Nightmare

Ugh where do I even begin...

It's me, Justin. Good to be back in the land of the living.

I don't actually remember how I got put into a coma, but I remember the coma itself. Most of it, anyway.

It started with darkness.

Then I started having dreams.

Just normal dreams, for the most part. But then there was the nightmare. The same one I suffer from a lot of the time. I guess it's about time I talked about it. It's really more of a memory...

It's a scene from several years ago. I'm at the old church with the gang. Terrence, Ciel, and Greg were all with me, and we were waiting on a call from our boss, Rillek. When he finally did call, he was panicked. He said that proxies were coming, and that we needed to get out of there. So get out of there we did.

We snuck out through the back of the church, but as we did, I saw them. The proxies were just a short distance away from the church's front entrance. But someone was standing in their way.

He was my age, with shaggy brown hair and a black and white plaid hoody on. I recognized him immediately.

Daniel Xavier Ferris. My old friend.

We had had a falling out when I joined the Timberwolves. He was pissed about it, and we almost came to blows. Except that he decided to just take a deep breathe and walk away before it escalated that much.

And now he was there, stalling the proxies before they could catch us off guard.

And what did he get for it?

Bullets. Several of them. The proxies just opened fire on him and gunned him down.

I was stunned for a few seconds, but once those few seconds were up, I did the one thing my instincts were shouting at me to do. I raised my scythe and ran towards them all, screaming.

A few minutes of receiving and dishing out pain later, and I stood over the lifeless bodies of all those proxies, bloody and bruised and crying. The details of the fight are a blur. I don't know how I pulled through. All I remember is rage.

I relived that several times during the coma, in between the more normal dreams. But one instance was different from all the others. It played out mostly the same, until it got to the end. After the fight.

I was standing there, still reeling from everything that had happened, when I heard a voice.

"You know," it said. "From the number of times you've relived this, it's almost as though you like watching me die."

I turned to see that Daniel was now casually laying on the pavement, unharmed, with his eyes closed and his hands resting behind his back.

"Just the opposite," I said.

He gave me a soft chuckle.

"I know," he said. "I'm just teasing you. You should probably clean yourself up."

"How am I supposed to get home?" I asked.

"It's your dream," Daniel said. "Why would you need to?"

Good point. I got rid of all the blood and injuries.

"So is this a lucid dream?" I asked. "I feel... normal."

"It's complicated," Daniel said, standing up.

He seemed older. Taller. His hair was definitely longer...

"You're in a coma," he said. "And not a normal one."

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Wish I had some more time to delve into explanations, but the suns about to come up, and I won't be able to talk then," he said.

I looked up at the sky. It was daytime still.

"The sun's been up," I said.

"Not that sun," he told me. "You're dreaming, remember? I meant the real sun."

And then he turned to stone. Weird...

I tried yelling at him to wake him up again, but it didn't work, and things kinda went black again. Then I started dreaming again. But no I was completely lucid throughout all of them.

It felt like ages before I saw Daniel again. He just appeared in another of my dreams.

"Hey," I said. "It's really you, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "Does that weird you out?"

"Yeah," I said. "I mean, you're dead, right?"

"Not my favorite topic," he said. "Let's just leave it at 'it's complicated' for now."

"Okay," I said "So... what's the deal with the lucid dreaming? You know something about that, right?"

"Due to the nature of this coma, a bridge has been formed between your conscious and subconscious minds," he said.

"What do you mean 'the nature of this coma'?" I asked. "Just what kind of coma is this?"

"It's complicated?" he replied.

"Well, if this is all lucid dreaming, can't I make you tell me?" I asked.

"You can control your dreams, but you can't control me," he said. "I'm my own dream."

"What does that even mean?" I asked.

"It's complicated," he said.

"You're like a broken record, aren't you?" I asked.

"Shut up," he said. "The good thing about all this is that I can finally talk to you."

"You couldn't before?" I asked.

"Not really," he said. "The subconscious mind is weird. Don't question it too much."

"Look, if this really is you, I've wanted to say...," I said, hesitating a bit, "I'm sorry..."

"Sorry for what?" he asked.

"It...," I muttered. "It should've been me..."

He was silent for a minute, just staring at me. It was then, for the first time, that I noticed his eyes. His irises were a dark orange, and his pupils were the shape of sideways rectangles.

"It was you," he finally said.

"What?" I asked, taken aback.

He stretched out his hand, offering it to me.

"Let me show you something," he said.

I nervously took his hand, and we were back in the old church. I could see another of myself, along with Ciel, Greg, and Terrence.

"This is that day," I said.

"Not quite," Daniel said. "This is that day in a different world."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The subconscious is weird," he said. "I can use it to create bridges... no, more like windows. Into other worlds. What we're looking at is a memory from a world where things played out differently."

The scene happened almost exactly as I've always remembered it, up until the phone call. As I was talking to Rillek, the proxies barged in and gunned Greg down. A fight broke out, and while the rest of us held our own for a little while, we couldn't win against them. They killed us all.

"That's enough," Daniel said, and the scene faded to black.

"Shit," I said.

"I know," Daniel said. "This is a world I let you die. So don't look at me and say it should've been you."

And then he turned to stone again.

I went a little longer before running into him again. This time, he was kind of just chilling out in a dream alley. I had had some time to think things over, and I now had a question that I seriously needed to ask him.

"Daniel, I need to know," I said. "Are you the Grotesque?"

For context, the Grotesque is another Fear. I don't know much about it, other than that is gets in people's dreams, then corrupt them and trap people inside them.

"No," Daniel said confidently. Before I had a chance to sigh in relief, he pointed to something behind me and added "That's the Grotesque."

I spun around and caught a glimpse of some... thing darting out of sight.

"What the hell!?" I gasped.

"Don't worry," Daniel said, pointing at one of his weird eyes. "I've got my eyes on it."

He then offered me his hand again.

"This again?" I asked.

"I feel like I should let show you this," he said.

I shrugged and took his hand. We were transported to a high bridge over a river.

"So what kind of world is this one?" I asked.

"One where my parent's never divorced," he said. "One where I never moved to So Cal. One where we never met."

"Whoa," I said.

I then noticed another of him standing near the side of the bridge. He was younger, and wore a dark brown jacket.

"I was corrupted in this world," my Daniel said. "Only for a couple minutes, but in those moments, I did something I could never forgive myself for. The guilt ate away at me for years, until it culminated in this moment."

The younger Daniel took a deep breathe and approached the edge of the bridge. I made to try and stop him, but my Daniel stopped me.

"Keep watching," he said quietly.

Everything changed suddenly. The sky went black.  Not nighttime or storm black. Pitch fucking void black. The bridge turned a deep blue, but that same blue was rapidly peeling away to expose a dark black, that seemed to be leaking blood. Everything else in sight seemed to just vanish. And above us, looming in the sky, was an aurora of crimson light.

"Stop, young one," came a voice from the aurora. It sounded oddly feminine, but was terrifying as well. "Does it hurt so much?"

"I want it to end!" the younger Daniel cried out in desperation and fear. "I'm sick of the guilt! I'm sick of the shame!"

"Then allow me to take it away from you," the voice replied.

"What?" Daniel gasped. Then, with what I think might have been hope in his voice, he asked "Can you do that?"

"Allow me to consume you," the voice said. "I shall take away all of your guilt, all of your pain, and replace it with strength. I shall make you my vessel."

The aurora spread out as it spoke, encircling the younger Daniel slowly.

"Let the redness take hold," it said. "And I promise you, you shall never feel guilty again."

Daniel hesitated, before straightening up and staring defiantly into the redness.

"Do it!" he shouted. "Take this pain away from me!"

And with that, the light all flooded into him, and he collapsed. We were suddenly back on the bridge, and he crouched on his hands and knees, his body contorting in pain. I wanted to do something about it, but my Daniel shook his head.

"This is a memory," he said. "Neither of us can help him here."

The cries of pain faded away, only to be replaced with a slow laughter. the young Daniel's hair and coat both began to slowing fade from their dark brown to a deep fiery red, and his laughter increased in volume, becoming maniacal. I took a couple steps to try and get a better look at him, and saw that the same red light from that aurora was glowing within his eyes.

"My death is your worst nightmare," my Daniel said. "This is mine."

The scene vanished, and we were back in the alley.

"You mean, turning into a monster?" I asked.

"I'm already a monster, he replied. "But at least I haven't lost myself yet."

He turned to stone again.

My next meeting with him didn't come for a while. When it did, I had a request for him.

"I wanna see more of it," I said. "The world where you live and I die."

"No," he said. "You may wish I had survived that day, but that world is a lot more painful to both of us than you realize. Perhaps another time. When we can both handle it."

"You suck," I said.

He thought for a minute.

"Maybe," he said. "Maybe I can show you a world where we both live. Yes, it's a bit of a dystopia, but you may get something valuable from it..."

"Alright," I said. "Let's see it."

I took his hand, and we ended up in some kind of underground base. I was lying bandaged up on a dirty couch, while a bunch of people wearing the Slender Man's symbol. One of them I recognized as Daniel. He had bandages over his mouth, and his shorter hair was spikey, but it wasn't fooling me. A girl there was yelling at him.

"You brought an Apostle here!" she shouted. "And not just any Apostle, but the goddamn Halo! Do you have any idea how reckless you're being!?"

"Shut up!" Daniel snapped, then he immediately clutched at his face, wincing in pain.

The girl went from sour to sweet fast, and reached out to try and touch him.

"Careful!" she said. "Your mouth..."

He smacked her hand away and tore the bandages from his face, revealing a recent burn wound on the corner of his mouth.

"I told care about the wound!" he growled. "I'm sick of being quiet. You're going to listen to me."

She took a step back.

"The doctor and the newborn have joined forces and brought this world crumbling down," he said. "Our only chance of stopping them is to do the same! Like it or not, we need help."

"He's our enemy," the girl said.

"He's my friend, Myrir!" Daniel snapped, once again wincing in pain.

"Thanks!" said the me on the couch. "I appreciate it."

The girl, Myrir, shot me a glare.

"Look," the other me said. "I'll trade you some intel if you let me crash here til I recover. Shouldn't take long. And we can discuss a partnership afterwards."

Some muttering went around. Myrir shot Daniel a look.

"Just go with it," he muttered.

"Fine," Myrir said. "What's this intel you've got?"

The other me produced a pair of nunchucks from his coat. The then combined them into a staff. The then drew a sword and attached it to the staff to form a scythe.

So cool.

I want one.

"Our enemies are working on a new weapon," the other me said. "Bigger, stronger, and significantly more impractical than mine. But, in the hands of someone with, say, I don't know, absurd super strength? It could be a valuable asset in the resistance."

"Breaker?" Myrir asked, turning to Daniel. "What do you think?"

"The Apostles are good when it comes to information," Daniel said. "And I trust Justin with my life."

And then the scene ended.

"So what was that?" I asked. "A lesson in friendship?"

"I'll let you decide what to take from that," he said. Then he looked to the sky and smiled. "Oh, good. You're coma's almost over."

"What?" I asked.

"Wake up," came a new voice.

Then I was in bed. There was a guy I didn't know there, so I decked him in the face. Than I talked with Terrence for a bit, and the new guy, Matt I guess, said he might have a position for me or some shit, but Daniel's voice popped into my head saying it was a bad idea. So I declined.

So yeah, I guess we're all caught up now. I'll figure shit out later.

Okay then...

Hey. This is Terrence again...

So Some guy came by earlier. Maria was over, and she ended up being the one answering the door. Turns out she knew the guy.

"Matt!?" She exclaimed upon seeing him.

"Maria," he replied. "Is it okay if I come in?"

Maria gave me a quick look.

"Fine," I said.

Matt came in. He was really tall, and was dressed in a longcoat.

"So who are you?" I asked.

"He's a colleague of mine," Maria said vaguely.

"I heard what happened," he said. "To Justin. Do you mind if I have a look?"

"Uh, sure," I said. "I guess."

 I showed him to Justin's room. I kept one hand in my coat pocket, with my knife, just in case. He knelt over Justin examining him for a little while, before speaking. He only said one thing, but there was something about the way he said it that I can't quite describe. Like, his voice sounded normal, I guess, but there was like, this weird strength behind his words.

"Wake up," he said.

And then Justin kind of... did...

His eyes opened, and he just lied there confused for a minute, before he realized that there was an unfamiliar guy hovering over him, and freaked out. He threw a punch and nailed Matt right in his face, sending him sprawling backwards.

"Whoa!" I said. "Calm down, dude! He a... well, I guess he's a friend. I don't know..."

Justin blinked a few times and than pressed his hands to his temples like he had a headache.

"Ugh," he said. "How long did that coma last?"

"Well, it's June now," I said. "Wait a second, you know that you were in a coma?"

"Yeah," he said. "Long story. Ugh, what smells?"

"Uh, that's you," I said. "In hindsight, we probably shoulda had someone on sponge bath duty."

"We both know Ciel woulda shoved that one you," Justin said. "I'd better get myself clean. But first, who the hell are you?"

Matt picked himself up, rubbing his jaw.

"You really can throw a punch," Matt said. "My name is Matthew."

Justin grunted.

"You have a lot of potential from what I've heard," Matt said. "I'll keep you in mind in case a position opens up."

"I think I'll pass," Justin said.

Matt shrugged and walked out.

"Dude, that guy had higher-up written all over him," I said. "I think he was offering you a job."

"I just woke up from a four month coma," Justin said. "I don't wanna think about work right now. I wanna hot bath and like, six or seven Pop-Tarts."

"I think we have some toaster strudels," I offered.

"Fuck it, I'll just make a sandwich," Justin said. "Or maybe five..."


So yeah. We've got Justin back. Seemed annoyingly easy now that it's done...

Fine, I'll make a fucking post

Assholes...

I'm not gonna introduce myself, you idiots should know who I am by now.

Idiot's still asleep. Still no sign of Oceana, but we've killed a few more of his goons.

Horizon's still here. I don't like her. She's a bitch and her nickname is stupid.

Hooded guy's been dropping by less and less. I don't like him. He's a bitch and his outfit is stupid.

Maria's a bitch too.

I done. Signing off. Fuck all of you.

No progress

t's me, Terrence. Justin's still out. He's not a complete vegetable anymore. He's started tossing and turning in his sleep and muttering to himself, but he still won't wake up. I'm worried about him.

As for our Oathbreaker situation, we're not making any progress. I mean, we still see them occasionally, but that's about it. They've been keeping their distance, and there's no sign of Oceana.

That's about it for now...

So Justin's out of commision...

Terrence again...

As the title might imply, Justin has gone totally comatose...

He was out with Horizon earlier when they had a run in with some Oathbreakers. At least, that's what Horizon told us when she dragged Justin's unconscious body back to the apartment. Ciel is thinks Horizon did this to him, but the hooded dude says it wasn't. He's been dropping by occasionally. He had a look at Justin and says he'll be out for a while. Whatever the Oathbreakers did put him under real bad.

This sucks...

Horizon

So the little bike thief is feeling better now. Whatever the good doctor infected her with wasn't anything serious. We also got her name. Or a nickname, at least. She goes by Horizon. Weirdo...

We've tried getting answers out of her, like what she wants with Oceana, or why the fuck she felt it was appropriate to steal my damn bike. Unfortunately, she's been a bit difficult. Ciel managed to get her relationship with Oceana out of her by accurately guessing that they're siblings. Apparently it was blatantly obvious, and I'm an idiot for not figuring it out earlier. But she still won't say anything more about it, other than that she's against him.

Do I trust her? She stole my bike, what do you think? We're keeping an eye on her. Who knows, maybe she can help. The hooded guy says she should be okay with us.

Oh yeah, the hooded guy. Nearly forgot to mention that. Still don't now his name. He helped us get Horizon to the car, and he told us we should fine as far as the authorities go. The Oathbreakers have already covered everything up from after the fight. They don't want to get in trouble any more than we do.

I asked Ciel and Terrence how the hooded guy got them ahead of the bike race in time. Apparently he teleported them. They said he grabbed them by the shoulders and brought them to an alleyway ahead of my. They described it like the warehouse slowly faded from existence while the alley faded in, and it took a minute to fully happen. Not sure what to make of it.

Oh yeah, and Maria's back. She's a little peeved that we went ahead without her, but whatever. It was all Ciel's idea.

Anyway, I'ma sign off now. Bye.

Oceana

"So why did you call us out here?" I asked, as we stood a block down from the Oathbreaker's meeting place, a totally cliché abandoned warehouse. Seriously, why do so many warehouse's get abandoned?

"Maria's taking her sweet ass time getting back to us," Ciel said. She was on stake-out duty, and had texted me and Terrence to come there. "And there's a meeting happening tonight. I say forget her, let's just go in there and figure out once and for all what these guys' plan is."

"How many are in there?" Terrence asked.

Ciel shrugged. "A manageable number."

"Meaning?" I asked.

"I dunno, like a dozen?" she said. "Nothing we can't handle."

"So do you have an actual plan here?" I asked.

Without speaking, Ciel pulled a hoody bearing the Stick and Serpent symbol on over her clothes.

"I'm gonna go blend in, and if you two hear anything, bust in and do your thing," she said.

I thought about that for a second, then let out a sigh. I then removed my scythe from it's loops and handed it to Terrence.

"Hold this," I said. "I'm going in with her. Be ready to blow something up when we give the signal."

"You don't have their symbol," Ciel pointed out.

"I'm with you," I said. "Won't need one. Besides, it's not like we wear our symbol constantly."

"Are you sure you wanna go in unarmed?" Terrence asked.

"I got my backup if I need it," I said. "So what are we waiting for?"

So after that, Ciel and I went up to the warehouse and walked in.

"A dozen, huh?" I muttered.

Ciel had understated a little. There were like, twenty people there. Fortunately, they didn't seem to pay us too much attention. I mean, they obviously noticed us, but they just kinda nodded in greeting then went back to their small talk. Nothing interesting seemed to be happening yet. Not for a few minutes, at least.

Then and man stepped onto a large stack of crates that they were using as an improvised stage. He spoke loudly, addressing everyone there.

"Thank you all for coming here tonight!" He said. A short cheer went up, but it silenced itself pretty quickly so he could continue. "We have much to go over tonight, but before we get to any of that, I'm proud to say that the guest we've all been hoping for has finally decided to grace us with his presence."

He smiled broadly and locked eyes with me.

"Reaper," he said. "Would you please come up here and introduce yourself?"

Shit. They had been expecting me. Not good. But my best choice was to play along with it. Things could go bad real fast otherwise.

The Oathbreakers all stepped to either side, clearing a path for me. Ciel drew out her cell phone as subtly as she could, prepared to message Terrence. I began walking calmly toward the stage. As I did, I became aware of something odd.

You know when you go too long without brushing your teeth, and then you eat something sweet and your mouth starts feeling all gross and slimy? I had that same feeling, but it was like, all over my body. That's when I noticed it out of the corner of my eyes. The Plague Doctor itself was lurking in the shadows, silently watching me through its beak-like mask. Fuck...

I reached  the crates and climbed up to face the man. He was tall, with dark hair, and weirdly blue eyes. Not one of the shades of blue I'm used to. He was dressed in a long-sleeved turtle-neck shirt, and khaki pants.

"A pleasure to meet you at last," he said. "You can call me Oceana."

"That sounds like a girl's name," I told him.

"I didn't pick it," he said with a shrug.

"You guys have been awfully active in this town," I said. "What exactly are you up to."

He just kind of chuckled at that, before speaking to me in a low, barely audible voice.

"I'm glad we get to speak face to face," he said. It felt threatening when he spoke like that. "I have a couple things I'd like to ask of you."

"Is that so?" I asked.

"First of all, regarding our 'plans'," he said. "I'd like you and your associates to stay out of this. It doesn't concern you. Mind your own business."

I grunted, neither agreeing to or declining his request.

"And?" I asked.

"The second thing," he said, "Is the watch."

My eyes widened. He wanted the watch? Did he know what it was?

"I know you're carrying it with you," he said. "I would like you to hand it over."

"And if I refuse?" I asked.

Oceana simply snapped his fingers, and the sounds of several guns cocking sounded below us. I fought back my instinct to panic and took a deep breathe, reminding myself of an important fact; I am a Timberwolf. Timberwolves do not fear death. I braced myself for what I was expecting to happen next. Wasn't sure when exactly it would happen, but I would be ready for it.

"Nice try," I said. "But your gonna need more firearms if you wanna intimidate me."

Oceana frowned.

"Is that so?" he asked. "You are aware that the Doctor is present, aren't you?"

"Congratulations," I said. "You've got exactly ne thing going for you."

And, with perfect timing, a large explosion went off. I didn't see exactly where the explosion was, but it served its purpose. Everyone was distracted for a second. And a second was all I needed to tackle Oceana and send us both falling from the crates. It wasn't a long drop, so we didn't get hurt much. We both got to our feet after, but I was quicker. I drew my backup weapon, a Japanese kama, and slashed at Oceana, tearing the front of his shirt a little. I think I saw something underneath it, but he covered up before I could really get a good look.

"Get him!" he barked angrily. "Get the watch!"

A bunch of the Oathbreakers charged at me while Oceana backed off. I kept my weight low, tripping as many of them as I could with my kama. But I felt someone grab the end of my coat briefly. I turned to see one of the Oathbreakers attempting to run off with the pickpocketed watch. I threw the kama at him, embedding it in his shoulder blade. He cried a\out in pain and lost his grip on the watch, sending it flying. It clattered to the ground several feet away.

"Justin", Terrence called out, running up to me, holding out my scythe. I took it from him and ran to get the watch back, but a group of three Oathbreakers beat me too it. One of them snatched it up and they booked it out the door. I ran after them. They got on some motorcycles and started them up before I could catch them. Damn it.

I stood there for a second, wondering what I should do, when I heard the sound of an engine revving. Not just any engine, though. My engine. Someone was stealing my bike!

I had left it parked down the street, and when I turned to look, I w\saw a woman driving it up to me.

"Where's Oceana?" She demanded, stopping in front of me.

"He bailed!" I said. "And what are you doing with my bike!?"

She scowled angrily, and looked into the distance and the guys who were getting away.

"Get on!" she demanded. "They'll know something!"

Didn't have time to argue. They were getting away with the watch. I got on.

"Give it the gas!" I ordered.

She obliged, and we went speeding down the street after those guys. My bike is a good bike, and we started closing the distance pretty quickly. I recognized the guy who had grabbed the watch at the front. As we got close to one of the others, I reached out with my scythe and slashed his back tire, causing him to lose control and go down. It also fucked with our balance, and the girl struggled to keep us upright.

"Are you trying to get us killed!?" She demanded.

"No, I'm trying to get them killed!" I replied.

"We need them alive so I can question them!" she snapped.

"We need one of them alive so we can question him!" I replied.

As we got close to the next one, I swung the scythe at his throat, slitting it open. She struggled to keep us balanced again, growling as she did.

"Great," She said. "So how do we stop the last one without killing him too!?"

"Dunno," I said. "I'll think of something."

Turns Out I didn't need to. A Molotov cocktail shattered on the road in front of him and he hit the breaks too hard, causing him to fall painfully off of his bike. We stop too and I got off. As I did, Terrence and Ciel emerged from the shadows. Perfect timing.

The Oathbreaker turned to face me and raised the watch at me, with an angry expression, and flipped it open. Nothing happened, which seemed to upset him. Not sure what he was expecting...

"Where's Oceana?" I demanded. "And what's the deal with the watch?"

Without saying anything, the man popped a pill into his mouth, then started convulsive, and then he dies. Damn it, I hate Oathbreakers.

"That sucks," I said, turning to Ciel and Terrence. "So how'd you guys catch up?"

"We, uh, had some help," Terrence said.

A man then stepped out of the shadows. I recognized his hooded coat immediately.

"I thought I said to keep that watch safe," the guy who bought me a drink at Sal's said.

"Sorry," I said, snatching the watch back up. "Shit got out of hand."

He sighed. "Try and do a better job with it," he said. Anyway, you should get that young girl somewhere safe. She looks ill."

I turned back to the girl who had stolen my bike. She did look feverish. Must've been the Doctor's doing.

Anyway, we got her back to Mine and Terrence's place. She's sleeping right now, and Ciel's looking over her. I've got some questions for her once she wakes up, but for now, I need some sleep too.