Author's Note: Well, I bet you're wondering how I'm getting so many detailed chapters out so quickly, huh? Well, it's simple math, really. Me + Slender Man stories = Insomnia, and Insomnia + Laptop = Chapters. Anyway, here you go, the next chapter!

Chapter 37: …

Enter Coron:

"Oh…" I sat up and rubbed my head, incredibly sore. "Geeze…"

"Heh…" the other me was leaning back in the air. "Had a good nap?"

"Shut it…" I grumbled, shaking my head as I stood back to my feet. It was then I realized where exactly I was. I was standing back on my Dive to the Heart, but… the edges were glowing and breaking apart, fading into the nothingness.

"What in the world…?" I looked around. "What the hell's going on?"

"Oh, you don't know?" asked the other me. "Well let me just fill you in. The Genius you share your soul with lost his own. That's pretty much it."

"WHAT?" I staggered back, taken by surprise.

"Yeah," the other me stretched in the air. "So now we're fading into the nothingness. You, me, him…"

"Screw that!" I ran to the edge.

"What the… HEY!" the other me floated in front of me. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Jumping into the void to save that kid!" I shoved him out of the way and stood at the edge.

"You IDIOT!" the other me said. "If you jump into that void, you could wipe yourself from existence! If you're gone, then I'm gone, too!"

"Well, that's one less thing for the world to have to suffer through," I noted, bending my knees.

"Stop!" the other me said. "You don't know what you're doing! You could destroy yourself!"

"I'm going to wind up destroyed either way," I retorted. "If I'm going down, then I'm going down doing something."

With that, I leapt off the edge of the Dive and into the nothingness.

To tell you the truth, it really wasn't that unpleasant. It was cold, sure. And it felt like I was plummeting straight through deep water, only without the bends. I reached a point where time lost meaning, then space. I couldn't tell if time was even moving, or if in fact I was moving.

That's when … showed up*.

… was bizarre. It had no definite point in space, yet I could still navigate. There was no definite point in time, yet I wasn't frozen. There was no air, but I didn't need to breathe. There was no ground, yet my feet made contact with something that allowed me to walk.

I tried not to look around too much. I had a very strong feeling that if I observed … too much I'd crack. So, I ran, keeping my eyes forward. After I ran a million miles in a second… or wait, was it ten feet in a hundred years? Gah, it's not important anyway. What IS important is that after I ran, I came across a field of people. I froze as I stared at them. They were many different people, different species, different genders, but they all had one thing in common: They all had their eyes closed, coated in a thick layer of… something. No, nothing. No, it was… it wasn't…

I shook my head, forcing myself to not think about it. Running forward, I looked around until I came across the sleeping form of the Dream Keeper.

He looked nothing like his Avatar. He was human, obviously, I would say fourteen years old. He was about as tall as me, with pale skin. His hair was a dark brown, almost black, and very thick. It was like a Q-Tip, almost. He had a watch on his right wrist, and for clothes, he wore a blue t-shirt, blue jeans, and black and white shoes with a star sticker on the side that said "Converse" with high tops.

"There you are," I muttered, jumping next to him. As I looked at his sleeping form, something moved around me. I looked up to see the … change form into monsters, surrounding me.

These monsters were… okay, look, I can't do this. Make something up, I don't care, just… no. I can't tell you what they looked like because they didn't have a definite shape. Trying to describe them is like trying to give … a name: It's friggin' impossible.

They made a noise that was made of silence as they leapt at me without moving. I swear, the only possible way to make this place any stranger would be to add Goompa in the mix.

Anyway, I ducked under them and jumped on top of whatever was on or not on the Dream Keeper. Turning my hand into a dagger, I slashed it open with a hiss. Everything/Nothing shook as I dragged the Dream Keeper out and slung him over my shoulder.

"Exit… where's the exit…?" I muttered, breaking into a run as those things chased after me without moving from their spots. I tried returning to the point from which I entered, but I soon discovered that was where I was standing and wherever I went. Going up proved impossible, for as soon as I turned, I landed on the ground that wasn't there. I spun around to see a thing run at me, it's claws that weren't' really claws but fangs but it had no fangs bared but not really bared but-

"GET BACK, YOU BEAST!" I shouted. As soon as the last word came out of my mouth, the Beast took form into… well, a beast. … closed upon it as soon as it was named, and thus something, and it was gone.

…names ! Of course! Once an object's been given a name, … can't contain it! I closed my eyes and searched for my name, as I couldn't remember it. I don't know why, or in fact how. I did know, however, my legs started becoming transparent.

"No, I WON'T let myself fade!" I said, clenching my jaws as I thought hard. Then, not one, but two names came to me. I didn't want to take my chances and wait.

"WE ARE CORON AND PAX!" I cried out. A loud boom of sound and light and smell and every other sense blasted me as … was no longer there. We were now floating in a void of darkness. Panting, I leaned back, Pax still slung over my shoulders. Ahead, I saw a glowing sphere of light, and inside it, I saw Pax's Avatar lying on the ground as his friends fought against the Nightmare.

"Finally… the Dream…" I sighed as I floated in. We seemed to be spirits, as no one noticed us as we floated down.

"Oh…" Pax's eyes fluttered open. They were lidded and exhausted, however. "Coron…?"

"Yeah," I replied, floating to the Avatar.

"But… why?" he whispered. "Why are you helping me?"

"…we share a soul, moron," I said, hardening as I pulled him off my shoulders and into my arms, kneeling to put him back. "If you fade, I fade."

"I don't believe that…" he turned to me and smirked. "You know what I think? I think you did it because you thought it was the right thing to do."

"…" Saying nothing, I slid his soul back into the body. My hands, dipped in, were pulled in as well, and as I faded into his body, I blacked out.

Enter Pax:

My eyes shot open. I was lying on the hard ground, staring at the sky. I was sore all over, as if someone just rammed into my body with an orb of pure darkness and shot the soul that was occupying that body out as my soul was lost due to the power behind the Limit Break…

…oh. Right.

Shaking my head, I sat up and rubbed it. I blinked and turned my head to see a Nightmare, crouched and facing my friends. They were all either wide eyed or teary eyed, staring at the Nightmare.

"Uh… hey, guys?" I waved at them. "What's going on?"

"MARIO!" they all spun to me, looking thrilled. Unfortunately, the Nightmare spun toward me as well. Growling, it leapt at me.

"WHOA!" I jumped back, getting on my feet as I summoned the Crystal Sword. The Nightmare blindly jumped forward with his claws held out, but one slice from the Crystal Sword made him vanish in a blast of dark smoke. The smoke took form of an orb, which sucked right into my Nightmare Hand.

"WOO!" I shook my head, the rush flowing through me again. "Now THAT'S a thrill!"

"Mario!" Goombella ran up to me. "Oh Stars… I was afraid… you lost your soul…"

"I did," I shrugged. "But Coron saved me."

"…wait, what?" Goombella blinked. "Coron. You ARE talking about the same guy I'm thinking of, right? The Nightmare who tried to kill us not even a week ago?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "That's the one."

I looked at my Nightmare hand and smiled.

"Maybe he's not such a bad guy after all…" I muttered. Suddenly, I felt like my ribs were being crushed as I was lifted in the air, so I came to conclude Flurrie was hugging me.

"Oh, I am so glad you're okay!" she said as she carried me back to town. "Come on, sugar! I'm so sorry for mistaking that imposter for you!"

Goombella sighed and shook her head, but she was still smiling with relief as she followed.

"Alright, Pax is okay!" Leon said, following. Vivian looked at the group nervously.

"Hey… come on, I'll walk with you," offered Koops to her. She looked at him and smiled.

"Yes… thank you," she nodded, and with that, Koops and Vivian followed side-by-side at the rear.

*"A name gives power, and defines an object. Those without names cannot be defined, therefore no one can hold power over it. This was seen with Doopliss, but as you can see, his name was eventually discovered. This is not the case with …. … has never had a name, and through its powers, it cannot be given one. … is indefinable, uncontainable. That is what makes it so dangerous. On a related note, … seems to also be the point where Nobodies are formed. Further research is required to understand why this is the case."

-Nozan

Author's Note: Really short compared to yesterday's chapter, I know, but I was running out of time and all, so… yeah. Anyway, we're back on schedule, so until Monday, this is Pax the Dreamer, signing out!

PS: Though updated late, I would like to point out that technically, this was posted on Friday. See, would I ever let you guys down?