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Ramsey sat at an intersection the low humming of his car’s engine and his furious tapping of the dash were drowned out amidst the honking of Motorists trying to feverishly speed away even as they remained locked in gridlock as numerous cars tried to get away. If Ramsey had listened to the news, the Metahuman Nightmare had begun making his move yet again and people were not willing to wait around to be viciously murdered. And it wasn’t until a Blur came speeding by through the air, most wouldn’t had seen it, and Ramsey himself barely caught a glimpse of it but he saw enough. “Icon” he muttered with bated breath. Ramsey hopped out of his car and picked it up carrying it like a boulder until he stashed it down an alley. “Whatever Icon’s up to it’s gonna be a whole lot better than hanging round here, besides I got a few tricks I wanna try out, maybe on Ol Blue Wonder or whatever he’s racing towards.”

Bounding after him over the cars packing the roads leading away from Nightmare’s latest attack Ramsey continued in the direction he had last seen Icon flying towards unsure how far he’d have to travel, thankfully he wasn’t far off from the action only four blocks away from the biggest fight he’ll see for some time as he slid through the street as Icon was floating intimidatingly, failing to come to a complete stop his right smashed into the side of a SUV but he remained largely unharmed.

Icon and Lyger both looked to Iron Knight and his passenger. Icon nodded in acknowledgement to his statement but wasted little time in going after Nightmare, while Lyger looked to end things with Bathory. The last time Lyger had met this woman, he had been hesitant to hit her, however, due to the new allegiances she has formed since their last meeting, that would no longer be an issue. 

The bloodthirsty young woman focused on the shattered remnants of her demonic metallic constructs, and as she did so, the shards began to levitate and take on the same demonic shapes as the previous constructs. However, before she could direct them at any targets, Lyger bounded toward her, landing a hard right hand across her jaw, knocking her to the ground. She hit the ground with a thud, and with her mental connection to the constructs broken, they fell harmlessly to the concrete.

“Stay down.” Lyger told her as he bound her hands with a set of cuffs, then set out to face off with the skeletal figure known as Cannibal King.

Dennis, feeling somewhat overwhelmed and underqualified for this fight with only limited training in his role as the next Aquilifer, decided to focus on keeping the crowd safe from the powerhouse fight that was beginning to break out.  Using the Golden Rod he scooped away bystanders with basic energy constructs and attempted to lend a hand with brief shields and blasts where he saw necessary.

This was tough enough for him.  It turns out superhuman fights happen extremely fast, and his reflexes still weren't fast enough that he could lend an efficient hand instinctively.

“Aquilifer?!  I thought you died?”  One of the people asked as Dennis, unaware that he was referring to his brother.  The Golden Rod had always had a way of protecting the identity of its wielder.

“I got better.”  Dennis mumbled back.

“What was that?”

“Don't worry about it.”  He said, as he dropped the citizen off behind cover and flew back into the fray.

He'd have to work on his banter.  Or at least speak up with it, apparently.  Nothing about this came easily to the younger Connolly. 

In the center of the square, the corpse-like being Nightmare stood among the carnage and watched as the arriving heroes confronted his minions. The demonic monstrosity felt a great sense of satisfaction in the destruction he and his compatriots had wrought upon the city. He also felt something that he hadn’t felt in generations as he watched the heroes descend upon his family.

Excitement.  

Suddenly, a blue and silver streak flashed in his periphery, and before he knew it, the familiar form of Lost Haven’s hero, Icon floated before him several feet off of the ground. The mere sight of the hero standing before you would be enough to cause many to give up their cause, if only temporarily. However, a toothy grin spread across his decaying face, as he saw a second chance to put an end to the hero. 

“I was wondering if I’d ever see you again.” Nightmare said with confidence. “Our last encounter did not end well for you.” 

In fact, the last time Icon had met Nightmare, he was overmatched in his weakened state. After having spent several days in a sensory deprivation chamber and having his powers sapped by the Valor Institute, Icon was in no condition to confront the demon in the first place. Nightmare had inflicted injuries on Icon that would take days to heal. However, try as he might, Nightmare was not able to break the hero, and that never set well with him.

[b] “That was then."[/b] Icon told him. [b] “I’d love to see you try that again."[/b] Icon said just before he rocketed toward the undead killer.

[color=c0c0c0]“I see that our battle plan is ‘attack’.  I can work with that.”[/color]  Chris said as both Icon and Lyger had immediately confronted Nightmare’s allies.  Since Lyger and Icon had picked out the Cannibal King and Nightmare as their targets, it looked like Soulfire was the only one remaining for Chris to target.  While Bathory was still alive and well, Chris thought that their newcomer could deal with her.

Once his armor’s targeting system had locked onto the fiery woman, Chris let fly a missile that rushed towards her direction.  Chris would normally not use quite that much lethal force against human criminals, but these guys were playing for keeps.  The kid gloves were definitely not an option here.  However, when the rocket zeroed in on her position, Soulfire just waved her hand and the flying projectile disintegrated in a burst of flames before it could hit its mark.

“That was cute.”  She taunted the Iron Knight, “Let me show you some real firepower.”

In seconds, Soulfire launched a wall of flames that darted towards him.  As it billowed in his direction, the flames expanded until it would have engulfed the armored hero entirely, if he, or rather his armor’s computer systems, had not activated his personal shielding.  However, even though it was protecting him at the moment, Chris did not know for how long it could resist Soulfire’s barrage of fire.  At that moment, Chris began to regret not letting the Aquilifer take Soulfire on.

Radiance didn’t know what she was doing. 

She had seen the massacre in Little Ulster on television and rushed out to do something. The fact was that she hadn’t yet recovered from the beating that she had taken during the fight with Dr. Diplodoc’s henchmen in West Virginia, and she shouldn’t be doing what she was about to do, but she couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. So she got into costume and headed out to stop Nightmare and his gang. It was an act that she thought would no doubt get her killed, but she just HAD to do something. Her ribs ached, her knee was swollen and her back felt like it was on fire, but she was determined to do what she could to stop the carnage once and for all. 

As she approached Central Avenue, she could see that other heroes had already beaten her to the scene of the slaughter. She could make out Icon, who was going toe to toe with a big rotting corpse, who she assumed was Nightmare himself. Lyger was taking on another of the nightmarish figures. There were two other people that she hadn’t seen before, and Iron Knight was doing battle with a woman who looked to have the upper hand on him. 

A lump formed in her throat as she watched the woman practically engulf Iron Knight in some sort of flame that she was manufacturing from her hands. She was out of her league and she knew it. During the conflict in West Virginia, she had been given the beating of her life, and this woman was clearly a step above anything that they had faced there.

[i]What am I doing here?[/i] She thought to herself. 

Then, as she made her final approach, all of her self doubt melted away, and she unleashed a chain of lightning unlike anything that she had ever managed before, and struck the woman square in the back, sending her tumbling to the ground. 

“Looks like you boys could use a hand.” Radiance said to Iron Knight, mustering all the confidence that she could manage.

[color=C0C0C0]“I totally had that under control.”[/color]  Chris said even though it was quite to the contrary of the actual situation, [color=C0C0C0]“Or at least eventually it would have been.”[/color]

Chris then planted the sole of his foot into the back of Soulfire.  He drew his sword, driving it into the ground just inches away from her face.

[color=C0C0C0]“I would stay down if I were you.[/color]

“Who to fight, who to fight.” Ramsey said as he finally walked into the fray right behind Radiance. “Lookin a little weak kneed there girly. But so many heavy hitters, and a scary looking dude with a ass for a face. I almost can’t decide If I should punch them or you all.” With a mischievous smile Ramsey tore out the nearest parking meter and hurled it like a javelin towards Nightmare. “I suppose I’ll focus on that big guy over there, out of everyone here, he looks the most fun to fight. I’ll leave fire gal to you Iron Princess.”

Ramsey said as his foot tore through the asphalt and he propelled himself towards the big nasty himself with the strength capable of knocking Icon to his ass landing a solid hit in the process. How much it affected Nightmare Ramsey did not know.

[color=C0C0C0]“How could this day get any worse?”[/color]

Nightmare was staggered from the mighty blow that the newcomer had landed, but it was due more to the surprise of the interloper than anything else. The macabre maniac soon steadied himself and looked to Icon, and then the interloper and a grin crossed his decaying face. 

“Isn’t that nice, fresh meat.” Nightmare taunted as Icon swung at his head with a wild roundhouse right. However, the punch did not connect. Nightmare’s form began to darken and take on a wispy, cloud-like form, which caused Icon’s fist to pass harmlessly through the villain’s head. No sooner had Icon’s blow missed its mark, did Nightmare return the favor, hitting Icon hard in the gut with a powerful kick that launched him into the side of a parked news van several dozen yards away. 

Nightmare turned to face Ramsey, and as he did so the shadowy killer’s body shifted and changed, and then what could only be described as a wall of shadow emerged from his arms, assaulting the intruder like a powerful torrent of blackness. At first Ramsey tried to resist, but fighting against the assault was much like fighting against raging floodwaters, and he too was soon overtaken by the darkness.

There was a crack as Ramsey sent a wave of electricity stored within his body radiating outward, every living being created electricity few had the proper ion channels to reverse the polarization and thus emit any substantial shock and while the thundering clap that shook windows gave Ramsey a moment of respite from the encroaching darkness it was not something he could keep up. “Whoa there.” He said as he took the second to jump back. “No getting intimate on the first date.” Shit guess a brute force assault ain’t effective against his type. 

Bathory watched from her spot on the pavement as Icon and newest interloper battled Nightmare, while the Iron Knight, the electromancer, yet another unknown interloper and the hated Lyger battled her brother and sister, Cannibal King and Soulfire. The heroes certainly appeared to have the upper hand. She seethed as she watched her family get beaten back by the heroes while she was unable to do anything to help them. 

Then there was a sudden realization, followed by a brief moment of amusement. 

When Lyger had subdued her, he had used metal handcuffs to bind her, and that could be used to her advantage. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate on her bindings which began to shift and move. Within moments, the binding pulled themselves apart, freeing her arms in the process. The cuffs then came back together and began to twist and mold themselves until they resembled smaller versions of the larger demonic constructs that had been destroyed earlier in the battle. She then got to her feet and directed the constructs toward Lyger and the others.

Dennis had gotten all of the visible people off the streets.  Unseen people in buildings and bigger vehicles might be possible, but would take too much time to safely check and evacuate.  He couldn't run from it anymore.  It was time to get directly involved.  There was another struggling young hero he could sense was a little out of her depth as well.  He'd had to throw a few more energy shields her way than any of the others, but she seemed to have tremendous power if given enough time to “charge up”.

Making a snap decision he decided to help her out.  Maybe the two could be far more effective helping each other out, than they were struggling on alone.  Dennis landed next to her and concentrated to use the Golden Rod, making a solid energy sphere around them both.

“You want to…” his words came through gritted teeth as he concentrated to hold up the shield against heavy attack “...see if you can light up tall... dark and smoggy over there.” he grunted.  “They seem to be having trouble laying fists on him.”  he opened up a hole in the spherical construct to create a clear path for attack, before turning his attention to a strangely dressed female fighting by Nightmare’s side.

 “Right.” Radiance said as she turned her focus toward the source of all the fear panic that had haunted the city for weeks, and then sent a single bolt of lightning dancing toward the nightmarish menace, striking it in the chest. She held the assault on Nightmare, increasing the power of the bolt of electricity until it was not just a single bolt, but a chain of pure blue electricity that struck the undead demon, bringing Nightmare to a knee.

Just as she was beginning to pour it on, she she felt a sudden, crushing pain in her side as something hit her hard from behind, sending her crashing to the ground. When she looked up, she saw Cannibal King standing over her with a broken stop sign post in his hands. 

“Now, what do you say we have some fun?” He said as he stepped toward her.

Cannibal King reached down and grabbed Radiance by the throat and lifted her into the air, before slamming her hard into the concrete. She lay there stunned, gasping as she tried to regain her breath, her body racked with pain from the sudden and brutal attack. She rolled over to her stomach and tried to force herself up, however, a bony fist impacted her jaw, knocking her face down into the street. 

“Is that...all you’ve got?” She asked, spitting blood before meeting her attacker’s gaze.

As Chris turned to face the metal constructs that Bathory had created, he began to hear numerous creaking noises originating from his armor.  Before Chris knew it, his armor began to collapse into itself due to Bathory’s Metallokinesis, just as if it were an automobile being smashed in a car crusher.  Chris would have been just a mangled mess of flesh and bones, if Aphrodite had not been keenly watching over her avatar.  Invisible to the combatants below, the daughter of Zeus swooped down and ripped Chris out of his compromised mechanical suit and shrouded the immediate vicinity with a thick mist.

“Wait-- Noooo!” the Aquilifer yelled, thinking he'd seen another hero die.  He threw up an energy construct where he was, but the suit was now scrap.

Chris was bewildered once this whole ordeal was complete.  One moment, he was helping the other heroes of Lost Haven combat Nightmare and his allies. The next, he was sitting on his bed in his quarters at Sherman Center.  He had no idea how he had been teleported back to Sherman Center, let alone that some divine intervention saved him.  However, Chris knew that a victory over Nightmare and his followers would not have been that easy.  There was still a fight going on and he needed to get back out there.  Chris was fortunate that he still had a spare set of armor that was left over after he built an upgraded version.

[color=C0C0C0][i]I wonder if we have any tranquilizer darts laying around here.[/i][/color]  Chris thought to himself as he scrambled to get himself ready to rejoin the fray.

Meanwhile, back in Little Ulster, the fight between the heroes of Lost Haven and Nightmare’s allies raged on.

“Blue Wonder! Looks like Iron Princess over there got crushed like a tin can, I say that however there’s a distinct lack of blood. Our Dance Partners are no joke with this one here having an aversion to lightning or maybe more the light aspect. Don’t know. I’m inclined to try them both again but Lightning Gal is a little indisposed at the moment.” 

Ramsey gauged the distance between him and the Goon standing over Radiance; the gap was too far to cover without this Nightmare thing possibly butting in. An Idea struck right out of the pages from a Comic. “Hey Blue, how about a Fastball Special?” 

Icon hit Nightmare in the face with an energy blast, which staggered the wraith-like madman. Then he looked to the newcomer who had called to him. He had been so focused on Nightmare, that he had lost track of the others. He couldn’t see Iron Knight, and Lyger and the newcomer with the staff were dealing with Soulfire. Then he saw Radiance, with Cannibal King standing over her seemingly sizing her up to finish her off. He nodded at the newcomer and dashed toward him, grabbing him and throwing him directly at Cannibal King, striking the skeletal murderer square in the back, knocking him from his feet.

Icon used the distraction to swoop in and grab Radiance. He looked down at her as he held her in his arms, and realized just how badly she had been beaten. Her mask had been knocked off, and blood oozed from the corner of her mouth. He suspected that she may have suffered internal injuries, but had no way to know for sure. He set down at the edge of the battle, hoping that he had created enough distance for her to recover or flee.

[b] “You’ll be alright.”[/b] He told her before rocketing back toward Nightmare.

“Thanks for the save.” Radiance said as she watched him zoom away while she tried to regain her bearings. 

“Excuse me for butting in, but my last dance partner was a little too grabby. I like a few dates before we get intimate yah know.” As Icon did his Hero thing Ramsey spoke back, “Get that Lighting Gal to do what she does best while she’s in the back lines.”

As Ramsey looked back towards the Cannibal King he spoke mockingly.”Shame wanted a crack at your boss back over there, what was your name Cabbage Patch? We haven’t been introduced, names’ Ares. Not that it’ll matter much to you. Now how’s about I,” as Ramsey spoke he dashed in with his fist while he was down. “Introduce you to my right hook. Unlike Ol’ Blue I ain’t got no Hero like qualities to hold me back, so we can go all out what ya say  Cabbage Patch.”

Nightmare was not prepared for the quickness or ferocity of Icon’s attack. If he had been, he would have made himself immaterial and allowed the hero’s fists to pass harmlessly through him. However, being taken by surprise allowed Icon not only make contact with the demonic killer, but the attack caused Nightmare to feel something he hadn’t felt in several lifetimes.

Pain. 

Icon was unrelenting, hitting Nightmare with a flurry of punches and energy blasts that originated from the hero’s hands. The furious attack knocked Nightmare to the ground,and left him struggling to get up. The attack had weakened Nightmare, in an effort at self preservation, the fiend attempted to shift into his back, smokey form in order to flee, however, he was not able to do so. Unable to flee, barely able to stand,Nightmare found himself in a position that he had truly never been in before...fight, or perish. Only in this instance, to fight meant certain death.

The devilish fiend used all his might to stand, and when he achieved this feat, a toothy grin crossed his decomposed face as he knew without a doubt, that he would soon grind the corpses of those who opposed him into dust. He then closed his eyes and began focusing on those who held a piece of him within them, his allies...his closest friends.

His family.

Bathory closed in on Lyger, determined to make the vigilante pay for humiliating her yet again. She had thought herself invincible due to her relationship with her new family, yet once again he had proven that just a fantasy. Now, in this moment, she would finally have her vengeance. Except, for Bathory, that moment would never come. Instead, she was completely overwhelmed with pain as she could feel her body being pulled apart, almost on an atomic level. Her skin became an ashen pale color as her body began to change into a strange substance which most closely resembled dried clay, which then began to crumble away as it was drawn to the monster which had enhanced her powers in the first place, Nightmare. The process made the demonic killer stronger, and was repeated twice more, as he absorbed the very life force of his two oldest allies, Cannibal King and Soulfire. To Nightmare, their sacrifices were a small price to pay for ensuring his victory over his enemies. 

“Now you see…”Nightmare said, his very voice shaking the foundations of the buildings surrounding the battlefield. “That I cannot fall. Now you know why those that I have let live to serve me feared me more than the wrath of their gods.” Nightmare continued, standing to his full height which now was more than seven feet tall.

“Now you know that I am eternal.” He finished.

[b] “Let’s test that theory.”[/b] Icon said as the heroes gathered to face the reinvigorated madman.

Almost if he had timed it on purpose, Iron Knight, now dressed in his back-up armor, leaded beside his fellow heroes.

[color=C0C0C0]“Alright, where’s that chick who can manipulate metal?  She wrecked one extremely expensive piece of equipment and I have a nice little tranq dart here to…”[/color]

Dennis looked stunned.  The Iron Knight was still alive and well.  And cracking jokes!  Nobody else seemed surprised though, and remembering the tales his grandfather would tell of near misses and close shaves he began to realize this kind of thing must happen all the time.  Another thing which he couldn't seem to get used to just naturally. 

At this moment, Chris realized that the only villain standing before them was an even larger version of Nightmare.  Obviously, he must had missed something extremely important while he was gone, although it probably was for the best so that he did not have to see Nightmare absorb his other allies into himself.

[color=C0C0C0]“Well, I supposed dumping a bunch of tranq darts into him will do much, right?”[/color]

“Welcome back princess. Nightmare here fed off of all the little guys, and just after my Cabbage Patch comment too. Well. I’ll never know if that Cannibal guy liked it. Right now I’m peeved, so I’m going to use him like a punching bag.” 

[color=C0C0C0]“Go ahead.  We’ll be right behind you, after a few rounds that is.”[/color]  Chris gestured with both hands towards Nightmare.

“Don’t mind if I do then.” Ramsey said barreling towards Nightmare building up his strength arm pulled back so that he can move into a high powered jab. As he closed what distance there was he unloaded everything into a single punch, using all the momentum he gathered speeding over grinning as it connected with the giant. Unsure of what it would do to the monster, although positive he would be able to knock him over.

[color=C0C0C0]“Well, that was easy.  So, how long should we wait until we jump in, too?”[/color]  However, Chris’ comment only drew blank stares from his fellow allies.  [color=C0C0C0]“It was a joke, guys.  Can’t anyone take a joke these day?”[/color]

Icon didn’t wait a moment longer. He charged headlong toward Nightmare, landing several hard punches that knocked the maniac back several steps. However, the attack seemed to do very little to slow the monster down. Nightmare’s massive form began to turn into a black mist-like state, while his arms grew to be proportionally much larger than they had been moments before. The killer grabbed Icon around the waist with his over-sized fist and slammed the hero hard into the pavement. He then picked the blue and silver clad hero up again and smashed his body into Ramsey, much like a batter would swing a baseball bat at a fastball, and sent him careening into the side of an abandoned news van.

Lyger knew that he had to do something, but he was not sure what he could do against a threat such as Nightmare. He had just watched the demonic mass murderer dispose of both Ramsey and Icon. He wondered to himself exactly what he hoped to accomplish against this monster. 

[i]Maybe I can buy them some time.[/i] Lyger thought to himself as he stepped toward the demon. However, as he got closer to Nightmare, something unexpected began to happen. A yellow energy slowly began to engulf his body, the glowing energy seemed to grow stronger with each step that he took toward the maniac.

[i]Addy’s anti-demon charm.[/i] He suddenly remembered the spell that his ex girlfriend had imbued him with on the night that they had discovered each other’s secret identities. 

Lyger quickened his pace as he approached Nightmare, drawing the demon’s attention. Nightmare reached back with his left arm and when he brought it forward, several shadow-like daggers shot forth directed at the felinesque hero, however, when they made contact with the glowing yellow shield, they simply dissipated. Shocked by what he saw, Nightmare began swinging his massive arms at Lyger, however, each time they would make contact with him, they to would dissipate like smoke being blown into the air, only to reform. 

“I told you…” Lyger said as he continued toward the villain, extending his claws. “That I was going to end you.” He finished as he leapt toward the massive madman. As Lyger sunk his claws into Nightmare’s shoulders, the yellow field that engulfed him intensified and grew, encircling the both of them. Lyger locked eyes with Nightmare, and for the moment that he stared into the hollow sockets that passed as Nightmare’s eyes, there was a strange sense of quiet, of peacefulness. Then after what felt like an eternity, but in reality only amounted to seconds, the yellow aura exploded around them.

When the dust settled, Lyger stood face to face with Nightmare, who seemed transfixed on the young hero.

“What...what did you do to me?” He asked. For the first time in his existence, Nightmare was terrified.

“I kept my promise, you son of a bitch.” Lyger said as he bounded away from the killer. As he got clear of Nightmare, something felt different. He no longer felt the presence of Adeline’s charm within him, and it was in that moment that he knew that it was gone, having been expended when he came into contact with Nightmare.

“Take him down, before he recovers!” Lyger yelled to his allies.

[b] “Hit him with everything you’ve got!”[/b] Icon shouted as a blue energy crackled around his fists, just before he assaulted Nightmare with a sustained energy blast.

[color=C0C0C0]“You don’t have to tell me twice!”[/color]  Since he was now in a different suit of armor, Chris’ energy pila was immediately ready for his disposal.  Just like he had done against the Cannibal King, Chris hurled the projectile straight towards Nightmare, striking the murderer in the center of the chest.  The impact of the energy weapon caused Nightmare to take a step or two back.

Radiance stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Icon and Iron Knight, and as she did so, she joined the heroes’ assault by striking Nightmare with several massive bolts of lightning. Then, as the others poured on the attack, she pulled back. Radiance closed her eyes and began to focus on every electrical device in the area. Even with her eyes closed, she could “see” the electrical currents that ran through everything within Central Avenue. She could sense the electrical currents that ran from the overhead power lines that lined the area, to the circuit breakers inside. As she reached out with her senses, she could see and feel every wire that lined every apartment building and retail store, the underground wires that ran beneath her feet, she could even feel the charges in the batteries within each vehicle that lined the streets. She was even aware of the currents that ran through the circuits of Iron Knight’s power suit. This was the moment that she realized that she was able to consciously decide what sources to tap into and draw from, and which sources not to. With Iron Knight’s suit of armour being the sole exception, she drew upon it all. Just overhead, an electrified blue cloud began to form as she collected the energy from the area into a single source of power. 

Once she had collected enough energy overhead, she unleashed it. A massive bolt of electricity struck the ground, and slowly began moving toward Nightmare. As the bolt drew closer to him, it overturned cars and damaged buildings as the single massive bolt grew in size. As it approached Nightmare, it had expanded from a single large bolt, to what only could be described as a wall of electricity, which scarred the ground and destroyed everything in its path. Nightmare let out a great cry as the wall of electricity struck him right where the Iron Knight’s energy pilum was. He writhed in pain as he could feel his insides frying from the power of the attack. To Nightmare, it felt as if his joints were being pulled from their sockets as his limbs were broken.Though it was an effective attack,Radiance struggled to maintain it. She began to sweat, and her arms became heavy and her legs wobbly as she held the wall of electricity on her target; until finally, she could no longer hold it. Her knees buckled as the wall of electricity dissipated, and she found herself in a crouching position, unable to stand. In fact, she was so drained from the attack, she could barely even hold her head up to watch as her allies continued to bombard Nightmare.

The heroes’ attack threatened to completely overwhelm Nightmare. The demonic killer knew that he had to do something, or perish. While the bombardment persisted, Nightmare’s body began to change. He became somewhat less corporeal as his upper body began to transform into a smoky black mist. He began to push back against the heroes’ attack, the darkness that emanated from his body repelled the energy attacks that had assaulted him. Nightmare put everything he had in a last ditch effort to overcome his foes. His darkness spread outward toward the heroes,not only beating back their assault but threatening to overtake them.

[b] “Don’t quit now. Keep pushing!”[/b] Icon said as he intensified the power of the energy blasts that he used to punish Nightmare. Nightmare had proven to be much more than a typical enemy, and so Icon had been forced dig deeper and use his powers in a way that he had never had to before.

For the first time in his life, Icon didn’t need to hold back. 

As he pushed against the darkness, Icon stepped toward Nightmare, blasting away at the killer’s attack, forcing the darkness to retreat back toward its source. As Icon advanced on Nightmare, the others also increased their assault, striking Nightmare with an unprecedented show of force.  The Aquilifer dropped another energy construct over them all.  With it set, he then began toshrink the sphere.

“There's nowhere you can hide.  Not from us.  Not this light.  Not this fight.” Dennis heard himself say, in a voice he barely recognized as his own.  The beast was trapped and weakened in a cage that couldn't be escaped.

Nightmare tried to push back against the heroes, however, he was losing. The darkness that he had attempted to overwhelm the heroes with was itself being turned back toward him. With each passing second, Nightmare grew weaker. His power stores had been depleted and he had very little fight left in him. He knew that for the first time, he had been defeated. Yet, he did not give up. He continued to fight until he could fight no more, and he was overcome by the heroes’ assault.

Nightmare could feel it from within. The unrelenting energy that the heroes had assaulted him with were reminiscent of the purging fires that had long been the bane of his kind. Nightmare was burning from within, and those fires were beginning to make themselves known. Small bursts of flame exploded from Nightmare’s body, first his chest and arms. Then the fire began to burn from within his own head. 

“......” Nightmare tried to speak, but no words escaped his lips. Then the pain intensified. It felt as if his very soul, if he had one, was on fire. He looked down at his hand, and it was no longer the massive black mass that it had been mere moments before. Instead, his arm was withering before his very eyes and to his disbelief, it appeared as if it was turning to ash. The strange affliction quickly spread throughout Nightmare’s body, and before anyone knew it, the boogeyman who had terrorized the entire city stood silent, and all that remained was the ashen remains of a monster. Then, with a slight shift in the evening breeze, the macabre monument began to crumble and blow away in the wind.

Dennis dropped to the ground in exhaustion and sucked up air.  There was certainly something in what his grandfather had told him about the Golden Rod working with the wielder’s fitness.  He immediately realized just how out of shape he really was.

[b] “Finally..”[/b] Icon said as he turned to face his comrades, [b] “It’s over.”[/b]

As Ramsey stood back up after getting knocked aside before Radiance’s brilliant flash of lighting walled off the sky and scorched Nightmare within an inch of his life. He looked upon the scene with utter disappointment. “That, was anti climatic. I was expecting more of a leveled city effect, you know full on meteorological impact event. Bones are sore but not much else.” While Ramsey had taken a beating his regenerative powers had made short work of any internal damage leaving slight bruises as the only proof he was even fighting. He walked up as the ashes blew away scattered by the winds.

“Well. That was not as fun as I was hoping it’d be. Still in one piece and everything, unless Ol’ Blue here wants to go a few rounds with me I’m out. Gonna get drunk, and embellish the story of; [b] WHEN NIGHTMARES ATTACK!![/b] Eh. I might work on that.” 

Ignoring Ramsey, Chris turned to the other heroes.  [color=C0C0C0]“We got to be careful about these team-ups lest people start thinking that we’re some sort of team or something.  Unless that what you all want.”[/color]

He then turned away as he prepared to launch into the air for his homeward voyage through the sky.  However, before that, he turned his head back to give one last comment.  [color=C0C0C0]“Unless you guys need me, I’ll be heading back home, where crazy metahumans don’t seem to threaten the existence of the city every two weeks or so.”[/color]

After this, Chris soared up into the air, leaving the other heroes standing in the wake of Nightmare’s defeat.

Icon walked over to Radiance, who was still struggling to stand, having used her vast stores of energy almost completely. He offered her a hand, which she took, and got to her feet.

[b]”You did good.”[/b] He said with a smile.

“I hate to say it, but Arthur’s right. We might want to think about the whole ‘team’ concept. It definitely helps when we have…this.” She said, waving her hand at the vast destruction that surrounded them.

[b] “I tend to work better alone.”[/b] Icon said as he lifted off, [b] “But I’ll be around.[/b] Icon finished as he rocketed away out of view. 

Ramsey looked up as Icon vanished out of sight. “Man. Flight would be so handy right now. Unlike the Boy Scout I don’t mind team ups, but I swing both ways don’t count on me being Hero twenty four seven, shit ain’t fun always being the good guy. Might wanna visit a Hospital soon though, I know a thing about broken bones and internal injuries. And you look all sorts out of whack kiddo.”

“Yeah, I think you might be right.” Radiance said to her companion. “But first, I think I need a drink.”

“That I can agree with.”

“Care to join me? I know a place a couple of blocks that way.” Radiance motioned eastward as she began to walk in that direction.

Ramsey followed along, nodding.”Just need to pick up my car, if we’re lucky we can stir up more trouble. There’s always something that needs it’s ass kicked. What about the other guys though, if we’re doing this Hero Team up after party we’re gonna need a Posse.”

Then there were two…

Dennis gradually struggled to slowly get up, taking a knee he looked up at the Dark Cat.  He soberly posed the question he was almost too scared of the answer to ask, peeking out from under his low hanging fringe. 

“Tell me-- was that.  Was that people?  Did we just… do that, to people?”

Lyger watched as the others walked off down the street, which left him alone with the newcomer who wielded the golden staff. He didn’t know who this guy was, but he was impressed with how he handled himself in this particular situation. He could tell by the way he carried himself that he was new to the hero business, but he handled himself well nonetheless. 

“Good work.” Lyger said as he fired a grapnel line from his wrist gauntlets and took to the rooftops.

The fourth Aquilifer threw his lunch up all over the street.