Reality. Most of the time, it's disappointing. It may be because you expected too much of reality. It's really disappointing. Maybe the girl you liked rejects you, maybe you didn't get the grades you expected you would, maybe the person you looked up to as an idol turned out to be a total cheat and lied about his greatest creations… You never know, there are thousands of possibilities.

"But then… What about what Nibs said…? We have to find the map that was lost here…" Izzy said, wide eyed in disbelief.

"Well, if you keep looking for it, it'll be pointless. It doesn't exist"

"There'd be no reason for the Protectors to send us here if the map didn't exist… I feel like we're missing a piece here" Jake said. He was not going to back down, not after what they'd been through to get here. This was the last mission, and if they complete this, they would earn the title they all yearned for.

"Yeah… I mean, there has to be SOME way we could do this" Skully agreed. He could hear the Archer guy clicking his tongue behind him, but didn't pay it much attention.

"I think… It's best if we go back and come again. We don't have any information, and the creator of the map himself is saying that it isn't real. We should get more clues and come back" Cubby spoke up, from being quiet for so long. "Sometimes… We have to take a step back and look at the situation more clearly"

"Alright, fine. Suppose we go with your plan; how do you even plan on getting back?" Jake asked, clearly annoyed that one of his teammates was siding with this guy.

Before anyone could reply, a flash of lightning accompanied by a crash of thunder struck the ground a few meters beside where the group was standing. Everyone thought that it was just another one of the realm's tricks, but after a few seconds of nothing happening, some kind of structure started to grow.

It grew bigger and bigger, towering over the small humans. It kept growing and growing, threatening to surpass the sky. After a while, they couldn't see the top of the building, but they were certain that it kept growing. Now, they brought their focus to the bottom part of the building.

It was a thin building, made out of bricks. A single door was the only entrance to the building. No windows or such.

"Should we go inside?" Skully asked doubtfully. You can never trust random buildings that sprout from the ground.

"It could lead to another disaster…" Izzy said warily. She was starting to reach her end point in terms of energy, and she knew that another one of the realm of nightmares tricks would make her and the others pass out.

"But we have no choice, and we never know until we try" Jake reasoned, and walked up to the door.

"I don't think that's a good idea…" Cubby said, fear enveloping his body yet again. He's experienced one of the cruelest tricks of this realm, and was afraid that something as terrifying as that would be waiting for him behind that door.

"You don't have to be scared, Cubby… We'll be facing whatever's behind that door together" Skully tried comforting him, but it only seemed to make him even more scared.

Cubby was clinging onto Izzy and hiding behind her, the same way he used to do to his sister when he was scared.

"What the heck are you, four?! Man up, will ya?" Archer said, in a tone that did not make the others like him.

"Do not speak to him that way" Izzy threatened.

"Hey Cubby, you okay?" Jake asked, choosing to ignore Archer and placing a hand on Cubby's shoulder.

"I'm sorry…" Cubby said, feeling guilty. He didn't want to seem like an attention seeker, and definitely didn't wanna cause the others trouble.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Cubby" Skully assured him, shooting a glare at the grown-up man who was acting more like a "four-year-old".

"I'm scared…" Cubby admitted, daring not to look into his friend's eyes in fear that he'd break down crying. His eyes and nose were starting to hurt, and that always happened when he was about to cry.

"It's natural to be scared, Cubby… We're here for you" Izzy said, give him a hug.

"I'm sorry I'm not brave like you all… I always get so scared in situations like this and drag you all down…" Cubby mumbled.

"Cubby… Look at me," said Jake. "Being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared. Being brave means that you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyways"

After a while of thinking, Cubby realized what Jake meant. He was scared. He always is scared. But he won't let the fear stop him from doing what he thinks is right. He won't let the fear control his body, and he definitely won't allow it to stop him from being with those he loved. Being scared isn't a nuisance. Being emotional isn't a nuisance. It's normal and people must learn to accept that.

"Thanks Jake… Thanks to all of you… Thank you so much…" he said, looking at his friends. The people who accepted him, the people who cared for him and loved him. His family.

"Can we go check what's in the door now?" Jake asked, getting a small nod from Cubby.

Jake walked up to the door yet again and opened it.

"What's in there?" someone asked from behind him, he didn't pay attention to who, because he was preoccupied with what was in front of him.

Archer peeked over his shoulder, not being able to wait for Jake's reply.

"Stairs." He said, in the most deadpanned voice you could imagine.

After a few minutes of climbing the stairs, which seemed to drag on forever, they reached the same place they started. Skull Rock.

"We'll go back to pirate island, get some info and rest and come back tomorrow" Jake said, relieving everyone when he said "rest".

"Well, I'll be going on my way now… You kids can do whatever you want…" said Archer, slowly walking to the exit.

"Wait! We need you to help us with finding the map!" said Izzy.

"I told you already, the map does not exist" he said, a bit angrily.

"Well, the Council wouldn't just give us an impossible mission. We're gonna continue looking, and if we have any doubts, we're gonna come to you. So, where can we find you?" Jake asked, making sure that the man understood his words.

"I am a man who keeps travelling. I do not have a certain place I call home. So, you cannot and will not find me" Archer fought back.

"Stop fighting, you two" a voice came from the shadows.

"Peter!" Cubby exclaimed, glad that someone stopped the argument before it got worse.

"What are you doing here?" Skully asked.

"I came looking for you guys!" he replied, his usual cheery tone replaced with a worried one.

"Why?" asked a confused Jake.

"You've been gone for two weeks now!" Peter exclaimed. "When we heard no report from you, Nibs and Tootles came to Pirate Island to look for you. They didn't find you, so we decided to look for you where you last went. And only then did I find out that you were going to the Realm of Nightmares, which is a very dangerous place. It's forbidden too" he explained.

"But then… If it's forbidden, then why did you tell us to go there?" Jake asked, conveying everyone's thoughts.

"Nibs was given the wrong information. I left him a note which told him to tell you guys to go to another location, but someone replaced it with one that told you go to the frickin realm of nightmares!" he said, getting mad at the mystery person who replaced the note.

"Wait wait wait… They came into your headquarters and replaced your note?" Izzy asked, as if she didn't believe what she was hearing.

"That's what baffled us the most. No one except for the people of the Council know the location of headquarters… That's why we're being extra careful… We're trying to find the person who did this," said Peter.

"So… That wasn't our mission?" Cubby asked.

"No… We'll talk more about your mission later. Right now, I wanna know who the guy who's trying to escape through the wrong way is" Peter said, tilting his head towards the man climbing through a hole in the wall of the cave, almost falling directly into the ocean.

"He's… Archer Yarbrough, famous adventurer, cartographer and a total jerk" Jake said, earning a threatening look from Archer for talking crap about him and from Izzy for being disrespectful.

"Archer Yarbrough… You…" the rest of the sentence said by Peter could not be heard as it was said under his breath, but they understood that it was something that confused Peter from the expression on his face.

"What was that, Peter? We couldn't hear you" said Jake, stepping forward.

"Weren't you a sub protector?" asked Peter, which surprised Jake and his crew.

"I… I was…" said Archer, but he sounded ashamed. He was looking everywhere except for Peter's eyes.

"Where were you for all these years?" asked Peter, his eyebrows knotting together and his lips slowly curling into a frown.

"The realm of nightmares" he replied.

"Well then? Aren't you gonna explain?" Peter asked.

"I was too ambitious and power hungry, okay? I went out in search of the last item to complete my map, the same one which these kiddos were searching for, but I ended up getting trapped in that horrid realm…" he said, throwing his arms up and walking about in a rant.

"What's happening?" Jake whispered to Cubby, hoping no one else would hear him.

"I have no idea" Cubby replied.

"Shut up you guys" Skully said from above, having heard them.

"You guys must be confused" said Peter, after talking to Archer for a while.

"Yeah… We kinda are…" Jake replied, rubbing the back of his next awkwardly.

"Archer here, was the sub protector of your region. But he went missing, and we couldn't find him for all these years. Until you guys rescued him" Peter explained, earning gasps from the team.

"So… If he's back now, does that mean he's gonna continue being sub protector of our region and we won't be needed?" Izzy asked worriedly. It was only after she had said it out loud that the rest of the team also realized the same. All their hard work would be down the drain.

"Oh no no no no no… Do not make me take up that kind of responsibility ever again, I beg of you!" Archer wailed, earning a snicker from Peter.

"Well, since he doesn't wanna, then you're still up!" Peter said happily. "Actually, I think yall are definitely gonna be sub protectors. You've all proven yourself more than worthy, and everyone in the Council knows that"

"Thank you!" they all shouted in unison, excited for what lies in the future.

Author's note:

That's the end of this story! This story, as in Cubby's arc, that is… Because I will be uploading other one shots and short stories in here, so stay tuned!

Right after I posted the previous chapter, we found out that our whole family tested positive, so we were kinda occupied with that for a month… And then my final exams rolled along, and you know how that is… Right now, it's vacation time until school reopens again. So, expect me to post every week on Sunday from now on. I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to keep up this schedule, so hopefully nothing goes wrong now!

Thank you so, so much for reviewing angelayan183 and Yavuz! Glad to see that people are still here!

Also head cannon that Izzy reminds Cubby of his older sister so much that he feels comfortable around her and does things he'd do with his older sister. Another head cannon that Izzy also thinks of Cubby as the cutest little brother ever and would get ready to murder anyone that makes him sad.

I hope you liked this, even though I practically gave up this whole chapter. Tell me areas which I could improve, and areas which you like so I can include such things in future stories!

See you next Sunday, and until then, adios!