"
Tigerton turned around and shook his head.
"I said that…"
The trio turned to their right and saw Takeru standing before them with Kyuge on his shoulder.
"Good afternoon, Nicholas." Takeru said. "Welcome to SADE…"