Dream-Hunters - Chapter Thirteen, Part 2

Matthew ran forward, calling to the figures in the mist. “Sophie!” Sure enough, as the dust cleared, Sophie could be seen standing atop the collapsed form of a heavyset man in a hockey mask. She looked quite pleased with herself, addressing Phobos astutely.

“Sorry we’re late,” she said, hopping off of her defeated enemy. “We just did a little housecleaning for you.”

“Yeah,” another voice followed up from within the smog. “And-” The voice’s owner suddenly inhaled the cloud of dust, breaking off into a graceless bout of wheezing. “We *cough* found these runts *cough cough* lording themselves over your castle. Crazy, right?” he wheezed, staggering forward awkwardly.

It took Matthew a moment to recognize him. A Mask that radiated hell obscured his face. Could it be Alfie? But Alfie was gone, and the boy’s voice was different, as was his Mask. As he removed the dream-relic, Matthew could clearly see stony brown eyes and a face that seemed to be frozen in a perpetual smirk. He held a motionless blue imp by the scruff of its neck, dangling it for all to see.

The stocky man collapsed on the floor groaned, his face obscured by a Jason-esque hockey mask. The imp crackled and fizzed electric blue, eventually coming to. “Did we win?” he muttered groggily.

Phobos took an aggressive step forward, a silver aura igniting in his hands. “Necrophobia and Malfunction. So you were the traitors.”

Malfunction yelped, realizing the current situation. “Oh, um, your Majesty! How delightful it is to see you! Oh, the heavens hath told the wonders of your great majesticness, and, um, eh...”

Astraphobia surged forward, his eyes sparking like lightning. “So, you’re the one responsible,” he boomed through gritted teeth. His left hand filled with deadly voltage. “Your death will be excruciating, I promise you that much.”

“Gyaaah! Wait wait wait!” Malfunction pleaded. “I can, um, help you! Yes! I can help you!”

The boy raised Malfunction’s face to his own, putting on a tough guy sneer. “How so?”

“Well, I could give you a list of the foul traitors among your subjects! Now how’s that for a deal?” The imp laughed nervously.

His captor turned him to face Phobos. “Then speak.”

“First one! Pyrophobia!”

Phobos looked unimpressed. “We figured that out already.”

“Well, second one! Necrophobia!”

“You don’t say?” Sophie remarked impassively, gesturing to the zombie on the floor.

Malfunction looked panicked. “Third one! Chaser!”

The hallway fell silent as they processed this sentence.

“Alright, you miserable little runt,” Astra growled, raising his hand again. “What words do you want on your gravestone?”

“Please don’t kill me!” Malfunction squealed.

“Not the best, but it’ll do.” Astra electrified his hand to strike, looking like a mad scarecrow in the lightning's purple glow.

“Hold your fire, Astra,” Phobos commanded coldly. “We’re not going to kill him.”

“Oh, really?” Astra groaned, releasing the voltage. “Well, fine. How about him?” He pointed to Necrophobia, who was rising slowly from the ground.

“I would think not.” Necrophobia’s deep voice resonated through the hall, weighed upon by a heavy Russian accent.

Astraphobia scowled in confusion. “You talk?”

“Indeed,” Necro stated plainly. “And I offer information that the foolish imp cannot: Chaser’s plan.”

Sophie quickly thrust her spear beneath his chin. “Do tell,” she pried with a smile.

Unfazed, the zombie continued. “As some of you already know, the Hope-relic holds the power to fuse nightmares together.”

A great murmuring took place among the crowd, many of whom were completely lost trying to follow the plot.

“Chaser plans to use this power to make himself king; this much is apparent,” Necro went on. “However, Chaser has an even greater purpose for his creation. He plans to travel to the very epicenter of our worlds and,” he paused for dramatic effect, “Perform a Nightmare Fusion on the worlds of Night and Day.”

The crowd went silent for a moment, processing his words.

“Well that’s dumb!”

“Really frigging stupid.”

“Who would even-”

“Silence!” Phobos yelled. “Regardless, we must rally ourselves and face this threat! As for you two,” he said, turning to the traitors. “You will be at the front lines of this battle.”

“As you wish.” Necro bowed deeply. “But you cannot defeat Chaser.”

Phobos scowled in annoyance. “We’ll see.”

Malfunction, meanwhile, had launched into an ostentatious plea that glorified Phobos in every way possible, begging him for a different fate. It was largely ignored.

“Well, I guess that’s it then.” The boy wielding Fury dusted off his hands with a grin and began to walk away. “Have fun, guys!”

“Not so fast, John Dureal.” Phobos halted the boy with a dead serious look. “Stand before me.”

“Um...okay.” John awkwardly made his way over to between Phobos and the congregation of nightmares.

“Sophie Oracle as well.” Matthew watched his sister stand beside John before the King of Fears.

“And you!” Phobos exclaimed, pointing his deathly finger at the other girl, who was trying to hide herself from sight. The brown-haired maiden went pale as he regarded her.

“Who, me? No, I-”

“Stand.” Phobos looked deadly serious.

The girl in the white dress made her way to where the others were standing, met with a snicker from John. Phobos finally rested his gaze on Matthew. “And you.”

The nightmares watched in shocked awe as Matthew stepped forward to face Phobos. Phobos turned his head to Claus, giving the nightmare a slight nod. Stepping forward, the ogre produced the Bow of Sorrows, handing it solemnly to the Dream-Hunter. “This is yours, right?” he said quietly.

“Dream-Hunters.” Phobos addressed the four humans, raising his voice to be heard by all. “I beg your assistance in our time of need. You now understand the implications of Chaser’s plan, and there is only one way of halting his menace.”

John elbowed Tessa discreetly. “Pay attention, this sounds plot-related,” he whispered.

Phobos glared furiously at the boy, coughed, and went on. “As I was saying, there is only one way to defeat Chaser. With the true Original Dream-Relic.”

Matthew saw John put on another smug look. Was this really who he was stuck with?

“This forbidden power is hidden in the deep recesses of this world,” Phobos continued. “It holds the power to undo Chaser’s foul magic.” Matthew heard Astraphobia spark with interest behind them. “To find this power, you must-”

“Wait, wait, wait.” The dry, mocking voice could only have come from John. “Can you just...give us some time before this whole mission starts?”

The King of Fears looked outright appalled. “What? But-”

“Oh, come on. Can’t you give your final chance just a bit of flexibility? We need to be rested up for this fight, right?”

Phobos was slow to answer. “Right,” he said begrudgingly.

“Alright then, cool. You guys cover Chaser, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.” John winked, placing his hands on the floor, his Mask returning and glowing crimson.

Matthew was too stunned to react as they were swallowed up by the whirling portal that opened beneath them. He cast a final glance to Arachne as he disappeared into the vortex alongside his fellow humans.

John was the last one to descend into the void. “After all, we need our rest. See you later,” he said, grinning at Phobos. With that, he sunk through the floor, and the portal zipped shut, leaving the nightmares standing silently in the dark dungeon hall. Only then did anyone realize the intentional hole in his logic.

“Don’t humans rest by-”

“Sleeping. Yes, they do,” Phobos sighed wearily. It was going to be a rough journey for them to save humanity.