literature

Mission Time with Nightmare and Widow

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The shadows parted from Nightmare’s view and he found himself standing in a dimly lit forest. Crickets and other nocturnal insects were chirping around him as were the irritable buzzing of mosquitoes in his ear. The air and the forest floor were moist from a recent rainfall. This and the approaching autumn season made the forest rather chilly.

Through the oaken and pine trees the sky glowed orange from early dusk. It had been around 1:30pm when Nightmare followed the dark portal from his apartment in New York City. Judging by the color of the sky, it was late afternoon where ever he was now. Somewhere in Europe, he guessed.

He heard the snap of a twig and the crunching of fallen leaves behind him. Nightmare turned around to see an elderly woman with shoulder-length grey hair and sharp light blue eyes. The woman looked very out of place in the forest, considering she looked like she left from a formal gathering. She wore a fancy and expensive-looking coat with a fur-lined hood, a knee-length business skirt, black stockings and a pair of formal shoes. She had an engraved cane in her hand.

The woman gave Nightmare a glare the he had seen all too often. “Twenty-four minutes,” the woman said in a thick Scottish accent, despite not wearing a visible watch. “That is how long I was holding the portal open for you.” Her eyes narrowed. “In your very apartment.”

Nightmare returned her glare with his usual smug, nonchalant smile. “Woops. Sorry, Widow. I was too busy drinking, whoring, and plowing rich guys. Because, you know, that’s what you did when you were my age.”

Widow narrowed her eyes, not amused.

“So,” Nightmare said, crossing his arms. “Where’s Creepy-Ass?”

“The Banished,” Widow corrected, “received a new assignment. I am to be your partner for this new assignment.” She said, not hiding the acidic tone of her voice.

Nightmare laughed at her. “You. My partner. To take out a high profile hit?”

“Yes. Do you find that funny?”

“I think it’s hilarious. What, did you need fresh air after spending too much time in your wine room?”

“Enough,” Widow interrupted, calmly. “We are wasting time. Let’s take out the mark and be done with it.” She turned and started walking deeper into the quickly darkening woods. Her footsteps were surprisingly smooth and elegant, despite Widow’s old and age and expensive shoes.

Nightmare walked beside her. A few steps later he plugged in his earphones and began playing a heavy metal song with the volume obnoxiously high. He noticed Widow’s grip on her cane tightening and her eye twitching. Nightmare smiled to himself in satisfaction.

Five songs later, Widow suddenly stopped at the edge of a clearing and yanked an earbud out of Nightmare’s ear. “Mute that infernal cacophony! We’re here. And for Christ’s sake, be silent.”

Nightmare squinted into the darkness and could see a tattered old cottage. Its wooden walls were thick with vines and moss and he could see the faint flicker of a candle in the window.  But what caught Nightmare’s attention was the smell. It smelled of blood and rotting meat.

Widow seemed to take notice of Nightmare cringing his nose. “Tanya Peterson is a powerful demon summoner, when given the proper conduits,” she told him.

Nightmare raised an eyebrow at her. “Wait, you mean…?”
“She’s dangerous, mad and unpredictable,” Widow continued, ignoring him. “We need to end her
quickly. You will conjure an illusion to draw her out and distract her while I take her life.”

“Borrrrring,” Nightmare moaned.

Widow eyed him. “Is this method not how like things?”

Nightmare rolled his wrist. “Uh, yeah! But it depends on my mood. Some days I’m into sneaking around and screwing with people’s heads. But today, I’m feeling a little YOLO.”

“Do not use that phrase in my presence ever again. Regardless of what method we choose, we must be cautious prowling demons. Peterson has likely summoned –“

There was a sudden rumble behind them, followed by a hot breeze. Widow and Nightmare froze and slowly turned around. A pair of piercing, hungry, red eyes stared down at them. The creature had to be at least eight feet tall, with a huge crocodile-like head and a pair of crab pincers for arms. Its massive scaly hide was supported by a set of clawed quadrupedal legs.

Nightmare blinked at the massive demon with his mouth partially open. “Well…shit.”

“Nightmare,” Widow said quietly, also staring up at the monstrosity, “that term you used. It means to charge forth without regard to consequences. I believe now is an appropriate situation for the term.”

The demonic crocodile suddenly leaped forward and thrust one of its crab claws at the duo. Nightmare dove backward in a roll and stumbled back to his feet. Widow, however, vanished completely. The shadows of the coming night wrapped around her and she suddenly appeared next to Nightmare in more or less the same stance she was in a few seconds ago. Nightmare then watched as two-thirds of Widow’s cane simply melted away, revealing a thin, slender blade. She shifted her body into a stance of that of a fencer.

“Nice toothpick,” Nightmare said. “Mind if I borrow it?” He raised his hand as it glowed a black and purple aura. An illusionary blade identical to Widow’s appeared in Nightmare’s hand.

“Have you no originality?” Widow sighed.

“Why have one style when you can have many?” Nightmare retorted. The demon had wedged its claw out of the dirt and roared a disgruntled cry. Widow looked like she was about to move forward, but Nightmare put his arm out in protest. “Allow me, your Wrinkled-ness,” Nightmare said, smugly.

Nightmare suddenly charged forth with blinding speed and swung the illusionary blade upwards at the beast’s face. The demon jerked its head back to dodge the strike and angrily swung its crab claw down like a hammer, crashing into the ground where Nightmare stood.

Or at least that’s what it thought.

The illusion of Nightmare shattered into a sudden cloud of ethereal smoke. There were sounds of a blade piercing and slicing through flesh. Nightmare’s smoky illusion faded revealing the demon with several cuts on its claws and arms. Widow stood before the creature, her fencing blade dripping black ichor.

The demon’s eyes radiated a mindless hatred at Widow. The scaly beast crouched down on its four legs, ready to strike. A figure suddenly appeared next to the demon’s head. “Hey. How’s it going?” An image of Nightmare said, amorously. The crocodile demon roared and flailed its massive jaw, flinging the illusion away. “Say, have you been working out?” Another illusion said, sitting on one of the demon’s crab claws. The beast’s anger grew, as it began to thrash its claws and its jaw at Nightmare’s illusions.

It was enough to give Widow an opening. As quickly and agile as a cat, Widow thrust her saber into the demon’s vulnerable underbelly. The demonic crocodile began stomping its legs. Widow retreated a few steps back. She prepared herself for another thrust…

“That will be enough, Sebastian.” A voice said by the cottage. The demon cocked up its head and crawled over to the porch of the cottage. A ragged woman stepped down from the cottage porch. Her hair was long and wild, her clothes drenched in blood and her eyes wide with madness. She brandished a slender knife in one hand and the corpse of a rabbit in the other.

The real Nightmare appeared beside Widow. “Sebastian?” Nightmare said, his eyebrow raised. “Really?”

Widow narrowed her eyes at Peterson. “By order of the Dusk and Dawn, we sentence you, Tanya Peterson, to death. Will you accept judgment?”

“What do you think?” Nightmare mumbled, sarcastically.

Peterson’s face twisted into an insane smile. “Did you hear that, Sebastian? We have volunteers for our ritual!” She began sniffing the air through her stuffy nose. “Ohh! Such power in these two! With their blood and marrow we can find you a new big brother. Perhaps a titan, even!”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna work out for you.” Nightmare commented, his arms crossed lazily. “Can we just kill her now? I’m hungry.”

“I’m slightly peckish myself,” Widow said.

Peterson’s eyes went even wider. “Ohh! What fun!” She tossed aside the rabbit carcass. “Sebastian!” she commanded. Sebastian charged.

“I got Sebastian!” Nightmare cried. “You get the psycho-bitch!”

With saber in hand, Widow leaped at Peterson. The mad summoner flung herself to the side and began flailing her knife at Widow. The elderly fencer deflected and dodged the madwoman’s assault, looking bored all the while.

Nightmare continued to torment Sebastian with his infuriating illusions. When the demon swatted away the last of Nightmare’s illusions, its hungry eyes scanned the forest clearing for the illusionist.

There was a whistling noise towards the cottage. Sebastian turned its malicious gaze to see Nightmare standing beside Widow in the open. Nightmare turned around and pointed at his buttocks. “You see this sexy ass?” He slapped it. “Come and get it!” Sebastian roared and charged at Nightmare’s sexy ass, its gapping maw wide open. Widow looked up at Sebastian and sprinted to the side.

Just as Sebastian clenched its massive jaws on Nightmare, the illusion vanished.

And Tanya Peterson stood in its place.

Peterson’s face went wide with horror, but was too late to move. There was a loud crunch.

Sebastian’s head was low to the ground. Widow saw her chance. She dove forward and plunged her saber upward into Sebastian’s soft throat. Black, oozing blood poured from the wound. Sebastian made several stomach-churning grumbles before collapsing to the ground, Peterson’s hand hung limp from its mouth.

Widow took several deep breaths and regained her regal posture. She fixed her ichor-stained coat. “This beast is fortunate that demon blood washes off so easily.”

Nightmare flashed his smug grin. “I think it looks good on you.”

“I am no stranger to hard work, child.” Widow raised her hand and a black, swirling portal appeared behind her and another one appeared behind Nightmare. “I will report that the mark was successfully eliminated.” Widow turned around and walked towards the portal back to Scotland.

“Right. Whatever,” Nightmare said, turning to his own portal to New York City.

“Laurenzo.”

Nightmare turned back around. Widow stood just before her portal, a slight smile on her face. “Next time, due try to keep up.”

Nightmare returned with a smirk. “Fuck you.” He said.

And left.
A prompt from :iconthewritersmeow: This week's subject was "opposites." 

This was a real treat for me. I haven't written any Nightmare shenanigans in a long time. It's a lot of fun writing a character who is just a jerk to everyone. XD This also was an opportunity to figure out Widow's tone and such. I think I got a bit carried away with this one. I hope it's still in line with the prompt subject. ^^; Also, I apologize for the length. :P

A few fun facts about Nightmare include: he doesn't like to kill people. Demons, sure, but not people. As he puts it, he "can't play with broken toys." Nightmare is a compulsive liar and Laurenzo isn't his real name. ;)

So I hope you guys enjoy. ^^

Word count: ~1700
Characters (c) :icontek427:
© 2014 - 2024 TEK427
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