Merida was sick. Correction, Merida was extremely sick. She had been puking for half the morning and was forced to stay in bed for all of Friday. Meanwhile Hiccup, Jack and Rapunzel were stuck in school, which may seem like something mediocre, but concerning what may be announced, it was anything but.

Rapunzel fiddled with her pen. It was the one she decorated on the first day of art class. She didn't know how but one of the purple pom-poms had fallen off already. She was distracted from her fiddling when Gobber walked into the class at the sound of the bell, being sure to lock the door behind him.

"First things first," He said while walking unevenly to his desk "Friday announcements" Rapunzel braced herself for what she was about to hear. She knew for a fact that something had happened last night. Call it intuition, but with Merida bed-ridden and Jack being the most distant she'd seen him all year, she was confident to assume that something had happened. The only thing that worried her was to what degree.

Did Jack accidently give Merida food poisoning? Did he commit some prank? No. it couldn't be a prank. If he did then he'd be laughing it off. Then what did he do?

Usually it was up to Hiccup to be the suspicious one, be even he seemed out of sorts. While Jack just seemed distracted, and nervous, Hiccup obvious felt those things to a greater degree. He was jumpy, and couldn't seem to pay attention. Rapunzel thought she'd even seen a bead of sweat steak down his forehead. Now the only question throbbing in her mind was, what exactly did she miss last night?

Just then, Gobber picked up on the announcements. This was the moment she'd been waiting for. A part of her hoped that there'd be some sort of reassurance, or at last a tiny hint as to what had happened to her friends in the, but no. The only thing to report was the special two for one deal on juice boxes.

Whatever had happened, it would have to wait until after school.

The clock hadn't been turning nearly fast enough. Two hours later and Rapunzel still found herself picking at her pen. In doing this the past two hours she had all but mutilated the remaining pom-poms and scraped away the sequins. She decided a while back that she'd might as well make a new one, and gave herself permission to slowly dismember it.

She cringed at her own mundane thoughts, but they were more than a distraction than anything now, since she knew for certain that something was up. At some point in the two hour sidekick block, she had asked Jack if anything was going on. He didn't say anything for at least a minute. He was probably coming up with some excuse to tell her, but she looked him in the eye and said nothing more than please. It must have worked because Jack said he'd tell her after school.

It could be nothing at all, but she didn't think that was the case. For the rest of the class Jack had nothing to say, and she hadn't dared speak to Hiccup. He looked far enough on edge as it was. Rapunzel sighed in her seat and lay back in the soft cushion.

Currently she found herself in Mr. Sanderson's class. This was by far her favorite. Mr. Sanderson held his classes in half of the library every Friday. He was a short and stout man with wild golden hair, and his classes were to teach the students how to simulate their powers. He, of course, couldn't imitate every single student's power, so as a substitute, he used dreams.

That was why she was laying in the easy chair in the quiet of the library now. Mr. Sanderson's power was to put people to sleep. It still amazed her that with a flick of the wrist he could send people into a parade of dreams. He would make an excellent supervillain or hero, but instead he was here, teaching at a high school, and for that reason Rapunzel had a sense of admiration for the man.

Once his students were asleep, he would set them inside of a lucid dream. The dream of course had its restraints. It would usually set a student up in a realistic position where they could use their power to help random people, but it wouldn't give you full, and unrealistic control over your dream like most lucid ones. Sometimes, Sanderson would enter the student's dreams and help guide them if they were having too much trouble, but he made it so that any other people in the dream besides the student would not acknowledge his presence.

If the student succeeded in the mission of the dream, they would instantly move on to another situation where they could again practice the uses of their power. If they failed, they would instantly wake up, and for the rest of the class would file a detailed report of what happened in the dream. With the report Sanderson would determine the student's weakness, and the next week would set them up in a dream to help them exercise the weakness and better themselves.

The only reason Mr. Sanderson needed the report was because he could only enter a student's dream one at a time and wouldn't be there to view the students mistakes in the fullest. A lot of the students strived to do their best in his class so that they wouldn't have to do an extensive report, giving most in the class a solid A. Mr. Sanderson was renowned for his simple yet affective teaching method, especially because they set the students up in entirely real situations without putting them in danger of them actually needing to do real life practices.

Rapunzel was sure that she wasn't the only one who loved the class, and the teacher for that matter. Mr. Sanderson was the nicest teacher she knew, and he was definitely the most affective as a teacher, and in his class, she felt safe, despite any dangers she may experience in the dreams.

Just then, Mr. Sanderson tapped his ruler to his desk several times, signalling the students to get comfortable. Rapunzel, already being in her seat, adjusted the cushion and let her body sink into the chair.

Just as she was setting herself in her comfort zone, Anna came barreling through the door. All eyes were on her and she laughed nervously "Sorry, um, it won't happen again"

Sanderson looked at her skeptically, then nodded for her to take a seat. She nodded and lowered her head, making her way to an unoccupied lazy-boy besides Rapunzel. Anna smiled and gave her a quick greeting. Rapunzel just shook her head and whispered through a smiled "What was it this time?"

Anna bit her lip and looked around as if to check if the coast was clear. She put hand up to her face to shield her lips and leaned in closer to Rapunzel "I met a guy," she whispered, she bit her lips with such a forced then Rapunzel was sure she'd bite into it, but her tight smile fastened her teeth into place.

Just then, a loud tapping was heard on the desk. The girls looked up and Sanderson was pointing his ruler right at them. Anna's smile diminished immediately. She moved her body around in the seat, saying sorry until she was comfortable.

Sanderson, now satisfied with the quiet class, flicked his wrist, and that was the last thing Rapunzel saw before the world fell dark around her.

Rapunzel woke up on the floor. She rubbed her temples as she sat up to help un-fog her mind. Her efforts though, were in vain. Even though the dreams were as real as memory's, there was always some sort of a haze over top of your mind and all your senses, always reminding you that no matter how real the dreams could seem, they were nothing but you living within your mind.

Rapunzel stood up and looked around her. She was in a room with no doors or windows. It was shaped like a perfect cube and all the surfaces; walls, roof and floor, were solid, constant wood. She didn't know where the light was coming from, but despite a light source the room was well lit.

She inspected the room further. It was completely empty. This didn't seem right. She took a step forward to look at one of the walls, but as soon as she lifted her foot, she fell face first. Rapunzel brushed her hair from her face and looked back to her feet.

They were tangled up in her messy golden rope of hair. She put a hand on her head, and realized that her braid wasn't in, her hair was lose and scattered all throughout the room. She furrowed her brows. How was this supposed to help with power simulation?

She stood up again and tried to wander to the wall, but again she was stopped by her hair tangling her feet. She looked back to it annoyed, and tried to kick it away, but it was stuck in place, and wrapped tightly around her ankles, and spare strands weaved between her toes.

She kicked and pulled at her hair, trying to free herself, but the more she seemed to restrain, the further it wrapped around her. By the time she was entangled up to her waist, she stopped in hopes that it would too, but the hair latched onto her arms and pulled them tightly to her sides. The hair weaved around her torso and she managed to pull one arm free.

Whatever it was, it didn't seem like 'her' hair anymore, but instead some alien enemy. The golden locks was relentless. She couldn't even see the rest of her body by the time it reached her shoulders. He heart was pounding and she was clawing at the hair. "Help" Rapunzel cried "Wake me up!" but nothing happened. How was she supposed to use her power to escape the dream? What purpose did this have?

The strands of her hair reached her throat and pulled tightly. With her free hand she clawed at her neck. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't even mutter the word help. In a last effort of desperation, she looked around the room. Maybe, just maybe, there would be something, anything she could use to free herself from her own hair.

Right as the desperate thought entered her mind, she saw a pair of black scissors waiting for her, just in the reach of her free hand. She stretched her arm as far as it would allow and clasped her hand around the scissors.

Instantly she started to cut. First at her throat, then at her torso, freeing her other arm, and then to her legs. With one hand she cut and with the other pulled the hair away from her body until she was free.

Once her cut hair released her, she dropped the scissors and pulled away, running to the other corner of the room. From the corner she watched her hair die, and turn a dark brown that was the same color as the wood. Once all traces of blond were gone, the hair began to sink into the wooded floor, molding and disappearing within it.

Rapunzel panted heavily s the last traces of her hair fell into the floor. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. She tried to will herself to calm but no matter what she tried she couldn't. What did any of this have to do with bettering herself with the use of her power? What did any of this mean?

After another minute of nothing happening, she turned to face the wall and stated beating on it senselessly, tears welling in her eyes "Let me out!" she pleaded "Please! I need to wake up!"

She kept pounding on the wall, losing her strength as she did. She then fell to her knees, now hopelessly knocking on the hard wood "Please…" she whimpered.

She looked down to her lap and slowed her breaths. Nothing. There was nothing for a while, but it felt like forever to Rapunzel. There was constant nothing in the room, just the sound of her breath, until she heard something else.

"Help… me" Rapunzel raised her head slightly. Was she imagining that? "Help…me" It was louder this time, but now she was sure she wasn't just hearing it. Rapunzel raised her head fully and turned away from the wall, looking towards the center of the room. There were three figure laying side by side. Rapunzel couldn't decipher any features, but without hesitation rushed towards them as all three continued to weakly say "Help… me"

"It's alright" Rapunzel said, sighing with relief as she knelt beside the figure on the far left of the three.

"Help… me" it said, just above a whisper.

"I will" Rapunzel affirmed. She reached for the first person's hand. As soon as she touched it she yelped and pulled away. The hand was as cold as dry ice. It was so cold it burned. She looked then at the persons face to see what she was dealing with. She gasped and her blood ran cold.

It was Jack.

"Jack?" she said his name, her heart throbbing once again.

"Help… me…" he said again. His eyes were gazing at nothing, staring off into nowhere, and they were a sickly white. His iris and pupil were nearly the same color as the cornea, and glazed over with a white polish. He was ghostly pale, at the least the same shade of white as snow. His hair was matted, and not in its usual care-free state, and over all his skin was a thin layer of frost that stiffened his body tightly, as if her were an icicle.

She looked at her friend with horror. "Help… me…" he tried to say again, but was cut short when the rise and fall of his chest ceased. Rapunzel swallowed dryly and looked up to the person in the middle of the three. Rapunzel recognized her immediately.

Merida whisper "Help… meh',"

Her skin was red and blistered, with some areas sizzled black. Her once wild red curls were patchy and charred, falling to ash around her head. Hear eyes were an empty black, like they were burned from her head, and she stared of into nowhere. Her entire body was burnt to a crisp.

Rapunzel didn't want to, but she looked to the last figure, laying on the far right, staring at the same nothing as the others. Hiccups small body was mangled. His cloths torn to shreds and deep scratch marks across his skin. Large chunks of his body were missing, like an animal had bitten them from him. The open wounds left him lying a puddle of his own blood and he was left gasping for air like a fish, until his breath ceased to be.

Rapunzel stood up and stepped slowly backwards until she ran into the wall. She tried as hard as she could to look away, but something forced her to keep looking. Her friends… she reached up to touch her hair but there was only the short ragged strands that remained from her cutting it earlier. It was just as brown as the hair she had cut off. It couldn't save her friends.

"Help us" they said. All three of them. They said it louder and louder each time "Help us"

"I can't!" Rapunzel screamed. Tears were welling up in her eyes once again. It was her fault. It was all her fault. If she hadn't cut her hair she could've saved them. Instead she saved herself. And now, it was like her friends had destroyed themselves. Like their own power turned against them.

She turned to the wall again and started pounding, yelling "let me out! Please! Please!"

She said this over and over again against the constant voice of her friends, saying "Hep us. Help us" louder and louder each time. "Help us"

"Wake me up! Please!" On top of her own, and her friend's voices, she heard somebody calling her name in the back ground "Rapunzel! Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel drove her first towards the wall, but instead of her hand bouncing off to repeat the action, it sunk into the wood, much like her hair had. She was stuck.

The walls started turning black instead of the dark brown, and the unallocated light source grew dimmer and dimmer.

"Help us. Help us"

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel"

"Let me out! Please!"

Above the loud endless swirl of voices, a clear and malicious laugh interrupted, sending a shiver down her spine. It was the laugh of a man, but she didn't recognize it. The only light left diminished, and she found herself stuck, and alone in the dark, with a swirl of voices screaming in her head.

"Rapunzel! Rapunzel, wake up!" Anna shook her friend senselessly, doing her best to not hurt her with her own strength. At first, Rapunzel's eye's flickered. Anna pulled her hands from the blond's shoulders and asked again "Rapunzel?"

Suddenly Rapunzel bolted upright, yelling for a good five seconds before looking around, terrified. Anna watched as a bead of sweat rolled down Rapunzel's forehead.

"Rapunzel? What happened?" she lifted her arms to try to steady her, but Rapunzel pushed her away.

"What happened?" Anna tried again "We all woke up around the same time, but you were the only one still out. I tried to wake you up but, you were kicking and crying out in your sleep. I even had to hold your arms back to keep you from trying to claw at yourself,"

Rapunzel panted and looked down to her hands. Her nails were still clean, but the pen she held was crushed in her hand, the ink spilling out all over her hand and the fabric of the chair she sat in. She dropped the pen and whipped her and off, looking mortified at Anna.

"I have to go" Rapunzel whispered, then bolted upwards and ran out the door way, not caring or noticing that her braid had come undone or that a random voice from the class asked from behind her "What happened to Mr. Sanderson?"

Rapunzel raced down the deserted halls, not even stopping to pick up her lose hair. "Hiccup!" she called "Hiccup!" she hadn't a clue what class Jack was in but she knew that Hiccup had science this period. Hopefully she would find him there.

She turned the corner, nearly tipping over in her haste, but she steadied herself and continued on, passing a familiar face in the hall.

"Rapunzel?" at first it was curious, but then the voice called louder "Rapunzel! Stop!" but she didn't. She couldn't. That dream… something about it seemed too real… she had to make sure her friends were alright. Rapunzel took another large bound, but mid-air she saw a waiver of light beneath her feet. As soon as her foot touched the ground, her knees buckled and she fell, sliding across the floor as she went.

She looked back at the floor and her thoughts were confirmed. A thin layer of ice was in the area where her feet had landed, causing her to slip and fall. Instantly, the ice dispersed, not even leaving a drop of water behind, and the one who caused it came running up to Rapunzel.

"Rapunzel!" Elsa came running from the other end of the hall. When she reached Rapunzel she fell to her knees and grabbed onto her shoulders, "Rapunzel, I'm sorry, it's just- your hair! And you were running down the hall- I'm supposed to stop people who don't have a pass but, seeing you now- What happened? Are you O.K?" Rapunzel looked up into Elsa's worried eyes.

"Elsa, I have to go," Rapunzel stood up and eyed the hall that the science room was down.

"Wait, what?" Elsa questioned. She didn't seem annoyed, just worried.

"I promise, I'll explain later, but I have to go" Rapunzel picked up her jog. She decided that Elsa accepted the answer, because she didn't call out her name after that. Rapunzel sighed. She would have a lot of explaining to do later, but that wasn't even what bothered her. What bothered her was she didn't fully understand it herself.

In no time Rapunzel reached the science room and flew through the door. It was just her luck that the teacher forgot to lock it for the period. The students looked up at her surprised. She didn't doubt that she looked a little more than odd, but at the same time didn't care.

Her eyes filed through the class, trying to pick Hiccup out of the crowd. When she didn't find him anywhere, she turned to a boy sitting in the front. She recognized him as Hiccup's lab partner. What was his name…? Guy?

"Do you know where Hiccup is" She asked hurriedly.

Guy flashed a confused look and slowly shook his head "He's not here right now, bu-"

Rapunzel didn't wait to hear the 'but'. Once again she ran out the door. Setting a destination in her head. She didn't have clue where either Jack or Hiccup was, but she could be sure that Merida was in her dorm, or at the least not M.I.A.

Rapunzel pushed open the doors into the court yard. She did have to pause for a moment to wrap her hair up in her arms so it wouldn't get caught in the door. Once she had it under control, she took off again, sprinting to that rinky-dink shed that stood next to Merida's dorm.

I'm coming, Rapunzel thought, just please be there. On her way over, Rapunzel weaved her way past a handful of tree's and jumped over a pile of leaves to reach the run down dorm. She stomped her way up the steps, her racing heart prevented her from falling short of breath. She threw her hair and practically clawed for the door.

"Merida!" she called "Merida answer me!"

She ran through the boot room, not bothering to close the door. She was about to sprint up the stair case to check Merida's bed room then she heard a ragged breath say "Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel turned towards the living room and ran inside. Her heart flopped in her chests with relief, when she laid eyes on Merida, peeking out from a mountain of blankets on the couch. Her hair was mangled and there were dark circles around her eyes, but Rapunzel wouldn't have her any other way.

Rapunzel ran to her friend and wrapped her into a tight embrace. She was warm, in fact, Merida's skin was burning hot, but Rapunzel could care less.

"Rapunzel…" Merida said through a ragged breath that was softened by a plugged nose, making it hard enough to understand on top of her accent "Wut's goin' on? An' wut 'appened ta' yer' hair?"

Rapunzel didn't answer, just squeezed her friend tightly, over joyed that she was alright, beyond relief knowing what had just happened was just a dream.

But a little voice in the back of her head told her over and over again that it wasn't just a dream, she tried to push it away, but couldn't. That little voice was telling the truth. It wasn't just a dream. It was a nightmare.

O.K. Another super intense chapter. I literally wasn't even planning on any of this happening. Originally this chapter was mainly supposed to be from Hiccup's POV, but then I couldn't come up with a good transition for that, so I stuck with Rapunzel, and was practically creating the idea of the 'power simulation' class in my head as I was writing the chapter. I decided too, that I should try to expand on the actual schooling of Sky High so I came up with this great idea involving Sandy. I already had a list of Teachers in my outline and I realized that my current plot doesn't really involve a lot of the characters that I wanted to put in to the fic originally, so in me trying to smush in extra characters, became the birth of this heavily conflicted chapter, thickening the plot and providing me with more gap filler.

Also, Rapunzel POV so, whoop whoop. This chapter was also a big risk for me when characterizing Rapunzel. I think this is the way she would react in the situation, because since she is so used to being independent, her friends would mean that much more to her, and her greatest fear would be to lose them, especially if she might've had the power to save them. Even her big 'freak out' in the end is just another way to display the loyalty she has for her friends, and how they are her top priority over herself, and that is why she felt almost ashamed that she saved herself before her friends in the nightmare.

I don't know. In Tangled she doesn't really have this kind of personality factor, but in the movie she wasn't really given a situation like this, and the movie really only gives us a glimpse of her personality, so I expanded on it, and am convinced, if not certain that this is a reasonable reaction for her. If you disagree, please tell me why, or at least give me a good reason. It might just persuade me on how to better write her in future chapters. Thanks again, and sorry for the graphic parts of the chapter, I didn't want it to be too uncomfortably graphic, and sorry for the super long A/N.