Nightmare Realm (part 1)

“You sure about this?” Mercy Braun asked. She was leaning in the doorway, arms crossed, looking at the machine. Doctor Blitzkrieg was adjusting some of the dials on it. It had six platforms that all connected to the main body which resembled a tower.

“Of course. Blitz will come and then they'll be the very fuel for my weapon that will take over this country then...”

“Europe, then the world, blah blah, I know the speech.” Mercy interrupted unimpressed. “You're sure it won't just blow up in your face.”

“Positive! You should have a bit more faith.” Doctor Blitzkrieg said.

“Eh, maybe. You have fun, I've got better things to do.” she said turning and leaving.

In the night sky above the wind howled and thunder crackled. A flash of lightning lit the darkness, revealing a black craft soaring through the storm; Nachtvogel.

“Over there, I'm pretty sure a large tower sticking out of the ground from nowhere signifies a villain's lair.” Erika Schlödder said, and Nachtvogel approached the tower.

“Zero resistance, the storm must be covering us.” Andreus Schmidt said. Nachtvogel made for a clearing and touched down. The team climbed out.

“Alright team, guns up, stay sharp, strike fast.” Andreus said as they began towards the tower. Apart from the storm above, all was quiet.

“Blitzkrieg has outdone himself this time. Spooky as an abandoned bunker.” Emma Jaye commented.

Suddenly there was a hissing sound and gas began to seep from the surrounding rocks.

“Gas! We need to move!” Wess Haber yelled. The team ran, but more gas spilled into the air. Soon, they were all spluttering as it filled their lungs. Dutch Tudyk was the first to pass out, then Erika. Wess tried to reach them but fell as well. Soon Emma was unconscious too.

“We need to find... the source and (cough) stop... it.” Hans Hilton uttered as he pushed on. He looked beside him where Andreus just was, but now he was also down. The darkness closed around Hans as he fought to stay awake, but he eventually lost.

After what felt like an hour, he stirred awake. He was back at Blitz headquarters. He sat up, feeling a bit dazed.

“Rise and shine sleepyhead.” Emma smirked from the doorway. “What... Happened?” Hans asked.

“Blitzkrieg set a gas trap and got you and everyone else out cold. I managed to get you all out.” Andreus said, coming over to him.

“And Blitzkrieg?” Hans asked, trying to make sense of it all.

“He got away. But we just received some strange signals from Munich. We believe it's him. Unfortunately, Richter needs me for something, so you're going to have to lead the team in. Can you do that?” Andreus asked.

“Yes, sure thing. I won't let you down.” Hans said, standing and saluting.

It was not long before the team had loaded into Nachtvogel and were enroute for Munich. The craft set down outside the city and the 5 began approaching the building. Hans glanced down at his watch, something didn't seem right, but he didn't pay attention to it.

“Alright team. Guns up, stay sharp...” he was cut off as the front of the building blew open and he was knocked off his feet. 5 large Automatons walked out and opened fire on the team. The team fired back. Hans struggled up and raised his weapon. Before he could fire, an Automaton fired at him. He dodged but fell to the ground, dropping his weapon.

“Hans!” Emma yelled, running to him. “Don't worry, I-” a blast landed right in front of her, knocking her back and hard against a wall.

“Emma!” Hans yelled. A stray blast hit the wall, collapsing it onto her. Hans hurried over to the rubble and began digging. “No, no, no.” he said, pulling her battered body from the ruins. She was cut and bleeding in multiple places.

“Hans...” she spluttered before closing her eyes.

“Emma no! EMMA!” He yelled, cradling her broken body. But in his sadness, something felt off. As the mission went sideways, he began feeling weaker. Was it the fear that he'd probably just let Blitzkrieg get away, or the fear that the mission he was leading got one team member killed. He shuddered.

Little did he know that it wasn't real. He and the others had been captured after the gas attack and where now hooked up to Doctor Blitzkrieg's machine, each was trapped in their worst night. Doctor Blitzkrieg watched as his machine powered up, feeding on their fears. He laughed to himself.

“You thought you could stop me, but you will be my weapon against the world.”

Andreus’s Nightmare

Andreus had just finished in the gym when the phone in his room rang. Only one person ever phoned him from it; his sister Mia Schmidt. He smiled to himself as he picked it up.

“Mister Schmidt.” the voice on the other end said, but it wasn't Mia. For a second, Andreus's breath caught in his throat. “This is officer Gerhard Kleist from the police office. Your sister is missing. We're doing everything to find her.”

Andreus didn't know what to say. He couldn't bring himself to speak. And when he tried, no sound came out.

Emma’s Nightmare

“No! I won't do it and you can't make me!” Emma yelled, backing up against the wall of her dressing room.

“Fräulein Jaye, just relax. These people are here to see you. I mean who wouldn't want to see a beautiful model like you?” her manager said.

“This isn't me!” she said, half panicked. She looked down at the bright red dress flowing around her and ran her hand down her hair which was normally short, but now was well past her shoulders. “The hair, the dress. It's... It's not me!”

“You've been doing this job for 4 years now. You'll be fine.” His words made her eye twitch, but she managed to calm down, just a little. “Now please, your audience awaits.”

Wess’s Nightmare

Wess found himself along a narrow pathway that passed above a deep pit. He slowly crept along it. Then he saw her; Mercy.

“Do you ever stop?” she sneered. Then she struck him in the face with her fist. He stumbled back and she kicked his weapon out of his hand. He punched back but she dodged before pushing him. He almost fell but grabbed onto the ledge.

“Mercy, please I know this isn't like you.” Wess said.

“You never knew me Wess. Our 'friendship' was nothing, it never existed and I never gave 2 cents about you.” she snarled before stepping on his fingers. He released the ledge and fell into the pit. He hit the bottom hard, but before he could get his bearings, he heard a sound that sent a chill down his spine. Hissing.

“Oh great, snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” he uttered as he made out their shapes circling him in the dark.

Erika’s Nightmare

Erika fought the controls of Nachtvogel as it came down hard in the woods. It impacted the ground and the engines died.

“Sorry old friend, I’ll get to fixing that now.” She said, climbing out of the cockpit and retrieving her tool box. She jumped out of the craft and a chill ran down her spine as she looked out into the woods. She brushed her fear off and closed Nachtvogel’s door before going to the engines. Just then, a howl split the air and Erika froze. She heard snarling and turned around to see the Morbach Monster approaching her.

“No! Get away!” she yelled, reaching for her weapon.

Dutch’s Nightmare

Dutch nervously approached the restaurant he was meeting Erika at, now five minutes late. As he arrived, he saw Erika standing outside.

“I umm... Sorry for keeping you... I was...” he said nervously, not even sure what he was saying.

Erika smiled. “It's fine Dutch. You're here now.” she said. Dutch walked up to the door and opened it. But as he did, a Minoride lunged out and tackled Erika down. Dutch grabbed for his gun, only to realise he didn't have it. Another Minoride lunged through a window and tackled him, pinning him down. Erika managed to fight the one off but was attacked by two more. Dutch watched her fall as a third joined in. He heard her cry out. He needed to help her but try as he might, he couldn't get free.

Hans’s Nightmare

Hans ducked for cover as blasts from the Automatons zipped past him. He looked over to the building where Wess, Dutch and Erika were taking cover and watched in horror as a blast hit it, causing it to explode. He reloaded his gun before breaking cover and firing on one of the Automatons. He hit it, but it didn't fall. He dived behind a car as it blasted back at him. He was about to get up when something caught his eye. The side mirror he was closest to wasn't reflecting anything. It was just a clear blue color. That wasn't normal. Carefully he crept around the car and checked the other mirror. It was exactly the same. He looked back down at his watch. It still didn't seem right, but why? He concentrated on it. It ticked, yet the hands didn't move. And the numbers weren't there. Something wasn't right, he could feel it.

Hans broke cover and ran firing back at the Automatons as he did. Suddenly, it felt like he hit something and fell to the ground. But when he got up, nothing was there; and the Automatons were gone. Disoriented, he got up and proceeded to the nearest building. He needed to gather his thoughts and figure out what was happening. He stumbled inside, not noticing the sign above that read “Fashion Show!” Although he soon realised what was going on when he saw all the people, the photographers and the stage. Then the star of the show walked onto the stage, looking very uncomfortable. Her face was familiar, too familiar, someone Hans knew well.

“Let's get this over with.” she uttered through grit teeth. Nobody seemed to hear her except Hans; and he knew that voice.

“Emma?” he uttered. But how, she died in his arms a few minutes ago. Unless it wasn't real.

Emma did her best to walk along the stage, yet the flashing lights, the cheers, the whistles and attention made her feel nauseous. Not to mention she could barely balance on the heels she was wearing. She tried to smile as she walked when she noticed someone pushing through the crowd.

“EMMA!” Hans yelled, drawing her attention. “Emma it's not real!” he called. She stopped and looked towards him confused. He forced his way through the crowd then dive tackled her off the stage.

“Hans! What are you... No, that doesn't make sense.” Emma said as they hit the floor. Security immediately entered and made for Hans.

“Emma, it's not real.” he said, punching one of the guards before being struck by the other.

“Hands off him!” Emma yelled, punching the second guard. She was pushed away by the guard who was joined by a few more.

“Emma, I don't know what's going on, but you must break free.” Hans said, tossing one guard into another. Two more piled on him. She looked at him, then down at herself and grit her teeth.

“I said hands off him!” she yelled, grabbing her dress and pulling. It ripped off revealing her Blitz uniform beneath. Within seconds, she was back to her normal self. She kicked both the guards that had Hans and grabbed his arm, pulling him up. Without a word, they made a run for the door and burst out into the street.

“Hans, what's going on?” Emma asked.

“Like I said, I don't really know. But I don't think we're in the real world.” He said. Suddenly they smashed through some invisible barrier and hit the ground. The city was gone, now they were outside an old factory in the woods, in the dead of night.

“You're right... That's not normal.” Emma said, getting up.

“We have to find the others and get out of here.” Hans said.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***