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Normal Narration and Dialogue

"Internal Monologue"

Nightmares - Part 2

Commerce District - Verdun's Capital City

Team Fox

"We just crossed into the commerce district. Five minutes out!" The driver yelled back to the team.

The covered wagon rumbled quickly down the smooth cobble road. The eight men seated within began to check their equipment. Black cloaks cover their full-body leather armor lined with various canisters, throwing knives, and reinforced glass balls.

"Alright gents, we'll be focusing on securing the hostages and our informant on the lower levels. We'll be going right through the front door and sending four up and four down after securing the ground floor. You run into a girl with blue hair, you give her the challenge then escort her back to the ground floor. Then we rescue as many hostages as possible before we exfiltrate under the cover of the main assault. Black Blade's guild master will be leading team Phantom himself, so prepare for low light conditions. Their objective will be capturing Viper and securing his ledger. They'll scale the adjacent building and breach directly from the roof." Graves advised as he finished checking the hide-wrapped tin canisters hanging from his belt.

"Three minutes out!" the driver called back.

"Rules of engagement?" one of the other members asked in a gruff voice.

"Tactical operations have marked everyone else in the building as red. Detain if possible, but if they threaten our cover or you see a weapon...put em in the fucking ground." Graves responded coldly.

"Shadow man's getting the first crack at the big fish, huh?" Another member asked, seemingly disappointed at the prospect.

"You know the drill. We have all those...bureaucratic restrictions when it comes to intel extraction" Graves responded, a smile creeping across his face. "Black Blade on the other hand...well, let's just say Zero is gonna make that slimy snake sing like a siren." The veteran chuckled as the other members cracked smirks.

"One minute!" the driver called back.

"Masks!" yelled Graves as the team popped strange red pills and raised their half masks in unison.

The ordinary-looking wagon stopped for a few seconds just before coming into view of the warehouse as the team swiftly exited. It then carried on its way through the now eerily empty city street. An array of lanterns lining the street giving off the only meaningful source of light.

The team stacked up against the stone wall surrounding the perimeter of the warehouse. Each member putting their hand on the shoulder of the one in front of them and stood by.

Suddenly the candlelit street lanterns flickered then extinguished in unison.

Graves peeked over the wall and located two guards on the front door. He also noticed several shadows moving across the rooftop from the adjacent building. He withdrew several throwing knives from his vest and threw a hand signal over his right shoulder.

"What the fuck is going on out there?" asked one of the guards manning the front door as he squinted towards the darkened street before they both received a knife to the throat and slowly slumped to the ground. The tactical team moved swiftly past them and stacked up on either side of the double wooden doors of the building, four apiece, hands-on shoulders.

The street lanterns flickered again before slowly reigniting.

The two members on the door nodded to each other as they both started shaking small tin canisters before opening either door and tossing them both in. Graves hand signaled to the other four stack to clear the right side of the floor before both squads entered and began their assault.

-

On the left side of the first floor, the squad commanded by Graves had just cleared their last room. They now turned their focus to search out access to the building's rumored sub-level. "Looks like this leads down" a Nightmare operative reported to Graves as he lifted a decorative red carpet revealing a large wooden hatch.

"Let's move" he responded as he led three of the team members below ground level. The men creaked down the shabby wooden steps into the pitch-black stone hallway. "Light up" he whispered before looking down and shaking a small glass ball hanging from his waist and the alchemical concoction within began to glow faintly, throwing a dim red glow onto the tight walls around them.

"By the God's, what is that smell" one of the members coughed out. Another dropped his mask and puked before wiping his mouth and quickly returning to the formation. The foul odor only grew more pronounced as they proceeded slowly down the stone hallway.

As they crept through the tight corridor they noticed the walls slowly becoming filled with strange occult markings and unrecognizable symbols painted in some kind of crimson ink.

Graves was leading the team forward when he felt something wet and cold splash across the top of his raised left hand holding his dagger. He slowly raised his gaze to see the top of the hallway completely covered in a blood-splattered mess.

"Oh I don't like this, not one bit," one of the other members choked out after peering up to the ceiling as well.

Suddenly, they heard muffled noises and the sound of feet slamming against the cold stone further down the hallway.

"Brace yourselves," Graves barked before readying three throwing knives in his right hand and leaning low against the left wall.

A woman covered only in blood and open wounds sprinted out of the darkness, mumbling incoherently. Her long black hair flowing behind her as she ran down the long hallway towards the Nightmare team.

"Grab her," Graves yelled back as he let the women pass him.

The last man in line caught the woman and quickly wrapped her in his cloak.

A naked man was the next to emerge from the darkness, looking similarly bloodied and disoriented. The man was barely visible through the dark when a bloody gurgle shook the hallway and the man lost his footing, stumbling to the ground. He raised his panic-stricken face and extended a shaky hand towards his only means of salvation.

Graves tried to dash forward and grasp the man's hand, but his legs just wouldn't obey the command.

As the bloodied man desperately attempted to pull himself to his feet, a slew of red tendrils wrapped around his lower body, digging into his flesh and pulling him back into the darkness.

"EVERYONE BACK TO THE ENTRANCE, NOW!" Graves bellowed back to the team as he shook a tin canister and hurled it into the darkness before turning and sprinting back through the hallway behind his team. The canister clattered across the smooth stone floor before detonating in a blinding flash of light.

Graves felt his heart hammering in his chest as he threw a glance over his shoulder where he caught the flash briefly illuminating an undulating mass of flesh and bones.

As the light faded, the team could hear the monstrous entity unleash a deafening scream which shook the hall, its tendrils whipping against the walls furiously.

"Go, go, go!" Graves yelled as the team flew back through the hallway in a dead sprint, correct tactical formation long since abandoned.

The men could hear the grotesque creature gaining on them, slithering swiftly across the stone floor.

Graves heard a crack and noticed the woman they were escorting take a tumble to the ground, her right ankle bending unnaturally. Without hesitation, one of the Nightmare members quickly scooped her off the floor as they continued running down the hall.

Graves started to whip throwing knives down the dark corridor behind him before he grabbed the last canister from his belt and tossed it over his shoulder. "Keep going we're almost there!" He shouted forward as the burst of light detonated behind him.

The beast let out a wild roar before shaking its fleshy mass and continuing its pursuit as the team reached the tunnel entrance.

Graves was the last one to fly up the worn wooden ladder and back through the hatch, snapping half the steps as he went. He threw himself through the opening before hearing the hatch slam shut and a pair of Nightmare operatives drop a sizeable wooden bookcase onto it.

"We got one...we were able to save one," Graves thought to himself as he rested against a wall, looking over at the woman being given medical attention by one of the others. He squeezed his eyes shut in search of solace, but the sight of the bloodied outstretched hand was all that awaited him.

"This won't hold long...what the fuck was that thing?" One of the members coughed out in ragged breaths as he guarded the door to the room.

"Some kind of demonic monster. How could we have missed this..." Graves lamented before gathering himself. "Barricade the hatch till the other squad secures the informant. We need to buy them as much time as possible."

-

"Oh really, you have no idea where the documents went?" The stocky man behind the table began, rubbing his temples in frustration."You want to know what I think, Glass? I think everything you're telling me is HORSESHIT!" The man screamed before motioning to the two thugs in suits standing on the other side of the large desk behind her. "I think you've been full of shit for a long fucking time." He hissed, nodding his head as he went.

The blue-haired woman's glasses clinked to the ground as the two large goons grabbed her shoulders and shoved her roughly to her knees.

A slight commotion could be heard outside, but the room's inhabitants didn't pay much notice.

The stocky man behind the table grabbed her left hand and placed it on the table, holding a rusty blade above it. "Last chance bitch, you're out of time!"

She cooly collected her glasses with her right hand before sliding them back on. "I'm afraid you're the one who's out of time, Raymond" she corrected before shaking her other hand free of his grasp and interlacing her fingers behind her head, closing her eyes.

The door to the side office opened slightly before a tin canister banked off a wall landing in the middle of the room.

"Why you little bi-" was all the stocky man could get out before a vicious flash consumed his vision, sending him reeling back swinging his blade wildly.

"Weapon!" was all he heard before feeling a string of throwing knives rip through his upper torso, and his world faded to black.

"What fills your dreams?" The woman heard a dark voice growl behind her as she looked to either side, watching both thugs laying face down, pools of blood forming under their massive frames.

"Only nightmares," she answered calmly, facing the opposite direction and keeping her fingers laced behind her head.

"Jackpot, let's get her out of here" she heard another of the men behind her say before she felt a hand pull her to her feet.

As they moved through the first floor's lobby, they noticed the other squad toppling a large wooden cabinet over a large hatch and a bloody woman covered only in a black cloak resting against a Nightmare member gibbering something to herself.

Two members put their weight on the heavy wood furniture, barely containing the thumping slams that threatened to smash through at any moment.

The leader of the second half of the squad jaunted over to Graves. "Where are the other hostages, and...what the fuck is under there?" he asked, motioning to the hatch.

"Dead... or worse, and pray you never find out. We need to get out of here right now, and I don't know how long that will hold" Graves responded as he mustered a smile at seeing the blue-haired woman with them. He strode over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Sir," She said as she straightened and saluted.

"First assignment was a real mess, huh Glass?" Graves asked as he checked her over for injuries.

"You have no idea," She breathed as her posture relaxed slightly.

"I'm glad you're alright," Graves whispered as he managed a weak smile.

Suddenly, the slamming against the hatch intensified as the two men holding it down began to use every ounce of strength they had left to reinforce the barricade.

"Alright, that's a wrap people, everyone out!" Graves yelled to both squads before running over to assist his fellow operatives holding down the hatch.

Another operative lent their shoulder to the injured hostage as the rest of the team rushed to the main entrance. The second squad leader stepped through the front door of the building and threw a glowing red glass ball into the air, which ignited before exploding into a bright red flare.

The thrashing grew even more furious as its razor-sharp tendrils began to punch through the thick wooden hatch.

"Go! I'll be right behind you," Graves told the pair of reluctant members holding the brocaded hatch down.

"But sir!" one protested.

"Go! That's an order!" Graves screamed as the monster's tendrils began to rip through the furniture beneath them.

The operatives hesitated for a brief moment before sternly nodding and following the command.

After the pair had safely exited the building Graves pushed off the cabinet and broke for the exit. Moments later the hatch exploded violently and bloody red tendrils lashed furiously through the room.

Graves sprinted through the short hallway leading to the entrance as he heard the horrid creature roaring in a deep gurgling screech behind him. He could feel the tendrils slapping the wooden floorboards just behind him as bolted to the door as fast as his tired legs could carry him.

"Not like this" was the only thing dominating his thoughts as he flew around the door and halfway into the front courtyard before he felt a pair of slimy tendrils slash through his leather boots and dig into his ankles. He felt their grip tighten as they ripped him off his feet, sending him crashing to the ground. He instinctively drew his dagger and buried it deep into the dirt in front of him.

Blood drained from his face as he twisted around to see the abomination's writhing form slowly slithering through the door into the courtyard. Its horrifying figure glowing red against the flare's fading light. The thing was almost the size of a carriage and radiated a menacing aura.

"The end..." Were Graves' final thoughts before he noticed a falling shadow coming down the front of the building towards them. It crashed into the monster's twisting mass with earth-shattering force. The beast exploded into a thick red fog, spraying him with blood.

He watched on as the dark armored hooded figure stood atop the creature's battered corpse and said something to him. He couldn't make out the words as he felt two pairs of hands drag him back towards the safety of the street, ears still ringing, mind still reeling.