CALAMITY : Legends Of The Chosen

NIGHTFALL — Forgotten Titan"

Location: Forest clearing, dimly lit by glowing mushrooms and a flickering campfire.

Time: Unknown. The night has felt longer than usual.

Scene Start — Accusation Echoes

Enme sits alone, wrapped tightly in her cloak, her shirt hastily sewn shut by Karl earlier with nanothread, but it still droops at one edge. The way Zans avoids her eyes feels off. So does the fact that no one has really spoken since she woke up.

Karl has that analyzing look again, his hand subtly scanning something with internal nanite pulses.

Karl: (coldly) "If there's an unknown variable in the dream state, it's possible Morgz became… compromised." Zans: (gritting teeth) "Or maybe the bastard dreamed it all up. You were the only one awake when she screamed, Morgz."

Morgz jolts up, fists clenched, pupils trembling.

Morgz: "What the hell are you saying?! I warned you! There's a creature—some twisted, dream-warping bastard—that's already hit me and Enme!"

Max: "We've fought demons, storms, nightmares. But you want me to believe we're being attacked in our dreams?"

(his voice drops)

"That's pretty damn convenient when you're the only one claiming it, huh?"

Morgz lunges forward, but Leone steps between them.

Leone: "Enough!"

The silence after her voice is chilling. The fire crackles. A gust of night air blows through the camp…

And no one notices that Shojiro's bedroll is empty.

Leone & Enme's Private Moment

Leone gently leads Enme away to a quiet part of the forest edge.

Leone: "You okay?" Enme: (sighs) "No. I feel humiliated. I feel… dirty. Like someone touched me in my sleep and now I'm doubting people I fought beside."

She pauses, voice trembling.

Enme: "I didn't mean to blame anyone. But I don't know what happened. I don't remember anything… just fear and cold, and—" Leone: "You're not weak for being scared."

They sit in silence. Just for a moment. Like friends again.

Until Morgz shouts from behind the trees.

Morgz: "Guys?! GUYS—WHERE THE HELL IS SHŌJIRO?!"

Cut To: Shojiro's Dream Hell

Shojiro stands in an empty red void. The ground pulses like a heart. The trees around him are made of bone.

His breath fogs unnaturally. Sweat drips down his temple.

And in front of him…

That starfish-like Namsari floats mid-air, its appendages twitching erratically, like it's puppeteering the dream.

Shojiro swings with a punch powerful enough to flatten buildings—

The creature phases, giggling psychically. It leaves behind a mirage that wraps around Shojiro's body like wires.

His arm begins turning backward—like it's being unraveled—

Shojiro: "GRAAAAAHH!!"

Real World — Back to Camp

Max, Karl, Zans, Morgz, and the girls rush over to Shojiro's bedroll. He's sweating, convulsing, gripping at his arm.

Max grabs his shoulder, trying to shake him awake.

Max: "Shojiro! Wake up, man—WAKE UP!"

Leone: "He's stuck… just like Morgz was!"

Morgz (dead serious): "Now do you believe me?"

Karl's face tightens as he watches Shojiro's muscles twitch violently. Blood seeps from his nose.

"We're next… if we don't figure out how to beat this thing, we're all next."

Wake-Up Scene — "Kiss or Kill"

Setting: Shojiro convulses harder—his back arching, veins blackening. His face contorts in pain like he's being unzipped from the inside. Blood pools around his bedroll. The team is frozen—unsure what to do.

Leone drops to her knees beside him, gripping his face.

Leone (shaking him):

"Shojiro!! Shojiro—it's me!! Dammit—wake up! PLEASE!!"

She leans in, trembling. Heart pounding. Panic rising. Then…

Leone (softly):

"If this is the only way to reach you…"

She kisses him. Not a long, romantic one—but desperate. A shiver runs down her spine as Shojiro's convulsing suddenly stops for a second.

Morgz (awkwardly whispering to Karl):

"Okay that was… intense."

Karl (dry):

"If I'm ever dying, don't wake me like that."

But then—Shojiro seizes again. Worse. Arms snapping unnaturally.

Leone pulls back. Her eyes blaze. She growls in frustration—and Ghoul Form activates.

Her muscles twist. Bones stretch. Claws grow. Eyes glow white.

Leone (venomously):

"You stubborn, thick-skulled, muscle-for-brains idiot—WAKE THE HELL UP!!!"

She winds up a palm strike with enough force to obliterate stone—and SLAPS him across the face so hard the trees bend backward.

REALITY BREAKS

Shojiro's eyes snap open—full white. He gasps, body jolting like he just got struck by lightning.

Shojiro (coughing):

"...DID SOMEONE JUST... PUNCH MY SOUL?"

Post-Scene Fallout

Max: "So... does he remember anything?"

Shojiro (rubbing his cheek):

"No idea. All I know is something tried to unzip my entire existence, and then a ghost slapped me into the afterlife."

Karl (deadpan):

"So the Leone method works."

Leone, now reverted and red-faced, just crosses her arms and mutters:

Leone:

"Next time you sleep, I'm punching first and then kissing."

Scene: "Nightmare Made Flesh"

[Setting: Forest camp, early dawn | The fire is dying, the air cold and heavy with tension]

Shojiro sat on a log, drenched in sweat, his breath ragged. His fists were clenched so tight, his knuckles cracked. Beside him, Leone looked just as shaken—partially from her slap heard 'round the forest, but also because she'd felt the thing brush against her spirit before she yanked Shojiro out.

Shojiro (shaky):

"It wasn't a dream… It was real. I saw it—this… starfish thing. Like it was stitched together from screams. It didn't move—it just twisted. And when it looked at me, I couldn't move."

A silence fell like a hammer. Nobody interrupted.

Morgz (quietly):

"I told you."

Everyone looked at him. He didn't sound smug. He sounded… exhausted.

Morgz (more forceful):

"I told you. I saw it. It cut my face. It marked me. But you all called me paranoid. Crazy."

Zans (sincerely):

"We were wrong. And you were right."

Enme, still clutching her cloak tightly to hide the tear across her chest, stepped forward and bowed slightly.

Enme:

"I accused everyone of something horrible… when it was that thing invading our minds. I'm sorry."

Morgz (half a smile):

"Not your fault. We all walked into this blind."

Max (arms folded):

"Alright. So we know it's not just a one-time thing. It's methodical. Hunting us in our sleep, one by one."

Karl:

"That means it's a high-level Namsari. Dream-type—Aetherial class. Possibly parasitic. If it kills us in the dream, we die here too."

Alex (sitting cross-legged, eyes closed):

"Hmmm… the psychic static it left behind is still thick. You're lucky, Shojiro. It almost snapped your consciousness in two."

Shojiro:

"...Feels like it already did."

He tried to stand but stumbled. Leone caught him by the arm.

Leone (quietly):

"You're still shaking."

Shojiro (smirks weakly):

"So are you."

Kuro (to Zans):

"If it gets stronger with every dream, then… how many nights do we have before it starts killing for real?"

Zans said nothing. But everyone saw the cold sweat on his back.

Karl (firm):

"Then nobody sleeps tonight. Period."

Morgz:

"I already wasn't planning to."

Enme:

"Do we even know how to stop something like this?"

Alex (smirks):

"I do."

Everyone turned to her.

Alex:

"We just have to dive into the dream together. All of us. Find its core. Kill it there."

Zans:

"That's...possible?"

Alex (grinning):

"Sure. But you might not like what you see inside each other's heads."