The Awakening From a Living Nightmare/Hero

***Hero*** is the third part of *The Awakening From a Living Nightmare*.

## Hero

*[Alan stared down the nightmare images of his once-fallen foes.]*

Alan: Pride. Go.

Pride: What?

Alan: These are my nightmares. I need to take care of them.

Pride: But-

Alan: You can't be harmed by the nightmare. You're immune to the dreamscape. It'll be easiest if you try to find Chloe while I handle this.

Pride: ...Are you sure?

Alan: Go. *Now*.

*[Pride hesitated before flying up into the air, then going back towards the ground, phasing through it and out of sight. A smirk came over Richard's face.]*

Richard: That was one of the stupidest choices you could've made. Your only backup is gone now.

Alan: On the contrary, having him go search for her while I fight you was one of the *smartest* things I've ever done. And since I know you're all nigthmares... *[primes the Stabilized Simplicitrix's core]* I can kill you *without* remorse.

*[Alan hit down on the device. In a red flash, his flesh becan to decay before his body was covered in a brown and tan overcoat. Grey pants and brown boots covered his lower body and he gained brown cloves. A strap with three red canisters appeared on his chest. Before his face could finish decaying, a white plague doctor mask formed over it with red lenses, and he bore a cowboy hat with the Simplicitrix on it which flashed red. Looking up, Chemarro eyed the villains. He pulled out his gun and twirled it around before putting it up to his mask, allowing a high pitched whistle of pressurized air sound as he filled the gun.]*

*[Chemarro outstretched his arm, firing off a bullet that created a deep indigo colored explosion, causing all the villains to fly up into the air and remain there. He fired another of the same bullets underneath him, causing himself to fly into the air, then fired off a third bullet behind him, propelling him forward and kicking Neo back down to the ground. Chemarro went to follow her, but found himself suspended before being thrown into the ground by an unseen force, then pulled back into the air and into the clutches of Negative Gravattack.]*

*[Negative Gravattack's smirk left when Chemarro, in another red flash, swithced over to the large and purple Quaker Waker. Quaker Waker's back spires stretched out and around Negative Gravattack's arms, violently vibrating and causing the two to fall to the ground, Negative Gravattack badly damaged. Quaker Waker stood, then heard the roar of Hazel. He turned to see Hazel injecting his own arms with lightning Dust. Hazel then rushed Quaker Waker, throwing a punch that didn't land as another red flash was seen. Hazel looked around confused, before turning around completely to see the small, snake-like Charade on the ground behind him. Angered, Hazel fired off blasts of lightning at Charade, who dodged each one before spinning around in a circle and growing much larger, becoming a form more akin to a Chinese dragon.]*

*[Hazel jumped up, charging his fists with electricity as he went to hit Charade, who simply swatted him away with his tail, knocking him far off into the deep sludge. Bullets suddenly fired off at Charade, who turned to see Mercury kicking in his direction with his boots firing bullets at him. Mercury fired one at the ground to jump into the air towards Charade. Charade blasted fire at Mercury, who proceeded to block with his legs. The fire burned away the majority of Mercury's pants, revealing his metal legs keeping him from being harmed as he landed on Charade's face and fired point blank, bouncing off of the harmed dragon.]*

*[Flying up in the air, Mercury turned as he reached the peak of his upward climb, then shot back down, only to be grabbed mid-air by the red-armored TenTen flying up to meet him. TenTen twirled Mercury around before flinging him towards the ground. A compartment on TenTen's arm opened and several rockets flew out, hitting Mercury dead-on. TenTen found himself pushed back by a blast of fire against his chest. He looked and saw Cinder flying up to meet him, her eye lit up with the power of the Fall Maiden.]*

*[TenTen and Cinder rushed each other, the latter finding herself hitting the ground as yellow elecitricity flashed over her body. She groaned and sat up, seeing the blurry, staticy figure of the small, black and yellow Black Lightning in front of her. Cinder scowled and activated her Maiden powers again, floating into the air using wind. Vibrating in place, Black Lightning shot off to his right, running around in a circle around Cinder's cyclone. The more Black Lightning ran around, the faster he became, and the more elecricity he generated. Cinder increased her power, attempting to blast away the rodent. However, the sound of thunder caused her to turn, her anger changing to worry as she saw the red glow of eyes and a Simplicitrix symbol in the clouds around her. Cinder's wind and Black Lightning's electricity were absorbed into the cloud and she was struck down to the ground, tumbling to the side with heavy scar marks.]*

*[The cloud, revealing itself to be the living tornado Stormform, looked off ot see Emerald aiming her weapons at him. Stormform's lightning hand reached up and touched the Simplicitrix, changing into the green and thin Czechmate. Emerald began firing at Czechmate, who dodged each blast before spinning around and roundhouse kicking the air, kicking dwon the real Emerald near him, revealing the other to be an illusion. Laying on the ground, Emerald quickly grabbed up her weapon and pointed it at Czechmate who kicked it into the air out of her hand. Czechmate smiled down at her before moving his head slightly to the side, letting her weapon come back down and the blade end land right in her chest.]*

*[Czechmate dodged another attack as he turned his head to see Neo having got back up, slashing her blade-wielding parasol at him, the alien dodging each attack. Czechmate jumped up, attempting to knock Neo down from above but ended up landing on the umbrella as she opened it up. Neo forced him back, with Czechmate using the force to his advantage by jumping towards a tower of books. He began climbing, with Neo following. As Czechmate got higher, books fell off towards Neo who blocked them with her umbrella. Reaching the top, Czechmate jumped up and did cartwheels in the air. Neo eached the top as well, and opened her umbrella. Suddenly, the wind picked up and Neo was swept away, only to be abruptly stopped as she turned to see Czechmate having grabbed the umbrella. Czechmate then flung Neo back to the ground, knocking her out as she tumbled. Czechmate jumped down and smugly smiled down at her before dropping the umbrella.]*

*[Czechmate's smile left suddenly. Footsteps were heard quickly approaching. Czechmate speedily spun around and transformed into the metallic, bug-like Rustic, using his arm to block the blade of Adam Taurus. Rustic forced Adam back, then changed into the mustard-colored Blisteroo. Blisteroo jumped and kicked at Adam, a fiery aura forming over his foot as it came in contact with Adam's blade. Blisteroo kept attempting to hit Adam, each of his kicks, punches, and tail whips infused with fire, only for Adam to block each blow. Adam then kicked Blisteroo and jumped over him, landing and gripping the hilt of his sheathed sword. Blisteroo gathered himself, turning to Adam. Alan grinned, and his hair, along with the red of his mask, outfit, and sword, vibrantly glowed as he unsheathed the blade and sent out a rapid wave of energy towards Blisteroo.]*

*[Blisteroo narrowly dodged the energy blast, with it managing to singe the fur on the end of his tail. Catching Adam off guard in his dodge, Blisteroo landed a fiery kick to Adam's chest, knocking him back and causing him to drop his sword. Adam sat up, his mask gone and his SDC scar on his eye revealled. He looked at Blisteroo from afar. Angrily, Blisteroo charged up his whole body with flames. Blisteroo began walking to Adam, which changed to a run, then to hopping, then sprinting on all fours, then finally him cartwheeling into a fiery ball towards Adam, blasting him far and away into the dark sludge. Blisteroo changed back to Alan, breathing heavily before turning around to face Salem.]*

Salem: Quite impressive. But how do you intend on continuing your victory?

Alan: ...If that dickhead with the cyan watch can defeat you... Then so can I.

*[Gathering his remaining strength and energy, Alan hit the core of the Stabilized Simplicitrix. Alan was split into four of himself, each with a different color aura surrounding them: green, yellow, red, and blue. Each of the four became smaller in size, and their body type changed to be a bit pudgier, with the yellow and blue becoming more feminine. The green-aura'd Alan gained pale green skin, and his hair changed into a flower atop his head. Blades of grass grew over his body, as well as a colorful, floral necklace that bore the Simplicitrix. His eyes opened, being green.]*

*[The yellow-aura'd Alan gained pale yellow skin and orange hair. Her outfit changed into a pale blue dress with sun and cloud patterns, as well as brown sandals and a blue wristband that held the Simplicitrix. Her eyes opened, being yellow.]*

*[The red-aura'd Alan gained pale red skin, and his naturally colored brown hair. His outfit changed to a brown shirt with fingerless black gloves, dark grey overalls, black boots, and a red hood. The Simplicitrix appeared on the pocket of his overalls. His eyes opened, being red.]*

*[The blue-aura'd Alan gained pale blue skin, and white hair. She gained a blue jacket, indigo pants, black boots, and teal gloves. She wore a scarf with pale cyan, blue, and purple stripes, as well as a black top hat with a blue stripe and the Simplicitrix on it. Her eyes opened, being blue.]*

*[Salem stared at the four, small aliens, collectively known as Season's Greetings, quite unamused.]*

Salem: *That's* how you intend to defeat me?

*[The green Season's Greetings clapped his hands together, causing several tree roots to sprout out of the horrific sludge and wrap around Salem, and a storm cloud formed above her.]*

Season's Greetings *(Fons)*: SPRING!

*[The others followed suit in the clapping.]*

Season's Greetings *(Aestas)*: SUMMER!

Season's Greetings *(Cadere)*: AUTUMN!

Season's Greetings *(Heims)*: WINTER!

*[Aestas spawned intense heat that burned Salem's pale skin, causing an additional stinging sensation when contrasted with the pre-existing rain. Cadere manipulated the wind around the rain, ensuring it would constantly be swirling around and hitting Salem. Heims manipulated the clouds, causing hail and sleet to form within it alongside the rain, using them as ice projectiles against the witch.]*

Salem: You REALLY think that mere discomfort will hurt me?!

Season's Greetings *(Aestas)*: That was just us warming up!

*[Each member of Season's Greetings formed an energy ball of their respective color within their hands. All four of them simultaneously launched their magic orbs at Salem, and in a colorful flash, their weather manipulation disappeared along with her. Season's Greetings flashed red before becoming human. Alan looked to the side, seeing Richard sitting there, watching.]*

Richard: Shall we settle this?

Alan: Gladly.

*[Chloe sat in her room, the door locked still. A knock came, startling her.]*

Alan: Chloe? Are you alright? You're not really acting nor-

Chloe: DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT ***FUCKING*** WORD!

Alan: ...Like yourself.

Chloe: ***ME?!***

*[Chloe went to the door and swung it open, much to the surprise of Alan.]*

Chloe: ***WHAT ABOUT YOU?! YOU AND ALEXIS HAVEN'T DATED IN YEARS! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DATING ME! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME NOT ACTING LIKE MYSELF?!***

*[A third voice spoke up after approaching.]*

Samael: Chloe, please-

Chloe: You get the ***fuck*** away from me.

Samael: Dear-

Chloe: **I said get the fuck away.**

Samael: B-

Chloe: **FUCKING GET *AWAY FROM ME!***

*[Chloe pushed Samael back as he tried to get closer, causing him to tumble down the stairs. The sound of his neck snapping as he hit the floor echoed throughout the house. Alan stared in shock before slowly turning to Chloe.]*

Alan: J-Chloe?

*[Chloe was silent, staring down at Samael in a mix of shock and fear. She ran down the stairs, and attempted to get past his body, only for her to trip over it and fall. Chloe turned to get up, seeing the others enter in confusion, and Ember frozen at the sight of her dead father. Still speechless, Chloe managed to stand up and run out the front door of the house, getting the equivalent to a block away within the dreamscape where she collapsed to her knees, tearing up.]*

Chloe: I... I don't... I-I... I don't under... I want this to stop...

Pride *(voice)*: Chloe.

*[Chloe looked around, startled by the voice. She looked around before seeing Pride's eye glowing in the darkness.]*

Chloe: Oh, no. Not you, too.

Pride: This is quite unorthodox, I know, but... trust me. I'm not part of this nightmare.

Chloe: "Nightmare?"

Pride: That's what's happening. You're in a nightmare enduced by an Umbr- ...An alien.

Chloe: Like Pesky Dust?

Pride: *Worse*.

Chloe: ...Come out, then, if you're not a part of it.

Pride: I *am* out. I'm just invisible aside from my eye because the form I've taken may frighten you even more.

Chloe: Please. *Please*, Pride. If that's actually you, and you want me to trust you. Show me.

*[Pride waited a moment before sighing.]*

Pride: Idiot.

*[Pride became visible, showing off his true form. Chloe stared at him for a moment before sighing with relief.]*

Chloe: Thank fuck.

Pride: What?

Chloe: You said this is a nightmare? Nightmares are fears, but... I never imagined you looking like this, and I've never really been *that* scared of you. So... You *are* real.

Pride: ...Okay, maybe *not* so much of an idiot. Now, let's-

Alan: Chloe?

*[Pride and Chloe turned to see Alan had followed Chloe outside.]*

Pride: Don't listen to that one. That's the Nightmare Alan. We need to go and find the real one.

Nightmare Alan: She's not going anywhere.

*[Nightmare Alan primed the Simplicitrix, readying himself. Sighing, Pride readied himself as well.]*