Chapter Three: Rematch

The brat actually took down Fatal. Impressive,but he's spent all his energy so i can easily take him down" Nightmare said as he dashed at the fatigued Tokiwa. "Not so fast!" Max shouts as he comes up from Nightmare's shadow and turns his shadow into chains to hold him "i'm your opponent" Max said as Nightmare looked back at him with a grin "hehehe,if it isn't the self proclaimed Nightmare Killer. I was ordered to kill the other brat,but I have time to kill off a weakling like you" Nightmare said as Max retorted "weakling huh,wasn't i the same person who put you into your hiatus,how's that wound treating you?" Max said as Nightmare smirked as he easily moved his arm to lift up his hoodie while still being chained. "What wound?" Nightmare asked smugly as he easily broke the shadow chains and cracked his neck. "I bet i can beat you without taking my hands out of my pockets" Nightmare said as he put his hands in his hoodie pocket and lifted one leg up. Max summoned several shadow daggers and launched them at nightmare and followed up with several space slices. Nightmare jumped up in the air and dodged all the attacks,then came down with a thunderous kick right in front of Max that easily shattered the ground. Max blocked some damage but took a ton of damage as a result. "Seems that you have been idle for a long time in order to use your quirk. I have learned a few things since the last time we fought," Max said as he turned into a black metal bot and launched a bunch of shadow fire and shadow ice in all directions. "You know nothing boy,if i was just idle,then i wouldn't have gotten nearly as strong. Even still,my jump in strength wasn't just training alone" Nightmare said as he dashed back and dodged all of Max's attacks. Nightmare then squats down and points himself at Max. Nightmare then blitzes past Max and starts to kick around his shadow metal form. "I hope this works. Shadow Speed!" Max said as he went as fast as light for only a moment and hit Nightmare which did some damage to him and had steam come off his armor. Nightmare was back first on the floor and stared at the sky "hehehe,good,good" Nightmare said as he licked the blood that came from his lip "it'd be a shame if you hadn't gotten any stronger" Nightmare said as he hopped up with a smile on his face. "Time to step this up don't you say?" Nightmare said as he blitzed in front of Max and kicked his metal armor directly in the face. Max was sent sliding back but Nightmare wasn't done. Nightmare then dashes at the sliding Max and sweeps his leg. Max falls on his back and slowly begins to fear for his life "hehehehehe,your fear is delicious,do me a favor and stay alive long enough for me to get full" Nightmare said as he stomps on the armor's chest,leaving a massive dent in the armor. "You have awakened! That is why you are so much stronger!" Max said as he melted in his own shadow and appeared behind Nightmare and ran. "I wish,if i was already awakened then this would be done a lot faster" Nightmare said as he jumped up to stretch his legs. "Let's end this already,I thought you'd show me the strength you used to beat me the first time" Nightmare said disappointedly. Nightmare then blitzes next to Max and kicks him so hard that Max goes flying. "Fine, you want entertainment! I'll show you a move no one has seen yet! SHADOW REAPER!" Max yelled as darkness gathered to him and gave him a cloak as well as several shadow creatures coming from the cloak. A sharp scythe appeared in his hand and he slashed the air aiming at nightmare and shadow/space arcs came from the scythe. "THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" Nightmare shouted as he stood still and let himself get hit by all of the attacks. There was dust and smoke coming from the area nightmare was in. "You are not dead. Why do I feel a different power coming from your body?" Max said as he breathed heavily. "Hehehehe! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Nightmare bellowed as a black tentacle moved at blistering speeds at Max's throat. Max, by another stroke of luck,moved out of the way. "Good boy,now,let me show you what i can do now" Nightmare said as the same tentacle wraps itself around Max's throat. "Hehe,hmm,i wonder. Where's that dumb,blone,bimbo you were always running around with? What was her name again? Kate! Yes,after i'm done with you,i'll slaughter her next" Nightmare said as Max's eyes widened in rage. However,Nightmare sent another tentacle through Max's chest. "Goodbye Max,for good this time" Nightmare said as the tentacle that was in Max's chest removed itself and went back into Nightmare. Nightmare dropped Max's now lifeless body on the ground and began to walk away with an unimpressed look on his face. Strange energy was gathering at Max's body, some black, some blue. Max's body healed and repaired at an extraordinary rate. Nightmare felt something was off and turned around, only to see Max launching several space slashes that are faster than before. Nightmare dodged but noticed that all the slashes disappeared the moment they missed. Just then several more came in all directions. Nightmare dodged but some left some cuts on his body. "HAHAHA, you entered a pre awakened stage like me! Show me more!" Nightmare said as he ran to Max and hit him but his fist went through Max's body before it disappeared. Nightmare felt a strong punch on his side that made him fly. "Hehehe,*spit* good,good,now we can really begin" Nightmare said as he spat out blood. "So how do you feel now Max,don't you feel that power coursing through your veins,that overwhelming rage and hatred that pushed you further than ever before. I haven't felt this excited since the day I gained my artifact!" Nightmare said as Max gripped his fist so hard that it bled. "All I feel right now is an overwhelming urge to rip your head from your shoulders! But right now,I know you have information that could be of use,so I'll make you a deal. If I manage to beat you here,then you'll tell me everything you know about quirks, awakenings,and these artifacts" Max said as Nightmare looked at him and smiled.

"Deal,but I want you to notice something. This entire fight,I haven't used my hands once to attack you. But now,since things have changed,you're truly going to fear what I can really do" Nightmare said as he took his hands out of his pockets and put his leg down. Nightmare then moved at incredible speeds and punched Max directly in his face. Max slid back a bit and bled from his nose. "Ha, I have been trying to awaken for years with no success. I'm missing something that you know. Something that I want" Max said as he fought with many slashes and blades. Nightmare dodged these slashes and upper cutted Max so hard that he spat out blood "You'll have to survive long enough for me to tell you!" Nightmare said as he beat on Max with a flurry of blindingly fast punches. All of Nightmare's punches were stopped by some kind of shield. "You use the same moves too much" Max said as he goes shadow bot mode and punches Nightmare at similar speeds. "Oh really then,if that's the case then there isn't any point in holding back anymore" Nightmare said as he jumped back. Black goo began to cover his entire body and clothes,his tentacles came forth,and his eye color changed from red to blue. "There we go,this is something that I obtained only because of my artifact," Nightmare said as he smirked. Nightmare then sent a tentacle that moved so fast that Max couldn't even register it. Max used shadow speed that gave him only a few seconds and he went into the shadow world to retreat.