Nightmask Vol. 1 1

"Of course, I don't listen. I just keep running. Running in darkness."

### **Synopsis**

In his dream, Keith Remsen runs naked through endless darkness. Dreams never bothered him, not even his worst nightmares, but this dream seems to go on forever. Although he seems alone, Keith knows there's something in this darkness, and if he doesn't keep running, it will find him. Keith's dreams are interrupted by a bright light, and Keith realizes there are things worse than darkness. He tries to get away, but when he hears Teddy(his sister)'s voice, he leaps into the light's blinding embrace.

Back in the waking world, Dr. Lita Mercado rushes into Keith's room, where Keith lies in a coma and the wheelchair-bound Teddy is left dazzled by the blind flash of a unexplained astronomical phenomena. Just as Dr. Lucian Ballad rushes up from the psychiatric ward with radio news about the White Event, all present notice that Keith has finally come out of his coma. Keith then asks about his parents. It is only then that he remembers the last time he saw them, when they were all at the Dulles International Airport. Keith has gotten an internship at the Kleinmann Institute, a world renown dream research center run by Horst Kleinmann. None of them paid much attention when a man set a heavy bag down beside Keith's luggage. As he recalls the exploding terminal, Keith realizes that terrible memory was what he had been running from throughout his coma. Keith breaks down, believing all that to be his fault.

As he dreams later that night, Keith again finds himself back at the airport, only this time it's also the hospital, dusty, deserted, and covered with cobwebs. Keith realizes the dream has never been like this before, and then hears a voice sobbing in the distance. At the top of a dirt-clogged escalator, Keith calls out to the man, only to see him being grappled by tentacles climbing out of the darkness below. The stranger says that the Gnome will never allow him to escape; he will have to die to protect the Gnome's treasure. When Keith manages to free the stranger, the man recognizes him, and the scene changes around them, becoming as he was the day of the bombing. As Keith recognizes the man as the bomber, he shouts in rage. Large, hairy, inhuman hands grip Keith's shoulders as a rasping voice addresses him. Keith is awakened by Teddy's screaming. Teddy also reveals that she had experienced the exact same dream. A commotion draws their attention to the hall; another of the victims from that bombing had just had a heart attack.

The next day they talk to Dr. Ballad. Ballad believes that commotion of the man having a heart attack next door probably guided the pair's dreams, while the belief that this man had been the bomber smacks of simple wish fulfilment. Teddy shows Ballad a drawing she made of the man in their dreams, just as Dr. Mercado appears with a folder from records. The folder contains an enlarged copy of the man's passport photo which matches the drawing she had made perfectly.

Another dream, this time of Lita Mercado, who is about to kiss the man of her dreams when Keith accidentally knocks over a tray of champagne glasses. Teddy pulls Keith out of the dream. Dr. Ballad is concerned with the fantastic, and disturbing, readings from the E.E.G. and C.A.T. scans. As they all drive back to the hospital, Ballad explains Keith's powers. All are surprised when Keith passes out, again drawn into a dream. Keith finds himself in a cold cemetery, he enters a skeleton-filled mausoleum. He hears the voice of the Gnome. The Gnome brings down his hammer on side of beef as he chastises a man bound by tubes to life support. The Gnome states he can't help but feel he want to kill the man, but that it is more important that he live. Keith's noise is heard by the Gnome. The Gnome sends animal carcasses flying toward Keith, piling them on top of him. Keith transforms himself into a black-clad figure with a white burst of light on his chest and a large black mask. The two struggle, until the Gnome is choking Remsen. That point is when Teddy brought him out of it. Though he only suffered mild shock this time, it could be worse next time says Ballard. He suggests that they work in lab conditions, under medical supervision to minimize the risks. The conversation is cut short when Dr. Frey, the bomber's attending surgeon, comes in to protest the pulling of his patient's records. From that conversation Keith learned that the bomber was still alive and that there was no way Ballad was going to allow Keith to enter his dreams if he could die at any second.

In the Hospital Director's office, Lucian and Kate discuss the Remsen's. As he leaves the office he's grabbed by Lita, who says that Keith has disappeared. In a wing of the hospital, Keith lays with a dictionary beside him, and waits for the dream. Eventually his scar begins to glow, casting shadows over him that become the Nightmask costume. He is slowly drawn into a dream of a blasted, arid, ruined cityscape, devoid of life except for vultures. He follows them, and finds the bomber crawling through the sand, while the Gnome eggs him on. The Gnome spurs him on, driving him to a flowing fountain. Keith interrupts. The Gnome retorts that he has survived long enough to provide a final chance at the intruder, and that this time there is no chance of escape. Keith reveals he knows the gnome to be Doctor Kleinmann. The Gnome is shocked into stillness. As Keith speaks, the Gnome shrinks to the size of an ordinary man in a technically-advanced suit. It is only then that Kleinmann recognizes the young man as the son he thought the Remsens to be sending to spy him. Remsen lashes out. At the same time, a rumbling comes from the distance, and a mushroom cloud grows on the near horizon. Kleinmann start to forbid the bomber to die, but the man says he can forbid nothing, for he has grown beyond the Gnome's wrath. He falls forward toward the water, and it becomes a swirling abyss. The two run as the world is sucked into the abyss, symbolic of the man's death. Keith saves Kleinmann, determined to see the killer face justice. Kleinmann begs Keith to use his gift to save them both, but without Teddy he isn't strong enough. Kleinmann is pulled into the abyss, but Keith awakens with a start. Ballad says that, since Teddy broke the dream world's hold on Keith, it may have saved Kleinmann too. He and Teddy consider the best way that gift can be used.

In Zurich, two technicians speak amongst themselves. Kleinmann will recover. As for the equipment, blown up in the strain of recovering him, they will rebuild.

### **Creators**

* Writer/Creator: **Archie Goodwin**
* Penciler/Creator: **Tony Salmons**
* Inker: **Bret Blevins**
* Letterer: **Joe Rosen**
* Colorist: **Andy Yanchus**
* Editor: **Michael Higgins**
* Editor in Chief: **Jim Shooter**

### **Characters**

**Protagonist(s)**

* Keith Remsen **(First appearance)**

**Deuteragonist(s)**

* Teddy Remsen **(First appearance)**
* Dr. Lita Mercado **(First appearance)**
* Dr. Lucian Ballard **(First appearance)**

**Tritagonist(s)**

* Lenore Remsen **(dream)** **(First appearance)**
* Adam Remsen **(dream)** **(First appearance)**
* The bomber **(First appearance)**
* Dr. Frey **(First appearance)**
* Hospital Director **(First appearance)**

**Antagonist(s)**

* The Gnome (Horst Kleinmann) **(First appearance)**

### **Locations**

* Hospital
* Washington Dulles International Airport
* Zurich