Genoverse I

Stake VI - Nightmare

Maylz jolted awake, head throbbing, limbs heavy, insides stinging. This concerned him. He wasn't in his and Calvin's apartment room anymore, more like space. Red space.

"What the hell..."

Maylz climbed to hit feet, flexing stiff joints as he did, hearing the satisfying clicks. He was orientated, but still confused.
No.
Scared.
A feeling he felt a lot, a feeling he felt when he was surrounded by armed enemies, a feeling he felt when he pointed a gun someone for the first time, a feeling he felt when he first met Onyx.

Onyx found me in the cellar...

Maylz shook the thoughts from his head, starting to walk through the void. He slowly noticed that shapes of skyscrapers and buildings rose from the floor, in distorted and wavy shapes, it comforted him from the emptiness.
Then a voice spoke up, as wavy and distorted as everything else.

"So you finally came to consciousness, lazy bastard?" it spat in a disgusted voice.
Maylz felt his anger rising. "Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up, asshole!"
"Don't think I can't hear you, this is my dimension, the Nightmare Realm."
"This is my head we're in, I've gotten damn sick of having these nightmares for no reason." Maylz shouted.
The voice growled before snarling again. "If this is your battle of mind," a trail of glowing liquid spilt forward into the void, the voice spoke again. "Come and fight me."

Maylz stomped his foot and followed the trail, eventually ending up at a poor excuse for an arena; ruined walls, blood splattered on the floor and more of the glowing liquid flowing around the ruins and through the ground.

In the heart of the red void, a surreal silence blanketed the realm. Crimson hues twisted around them, shifting like shadows and blood mixing in the air. Maylz felt the pressure of this place, weighing down his every step, as though the Nightmare Realm itself resisted him. Across from him stood his doppelgänger, a twisted, sinister mirror image with hollow eyes and an insidious smile.

The nightmare version wasted no time, unleashing a wave of jagged, dark energy that crackled with malevolent power. Instinctively, Maylz threw up his arms to defend himself, only to feel an unfamiliar heat building within his palms. Flames erupted outward, clashing against the energy blast and dissipating it in a burst of embers.

His opponent grinned, almost pleased, and spoke with a mocking edge. "So... you think fire will save you?"

But Maylz had no time to question or celebrate this newfound power. The nightmare double was already closing in, movements fluid and unnervingly fast. He summoned a dark whip, serrated and dripping with an oily, shadowy substance, which lashed out towards Maylz's torso. Desperation flared in his chest, and he managed to create a forcefield—a shimmering, almost invisible shell—around himself just as the whip struck. The weapon bounced back with a vicious crack, and Maylz felt a surge of confidence. But also fear.

The nightmare version scowled and raised a hand, forming a distorted sphere of darkness that pulsed with a deadly aura. "Let's see if that pathetic shield can withstand this."

Before he could launch the sphere, Maylz instinctively brought his hands together, focusing his energy. An explosion of flame burst from his palms, and he hurled it forward, meeting his opponent's attack head-on. The blast of fire and shadow erupted, shaking the ground beneath them.

As the smoke cleared, Maylz saw his doppelgänger stagger back, briefly vulnerable. Channeling everything he could, Maylz ignited flames along both arms, his barrier flickering as he poured his energy into one last, desperate attack. He leapt forward, fists blazing, and managed a series of strikes that forced the nightmare double to retreat.

Yet, as quickly as he'd gained ground, the double laughed, dissolving into a misty cloud that drifted back, reforming just outside the reach of Maylz's fire.

"You've grown, but not enough to stop me."

With a final taunt, the nightmare Maylz sank into the shadows, his form blending seamlessly with the red void until only his laughter remained, echoing ominously through the Nightmare Realm.

Maylz coughed, coughed up blood from his bleeding lips.
The fire must've cost me blood... he thought, spitting on the floor to get rid of the metallic taste that made him feel sick.

Then, after waiting for the bleeding and the aching to cease, Maylz got up and continued venturing through the Nightmare Realm...

For what seemed like forever...