Madness Extraction

Saga: Nightmare arc

Prerequisites: Completion of previous missions in arc

Summary:

Psi gives the Gem of Chaos to Metal Coat, who starts the procedure of extracting Nightmare from him. Psi passes out during the procedure, and when he comes to, the area is in ruins. MC gives him the good news and bad news - the former, that Nightmare has been seperated successfully, and the latter, that he was unable to contain him in time, allowing him to escape and wreak havoc. Rather than have him retell the events in full, the player gets to control MC starting from the events shortly after Psi passes out, showing Nightmare breaking out of the shop rather explosively and MC chasing him wherever he goes. While Nightmare does stop to have a bout with MC every now and then, more often than not he will run far ahead of the player and terrorize the local populace, regaining lost health in the process. Eventually the city either becomes fully evacuated or loses its population altogether late into the scene, prompting Nightmare to flee to find more victims far too fast for MC to give chase. Back at the workshop, MC reluctantly agrees to leave his shop to stop Nightmare - not because of the threat he causes, but because the incident will cause bad publicity for his brand and he needs to save face to keep his customers. Until the next mission in the saga is started, Nightmare will continue to ambush the player between missions for a brief skirmish, before disappearing again.

Script:

[Psi wakes up in MC's back room again without fanfare. MC is standing just beside him.]

Psi: Huh!? How did I get back here? What happened?

MC: I've got a classic good news - bad news scenario. Which one first?

Psi: Well, let's hear the good news.

MC: You're back to normal again. The other guy isn't inside you anymore.

Psi: And the bad news?

MC: That's also the bad news.

[The camera pans over towards the other side of the room, revealing a number of small fires and a large hole in the wall leading to the city outside. The scene rewinds back to several minutes earlier, in which MC successfully frees Nightmare from Psi, but fails to seal him away in his own gem of chaos.]

MC: Listen buddy, I know how this is going to work out. I'm going to ask you to get back in where you came from, and you're going to say no. So I hope it's not asking too much if we skip to the bit where I beat you into submission instead.

Nightmare: Preferably. I know you lack the conviction to defeat me, though, so at least make it fun, won't you?

[Fight scene begins, proving rather standard fare for Nightmare's AI. Shortly into the fight, once MC has enough for a Climax Mode, Nightmare breaks through the wall and escapes into the city.]

MC: You're not getting out of it that easy.

[A prompt appears for the player indicating to trigger MC's climax mode, allowing him to fly out and give chase. For the opening stages of this mission this makes Nightmare a lot easier to track and chase, allowing the player to whittle his health down again. Once the player does a noticable amount of damage, Nightmare will run off again to beat down on the local populace, gaining health back as he does so. If the player catches up before the civilians perish, they evacuate while MC distracts them, netting the player bonus points at the end of the mission. The process continues until eventually there are no more civilians to worry about one way or the other.]

Nightmare: Why concern yourself with these weaklings? You still have me to worry about.

MC: I wouldn't have to if you didn't move around so damn much.

Nightmare: Well, good news! That was the last of them. Now it's just you and me. I can feel you getting tired, though. There's no way you can beat me in your state.

[The fight continues once again, but this time Nightmare has a significant power and AI boost, making him virtually impossible to defeat. The fight ends prematurely once MC hits low health.]

MC: Don't tell me you don't have the balls to finish it.

Nightmare: Are you not greatful to still have your life? I was going to let you live so I could have fun with you another time, but I could fix that if you wanted.

MC: Fun? Is that what you call this?

Nightmare: What better euphoria could be found than in a fight for survival? All I seek is a warrior I can consider an equal. Those who cannot even last long enough to be entertaining aren't even worth my time.

MC: Letting you out was a mistake. I'll get you back where you belong, one way or another.

Nightmare: You're right about one thing. One way or another, I will fall eventually. But you won't be the one responsible. Contemplate that while I search for an individual stronger than yourself.

[Nightmare leaves MC behind, ending the flashback. The scene returns to Psi and MC back in the ruins of his shop.]

MC: And that's the gist of it.

Psi: So let me get this straight. There's another guy that looks like me, running around and murdering people just because they can't fight?

MC: More or less. I'm going to have to track him down and stop him, and I trust I have you to help me.

Psi: Wow, I didn't figure you for the heroic type.

MC: I'm doing this for myself, not the people. I'm responsible for this, and if I'm found out for that I could lose my business. Not to mention that nightmare is killing all my customers.

Synn: So what do we do now? Do we have any leads to follow?

MC: No. All I gather is that he'll strike again, so chances are one of us will bump into him again. I'll let you know if I find something else, though.

[Mission ends as normal here.]