The Nightmare

Prologue

The hooded figure walked easily up to the door. He raised his hand with a flourish. He rapped on the door five times. He knew it would happen. Three figures rose up behind him. He spun around and snapped his fingers. An army of robots descended on the guards. The man smirked and opened the door himself. He walked up the stairs and surveyed the doors. He saw it, purple wisps of smoke were drafting out of the bottom of the door. He reached for the latch when he felt severe chill go up his spine. " Hello, Blot." He said.

"Hello, Emil Eagle." The Blot responded coldly. Emil turned and lowered his hood. He was an eagle with a full head of brown feathers. He had piercingly red eyes. As he threw his coat over his shoulder he revealed his white lab coat beneath, stained with oil and what appeared to be blood. " Why are you here?"

" Me?" Emil said sarcastically. " I'm here just for some business."

" That's not what I'm reading." The Blot took his eyes off of Emil for a moment.

" Fine. You can read some of my mind." Emil said.

" I can read more then some, Emil!" the Blot roared. " I read you like a book. Nothing is beyond my power."

Emil smiled. " Really? Then why am I here?" The Blot stood there, searching the confines of Emil's mind. Right when he thought he had it he was shocked. He stumbled backwards. Emil laughed. " Can't reach that section can you? I know how to block it without your magic."

The Phantom Blot seethed. " Tell me then. Enlighten me."

Emil chuckled. " I've come to claim something of yours. Your title as Master of Darkness, King of Evil, Lord of Chaos, Duke of Demons. I want that."

The Blot laughed this time. " No one may have that except I."

"I'm not done." Emil added slyly. " I want your powers as well. To control the darkness." Emil put his hand on the handle to the door. The Blot saw this and stepped forward. " I also know you have a certain item in here that wants to come out. I also know you have a soft spot for some wandering heroes. You give me what I want and I spare the kids. Got it memorized?"

The Blot rushed at him and hoisted him in the air. His eyes burned red with hate. " Never! If you put even a mangled little feather on them I'll have so many armies on your butt you won't be safe even in a hole in the ground!" The Blot released him and lopped off. Emil only gave a high cold laugh.

" That isn't what I wanted to hear." Emil shouted. " I believe this little thing has been in here for…thirty-six years. Last time it was out I believe it came out of you. This time it comes out of the door." He spun around and jerked the door off its hinges. The Blot roared.

"NOOOOOO!" He screamed. It was too late. With a great gust of wind and a rush of blended colors, it rushed into the open world. It had only one thing in it, evil. It had its course. It raced to a small group of kids. One was the son of Mickey the others were named Max, Michel, Kayla, Jenna, and Kelsey. They never knew it was there. They never would till it was too late. Emil had released it. He had released The NIGHTMARE.

Chapter 1

Sarah and Alyssa made their way cautiously through the under brush. Their dresses were tattered and torn at the hem. As they cleared the side of a hill they looked down on the rest of the forest. Alyssa sat on the ground panting. " We've been chasing after them for days now. Can we at least rest?" Alyssa complained.

" No." Sarah responded. " We can't. We're far behind as it is. We stop and we'll fall farther behind. We must press on." She walked down the hill. Alyssa sighed and followed slowly. Moments later a shadow crept over the hill. It moved back and forth over the hill, sensing something. As it moved, the nature curled and withered away to nothing. The thing looked up and glowed green. It then turned a shade of blue and took off down the hill. By the time it had cleared the area, every living thing was dead.

Sara crept out of the door. She shut it and took off into the east. She knew the group had moved on. She had to get to them. Even if this meant leaving Chris behind. She sprinted into the woods. Halfway through she felt something. She stopped running and turned around. She saw a flash of purple and orange between two trees. She crept closer and looked into the clearing. A long black thing was creeping along, leaving a trail of charred and dead objects in his wake. Sara gasped and ran to the hills. It turned and streaked after her.

Kayla struggled out of the mud patch. Dustin had been on a steady path for days. " Is he ever going to stop?" Kayla panted as Kelsey and Michel helped her up.

" No." Kelsey and Michel added in union. " He wants to get as far away as possible from that town." Michel added.

" Maybe we should tell him to slow down." Kelsey added. She thrust the bag over her shoulder.

"Well, then you can tell him. I'm not getting him mad." Jenna said. She shook her head and kept going. Dustin had a huge temper. Max looked back.

" I'll tell him." Max said. They all smiled. " Yeah, in a million years." He chuckled as their faces fell.

"Keep up!" Dustin shouted. They all sped up as a black shadow slithered through the trees, right towards them.

Chapter 2

Sara rushed up the hill. The thing was still chasing her. As she looked back she screamed. She saw millions of dead people rushing up the hill at her. She closed her eyes and then opened them. Now there was a giant snake slithering up to her. She stumbled backwards and fell down the hill. She crashed to the floor and was thrown into a river. She bobbed to the top and spat out water. She was carried down the rapids and was expelled onto a dry beach. As she tried to regain composure she felt it. The black thing was streaking down the water. She got up and jumped down a hole. "Ow!" something said. Sara jumped off and put her hand on the person's mouth.

" Hey! Who are you?" another said. There were two. Sara put her other hand on the other's mouth. She felt the thing come dangerously close to the hole. It seemed to sniff and then take off to the south. Sara sighed and let go.

" Who in the world are you?" the person said.

" I'm Sara Goof." She said. Then she realized it wasn't smart to give these people her real name. But before she could give another one of the people had hugged her.

"Sara!" Alyssa shouted. " I thought I'd never see you again." She slapped Sara. " Why on earth did you choose him anyway?" Sara blushed in the dark. Sarah put her hand on Sara's shoulder.

" What she means is, we're happy to see you again." Sarah said. Before she could speak again they felt the familiar chill again. They looked up and sat in stony silence. The thing was circling the hole. It knew they were there and they had to come out at some time. It was very smart for a black cloud of evil. They crept to the opening and sprinted out. They ran flat out into the trees. It streaked after them. They were going in the direction of the others. Little did they know that this was the Nightmare's plan. It was planning to draw both of them together and lead them to Emil, who had a plan already in motion.

Chapter 3

Emil smiled as he led the parade through the woods. They had left the trail a mile ago. Emil had made the Phantom Blot send his men ahead to set up the trap. The Blot walked behind Emil, thinking of ways to crush him. Emil turned his head around to him. "Happy?" Emil added sarcastically. He chuckled and the Blot growled. " Why the long face? Eagle got your tongue?" He laughed and the Blot rushed at him. Emil went into the rock. The Blot grabbed him in the collar and raised a fist, which turned into a saw. He thrust it towards Emil but he saw Emil put his finger on a blue button on a wrist control. He tapped it and smiled cunningly.

"What's that?" the Blot asked.

"This is something special." Emil joked. " When your little beast went out the door I placed a control device in it. I have the Nightmare on track and push. It is slowly pushing the groups together and push them to the trap. When they are caught I change it to kill mode and they go to bed. It will basically do what it did thirty-six years ago to Goofy and Chip except that it came out the door instead of you. You can prevent this by giving me your title and power. Got it?" The Blot put him down and walked past him.

"I'll think about it." The Phantom replied. Emil smiled.

"That's not what I wanted to hear." He pushed a small yellow button on the control pad. In a text bar bellow, it read: Nightmare mode. He smiled and pushed his sleeve over the pad and walked on.

"I'll never do it you know." The Phantom Blot said. Oblivious, he kept walking towards the trap and betrayal.

Chapter 4

Max and Michel slumped onto the log. Jenna was tending to the fire. Kayla and Kelsey were sitting on the ground thinking about their lost friends. Dustin stepped out of his tent and sighed. "Guys, I know you all want to go back and get our lost friends but we need to stay here for now." He told them.

"So, we just leave them to die?" Kelsey retorted. " We don't even think about them?" She got up and stared Dustin down.

"Yeah, we just leave them?" Michel added, backing up his sister. " I want to get as far away from there as you but right now we need to get our friends back."

"I agree." Jenna said. She threw a stick in the fire and coals flew out of it to the ground.

"They're right. We can't just leave them." Kayla said, also standing up. Max was the only one left. They all turned to look at him. He felt like the odd man out. It would have been a mutiny if it had not been for Alyssa running into camp. She jumped over the fire and ran into Kelsey.

"Run!" she screamed and ran on. They were all left dumbfounded. Max got up and took off after her. Kayla also ran after her. Jenna turned back to where Alyssa had come from. Alyssa wasn't the type to get scared easily. Something had made her so scared she couldn't even talk. A loud roar came out of the trees and the smell of rotting flesh filled the air.

"Time to go." Jenna whispered. She back up and then turned to sprint out of the clearing. Michel followed after her. Dustin and Kelsey were the only ones still there.

"Should we run?" Kelsey said nervously. A weird black fog was pouring out of the trees. Dustin shook his head.

"No." he replied. " If we saw Alyssa, that means Sarah and Sara are coming." Sure enough the two of them came out of the trees.

"Run!" Sarah screamed. Her hair was flying everywhere. Her face was scared from the trees and Sara was crying. Dustin and Kelsey rushed up to them.

"Guys! You're alright!" Kelsey said. She hugged them Sara pushed her off.

"Not for long." Sara said. As she said that the wind picked up and they turned to the opening. A giant, black cloud billowed out and engulfed them. They were knocked out. As it swirled around them it flowed into their minds. They were the prisoners of the Nightmare.

Chapter 5

Dustin opened his eyes with a start. He looked around. He could see nothing. It was pitch black. He whimpered and flung his hands out. He flailed them around, looking for a way out. Them he felt something. "Who's there?" He cried.

"Me. Kelsey." Kelsey responded. She was shaking all over. She had tears streaming down her face. Then they both were pushed to the floor. "What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know." Dustin responded. "Show yourself." Something stabbed them. Something was attacking them and they couldn't see anything. Dustin got up and was punched out. Kelsey was running as far away as she could but the darkness kept going. Then something shot her in the arm. Their fear was killing them.

Sarah opened her eyes and screamed. She was in a pit. She ran to one end and struggled to get up. She lost her footing and slid down. She tried again. She kept going till she heard something. She looked behind her and screamed. The walls were closing in on her. He pushed against one of the walls but it was no use. She was pushed along with it. She was breathing fast. When she was finally pushed to the middle, all sides were pushing on her. She let out a scream as they prepared to squash her.

Sara woke with a start. She looked around. She was lying on a round platform, floating in the air. She got up and a giant foot slammed down behind her, sending her flying to the end. She looked back. Her mother was towering over her wagging her finger. "Sara!" she said. "How dare you like that boy!" She stomped her foot again. Sara took off running.

Dustin was transported to a new area. He was covered in bruises and cuts. He was flying through the air. He landed on a fine silk line next to Sarah who had deep cuts in her arms, legs and chest. "Sarah!" he shouted. She raised her head weakly.

"Dustin." She replied. Her head hung down as a giant, hairy leg landed on his chest. He looked up and was struck with horror. A giant spider was clicking his pincers at him. He looked over to see three more climbing onto the web. If Sarah was conscious, she would have been screaming her head off.

Kelsey landed next to Sara. "Kelsey!" Sara shouted. She was glad to have one of her friends there with her after Clarabelle had pounded the living daylights from her. As they stood up, clamps closed around their ankles. The platform started to move towards the end, where a nice 142-story drop waited for them. They screamed and struggled to free themselves. It was too late. By the time the clamps released them they were free falling through the air.

Just as they all seemed to be dead a bright light filled the areas. They woke up in a pile, in the middle of the retreating Nightmare. Three men stood around them with their swords held high in the air. As soon as the Nightmare had left they turned to the heroes. They returned the swords to their belts and held their hands out to the ladies. Dustin jumped to his feet. "Come, we must leave. The others will be waiting." One of them said. They ran, almost sprinted, out of the clearing to the group of people waiting on a pile of rocks.

Chapter 6

Jenna and Kayla jumped off of the closest rock and ran to their friends. "Are you okay?" Kayla asked.

"Yeah." Sarah said weakly. Alyssa ran over and joined Jenna and Kayla.

"We thought you were goners." Jenna added.

"Yeah." Alyssa said.

"I thought we were too." Kelsey responded. She felt her arm and walked over to her brother.

"Glad to see you sis." Michel said. He hugged her. To think, only moments ago he thought she was dead. Max ran up and hugged his sister.

" I was so worried." Max said. He pushed her away and looked up at the three hooded men.

"Thanks." Sarah said meekly.

"Don't mention it." One of them said. They all turned to go.

"Wait!" Dustin shouted. He ran up to them. " Can you at least tell us your names."? The men looked at each other and turned back to Dustin.

"Let's just say we were friends of your parents.

" Hey! We want to know your names." Alyssa responded. " You saved them because of their stupidity of staying in the same spot…"

"Hey!" Dustin, Sarah, Kelsey, and Sara replied.

"We deserve to know your names is what she means." Jenna finished for Alyssa before she made them all hate her.

" I guess we could tell you." One of them said. " Our names are…" They threw back their hoods.

"Huey."

"Dewey."

"Louie."

"We thought all of our parents friends were dead." Kayla said. " I didn't know you were their friends too."

"Of course we were friends with them." Dewey said. " Haven't they told you about us, or the musketeers in training?" They all shook their heads.

"We though all of our parents friends were dead." Max said.

" Dead?" Louie exclaimed. "Ha! We were only nine when we meet your dad."

A roar filled the clearing and the musketeers jumped into action.

"You guys go on ahead." Huey said. " We'll hold the beast off." They didn't even have to think. They were gone in a flash.

Chapter 7

The group ran through the trees, tripping over roots as they ran. They didn't know that waiting for them down the trail was a trap set by Emil. He stood behind rocks with a group of the Blot's men. He stared at the opening in the trees where they would emerge. "Just a little longer." He told himself.

"I won't do it." The Blot said, coming up behind him. Emil smiled and turned.

"You can still stop it. You hand me your powers and title and I call off the Nightmare. If you decide not to then you will witness the death of the Wandering Heroes." Emil responded. "Got it?"

"I don't know what's in your head but I won't do it." Emil seethed. He spun around and saw Kayla sprinting out of the trees. He raised his arm and waited. The others were in view.

"Last chance, Phantom Blot."

"Never."

"Then it's their funeral." He lowered his hand. Immediately the group was caught. Kayla fell to the bottom of the net while Kelsey and Alyssa fell on her. Max and Michel were at the top of the net. They struggled and wiggled to try and get out.

"We are trapped" Jenna stated.

" Wow! I had no idea." Kayla added sarcastically.

"Stop fighting." Michel shouted to them.

" Ow!" Sarah said. "That was my face Kelsey."

"Sorry." Kelsey apologized.

" I think I can see someone." Max said.

"I can't see anything but Dustin's…" Alyssa started before Dustin kicked her in the shoulder. Emil had emerged in a flourish of his cloak. He threw his head back and cackled.

" See that, Phantom. I caught them." He pointed to the captives. Out of the shadows strode the Phantom Blot. Dustin gasped. He had hoped to never see that man again. " The Nightmare will be here soon. Want to hand them over?"

"Never, Emil." The Blot said flatly. He was trying to keep all of his hate and anger under control. He knew as long as Emil had that control he couldn't even touch him. He eyed it with hatred when he noticed something. The text banner read Nightmare instead of Chase and Push. Emil caught this and covered it with his hand. It made no difference. The Phantom Blot had figured out that Emil was going to kill the kids anyway.

"You TRAITOR!" The Phantom roared. Emil backed up. The Blot grew and raced for him. Emil sidestepped and walked, almost ran, backwards.

"I can…explain." Emil stammered.

" You were going to kill them any way." The Phantom shouted. " You never intended to keep your end of the deal." The Blot reared even higher and paced towards Emil. No one but Sara took notice that the Nightmare had entered the arena. It quickly found its intended meal and reared up. Dustin made his way to the top of the net and looked at it. He knew it was either him or the Nightmare. He drew his sword and prepared to fight it. The Nightmare saw this and hissed. It recoiled and jumped at him. Dustin closed his eyes and held his sword out in front of him and concentrated. He glowed with pure white light. A beam ran down his sword and shot out at the Nightmare. It connected. The Nightmare shrieked and writhed. They seemed to be connected, Dustin and the Nightmare. The Blot had stopped yelling at Emil and stared at the marvel. Emil saw his chance and ran off into the distance. The Blot noticed this and ran after him. Sarah thought she heard Dustin whisper something.

The net snapped, sending them tumbling to the ground. They all got up and stared at Dustin who was now floating in the air. Suddenly and a bright light flashed from where the beam of light and the Nightmare joined. The Nightmare exploded into a million tiny pieces and Dustin was left standing on a rock off on the outer ring of rocks. He staggered and fell to the ground. From where the Nightmare had been was a giant hole of darkness. Alyssa and Jenna walked carefully towards it. Jenna took one of her arrows out and aimed it into it. It went in straight. Suddenly a column of darkness erupted. It swirled into the sky and a deafening roar filled the clearing.

Chapter 8

Emil tripped on a root. He fell down the hill and smacked into a rock. He stumbled to his feet. " Mine." He told himself. " It was almost all mine!" He rounded the next corner and ran into the Phantom Blot. He fell to the ground and crawled backwards.

"Hello, Emil." The Blot whispered.

"Hey!" Emil said. " Nice to see you buddy, pal, friend." He was desperately trying to make up with the Blot. He tried to get up but merely fell down again.

"I don't like you." The Phantom Blot said. " I think I'm going to kill you now." The Blot glared down at Emil. Emil screamed as the Phantom Blot killed him. Before the Blot left he snapped the control off of Emil's wrist. " I may need this later." He chuckled to himself and left, to go and try to control the earth.

Chapter 9

The group huddled around the hole. Alyssa whistled. "Wow that's deep." Dustin stared down and blinked.

"Any ideas?" Michel asked. Dustin lowered his head.

"We go in it." Dustin said. " I know the Gateway is down there. Just like dad to put something like that down there."

Sarah snapped her fingers. " Dad!" she exclaimed. "He'll help us."

" Your dad is dead." Kelsey said. " All our dads are dead."

" But the Gateway will bring them back." Jenna explained. " Interesting."

"Very." Kayla added. Sara looked around.

" So you want us to jump down there and find it so you can get your dead dad to help us help him to help us get rid of this Nightmare thing which I thought Dustin just killed but he apparently didn't and maybe never see this world again and the possibility of dying down there and we are all cool with that stuff that I just said and do not feel like repeating?" Sara asked in one breath. Max put his hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Yes." Was all Max stated.

" It won't be easy." Dustin added gravely. " To find it, we need to jump off the face of the earth, dive into the darkest darkness, enter the very lair of the Nightmare itself, face countless armies of monsters and evil which has never even been heard of and beyond to the Gateway. In theory, to get to the brightest light you must survive the darkest dark. We end our journey where ours began. In our parent's sanctum, is where the Gateway is hidden. Are you ready?" He put his hand over the hole. They all, one by one, put their hands in with his.

"Till the end!" they shouted together. They all jumped down into the hole. Dustin was ready to go in when he noticed Sarah was still standing there. " Coming?" Dustin asked.

"I'm not sure." Sarah responded. " What if we never come out again?" Dustin crossed to her and held her hand.

"We may not but we will always remain together." Sarah gave a small smile. She looked down and they both jumped in, holding hands.

Chapter 9

" And so, they journeyed into the deepest darkness to find the Gateway and bring Mickey Mouse back to this world to finish off the darkness once and for all. Their journey is not over and may never end. Evil still exists in all of us because the Nightmare still rests in all of us. When it exploded it went into every person's mind. The Phantom Blot only activates the Nightmare in some people whom he thinks has the most potential for evil. We will all still have evil in us until Mickey comes and rids us of it. At least I know the Wandering Heroes are in there fighting for us till the very end." Troubadour finished. The set lights went out.

"That's a rap people." The stagehand said as the light blinked off on the camera. The audience picked up their belongings as they were directed to the exit. Troubadour hopped off of his chair. He hopped off of the set and went to get a drink of water. Telling stories was thirsty business.

"Good story." The director patted him on the back. " Keep up the good work." He walked off whistling. Troubadour chuckled and picked up his comic books. He walked off the set. As he opened the door he saw a small group of kids waiting with their Three Musketeers comic books out and pens ready. Troubadour had made the StroyTime hour the most famous in history with the stories of the Three Musketeers and the later adventures.

He signed them and started to walk away. " See you next week." One of them shouted to him. He paused.

" What?" he asked. " I won't be here next week."

" Why not?"

" The tales are done. There is nothing more to tell."

"But I liked your stories." Troubadour jumped.

"Stories? No" he said. He straightened up. " They are not stories. Each one is as real as I stand here today. All of them really took place wherever they did and I made none of them up. I couldn't even if I wanted to."

" How do you know?" one of the girls asked.

" I know because my grandfather, Ludwig VonDrake was there. Even if you all think they are stories I will keep telling them. I will forever tell them so as everyone will know the truth about history. I will forever tell the stories of the Wandering Heroes and the Three Musketeers. ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL!"