There were plenty of steps I could've taken to stretch this story as long as other ones, but I still think it's fine like it is. I don't expect it to be a favorite, but it still has a good amount of sweetness. :)

Night 12: Dream Diary

"The universe 'awoke' to a rather shocking catastrophe as countless amounts of people were reported to have fallen into a comatose state." Linda spoke on Intergalactic News. "Attempts to wake them up have been fruitless. According to reports from Kids Next Door and acquaintances, the incident was due to none other than the terrifying Nightmare King. The victims in question supposedly suffered fatal injuries within their own dreams, causing them to fall in an indefinite slumber. While their bodies are still alive, it is undetermined if they will ever wake up."

Her anchorman, Morbo continued, "The victims are being gathered into hospitals to be fed and properly cared for during their eternal slumber. I mean, ahem, seemingly eternal slumber! Doctors are attempting any means legally possible in order to awaken them."

Cheren was delivered status reports from every KND sector. Some of the people who wound up in a coma included Bon Clay Jr., Gary-Lou Jones, the Whitby parents, Hikari Gilligan, Mario Ramsey, Nagisa's mother, Yin Dimalanta, some Gallagher students, and plenty more. As he looked over the names, April and Harvey were present in his office, the former giving a vocal summary of her adventure. "Man, I can't believe all of this happened in one night." Cheren sighed. "And what about fricking time zones? Some of these people happened to take naps in the middle of the day, while others stayed up late at night, like Suki. But at least Madotsuki came through for us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harvey asked.

"Uh...I'm saying that she saved everyone and we should be thankful. Is there a problem with that?"

"You make it sound like you care more about her becoming a Guardian."

"That's not what I'm saying at all? But considering her condition, I'm certainly thankful for her help."

"Well, what do you plan to do with her now?"

"I dunno… what do you expect me to do?"

"I want you to leave her out of any Firstborn Guardian duties or big jobs!"

"Excuse me? I didn't decide that she should be a Guardian, so I have no idea what her duty will entail at this point. For the time being, she's not an operative, so I don't plan to trouble her."

"And besides, in the end, it's Madotsuki's choice." April replied. "Honestly, Harvey, I think you're still stressed out after this experience. Maybe you should go home and catch up with folks. Weren't you about done with us, anyway?"

Harvey sighed. "Whatever… Just wanted to get my thoughts out." He turned to leave the office.

"But what happened to Darkrai, exactly? Both of them?"

"The others told me that the good Darkrai was killed and absorbed into his father." April answered. "And the evil Darkrai was sucked into Madotsuki's dream after he was Bubbled. I guess he's just… sealed in her now."

"It's actually not an unusual happening." Mesprit said, hanging from the ceiling.

"What do you mean?" Cheren asked.

"There are certain rituals and other processes by which spirits can be sealed in a mortal's subconscious. A few years ago, wasn't Arceus sealed inside The King's son? It's different from a spirit overshadowing a mortal, because that's primarily entering their chi paths and lending their power. Though, in the case of Arceus, his supreme chi did put a strain on his host regardless. But so long as Madotsuki lives, the seal should hold."

"That makes me feel worried for her."

"You're certainly right to be. But I think, as soon as the Dream Realm was accessible again, spirit agents flew in to search for and seize Darkrai's Nightmare Generals. He seemed to have a handful of rogue spirits working for him."

"We'll make sure Madotsuki stays protected." April assured. "But as far as dreams go, I think she can protect herself just fine. Especially with Marshadow and Mr. Dark by her side. Speaking of which… I think they're holding a funeral for Darkrai II."

"Then… is he really gone?"

"I'm afraid so." Mesprit answered. "His body was destroyed and returned to his father. Theoretically, they could harvest his father's chi and attempt to recreate him, but not only would that risk breaking the seal, but the clone could be born with no memory and a different person. It may be better to accept what happened and let him rest…"

"But then who's going to be the Nightmare God?"

"Where it stands… Marshadow is the only Nightmare God."

"I see…"

"This just in," Cheren returned attention to Intergalactic News, "Head President King Mickey has come to us with BIG NEWS regarding this topic! We now go live to His Majesty."

The camera cut to the mouse king of Disney Land. "Gosh, I couldn't get a wink of sleep last night-hoho! If I knew something this terrible was happening, I would've tried to help a lot sooner. However, I believe I know someone who can solve this dilemma! It's none other than our newest addition to the Corporate Presidents. Allow me to introduce President Akihiko Kayaba!"

The camera turned to a gray-haired man in a labcoat, whom Cheren recalled as the president of the Coruscanti game company, Hinobi. "Hinobi has nearly finished development on its magnum opus, Aincrad. The game is designed to be an open-world virtual reality where players can develop and master any skill they please. Mostly in the realms of combat because that's what kids like, but there are other skills, too. By entering the game, your bodies fall into a sleeping state while your subconscious materializes in Aincrad like a dream. In light of these events, I plan to calibrate the VR headsets to read the brainwaves of our unconscious patients. By doing so, we can potentially place avatars in Aincrad based on that data. If these avatars can perfectly identify as the actual people, then we can safely deduce they are the reawakened consciousness and safely download them back to their real bodies."

"Wow." Cheren said, eyes wide with amazement. "That has so many red flags, I don't think anyone should fall for it."

King Mickey continued, "I'm sure all of you have your concerns due to unsavory rumors and incidents based on Hinobi. That's why I've been helping to make sure this game was absolutely perfect! But based on the test runs, we've detected minimal flaws, so it should definitely be safe to publish within a week's time."

"Looks like our next crisis is being packaged and delivered right to us. Better go talk to Nebula about this, and get these reports delivered. But I think you've earned a rest, April." Cheren smiled. "And by that, I mean wake-up from your rest."

"No doubt! There are some things I wanna catch up on, anyhow."

Nightmare Land

The streets were filled as all Nightmares were facing either the center of town or TVs displaying the center. Customer Service and Jack Skellington stood atop a stage before the statue, which had a large image of Darkrai.

"For 300 years, Darkrai II protected our people." Customer began. "Despite being made in the likeness of his father, he sought his own path and desired only kindness. While he got a good laugh from hearing the kids scream, he was never spiteful. He empathized with all children and their plights. A short while after his creation, almost 1.5 million years ago, Darkrai became childhood friends with Dimentia, known far and wide as the KND's founder. When Dimentia fell down a dark path, 24 years ago, Darkrai worked with the legend Nigel Uno in stopping her and saving the universe. And a short time after that, he reawakened the Star Warrior, Kirby, to detain his evil father in his attempt to escape imprisonment."

Jar Jar Blinks sniffled. "I-sa remember dat… Me-so have many good times with Da'ky. We share so many milky-wilkies! Waaaaaahhh!"

"Poyo…" Kirby patted his leg with a sad expression.

"The first Darkrai created Nightmares with malice." Jack continued, a black widow hanging from his coat. "But the second Darkrai created them with heart. He created Dr. Finklestein, who in turn created Sally. He created myself and the residents of Halloween Town. Everyone flourished and loved their leader! But not all was perfect. Some Nightmares of his creation went rogue."

A large, blue-furred monster with purple spots and horns stepped up. He was James Sullivan, an executive of Nightmare Enterprises. "While Second Darkrai didn't want to linger in his father's shadow, he had to do what he could to support us during the financial crisis. He sold monsters and nightmarish merchandise to underground brokers, not only to support our people with profit, but the Fear Chi that would be produced from the resulted scares. Even so, we made sure not much harm was done. And he always relied on the KND to solve any crisis. He punished any employee for doing something unethical. And we promise to do everything to carry on his legacy."

Anna, the former princess of Arendelle, took the stage. "After being frozen for 300 years, I'm very thankful to Darkrai for taking me in. And I could say with certainty that he was a kind man. He helped the people from Pueblo de Niebla recover from their Chi Disuse, and he always tried to be a good friend to the mortals. I hope we'll be able to keep going without him."

"I'm positive we can!" Jack beamed. "But that does peg the question… what will you do, Marshadow?"

Attention was focused on the little spirit on the stage. The spider detached from Jack's coat and landed on the stage, staring up at Marshadow. He faced up at his brother's image with sorrow.

"So, Marshadow… what do you see?"

"I see a bunch of wiggly spirits… and they're turning into babies."

"Those are newborn mortals. And as you can see, some of them are dark-red. That indicates they have the potential for fearbending. All I have to do is harness some chi," an orb of Fear formed in Darkrai's hand, "and touch them." He placed that orb into one of the souls. "Even from here, I can do it. But you can do it, too."

"I can?"

"Marshadow… should anything happen to me, you will be the only Nightmare God. I certainly wouldn't want my father to return. You must sense these souls, like this, and determine if they are worthy to be fearbenders."

"I have to do that… and be the Nightmare King, too?"

"Eh heh heh. That part is completely optional."

Marshadow faced Jack with a resolved expression. "I'll be the new Nightmare God… and make more fearbenders. But I don't think I can be the Nightmare King. That part sounds too complicated. I just wanna stay with Madotsuki for now."

Jack smiled. "That's quite all right! I've grown used to being the stand-in Nightmare King, so I suppose I could keep it up." The king addressed his people. "Everyone, this is Marshadow, my uncle and Darkrai II's older brother! His father treated him like a monster beyond monsters… but as he stands here before us, I can tell for certainty that his soul is as bright as his brother's. After all, his name is Marshadow, and shadows can only exist in light!"

The Nightmares felt like he was going for an inspiring analogy, but it was sort of lost on them. Oh well. "Yaaaaaaayyyy!"

"Well, that could've come out better." Jack metaphorically blushed. "Ahem…let's do our part to make Nightmare Land scarier than ever! Let's make Darkrai II proud!"

"Yeah!" Marshadow cheered. "I'll try to make you proud, too, little brother…"

The black widow scurried away.

Spear Pillar

Solaris used colored flames to make a giant illusion of Darkrai. All the gods and even some Phoenios were in attendance. "After the sealing of Darkrai I, I'll admit that I didn't accept his son with a warm reception." the Moon Goddess, Cresselia said. "It was my suggestion to limit his access to the Spirit World… but even to this day, I still possessed a lingering, sour taste. Perhaps it was due to our elements… or the hate I still hold for his father."

"He sure felt nicer than his father." said Rosa, the blue Phoenios. "Will he really not come back?"

"Even if he could," Uxie replied, "he wouldn't be the same Darkrai. But so long as people remember and pray for him… then he will exist in their hearts."

"I guess you wouldn't want to make another Darkrai, huh, Arceus?" asked Alumy, the Phoenios Matriarch.

"No… from now, it is up to fate. But this event has filled me with a sense of dread…"

"I believe I know what you mean." Dialga replied. "The time of the God Killing… draws near."

"What do you mean you 'believe,' you know it's gonna happen!" Palkia argued.

"W-Wait, what's the God Killing?" Alumy asked.

"Another of our many dreadful prophecies, of course." Kyogre replied. "Indeed… I fear it is happening soon."

Unknown hideout

Chase Young fixed himself a cup of coffee as he took a seat at the table with Rob Lucci. "YO! What up, mah home bros?" Deadpool cheered as he danced in. "Just offed this big-time mafia dude in Superbia. Pssh, prisons, what're those?"

"Sounds like a good time." Deathstroke replied, tossing a meat skewer up and down. "As for me, I was called to assassinate Anubis Cruger, a Galactic Army ranger. The Shadow Ranger certainly lived up to his element… but I put the jackal down in the end."

"You know how to stroke 'em, eh, Cous? 'ey, Shadow, toss me a cut of that pizza!"

Shadow the Hedgehog picked off a pizza slice and tossed it to Deadpool, who pulled up his mask to eat. "I was on an assignment on Planet Sogard." Shadow began. "There was a major war between two factions, and I was asked to kill a mercenary called Byleth. He seemed to possess the power of a spirit, so it was quite challenging."

"Man, I can't believe I missed all that! Offscreen fights are the worst. Speaking of offscreen, where's Akame and Mandy?"

"I'm right here."

The assassins looked to the ceiling as a tiny black widow dropped to the table. It suddenly grew into a girl with red eyes, long black hair, and a black sleeveless tank-top. "They were hosting a funeral in Nightmare Land. It seems their king really is dead, but there's another god to take his place. A Firstborn called Marshadow. I was right there at his feet, and I was almost tempted to try and slay him…"

"Not a chance worth taking without the right weapon." Lucci said. "Still, another one, huh? They're getting to be far too frequent. Anyway, now that you're all here, we should go." He stood.

"Where are we going?"

"We received a transmission from Mandy earlier." Shadow replied. "It seems she's run into a snag in her assignment. Apparently, she wants us all to come. So useless…"

"Is she… okay?"

"Are you kidding? Of course she isn't." Chase smirked. "Still… whatever she's run into must be quite impressive if she needs to call us."

A neighborhood in Karakura Town (Play "Dreams Dreams" from NiGHTS!)

A few neighborhoods away from Madotsuki's, she learned that school was cancelled due to severe cases of drowsiness from many students and staff. This was Madotsuki's old neighborhood. On her way to find a particular address, she spotted the very girl in question leaving her house. She had a blonde ponytail and a white shirt going into a green patterned dress.

"Hm?" The 16-year-old cocked a brow at Mado. "Can I help you?"

"Your name is Poniko, right?"

"Yes… do I know you?"

"My name is Madotsuki."

"Madot…suki?" Now that she thought about it, she looked just like that little girl who used to go to her school. "Oh! Is it really you? It's been years!"

"Yeah." Mado smiled. "You must be wondering where I've been."

"Well… yeah. I heard about an accident that happened with your parents, but you were never found. To be honest… it made me kind of sad."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean… back then, I thought you were kind of weird, but… What happened?"

"To keep a long story short, I… suffered amnesia, and… well, it's hard to get into. But recently, I got my memory back, so I thought I'd come to look for you."

"R…Really? Why me?"

"I just remember… wanting to be friends with you. I remember that I liked trying to get your attention."

"Oh…okay." Poniko smiled. "To be honest, after all this time, I sorta moved on from you for the most part. I was sad, but there wasn't anything I could do about it… but I'm really glad to see you again."

"I guess I am pretty forgettable, huh?"

"Heh heh…" Poniko blushed. "Well, I was just about to go shopping, but you wanna come with? It'd be nice to catch up."

"Sure, I'd love to!"

With that, Poniko led her old classmate up the street. "So, are you in my school?"

"I'm in middle school, actually."

"But I thought we were about the same age?"

"We were, but I was sorta age frozen."

"Oh! I suppose that happens from time to time."

"Hehe!"

Across the world…

April paid a visit to Sector $ and asked Carol to search for someone on the Internet. Having only the first name to go by, it took a while for her to find the right match. "Does this look like her, April?"

April studied the picture of the red-haired girl with blushed cheeks. "Yep! Let's send her an email!"

Madeline was searching an article about archery on the Internet. She received an email and proceeded to open it. "Huh? Hey, it's that girl! I guess it wasn't just a dream after all." She wrote in a reply, "'Sure, I'd love to! You can meet me at…'"

…

Somewhere in Austria, a woman in her 20's awoke in her room in a mental hospital. Her eyes tired, she went to stand by the window, staring at the sun. She then glanced down at her medical report: Goldia was diagnosed with lunacy, dissociation, and dementia. …Her mind focused on the name, Goldia. "Goldia…Goldia…Golden…Golden…!" She gasped, remembering the name "Goldenweek" from a dream. Those two girls that tried to help her… were they real? Or were they simply a part of her mind? It would be nice to meet them again…

…

April met up with her cousin, Mary as they began to reread the Jenny LeClue series, albeit they were starting at the 30th book. "I can't believe you met the real Jenny LeClue, April!"

"I know, it was pretty nostalgic! The author says he has a great idea for the next book, too."

"Then we'd better get caught up soon!"

"Hehe, I don't think we have to worry! …I mean, it doesn't seem like we missed out on much."

"Yeah, but I still like it. You think any of our friends would like Jenny LeClue?"

"Who knows?"

"APRIL!" The girls jumped when Emily Garley suddenly kicked the door open. "Is it true you met Jenny LeClue?!" She skidded up in a flurry. "Will you introduce me?! Jenny is one of my idols! She's so misunderstood! Her arrogance is so inspiring! I have to meet her!"

"Uh, I'll try to introduce you sometime!"

Madotsuki's House

That night, as Madotsuki was getting ready for bed, she talked to April through the phone. "I get why Harvey is worried, but he doesn't have to be. Firstborn Guardian or not, I don't want to join the KND. I feel like I'd just get too sleepy!"

"Hehe, I know! But eventually, something has to happen with the Newborn, and we expect the Guardians to have a part in it, too. So, I'm worried about troubling you any more…"

"It's okay. But even if I'm not in the KND, I'm still gonna keep fighting in the Dream World. The Dream Realm is a safe haven that people can escape to at night. After days of stress and so many bad things happening, it's the only place they can really rely on. I'll keep protecting it, so everyone can sleep well!"

"Then we'll keep protecting our world, too! Good night, Madotsuki."

"Night, April-chan!"

With that, Madotsuki tucked herself in bed, with Marshadow comfortably nested under her arms. "Dark-san… could you read us a story?"

"Madotsuki, aren't you getting a little old for bedtime stories?" Mr. Dark asked.

"No I'm not. Come on, just one story?"

"Very well…" He sat on a chair and conjured a storybook. He opened it softly. "Once upon a time… there was a young girl who could travel through dreams." Madotsuki closed her eyes, her mind and soul warm under the blanket. "She met many friends and explored many fantastical worlds." The voice of her closest friend filled her with warm memories, lulling her into slumber. "But one day, that girl had a terrible nightmare… one that she feared she may never wake up from. Not even her dreams could help her escape this nightmare. Her sleep wrought with darkness. But despite the suffering… she lived… and she learned that happy endings can exist, in both dreams and reality…"

Madotsuki, Marshadow, and Mr. Dark sat atop Masada's spaceship, gazing at the endless expanse of the Dream Realm. The multi-armed Monoko, the smirking Monoe, the glaring Poniko, invisible Kamakurako, and sleepy Mafurako gazed with them. "Hmmm…let's go… to that one!" Madotsuki pointed at a beautiful planet.

"Ah, that's Rayman's world." Dark said. "Yes… let's visit it, shall we? I do miss the Candy Chateau."

Masada fired up the engines and took off.

And with that, that's the end… of the main story. I am going to have one or two chapters of post-story, but unlike other post-stories, it will have some notable relevance. But I hope you enjoyed this story and that you have sweet dreams. X) Keep them close to your heart and never forget.