Dreamworld of Doom

Note: A bit of a crossover, featuring a team up between Danny Phantom's Nocturne and Code Lyoko's XANA. XANA is able to contact Nocturne and open a portal between his world and Lyoko and decides to befriend him in gaining more power to harvest dream energy. Nocturne is curious, wondering why on earth XANA could need such an energy, but XANA explains without it, he cannot exist for long and will eventually die if he doesn't gain what he needs in a certain time-frame. Nocturne agrees to help, citing that he too feeds on the power produced from people's sweet dreams. Meanwhile, Odd and taken Sissi shopping for new clothes, but they sense something suspicious.

"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."—from Your Other Left !: Punch Lines from the Front Lines

Chapter 1—So Many Aspects in Common

XANA had recently become weak, and it had happened so suddenly he felt that perhaps he was "catching a cold" like his human adversaries. It was true, viruses actually could become sick, but it was a bit redundant for them to do so. He knew in order to defeat his oncoming symptoms that he would have to take a trip into the human realm and begin harvesting energy in some manner. Unfortunately, the grand villain XANA was reluctant of the idea of traveling to earth in order to put an end to the start of a meddlesome cold. However, he knew that if he didn't, he would eventually fade away and die. Usually he didn't fear anything, not even defeat. Yet, death disturbed him to the point of searching for answers in his crystal ball.

As he gazed deeply into the crystalline orb, he found a cosmic monster from another realm known as Nocturne. Though Nocturne was being defeated by a hero by the name of Danny Phantom, he was intrigued. He noticed that he and Nocturne were in many ways, alike. Coughing slightly, he thought a bit to himself about what he was about to do. Impulsively, he used what energy he could to create a portal from Lyoko into Nocturne's world and pulled him into Lyoko. Apparently, Danny didn't think much of it and said,

"Nocturne made the wise choice and ran away while he still had the chance. Not that I blame him." Danny laughed heartily and flew into the horizon.

With one final grunt, XANA accidentally pulled Nocturne on top of him. XANA was weak, and had only begun coughing consistently. Apparently, his cold was becoming worse. Quickly, Nocturne reassembled himself and stood as a shadow hovering over XANA.

"Who may I ask are you, and why have you summoned me, the almighty Nocturne, to this…alien and unfamiliar place ?", Nocturne asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. XANA coughed, hating the fact that he might be appearing weak to the being he needed assistance from.

"I am XANA, ruler of all you see. Well, someday I shall be. I, like you, thrive on energy to survive. Trouble is, I have a bit of a mental block.", XANA said, feeling awkward about the words that were leaving his lips. Apparently, Nocturne understood, knowing that villains too, by nature, in whatever form, were fallible creatures, and not gods. He explained to Nocturne why he had to have energy to survive and began laying out his plan, or his snippet of one.

"I can help you, but you must promise me that I will receive 50 percent of the energy that we harvest together with my device.", Nocturne said, with fingers interlaced. XANA turned his head to cover another cough. With what little energy he could exert, he thought the plan was better than simply wasting away and giving up. Giving up wasn't part of XANA's agenda, and he would be damned if he succumbed to something as ludicrous as a simple common cold.

Together the two developed helmets that would link directly into the core of Lyoko and fuel XANA while half would be given to Nocturne for whatever devious use he could think of. He was beginning to like Nocturne quite a bit. Even though they were different creatures, their desires were incredibly similar.

Without any further ado once the machines were operational, Nocturne and XANA left Lyoko and began distributing these helmets without the victims knowing what had hit them. Before they knew it, many children and adults alike were falling deep into sleep and their energy was being sapped from them. XANA already felt himself growing more powerful and his cough had disappeared completely. There were still more humans to fit with the "Harvesters" as they were calling them for short, so their work was not yet complete.

Chapter 2—A Sinking Sensation

Sissi and Odd had gone to the mall to donate old clothes to one of her favorite thrift stores and start shopping for new ones. The clothing wasn't going to be for her initially but for her boyfriend Odd, whom she thought needed an updated look. Odd wasn't the least bit offended. He thought it would be enlightening to see what clothes would bring out his personality the best.

After finding a few outfits that fit Odd's laid-back demeanor well, Odd decided he wanted some formal ensembles in his closet (since he had none). Sissi was only too happy to oblige, helping him pick out flattering colors that would accent his eyes and bring out the color of his hair. After seeing how snazzy and dapper he looked in many of the suits, Odd had some difficulty choosing which he liked the best. He went with the classic pinstripes and an eggplant purple tie. He looked quite debonair in it, and even Sissi was blushing at his exquisite tastes.

Sissi and Odd had been shopping for a while until they noticed the mall was becoming very quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the muzak coming from the PA, and even that was pretty soft. Sissi had an ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach, and Odd had picked up the same awful sensation as well.

"I don't know about you, but I'm getting the scariest feeling that something is wrong.", Odd mentioned to her.

"As am I, dear.", Sissi said. The two knew they had to investigate. Without a moment to lose, they began walking around the mall, finding people fast asleep with blinking domes upon their heads. There were iridescent wires smaller than fiber optic cables coming from the backs of the domes, as a crystallic golden gossamer substance flowed up the cables and was absorbed.

"XANA…", the two thought together, instantly. The two knew that something had to be done immediately or the livelihood of those poor people trapped in the clutches of another one of XANA's dream machines.

Chapter 3—Red Alert

By the time Sissi and Odd had arrived back at Kadic, with help from Lionel the butler, they had found Jim and Susanne working in their offices having been untested subject of the "domes" as Sissi and Odd had labeled them. They quickly told their story and Jim rapidly relayed the message to the rest of the Warriors. They too, had been unaffected, and were together faster than a pin-drop could resound.

"What if XANA's working with another ? This whole idea seems like something he would concoct, but yet, it seems different." , Sue said with a small hint of concern.

"We will find that out soon enough. We don't have anytime to waste. There are people whose lives depend on us !", Jim said, squeezing Sue's arm to reassure her all would be well no matter what they were to encounter.

"Jim's right. We have to teleport, and quickly.", Jeramie said, firmly. Instantly, all the Warriors took out their communicators and transported themselves to Lyoko.

As soon as the Warriors arrived on Lyoko, they noticed that they weren't greeted by the typical monsters and there wasn't even a sword yielding XANA to fight against them.

"What's going on ? This isn't like XANA at all !", Aelita wondered.

"I'm not certain, and that's why I am so confused. Come on, everyone, let's do some investigation. He couldn't have gone far.", Jeramie said. Meanwhile, while the Warriors were searching for signs of XANA, he and Nocturne had appeared in Danny's world to create some havoc and mayhem.

Chapter 4—Uniting From Different Realms

Once XANA and Nocturne had arrived in Amity Park, they immediately started to implement their Harvesters to every citizen in the immediate area. No matter what the people happened to be doing, they were immediately stopped and fell into delta sleep upon the initialization of the dream helmets. Danny, who had noticed something was horribly wrong only seconds after random people began falling asleep, sprang into action with his friends.
"Cap them !", Nocturne said, watching XANA fly down and catch Danny and his friends off guard.

"What is that thing ?", Sam asked, curiously. Before Danny could go ghost, the helmet had already been placed upon his head and he was asleep. Tucker and Sam also were unable to fight back since they too, were lost to the powers of the Harvesters.

Back in Lyoko…

"Where is he ? He isn't even in his grotto ! This is all too peculiar.", Ulrich observed as the friends had come back to the point where they had initially entered.

Suddenly, they were met by Danny and his friends.

"Who are you guys ?", Sam asked.

The Warriors introduced themselves and wondered what Danny and his friends were doing in Lyoko.

"It seems this creepy being sent us here. He was working with Nocturne. He looked human, but I had the sense that he wasn't. I'm not certain what he was, but before I knew it, I was fast asleep and here in this…place.", Danny said. Tucker was overlooking his new attire, which happened to be pajamas, same as Danny and Sam.

"Alright, this is just a little bit too far out for me. Can someone please tell me what in the blue blazes is going on ?", Tucker mentioned, beginning to lose grasp with reality. Danny calmed him, reassuring him that all would be explained in time. Jeramie told them about XANA, their nemesis, while Danny gave them a detailed dossier on Nocturne.

"We're going to have to work together. I don't know what to expect from the two of them united.", Danny said, with some apprehension.

"None of us do, but if we are united, we cannot possibly fail.", Jim added, sagely.

Altogether, they placed their hands together and said enthusiastically

"Go team !" They readied themselves for when Nocturne and XANA when they reappeared.

The evil duo had been so caught up in their victory over so many human beings that they had forgotten about the Warriors. They also weren't expecting Danny, Tucker and Sam either, to be exact. Suffice it to say, XANA and Nocturne were enraged when they saw that everything hadn't gone quite according to their grand master plan.

Chapter 5—Battle Royale

In full due time, the Warriors and Team Phantom were engaged in battle. Nocturne sent Sleepwalkers to do his bidding as XANA called upon his monsters to do the same. The monsters were no match for the team and XANA and Nocturne were suddenly running out of ideas. Then it hit XANA. They shouldn't be fighting, but lulling them to sleep. The two sang an eerie, melancholy tune that nearly made the children weep, but before they knew it, the adults had struck them with uppercuts.

"Why is it not affecting these two ?", Nocturne questioned. XANA felt like an idiot and remembered adults weren't phased by lullabies.

"The spell only works on children, and…LOOK OUT !", XANA said before a flying foot from Taelia caused him to collide into a wall. XANA tried to avoid a barrage of arrows from Odd and Sissi, but the two got up and simply laughed.

"If you think you're going to stop us from gathering energy, think again. There is no way to destroy the Harvesters.", Nocturne stated with a sardonic smirk.

"He's bluffing. There is always a way to undo the damage he's done. True he may have an ally, but that doesn't mean there isn't a flaw in his device. We just need to locate it and take it down from the inside.", Danny whispered to the others. Again, more fighting occurred as the two villains wouldn't show signs of slowing down, but those who had gone out into Lyoko to see if there wasn't a way of taking the Harvesters down from the inside gave Aelita the code to disrupt their frequency and disable the helmets for good. The rest of the Warriors would handle Nocturne and XANA while Aelita transported herself to Sector 5. There would be a console there that none of the rest of them had seen. It would be difficult to locate, but that was the master control. It was the only method of disabling the Harvesters. Before the right controls were found, the Harvesters went into a secondary mode. Even if the recipients wanted to awaken, they couldn't. Danny and his friends were beginning to fade.

"I hope Aelita's found that console…We can't hold on much longer.", Danny expressed with anxiety. After all, if this continued, he and his closest friends would eventually perish and they were far too young to die at this venture in their lives.

XANA and Nocturne's spell had only worked on Sissi. Since the others were so busy fighting the two villains off, none of them had seen Sissi collapse upon the soft, dewy grass of Lyoko, snoring lightly. XANA replicated himself quickly, making it appear as though he was still fighting although it was nothing more than a mirage. He also materialized Sissi's stuffed moose Niny to accompany her. He picked Sissi up in his arms and stroked an errant hair from her face, smiling at her. As he was taking her back to his sanctuary, he was spotted by Odd.

"Put her down, XANA.", Odd demanded, becoming irate.

"Quite a dilemma, isn't it. With your beloved Sissi in my arms, you can't fight me, for fear you might accidentally hit her. Oh the cruel irony.", XANA taunted, nuzzling Sissi's neck lightly with his nose. Odd had become infuriated. It wasn't that he didn't mind other guys flirting with his love, but this…THIS was uncalled for.

Meanwhile on Sector 5…

"I have located the console in Carthage, I just need the code to override the mechanism of the Harvesters.", Aelita said. A fading Sam gave Aelita the sequence to shut the Harvesters down, right before Danny and his friends evaporated. Nocturne grumbled at his defeat, and wondered where XANA had gone. Before he could go anywhere, Danny had trapped Nocturne in a field that was impenetrable.

"Curse you, Phantom !", Nocturne screamed as he was shrunk down to size and placed in a special specter-proof jar. Team Phantom thanked the Warriors for their help and vice versa before they vanished from Lyoko as they woke up in Amity Park.

Aelita returned to Lyoko, but she wondered where Odd, Sissi and XANA had gone.

"They're still fighting. This isn't our battle. It's between XANA and Odd.", Yumi said, wise beyond her years. She was right, however. It wasn't a fight they could become involved in. Besides, they had used up our energy. If they joined in to fight alongside Odd, they wouldn't be able to return home.

XANA felt himself becoming weak, and he accidentally dropped Sissi. Odd caught her quickly and kept her close in his arms. XANA didn't need to ask what had happened, his fatigue had said it all for him. Before he could escape, Odd had shot him near the heart with an arrow and he had disappeared. He hadn't been defeated for good, but he had been stopped at least momentarily.

The Warriors remained silent since Sissi was still fast asleep within her own dream-realm, but with what left-over power they had, they had made the jump from Lyoko to Earth easily and without incident.

Chapter 6—What Is Love ?

As the Warriors called it a day, Sissi was still sleeping quietly in her room even after Odd had tucked her in and kissed her on the cheek before heading to bed himself. She had a dream in which she saw XANA, and she wondered why he wouldn't harm her. She had experienced feelings of love for XANA in the past, but no longer. Truth is, she had been confused and she didn't know whom she could truly trust.

"My queen, I hope you are unharmed.", XANA said, joining Sissi in an outdoor picnic. He had given her a stunning medieval dress to wear and the most sumptuous meal that she could ever desire or want.

"Yes, why do you ask ? But please, do not call me your queen. I belong to only one.", she said, honestly. XANA seemed a little hurt by what she had told him, even though she was being honest.

"Why, Sissi ? I love you. I have so much more to offer you than that long-haired twit ever could.", XANA said, opening his hand and revealing a flood of gemstones.

"XANA…I don't wish to hurt you. But I don't feel for you the same as I do for him.", Sissi said. XANA for once, seemed to understand, but it still didn't mean he didn't love her. Her cool, calm approach to his flirting only made him more attracted to her. He moved to her and stroked her cheek, while gazing into her eyes. He didn't use his third eye, but he gazed nonetheless.

"I'm just worried. Worried that Odd may one day harm you in some way, my dear. I feel that he may break your heart, and your spirit.", XANA said.

"Why do you say that, XANA ? Odd would never harm me. I'm certain that he was simply acting out of duty to protect me. Sure, he might become angry, but never at me or against me. Love spurs him on.", Sissi explained. XANA stroked her cheek lovingly but was still confused.

"I'll never understand this 'love' you speak of. No matter. It pleases me to know you are alright and that you didn't have to battle any of my monsters.", XANA said, kissing her cheek lightly. Apparently, XANA always commanded his monsters to stay back and not harm Sissi when she was in Lyoko. Monsters didn't always listen to his commands, since they had free will of their own.

XANA could sense that the sun was rising in the east and realized that he had to depart soon.

"Farewell, my dearest. This isn't the last you will see of me, you can count on that.", he added with a wink. She wasn't certain if she could call XANA a friend or foe now, since he had revealed a more sensitive nature to her. Being genuinely kind, she waved goodbye to XANA as he disappeared and awakened, wondering what this splendid day had in store for her.

Epilogue

Sissi had asked the others if they had heard any word from Amity Park. Jeramie had gotten an email from Tucker. Tucker had informed them that he and his friends had replenished themselves with a good night's rest from their encounter with Nocturne and XANA. He had also mentioned it had been a tremendous experience battling with such skilled fighters and hoped maybe they could team up again sometime if they needed to. Sissi had thought Danny's abilities were extraordinary, and they truly were. He, Tucker and Sam had been grand allies to the cause of fighting in the battle against XANA. If it came to using their help again, they would definitely call upon their assistance.

Jeramie and the others were relieved the battle against XANA had ended, at least for the time being. Eventually, he would return, but thanks to Odd he had been subdued. For now, Jeramie and his friends could focus on their work and enjoy each day to the fullest without any worry that they had others to rely on. Even if they weren't from the same place, they were valuable to the mission of continuing to protect the world from harm and violence caused by any malicious force.

The End