Chapter Text
Of all the days he had to run into his least favorite super-powered maniac, it just had to be a day where he hadn't had a single wink of sleep.
Dream easily leaps into the air, dodging a fatal swing of a gleaming netherite sword, before pulling out his own axe, tip sharpened and giving a menacing shine in the afternoon sun. The words Nightmare were engraved into the handle, sitting beside enchantments that hint of the weapon’s true role.
He raises it beside his head as he lands down onto his opponent.
The Blade.
His incredible act, however, is quickly parried by the piglin brute, and he acrobatically flips away, landing on the roof of a nearby car, flipped over with its windows shattered, the glass littered on the street that was their battlefield. He feels a slight annoyance at the fact that said enemy doesn’t seem even out of breath. He narrows his eyes, even knowing that with his full face mask, there's no way the villain could possibly see it.
Then, however, there’s always that feeling that The Blade could read minds.
The villain smirks with his signature smug look, twirling his sword in his hand as Dream smoothly recovered.
Well, if that was how they were going to play, he couldn’t look bothered either. So he cocks his head invitingly, before raising the axe once more.
“Tired?” XD, his hero persona, teases with a dangerous gleaming smile as he leaps toward Blade, doing a strike that was quickly blocked before giving an experimental sweep at his legs. The Blade doesn't rise to the bait, only dodging fluidly and attempting a slice of his own, of which was quickly blocked by Nightmare. He brandishes his axe, twirling it around and hooking it onto the sword, pushing it aside and lunging forward with a kick.
“Not even close.” Blade responded, smirking as he dodged, then sliced at Dream, of which was narrowly avoided, twirling away, their blades moving in dancing arcs around each other, movements quick and precise.
Onlookers and viewers have described their battles as a deadly dance, with neither normally able to defeat the other. They were completely equally matched in their skill sets. Which was why the debate of who was better was so heated. After all, both had only managed to defeat the other only once.
For Dream, it was when they’d first met.
For Blade, it had been at their second encounter, when Dream had just been tag teamed by the Syndicate’s other two leaders, Siren and The Angel only a few minutes before, and had been both exhausted and injured by the time Blade was on the scene.
The point was, both those times had kind of been unfair, because the first time they’d met, neither of them knew each other’s full skillset.
Blade’s instance was unfair for obvious reasons.
Fortunately, he had wanted a fair victory over Dream, letting him go after roughing him up, mainly because he wanted to pull a Siren and be full on dramatic as he, and he quotes, ‘stands over his body and unmasks him for the world to see.’ Which, in all the six years of them constantly battling every week, still hadn't happened. To be fair to the supervillain however, Dream also has still not managed to arrest The Blade either.
Above, he could faintly hear the swooping of wingbeats and the clash of weapons. An occasional burst of brilliant fire. It was obvious as to who it was.
Sapnap, known as Phoenix to the public, was the Angel’s nemesis, as they were both #2 in the ranks; Sapnap in the hero, Angel in the villain. It was also because Sap was the only one with wings, making him the only one who could fairly fight Angel, and resulted in some pretty epic air fights.
Dream parried a thrust and swiped at Blade, who dodged and used the handle of his netherite sword to shove him onto the asphalt. Dream grunted as he was thrown to the ground.
“I think I’m havin’ fun. You?” Dream rolled out of the way and stood as Blade launched himself at him once more, and he took that opportunity to land a rather large cut on Blade’s abdomen.
He didn’t even flinch as blood welled from the wound.
Some might say The Blade was immortal, that he felt no pain. Dream said that was bullshit; The Blade was definitely human. Well, as human as he could be, being a piglin hybrid. After all, although he was extremely good at hiding it, he did wince at the wound, and after all, Dream had managed to beat him before.
The Blade recovered quickly (damn superpowers) and dove straight at him. Dream sliced at him, but the sudden burst of speed had caused him to miss and for the villain to land a sizeable slice down his midsection, causing him to stumble with an offended hiss.
“And here I thought you were good at fightin’!” The Blade shot at him, and they locked into combat once more, Dream prioritizing defense over attack, the sting of his new wound causing it difficult to move at the rate he preferred, and well, the supervillain's narcissistic 'humor' was beginning to annoy him. Sometimes, he found them somewhat funny, but today? He just wasn't in the mood.
If there were three words to describe Blade, they would be egotistical, impulsive, and deadly.
A rather terrible mix, if he did say so himself.
“I’m not in the mood." Dream said honestly, lunging forward a step to feint a stab before jabbing to the right. Blade dodges, not falling for it. "I’m actually supposed to be sleeping right now, but HC decided that I won't get any today. Full time. I know, terrible.”
He hooked his axe onto the villain's sword, and with one practiced twist and pull, he yanked the sword out of Blade's hands. Unfortunately, at the same time, the supervillain pulled back as well, sending both of their weapons spinning onto the concrete as they engaged in hand to hand combat instead.
“What a shame, interruptin’ your sleep schedule. Gettin’ sick of me?”
“Definitely. Now, if you could just hand yourself in, you'd do me a real favor and stop interrupting my sleep schedule for another attempt at a politician's life or something."
“It's great that my amazin' personality bothers you all the time and all, but I think the real question is why you’re sleepin’ at two in the afternoon.” Blade looked at him, and he had that reminiscent feeling of being pried apart as he was examined by those cold, red eyes that instilled fear wherever seen.
“I’m late for lunch, actually, so would you be so kind as to let me arrest you?” Dream shot back in a rather annoyed tone, backing off carefully and assessing his situation.
“How about no.” Blade replied almost immediately. “I think, XD, that you’ll have to postpone that. Permanently.”
Dream stared.
“Wow. I'm so scared." He deadpanned. "Whatever do you mean, oh scary villain?”
Blade narrowed his eyes, obviously annoyed, although both he wasn't showing it on his face. “There is a living question that walks in the minds of almost everyone in this city. One I do intend to answer.” The villain's eyes glinted.
“Who is the hero known as XD?”
— — —
Earlier in the day
April 14, 20XX
Dream opened his eyes blearily as he registered the beep beep beep of his alarm clock. He felt around for the snooze button, slamming it down when he did find it. He groaned as he practically rolled out of bed. In his defense, he was tired from last night’s patrol and got less than an hour of sleep.
After he’d showered and finished his morning routine, he went down the unnecessarily fancy stairs that led to the second floor. He was greeted with a pillow to the face, which he caught with a hand, blinking with sleepiness.
“Drista?” Dream asked in a tired tone, “What are you doing?”
Dream and his little sister, Drista, lived in a rather big-
Well, you could call it a mansion, because it was a rather large house. Hey, it wasn’t his fault that the Hero Corporation, or HC for short, paid way too much for being a top hero.
Then again, he was risking his life every time he went out there to fight some new serial murderer with superpowers.
So. Yeah.
The point was, he could retire at that very moment (if he could, because he couldn't, it was literally not allowed) and still have enough money left that he would be able to continue living this lifestyle until he died. And still pay for Drista’s living as well.
His house looked a bit like a Victorian mansion, with a huge garden, multiple balconies, about twenty rooms the size of penthouses, grand windows, and four garages. And his house was one the more modest ones on his street, located only a few blocks away from the city’s center.
Nestled in between towering skyscrapers and looming corporate buildings was Hero Central. It stood out from the other buildings easily. Everyone knew what it was. It seemed like multiple towers from afar, with each of those buildings holding the HC logo, each also dedicated to different heroes and facilities, with the largest and center tower being the main, with all the towers somehow connected to the others. He had to spend four hours memorizing the layout of all those towers-because it was required-when he first rose up to rank 1. That was with the photographic memory, due to the sheer amount of blueprints and manuals he'd had to read. Why? Hell if he knew.
His oh so dear little sister finally came into view, lounging on one of the couches facing a large tv mounted on the wall, the screen flashing videos of heroes from one of the city's larger news networks. She was holding a pastry roll from Niki’s Bakery, half eaten.
“What does it look like I’m doing, idiot?” Drista replied, not looking away from the screen. Dream sighed and shook his head, desperately wishing for caffeine.
“Tell me when it’s Hero News. I’m getting coffee.”
— — —
When Dream eventually got back - on Drista’s insistence that she was going to see him on tv and make fun of him - The news anchor was already broadcasting their hero centered segment. He slipped onto the top of the sofa, above his sister, and they poked each other absent-mindedly as they watched.
“In other related news, the hero XD was seen apprehending an new vigilante late last night, before having a quick clash with the #5 villain, Thunder, emerging victorious and forcing the villain to escape. We urge viewers a-”
“BORING!” Drista said to the TV, turning down the volume and huffing with exaggerated annoyance. “They never show your fights with The Blade these days. Is it so hard that I want to see my brother get owned by a villain every once in a while?”
“Well, you’ll be in luck. I’m supposed to have a quick afternoon patrol today, because Syndicate members were spotted in West End earlier this morning.” Dream replied, amusement clear in his voice.
“Oh, you know they were probably just sending you on some wild goose chase.”
Drista huffed dramatically, rising, before walking past Dream.
“I’m getting more donuts.”