AUTHOR'S NOTE: The Dreamstone was another of my favourite shows when I was a kid. Despite its popularity in the early 90s, it's quite sad to see that it is almost forgotten about today outside the dedicated fanbase.
I started writing this in late May – early June. It's October now (I should really get round to finishing these quicker). My writing style appears to have changed a bit since my last fanfic but hopefully it won't be too noticeable. There was one episode I remember in which Urpgor attempts to steal the Dreamstone on his own because he is annoyed of the Urpneys' failing, and I always wondered 'why didn't they ever try and steal it without Urpgor's help? They hate him too,' so this was my initial inspiration for this story.
By the way, I must apologise for Zordrak's 'minimal role'. If I get a chance to write another Dreamstone fanfic (if, not when) I'll try and make Zordrak appear more.
Anyway, The Dreamstone was created by Mike Jupp and the rights are owned by Cookie Jar Entertainment (series 1-2) and Dreamstone Productions Ltd. (series 3-4).
The sky was completely black. There was no denying it. Thunder clapped and lightning zapped, but the sky wasn't black just through storm clouds; it was also because this land was evil. The barren landscape was just as bleak as the sky, with jagged rocks and threatening pitfalls and other perils hidden to the eye. In Viltheedian terms, a wonderful day in the Land of Nightmares.
In the centre of the Land of Nightmares was the Black Mountain of Viltheed. The mountain could not be ignored, as it loomed in front of the Red Planet of Doom, which hung motionless in the sky. But this wasn't any old mountain – it resembled a fortress or castle that looked as if it was formed naturally from the rocks at first glance. Inside this mountain was Viltheed, and throughout the mountain were hundreds of tunnels and passageways, each leading to various rooms and places within Viltheed. The people who lived here were the Urpneys – a race of beings who enjoyed conflict and served their master as obediently as they could.
The ruler of this land was the mighty Lord Zordrak. But don't be fooled by thinking of 'mighty' in a good way. Zordrak was the Lord of Nightmares, and hated everything 'good'. He sat in the vast throne room of Viltheed, surrounded by the Argorribles – nightmares that took the form of a ghostly purple mist. He rarely seemed to move from the throne, but he let his dark presence be felt throughout the Land of Nightmares. Even his appearance was frightening, with red eyes and teeth as long as a person, as he towered over every inhabitant of the Land of Nightmares and spoke with a threateningly low voice. No-one dared say anything against him, or mess anything up in his presence, for they knew what fate would await them: a one-way plunge into the Pit of No Return; Zordrak showed no mercy in failures, and neither did the Frazznats that occupied the bottom of the pit. The Lord of Nightmares was as frightening as Satan himself, and possibly even more ruthless.
The thing Zordrak craved the most was to possess the power of the Dreamstone, the most precious object in the land. If Zordrak could gain possession of the Dreamstone, he could spread the nightmares across the land, and even worse, take over the universe…but fortunately, that day has never came. That is partly because the three Urpneys who were given the task of carrying out 'Operation Dreamstone' were not the brightest of sparks. And today, a new attempt was underway.
Not for the first time, Sergeant Blob and Corporals Nug and Frizz stood inside the laboratory of Urpgor, the chief Urpney scientist. Urpgor was by far the most bizarre of the Urpneys. Although he was certainly the most intelligent of the lot, he seemed almost insane, typical of your usual mad scientist, and like any mad scientist he wore a white lab coat that was too big for him. He seemed to slither as he moved, and his speech was sometimes difficult to interpret through his constant typical-mad sniggering.
Urpgor was standing in view of the three Urpney soldiers as he was showing off and demonstrating a new invention. This new invention resembled something between a bulldozer and a crane. Placed in the centre of the room was a small dais, and on top of that was a replica model of the Dreamstone, cast in a metal similar to bronze. Urpgor's usual responsibility was to provide Operation Dreamstone with inventions to carry out the tasks.
"…And when you get there, you press this button," he explained with a gloating tone, as he pressed a button on the side of the machine. A claw emerged from the front of the machine and swallowed the replica Dreamstone. "This one; the blue button, not the red," he went on. To the other three Urpneys, he sounded like a patronising teacher. He had constantly been demanding them to pay attention throughout the whole demonstration.
"Now you have to do all that exactly the way I've said – exactly the same; got it?"
The three Urpneys exchanged each other unconvinced glances. Frizz seemed the most dismayed out of the three. He shook his head and glared at the scientist. "No."
There was a moment of silence. Blob and Nug were astonished. They hated Urpgor too, but was Frizz's refusal a wise decision or not?
"What did you say?" Urpgor asked, both astounded and bemused. He breathed heavily as rage began to boil within.
Frizz stared back, undaunted by this threat. "I said 'no', that's what," he repeated, and he stepped forward. "I'm fed up of being humiliated in front of Zordrak and all those Noops, and it's because of you. You're denying us our true potential by giving us all this machinery rubbish," he said, pointing at the contraption, "And whenever we almost succeed, your inventions always go wrong or get outwitted, and we have to pay the price for your recklessness."
"That's because you three don't listen to a single word I say!" Urpgor replied irritably. "If you listened and remembered, you'd actually get somewhere! And there are other factors you need to take into consideration…"
"Well I'm not taking it any more," continued Frizz as he folded his arms. "I am willing for us to go and get the Dreamstone, but on our own – without your input…after lunch."
Upon hearing this, Urpgor sniggered, and this lead to a howl of laughter. "You? Get the Dreamstone on your own? Without my brilliant intellect?" he hounded. "Ha! Don't make me laugh! You can't even tell left from right, let alone achieve anything on your own!"
As Urpgor was insulting Frizz, the wheels inside Nug's head began to turn as he thought more about the situation. Without warning, he too stepped forward. "Yeah, no," he said as he stood beside Frizz. "I'm with you, Frizz."
"What?" Urpgor yelled with shock as he clutched the sides of his head to steady himself. "Not you as well! I've spent hours of hard labour to make this thing by myself – for your benefit! And now you refuse too?"
"It doesn't matter to us now," said Nug. "We're capable of getting the Dreamstone without your inventions."
Urpgor was shaking with anger. In a last desperate attempt to show some order, he turned to the second-highest-ranking person in the room and urged, "Sergeant, do something! Control these men!"
Blob grinned wryly to himself. "Sorry, Urpgor," he replied, "But I'm afraid (h)it's three against one."
Urpgor's mouth dropped open. The soldiers turned to the door, leaving the stunned scientist and the invention behind them.
"You traitors! You deserters!" Urpgor howled as he hopped from one foot to the other. "Wait until my master hears about this treachery! You'll never get the Dreamstone on your own! You're nothing without me – nothing! You'll see!"
Yeah you can kinda tell I remember the bad guys more. The Dreamstone was interesting because… well, I don't know if this was intended, but I sympathised with the bad guys as much as with the good guys. Sergeant Blob talks funnily because…he just does! In the show, he said 'h's before certain words beginning with vowels, and he also muddled up long words. I just thought I might say that before someone assumes I've got bad grammar (I'm actually really fussy about spelling and grammar).
Also, with regards to the line "The Lord of Nightmares was as frightening as Satan himself", if you know the history of the show, you'll probably know what I'm talking about, heh heh.