"Nightmares!" Blaze gasped.

"If there are Nightmares... then..." Jokul gasped. "Pitchiner!"

"We have to get out of here and help our friends!"

They all zoomed towards the cottage as fast as they can. There, they gasped in horror to find the Nightmares everywhere. The others were all knocked out, their eyes pure darkness as they laid on the ground.

"No!!" Blaze and AJ screamed.

"How did these damn Nightmares get in here?!" Aster growled.

"Yes, I wonder how..."

The group turned to see Crusher appear from the cottage, eyes gleaming gold.

"S-Son...?" Jokul noticed his eyes, causing him to growl. "Pitchiner. How DARE you take control of my son?!"

"It wasn't that difficult,"

From behind Crusher, Pitchiner appeared, a smirk on his face as his eyes glowed as gold as Crusher's.

"All right, you nightmare freak, let Crusher go!" Blaze snarled.

"Why? Afraid to fight him?" Pitchiner smirked.

"No, cause we know what terrible things you'll do with his power! If you do this, he'll be as bad as his mother was!"

"Oh no, he won't," Pitchiner cackled. "He will be WORSE. It's because his mother was anything 'SWEET', right, Jokul?"

"Don't answer him, Jokul," said Blaze. "We'll take care of this creep. Aster, take care of the others. And Jokul, you try and snap Crusher out of Pitchiner's spell."

"W-Wait just US taking care of THIS maniac?!" Darington gulped.

"Crazy plan, kid," Aster commented.

"I know it sounds crazy, but we have to try something! If that doesn't work, I'll come up with something else! Let's try it!"

"This kid's starting to act like a God," Aster shook his head with a sigh but went over to help the others anyway.

Jokul headed towards Crusher, staff out and ready.

"Son, I know you don't want to hurt me or your friends... you have to fight the magic Pitchiner cast on you!"

Crusher winced but the darkness around him didn't vanish. Instead, he formed his own dark scythe and attacked. Jokul sighed and held out his staff to defend himself.

"Son, you can't let yourself be controlled! Think of the people who love you! How much I love you! I will never stop fighting for you!"

"Give it up, Jokul." Pitchiner huffed as he watched the battle. "NOTHING can get the darkness out of his subconscious. Your son is MINE."

"Well... I can always try physical love rather than hearing it." Jokul hissed.

So, he reached toward Crusher and pulled him into a loving hug, tears glistening in his eyes.

"Come back to me, son… please…"

Crusher paused, eyes wide as he stayed in his place. Pitchiner snarled.

"Attack him, you fool!"

Crusher didn't move. He couldn't move, his eyes turning back to normal as the darkness started to fade.

Pitchiner hissed and called for his main Nightmare Onyx.

"Get him!"

Onyx let out a neigh before riding towards them. She kicked Jokul away with a growl.

"Ack!" Jokul fell to the ground with a hiss.

"Jokul!"

Blaze, Darington and AJ headed over to his side as Onyx grabbed Crusher and pulled him to Pitchiner's side.

"What do we do...?" Blaze asked. "We can't stop them..."

Before Jokul could answer, a trail of golden sand flourished into the Warren. Pitchiner hissed at it, but with a touch of gold, some of his Nightmares had turned gold as well.

"W-What's happening?" AJ asked.

Suddenly, a golden truck appeared through the tunnels of the Warren. Aster gasped.

"Sanderson!"

The golden truck gave a wave to him before heading to face Pitchiner, who scoffed.

"Sanderson, my old nemesis, of COURSE you would come." he smirked and held the scythe's blade next to Crusher's face. "Come closer, however, and I'm not promising this little prince to live any longer,"

"CRUSHER!!" Blaze gasped.

Sanderson hissed silently but didn't move from the spot he stood. Pitchiner cackled.

"Pathetic."

He called on his Nightmares to return to him before he hit his scythe on the ground, causing a wave of darkness to appear. When it disappeared, so did Pitchiner and Crusher.

"W-Where did they go?!" Blaze exclaimed.

"If I could guess, Pitchiner's lair." Jokul hissed.

"Okay... first we help our friends. Then, we all go face that so called king." Blaze concluded.

Sanderson nodded in agreement before heading to Aster's side. The Spring Spirit chuckled.

"Sanderson. You're just the truck we needed,"

Sanderson looked confused until he noticed the others. He gasped and signed with his tires.

{"How did this happen??"}

"We don't know exactly," Aster said.

"You can... heal them, right?" Blaze questioned with hope and fear inserted in his tears.

Sanderson nodded, a sand emoji of a happy face appearing on his head before he made his way to them. He rubbed his tires together before releasing magical golden sand into the air, swirling it around before letting them enter the group. The darkness began to fade away slowly.

"Ugh... what happened...?" Stripes groaned.

"GUYS!" Darington beamed. "You're awake!"

"Don't tell me-- King Big Shot did this to us?" Gabby asked.

"Yeah-- and somehow he got Crusher back under his spell and took him away! We have to go after them!"

Sanderson shook his head in disapproval. Aster sighed and agreed with him.

"Yeah, we can't go after him. At least, not all of us,"

"What do you mean? Strength in numbers!"

"Not after what Pitchiner just did." Aster growled. "You outnumbered him, but he outmatched you all,"

"But... then what can we do?" AJ asked.

"Stay here." Aster told them, crossing his tires.

"But..."

"No buts." Jokul frowned. "You children are already in danger because of us. Because of ME. I got Crusher INTO this, and I'm NOT letting any of you get hurt again."

"You can't just leave us out like this!" Starla cried.

"Yeah! Crusher is OUR friend!" Watts agreed.

Aster sighed and whistled. Two large Senti-Egg Statues suddenly stomped towards the group.

"Woah, what those for?!" Zeg cried.

"To make sure you kids don't leave the Warren." Aster replied.

"This... this so isn't fair!" Blaze suddenly snapped. "We've handled tough things before! We've even handled the Snow Queen and her minions! We can fight!"

Sanderson sighed and shook his head. Aster sighed too.

"Alright, Sanderson, you know what to do,"

Sanderson nodded and released his golden sand towards the group. The sand made them suddenly sleepy as they yawned.

"What... what are you doing to us...?"

"Dream sand, makes you fall asleep no matter what," Jokul explained.

"Please... don't... do this..."

But it was too late-- Blaze and his friends had already fell into a magical slumber.