"Nightmare, stop!" The captain's voice rang through the lobby of renegade HQ, stopping Nova dead in her tracks. It was the middle of the night, the time she'd observed to be emptiest and most vulnerable. The council was never here at this time.
Nova had stopped coming to work. Every time she showed up she was only reminded of her failure, of her losses, of the things she had yet to lose.
Her wristband, which had blown up with messages, now sat at the bottom of the river that flowed through the city. The anarchists abandoned the house on Wallowridge, fearful that the renegades would show up on their doorstep, inquiring after Insomnia.
Hiding in the abandoned B-line subway station, Nova devised her plan to take out the council. In the inevitable fight that everyone knew was coming, the anarchists didn't stand a chance with the entire council left alive.
Nova knew it would be most effective to kill her targets, but as her main target was the captain and killing him was near impossible, her current plan was to neutralize Captain and hill or neutralize Thunderbird. They were her biggest threats and the most dangerous in a fight, besides maybe the Dread Warden. She couldn't bear to hurt Simon, no matter how long the list of ways he'd wronged her was.
Almost unknowingly, she'd been gathering information on the habits of the building and it's occupants for months, analyzing the schedules of each person and stringing them together for holes in the security, devising that the ideal time to plant her devices in the throne room was between 2:30 and 3:00 am. She took her old route through the 26th-floor window, but instead of climbing down to the 25th floor, she made her way up to the council's offices, using the back staircases. She planted her bombs in their places, setting the timers. Making her way back down the stairs, she glanced at the watch on her wrist. 2:58 am. The earliest any council member had entered the building was 4 am. She had time to leave through the front. She could leave faster, get back to safety and solitude faster, ready to begin the second phase of her plan. Peeking around the corner, she made her wat into the lobby, glancing up, almost expecting to see Max peering at her from the skybridge, but the bridge wasn't there. The rubble had been removed, leaving gaping holes where the building had been destroyed. The most dangerous parts had been temporarily fixed, including the giant splits in the floor. The council had assured the entire organization that they were meeting with an architect to redesign the entrance.
"Nightmare." Her alias rang through the lobby once again. Nova turned to see all 5 members of the council standing behind her.
They weren't wearing their uniforms, but they were here. Here to stop her. Was it unrelated to her being there? It was unlikely that the one day she infiltrated headquarters the council was there early. Nova stopped racking through her brain for options. She could tun, but they would easily overtake her and capture her. Fight or flight. Those were her options, and neither would end well. Her back still to the council, she rummaged in her bag for something—anything— to defend herself. She still had several of Fatalia's mist missiles clipped to her belt, filled with agent N and ready to use. She unclipped one of the bombs and pulled a small knife off of her belt. Her bracelet glinted in the light surrounding them, courtesy of Blacklight.
"What have you done with Nova McLain? That bracelet belongs to her. We received a tip that HQ may be infiltrated tonight by an enemy. Seems they were right. Why are you here?"
"Nova McLain is dead. She's not coming back." With that, Nova armed one of the mist missiles and threw it at the Renegades. Captain Chromium batted it away, yelling for everyone to hold their breath. The gas dispersed, Nova and the Council on opposite sides of the cloud, waiting for the other to make the first move. A force collided violently with her, knocking Nova to the ground. Simon Westwood flickered into visibility next to her, holding her down. Hugh appeared next to them, immediately demanding, "Who are you?"
Nova grinned under her mask, whispering, "Your worst Nightmare."
He ripped off her mask and faltered, giving Nova time to plunge her knife into his leg. Simon cried out, letting go of Nova. She scrambled away, holding another bomb out.
"Don't come near me or I'll set off another. You did this to me, you turned me into this. One move and you'll be sorry."
"Why?"
"You turned a little girl with hopes and dreams of a brighter future into this. A villain. You murdered my family by promising protection and not delivering. And so, in turn, I'm here to destroy yours."
Tsumami unleashed a wave of water, the pipes near the small cafe in the lobby bursting as she drew the droplets towards her. The wave crashed into Nova, sending her sprawling to the floor. She was captured again, this time by Thunderbird, who cuffed her hands together and hauled her down the hall to the cells built into headquarters. They left her there, under heavy guard, for a while, disappearing back up into their offices, ready to announce the capture of Nightmare to the world. Instead, when she was next disturbed by the presence of Renegades, it was only Simon. His features were hard. He was definitely angry, but there was a tiny bit of softness behind his eyes. Hope fluttered in Nova's gut. Nothing good could come of this, but Nova hoped that one person wouldn't despise her.
"I don't know what turned you so violently against the Renegades, but I don't blame you. For any of this. You're still young and naive, Nova. You're easily influenced and rash. You've been manipulated your whole life by the Anarchists and they aren't about to stop now, not until they get what they want. Let me help you. We can hide you from them, give you a new identity. Let them believe you're dead, that Nightmare is no more. The whole world can think that. Just let me help."
"I just want to leave. You can tell everyone that I'm dead, but I can't stay here."
Simon Westwood took one look at Nova, sitting in front of him, small and meek but determined all the same, and made his decision. "I'll help you."
"What?" Nova snapped to attention, not expecting this answer.
"I'll help you escape."
