Soul Edge Hungers

[Nightmare]

The man known as Nightmare was in a different town. He had managed to draw little attention to himself on his journey. Nightmare sat in an alley, clutching his sword. Soul Edge was hungry once more. The sword constantly demanded souls, and some part of the man he had once been still resisted it, although weakly. Soul Edge began to glow with it's eerie blood red luminescence, calling out, demanding. It did not sense a piece of it nearby, but it did sense many souls. They were in a large town this time, possibly even a city.

A drunken man stumbled down the alley, lost and confused. He was looking for the way home, convinced that there was shortcut nearby. He saw movement and stopped moving. He blinked repeatedly, no believing what he saw. He saw a flash of red and move toward it, his gait unsteady. Then he saw it, standing by a dumpster. The creature he saw had very little in common with a human other than general body shape. It had one arm much larger than the other, a twisted unnatural thing. In that arm it clutched a hideous looking object. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was a weapon, a huge sword. The drunk's eyes widened as the creature move in his direction. He was turning to run with the great sword pierced his chest. He looked down at it, not believing what he saw. He was staring into an eye, large and evil. It blinked. The man opened his mouth to scream, but the sword had pierced his lung. His vision began to fade and he felt a horrible tearing sensation. He realized, moments before death, that the sword was eating him.

Nightmare pulled his sword from the man's still body. Soul Edge had tasted blood on this night, and it wanted more. Wordlessly he moved on to where Soul Edge told him it wished to feed.

He arrived at a large gray building near the center of the city. It was quite dark, but there were a few lights flickering through the windows, indicating that the place was still occupied. There was a large sign on the outside of the building, but Nightmare ignored it. He didn't need to know how these men were. Soul Edge cared only for the taste of their blood and souls.
Nightmare strode up to the doors. They were large doors, made of metal and a strange material, much like glass but harder to break. It didn't matter. Soul Edge bit through the material easily. The clear material gave way with a horrible tearing sound, and he was through.
A door opened and a uniformed man ran out to see what was happening. He saw Nightmare and stared, open mouthed. He quickly reached to his side and pulled out a metal baton. He flicked a switch on it, and it began to hum with power.
"I don't know who or what you are, but you made a mistake coming here."
The man charged at Nightmare, hoping to take him by surprise. Soul Edge swung at the man. He tried to block the huge blade with his weapon and was only partially successful. His weapon held, but the force behind the blow continues. Soul Edge bit into his side, making a shallow cut. The man winced in pain and shoved. A normal man would have been disarmed, but Nightmare was no normal man. His grip on Soul Edge never faltered. The man swung his weapon and managed to strike Nightmare's head. It had no visible effect.
"Oh. Shit.", said the man. He began to back away, but it was too late for that. Soul Edge lashed out, burying it's self in his heart. He let our a hideous scream as his soul was devoured.

Soul Edge was happy. That man's soul had been delicious. The others here might be just as good.
Nightmare strode down the hallway as doors banged open. Men piled out of their offices to glimpse their companion's body lying in a pool of blood and a monster heading toward them. They were brave men, and they drew their weapons. Most of them had hand guns of one sort or another, although one or two had swords. They opened fire on the creature.
Bullets bounced harmlessly off of Nightmare's armor. The force from so many bullets slamming into him gave him pause, but Soul Edge fed him more power and he moved rapidly at the armed men. The men with swords too up defensive positions in front of their comrades.
Nightmare's huge weapon lashed out at them, knocking their swords aside. The men frantically counter attacked, their sword biting deep into their attacker's flesh. One man smiled triumphantly, his sword through what had to be Nightmare's lung. He died with the smile still on his face as Nightmare swung Soul Edge in a vicious arc, decapitating him. The man's body fell bonelessly to the floor, his sword still within Nightmare's chest. Nightmare rested Soul Edge on his shoulder and pulled the sword from his body. He threw it carelessly to the side as the uniformed men stared in shock. They attacked again, determined to stop this monster who had killed their friends. They stood no chance against such a foe.

When Soul Edge had had it's fill for the day, Nightmare left the building. One of the men had started a fire in an attempt to hold him off. It hadn't helped him, and now the building was ablaze. Nightmare walked past the large sign in front of the building. The eerie light provided by the flames clearly highlighted the letters on the sign. It said "Deling City Space Patrol Headquarters".

[Nightmare]

Nightmare could sense a fragment of Soul Edge. It wasn't near, but he could still sense it. The fragments called out to him through his sword, and he had no choice but to go to them. He had just begun his journey to the strong presence he felt when he felt a slight tug at his awareness. Interested, he held Soul Edge closer and concentrated. It seemed that there was another fragment nearby, although it seemed somewhat weak. Regardless of that, he decided to go for it. The other one he had fixed on was quite powerful, and he wasn't in any danger of losing it.

Nightmare walked through the town toward the faint glow of what seemed to be a fragment. He was in a small town, so it didn't take long to arrive. There was a small field that the presence seemed to be coming from. He had only been searching for a few minutes when he heard a scream.
"Oh my God! It's that monster Nightmare! Help!", screamed the man who had spotted him. He ran away in a panic, and Nightmare dismissed him. He had a fragment to find. After a few more seconds of searching, he heard the noise of many booted feet running toward him. It seemed that he would have to continue his search later. Soul Edge was going to get a snack.

OOC: Sorry for short post, I'll finish it later. Got class in like 5.

[Nightmare]

The men had Nightmare surrounded. He wasn't worried.
"You! You're that man Nightmare! Surrender or we'll take you by force.", said one of the men.
Nightmare didn't respond. Instead, his sword began to glow an eerie red, almost the color of blood.
"You...Come on now, drop your weapon!"
Nightmare's grip tightened on Soul Edge. It was apparent he would not be surrendering.
"No, I think not. Soul Edge hungers for souls.", he said.

The would be Bounty Hunters didn't know how to handle that. They drew their weapons in hopes that facing so many foes at once would make Nightmare back down. Most of the men had simple revolvers, although some had more exotic weapons. Two had swords the size of Soul Edge's current form. Another man had a spear of some sort. One man even carried something that appeared to be a small doll. Nightmare didn't know what to think about that, but Soul Edge did. It wanted to eat their souls.

Nightmare charged the men with the revolvers. They appeared to be simple towns folk. The men turned white with fear and opened fire on Nightmare. Bullets pinged harmlessly off of his armor. The evil sword lashed out, taking lives with every blow. In a few seconds, all of them gun wielders had been killed, their souls devoured. Nightmare was turning toward the remaining men when a powerful blow almost knocked him off of his feet. Surprised, he stared at what had hit him that hard. It was the tiny doll the man had been carrying. It had moved on it's own and dealt him a mighty blow. As if sensing that it was being stared at, the doll ran back to the man who controlled it, ready for it's next attack.

Nightmare charged the man and was intercepted by his sword wielding opponents. Their blades bit deep into his flesh. Such woulds might stop a normal man, but Nightmare was far from that. Soul Edge claimed the two men's lives before they could even withdraw their blades from Nightmare's body. Only two opponents were left now. The man with the spear and the man with the strange doll. As Nightmare started toward them, the doll shot toward him and dealt him another mighty blow. He didn't know how a thing like that could hit so hard, but he knew that it wasn't a match for Soul Edge. The other man threw his spear. The weapon caught Nightmare in his shoulder, not even slowing him. In return, Nightmare threw Soul Edge at the man. It took him cleanly through the chest, and he died instantly. The doll hit Nightmare again, but this time it didn't have time to get back to it's controller. Nightmare lunged forward and grabbed the man. The doll dropped lifelessly to the ground as his concentration was broken. In a panic, the man grabbed the spear that was jutting from Nightmare's chest and twisted. The demonic man barely grunted. With one hand he hauled the man up into the air, and with the other he retrieved Soul Edge from the dead man's body.
The man in Nightmare's grip tried a different tactic. He grabbed the spear handle again and pushed it with all of his might. The spear head emerged from Nightmare's back. It didn't slow him.
"What...the hell are you?", asked the man.
Nightmare pointed Soul Edge at the man's heart and thrust. His sword transfixed the man's chest, almost cutting him in two. The man died, his question unanswered.
Nightmare grabbed the spear and pushed it the rest of the way through his body. Soul Edge was full of energy from the freshly consumed souls, so it quickly repaired the damage to it's host. It couldn't have it's servant running around with gaping holes in his body.

After the fight, Nightmare continued his search. Before too long he found the piece of metal he was searching for and examined it. It emitted an evil aura and was surely poisonous to any mortal man who touched it. Oddly enough though, it wasn't a true fragment of Soul Edge. He pressed the piece of metal to the blade of his weapon, but nothing happened. Soul Edge didn't want it. It did, however, wish to know how something so close to it's self had been created. Nightmare resolved that his next stop would be to find out exactly where the piece of metal came from. Perhaps the men there would have extremely strong souls to feed his sword.

[Nightmare]

Soul Edge was starving. Nightmare had wandered for days upon days in search of a single fragment of the sword to no avail. He simply couldn't catch up with it on foot, it was moving too fast.
Soul Edge pulsated in his hand, giving off a weak red glow. It needed souls badly. It had used too much of it's power in the search for another fragment. Nightmare obeyed the unspoken command and headed into a nearby town.

His senses were weak from Soul Edge's hunger, but Nightmare picked up a large concentration of powerful souls. He wasn't sure if he could take that many at once in his weakened decision, but those were the souls that the evil sword wanted. It had little use for the souls of the weak. He would need to catch some of these people unaware if he were to survive this battle. Clutching his sword tightly, Nightmare leaped a fence. A half obscured sign nearby revealed only the letters "arden".

There was a large group of people ahead. The noises of physical exertion reached Nightmare's ears. It seemed that these men were training. That was good, it meant that they would be tired. Confidently, Nightmare strode into the room. There was a large group of men and women busy lifting weights. Rather than hesitate at their number and give up the element of surprise, Nightmare went right for the nearest man. The man had time only for a shocked scream of recognition as Nightmare's sword entered his body. It siphoned out the poor man's soul, giving Nightmare and his sword a great boost of energy.

All of the people working out in the room jumped up from their machines at the sound of the horrified scream. The struggled to reach their nearby weapons as Nightmare waded into them, his sword creating a path of dead. Blood stained the floor red and energy filled Nightmare. He took on so much energy so fast that his eyes began to glow with the stolen life-force of the training group.

By the time that they had their weapons in hand, almost half of the people in the room had been slain. They looked at the creature that had murdered their friends and relatives and knew only hatred. As a mass, they charged the beast. Soul Edge licked out quickly, slicing limbs and torsos. Horrified screams filled the building as the maimed looked at their body parts strewn about the floor and felt their souls being drawn from them.

There were only three men left standing when help arrived. They were all covered in the blood of their companions and desperately trying to fend off the huge weapon of the monster that had shattered their peaceful lives. They were screaming for help, and one man was weeping even as he frantically parried blows. Help arrived in the form of a beautiful woman. She ran into the room, her face filled with wrath.

"Just what the bloody hell do you think you are doing!?", she yelled at Nightmare. This caught him off guard, and his next stroke missed the man it was intended for. The woman pulled out a pair of daggers and ran toward him quickly. The remaining students, knowing that this was their only chance, fled.

Nightmare lifted his blade for a strike, but abruptly the woman was no longer there. Twin streaks of fire ran down his back, and he knew that she had somehow got behind him. Nightmare swung his blade in a giant circle. He felt it strike metal, and much to his surprise, the great blade stopped in it's tracks. The demonic man turned to see the woman smiling confidently.

"Well shit head, looks like you're going to pay for defiling this place. I hope you're faster than that or you'll never even come close to hitting me."

Stolen energy poured from the blade into Nightmare, and he focused it on speed. His gauntleted fist flashed out, almost connecting with the woman's grim face. She was surprised by the sudden increase in speed, but hardly put off. Her blades flashed, and Nightmare had two new holes in his armor.
Soul Edge flashed, a desperate attempt to slice the woman into two. Once more, she disappeared. Nightmare blinked in confusion. He had never before battled anyone that fast.

"Looking for me?", came a voice. Nightmare looked toward it and saw that she was perched atop the tip of his sword, delicately balanced. Nightmare grinned. Soul Edge flashed red, and the woman flew backward, slamming into a nearby wall. Unsteadily she got to her feet just in time to see the huge weapon slicing up at her from below. With all of her strength, she held forth her daggers. Such was the strength of the blow that she was lifted off of the ground. The sword continued to rise, and she kicked the wall. In a shower of sparks, she slid down the blade of Nightmare's weapon. Nightmare blinked in shock as she executed this maneuver. Before he could do anything, the woman flipped over his head and was behind him.

"You're good, but I think that it's mostly the weapon.", whispered her voice in his ear. "Die."
With one motion, both daggers flickered around Nightmare's helm and through the visor. Both daggers neatly penetrated his eyes and slid through bone into his brain. Nightmare dropped to the ground, boneless.

Panting, the woman sheathed her daggers. It had been the hardest fight of her life, and it had taken it's toll on her. Truly, Nightmare was the monster that he had been reported to be. She glanced around the room sadly at the remains of most of her students when she heard a noise. Turning, she saw something that truly terrified her. Nightmare was moving. Soul Edge was glowing bright red, and the man was using it to lever himself to his feet.

Upon seeing her opponent recover from a wound that would have killed just about any creature in existence, she could do nothing but stare in shock. Nightmare advanced toward her rapidly, and she did the only thing she could. She ran.

OOC: Nightmare killed some folks, and did some creepy stuff. I will update him, sorry for the wait.