"Gooey, where are you!?"

Dark Matter searched frantically for his brother. From what he recalled, he was certain that Gooey was dragged somewhere into Nightmare's realm as well. However, the fog was so dense here that he couldn't see anything.

"GOOEY!" Dark Matter called out again as he kept searching. "Gooey, it's me!"

No matter how hard he tried to call out to Gooey, he would only be greeted with the echo of his own voice. Despite this, he was determined not to lose his brother again. He COULDN'T lose his brother again.

"Hehehe...look at you, desperately trying to find the only person who ever cared about you!"

Dark Matter jumped. He heard Nightmare's voice, but the demon was nowhere to be found.

"Where are you?"

"It's no use trying to look for me right now," Nightmare told Dark Matter. "But I think I might know where your precious little brother might be."

"And why should I believe you?" Dark Matter asked bitterly.

"Well I WAS going to help, but I guess it'll be better to let you rot in your own anger like usual." Nightmare teased. "Besides, I'm sure your friends might be around here somewhere, too."

Dark Matter huffed in annoyance, but he had no time to argue with Nightmare right now. He had to find Gooey.

Soon, he found his way in front of an old-looking tower. He couldn't tell what was on the other side of the entrance, he had to assume that it took him to another part of this realm.

As he thought about it, there was a good chance that Gooey went through here. There was nowhere else for Dark Matter to go, so he slowly made his way inside. However, he shook as he felt a chill run down his spines.

As Dark Matter entered the tower, he found himself in a large, grassy field. Just seeing this place made him feel sick. But if he had to guess, he was somewhere in the Grass Lands.

The further he went into the grassy field, he noticed there were a few tulips here minding their own business, as well as a few other creatures who walked by and ignored him. For a place that was somewhere in Nightmare's realm, it didn't look any different from the Grass Lands back in Dream Land.

Soon, Dark Matter made his way into a forest. Just like everywhere else, this forest didn't look any different, either. Eventually, he was able to see Adeleine stand on a log. It looked like she was painting a pictures of Chuchu, Nago, and Coo.

"...Did you get dragged in here, too?" Dark Matter asked. Instead of being greeted by the shy little human, the grip on Adeleine's brush hardened, she glared at him with a pair of red eyes. It was as if she'd been possessed by one of Dark Matter's siblings.

"You have a LOT of nerve coming back to Popstar!" Adeleine said viciously. "Why can't you just go home already!?"

The sudden venom in her voice caught Dark Matter off guard, perhaps this was one of Nightmare's tricks? Either way, he figured it was best to play along for now.

"Apologies, but you KNOW I can't!" Dark Matter argued. "You were there when it blew up, remember?"

"Well then maybe you should've blown up with the rest of the planet!"

Dark Matter was horrified to hear such things coming from someone like Adeleine...Or what appears to be Adeleine, anyway. She couldn't be the real thing, and yet hearing her voice say those things made his skin crawl.

"Look, Adeleine-"

"YOU BE QUIET!" Adeleine yelled angrily. She hopped away from her canvas and allowed her drawings to come after him. All three of them were yelling something different.

"Do you REALLY think we'd forgive someone like you!?" Coo yelled as he knocked Dark Matter down.

"GET OUT!" Nago yelled as he attempted to scratch Dark Matter, the blob scrambled to move as he nearly dodged the cat.

"You're not welcome here!" Chuchu yelled angrily as she tried to punch him.

It would be so easy to hurt them all, Dark Matter could just pull out his sword and slice everyone in half..but what reason would he have to hurt them? After all, he needed to save his energy for Nightmare.

With that in mind, Dark Matter fled the trio. When he looked back, he could see Adeleine chase him for a moment. "COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME, COWARD!"

He eventually found his way to another tower, it was similar to the one he'd seen before he got here. Dark Matter made his way inside. As much as he'd hoped that these illusions would end, he had a feeling that it would get worse from here.

As Dark Matter left the Grass Lands, he suddenly found himself inside a big, colorful castle. The walls here were decorated with gems, which probably meant that Dark Matter was brought to an illusion of Royal Road.

Someone floated in front of him for a moment. It was a young spider with long hair, there was a faint light surrounding her.

"Er...have we met, before?" Dark Matter asked. If he remembered correctly, he'd caught a glimpse of her back when he talked to the Dreamstalk. However, he wasn't sure if this was actually her or yet another illusion.

Without a word, the young spider quickly flew through the castle. As she flew, Dark Matter instinctively followed her.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Again, the spider didn't say anything. She lead Dark Matter through the castle much like Taranza did the last time they visited. She looked back at Dark Matter before making her way to the top of the castle. But when Dark Matter made his way to the top, the spider was gone.

While he was here, Dark Matter took a look at the Dreamstalk. The wind blew it gently, but it didn't sway back and fourth like it did before.

"You're an awful person, you know that, Blade?"

Dark Matter turned around, he could see Taranza floating there. His hands were all curled up into fists. He looked as if Dark Matter had just committed a crime right in front of him.

"I...I beg your pardon?" Dark Matter asked.

"You heard me!" Taranza exclaimed. "You're always going on about how Zero abused you and how he hurt you, but what about me? What about what I had to go through with Sectonia?"

He had to be another illusion, right? Just like he did before, Dark Matter decided to play along.

"You wouldn't tell me about her until we came to Royal Road," Dark Matter replied. "And even before then, you insisted that you stayed quiet about it."

"Because I know not to cry about it all the time, unlike you!" Taranza argued. "Boo hoo, I let Lord Zero die and its all my fault. Well you know what? Nobody cares!"

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!?" Dark Matter yelled angrily, he panicked as he quickly covered his mouth.

"And NOW you're going to disrespect a king?" Taranza scoffed. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, since that's the only thing you know how to do."

"Taranza-"

"Enough!" Taranza said sternly as a pair of scepters appeared in two of his hands. "Sectonia was always better with these sort of weapons, but I think I can handle them just fine on my own!"

Dark Matter screamed as Taranza nearly struck him with one of the scepters. For an illusion, this somehow felt real. The spider repeatedly tried to hit him over and over. When that didn't work, Taranza lifted the other specter. Black lasers flew all over the place, Dark Matter had no other choice but to deflect it with his own sword.

"I have no desire to fight you, Taranza!" Dark Matter said sternly.

"Too bad, because I want you GONE!" Taranza yelled angrily as the scepters in his hands turned into swords. He clumsily swung the swords into Dark Matter's direction. Once again, Dark Matter deflected the attacks with his own sword.

"You're the one who named me 'Blade', remember?" Dark Matter asked in a useless attempt to reason with him. "Not to mention that I always looked forward to seeing you whenever you were around."

"Does it look like I care?" Taranza asked bitterly. Using one of his free hands, he managed to tangle Dark Matter into a web. The blob could no longer protect himself, he shut his eye tightly as Taranza delivered the final blow.

...But nothing happened.

Dark Matter opened his eye as he examined his surroundings. Taranza wasn't here anymore, and the Dreamstalk no longer moved. The wind wasn't there, either.

"Forgive me, Taranza..." Dark Matter said as he headed back downstairs. Taranza would never say those things, right? It was just an illusion, right? And yet, Dark Matter felt as if his heart was going to burst.

He found the entrance to Taranza's garden. But much like he'd seen at the towers, he couldn't tell what was on the other side. If everything else was going to be harsh with him, all Dark Matter could do was prepare for the worst as he headed into the next area.

After going through Taranza's castle, Dark Matter found himself inside another castle, this time it was Dedede's. He could already tell that this was going to be hell.

As he made his way through the castle, the Waddle Dees that accepted once him were all hiding, some hid under curtains, others hid themselves under tables and inside of boxes. One of them almost stabbed him with a spear, and from the corner of his eye he could've sworn he'd seen Bandana Dee peaking out of Dark Matter's room.

...He shook his head, this place was just another one of Nightmare's illusions. However, given the anger and hostility he could sense here, Dark Matter couldn't help but compare the Waddle Dees here to his own siblings. Seeing them like this made him dread what Dedede was going to be like.

He made his way to the balcony. Dedede stood there with his eyes on Dream Land. Dark Matter was shaking, his heart felt as if it would burst out of his chest at any moment. Again, he reassured himself that this was all one big illusion. He wanted to say something, but he just couldn't bring himself to say anything.

This was Dedede, the same person who not only forgave Dark Matter, but helped him get through Nightmare's torment. This Dedede wasn't real So why was it so difficult for Dark Matter to speak?

"Hmph...You have a lot of nerve showing up!" Dedede said bitterly as he turned around. "Now, give me one good reason why I SHOULDN'T flatten you into a pancake!"

"I...Sire, you-"

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE CALLING ME 'SIRE'!" Dedede yelled angrily. "You think that after using ME as your puppet, you're suddenly on the same level as my Waddle Dees?"

"But I-"

"You THOUGHT you were, but you're not. You're nothing but scum, and I never want to see your face ever again!"

Dedede quickly pulled his hammer out and quickly lunged at Dark Matter, he managed to smack the blob into a wall. Before Dark Matter was able to pull out his sword, Dedede quickly knocked him onto the ground.

"Urgh..." Dark Matter slowly lifted himself as he looked at Dedede in disbelief. He wasn't real, and yet he wasn't playing around.

"Any last words before I finish you off for good?" Dedede asked as he held onto his hammer, Dark Matter didn't say anything.

"In that case, say hi to Zero for me!"

"NO!"

Before Dedede finish him off, Dark Matter released a dark beam that slashed Dedede in the stomach. Once he'd realized what had happened, Dark Matter floated away. "F-Forgive me!"

This wasn't real! THIS WASN'T REAL! Dark Matter wanted to scream, he just wanted to find Gooey and leave.

He wanted to curse Nightmare for giving him these visions, but it wasn't like this was anything new to Dark Matter, either.

...Suddenly, a thought occurred to Dark Matter. Nightmare was the one who gave him these visions, but didn't he also have the ability to look through someone's subconscious?

Dark Matter was terrified of what the next vision would be. As much as he didn't want to do this, he had to see this through to the end. Maybe then, he'll finally be able to find Gooey and defeat Nightmare.