Legal stuff and Author's note:
I do not own any of the NiGHTS into Dreams characters, Sega does.
It would be nice if I did, but I don't and that's life.
Deal with it.
I've often wondered how NiGHTS came to be such a trusted servant to Wizeman
if he's always been such a good guy.
And so I wrote this story to explain it.
So does NiGHTS have surprisingly good luck?
Or surprisingly bad?
You decide.
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A Series of Coincidences
By Molly M Plunkett
(NightDrgn@aol.com)
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"Come on, you weaklings!"
Reala taunted as he flew ahead of the other Nightmaren.
Far behind him, Puffy was huffing as she bounced as fast as she could.
For reasons unknown, she had not been gifted with flight, a disadvantage that always left her far behind and forgotten.
The rabbit eared, ball-like opera singer let out a musical cry as she fell further behind.
"It's hopeless, Reala! I simply DOn't have your speed! You are just SO far ahead of MI!"
Reala winced, wishing that Puffy could speak properly without singing.
She had a habit of shattering glass when she was distraught, not to mention the eardrums of those unfortunate enough to be in the same room with her.
He turned back to snarl.
"Then give up, Puff-ball!"
There, he'd shown her.
Puffy gave a sigh and dropped out of the race, admitting defeat.
Reala turned back to the path in front of him, delighting in the knowledge that he was the fastest.
"Puffy may be a slowpoke, but I'm not! Here I come, Reala!"
Jackle laughed as he came up alongside Reala.
The caped Boss 'Maren was clearly delighted by what he thought was an impending victory.
"I can feel that today's my lucky day! You think this is fast? Well, I'm only flying at half my normal speed!"
Reala couldn't resist grinning.
"Is that so, Jackle? Well, I hate to burst your bubble . . . but I'm only flying at one third of my top speed!"
That said, he shot ahead, leaving Jackal in a burst of golden sparkles.
Jackal's grin faded, literally as he watched the red, white, and black Nightmaren pull further ahead.
Before he could complain, a lithe form arced over him like a leaping dolphin, arms outspread and trailing a pale blue startrail.
"Hey, Jackle! Why're you letting Reala get away?"
Jackal hovered as a pair of large, purple eyes peered into his.
NiGHTS seemed sincere, an unusual trait for a Nightmaren.
"NiGHTS, I'm not letting Reala do anything. He's too fast!"
NiGHTS blinked as Clawz and even the slow, dimwitted GillWing overtook them, not at all concerned that he and Jackle were so far behind.
"Oh? That's too bad . . . but maybe you can still come in second."
He smiled encouragingly.
That was another thing that was unusual about NiGHTS; he was always smiling.
Not a malicious, painted smile like Reala's, but a genuine smile that was full of warmth.
Jackle considered and shot ahead again.
"You're right! I'll show him that I deserve that position!"
NiGHTS blinked as he was abandoned, and flew after Jackle, catching up easily.
"What position?"
Jackle stared hard.
"You can't possibly be that stupid!"
NiGHTS frowned a little.
Inwardly, Jackle felt a strange satisfaction.
So the purple Nightmaren did have some pride after all.
He was glad to have gotten a reaction from the normally untouchable NiGHTS.
Still, it was suicide to anger any Nightmaren, so Jackle quickly brought his disembodied hands up in a gesture of surrender.
"Whoa, take it easy! If you really don't know, just say so!"
NiGHTS instantly returned to his usual cheerfulness.
"Okay, so explain it to me."
Jackle sighed as he glanced ahead.
He had just about caught up to GillWing, but Reala and Clawz were still very far ahead.
"Wizeman wants the strongest Nightmaren of all by his side. That privelege is rightfully mine!"
NiGHTS nodded his understanding.
"So you're racing to find out who's the fastest?"
Jackle nodded.
NiGHTS grinned.
"Okay, I love to race!"
And before Jackle could speak, the purple Nightmaren had left him in a burst of blue sparkles, along with GillWing and Clawz.
Unbelievably, Jackle could just barely make out the purple form joining the red one in the lead . . . and overtaking him.
"Hi, Reala!"
Reala cringed at that overly cheerful shout, and blinked in alarm as a purple form shot past him, waving in farewell.
"Bye, Reala!"
Reala snarled, angry. He should have challenged the others to a wrestling match. He could beat NiGHTS any night at wrestling!
Well, there was no way that Reala was going down without a fight!
"Come back here, NiGHTS!" He roared, forcing himself to fly faster.
NiGHTS stopped so suddenly that Reala almost crashed into him.
"Come back? Why? The object of this game is to fly the fastest, isn't it?"
Reala groaned, wondering if NiGHTS was really that clueless, or if it was all just an act.
"It's not a game. This is war!"
NiGHTS snorted, folding his arms.
"War's no fun. . . "
Reala grinned, sensing that this was his chance to win.
"That's right, and the winner will only have to fight even harder next time! It's no fun."
NiGHTS sighed.
"You're right, that sure sounds boring! But if I give up now, I won't have to fight, right?"
Reala nodded, grinning more broadly.
NiGHTS shrugged.
"Okay."
Abruptly, he dove far below and sat down by a tree, looking perfectly content to remain where he was.
Reala laughed triumphantly and shot ahead. His victory was guaranteed.
NiGHTS smiled as Reala flew off.
"Too bad . . . I would have liked to win. I love winning."
He leaned back against the tree, and right onto a resting Kircle.
The lobster-like Minion instantly gave NiGHTS the pinch of his life, eliciting a loud scream from him.
"OWWW!!!!!"
Reacting on pure instinct, the purple Nightmaren shot into the air and away from his attacker, streaking past a very startled Reala and back to the castle, where he promptly locked himself in his chamber.
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More Coming Soon
I do not own any of the NiGHTS into Dreams characters, Sega does.
It would be nice if I did, but I don't and that's life.
Deal with it.
I've often wondered how NiGHTS came to be such a trusted servant to Wizeman
if he's always been such a good guy.
And so I wrote this story to explain it.
So does NiGHTS have surprisingly good luck?
Or surprisingly bad?
You decide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Series of Coincidences
By Molly M Plunkett
(NightDrgn@aol.com)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Come on, you weaklings!"
Reala taunted as he flew ahead of the other Nightmaren.
Far behind him, Puffy was huffing as she bounced as fast as she could.
For reasons unknown, she had not been gifted with flight, a disadvantage that always left her far behind and forgotten.
The rabbit eared, ball-like opera singer let out a musical cry as she fell further behind.
"It's hopeless, Reala! I simply DOn't have your speed! You are just SO far ahead of MI!"
Reala winced, wishing that Puffy could speak properly without singing.
She had a habit of shattering glass when she was distraught, not to mention the eardrums of those unfortunate enough to be in the same room with her.
He turned back to snarl.
"Then give up, Puff-ball!"
There, he'd shown her.
Puffy gave a sigh and dropped out of the race, admitting defeat.
Reala turned back to the path in front of him, delighting in the knowledge that he was the fastest.
"Puffy may be a slowpoke, but I'm not! Here I come, Reala!"
Jackle laughed as he came up alongside Reala.
The caped Boss 'Maren was clearly delighted by what he thought was an impending victory.
"I can feel that today's my lucky day! You think this is fast? Well, I'm only flying at half my normal speed!"
Reala couldn't resist grinning.
"Is that so, Jackle? Well, I hate to burst your bubble . . . but I'm only flying at one third of my top speed!"
That said, he shot ahead, leaving Jackal in a burst of golden sparkles.
Jackal's grin faded, literally as he watched the red, white, and black Nightmaren pull further ahead.
Before he could complain, a lithe form arced over him like a leaping dolphin, arms outspread and trailing a pale blue startrail.
"Hey, Jackle! Why're you letting Reala get away?"
Jackal hovered as a pair of large, purple eyes peered into his.
NiGHTS seemed sincere, an unusual trait for a Nightmaren.
"NiGHTS, I'm not letting Reala do anything. He's too fast!"
NiGHTS blinked as Clawz and even the slow, dimwitted GillWing overtook them, not at all concerned that he and Jackle were so far behind.
"Oh? That's too bad . . . but maybe you can still come in second."
He smiled encouragingly.
That was another thing that was unusual about NiGHTS; he was always smiling.
Not a malicious, painted smile like Reala's, but a genuine smile that was full of warmth.
Jackle considered and shot ahead again.
"You're right! I'll show him that I deserve that position!"
NiGHTS blinked as he was abandoned, and flew after Jackle, catching up easily.
"What position?"
Jackle stared hard.
"You can't possibly be that stupid!"
NiGHTS frowned a little.
Inwardly, Jackle felt a strange satisfaction.
So the purple Nightmaren did have some pride after all.
He was glad to have gotten a reaction from the normally untouchable NiGHTS.
Still, it was suicide to anger any Nightmaren, so Jackle quickly brought his disembodied hands up in a gesture of surrender.
"Whoa, take it easy! If you really don't know, just say so!"
NiGHTS instantly returned to his usual cheerfulness.
"Okay, so explain it to me."
Jackle sighed as he glanced ahead.
He had just about caught up to GillWing, but Reala and Clawz were still very far ahead.
"Wizeman wants the strongest Nightmaren of all by his side. That privelege is rightfully mine!"
NiGHTS nodded his understanding.
"So you're racing to find out who's the fastest?"
Jackle nodded.
NiGHTS grinned.
"Okay, I love to race!"
And before Jackle could speak, the purple Nightmaren had left him in a burst of blue sparkles, along with GillWing and Clawz.
Unbelievably, Jackle could just barely make out the purple form joining the red one in the lead . . . and overtaking him.
"Hi, Reala!"
Reala cringed at that overly cheerful shout, and blinked in alarm as a purple form shot past him, waving in farewell.
"Bye, Reala!"
Reala snarled, angry. He should have challenged the others to a wrestling match. He could beat NiGHTS any night at wrestling!
Well, there was no way that Reala was going down without a fight!
"Come back here, NiGHTS!" He roared, forcing himself to fly faster.
NiGHTS stopped so suddenly that Reala almost crashed into him.
"Come back? Why? The object of this game is to fly the fastest, isn't it?"
Reala groaned, wondering if NiGHTS was really that clueless, or if it was all just an act.
"It's not a game. This is war!"
NiGHTS snorted, folding his arms.
"War's no fun. . . "
Reala grinned, sensing that this was his chance to win.
"That's right, and the winner will only have to fight even harder next time! It's no fun."
NiGHTS sighed.
"You're right, that sure sounds boring! But if I give up now, I won't have to fight, right?"
Reala nodded, grinning more broadly.
NiGHTS shrugged.
"Okay."
Abruptly, he dove far below and sat down by a tree, looking perfectly content to remain where he was.
Reala laughed triumphantly and shot ahead. His victory was guaranteed.
NiGHTS smiled as Reala flew off.
"Too bad . . . I would have liked to win. I love winning."
He leaned back against the tree, and right onto a resting Kircle.
The lobster-like Minion instantly gave NiGHTS the pinch of his life, eliciting a loud scream from him.
"OWWW!!!!!"
Reacting on pure instinct, the purple Nightmaren shot into the air and away from his attacker, streaking past a very startled Reala and back to the castle, where he promptly locked himself in his chamber.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More Coming Soon