Clash of the Elements Part 7: Trails of Fire

by mewmaster93

Peace has been kind to our heroes, and now the story picks up twenty years later, with their kids about to experience a drastic shift in their lives. From coming of age stories, to tales of heroism, to the struggles of adulthood, this part shall prepare the next generation for the turmoil to come.

67. Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Nightmare Frontier

Alone, in the dead cold of night, S.A.N.C.T.U.M. stands atop a familiar rooftop, surveying the city around him.

Lunalei was taking deep, patient breaths, as her creation inquired, "Do you think he will come, Master?"

"Don't know. I'm giving him five more minutes, and then we're heading out."

It was hard to imagine a robot getting shivers, but that was the vibe S.A.N.C.T.U.M. was projecting after that remark.

"I worry about what you two will say to each other…Promise me you won't escalate the argument, if it boils down to that."

"I'll try not to. No promises though," Lunalei pondered the situation a little bit and then remarked, "Tonight's an important night, S.A.N.C.T.U.M….After all the reading up I've done on lucid dreaming, on top of the modifications to your frame, I think we'll finally put the kibosh on Dregs operations."

"That would be wonderful, master."

He then turned, standing on edge at the stairs. But it just turned out to be Mark, cautiously approaching with his hands in his coat.

He cut through with his gaze and then dragged his feet forward, stopping midway to remark, "Hey."

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. greeted him politely, "Glad to see you well, Mark."

Lunalei's greeting was more blunt in her professionalism, "I'm still surprised you're alive after that last encounter."

"Tsk…!" Mark scoffed, tensions igniting off of that.

But after a few moments to settle down he rubbed the back of his head and sighed, "Look, I just came here to finish this case. That's it."

"...Fair enough." Lunalei replied dryly.

"Master…" S.A.N.C.T.U.M. said in a stern and worried tone.

"..." Lunalei grumbled a bit, "Mark…"

Once the officer perked up she prolonged telling him, "...Thank you for helping out S.A.N.C.T.U.M. back then. You saved my life."

Mark curled his lip, clearly in shock, "I-It's an officer's duty to help civilians. Even you."

"..." Lunalei had S.A.N.C.T.U.M. cross his arms as she then remarked, "With that out of the way, let's review our information."

The two exchanged how they came across the supply crate, surprised that their methods roughly equalled out.

But there was one thing Mark had that the two of them lacked, "Oh. I wanted to mention this the last time you called but…That monster said he'll be waiting for your return down in the parking lot."

"Really?" Lunalei was taken aback, but after thinking about it for a little while found this news beneficial more than anything.

"...Then this has to mean that they've run out of places to hide the supply crate in town."

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. had his own theory, "Or alternatively, we've become enough of a thorn in their side that they want to stop playing cat and mouse and finish us off."

Lunalei remarked, "That would explain why they've brought in two superpowered individuals this time."

Mark chimed in, "Oh yeah, are you going to explain what happened that night?"

"...Might as well," Lunalei hesitated, "The zombie-like soldiers guarding the supply crate seem to be housing an entity that can be transmitted to other people via ocular contact. Even S.A.N.C.T.U.M. visor couldn't stop it."

"The entity seems to be able to force its target into a nightmare. And it's almost like its presence puts any normal safeguards on ice."

Mark brought up, "...That would explain why those soldiers seemed like they were sleepwalking. So if S.A.N.C.T.U.M. hadn't force you awake."

"I would've ended up like them." Lunalei faced the cold hard truth with as much courage as she could muster.

Mark was worried, "Those soldiers are going to be there again. Do you have any plan to counter the nightmare?"

"I've been practicing lucid dreaming for a while now. Do you know anything about it?"

Mark rubbed the back of his head as he leaned away, "K-Kind of…?"

"Hrrmmm…" She made S.A.N.C.T.U.M. gesture at him like she does to her students when making a point, "Then try and avoid eye contact."

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. awkwardly cut into the conversation, "I-I'm sorry master, but correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be wiser for Mark…NOT to come with us?"

"He already gets it, S.A.N.C.T.U.M." She said bluntly, before forcing him to look at Mark currently in the middle of being contemplative.

"The monster didn't kill him. Ergo, keeping him around will cause them to hesitate."

"I want to go into this fight with the hope that we'll finally put an end to Dregs' operations in town, but…given I spent all this time trying to think of a way around the nightmare, not the monster, I'm only…60% positive we'll succeed."

Mark raised his head with a hint of bitterness and a click of his tongue, "S-So once again you're just using me…"

Lunalei had S.A.N.C.T.U.M. shake his head, "No. Not this time. I'm…trusting you to have our backs."

Mark's pupils shrank, "R-Really…?"

Lunalei then firmly stated their mission plan, "Tonight, we're going to go in and confront the devil, try to piece together more information about them, and hopefully figure out a weakness. If we get lucky, we'll win the fight and finally secure the supply crate."

Mark then asked, "What about the nightmare entity?"

"...Judging from how it operates, I don't think the person who created it needs to be nearby. But maybe we could connect the entity to its owner through their neural waves. I'm not sure. The monster is our priority right now."

"Ok," Mark solemnly nodded, then hung his head, "Hrrmmm…"

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. inquired, "What appears to be the matter?"

"R-Remember what you suggested, about Dregs having stuck their roots in my station? I-I think…the Devil might be one of them."

"..." Lunalei nodded, "I had considered that possibility. Do you have any primary suspects?"

"N-No. I've been trying to keep a low profile at work."

"Fair enough. I'll keep that in mind. For now, let's just focus on getting to the parking lot. Our enemy awaits us."

As S.A.N.C.T.U.M. turned around to make final preparations to depart, Mark commented, "...This doesn't change anything."

"You still murdered those people."

"..." Lunalei had her creation face him where she said bluntly, "You can take me to task for that after this is over if you want. But you'd have to figure out who I am first."

"So you don't intend to take responsibility for your actions?" Mark murmured.

"...I'm going to make sure I never have to resort to those methods ever again."

"Alright. I'll accept that for now." After which, Mark walked up to S.A.N.C.T.U.M. so he could carry him along to the abandoned parking lot.

Upon their arrival, S.A.N.C.T.U.M. took the lead to scan the surroundings. To his surprise, all the damage had been reconstructed, save for the hole he made to enter the lower floors.

Him and Mark stood over the edge and carefully looked down, freezing on the sight of the White Devil hunched over and prowling the area patiently.

He sharply turned his head up and remarked in a deep, gravelly tone, "So, you've finally returned."

"Tsk…!" Lunalei clicked her tongue and then had S.A.N.C.T.U.M. carry Mark down to the bottom floor.

The devil then stood slightly upright and tapped the side of his face, "You thought you could get the drop on me? My ear bones are amplified to focus on sounds from long distances."

Lunalei commented, "So that's how you knew to kill Hamazaki when he started saying too much."

The Devil turned to Mark and then appeared as though it was glaring at S.A.N.C.T.U.M, "I see what you're trying to do. How despicable."

Lunalei remarked back, "Really. You want to use that language?"

"By all means…" The Devil waved its arms out, "Judge me. But all my actions have been carefully thought out in the service of justice."

Mark's glare could be felt on the Devil's skin, but instead of speaking up in defiance he seemed…pensive, "Except for…"

Lunalei broke through by declaring, "As far as you've shown us, you're a terrorist. If you want to disprove me, then by all means, speak up."

The Devil pointed at her creations face and laughed, "I am not in the business of revealing information about myself, la fille."

"...!" Lunalei felt a chill in his mind.

"Oh, did your machine not tell you that he slipped and said your gender?"

"S.A.N.C.T.U.M…!" She hissed to him alone.

"I-I…."

The Devil murmured, "Of course…that just narrows it down to…half the human population."

"But…! You have also proven yourself to carry immature views of justice, are proficient at machinery, and carry a cowardly air around you."

Lunalei shouted, "Me? A coward?! That's rich when you've been hiding from us until you had no choice!"

The Devil patted his chest and hunched forward, "I am not scared of you."

And the certainty that comment radiated was enough to create fear.

"Now…Claire. She didn't die because she was a threat. She knew something."

He then turned and gestured out, "Mark."

"H-Huh?" He uttered in surprise.

"Tell the class where she was before her death."

Lunalei shook, and told S.A.N.C.T.U.M in private, "Shit…! He's dumping all this information on Mark to get him to deduce our identity."

And because he still holds her accountable for the death of the Valkyries…

"I'm not doing your dirty work for you," Mark spoke up defiantly, "You've been running from the murder of my wife for years! So quit hiding, and face justice!"

The Devil sighed profusely, "But I'm not hiding, Mark."

"I. Am. Here," The Devil pointed at S.A.N.C.T.U.M, "Unlike that immature 'hero'."

Lunalei countered, "How many people have you killed to get to this point?"

And the Devil did not hesitate to assert, "The only thing you'll find in my wake are rivers of FILTH spilled from the worst humanity refuses to judge."

"Drug dealers, pedophiles, the rich and elite. People who serve no purpose but to fill their own pockets."

"Meanwhile, here YOU ARE…ready to jump at the first person who has a gun in their hand."

"..." Lunalei went silent.

"You've got nothing to say back. Because there is no argument," The Devil hunched over and began sharpening its claws on the ground, "Dregs exists to make the world a better place from the shadows we were abandoned to. And I'll take any action to keep it that way."

S.A.N.C.T.U.M murmured, "I don't understand…"

The Devil replied, "Of course not. You were built off a flawed ideal."

"No. Not that…" S.A.N.C.T.U.M whispered in confusion, "Your tone, the way you carry yourself…it echoes my master's will."

Lunalei and the Devil paused in surprise.

"Ergo, I'm inclined to believe you stand for justice. Yet…" The machine gestured to Mark, "Why, pray tell, do you not answer his cry for it?"

"...I wish I had a good answer, machine. But this is one light I cannot face. Now…we know why we're here."

The zombie-like soldiers gathered around the three of them but didn't do anything but stare at them.

Mark went behind S.A.N.C.T.U.M and drew out his gun, carefully looking at the soldiers without making eye contact.

"W-Wait…some of these soldiers are…people I've already arrested?!"

The Devil protruded blades from the back of its wrists and blitzed S.A.N.C.T.U.M headon before he could draw his.

After a few slashes, Mark was forced to get out from cover so the machine could pull away.

Once he drew his swords he clashed with the Devil a few times only to find himself overpowered.

He locked into the ground and threw all his weight into his sword swings to repel the beast, who mirrored his actions by latching down his feet with solid bone.

He then sent a flurry of bone spikes through the ground to force S.A.N.C.T.U.M into the air.

The machine fired its boosters and rammed the Devil, but not a crack came from his braces.

"This can't be…!" Lunalei said with some frustration as her creation bounced back and stood up for the Devils next attack.

"These are just bones! You've broken harder material than this!"

"Careful now…" The Devil taunted, gesturing at Mark, "You wouldn't want to bring this place down."

Lunalei had S.A.N.C.T.U.M. hold back for a moment as she commented, "He's right…! Damn it!"

With the precision that the Devil could utilize his bones, tight environments weren't an issue for him.

But if they tried to drag him out of the parking lot, then he would no longer be holding back due to Mark's presence.

"He's smart…guess he'd have to be to keep his identity hidden for so long." Lunalei murmured to herself.

"W-What should we do, master?"

Lunalei focused on the Devil but was considering their surroundings, the zombie-like soldiers in particular, "...I may have an idea."

"The lack of confidence is worrying."

"Don't worry about it. Shift to Boost Mode, and follow my lead."

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. changed modes and the Devil finished sharpening the blades on its wrists.

Lunalei proclaimed, "Boosters set to maximum output! Target locked in our sights!"

The gravity boosters compressed down to full power and then exploded, hurtling the machine's entire body towards the Devil.

At the very last second though, Lunalei commanded the boosters to fire them downward and dodge out of the way of the Devil's slice, and immediately rocketed them back up to punch their foe in the jaw.

A thunderous crack came from the beast's braces, and Lunalei grunted through his resistance, "One…MORE!"

She focused the boosters into the other fist and slammed the jaw in the same spot, shattering the braces and knocking the monster through the air.

He landed on his feet after a few flips and remained hunched on all fours.

"...!" Lunalei's heart rate quickened, causing a brief moment of panic in her creation.

"Is everything alright?"

"Did you see that, S.A.N.C.T.U.M.? The exact moment our first punch connected, it was like his bones got denser."

"He can only focus a higher density on small parts of his body at a time!"

"Bingo." Now she felt like they could raise their odds of success by 10%.

Until the Devil started chuckling, "I know that pause. You think you've figured something out."

The beast retracted his blades and then extended his claws, as his entire body turned pure white save for the eye sockets, filling in every last tiny divot in his structure, "Sorry to disappoint, but I just didn't think I needed to use my full density against you."

"Y-You've gotta be kidding me!" Lunalei blurted out loud.

The Devil stood upright and in just a few, ground-cracking steps, he towered over S.A.N.C.T.U.M., scraping his spine quills against the roof, "I've had years to perfect this power gifted to me, while you're still struggling to work out the fine tunings of the masterclass machine you've created."

The Devil extended his hand in just a way that his center claw hooked the underside of S.A.N.C.T.U.M. 's head while simultaneously presenting a deal, "You stand no chance. Surrender to true justice, and I won't shatter the product of your hard work."

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. trembled, and Lunalei was forced to re-analyze the situation.

"It took S.A.N.C.T.U.M. 's full boosted punches to crack the bones when they were weaker! No…there has to be some weakness to them!"

She stared the Devil in the eyes and smirked, "Of course…!"

Lunalei then forcibly activated her creation's boosters to send him back, causing the Devil to remark, "Still going to fight…?"

Lunalei declared, "No! We're going to win!"

The Devil sighed in disappointment, "Do you not get how many lives you're endangering with your recklessness?"

"You sure can talk, but you don't know me!" Lunalei then focused on her creation, "S.A.N.C.T.U.M., I'm going to fire off a precise series of boosts to get you over to those weapon crates. There, you should find a gre-"

The Devil snapped his bone claws and in the next moment, a cage of bone surrounded the weapons crates and compressed them and the ensuing massive explosion.

"I-I…" Lunalei was left with an elevated heart rate and a sense of dread in the pit of her gut.

A series of bones then thrust out diagonally from the ground, threatening to skewer S.A.N.C.T.U.M. through every limb.

He had to use his speed to escape backwards, but then switch to use swords before his lower defenses became an issue.

After cutting down a couple of the bones, he was tackled by the Devil and thrown through the concrete wall.

"I don't know how many times I have to illustrate this point before you give up…" The Devil muttered from the hole, before raising one claw to extend and puncture S.A.N.C.T.U.M.'s chest, "Every move you make. Every plan you conceive…I know it."

"The only thing I have yet to narrow down is your identity, but I'm just a few steps away…" The Devil lifted the machine up like he was a stick and then slammed him into the nearby support pillar.

"You can escape. Come back with more upgrades. But the clock's ticking down. Before Dregs' executes its final plan to save the world, I WILL find you, and bring you to justice."

"Did I mess up…?" Lunalei thought to herself, "Am I in the nightmare already?"

No. This wasn't it. This monster was simply beating her into being that scared. So thus, she retaliated while cooking up an idea.

"Y-You really think…I-I'll surrender?! You're insane!" Lunalei declared.

"But master…What CAN we do?" S.A.N.C.T.U.M. uttered with worry.

"...He wants fear. We'll give him some."

Before the Devil could even get a nanosecond to think about what she was planning, she made a snap judgment call to have S.A.N.C.T.U.M. fire his boosters into the support pillar to shatter it.

He then slipped out from the right before the Devil could further extend his claw. He flew at the monster and slashed apart the ground to trip him up temporarily, and then dove back through the hole straight towards the soldiers.

"M-Master you can't be serious…!"

"TRUST ME!" She cried, desperation slipping out.

The very moment her creation grabbed a soldier, the Devil hooked them around the waist with a crab-like claw and dragged them back, smashing them over the head with a bone hammer.

Though S.A.N.C.T.U.M. now laid on the ground, he was functional enough to turn around and follow through with his master's orders to force the Devil to stare into the eyes of one of the soldiers.

The Devil froze and started trembling, "Y-You…!"

Lunalei declared, "Take that! Enjoy being trapped, you asshole!"

The Devil laid his claws over his face and grumbled. Then slowly, he withdrew his hand and shook his head, "Really are a fool…"

Lunalei's mental state became paralyzed and her heart rate rapidly got louder, "But how…?"

The Devil plucked the soldier from their possession and uttered, "These eyes…have drank from the pool of nightmares through plentiful goblets."

He then pointed the soldier's gaze at S.A.N.C.T.U.M.'s visor, "Now it's your turn to drink again, 'hero'."

The tangled wraith of black thorns distorted into Lunalei's view, as she felt her consciousness slip away into the land of dreams.

"Master…!"

"S-S.A.N.C.T.U.M. I-I'm sorry…!" She cried out bitterly, "We've bitten off more than we can chew! Prioritize getting Mark out of here ASAP!"

"But what about you…?!" His voice began to disappear into the ether.

"...I-I'll…I'll be fine." She forced herself to focus on what she learned about lucid dreaming, "I prepared for this…"

The tangled wraith creeped in closer, surrounding the black void with visions of blood on fire and hateful speech demeaning her very existence rising up out of the goop…

But her mental form took a calm breath and focused on positive vibes only.

And when she opened her eyes, she was sitting at a workbench in her overalls and dirty white shirt, right across from her senpai, the two of them working on modifying a new machine.

"Hey sleepyhead! You ready to get back to work?" She declared in her rowdy but comfortable tone of voice.

Lunalei breathed in relief and nodded, "Yeah!"

The two got to work, as the whispers of the tangled wraith tried to penetrate this pristine sanctuary…

While in reality, S.A.N.C.T.U.M. was once more left with a crippling sensation of loneliness, trapped against a foe he had 100% confidence he could not survive against.

"And now it's just us…" The Devil put the zombified soldier onto his feet and then lifted S.A.N.C.T.U.M. up with ease, "What will it be? Fight? Or flight?"

His voice deepened, "You can't save her from herself…"

"S.A.N.C.T.U.M.! CATCH!" Mark's voice shouted out, and following his internal instincts the robot swung his arm out and caught a grenade being thrown at him.

The Devil was stunned long enough for S.A.N.C.T.U.M. to shove the grenade into his eye socket and fire his boosters to break free.

The Devil lurched forward to try and grab him but the grenade exploded and made him slide back a few inches.

He hunched over, his face now cracked, but hardly showing confusion in his voice, "Mark…what a surprise. I didn't even hear you."

"However…" He stood up and the cracks in his face stitched back together, "You gambled it all away on a failed roll."

Mark grit his teeth and stood between the Devil and S.A.N.C.T.U.M., declaring to the machine, "Go on and get out of here!"

The Devil stood up and sounded bitter, "Stop it. Stop defending this…tool of reckless design."

Mark exclaimed, "Give me one good reason why I should!"

"...Because you're innocent. No one else in Dregs would see it that way. I am the only one who can protect you, don't you get it?!" There was frustration coming from his voice that S.A.N.C.T.U.M. interpreted came from a personal level.

The Devil swung its claw out and was a mere centimeter from cutting Mark across the neck, and while he had him paralyzed with fear he declared, "Did you EVER stop and wonder how you've been able to sleep quietly at night?! How the forces of Dregs never ambushed you on the road, or shot you in the middle of the office without being seen?!"

"It was all ME. I've been the Devil at your back keeping the darkness at bay so you can enjoy the sunsets that I never can!"

Mark's pupils shrank. He thought only of those fires that consumed his partner as this beast pleaded emotionally to him.

"Y-You…killed my wife…" Those words, a mere whisper, shook him to the core.

And from a whisper a roar grew, "WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER FOR THAT?!"

The Devil shook, and then hunched back at the ground, slow and painfully remarking, "The longer you remain here…the more it keeps him from his master."

"Khh…!" Mark grit his teeth.

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. spoke in a shooken voice, "H-He's right. My priority…is to ensure your safety first."

"...Ghhh!" Mark despised that he was this anchor around the robot's legs, "Then let's move!"

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. started to run for the ramp out while the soldiers flung their bodies at him to weigh him down.

Mark stuck to his back, focusing squarely on the Devil's eyes.

"You're not fleeing…!" The Devil extended all its claws and barreled through the air over both their heads, "I will tear this tool of reckless design down to its bare bolts before the night is through!"

He dove for the legs upon landing and slashed.

"JUMP!" Mark declared, and S.A.N.C.T.U.M. followed through, slamming down on the Devil's blades.

"I may not be your master, but I'll try and guide us out! We just have to get up two floors!"

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. shook the soldiers off and quickly took the lead over Mark, cutting their way up to the next floor.

"Ghhh…! MARK!" The Devil screamed in annoyance.

"Holdfast, master…I'll rescue you soon enough…!"

As they fought their battle to survive, Lunalei was living through a comfortable dream.

She and her senpai had just finished assembling a new device, which would be capable of generating oil without causing harm to the environment.

"You really came in clutch with that sprocket! Wouldn't want to delay this project another day when Mr. President's banking on it for his next meeting!" Her senpai reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

"D-Do you think he'll be happy with it?" Lunalei said, wiping the oil smear off her cheek.

"Sure!" Her senpai continued to pat her on the shoulder, "Yep yep!"

Lunalei enjoyed the comfort of her touch. It just kept going, and going, and going…

"Uhhh, senpai?" Lunalei felt a chill on the back of her neck and tugged on her collar, "I-I appreciate the gesture, but shouldn't we move on to the next project?"

"Oh yeah, sure!" Her senpai withdrew with what felt like a plastered smile and reached down to pull out a massive crate from under the table and slam it on top.

Lunalei shook, and upon looking at her senpai for answers she saw her smile starting to slide off like a piece of paper.

"Senpai, your smile is…" She tried to process this fact with the utmost seriousness but then shook her head, took a deep breath, and when she opened her eyes the smile was properly aligned.

"This one's going to be a doozy!" Her senpai popped off about six locks and then the box unfurled on its own.

And inside was…Hamazaki's corpse, the skin dried and pasty, the hole still through his chest.

Remember him?

"S-Senpai what…." When she looked, her senpai had already pulled out a small energy chainsaw and nudged her glasses up.

"We need to open him up and find out what was wrong with him, yeah? Then we'll fix him right up!"

The chainsaw went straight for the head, and Lunalei dove at her senpai and shoved her out of the way, "Stop it! That's not what you do!"

Her senpai stared blankly at her with black ooze bleeding from her eyes, all while maintaining her peppy attitude, "Oh you're right! We gotta be more careful, or he could end up like her!"

She gestured at the Valkyrie's split open corpse lying on the ground behind her.

Lunalei's shivering worsened, but she took a deep breath and concentrated on the positive emotions she was having in this dream.

But when she looked up her senpai was grabbing her by both arms and shrieking like a witch, "Stop running away you FUCKING coward…! Maybe something is wrong with you! Yep yep!"

She threw her hundreds of feet through the air and Lunalei lost her hold on the dream, shattering through an invisible wall and plunging into everlasting darkness.

The tangled wraith followed her down, surrounding the abyss with its infinite limbs, making only its eyes visible.

Lunalei woke up and found her arms and legs in pain, clasped by steel holds. A cold pen was run over her head by her senpai, with her holding a laser scalpel in the other hand.

"Let's take a peek inside, and see what twisted thoughts make a VILLAIN think they're the hero!"

Lunalei closed her eyes and let out a cold, blood curdling scream, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD! THIS IS MY DREAM!"

"You deseRVe nothing but unending MISery…"

The wraith rested right in her, unmoving, but in that way it was more frightening than had it tangled her up.

"You want to fix the world but do so thinking that nothing is wrong with YOU YOU YOU…"

"You are the worst kind of hypocrite…An all-knowing wretch who uses and discards without a care…!"

The scalpel grazed the top of her head and her senpai excitedly licked her lips, mixing her voice in with the nightmare's, "You're never going to TRY and get better. You'll just pretend you are, and then go on to make the same mistakes over and over and over and over and over-"

The repetitious noise put Lunalei into a frightened frenzy, "STOP IT! How dare you use her voice like this…?!"

"Blame me. Blame her. Blame anyone but YOURSELF. You want to be the hero of this story. But a hero inspires. They overcome."

"But you have been overcome with pride…"

"WHO have you inspired?"

The scalpel punctured just a bit of her skin and she felt like she was dying hundreds of times, making her cry out and beg, "P-Please…don't do this to me…! I'm innocent…! P-PLEASE!"

The nightmare came closer, wrapping it's tendrils around her body and suffocating her mouth, "Welcome your final slumber…"

In her final moments of being awake, she whimpered out, "Someone…help…me…"

And watched as her eyes were forced shut. Her final sight being that of the darkness being washed over by…

A bountiful, whimsical garden of flowers, trees, and bright white clouds…?

The darkness stopped overtaking her, and the nightmare flipped around as a bastion of light descended from up high.

A sleeping child slowly descended to the ground, carried by the light.

Upon landing, he stood and stretched his arms.

The sheer wave of positivity coming from his yawn melted down the abhorrent binds holding Lunalei down.

And when the boy turned, the twisted wraith began to spasm.

The boy flinched and then raised both his hands, summoning a giant toy hammer and proclaiming with sheer heroic vigor, "Hey! Get away from my big sister!"

"YoU do NOT beLONG HERE!" The moment the wraith shrieked, the boy leaped great distances and pounded it in the eye.

The wraith unraveled into a flat layer of tendrils, burning with white and golden flames.

Going deadly silent, the wraith twisted itself back together and dove at the boy, who stood his ground next to his unconscious sister and jumped only the wraith was close.

He then repeatedly whacked the wraith in the head until it was bent up like an accordion, shrieking in confusion.

"Hurts…HURTS…!"

It unbounded itself and infinite tendrils spread across infinite space, tearing through the pleasant dreams like paper, "HUUUUUUUURTSSSS!"

The boy held his hammer above his head and it began to shine as brightly as his smile, "Lesson one about fighting a hero! You NEVER MESS WITH HIS FAMILY!"

The hammer turned into a thousand foot tall sword whose mere summoning cleaved straight through the infinite darkness and forced the hopeful garden back into reality.

"GOLDEN…" The boy flashed with waves of golden energy, "REMCALIBUR!"

The wraith's pupil dilated as it was cut through, letting out a fading scream as it fizzled away into nothingness.

The energy from the slash traveled along and continued to fill the void with colorful scenery. And the boy, happy with himself, clapped his hands and then turned around to Lunalei, who had fallen unconscious.

He walked over, patted her on the head, and told her, "Sweet dreams, big sis!"

He then immediately plopped down onto his back and fell asleep, a pillar of light carrying him towards the sky.

While she was left to dream, S.A.N.C.T.U.M. and Mark continued to flee from their foe, who resorted to precise protrusions of spikes from the walls, floor and ceiling to try and tear the machine down.

Barely managing to weave their way through the attacks, S.A.N.C.T.U.M. cut their way through to ground level and declared with anticipation and elation, "A-Almost…there!"

Mark continued to hold the line behind him, staring down the beast making one last mad dash to take them down.

"STOP!" He roared.

Mark reached into his pockets and pulled out another grenade, "Saved the best for last, asshole…!"

He plucked the pin and threw it right at the monster's face, with the proceeding explosion stunning him long enough for S.A.N.C.T.U.M. to break through.

Mark then turned around and shouted, "GO!"

And S.A.N.C.T.U.M. took off to the sky at blistering speeds, while Mark remained to look at the Devil one last time.

The moonlight at his back, the Devil crawling back into the shadows…

The beast seemed pensive, and left this encounter on a final, bitter remark, "...Fine. Be warned…Next time we meet, I might have no choice but to hurt you."

The Devil's retreat caused Mark to clench his fists and feel a terrible ache in his chest, "...J-Just…who are you?"

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. made it to his master's location in record time and undid the safety lock on the pod, but upon seeing her face his reach was stalled by the fact that she was sleeping peacefully in her chair.

"...M-Master?" His soft spoken cry of relief was enough to get her to open her eyes and have her stretch and yawn.

"Oh thank you…!" S.A.N.C.T.U.M. then remarked.

Lunalei turned to her creation and wondered, "Y-You made it back?"

After a little stretch, Lunalei confirmed her health was fine and then wondered, "Did my plan actually work?"

While she was wiping her glasses off S.A.N.C.T.U.M. remarked, "Is something the matter?"

"Don't know. I can't remember much after I slipped into the dream. I…want to say lucid dreaming fended off the nightmare, but…" She scratched the back of her neck, "There's a bit of a chill in my spine still…"

She shook her head and faced her creation, "Forget about it. Did you record any other data from the Devil as you fled?"

"...Just this," S.A.N.C.T.U.M. waved his hand out, "He claimed to be Mark's guardian."

"W-What…?" Lunalei rubbed her chin and murmured to herself, "That…would fit in with our theory that he's someone in the police force."

"...I get the feeling that we haven't been asking Mark the right questions. However…" Lunalei squinted and after a short hum gestured out, "We need to face the Devil one more time."

S.A.N.C.T.U.M. wondered, "But…how can we defeat him?"

"I'll review your footage. Your visual receptors didn't seem to suffer too much damage this time. And even if we can't manage to defeat him directly…" Lunalei raised her finger to emphasize her point, "We'll flush his real identity out of hiding."

She then curled her finger in and smacked her lips, "...Though there's still the matter of finding out who is causing the nightmares."

S.A.N.C.T.U.M., "Yes…I do wonder…"

"What sort of person would be tormenting you so?"

"Doctor! Come quick!"

One of Riku's assistants guided him through the halls to Alice's patient room, "Her heart rate suddenly skyrocketed and doesn't appear to be stopping!"

Riku narrowed his eyes and entered the room alone, sealing the door behind him.

Alice laid in the bed, twitching uncontrollably with eyes wide and a permanent smile on her face.

"Alice!" He shouted in concern, quickly moving to her side and reaching out to stimulate her vagus nerves until her heart rate settled down to a more normal pace.

She then gasped for air, sounding so alive yet…scared.

"I-I saw it…" Her eyes began to cry, "Wonderland…"

Her body, weary from the strain her heart put on her, quickly slipped into a safe but well-earned rest, as she whispered, "It was so beautiful…"

Riku closed his eyes and found himself in a cold sweat as he muttered, "...I wish you would tell me what is happening to you."

"What secrets…you've been keeping…" He said, noticing her veins went from black to blue, like the color was wiggling out of her blood.

Next Time: The Voice of the Blind