Sorry chapter 3 took a while.


Chapter 3

The two Battle Cruisers swerved to a stop beside a huge, black rubbish skip against the graffiti-riddled wall of the alleyway, and Jake and Felix quickly climbed off.

Jake had lost count of how many homes and buildings the Electromancer had attacked, only for it to be long gone by the time him and Felix got there.

"We're never going to catch the Electromancer like this," Felix gasped heavily, clearly exhausted from chasing the monster all around town.

Jake felt a spark of hope that Felix would give up, and Jake could head back to Troop HQ to make sure Hayley was alright, begin to flare within him, then felt it die as soon as it was born as Felix proclaimed, "We're going to have to try and lay a trap."

"How?" Jake snapped, feeling that anger begin to boil in his veins once again at how Felix couldn't even consider or hope that Hayley was alright!

"Good thing I got this!" Felix exclaimed as he fished a small piece of what looked like some sort of circuit out of his pockets.

Jake could hardly see the circuit properly in the darkness of the alley, and at the moment, he didn't care.

"And how's that piece of junk going to help?" Jake groaned.

"Well," Felix explained, oblivious to Jake's worry for Hayley, "the Electromancer is travelling through the power lines, which is how it's avoiding us. This little baby" – Felix held up the circuit - "sucks the power out of anything you plug it into, but the power lines are down, so plug this into the power lines and SHAZOW!"

"What's 'shazow'?" Jake growled impatiently.

"Our Electromancer is in the cage!" Felix exclaimed.

"Let's just get this over with," Jake muttered, climbing back onto his Battle Cruiser.

Felix also climbed atop his Battle Cruiser and, starting the Cruisers, the two sped up the alleyway to capture the monster.

Somewhere Else…

Ace jerked his head out of the sand and rose to his feet, staring around at where he was. Gwen and Mark were also staggering to their feet from the thick sand, sputtering and choking.

They were in a desert of yellow, dry sand for as far as the eye could see, except for the occasional clawed, crooked tree.

Dozens of thick, bloodred clouds danced across a charcoal-black sky.

Ace, Gwen and Mark all gazed around at the desert for any signs of other life.

This shouldn't be right, Ace though gazing round. If Hayley isn't somewhere nearby, the Dreamworm should be.

Ace turned in a full circle, about to go search for any further away sign of life when something caught his eye at least fifty feet away. He squinted to see what it was, and knew at once he had just found who he was looking for.

It was a woman with long, blonde hair thrashing and gasping for air in a pond of what Ace was certain to be blood.

Then, Mark jumped with surprise as the world around the three began to swirl and shift until Ace was at the foot of a great pond of blood, making him move back slightly.

Ace glanced down at the pond of blood, and at once knew that Hayley, the woman in it, was going through hell.

Hayley thrashed and gasped for mouthfuls for air, splashing blood everywhere, her head bursting from the blood to sink back beneath it moments later over and over.

And floating in the pond of blood around Hayley creeped even Ace out: at least a dozen blood-covered skulls, each with dark, vacant eye sockets and short, blonde hair atop their scalps.

Ace was sure that Mark would throw up at the sight of the pond of blood and bone in the real world, especially as the skulls' jaws slowly moved open and shut in unision and spoke in an eerie, dry whisper of a voice that would be enough to make any living creature's blood curdle in the real world: "You've missed a lot of homework!"

Ace reached across the pond of blood for Hayley's flailing arms as she splashed blood everywhere and the skulls continued to swirl around her.

Ace stretched his arm as far across the wide pond as he could, but it was hopeless. Hayley was in the centre of the pond, nearly six feet across from Ace and the others.

There must be some other way to get to her, Ace thought, puzzling it over as quickly as he could.

Then he remembered this was all just a nightmare, and it struck him.

Just as it did, as if on que, Ace heard Mark behind him cry out with amazement as his hand stretched like elastic across the pond of blood for Hayley's hand before Ace's eyes.

It wasn't that amazing to Ace; he had done things not that different when he entered the Yorkville butcher's mind to save him from a Dreamworm.

Gwen and Mark had both been away, though.

The moment Ace felt his hand touch Hayley's, he quickly grabbed onto it. As he did, Hayley abruptly stopped thrashing in the water, and quickly grabbed on Ace's long arm with her other hand.

Just as Hayley did so, as if she had triggered a reverse switch, Ace saw his arm slowly retract back to its normal length, dragging Hayley across the pond of blood, away from the chanting, whispering skulls. She bunted a few nearear her away in disgust, sending each a few feet across the surface of the blood.

As soon as Ace's arm was normal length again, Gwen and Mark dived past him for Hayley, each grabbing onto her by either side and helping Ace haul her onto the dry sand.

Nobody even had breaths to regain in the dream world, and were quickly on their feet.

"Who are you?" Hayley demanded, glancing between the three strangers who stood before her.

Ace was the first to introduce himself, then Gwen and Mark.

"Where are we? What's going on?" Hayley pressed on, trying to brush blood from her pajamas with her hands.

"You've been invaded by a Dreamworm," Gwen explained. The moment she said that, Hayley's eyes widened with horror, then, everyone but Ace nearly cried out with surprise as the skulls' chanting died down and the blood in the pond began to bubble. It was as though someone – or something – was breathing at the bottom of the pond of blood!

"Get back," Ace ordered in a voice so quiet, it was almost a whisper.

Slowly, one by one, Gwen, Mark and Hayley obeyed, fearful of taking their eyes off the pond of blood.

The skulls bobbed on the surface of the blood, virtually unmoving, lifeless.

Then something under the surface of the blood caught Hayley's eye. She squinted to get a clearer look, and cried out with surprise as something burst out of the blood.

Everyone staggered back, away from the pond, just as surprised as Hayley had been.

As soon as Hayley was far enough away from the pond, she felt fear flow through her as she recognised the monster from its toad-shaped head just above the surface: its milky glaring eyes burning scarlet with hatred, its leathery, blue skin, its mouthful of cracked and jagged teeth!

It was the Dreamworm!


And that's chapter 3. Please review!

Oh, and in case it isn't obvious from their blond hair, the chanting skulls in the pond of blood represent Gus.

And the reason Hayley didn't remember being attacked and invaded by the Dreamworm, is that a Dreamworm's host forgets ever being attacked by it once they're invaded. Y'know, like the facehuggers from the Alien films.