Steve Saga Headcannons/Extra Stuff Idk, But It's Mostly Nightmare Bc Why Not?

What happened before Nightmare's first death?

I've been thinking about this all evening. 

Trigger Warning: character death, sewerslideal ideations, abuse, torture, Elemental, blood, graphics

So basically, what I imagine is that after that huge battle between Rainbow and Nightmare in the Rainbow Town Era, right after he attacked the Rainbow Tree of Life, once Nightmare left he basically refused to return to the In-Between to report back to Elemental. He knew he fucked up. He knew that he was going to be tortured worse than he'd ever been, having lost a battle for the first time in ages. 

So, after a very lengthy panic attack, Nightmare calmed down enough to go take refuge in the Nightmare Palace. He wanted to go see his sons, Dark and Shadow, who he'd revived using some of the shadow stone that was infused with him. But when he got there... Elemental greeted him instead. In. Person. Nightmare was shaken to the core. He was so fucked. 

But the he remembered his sons, the re-existences of whom Elemental was unaware about. Until now. Elemental beat this man to a pulp, Dark and Shadow rushing downstairs to see their Dad's mangled body being nearly brought to Death's doorstep, and they couldn't do a thing. 

Elemental stood back, admiring the scene before him. He told Nightmare to go finish the job by absorbing Rainbow and killing the players, and until then... he would just hold on to his sons for him. As a bit of leverage per se. Nightmare told him not to touch them, lunging out with the last bit of strength as Elemental laughed, and teleported to the In-Between with his children. 

Weak, exhausted, and beaten up from both the battle and his master, Nightmare Steve was determined to get his sons back. He had a brief time to heal as much as he could, as fast as he could, chugging potions before leaving to finish the job. 

He gets there, accidentally absorbs Light in the video, and has this whole, extremely painful process of trying to get him back under control. But in his mind, all there was was the terror of what would happen to his babies. 

He discovered that very quickly. 

Back to the In-Between, Elemental says that he is amazed that he couldn't complete a task so simple, even with the lives of his sons being on the line. He must really not care about them, huh? So might as well just... do him a favor. 

Get rid of them for him. 

Nightmare is brought to a facility. He stands in a lit room with a clear, pristine window looking out into another room. It was bright, counteracting their powers. The two boys are brought into the room, and they are confused because they don't see Nightmare. You see, it's only a one way window. 

One by one, they are violently murdered in front of their father, blood and flesh going everywhere, staining the walls and splattering on the window that Nightmare tried with all the energy that he had to break. He sobbed, hitting the glass with his entire body and anything he could find in the room to try and break it, but to no avail. He bled, was bruised all over, weak from the battle and the beating and absorbing Light Steve. His screams, high, shrill, breaking his vocal cords was absolute music to Elemental's ears. He may have even gotten a little hard from it. 

Nightmare's children screamed and cried, holding each other, asking "Where is Papa? Where'd he go? I want Dad! I'm scared Dad! Where are you???" as they were mangled before of his eyes. It shattered his heart. He was screaming to them, "I'm right here!!! I'm right here!!! Papa's right here!!! I'm so sorry!!! Hang on, Dad's coming, he just has to get to you!!! I promise!!!" 

He never made it in time. 

At the very end, just before the two children took their final breaths, Elemental used his powers to turn the window back into a two-way view. The sons saw their father, scrambling to try and get to them, to save them, shrieking and crying. That was the last thing to brother saw before closing their eyes for the last time. 

. 

.

.

There were barely even any corpses to mourn. They were so mangled. Elemental finally made a door appear, which Nightmare scrambled out of. He bolted to his sons' sides, wrapping their bloodied bodies (if you could even calm them that at that point) in his arms, mourning to the Heavens his loss. It rained. As if the Heavens were so moved that they were crying with him. 

Nightmare begs Elemental to kill him too, to which his master simply says no. 

Nightmare lashes out at him, an attack that is more-than-easily deflected. Nightmare takes a lot of damage from just a single, minuscule blow, which Elemental taunts, saying that he's so weak that even that chicken player could kill him. Elemental leaves him to rot, satisfied with the suffering he has caused. 

Nightmare had an idea. If he can't kill himself, and if Elemental won't kill him, then he'll just get Sabre to do it for him!!! Brilliant!!! He quickly arranges it, not sleeping, eating, showering, nothing. He doesn't stop planning, weakening himself as much as possible, however possible. Chugging wither potions before the big day. 

That day, he barely tries to win, but does so just enough to not cause alarm to his Master who was surely watching intently. Nightmare uses up everything he has, and smiled when he is stabbed in the stomach. 

"This ends now!!!" Nightmare smiles at Sabre's words. He welcomes the finishing blow with open arms, and falls to his death. 

On his way down, memories from across his life flutter to him. He remembers everything, and realizes that he will likely not go to the same place as his sons in the afterlife. He is saddened, but at least they'll be happy. He does not die upon impact. He lays there, broken on the ground, volcano trembling around him as they trio dash out. Nightmare pulls out his favorite photograph: him and his sons, all smiling and laughing without a care in the world. Nightmare Steve smiles, and as the volcano erupts and explosions swallow him whole, the angels of his children surround him, listening to the man's final words. 

"Dark... Shadow...I'm so sorry. Don't worry... Dad's coming home now... I'll see you soon. I love you boys... I love you..."

[Word Count: 1071]