Glorybringer: The Nightmare Within

Forces Combined

As soon as Deathbringer heard the question, his heart fluttered and stopped at the same time. "Please Venom," he pleaded. When the Klyntaarian had attacked Rogue before, he had solidified his alliance with the Nightmare's in Deathbringer's, and probably their mind, too. As soon as he was free, he had gone straight for the kill, without hesitation. "It's the only way to avenge your son."

You can't beat the Nightmares. No one can, Venom said solemnly, and the nightwing's despair quickly vanished, giving way to anger. 

"Why won't you even try?!" Deathbringer shouted, forgetting he was in a room with other dragons. "Don't you care?"

OF COURSE, I CARE! Venom shouted. Black tendrils shot up and attached to the ceiling before pulling him up, trapping him against the wood. Everyone else stepped in to intervene, but Deathbringer halted them.

"Then why won't you act like it?!" Deathbringer questioned, refusing to be intimidated by this alien. He's inside of my body, he growled in his head. 

What do you want me to do? Venom questioned. Rush into battle against a foe I know I can't beat? Are you asking me to die Deathbringer?

"I'm not asking you to die! I'm just asking you to TRY!"

It's pointless anyway! There's nothing we can do!

"Why are you being a coward?!"

BECAUSE I'M SCARED, Venom admitted suddenly. For a moment, the wall that separated the two's emotions thinned, allowing Deathbringer to feel all the pain the klyntaarian was hiding. A long silence between the two followed. I'm terrified, Deathbringer. Don't you think I want to fight back? Don't you think I want to avenge my son?

"You can," Deathbringer assured him gently, but the symbiote only scoffed. 

You haven't seen what he's capable of, Venom insisted. You haven't seen him kill millions with a smile on his face.

"You're right," Deathbringer admitted. "I haven't. But they have, and now you have them. You're not alone anymore, Venom."

The symbiote was quiet, so the nightwing kept going. "We can do this. Together."

The tendrils extended, lowering Deathbringer safely to the ground, and the nightwing smiled. He'd done it. He'd convinced him, he could feel it. The nightwing looked back up at the group, suddenly remembering their existence. "We're in," Deathbringer informed them, and they all smiled.

At this moment, Deathbringer felt powerful, like he had just proved himself and beyond. He had grown up as an assassin. He talked with his fists and blades... But now, in a situation where all of that was useless, he came through... He... He came through! Maybe he killing wasn't the only thing it was good at...

The moment, however, was over very quickly. 

Lefte suddenly gasped and waved his talon to the side, using his power to knock Glory sideways. Mere moments later, a robotic creature slammed through the wall, shoving his blade into the ground where Glory had been standing. 

The machine was a huge behemoth resembling a gorilla. It's covered in a dark metal alloy, with spikes down its spine and arms. Its eyes glowed red behind a visor. Small gaps in its thick armor where it was supposedly welded together provided a constant outflow of steam. If that was all Deathbring had to go off of, he would've assumed it was a robot. But it breathed. It took deep, heavy breaths, releasing hot steam from its mouth every time. Not even Venom seemed to know what it was.

Flint, however, didn't hesitate. The fur on his arm stood on end for a moment as if from static as a sphere the same blue of his eyes appeared in his hand. He hurled it at the behemoth, but it only seemed to annoy the creature.

"That's new," he said as the creature charged toward him. It took a swing at the Cawthon, who generated a shield made of the same kind of energy. The shield held strong, but Flint was pushed back a few feet. Lefte immediately intervened, his missing eyes filling with a glowing red sphere as he blasted a red beam at the cyborg.

The creature grunted in pain, but other than that, the energy beam didn't seem to affect the armored behemoth. 

"Flint!" Rogue called, and the Cawthon reacted instantly. He dodged another swing from the goliath, diving and flipping toward Rogue, putting his hand onto her shoulder. Energy flowed down his arm into the vixen, whose eyes flashed the same blue as his. 

She nodded in appreciation, then immediately jumped into action. Rogue jumped into action, jumping over a swing from the behemoth, jumping off his fist to take his back. The creature roared, reaching his arm back in an attempt to hit her off. At the same time, red ropes materialized around his arms and head, then tightened, pinning them to his head. All the while, Flint came up in front of it, his fist flaming with that blue energy. "Lefte, keep him pinned," he commanded. "Rogue, hack into his robotics to keep him from breaking free. I'll burn through the armor."

Deathbringer could hardly believe their coordination. All Rogue had to do was call his name and he knew exactly what was expected of him! Not even he and his mother were on that level of communication...

"Deathbringer!" Lefte called. His eye was glowing red and his arm was outstretched toward the behemoth, using all of his strength to keep the cyborg from breaking free as Flint shot a constant beam of energy into its chest. "Get Glory out of here! Tell everyone to retreat to the border of the rainforest!"

Deathbringer was filled with embarrassment. Why had he just been standing there while they were all trying to deal with the threat? No time to think about that now, Deathbringer reminded himself. He led Glory out of the hut. On the way, they met multiple doctors and security guards who were questioning what was going on. 

"Do not engage," Glory instructed everyone who asked. "Evacuate the hospital to the edge of the forest. Tell anyone you see what's happening."

When they made it out, they immediately bolted back to the palace. Back there, there was an intercom system, allowing Glory to make announcements without having to call a meeting, then waiting for all the dragons to gather. 

They raced through the corridor, telling every guard and citizen they encountered to evacuate. 

As they rounded the corner to the room where the intercom was stationed, Twisted stood in their path.