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Murderousmanic18 — Dreaming Awake Chapter Twenty-Two
Published: 2014-08-07 00:32:48 +0000 UTC; Views: 416; Favourites: 1; Downloads: 0
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Warning: The following contains violence, coarse language, and excessive amounts of awesomeness. Please prepare your mind for blowing.Chapter Twenty-two
Eff jumps at Shmee and they fly into the right wall. Shmee kicks Eff in his stomach and sends him into the left wall. D-boy tackles the bear to the floor. He slams his fuzzy little fist into the Styrofoam chin. D-boy tumbles across the floor.
Shmee jumps to his feet at the same time as the Doughboys. They glare at each other before the Doughboys charge.
Shmee meets them head-on. He blocks all of their attacks with his arms then falls onto his back to dodge. He catches himself on his hands and slams his feet towards the Doughboys. They jump out of the way and fall onto Shmee, fists first. He blocks with his forearms and shoves them back.
Shmee does three backflips away and lands on his haunches. The Doughboys wipe their mouths and charge him simultaneously. They jump in the air, either side of Shmee, and drop kick him. He tries to block but the force sends him back a couple feet. The Doughboys take advantage of his slight disorientation and swing at him. They connect with his chin and send him tumbling down the floor, stopping next to Squee.
“Shmee!” he exclaims. Shmee sits up, wiping his mouth, and glares at the Doughboys.
“Where’s your cocky attitude now, teddy bear?” Eff taunts.
Shmee simply snarls at him.
“You won’t be able to protect your precious boy with your pathetic skills,” D-boy warns.
Shmee’s expression grows steadily more distressed.
“Squee! Get out of here!” he barks.
Squee jumps to his feet but it’s already too late. The zombies are behind him and the Doughboys are charging him.
Krik and Dillon try to grab him. Squee stumbles forward, covering his head, and narrowly dodges their hands. Then he falls to the floor, just barely dodging the Doughboys. He scrambles to his feet, runs down the hall, and presses his back to the wall.
The Doughboys stand up and glare at him. They charge him and jump, their arms pulled back. Squee stiffens immediately but doesn’t move. He holds his breath and steels his nerves. When they’re only inches away, he ducks, and they smash through the wall completely.
Meanwhile, not very far away, Johnny, Devi, and Tenna race through the halls as they look around for Squee. They look in every room they run by, but they’re all empty. Along the way, Johnny explains to them how Squee has the same imagination as him.
“So, wait. You and Squee both have endless imaginations?” Devi asks.
“That’s what I got from what the Doughboys told me,” Johnny replies.
“And because of that, the Nightmare wants to keep you both as slaves,” Tenna concludes.
“Right. We’d be like endless snacks,” he nods.
“What does one have to do to have endless imagination?” Devi asks.
“Not sure. We’re probably born with it,” he shrugs.
“That’s probably why he’s had Shmee for such a long time,” Tenna muses, “Shmee is part of the Daydream, right? They must want to protect him.”
“Why didn’t the Daydream protect you?” Devi asks.
“I think they might have tried,” Johnny mutters, “I think Nailbunny might’ve been part of the Daydream. But he failed.”
“Why?” Tenna asks.
“Because,” he sighs, “he had to deal with the Doughboys.”
They’re silent for a few seconds.
“We’ve gotta find Squee,” Devi grunts.
They immediately speed up.
They run silently for a few minutes, completely focusing on the search. Suddenly, Johnny slides to an abrupt stop. Devi and Tenna nearly run into him.
“What’s wrong?” Devi asks.
“I hear something,” he replies.
“What?” Tenna asks.
“I’m… not sure,” he mutters, “it kind of sounds like… fighting but… softer…?”
“Huh?” Devi grunts.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” Johnny snaps, “just stay quiet.”
They walk forward cautiously, Johnny straining his ears to try and figure out where the noise is coming from. It sounds close but he can’t locate it.
Suddenly a section of the right wall a few feet ahead of them blows apart. Mr. Fuck and Psycho Doughboy fly through the rubble and slam into the left wall. Simultaneously Squee falls to the floor. He sits up, groaning and rubbing his head. He hasn’t noticed Johnny, Devi, or Tenna yet.
“Got you now, fag-lit!” Krik shouts as he jumps through the busted wall. He lifts his foot and attempts to stomp on Squee. Squee dodges quickly, rolling across the floor. He pushes off on his hands and jumps to his feet, his back to Johnny, Devi, and Tenna.
Dillon joins Krik and they try to punch Squee. He dodges quickly, moving to the right and left. Before they have another chance to attack, Shmee front flips through the hole, spins in the air, and kicks them both in their chins. Then he lands on Squee’s head. That’s when he notices, Squee is panting really hard.
“Shit,” Shmee grunts, “you’re starting to suffer the side effects of having your imagination siphoned.”
“I’m fine, Shmee,” Squee argues, “it’s nothing, really.”
“Please. We both know you have way more stamina than this,” he scoffs.
He looks behind them and smirks. “Well, at least we’re not alone.”
“What?” Squee questions and looks back. “Oh.”
Johnny, Devi, and Tenna stare at him with surprise and bewilderment. Squee starts to turn around, to face them, when Dillon jumps to his feet and swings his fist at him. Squee senses it immediately. Without turning around, he jumps back and barely dodges his fist. Johnny catches it and Dillon blanches.
With one quick jerk, he twists Dillon’s completely around and throws him to the floor.
Meanwhile, mid-dodge, Squee stumbles back and nearly falls over, but catches himself on the wall.
“See? You’re body’s not working right,” Shmee scolds, “I’ve gotta finish this quickly.”
“You shouldn’t… push yourself…” Squee pants. It’s getting harder for him to breathe.
“Take your own fucking advice!” he barks.
Squee slides down the wall and sits on the floor. “Jeez. No… wonder Johnny was always so… depressed… if he had to feel like this… all the time.”
Johnny smiles weakly at him as he takes out his knives.
“You don’t mind if I join in, do you, Shmee?” he asks.
“I suppose not,” Shmee sighs.
“Good,” he snarls. He picks up Dillon by his hair and slices clean through his forehead. He lets the even-more-lifeless body drop to the floor before tossing the severed head cap across the hall.
Krik is next. He tries to run away but Johnny quickly grabs him by the back of his shirt, slams him to the wall, and drives his knife through his head. He twists it around a bit before letting him fall. Then he turns to face the Doughboys. Both are on their feet and look very amused.
“You look good, Nny,” Eff smirks.
“We missed you, you know,” D-boy mutters.
“Fuck off,” Johnny scoffs.
“But it’s true,” Eff insists, “despite everything you were always a good friend.”
“Yeah,” D-boy agrees, “so how about for old time’s sake, you surrender yourself and the boy.”
“I told you before,” Johnny snarls, “I will not allow the Nightmare to lay even one slimy, little appendage on him.”
The Doughboys suddenly look incredibly angry. But Johnny is unfazed.
“You can’t beat us!” Eff barks.
“You’re nothing! You’re all nothing but weak, fucking humans!” D-boy snaps.
“And we’ll win!” they conclude simultaneously.
They race at Johnny. He lifts his knives, ready for them. But then they suddenly fly past him. His breath catches when he realizes where they’re going. He spins around and races after them.
Squee’s eyes widen. He tries to lift himself up but his legs won’t cooperate. Shmee snarls and jumps off his head. He swings his legs and aims to kick the Doughboys. But they dodge and slam their fists into his chin. He cries out in pain and lands hard on the floor.
Squee doesn’t have time to worry about his bear. When he looks back at the Doughboys, he sees that Eff’s left arm and D-boy’s right arm have suddenly changed into a nest of black, swirling tentacles. They’re appendages of the Nightmare!
He freezes up with fear at the sight of the appendages. He’s so scared, he can’t even squeal.
The Doughboys lash the black tentacles at him. But just before they can connect, Johnny jumps forward and lands on them, driving his knives through their heads.
The tendrils disappear and Squee sighs with relief.
The Doughboys gag as their Styrofoam makeshift skulls start tearing down the middle. Johnny pulls his knives out and picks them up by their heads. They stare at him with tired eyes.
“I told you,” he sighs, “not one appendage.”
He squeezes his fists and their heads shatter. They lifeless bodies drop to the floor but before they can even touch it, they disappear into black smoke that immediately dissipates.
“You did it,” Devi breathes, “you won.”
“He did,” Shmee grunts, “well done.”
“Shmee!” Squee exclaims. He scrambles across his floor, his legs still refusing to work, and picks up his unmoving bear.
“I’m fine,” Shmee smiles, “thank you for letting me siphon your imagination. It felt very… warm. When I leave this plane, the imagination I’ve been borrowing to remain here will be returned to you. And the imagination I siphoned to enter in the first place will come back over time. Probably after a couple seconds. You do have amazing imagination after all.”
Squee smiles at him. Slowly he notices his stamina coming back. He places Shmee on his head and stands up on shaky legs. After a couple seconds, he can stand up straight with no problem. He smiles and sighs with relief.
“So,” Tenna muses, “what exactly happened?”
Squee smiles at her. “Shmee fought the Doughboys. He was amazing.”
“They’re powerful,” Shmee mutters.
“How come he was moving?” Devi asks.
“He just borrowed my imagination,” he shrugs, “but that’s not important. The Doughboys are gone now, right? So now we only have two minions left.”
“Revered Meat and Zoli,” Johnny mutters.
“We can probably finish this quicker if we split up,” Tenna points out.
“Split up? That’s a horrible idea!” Devi snaps.
“It’s fine,” Johnny grunts, “you can handle Reverend Meat. He’s not as strong as the Doughboys. I’m going after Zoli.”
He looks at Squee very sternly. “You go with the girls. We’ll all meet up later.”
With that he races down the hall, almost like he knows exactly where he’s going.
“He can’t beat Lady Zoli,” Dillon scoffs as he puts the top of his head back on. “She’s way too strong.”
“Shut up,” Tenna grunts and kicks him in the gut. He groans and falls to the floor.
“Fine. We’ll go after Reverend Meat,” Devi sighs.
Squee looks at her questionably. She smiles and nods down the hall, where Johnny disappeared.
“You go after him. Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid,” she says. He smiles and runs down the hall. The girls stare after him until he disappears around a corner.
“Now, how do we find Reverend Meat?” Devi asks.
“We ask these douchebags, obviously,” Tenna replies as she picks up Dillon by the front of his shirt and slams him into the wall. “Where’s Reverend Meat?”
“I don’t know,” he grunts.
She knees him hard in the groin. He gasps in pain and doubles over but she holds him up. “Where is Reverend Meat?”
“We really don’t know,” Krik says as he sits up. “We don’t know our entire way around this building. And the Nightmare minions don’t share information with lackeys like us.”
“So basically you’re useless,” Devi grunts.
“Fuck you, babe,” Krik groans.
“Whatever. We’ll find him on our own,” she concludes and turns around. “Come on, Tenna.”
The girls run down the hall in the opposite direction of Johnny and Squee, leaving the zombies behind.
“How are we gonna find him?” Tenna asks.
“I don’t know. But we must,” Devi replies, “for Johnny and Squee’s sake. And our sake as well. We must defeat these minions.”
The girls race down the hall, their feet pounding on the floor. They don’t worry about the doors they checked while looking for Squee, since they already know they’re empty. So they run nonstop, completely focused on finding their target.
They slide to a stop when they come into a new hall and look around. This hall has fewer doors than the others. They start running again as they quickly check each room.
“Meat! Where are you?” Tenna shouts.
They stay quiet and listen for a response. When they don’t hear one, Devi gets angry.
“Reverend Meat! Come out!” Devi snaps.
A door farther down the hall swings open. The girls freeze as they stare at it for second before cautiously walking up to it. They peek into the room and see Reverend Meat sitting on a table. He looks at them and smiles politely.
“Welcome, ladies,” he purrs, “please, come in.”
Devi and Tenna slowly enter the room. As soon as they’re in, the door slams closed behind them. They glare at Reverend Meat.
“I must say, I’m surprised that the Doughboys were taken out,” he comments, “but I guess I shouldn’t be. After all, Johnny was the one who did it.”
“Right. And we’ll take you out too,” Tenna growls.
“You know, the Doughboys liked to believe they were the strongest minions,” he explains, “but really they just had the most skills all-around. They possessed equal amounts of speed and strength. Sickness had incredible speed. Me? I have incredible strength.”
He lifts his fist and slams it into the table, smashing it to splinters. The girls wince as he falls harmlessly to the floor.
“Now who’s taking out who?”
The girls flinch and back away. Reverend Meat smiles as he stands up. He lifts his right arm and it unthreads like an old sweater. Black tendrils explode from his shoulder, just like the Doughboys.
“What is that?” Devi asks.
“All Nightmare minions are able to replace their limbs with some of its,” Reverend Meat explains, “Sickness never got a chance to reveal it. She was always too soft.”
He swings the tendrils at them. They scream and dive out of the way. Meat focuses completely on Devi and lashes out at her. She runs away, racing around the room, but the tentacles chase her relentlessly. Tenna sees this and runs to help her, but she’s too late. A tentacle manages to wrap around Devi’s ankle. She cries out as she falls to the floor. The tentacles wrap around her body completely and lift her into the air, slamming her into the wall.
“You’re mine now, little girl,” Reverend Meat purrs, “and your imagination is going straight to the Lord Nightmare.”
Devi tries to squirm around but she can barely budge. She freezes when she feels… it. That same feeling she had when she battled Sickness. That feeling of exhaustion and uselessness.
Her imagination is being stolen.
“Stop,” she whimpers.
“Hm? What was that?” Reverend Meat asks.
“Stop,” she says again, a little quieter this time.
“I’m afraid not,” he says, “it’ll all be over soon. Don’t worry.”
Tenna watches in horror as Devi’s imagination is slowly siphoned. She can practically see Devi changing right before her eyes, and it’s not a good change.
I have to do something.
Without any warning, Tenna races to Reverend Meat. He spots her at the last second and jumps out of the way as she tries to kick him. But she reacts quickly and punches him in the face. He cries out in pain and flies across the room. He looks up at her with surprise and gasps. The girl’s eyes have changed. They’re narrow and focused, like a predator looking at its prey.
“You underestimated me,” she growls. Even her voice seems different. “You assumed I was weak. Why? Because I’m a girl? Because I’m human?”
“Those are both terrible assumptions. Yes, I’m a girl, and yes, I’m a human. But humans are going to be the ones who defeat your precious Nightmare.”
Reverend Meat is speechless. And that’s never happened before. He just feels so small compared to this girl, like a mouse staring at a cat. He was able to put up with Johnny when he lost his temper, and that’s pretty terrifying. So why does this girl unsettle him so?
“Ah, I know,” he breathes, “you’re a true warrior.”
Tenna takes a deep breath and charges forward. But not towards Reverend Meat, instead to his tendrils. She grabs one and rips it in half in a quick, fluid motion. Meat screams in pain as the rest of his tendrils disappear, turning back into his arm. Devi grunts as she hits the floor.
“Devi, you okay?” Tenna asks.
“I think so,” she replies.
“Good. Now stay put,” she demands as she stands protectively in front of her friend and glares at Reverend Meat. He glares back.
“If you want Devi, you’ll have to go through me,” she growls as she lifts her fists in a fighting position. “I’m your opponent.”
