CHAPTER 14: THE NIGHTMARE

A brown-furred, muscular gorilla was standing on two legs, watching a mansion from a nearby hill.

It was nighttime and the only light came from the moon overhead and the mansion in front.

The mansion was huge with white walls and reinforced glass windows and from inside the room’s light filtered outside.

It was on the outskirts of the Blue City and surrounded by a forest, so the lights of the mansion stood out in the night’s darkness.

This was the mansion where the Thorn Auction House was holding one of the biggest auctions in quite some time and guests came from all over the city.

Security was provided by Wayne Donovan, known as the Nightmare, who betrayed the Big Monkey and was vying for control of the city... Those were the rumors the idiots were talking about in the streets.

Zurab, also known as the Bone Breaker, was watching angrily as he crossed his arms.

That bastard Donovan was running the Big Monkey’s gambling house, but others ended up robbing him... At least that was what that bastard had mentioned.

There was a possibility that Donovan cooperated with the robbers, but it was hard to be sure.

What they knew was that bastard blamed others and took Little Timmy’s team to seek revenge on the robbers and not only caused the death of the entire group, but one of them robbed a bank as well.

The City Sun caught the thief, who opened his mouth telling that he belonged to the Big Monkey’s organization, and that night, the Last Defender attacked the organization.

She destroyed important areas of commerce, killed several supervillains and imprisoned many members of the organization, weakening the Big Monkey organization.

And it all started with Donovan, and today it would end with him.

They could not blame the Last Defender when no one knew perfectly well the movements of that woman and she practically traveled all over the planet.

Maybe it was boredom or maybe she just had a bad day and wanted to let off some steam, the truth was that there was no point in wondering about it.

If Donovan hadn’t called attention to himself that day working with little Timmy, things would have been different.

Timmy, the red titi monkey, was killed after he had resisted cruel experiments and awakened intelligence... Zurab knew his former companion did not deserve that end.

“Today is the end,” Zurab muttered, coming down the hill and moving to the camp of his people.

The hill was not that high and at the bottom of the hill were several green trees and among those trees were his people waiting.

All the members were different primates and several of them were strong and powerful gorillas.

Unlike Zurab, who was reaching two and a half meters tall, the other gorillas were around two meters tall and just as muscular as he was.

On this day, they would not destroy the auction house and the mansion. They were coming to kill Donovan.

Once they killed Donovan, they could go over to talk to Hugo Dumont and let him know that those he hired were scumbags and then when that old man realized his mistake, he could hire them back.

All the while, allowing the auction to continue.

And once Zurab managed to eliminate Donovan and get back a major business partner, the Big Monkey would appreciate him even more and perhaps help him get stronger as a reward.

Zurab, right now, was the Big Monkey’s left-hand man and was a Code Orange Supervillain whose strength and fists caused fear.

However, it was always good to aim higher.

Among all the members, Zurab approached a young man who stood silently shivering, surrounded by so many gorillas.

The young man had silver hair and eyes, with a youthful face and smooth white skin, and at this moment he was pale with fear.

Unlike when he was a croupier at the gambling house, who always gave a smile of confidence and smugness, this time Zurab could not hide the fear in his gaze.

“Celes, you know what you have to do,” Zurab said, and as a gorilla passed him a revolver to kill Super, he reminded him. “Go up to Donovan and shoot him in the head. After that, we’ll help you with your mother’s debts.”

Rumor had it that Celes’ mother got involved with a Celestial and got pregnant.

They didn’t know who this Heavenly was, but Celes was born with the ability to stop time in an area, a dominant and extremely powerful ability.

And yet...

“I... I don’t want to murder. Not Donovan...”

Zurab put his big hand on the young man’s head and subtly squeezed it, being watched by Celes’ silver eyes.

To Zurab, Celes was pathetic and stupid.

Such overwhelming power was in the hands of a pusillanimous and useless man, wasted by cheating on meaningless gambling games.

Celes could stop the time of an entire area, become one of the greatest supervillains, and still that pathetic man didn’t take advantage of it.

“Celes. Don’t make me repeat myself. You need to show loyalty to the organization. I know you’ve worked with Donovan, but now it’s him or you and your family,” Zurab said, and seeing the young man tense up at hearing about his family, he revealed. “It’s not that hard. It’s an instant... Step up and shoot.”

If Zurab could stop time, even for a few seconds, he would never be intimidated or accept threats.

How many supers in the world could move with time stopped? Zurab didn’t know, but he supposed beings on the level of the Dawn Gods could move.

And yet Celes revealed a tough expression full of rejection at the idea of killing and taking up the weapon.

But he had one weakness, and that was his mother, the only family he had and had left.

They both got involved with loan sharks from the Big Monkey and that asshole joined the organization to pay the debts without realizing that from that moment on, he would not get out... They wouldn’t let him out.

This was not Celes’ first job, and the only reason he doubted was Donovan.

And for that reason they were testing him today... Celes’ power was impressive, but in case he turned against the organization, he needed to be taken down.

“I understand,” Celes muttered as he heard him talk about his mother.

Zurab glanced at him before moving to the hilltop with the young man at his side, and then using a binocular, he surveyed the area.

The mansion was large and although the style was old, the defenses and reinforced materials with which it was built were not.

Still, it was a large enough mansion that Donovan’s people could not fully protect it, even if they patrolled.

Donovan didn’t even have people to protect the forest around the mansion or control this hill that allowed a perfect view of the surroundings.

Zurab did not understand the reason why Hugo Dumont was working with Donovan when that man was not up to the task and the organization he was creating was mediocre.

In the end, it didn’t matter too much and Zurab smiled as he located Donovan, then pointed out the location to Celes.

“All yours,” He said, patting the young man’s back.

Celes held up the revolver and walked forward down the hill towards the back area of the mansion where Donovan was keeping watch.

When the young man disappeared into the trees, Zurab gave a signal to one of the gorillas, who equipped himself with an exosuit and pulled out a gigantic high-precision rifle.

The exoskeleton included in the exosuit had a high strength that boosted the natural strength of a super gorilla.

And only when both strengths were boosted was the time when the heavy rifle could be used.

The rifle was heavy with a thick barrel a meter long, and the power was enough to take down unsuspecting supers.

“If Celes doesn’t kill it. Shoot them both,” Zurab ordered, crossing his arms.

The rifle was going to be a little loud and while it would not be enough to stop the auction, it would be enough to make Hugo Dumont realize something was going on outside.

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More importantly, it would make the people who were following Donovan and working with him realize that something was going on and when they came outside, they would discover that their leader had been killed.

Zurab watched through the binoculars as Celes came out of the forest and passed near the maze, heading for the backyard of the mansion where Donovan was patrolling.

Then, when Donovan noticed him, they both looked at each other and a black and white dome suddenly appeared, covering fifty meters around both of them.

Celes had stopped time inside the dome and at four seconds before the ability deactivated, he approached Donovan’s front.

Within three seconds, Celes pointed the gun at Donovan hesitating to fire and then...

“...”

At the last second, Celes fired, blowing Donovan’s brains out.

Donovan the Nightmare known for his psychic powers and who could be extremely dangerous if allowed to act first, was dead in an instant and the dome disappeared completely.

“Come on. The kid’s damn good,” Zurab said, leading all the people.

They came down the hill and moved through the trees, not caring about making noise.

Celes decided to shoot in five seconds, and the young man took Donovan down with impressive ease.

Psychics were physically weak and the revolver they gave Celes was one that could inflict wounds on a super with a powerful physique.

It was not surprising that he ended up dying.

Leaving the forest, they approached the side of the maze and headed for the garden.

The garden was well kept and the animal sculptures were on either side of the main path and in the main part of the garden near the fountain was Celes, with his back to them as he looked at the corpse on the ground.

That young man had said nothing and hadn’t moved seeing the blood, brains and holding the gun, perhaps in shock at killing someone he knew closely and had worked with before.

“You don’t need to think about it too much. It was either him or you and it’s always preferable...”

Speaking as he approached, Zurab noticed something odd about Donovan’s corpse and, for seconds, he thought he saw the body blur.

It was at that instant that he realized something was wrong and then suddenly a powerful presence appeared next to him and he swung his arm with all his might.

“Uggh...”

The one with the exo-suit grunted as he received his blow so suddenly, and Zurab’s eyes widened.

The presence was coming from that gorilla and his body reacted instinctively to the danger, lashing out immediately, feeling that if he hesitated, he could get hurt.

Zurab was enraged as he realized he had killed his companion out of instinctive fear and before he could leap up a roar, another presence appeared.

This time he did not lunge, but turned around wanting to face the presence and his senses could not pick up the pieces of the ground that moved into his stomach.

Embedding themselves deep into the flesh as they were reinforced.

“Grr...”

The presence came from a sculpture of a rabbit that set his nerves on edge... It was a fearsome presence, similar to the Big Monkey, and his instincts reacted unconsciously.

It was a trap that overwhelmed his senses to hide the real attack.

“How did you do that?” Zurab growled aloud.

He saw his people ready and back to back, but unlike him, who resisted not acting on the second presence, some of his companions hit the air, the sculptures and even each other getting hurt.

Zurab surveyed the surroundings as the lights went out and blurred figures appeared surrounding him, covering him in a haze of darkness.

Donovan the Nightmare was moving.

—Celes, if you hear this message, shoot. What I have left is an illusion. It is not me. Don’t worry, I’ve asked my people to go get your mother and put her in a safe place.

The message appeared in his mind, coming from the illusory corpse that was now blurring more and more.

Donovan was waiting for him and had prepared a way to communicate with Celes, even if the young man stopped time... The message showed him the truth.

Zurab clenched his fists, watching the silhouettes suddenly appearing and then a shiver ran down his spine as the presences of the figures increased.

Powerful, domineering presences on the level of the Big Monkey, a Supervillain that dominated a city... All together pressing hard, causing Zurab to sweat as his instincts screamed in fear.

His people were not as tenacious as he was and some fled to be swallowed by the fog of darkness that had surrounded them, preventing them from seeing and they disappeared and then sounds of pain came from beyond the fog.

Donovan was known for such nightmares, but it was obvious that he had improved much more than before and had become a fearsome opponent.

“I won’t let you through.”

Voices emerged from the nightmares as they morphed into grotesque creatures, increasing presences and overpowering auras.

Each one was similar to different supervillains or superheroes from all over the city... Each one was scary.

And all the figures smiled in unison, as if enjoying the fear their group emanated.

“You will all play with me.”

The voice of Donovan, the Nightmare, swallowed them whole.

******

Inside the mansion, in the auction area, the final bid for one item was placed.

“The Y-grade strength genetic enhancement goes to our security partner!” The old merchant said from the auction platform.

“Wehehe...”

Zack laughed out loud as he stood in the baby carrier worn by the babysitter.

It was the babysitter who was currently buying and bidding as Zack watched the whole show intently.

The babysitter was buying the genetic enhancements they were auctioning off, and he was damn good at the job.

The view from the private box he was in allowed him to observe all the items being auctioned on the platform.

“Next up is another Z-grade genetic enhancement that...”

The old merchant used a metal table that teleported the items from inside the vault to the table and, after a glow emanated from the table, the items were examined for the entire audience.

Inside the private boxes, they had screens where they could bid on the objects and other screens that showed the details of the auctioned objects.

Among the medicines, there were three different grades of quality and the Z was the worst of the worst... Zack had heard the Donovan boy’s explanation.

So Zack understood the reason why the babysitter only bought Y grade medicine, which was the average standard of all medicines.

It made no sense to him those terminologies when they could call them inferior, medium or high quality and everything became easier, but the truth was that the inferior beings of this insignificant world had their ways of complicating their brief lives.

It didn’t matter though to him who was excited to buy the medicines.

—Remember to save money, babysitter. I don’t want us to not be able to buy the one we want. —He said through mental communication.

They still hadn’t gotten to the medicine that the old merchant had informed him and recommended and he didn’t want them, by squandering money, to not be able to buy it.

He was going to be furious if that happened.

“Don’t worry, young master. I’ll buy enough to experiment with,” the babysitter replied.

They were both sitting in a private box, watching the auction closely as the old merchant offered all sorts of items.

Upon seeing the next item, the babysitter gave a bid via a holographic display.

“A Y-grade genetic enhancement of the magical type... Our security partner has given his bid. Anyone else dare to outbid him?” The old merchant asked with a smile.

The price that was bid appeared on a screen behind the old merchant’s back, while also pointing to the number of the private box they occupied.

Just as the old merchant asked, the babysitter faintly released his presence.

It was a subtle and hard to define presence, but the inferior beings all around the area shivered and no one dared to outbid the price the babysitter had offered.

“Sold to our security partner!” The old merchant announced as the vial with the medicine on the table disappeared.

Both the babysitter and the old merchant were shrewd.

The old merchant revealed that they were the security partners and evidenced that they had a close relationship with the auction house.

While the babysitter released his presence just enough to intimidate, but not to ruin the mood of the auction.

“Best to stop for now and let Hugo make a profit,” the babysitter said calmly.

Zack nodded without being upset.

With this last medicine, they would have three medicines to experiment with and while these medicines were not of the best quality, they were not the worst either.

He grew bored as the old merchant shifted items around.

The old merchant moved the smaller objects such as the medicines to the table and as for the larger objects, he teleported them on a platform next to him.

Among the larger objects appeared a war robot three meters tall and with enough power to knock down the supers and also a metal golem of the same size and with the same strength.

Of the smaller sized items auctioned off were several magical books that magical beings liked, a couple of demonic contracts that would allow negotiations with demons and artifacts blessed by gods of this world.

Each object attracted the attention of the crowd, who bid sometimes more desperately than other times.

“Any objects interest you, young master?” The babysitter asked curiously.

—No. The old merchant has made an effort, but there is nothing I like. —He answered honestly.

Zack could understand the value of contracts with demonic beings, as he could deal with them directly, and he also understood the value of magical books, where he could learn the weaknesses of those magical beings.

However, nothing pleased him.

“The next item is an unknown, sealed psychic creature,” the old merchant detailed.

Zack looked at the ceramic vessel and, turning his eyes purple, he observed the Nightmare sealed inside.

Nightmares were mental creatures that took forms from the fears of those of inferior beings and inhabited the Astral Realm.

“Are you interested, young master?” The babysitter asked with a serious tone.

“Not for me. I was thinking about the boy. He likes to call himself Nightmare and all. Maybe seeing a real nightmare could help him as study material,” He muttered as he watched the auction.

The boy was called Nightmare, and Zack had been teaching him how to improve those mind tricks.

Mainly teaching him how to enhance auras to overwhelm senses and instincts, but if he wanted to make the title worthwhile, a real nightmare could help him improve.

“We’ll buy it,” the babysitter said, smiling at him.

Zack nodded and settled in as he watched the babysitter bid, and since this item wasn’t that important, he could buy it without having to release his aura.

It was partly thanks to the fact that the others already knew who they were and no one wanted to oppose the old merchant’s associates.

“Our partner is on a roll.”

The old merchant was smiling, glad that practically the money he had given him in payment was back in his hands and Zack had no problem spending the worldly wealth.

He watched the container and then, before it disappeared back into the vault, he noticed that it blurred for less than a second and then disappeared.

Zack raised his eyebrow at that effect.

“Did you notice it, babysitter?” he asked curiously.

“You mean the object blurred?” The babysitter asked and, frowning, hesitated. “Isn’t that an effect of the spatial motion to return to the vault?”

Zack frowned and then, instead of amplifying his senses with this still developing body, he observed the babysitter and when he received permission, he entered the babysitter’s mind.

He occupied the babysitter’s body and opened his eyes as he entered a metal vision where the walls became translucent and the minds of the inferior beings glowed.

The babysitter’s senses were incredibly acute, but when he added a mental sight, the senses were even more powerful than before.

And Zack could perceive how someone twisted the reality of the table where the objects appeared while perceiving a mental force that sought to hide what was happening from those more attentive visitors.

That mental wave could fool the babysitter and practically everyone present.

However, once he concentrated, the mental wave could not fool him.

“The bionic arm of...”

After the sale of another object floating on the table, that object disappeared, but unlike what everyone thought it was not teleported into the vault, it disappeared earlier while leaving behind an illusion that fooled the eyes of even sharp individuals, like the babysitter.

Zack, realizing that someone was stealing the items, was slightly surprised by the very subtle movements.

“Now we have the X-grade psychic genetic enhancement!”

The vial with the medicine Zack wanted appeared on the table and this time, the thieves acted at first as the object appeared, leaving a realistic illusion for everyone else to see.

Had someone just stolen from him what he came for? Such an idea infuriated him, and he used the babysitter’s mental strength to detect the spatial connection.

The thief had overcome the security of the spatial movement artifacts and was taking advantage of that gap in security to steal, while someone else was creating realistic illusions of the stolen items to throw off the observers.

“A child?” Zack questioned aloud.

The illusory ability was created by means of energy coming from the Astral Realm, and only children or beings like him could use that energy.

And from the inexperienced control that left clues, it was obvious that it was a child... A troublesome child.

After all, such was the only way to call a child who wanted to steal from him what he sought.

Zack stood up when he found the location of the thieves.

He was going to take care of the problem child.