Canard tossed and turned on his bed trying to sleep, but it wasn't easy. Charyus and Dragaunus were defeated only a couple days ago, but something didn't feel right. In his dream state, he was standing across a vast and barren desert with nobody around.
"What's this about?", he asked.
"You're work isn't done yet."
Canard tensed.
"Who's there?", he asked getting into a fighting stance and looking around, "Show yourself."
A strong wind picked up and Canard turned to see a world once lush and brimming with life now covered with flames and devastation. A swarm of saurian war ships flew over the planet and Canard saw other planets forming around him looking like the one he just witnessed.
"This is the fate of all worlds."
Canard grew more impatient.
"No! Charyus and Dragaunus went down!"
A chuckle filled the air.
"You only delayed them. The saurian empire will rise again and if the fleet isn't stopped soon, all the universe will know of their power and nature. Seek out other resistances in Dimensional Limbo and assist them in their dire need and in turn, help will be at the ready for your end."
Canard notice some of the planets turn green and pure again and some of the fleet went down, and then he woke up and saw he was in his room.
"What a nightmare.", he muttered as he checked his medallion, "That Empower crystal Nosedive got restored our enchantium magic at it's own demise, but I sense chaos is in the works and something about that dream means something terrible is about to unfold."
He rested his head against his pillow again still a little shaken by what he had just witnessed.
"One thing is certain: there is something in Dimensional Limbo and I bet it's that fleet that Dragaunus and Charyus tried bringing to this planet twice now."
He felt his eyes closing, but then the door of his room opened and he turned to see Morpha looking panicked and all black.
"What's with you?", Canard asked.
Morpha shifted into a smaller version of Nosedive and then he fell over with a lily in his hands before changing back into itself.
"You think Nosedive is dead?", Canard guessed.
Morpha shifted into a "winner" sign and dinged like Canard won a game show and Canard got out of bed. He was in his pajama bottoms, but he was beyond caring.
"Okay Morpha, let's see what's the jiff on the kid."
/
Morpha led Canard to Wildwing and Nosedive's room where he found Wildwing already awake, but looking concerned.
"Canard, is Nosedive okay?"
Canard did a quick aura reading and looked confused.
"Well, his aura's fine, his health is too, but he's in some kind of sleep."
Wildwing looked confused also.
"So another dream sprite could be here?"
Canard shrugged.
"Possibly."
At that moment, a little spark flew out from behind a corner of the bookshelf and started whizzing around til Canard held his hand up in it's path and stop it cold. Both drakes looked on as the spark shifted into a little girl the size of a pencil wearing a sparkly emerald green nightgown and silk slippers. She turned her little eyes were light blue and her wings were clear and fluttering like a butterfly. Morpha looked just as stunned as the two drakes were.
"That's a dream sprite?", Wildwing asked.
"I prefer Luna fairy thank you.", the little girl stated with a voice like honey with a little sass added in.
Canard snapped his fingers.
"Of course, dream sprites have categories that they work in. Guess the one we encountered earlier was a different class."
The fairy looked confused.
"You mean that mischievous nightmare fairy Malevolence borrowed from us?", she asked.
"How did you know?", Wildwing answered.
"Nyla told me.", the fairy stated plainly.
Canard felt more at ease.
"So what brings you here Miss..."
"Luna.", the fairy answered, "Nyla's domain is going haywire and we have a nightmare situation on our hands that we need some help."
Wildwing raised an eyebrow.
"And Dive here?"
Luna looked at Nosedive and shrugged.
"He'll be fine. Once everything is back in order he'll wake up like everyone else."
/
The Migrator drove down the street as the night wore on, but inside a couple ducks were anything but happy.
"You woke me up at two in the morning cause a pixie came to visit?", Klegghorn asked harshly, "And why are Duke, Phil and I assisting you two to find out what's wrong?"
Wildwing's expression hardened.
"I don't like this anymore than you Klegghorn, but Canard thinks Dimensional Limbo is acting up."
Phil looked shocked.
"You mean we have to go through all that reality warping again?"
Canard sighed.
"Relax, it's just a rift opening near the outskirts of the park. We go in, find out what's up, fix it, and get out. Simple."
Duke adjusted his outfit. They had gotten into battle gear before they left, although Phil was a little unsure about his. By the time they got to the park, the Migrator parked and the team filed out with Luna following.
"So where's the rift?", Klegghorn asked.
Luna pointed towards a clearing between two trees.
"Now look closely, cause it's hard to see.", she said.
Wildwing did a scan with the mask and noticed a rift clear as day in between the trees.
"It's there alright. So we just pass through?"
Canard nodded.
"After you Luna."
Luna flew to the space between the trees and she vanished instantly. The ducks followed, but Phil seemed more hesitant.
"Um, maybe I should sit this one out cause I think my schedule needs to be-"
"Can it Palmfeather!", snapped Klegghorn, "You're going in there with us."
And before Phil could object, Klegghorn pulled him into the rift and it was only a second, before they found themselves floating in space with large landmasses floating around with distant rifts opening and closing. Canard tensed.
"Never thought I'd come back here again."
"So, where's the domain?", Wildwing asked.
Luna opened her hand and blew some sparkly powder which encased the ducks and in an instant, they fell to the ground sound asleep.
"You enter it through your dreams.", Luna sighed, "Honestly, does nobody think of obvious reasons?"
And less than you can wink an eyelash, she disappeared.
/
Wildwing's eyes fluttered open to a very extraordinary sight. All round him there were fluffy colored clouds that changed color now and then, large flowers and vines that wrapped glowing spheres and jewels littering the ground like pebbles in a road. The other ducks came around as well as Luna appeared in front of them.
"Welcome to Dreamscape. Domain of dreams and care taking of all who slumber."
Wildwing heard something and as he walked closer to a sphere, he got a good look into it. Nosedive was standing on the opposite end of a cauldron and Charyus was on the other and clearly singing. Luna came over and fluttered to Wildwing's side.
"We call these dream scopes.", she explained, "Everything these things show is someone's dreams."
As she spoke, the image in the sphere vanished and white dense fog filled it blocking out everything else. Canard came over and dusted his shoulder.
"Okay Luna, what's the problem?"
As if to answer him, a huge bang rang off and a tangle of thorny vines came up from the ground turning the place dark and foreboding. Phil, Klegghorn and Duke got to them and prepared themselves.
"Is this all in our minds?", Klegghorn asked.
Luna nodded.
"Dreamscape materializes in sleeping minds, but if stirred enough by nightmares the minds will awaken or plunge that individual into eternal slumber."
The vines continued growing and a large forest of the thorns materialized with a dark and crumbling castle at the center of it.
"Where's Nyla?", Duke asked, "Can't she do something about this?"
Luna looked unsure.
"She's not good at confrontation and the inter dimensional rules apply here. Nyla and my kind oversee sleep and dreams. This falls into righting a wrong."
"So that's where we come in?", Wildwing guessed.
Luna nodded.
"That castle is where most nightmares come from, but recently they have been growing stronger than Nyla can handle. Just be warned: whatever injury you get here will be transferred to your sleeping body so you might want to avoid dying."
Phil went pale.
"You mean..if we die here, then..."
"Yep.", Luna answered.
Phil fainted the moment she finished. Luna snapped her fingers and he was on his feet again. Wildwing invoked Flight and the team was off though Luna stayed behind.
"Good luck.", she stated.
/
As the ducks neared the thorns, the Flight spell instantly vanished and the ducks landed on the outskirts of the forest.
"What happened?", Klegghorn asked.
"Nothing's easy here in Limbo.", Canard answered, "We'll have to walk from here."
Phil stood to the side.
"Okay, you guys go ahead, I'm just going to wait here."
Wildwing shrugged.
"Suite yourself Phil, but don't blame us when you stay asleep."
The group went in leaving Phil alone, but he didn't have time to sit cause the moment he tried to walk away, he felt a hand grip his ankle and when he looked down, he saw it was a zombie's hand and he freaked out. He pulled free and dashed after the others.
"Hey, wait up!"
As he got to the others, Canard smiled.
"Oh good, you decided to come after all. Just be careful around here, nightmares can manifest so be very careful."
"What's to be careful about?", Duke asked, "This is easy."
As they moved along, Wildwing noticed other spheres like the ones he noticed earlier only they were showing something frightening. A little ways further, he noticed a body lying down in a clearing up ahead. A little closer and he noticed it was Nosedive appearing to be asleep.
"Dive?", he asked.
He was about to run ahead, but Canard held him back.
"Do not be deceived by what your eyes behold.", he warned, "Those who act recklessly often lead to a grim end."
Canard picked up a rock and tossed it at Nosedive's body which triggered an enormous bear trap that sank into the ground the moment it sprung making the others flinch.
"That was freaky.", Phil stated.
/
By the time they reached the castle door, Phil really looked freaked out.
"First, it was a giant bear trap, then a slime monster disguised as a pile of gold, flytraps that shoot poisonous darts and then a cottage that's really a giant mouth. What's next?"
Duke dusted his shoulders.
"That's the last time I let my greed get to me."
Canard looked okay, but inside he was starting to feel a bit scared. At the door, a strange melody was faintly heard. Wildwing tried to scan with the mask only for it to disappear the moment he tried.
"Okay, I've had enough.", Klegghorn stated for he was getting more than a little mad.
He walked up to the door and started banging on it.
"Hey, I want to file a complaint!"
The door swung open into a bare ballroom with another door on the other end. When the ducks entered, the door behind them swung shut.
"No way back.", Canard said plainly, "Only go forward."
The music changed into classical and the room filled with masked dancers. The ducks tired to go through, but the the dancers only managed to send them back to the door the moment they were touched.
"Now what?", Klegghorn asked harshly.
"Now we dance across the room.", Canard said plainly.
Phil went pale.
"I can't dance."
Wildwing gave him a determined look.
"Phil, if we don't get this place solved, you'll never make another quick buck scheme again."
Phil instantly changed tone and his clothes instantly shifted into a glittering tuxedo as the music changed again making the dancers pause. With Phil leading the dance, the ducks managed to get through to the other side which turned the room bare again and Phil's clothes turned back to normal.
"Whoa Phil, I had no idea you could dance.", Klegghorn said impressed.
Phil looked at the room and smiled.
"Yeah, I guess I could after all."
/
A little further into the castle, the ducks came to a room where the melody was loudest: a large bedroom where a music box was on a stand with a glowing rose in a glass dome near it.
"Is that it?", Duke asked.
"That's it.", Canard answered.
The ducks entered the room only for the door to slam shut behind them again. Phil walked over to the rose as if entranced.
"Hey, that's a nice flower."
"Yeah, just don't touch it.", Canard warned.
Phil ignored Canard, but something caught him and pulled him away alerting the others. A large shadow formed and a familiar lion's head with glowing circles around the eyes appeared.
"Terror!", Wildwing frowned, "I might have guessed."
Terror looked surprised.
"You don't look all that scared."
Wildwing stepped forward.
That's cause I'm mad.", he said firmly causing Terror to drop Phil and shrink back but he kept advancing, "I've gone through an entire forest of madness and I'm more than a bit angry."
Terror squeaked as it's form shrank further and with the other ducks advancing, Terror looked terrified.
"Not so big and tough without Malevolence around for you to hide behind you jerk.", Klegghorn snapped.
At that moment, the music stopped and the rose glowed further as Terror vanished away and the ducks clenched their eyes. They opened up again to find themselves back on the island they were on earlier.
"Did we make it?", Phil asked.
"We did.", Canard answered, "Now we just need to get back through the rift."
They did and they found themselves back in the park. Klegghorn checked his watch.
"Hey, my watch must have paused cause it seems we've only been gone for ten seconds."
Phil gave a yawn.
"I don't know about all of you, but I really want to go home, take some aspirin, and go back to bed."
"What about everyone else?", Duke asked.
"Not to worry.", Canard answered as the group made their way to the Migrator, "With Terror's hold on Dreamscape gone, everyone under his sleep spell will gain consciousness shortly."
By the time Wildwing got into the driver's seat, he was yawning also.
"Well, just a short ten minute drive back to the Pond before we sleep."
Klegghorn was about to ask if Wildwing had his mask, but after seeing it on his face, dropped the subject fast. Canard was feeling tired also. Even though they slept in Dimensional Limbo, the laws of physics weren't always the same in every domain so they were still tired when they got back, but he didn't mind.
"Well, nothing left to do now but get some shut eye.", he muttered to himself, "We've earned it."