Chapter 26: I'll Be The Nightmare Bat's Puppet?
After the Duo of Justice defeated the Demonic Nightmare Squad, they and the guardians prepared for the new destination, the shadow realm. The three guardians formed a triangle in order to focus their transportation powers, and the dynamic duo were standing in the middle of the triangle. The pair joined hands, closed their eyes, and tried to visualize the location where Luna was taken hostage. All of the sudden, they were all teleported to the shadow realm.
The Duo of Justice and the three guardians had arrived in the shadow realm with the guardians' transportation magic. They all looked around the surroundings, and it looked to be dark and creepy. The guardians illuminated themselves so they could tell where they're going.
"Now that we're here, where do we start?" Phantom Angel asked.
"I'd say we're going that way," Serena answered, as she was pointing at the cave. "We, guardians, can tell that Luna is right through there."
"You guys can tell where she is?" Masked Swordmaster asked.
"That's right, there's no doubt about it now!" Wisp replied.
"Let's go, Luna needs our help, and she's waiting for us," said Neon.
The Duo of Justice followed the three guardians to the cave. Once they made it through, they found themselves two paths. Since the guardians could sense Luna's presence, they were heading to the path on the right, with the dynamic duo following them. Finally, they arrived at the dark and spooky garden, which gave Phantom Angel the chills and was unable to move forward. Masked Swordmaster held her hand, and they continued to press forward.
"I don't know why, but this reminds me of the time when Professor Joe sprayed all the plants, trees, and greenery with toxic fluid back in StarLily..." Phantom Angel recalled.
"Um, who's Professor Joe?" Masked Swordmaster asked curiously.
"Huh? Oh right, I completely forgot that you weren't there! Well, you see-!"
"You can save the explanation for later," Serena interrupted, "but for now, we are here!"
The three guardians and the Duo of Justice had arrived in the dark castle. The gate was automatically opened, so they all entered without any hesitation. Then, the castle doors were also opened, so they could keep on going. They all went upstairs to reach the top floor of the castle, but it was a lot higher than they expected.
"How long is this castle going to reach to the top?" Masked Swordmaster asked. "Because it feels as though it's getting a lot longer than I entered Allen's house!"
"We're almost there!" Neon reassured him. "Just a few more steps..."
After everybody made it to the top of the castle, they kept on walking and looked around their surroundings. Until they saw someone floating in the air, they all recognized who that was. It was Luna who was still unconscious and was still unable to move. The Duo of Justice tried to save her, but the guardians quickly stopped their tracks. They immediately saw someone standing right before them. It was the evil woman, Noelle and her bat partner, Noir.
"Welcome, intruders..." Noelle sneered. "Welcome to my domain! It's very rare to have visitors coming into the shadow realm."
"So, you must be Noelle, I assume?" Wisp asked, just to make sure.
"That's right, guardian of power, I am Noelle, the mistress of all nightmares!"
"I'd take it that you're the ally of the Demonic Nightmare Squad then?" Phantom Angel asked curiously.
"My, someone made a lucky guess! And yes, I was their ally until their respective deaths because you and your beloved ally killed them while they were collecting all the remaining dream life forces!"
"Too bad, lady, that's why we're all here!" Masked Swordmaster exclaimed. "To return all the dream life forces to the dreamers and rescue Luna!"
Noelle frowned. "Someone has a spunky attitude, but whatever. Speaking of whom, Luna's blacked out and won't be able to wake up at any time! With all the dream life forces in my hands, she won't be able to stop me!"
"Luna may not be able to stop you alone, but we will!" said Neon, as his pride was full of determination.
"Ha! Oh really? If you're really think so, guardian of courage, then we'll see about that!" Then, Noelle turned to her partner. "Noir, show those fools of what you're made of."
"With pleasure, milady!" Noir grinned, as he obeyed Noelle's command.
Noir's dark power was surging as he was planning to take control of Luna's body. Serena, Neon, and Wisp quickly used their powers combined to shield Luna from his fusion. But the bat suddenly bypassed their shield and entered the dream guardian's body. The other guardians were shocked by this action, even the Duo of Justice wouldn't believe their eyes.
"H-Hold on, how can this be?" Serena asked. "That wasn't supposed to happen!"
"Oh right, I completely forgot to tell you," Noelle explained. "You see, your guardian powers are now useless when there's only three of you, right? You all have to be a lot stronger when there's four of you together! Since now Luna is out of the way, you three are done for!"
"Well, that's because you captured her, you vile woman!" Wisp shouted.
"That's very true since she was now weaker. With Noir's control of her body, I'll let him take care of every one of you! So, if you'll excuse me, I have business to take care of. Bye-bye!"
"Wait just a second, get back here this instant!" Phantom Angel shouted, but Noelle ignored her and walked away.
Few seconds later, Luna's eyes were now opened, but there was something abnormal about them. Her eyes were flashing red, which they scared the three guardians off. Phantom Angel and Masked Swordmaster rushed to the guardians, but they were blocked by the barrier and were unable to reach them. Since Noir controlled Luna's body, he approached the dynamic duo and took out the nightmarish dual blades.
"You insolent fools!" Noir cackled, while controlling Luna's body. "The barrier won't penetrate until you'll defeat me!"
"Like we don't have a choice, do we?" Phantom Angel sighed, as she took out her dream rescue staff.
"No, I guess not..." Masked Swordmaster replied, as he readied his dream rescue sword.
"Guys, I know you two don't want to harm Luna," Neon reassured them, "but try to focus on getting Noir out of her body somehow!"
"We're planning to do that now!" said Phantom Angel.
"Enough of your squabbling, you pathetic fools!" Noir shouted, as he readied his dual blades. "Let's get this fight started, shall we?"
Noir, in Luna's body, was floating in the air and summoned the crackling dark orb with his dual blades crossed. Then, he flung it with one of his blades and aimed at one of the dynamic duo. Since Phantom Angel had done this before, she hit the crackling orb with her staff and sent it right back to him. But the bat manipulator knocked it back with one of his blades. Two opponents repeated this process until one of them got hit by the offensive orb. Noir shook it off and was ready for his next move. He summoned his nightmarish knives that would plummet the Duo of Justice. When they were all rained down, Masked Swordmaster quickly grabbed Phantom Angel by the arm and ran away from the knives until every last one of them struck down to the ground.
"Now, that was scary..." said Phantom Angel softly.
"What did you expect?" Masked Swordmaster asked. "Not only does this bat gone mad, but he's a very wild one!"
"Well, we'll have to stop him and fast!"
"But the big question is how?"
When the Duo of Justice noticed the incoming attack right below them, they quickly jumped away before they got a direct hit. Noir crossed his arms in front of his chest while holding his dual blades, and he charged right through one of the dynamic duo. Masked Swordmaster leapt away from Noir's dual blades before he got slashed. When the blades got struck to the ground, the duo nodded at each other as they finally came up with an idea.
"Since Noir got distracted, I've got a better idea," Masked Swordmaster whispered.
"So, you're thinking what I'm thinking, right?" Phantom Angel grinned.
Masked Swordmaster nodded. "Exactly!"
After Noir removed the dual blades from the ground, he glared at the Duo of Justice and made his next move. He launched the multiple orbs and fired at the dynamic duo. Phantom Angel and Masked Swordmaster nodded along as they followed their strategy. The white knight used his mirror shield to reflect the orbs, while the angel knocked them down with her staff. Noir, who was inside of Luna, lost control as he tried to dodge them or knocked them back with his dual blades. When he got hit by some of them, Masked Swordmaster gave Phantom Angel a cue.
Phantom Angel, use your heavenly light flash on my mirror shield now! Masked Swordmaster thought, as he was using his telepathy with his ally.
Got it! Phantom Angel thought, as she ended her mind communication with Masked Swordmaster and called out her attack. "Heavenly light flash!"
When Phantom Angel unleashed her attack, Masked Swordmaster used his mirror shield to reflect her attack and aimed at Noir. The bat manipulator got blinded by Phantom Angel's attack and suddenly got separated from Luna's body. With the barrier disappeared, the three guardians reunited with the dynamic duo. Noir, on the other hand, screamed in pain and agony while he was blind. Without realizing of what's happening next, Wisp took out his guardian dagger, threw it, and stabbed right through the bat's heart. Noir was now dead after he breathed his last breath.
The Duo of Justice and the guardians rushed to Luna who was still unconscious. A few seconds later, she slowly opened her eyes and saw everyone altogether like before. Although, she was still too weak to move. So, the three guardians would accompany her while the dynamic duo went ahead to stop Noelle in no time at all.
"Brave heroes...defeat the nightmare mistress and save the dreams and the world..." Luna muttered quietly. "I-We believe in you two..."
