(1)

Void had got his entertainment, but it didn't go exactly as plan, he thought he set things up for certain people to die but even though that didn't happen, Void had a way of improvising and he still got something out of it and perhaps more....

The shadows man stood up and started out towards the Nightmare king, how he despised him and wanted Malice dead, but a wicked smirk came across his lips knowing just how evil his father plan was, even though it wasn't Voids plan, just to know who all was suffering made all the difference " I will give you that father....you keep your promises...."

Void turned around but glanced over his shoulder back at the unaware group [ Scarlet it's time to go, they can have this and believe it as victory...we will move to the next phase of the plan...] and with that he vanished into the Shadows...

After the small group had left and was well on their way back to the Palace, the shadows finally revealed what had been hidden in them the entire time.... hundreds of Void's shades were scattered around the abandoned buildings, some were on the ground as others were perched on Windowsill, broken lamp posts, billboards and on top of the building themselves....the shadowy creatures were a variety of sizes, ranging from the size of a small cat up to that of a large dragon

Malices ears pin back as he raises his head, the Nightmare King curled his lips and growled " Void, I know you are there!" He only knew because of forsaken Lord shades and were they were, Voids was known to be watching....

"Malice...Malice....Malice....what a mess you have gotten yourself into this time...." Void spoke from the Shadows

(2)

"You can't kill me so Show Yourself coward! " Malice snapped at the darkness.

~~{Song: Dark Piano - Void, by Lucas King}~~

Void chuckled, and a swirl of shadows rises up and soon took form of a man, one that the Nightmare king knew and had just seen recently in a dream... Void had his back to the Nightmare king, he glanced over his shoulder showing his Blue eye that belong to Crimson "It is a pity I can't just kill you... despite betraying Soledormir, but it is what Soledormir wills so I have to obey..."

Malice hadn't expected the Forsaken Lord to actually reveal himself, he never did it before and the one time he did, it was in a dream and he could have looked like anything.... //So he really is a body snatcher and what I seen was true.... He has the other twin...// this made something inside Malice burn, he never like Void but knowing this infuriated him for some reason "How dare you use what does not belong to you!... You slander his name and tainted his frame with your filth! I'll Tear you from that body you hide behind and kill you myself!"

"Hmhm hahaha, don't flatter yourself Malice, you know as well as I, that we can not kill one another, not while we are bound together to Soledormir" Void said smugly, he looked forward as if he was looking at something else, but it was only for a moment before he looked back over his right shoulder again "Oh, the irony... you of all creatures ridicule me? When whose body do you think your using? Unlike you, the body I took was cold, you killed him remember but the body you call yours? You remember the deal? That was the first one wasn't it? But Nonetheless, who out of us is the more wicked one here?"

(3)

"Don't try to twist the subject Void! This isn't about me but you! He made his choice!" Malice curl his maw at the Shadows man, he didn't view himself the same as Void even though they both were Body Snatchers but he hated Void, even more now known who body he had and he wanted the Shadows man out of it however the Nightmare king was a hypocrite, he had no intention of giving up his frame knowing full well who it belongs to but this was the way Nightmares really are...

Void sighed "This is why conversations with you are so dull , your as predictable as a ignorant spoiled child, who does not want to admit the truth even though it is right there for all to see" he waved a hand dismissively "They both made their choices Malice, one for Revenge as the other to save his brother from his own mistakes, ultimately both were fools...and in the end what did either one gain? They both lost everything but that is what happens when you play Soledormir's game... You lose no matter how you play...." Void then glance over his shoulder again and smirked "Now I have a question for you Malice since you're the one who brought it up.... Why do you care whose corpse I possess? You are a Nightmare, a creature without a heart, you yourself possess a body that does not belong to you, so enlighten me on why you are experiencing the emotions you are? Is it really /your/ emotions you feel or the heart's that Judas put in you?"

(4)

Malice was going to snap back but as the Shadow man continued the Nightmare king fell silent.... he didn't have the answer to that question or more like, he didn't want to acknowledge it... and he snapped "What does it even matter?! What I feel and those emotions are mine now! It doesn't matter who heart it used to be, its mine now!"

Void chuckled "Oh Soledormir has really play a wicked game with you~" he raises his Shadow claw hand and between his claws was the other half of the blue crystal Judas had put in Malice chest "But you found out the truth Faye... and those who uncover the truth pay a price worse than death.... That we do..." the forsaken Lord wasn't even talking to the Nightmare king anymore...

Void turn the little crystal in his claws "Was what you uncover worth it?.... Do you regret the deal you made with the devil? To now live a life like this? Watching through the eyes of this monster, whose very existence is for malicious intentions against you and your kind? And now not only do you have to watch but now have your very heart tainted and twisted to this Abomination's will?...." a wicked grin spread across Voids lips " I really hope you do Faye.... I only wish it was I who did this to you...but I want you to know, I do take delight in knowing it was your friend Judas who did this... Oh, Faye, how much of a fool you are~"

(5)

The Nightmare narrowed his eyes at the little crystal, he flared his nostrils, he could since who Aura was inside //.... That's Faithfull's soul... That's why in the dream Faye was in it... and on one end of the table but then the other was Void... They both were there because Faye is really alive still....// it started to make sense to Malice but at the same time his instincts prevented him from accepting certain things or looking for different possibilities, he was only a light Eater after all... and as Void continue to ignore the Nightmare king and speak to Faye, Malice instincts kick in more and more..." Faithfull got what he ask for! He was a fool in trusting Omen! " hate boiled up inside the Nightmare King for both the Dreamer prince and the outcast "Damn Omen, This was all his fault! I'm going to rip him apart the next time I see him!"

Void turned the blue Crystal in his claws, he had worded things to get this reaction form Malice, there was enough truth to back what he said but it still wasn't completely correct, he purposely left out details or twists them but he knew Malice well enough to trick him, Void hadn't been Studying the Nightmare King for the past 20,000 years for nothing, he knew just what would set Malice off and given him a heart only Benefited his plans...

"Indeed..." Void smirked, he let the crystal sink into his shadows until it vanished from sight and sense... Then he took that hand and brushed the left side of his hair but he didn't show 'that side of his face yet'... "You know just how much Judas is a tool... The Eyes of Soledormir is what he called after all, and just think Soledormir's plan almost succeeded tonight thanks to him..."

(6)

Malice pinned his ears back, he knew Soledormir had many plans and a great deal of them were kept from, he was a Project of Shoji the one who betrayed the Chaos king and the deal his frame had made, but Malice knew one of Sol Schemes was for his death and with the the new information Malice had accumulated he made his conclusion it was because of Faye... and the more he played though the most recent events it only reinforced Omen's involvement. "That /thing/ was something to do with Omen wasn't it? " he growled referring to 'that thing' as Crimson, now he had thought about it, the red prince show very similar techniques when Judas got serious in combat.

"Oh, and here I was starting to believe you were completely oblivious but you are the Nightmare King, one would expect the king of all to have some intelligence" the Forsaken Lord of Will said smartly and to dig it in deeper to Malice he add more " Faye might have been a Detective but you? You don't even amount to his shadow... It is obvious the only reason why you have lived so long is because Judas has protected and coddled you so much, and please don't waste both our time by trying to deny this"

Void then stretched out his hands out to the side "This night has proved just how weak you truly are! You would have been killed by Crimson without even putting up entertaining fight, you're weak Malice and you know why.... Your very name used to strike fear in those who heard it, Malice the Nightmare King, the Phantom that hunts in the night, whose Legends of entire cities being decimated left Generations trembling in fear but those screams of Terror are now mock and laughter! " Void glanced over his shoulder "You are no King of Nightmares Malice, you are a king of fools."

(7)

As Void made a mockery out of him, Malice's Temperature increased greatly, flames and smoke flowed off the Nightmare king, he try to move to lunge at the Shadow man in his rage but his body failed him, his spine had be broken and the Nightmare king laid broken and bloody, only proving Void's point more...

It didn't help when Void's shades began to make laughing sounds, they Sounded like an airy chorus all around the Nightmare King, mocking him, laughing at him, the once powerful king of Nightmares brought down to this.

"SILENCE!!" Malice Roared, his eyes were Pitch black as a hissing sound came from within him, the Nightmare king parted his maw and unleashed his black flames at Voids back.

Void just stood there and sighed as Malices flames Engulfed him, the fire grew so hot that the ground began to Melt and boil.

After his outburst, Malice panted, taking Heavy breaths, normally he could hold his flames longer but his energy was spent.

(8)

" Malice, Malice, how weak you are..." Void slowly turned to finally face the Nightmare King..

The flames that still scorched the ground cast an eerie glow on the man.... "They say the eyes are a widow to the soul.... If that's the case what do my eyes say about me?"

Malice's ears pin back as his eyes returned to normal, he knew Void had his frames twin but seen just how badly decayed it appeared shocked Malice, but that wasn't the only thing he noticed... As the Nightmare King looked over Void's features the Forsaken Lord's eyes stood out... His right look Familiar, the same Sapphire blue of the eye he once had... A blue dragon eye Omen gave him the same day he got his heart... The same looking eye as the monster he just survived an encounter with not long ago this night....// it was Void who had the other eye....// in knowing this, Malice remember what his mother said about the blue eye he had...Azamuku was watching...// who is Azamuku? Is that's Void real name? Just what the hell is he really?//

Malice thought froze when his eyes landed on the left side of Void, where there once was an abyss socket now had a Simmering amethyst colored eye... //Oh Moons...// "What did you do with Omen?" Malice growls, there was no Mistaking who that eye belong to, it was the outcast's...

(9)

Void tipped his head with a mock Puzzled look "My, my, what changed Malice? Wasn't it just moments ago you wanted to rip him apart?" He then smirked "Having emotions really has made you unstable "

The Forsaken Lord waved a hand Dismissively not giving Malice a chance to speak " Judas is paying the price for his disobedience, Soledormir may be a patient king but even he has a limit on mercy..." Void put a hand to his chin and had a wicked smirk "As he facing his Punishment, oh how he cry out your name, you know that Malice? He reminds me of someone else's pathetic whimpering for his brother," he added the last part knowing Malice would get who he was referring to... Faolandream.

Malice lips Twitched, but he didn't say anything, he had the prince memories, those last days in Soledormir's Prison, where Faolan was broken...

"Judas is such a pathetic creature, clinging to his fantasy of you being more than just a monster but he truly is the definition of someone who completely insane, living in a delusion like he does" Void wasn't done yet, he had been setting the stage for something, and was still working on the build up...

"Just look how he idolizes the candidates, how much he's done for them because he believes they're the heroes, because he believed Faithful... I'm sure you notice Judas interference with them? How he broke Soledormir's rules.... All to help them but do they care? Do you care?"

"How much he's sacrificed for you, you're only alive because of him... he cut off his own horn in hope to save you, given you the edge you needed to survive but even with that, Judas still cared and watch over you, time and time again he sacrificed himself to keep you alive, he sacrificed others to keep you alive because he believes you are more than what you really are..."

(10)

Malice felt a mixture of emotions, some he didn't understand but others he knew well rage, disgust, bitterness, hate...

As he look at Void, all he had was hate for him, he hated what he looked like, who's body he stole and the eyes he took, he hated what Void was playing, how he twists things but most of all he hated how Void mock him, belittling the King of Nightmares...

Malice had bitterness inside him, he was bitter at Void, at Soledormir, the tricks they played...he was bitter at Omen and how the outcast treated him over the years, view him like family or some pet... He was bitter at
Faolan for being foolish and he was bitter at Faye and the choice he made...

Seeing Void, Malice was disgusted with the shadow man, he knew the Forsaken of Soledormir's Will was low but this low? He was disgust in knowing that Crimson eye was put in him, an eye of a dragon and the demon to Nightmares, he was disgusted with Omen because he was the one who did it, he gave him the eye and Faithful heart...

He was mad at Soledormir, mad at Void, he was mad at Judas for being so stupid, he was made at the Dreamer twins and he was mad at the key hunters. He has mad at himself...

But with a heart Malice experience Foreign emotions to a Nightmare, he had felt Compassion, he felt guilt...

"Void... where is Judas, where are you keeping him?" Malice growls.

Void look at the Nightmare King "Why Malice, you should know... It's the same place Faolandream was kept... You have memories of that don't you? " he placed a hand on his face as he smiled " With you knowing this, what will you do?...."

Malice was watching Void intensely but as the shadow man hinted were Judas was, fear washed over the Nightmare King... he remembered Soledormir's Fortress, that horrible place and what happened there... the place where the deals were made and he was born...

(11)

"What will you do now Malice?... You know there's more to this now don't you?... You know what's coming next?" Void said smoothly as he tipped his head slightly, he felt Malice fear and like it, he set things up for this moment, and it was a Set up Malice would have echoes of...

It finally was starting to line up for the Nightmare king... Something very similar happened long ago between two brothers and something that was offered that changed everything... Malice pins back his ears as he look up at Void " A deal..."

~~{Song: Sacrifice - Steve Jablonsky}~~

A wicked smirk came across the evil man face
"I will give you a choice right here, right now..." Void put out one hand and move it like he was writing in the air, but as he did this, magic swirled around him, symbols appeared all around that connected with a binding thread between them... It looked Beautiful, making an almost flower design but its beauty couldn't hide the truth of what was happening, and that's what terrified Malice...

Malice eyes were locked on to a scroll that begin to materialize as Void wrote, this was all to familiar and his gut twisted having a feeling of what was on that scroll.

Once Void was done, he held it out so Malice could see "You know what this is Malice... You've seen a contract before, it is what you are isn't it? Just in a different form...." as the shadow man continued his speech Malice could see the binding threads that attach to the contract and to Void... The principle of it was more frightening that this was veracity of the laws of the foundation of their magic... meaning this was no trick, but Malice wish it was, that it would be a lie, some false promise but it wasn't... the Contract was proof that Void was serious and bound to fill the agreement if he accepts...

Malices eyes went from Void to the Contract, he read it carefully...//...He will free Judas, In exchange for... My life...// his gaze went back to Void

"A life for a life Malice~" Void hummed smugly, placing his free hand under his chin "So what will it be? Your life or his?"

Malice started at Void for a moment and then his eyes slowly moved back to the Contract, his choice would change things for many... Just like the choice of his former self.

Judas was a tough cookie but this was Void and Malice had no doubt that Void was torturing the outcast, and if not worse Experimenting with him... In a way he already knew Void was, he had Judas eye after all.

This reminded Malice of some of his early memories from Faolan, the things that were done to him, being tortured and experimented on, one of those experiments being himself, the first Light Eater... Eating at the Dreamer's chest to get to his Heart Reflections to try and satisfy his hunger, only to be ripped out after eating a little and then be let loose to feed on him again, over and over...

Malice had no idea what Void was doing to Judas but one thing he knew it was a fate no one deserved, not even Omen but in agreeing to the contract Malice would take his place...

(12)

Void watch the Nightmare king closely, he was very curious what Malice would pick, save Judas or save himself... Before he had a heart there was no doubt Malice would always choose to save himself, survival was a Nightmares strongest instinct but now something was different, the Nightmare King had a heart, he could feel emotions he could not before, he could empathize now but could he sympathize? And if he could would it matter? With a heart what would he choose?... Would whose heart it really belongs to make a difference?...

"This really does remind me of someone else..." Void tapped his chin looking up as if he was remembering something "Will you make the same mistake? " he said looking back down at Malice and smirked "Make your choice, I'm a very busy person and I haven't got all day... It won't cost much, just your life..."

Malice was silent, deep in thought and Conflicted with emotions, his life or Judas...

It wasn't much longer before he made his decision and Malice whispered, "I... I Decline the offer..."

Void tipped his head making a false puzzled expression "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I heard right, you need to speak up."

Malice knew Void was mocking him again, his maw curled as he growled loudly "I Decline!"

Void smirk as he held up the contract "I will only ask this one time, is that your final decision?"

The Nightmare King look at the Scroll and then turned his head away as he mumbled, "Yes "

"Very well." Void look at the contract and with his claw hand he slowly closed his fingers, crushing it, the Contract dispersed into specs of magic that float around before completely disappearing, closing the deal...

As the deal was closing, Void's face twisted with a mixture of pain and pleasure, from his left eye tears began to fall... Void took his hand and wiped his face and looked at the tears that came from Judas's eye, he started to laugh maniacally, he achieved what he wanted...

Malice keep his head turned away, his ears were down, he made his decision to survive but if felt painful.

"Oh! Dreamers are such Marvelous creatures, the ability to feel others emotions is truly an incredible sensation to behold!" Void looked to be completely insane as he relished what he had done "It's one thing to see the pain inflicted but to feel it?! To see the sorrow but to taste it?!" Void held out his hand that was covered with tears "I must applaud you Malice, perhaps you still are the King of Nightmares, in a few minutes you just achieved more suffering to Judas than I have these past few days!"

(13)

Void had took Judas eye so the outcast could see such things, to see Malice getting killed by Crimson or Victoria, or Malice betraying him... But these were just a few reasons why he did it, there was much more he could do to make Judas suffer by watching his schemes play out...

"But truly Malice, I should reward you for your actions because you really made the right decision." Void pulled out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped his face "Judas is not worth your life, or anyone else's... You might be Defected but you still hold some value, but him? It would have been a poor deal on your part if you accepted, Judas is broken beyond repair and has become more of a headache to upkeep than an valuable Asset... It would have been a waste to trade your life for his..."

The more Void talk the more Malice felt sick, but it also reassured the Nightmare King with his Decision //...My life is more valuable... That's why I didn't agree... I would die if I traded myself... I don't want to die...//

"Judas is a monster, that was what he was bred for... You really did make the best choice, you did the right thing... Judas is getting what he deserves... Really, it's about time he pays for his crimes... How many people died because of him? He has been one of Soledormir's greatest tools... if you look at it this way, you're done the Realms justice, perhaps you having a heart you made your choice for the better of others? After all you can't use the excuse that you're heartless now... Having a heart means only good things come from it~..."

Void knew Malice well... He had watch him since the beginning, he knew how a Nightmare's mind work, he knew how Malice thinks... Malice was a rat, he would always look to blame someone else, as long as heat wasn't on him... Void knew this and knew with a heart Malice would feel even more In danger, his confliction with his emotions and not understanding them only would drive the Nightmare King's survival instincts into a frenzy...
But one of the main reasons why Void told Judas to give Malice a heart was Malice would have chosen to serve Soledormir no matter what, he wouldn't have even thought twice about the the trade for his life or Judas, but the outcast seen in a vision that Malice could be more, that he could could be a good guy but Malice needed to change, he needed a heart.... Judas Cling to this belief and when the opportunity show for Mal to get a heart Judas didn't question it... He trusted his vision, he did so much that he cut off one of his horns... Unfortunately that was Judas' down fall in the greatest scheme of Soledormir...

(14)

Soledormir knows people well, most better than they know themselves... He knows how to play to a person's character, to toy with who they are and with that he knows how twist things, how to get people to do evil things willing and without knowing they were doing evil.... And with Judas, well he was a custom-made toy for the Chaos king

Soledormir had broken Judas, took those pieces, and over the years had molded him into the person he was today.

Judas longs for family, and after losing Deluna Shoji gave the outcast the first Light Eater as a pet to care for but once Malice had gotten Intelligence, Judas started to fantasize the Nightmare King as a brother, they both were experiments to be living weapons, but the difference was Judas was a person made to be a weapon as Malice... he was just a weapon, he was nothing more then his /Contract,/ he was not a person and would never be one... Not without some things

In order to be a person Malice was missing something or more like some things, one of those things was a heart and Soledormir knew Judas like so many others believed a heart would change something for the better, because isn't that how all fairy tales go?

That following your heart will never lead you astray...
Soledormir played Judas fantasy, he gave him a brother and he gave him a heart, in a perfect fairy tale Malice should have changed completely, he should have become a real boy! But...

Soledormir knew that people would always believe that just because something has a heart, it was good, when the truth was some of the greatest acts of evil are made by the heart... and right now was one of those times...

It was bad enough before Malice had a heart, but now Judas had hoped Malice would change, that Mal was a person now but the truth hurt more then any knife and with Void telling Judas whose heart he placed in Malice only was more damaging, but Soledormir and his Will were not done yet.... They had plans for more suffering...

(15)

//Why do I feel this way?... I wanted nothing more than to kill Omen... He is going to die for this, isn't he?... I wanted this didn't I?... // Malice felt sick even after Void trying to convince him he made the right choice, in fact because of what was said made him feel worse, Void was a Liar but what he said Malice wanted to believe because it shouldn't make him feel guilt //And he's right... I help others by doing this... it was the only choice...//

"I can tell you're having some trouble with your feelings?" Void tapped his chin as he smirked at the Nightmare King, "Emotions are such complex things are they not? That feeling that your insides are ripping itself apart, the overwhelming anxiety that something horrible has happened but you can't quite place your finger on it?.... Betrayal is Natural for a Nightmare but feeling guilty about it? Is not."

Void look down at the Nightmare king, giving him a serious expression, "I know of something that will help ease your mind... If you want clarity on your decision, why don't you take the key from your newest friend Hiiro and let the leader of Burning Suns' clan have a vision?" he said smoothly and purposely didn't bring up Dreamcatcher seeing the vision...

Void knew well that the door this would open could not be closed after, truth would be learn and lives would be endangered...

(16)

After giving Malice a hint, more tears streamed down the left side of Voids face, so much misery had happened this night.

The battle that took place not long ago and the aftermath that would follow it...

And then what was happening now, and though he was in a different realm, Void could feel Judas suffering.

But this was just one part of Voids scheme...

As the Forsaken Lord of Soledormir Will let the Nightmare King think hard about what he said, Void had been monitoring other subjects this night... He looks off in the distance like he had done earlier //Hmm, it seems like S.3. is stalking G9 and him...// He waved a hand and a group of shades melted into the Shadows and Disappeared...

Void didn't want his experiments to be uncovered just yet, his shades would make sure S.3. would not reveal itself and the Shadows man would see to something himself...

The Shadow man turned to leave but he wanted to make one final jab at the Nightmare King "Malice, your choice did prolonged your life... for now...but you know the age of Nightmares as they are is coming to its end... You have grown weak and weakness will die, it is Soledormir's will... a new age is coming Malice, one were the Nightmares are obsolete and a new weapon will carve over your legacy..." Void said coldly and then look over his shoulder and added, "I will see to that... "

Void then walk away saying one more thing "Malice, you may have a heart but that doesn't mean you have a soul..." The shadows consumed him and he thought, //If you did, who do you think you'd really be?... Father may have his plans but so do I....//

Once the Forsaken Lord of Soledormir's Will disappeared, the shades soon followed, leaving the Nightmare King broken in the darkness, alone with his thoughts and emotions.

Malice just laid there, his spine was still trying to fix itself and until then, all he could do was lie and process everything that happened this night and make plans for later...

(That the end)

AAAJJHHH JUDAS

for a moment i thought mal would say "yes" cause those emotions have got him super screwed up lol

poor judas though :<

i wanna see void get wrecked even worse than when sol DidTheThing to him

I hop he get wrecked to Katt