Chapter Two

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Cross woke to the sound of a knock on his door. He let out a small growl and stood up. He was allowed to be mad because he knew it wasn't Nightmare. Nightmare would have just burst in.

"Im up!" He called out to whoever was on the other side of the door. They shuffled slightly before moving away from his door.

He stood up and got ready to go, a small yawn escaping his mouth. He wasn't trained to be lazy, but he still was tired from time to time.

As he left the room he made his way to the throne room, knowing Nightmare would be there waiting for him.

As he entered he caught sight of Nightmare talking with a few people, perhaps participants of today's challenge. They looked strong enough.

Nightmare caught sight of him. "Ah, Cross. Perfect timing... We were just talking about who would be playing," He told him, watching as Cross joined his side.

"I see..." Cross replied, scanning the two. He had no need to show them respect. Other than Nightmare, he was the highest ranked person in the castle.

"We have quite a few people joining us... I even heard Dusttale Sans would try it out," The girl on the right, wearing some sort of armor told them.

"Dust? Heh... Interesting..." Nightmare chuckled. He had great interest in finding people to fight with him against his enemies...

"Cross... Get ready for the battle... We start at noon," Nightmare told him, gently pushing his arm with a tentacle.

Cross bowed and turned away, giving Nightmare one last glance. He sometimes forgot just how fond of Nightmare he had become.

At first he was actually rather annoyed with Nightmares orders. Now he did such things with pleasure of helping Nightmare.

******
In the lantern lit clearing Cross could hear the cheers of the people outside, listening and watching people fight in the pit. Nightmare was up in a throne like seat.

He clapped from time to time, but mostly just watched. Cross was watching some of the fighting. He mostly kept his eye on Dust.

He was sharpening a dagger in the far corner. Cross was not fond of him, probably because he knew they were at equal strength. He had to win for Nightmare.

He never disappointed Nightmare, and he wasn't going to do that now. He turned his gaze away from Dust and towards who he knew his first challenger was.

They were just a simple wolf monster, nothing to worry about there... The most that could happen is the wolf nicking his clothing.

He waited patiently until the guards called to him. He checked to make sure he had what he needed before sliding down into the pit.

There were cheers surrounding him from the onlookers. He ignored the calls, but cast Nightmare a look.

He had his usual smirk on his face and he sat with proud posture. Cross was aware of the fact Nightmare counted him as a prize possession, but he could care less.

The other wolf soon joined him in the pit, holding a sword in one hand, the other had steel reinforcements on his claws.

As someone yelled for the battle to start Cross held his ground, waiting for his enemy to make the first move. He wouldn't try and win to quickly.

The wolf eventually charged and Cross jumped up over the wolf. He did a flip mid air and kicked the wolf in the back of the head, pushing away and landing behind him.

The crowd cheered and the wolf stumbled before turning to try and hit him with the sword once again. Cross ducked down out of its reach.

As he did so he shot forward, pulling the wolf's feet out from under him. Seems this round he didn't even have the need to use a weapon other than his mind.

As the wolf attempted to get up Cross kicked him back down stomping on his sword to keep him from using it. The wolf shot out the steel claws instead.

Cross simply dodged them and stomped down on them as well, probably breaking a bone or two.

The wolf did not attempt anything more and Cross cast Nightmare a look as the crowd cheered. He was awaiting for Nightmare to tell him whether to spare or kill the defeated warrior.

Nightmare trailed a finger across his neck. Clearly the wolf wasn't good enough for the kings army. Cross pulled his dagger out and stabbed him through the skull.

It was a quick death for him. The crowd, which was corrupted thanks to Nightmares rain, continued to cheer at the dark gruesome scene.

He smiled as Nightmare laughed slightly. He simply bowed to his king before returning back to where he was before. Dust had watched the whole scene and was laughing.

Cross cast him a glance, laughter was an unusual response. Cheers in honor of his victory, and Nightmare had laughed at the fact he probably won some money. What reason did Dust have?

He put the thought out of his mind and leaned against one of the lantern posts until it was his turn again.

This time he fought a ghost like creature. Or perhaps it was just made from black fire. He actually posed to be somewhat of a competition.

He dodged the tip of the axe the ghost carried and went to attack the beast. He smiled as the beast dodged.

Or he thought he dodged it, but Cross took a quick turn and slashed his claws across the fire monsters leg. It burned his hand and he backed away.

Nightmare noticed and simply narrowed his eye. His gaze was intense on the ghost, as if he had insulted him.

Cross grabbed his dagger, realizing it was the only thing that could harm the monster. He jumped out and tested the theory.

The knife cut through his fire like arm. He let out a yelp like yell and moved away from him. So weapons would hurt him...

He looked towards Nightmare, mostly out of the habit of keeping an eye on him. God was he glad he looked over.

Right then he caught sight of Dust, sneaking his way behind Nightmare, dagger in hand.

Realizing the king was in danger he reacted instinctively and threw his dagger at Dust without hesitation.

The blade hit Dust in the shoulder, while the other ghost managed to slash Cross' shoulder since he was distracted and defenceless.

Nightmare jumped back upon seeing the dagger fly past him. Dust let out a yell and dropped the dagger he would have killed (or tried to kill) Nightmare with.

Upon realizing what was going on he called to the guards, who instantly rushed to grab Dust. Dust attempted to protect himself against them, slashing one in the chest before being grabbed by the others.

Everyone watched wide eyed at the scene. Cross however pulled the sword out of his shoulder once the ghost saw what had happened and stopped paying attention. He used a leg to knock him onto his back.

Nightmare looked towards him and noticed his injury. "The competition is over!" He yelled, quickly making his way down to Cross.

The other monster got up and limped away. Nightmare scanned Cross' shoulder as Cross glared at Dust. "Get back to the castle and have that treated..." Nightmare ordered, a flash of concern shining in his eyes.

Cross nodded and began to walk away, Nightmare watching him go before turning to his guards.

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