The Awakening From a Living Nightmare/A New Day

***A New Day*** is the first part of *The Awakening From a Living Nightmare*.

## Plot

*[The scene opened up in Gearo's lab. Within the DNA sampling chamber was a Nemuina almost identical to Pesky Dust, but with blue eyes and a black and white dress. Gearo worked at the control console before speaking into the microphone.]*

Gearo: Are you ready, Mananofy?

Mananofy: Define "ready."

Gearo: ...I don't think I will.

*[Gearo activated the sampling chamber and Mananofy was briefly zapped with a white streak of electricity. Gearo curiously eyed him soon after. A screen near Gearo lit up with "DNA Sample Acquired: Nemuina."]*

Gearo: Well, that went a lot better than I expected.

Mananofy: What were you expecting?

Gearo: I was expecting-

*[The machine started to backfire, more white electricity blasting Mananofy who proceeded to cry out in pain.]*

Gearo: ...*That*.

*[Mananofy was consumed in a pale red flame as his body turned into a pitch black, his hands notably turning into grey bone. Gearo simply hid behind his console as Mananofy's screams echoed throughout the lab.]*

*[Late in the morning, Alexis stepped into the Nomaly home, taking a deep breath as she closed the door. She walked up the stairs where she met Mason in the hallway.]*

Mason: Where have you been?

Alexis: I, um... Met someone.

Mason: An all-night meeting?

Alexis: Mhm. Don't tell Alan, he might get jealous.

Mason: You sure that's the best joke to make right now?

*[Alexis' face dropped and she sighed.]*

Alexis: Yeah. You're right. Where's he at, anyway? I didn't see the Scion outside.

Mason: He and Chloe are... trying to sort things out. With all the stressful stuff lately, they've been trying to do things for each other. Do something one of them wants, do something for the other. They left to go see *Phantom of the Opera* earlier.

*[Alexis nodded then headed off towards her room. Mason turned to her again.]*

Mason: Who'd you meet with?

Alexis: ...A Valkyrie.

*[Alexis entered her room and closed the door, leaving Mason with a confused look.]*

*[The scene cut back to Gearo's lab. He got up from behind the console and noticed the DNA sampling chamber was broken, plumes of dust escaping from it, prompting him to groan.]*

Gearo: Great. I have to fix it. *Again*.

*[Gearo looked down at the console, seeing the Simplicitrix's core glowing green before it changed to red. He then looked back to the chamber, studying it.]*

Gearo: ...Hm. Maybe my losses cut themselves for once. I don't imagine he could've survived that.

*[Gearo grabbed the Simplicitrix core and left the lab. The scene panned back and revealed the boney hand of Mananofy reaching out of the smoke and landing on the floor, causing red dust to fly into the air and mix with the smoke.]*

*[The front door of the Nomaly house opened and closed as Alan, as Intimachi, and Chloe returned. Intimachi walked through to the kitchen, whistling a song from the musical which slowed to a stop as he turned to Alexis with a confused look.]*

Alexis: ...What?

Intimachi: ...Nothing.

*[Intimachi tapped his chest, becoming human and the Stabilized Simplicitrix appeared on his arm again. He continued his path to the fridge to get a water as Chloe and Devin entered the room.]*

Devin: How was it?

Chloe: Pretty good, actually, especially for a first musical experience. Though, *someone* kept quietly singing along to *every single song the entire time.*

*[Alan closed the door and turned to see everyone looking at him.]*

Alan: ...OH, you mean me. Yeah, that'll happen for every musical.

Chloe: Didn't realize you were that passionate about it.

Alan: Are you kidding? If I didn't have this stupid alien thing going on, the world would instead know me across *several* musicals.

Mason: *You* can sing?

*[Alan put on a fake offended look as he gave a joking gasp.]*

Alan: ...*I wanna be in the room where it happens, the room where it happens, the room where it happens. Loathing, unadulterated loathing, for your face, your voice, your clothing. I didn't wanna be a Half-Blood, I didn't ask to be a hero seaking praise, being a Half-Blood is scary and mostly gets you killed in many nasty ways.*

Mason: *[annoyed]* Okay, I get it.

*[Alan put his arm around Mason and proceeded to sing louder.]*

Alan: *DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING? SINGING THE SONG OF ANGRY MEN? IT IS THE MUSIC OF A PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT BE SLAVES AGAIN!*

*[Mason angrily pushed Alan off of him, only for the latter to easily play it off by spinning around then stomping his right foot to the ground twice.]*

Alan: *Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for.*

Mason: Trust me, the moment I'm waiting for is the one where you shut up.

Alan: *Been searching in the dark, your sweat soaking through the floor.*

Mason: I get it, you *can* sing.

Alan: *And buried in your bones, there's an ache that you can't ignore. Taking your breath, stealing your mind, and all that is real is left behi-*

*[Alan was cut off in surprise as he fell back, finding Mason had shot webbing onto his mouth, causing laughter from the other three. Annoyed, Alan activated Igknight's powers to melt the webbing.]*

Mason: Never. Do that. Again.

Alan: Fine. Uncultured fuck.

*[Alan walked out of the kitchen past Mason, but then silently approached him from behind and whispered.]*

Alan: *You ain't never had a friend like me.*

*[Mason's hair stood on end before he lunged at Alan, tackling him as the two became encased in a cartoony ball of smoke. The two fought into the living room where the smoke disappeared temporarily as Diamondhead held Mason up by his tail before the smoke came back.]*

Alexis: With everything since Alan left, I was starting to miss the goofy side.

*[Red Harrowing was shown trying to escape Mason's grasp.]*

Devin: It came back pretty quickly, too.

*[Mason tried to get at Bottom Feeder, who was holding him in place by his his forehead.]*

Chloe: ...Something's gonna come around and fuck it all up.

Devin: Yep.

Alexis: Totally.

*[The three left the room as Mason and Alan kept at it.]*

Wombastic: YOU'RE A GOOD FOR NOTHING NINCOMPOOP!

Mason: Who the hell says "nincompoop?"

Wombastic: ME! I SAY NINCOMPOOP! IF YOU WERE LISTENING, YOU'D KNOW THAT, YOU HAIRY, SMELLY, MONKEY-MAN!

Mason: Wrong. The answer is only nincompoops say nincompoop.

Wombastic: OH, YEAH? WELL, IF THAT'S TRUE, THEN YOU'RE A NINCOMPOOP FOR SAYING NINCOMPOOP, TOO!

Mason: Wh- NO! THAT'S NOT- YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO FLIP THE SCRIPT ON ME LIKE THAT!

*[The two literally butted heads while growling.]*

*[Later that night, the lot of them were all sleeping in their respective rooms and beds. As Chloe slept, red dust formed around her, causing her to frown before waking up, gasping, not seeing the red dust as it disappeared. She then jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see Alan had woken up as well.]*

Alan: You alright?

Chloe: ...Y-Yeah. I'm fine.

*[Alan cocked an eyebrow, noticing she obviously wasn't that fine.]*

Alan: Hey. Our thing isn't just going to dances or musicals, we've gotta be better about talking to each other. So. What's wrong?

*[Chloe hesitated, tears forming in her eyes.]*

Chloe: It... It was *him*.

*[Alan let out a quiet gasp, his eyes starting to shake. He then looked down at the Stabilized Simplicitrix.]*

Alan: M-Maybe I could... *[pulls up Pesky Dust's hologram]* ...make it easier.

Chloe: No.

*[Chloe put her hand on Alan's, surprising him as he looked back to her.]*

Chloe: I... I want to get through it naturally. *Normally*. *[shivers at her own use of the word]* Despite his use of the word, things haven't been "normal" for ages. This may not be the best thing to choose, but... I want at least *something* normal, again.

*[Alan thought silently for a moment.]*

Alan: Are you sure?

Chloe: *[pauses before nodding]* Yes.

*[Alan smiled at her but then his face fell as he looked past her to the window.]*

Chloe: What is it?

*[Alan's brow furrowed, seeing red dust particles by the window.]*

Alan: ...Stay here.

*[Alan slowly crawled over Chloe out of the bed, getting closer to the window. Looking out, he jumped back as he was surprised by Mananofy appearing on the other side before phasing through the window. Mananofy shot out a concentrated blast of red dust, to which Alan blocked with his Stabilized Simplicitrix palm. As the dust hit his palm, it suddenly dispersed around him then concentrated again behind him, continuing its trail until it hit Chloe. Alan turned around, his face gaining a look of anger and fear as the dust put Chloe to sleep, her falling to her side on the bed. He violently turned back, seeing Mananofy was gone. Still angry, he ran to Alexis' room and forcefully woke her up.]*

Alexis: Hey, hey! What's-

Alan: Keep an eye on Chloe!

Alexis: Wh-

Alan: Just keep an eye on her! I need to take care of something!

*[The scene changed to outside the house as a red flash was seen in an upstairs window. The window suddenly shattered as Wildmutt jumped through it. Growling and roaring, he sniffed around before running off into the woods.]*