Tales of The Cosmic War EXE Vol: The Secret War Beyond Good and Evil!

by Darth Necron

Five years after Ben Auro saved the universe from Chaos Zannacross Necron he is still helping try to guide the people to a better place alongside his lover Lacus Raystar. However they must reunite with their friends Mario,Cloud Strife, and others as everything they work for is threatened to unravel at the hands of the reality-destroying Incursion at the hands of the Beyonder!

13. Chapter 213:Inception of Reason

Chapter 213:Inception of Reason From the Evil Within.

As Doug, Aqua, and the rest of the group struggled to endure the trap that the Bedman, Antasma, Cia, and the Dream Corps laid for them their comrades were anxiously wondering if they were making progress.

Once Axel saw his teammates take off on the Spirit Train, he made sure Star-Lord and the Guarding's of the Galaxy unit had everything secure before watching over things in the Zodiac Pinion.

Aside from making sure Rocket did not do anything funny with the systems, the group was able to use the ship's stealth systems to evade detection and find a spot from where they could watch the Turtle Rock tower from a decent distance.

After making sure the Divine Beast could not detect them the group waited anxiously to hear form their comrades, a situation that rapidly eroded their patience. Axel, Rocket, Groot, and Star-Lord played a game of cards to past the time.

However just as Axel was about to win the game with the Red Nova Dragon he summoned, a vibration shook the table they were on, causing everyone to get on alert, only to see that had flown over them.

For a moment, the former Dark Enji wondered if he would have to turn up the heat, only to see the gigantic robotic bird to fly to the right. As everyone saw their target go away Rocket winced." Um…what was the sigh again to know we were in the clear again? Any word yet?"

Axel just leaned back in his chair as he chuckled." Take it easy fur ball…the enemy base is just cutting off transmissions that's all. It's simple really, if the giant bird calms down we are in the clear, and if not well, things are going to get dicey."

Groot glance at the red-haired man and responded with a shrug."I am Groot."

"No, it's not composure its being cocky Groot!" Rocket snapped out."If they screw up or get ambushed that Divine Beast's will nuke us before we can blink!"

"Easy fur ball…lose your cool and your one foot in the grave already. Besides, I don't sense any worthwhile power levels heading this way so our boys should be able to clean house without much hassle. I'd say the time is trying to decode whatever this so called Divine Beast has for a security system or something."

Star-Lord chuckled before throwing out,"True enough man. That Doug Fitter does seem way too strong for anyone but the heavy hitters to pose a problem. I knew he was on Ben Auro's team but, after seeing him in action he really does fight on the level of a god, or a demon."

Axel saw the others nod before he winced." Doug sure as hell has his fighting instincts fine-tuned these days. Of course,…if he turns up the throttle to hard it's going to overheat and everyone's going to get burned. Guess we are going to see one way or another what the true shape of his heart is.

Anyway, if you're really that worried about how things are going just scan that tower. The transmissions may be jammed but you can scan for any hostile energy stuff. We have the Zodiac Pinion loaded with any type of scanner you can think of, the more options you have the more jobs you get right?"

Rocket just shrugged before he went over to the scanners and started looking around before the talking racoon whistled." Damn man, you were not kidding! Hey, I was looking for one of these!"

"Well then, I'll be happy to tell you were I got a good price so you can have your own, got it?"

"Yah yah. Alright let's see. Well, I don't detect any magical energies that are too strong. Let's see…this Rem particle radar is picking up some strong readings. Hey Quill…what the hell is a Rem Particle again?"

Before Star-Lord could answer Axel raised an eyebrow and suddenly tensed up." Oh damn, I did not even notice that. This could be a big pain."

Gamora narrowed her eyes before looking at the scanner." You dealt with such a thing before?"

"Heh…sure did, in my last job. One of my former coworkers was fond of the stuff, and could be quite deadly with it. The gist of it is, Rem Particles are used a lot when your magically using dreams or, things related to person's subconscious to try and mess someone up."

Drax the Destroyer glanced at the tower before he cracked his neck." Nightmares of my failures do haunt me, but I never let them get in the way of a fight! If your comrades are true warriors then they would not falter to nightmares either! Though, that skinny plumber in green did seem quite cowardly."

Axel resisted the urge to face palm before he walked forward." Its more than that dude, it means creating illusions out of people's memories, emotions, and all that jazz to screw with them. If they are really good at it they can make ideas become reality.

Not sure if its anywhere close to what Zexion could do but, with how crazy things are around here not a good time to take chance. Damn…better make sure they are ok."

Star-Lord winced before reacting with an uneasy," Hey wait the plan was for us to stay here right? What if someone detects us?"

"Well if the other get killed then the plan is up in smoke anyway am I right? Long as your skills are as good as you say you should be able to hide from trouble for a bit on your own, right?"

"Course...the punks won't have their way on Star Lord's watch."

"Who? You mean Star Fox? I thought his crew was on the Great Fox?"

"Ah come on I meant me! Seriously I'm a freaking war hero damn it!"

"Sure buddy. Just…commit it to memory not to mess with the ship's tune's alright hero?"

"Hey, you have a problem with classics?"

"No, only with pretentious poser songs. Besides, too much stuff going on to listen to music anyway. Alright, stay sharp."

Axel saw his teammates express various levels of acknowledgement before he went for the exit. As he left Groot muttered," I am Groot!"

"The plan has not gone to hell Groot!" Rocket spat out," It's just a change in plans! We knew this would be a wild ride, just got to make the most out of it! Hey, those robots are not from our time right? If we could get some scrap we could make a lot of cash out of their batteries or something! Hey, don't give me that look it can work if we are careful!"

Axel went to the entrance before he grasped his hand tightly. Thought about what was important to him, and prepared to figure out how to make it into where the others were to see just how bad the situation was. Despite the man with the former title of " Flurry of Dancing Flames" hunches, things were even more bizarre, and dire, then he assumed.

---

Since where we left them, the biggest group of Ben's comrades were still trying to survive long enough to get out of the Dream Prison that Antasma trapped them in. At the moment, Luigi was too busy staying one foot ahead of the nightmare Bowser to think of much else.

The thin man saw Yoshi fire the largest metal egg he could produce, at the same time as Mario unleashed a Giga Fire-ball, only for Bowser to walk through their combined attack without even flinching, causing the mustached member of the Justice Force to gulp." Oh man, a Bowser that's invincible really is a nightmare!"

Yoshi saw Bowser unleash another massive burst of flame at him and his friends and quickly lifted a shocked Luigi out of the way with a hard flutter-jump. As he landed the green dinosaur looked determined." C'mon Luigi we can't stop now! Yoshi knows we got out of worst spots then this! Bowser said he was unstoppable before and he still was stopped, we just go to do it again!"

"I'm going to shut you up once and for all you hyper marketable doofus!" Bowser roared out in fury." You cheated the Koopa King out of what was rightfully his for far to long, but now I have the power that should have been mine from the start, and can squash you like the annoying bugs you always been!"

Mario just looked determined as he re-positioned his cap." This may only be a fake you but it's still a Deja Vu Bowser! Even in your own dream you know you're not really better then everyone! For one a thing, you not a bigger then everyone and I'll prove it!"

The man in red took another Mega Mushroom to quickly grow as larger as Bowser. As his hammer grew with him he quickly jumped up and tried to smash his old foe in the face. As the Koopa King caught it he glared at Mario and snarled." Even if you can match the size, you can't match my rad muscles! No matter what tricks you pull out of your mustache, it won't be enough!"

"You were wrong before and you're going to a be wrong this time to! We at least created the ultimate peace in the universe, even with the real you! Not going to let any bad guy ruin paradise no matter how a strong they are!"

"Hah, you really naïve to think you and your little buddies have made things peachier then Peach herself!"

"I can't speak for everyone but I have everything I need now!"

"I can see it, you gotten way fat with nothing to jump seriously on! You always were a tool Mario, but I bet the same can't be said about those around you!"

Bowser glanced at Luigi, before Mario's brother winced." What are you looking at me for? Sure, there is bad luck every now and then but I'm happy. Heck I'm about to propose to Daisy so that's another reason I can't lose here!"

"I know your brother whipped you good Green Stash, but you can't fool me, not in here! You really happy being the butt of all of everyone's jokes and being Mario's tool? C'mon man if you had no regrets then you would not have had that diary!"

Luigi saw Yoshi look confused before he started to get annoyed." Hey quit it with the mind games Bowser! I admit Mario has a few things I don't. But I have my own strengths to! I'm still a better ghost buster then him! Everyone has their down days but I'm just fine with where I am in life now. Er…long as I still have one before this is over."

"Ah come on Luigi…you can fool the others…but you can't fool yourself!"

Luigi jumped in the air as he heard a new voice speak right behind him. As he and Yoshi both swerved around they were shocked to see the voice came from one of the crystal rocks behind them. The crystal glowed green, before it took the shape of Luigi, only this shadow clone had a black outfit with a green scarf, a mask over the upper part of his face and the L on his cap was reversed.

Luigi saw this man with his face grin before he raised an eyebrow."What…what is this? Waluig, if this is some kind of prank this is seriously not the time!"

The man just smirked before responding with a collected,"Look at yourself Luigi, your so in your brother' shadow you don't even know what you look like! I am Mr. L…the you that you really want to be!"

Yoshi just eyed Mr. L curiously before he glanced back at Luigi."Yoshi thinks you're doing a real bad job pretending to be Luigi, your hat's not even right!"

Mario glanced back at Mr. L's grin before he tensed up."Oh no, what's that, guy that worked for Count Bleck doing here? Well, guess anyone can come back in a nightmare."

Mr. L suddenly narrowed his eyes before he took out his own black and green colored hammer." See? Your bro does not even respect you enough to have told you the truth! Deep down you knew that Count Bleck and Dimentio used you and everyone was to ashamed to admit it! Mr. Jumpsallthetime has no respect for you!

Sure, he drags you around with him, but only because he does not trust you to do anything on your own that takes more than a vacuum cleaner! You get dissed for so long you don't even dare to think otherwise, but in your heart of hearts you wanted to be Mario, you wanted to be the star, even if the only way was to take your brother's place!"

Yoshi quickly aimed an egg at Mr. L as he got angry." That's a horrible thing to say, Luigi would never want his brother gone! Let's get this creep Luigi!"

Luigi saw his friend fire an egg at the man that looked like him, only for Mr. L to smack it back with his own hammer, and then fire a dark green fireball at Yoshi. As the dinosaur jumped out of the way Mr. L attacked Luigi with his hammer.

Mario's brother tried to hold him off, only for Mr. L to grin." You know it's wrong so you never even dared to say it, but deep down you wished you were the super star! If your still too much of a coward to get what you want Luigi, then your real unrestrained desire will do what you wanted, AKA me!"

Mr. L proceeded to headbutt Luigi before he took a massive leap, and jumped on Mario's head. The blow distracted Mario long enough for Bowser to punch Mario in the stomach. Mr. L then landed on Bowser's head before he pointed his hammer at Mario."

You thought you could put everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom beneath your hat, but now it's time for those in your shadow to get back at you! Get ready Mario, to see GREEN!"

Mr. L suddenly jumped down into one of the crystal pillars and shattered it with his hammer, the fragments suddenly dived into Luigi's twisted clone, before he suddenly became a giant that was larger than Mario. Mr.L saw Mario's shocked look and snickered." Now who's the most super plumber of them all?"

Bowser laughed before he cracked his knuckles." Ah yah, you bros always double team me so this is a team up I like! This is going to be sweat!"

Mr. L and the Koopa King both unleashed large fire balls at Mario. Yuri was one of the many who saw Mario go flying and heard Antasma cackle above before he blocked his former captain's strike and grit his teeth."Damn it all…is there any rules to this place? Whatever, even if the odds are stacked against us, have to keep going!"

Niren just pressed his blade down harder before grunting out,"Just accept fate Yuri! You spent most of your life running away from the truth, only for your failure to catch up to you!"

"Tsc…no one, not even your memory is going to make me give up! You were skilled all right, but not enough to stop me!"

"Be smug all you want but I taught you how to fight!"

"Maybe, but I did not stop learning when you died! Now Flynn!"

Yuri's longtime friend and just finished blasting the Matador Fiend with a Radiant Dragon art attack after being distracted by Estelle when he heard Yuri, and quickly jumped behind the older knight. His aura then exploded before he uttered a solemn,"Captain, I may have failed you but I won't fail your memory! Guarding Field!"

The Enji jumped up and had his sword shimmer with energy before he tried to bring the blade right down on Niren. His target jumped out of the way, but as Flynn hit the ground he revealed that was part of his plan as his blade released a field of energy around him.

While Niren jumped up, he failed to notice Yuri also unleashed the same move before their two sword spells combined into a larger one that hit Niren before he could react. Yuri and Flynn both dashed at Niren and struck at him from two directions, knocking his gear into the air.

The two Enji swiftly took enhanced leaps into the air and had energy gather around their blades. Yuri gave his former superior an intense look before spitting out a bitter," I'll always be grateful for what you did for me Niren, that's why I have to make the world you wanted come true no matter what!"

Flynn nodded before adding," We will Yuri, no matter how hard it will be we will help Ben, and all the other Enji make that better united world a reality! Now!"

The two friends pointed their blades at Niren before yelling out,"Celestial Torrent!"

Yuri and Flynn unleashed a massive blue and yellow energy blast, and as it headed for Niren the knight just smirked."Well…guess you punks will have to live long enough to pull it off!"

Yuri saw the former commanding officer of the Niren Corps attempt to block the duo Mystic Art attack before he smiled, and gave into the blast. As he was vaporized in the resulting explosion Yuri landed on the ground and grasped his sword tightly."Niren…I swear I won't give up, I want to face Hisca and Chastel with pride when I get back. For now, that means breaking this bat freaks's toy here."

Flynn looked around and saw Bowser and Mr.L still double teaming Mario and a traumatized Luigi before he winced."Niren does not seem to be coming back, I don't want to jinx us but it seems for the moment our enemies are not invincible."

"Then let's take down that freak before he decides to change that eh Flynn? Eh? Ugh…guess we got to get a clear shot, and help the others clean house."

Yuri's attention was redirected to the right as he heard Raven scream in terror, and saw that it was caused by his older friend frantically trying to avoid being hit by Wammu, who was still chasing him on his demonic chariot.

The older Enji tried to fire an arrow at the" Pillar man" warrior when he had the time, but no matter where he aimed, Wammu was able to use his powerful wind magic to have every single projectile get deflected.

After seeing his last attempt fail Raven cursed, before tripping on the crack in the ground and falling on his knee. Wammu saw his target groan before he sneered." Here I thought I was fighting worthy warriors, and yet I only see feeble fools!"

Raven saw Wammu had stopped his chariot and rapidly threw some pebbles at the man." Hey, what you want from me? I 'm an old man and all that!"

"Tsc…your comrades were either careless or you overestimated yourself. Never the less I have no time to waste on failed warriors, prepare yourself!"

"Hey I may be old but I don't feel like checking out yet!"

"Alas the weak don't have a say in the matters of the strong! Embrace your, huh?"

One of the fragments Raven threw at Wammu got in his eye and turned to dust. The moment Wammu blinked Raven suddenly released a pair of arrows that unleashed a light powerful enough to blind Wammu. The Pillarman screamed in pain before yelling out,"Arg…you will pay for this you cowardly cheater!"

Raven suddenly had a sharp look in his eye before he jumped back and aimed his bow at his opponent while he was still blind."The tougher beast can still be taken out by the weaker pry if he is lazy enough!"

The former knight swiftly unleashed an arrow that hit Wammu before he could rebound and unleash another Divine Sandstorm. Raven saw his target moan before he aimed for a follow up shot."Can't say I feel too bad cheating to kill a bad dream."

Raven unleashed another arrow, but was shocked as the blow he released to intend to hit Wammu's brain got blocked, as a unicorn like horn suddenly sprouted out of the man's head to shatter the arrow.

As Raven walked back in shock Wammu just smirked." Not bad, I did not think someone like you had it in you.

Then again, I got too caught up in the thrill of the hunt and forgot looks are not everything. Very well, at least you will die like a warrior's death! Atmospheric Rift!"

The Pillerman suddenly had wind burst surge around his horn, before it then rippled across his entire body. Wammu swiftly unleashed the blast of wind at Raven, and the man in the purple coat just managed to dodge in time, though he still got cut across the cheek.

Raven saw his opponent move, and as his attack moved with him the Enji grasped his bow tightly."I told you, it's not my time to check out yet! Crises Rain!"

The member of Brave Vesperia swiftly unleashed the most powerful energy fused projectiles he could muster. But while they pushed Wammu's wind back for a moment, Raven got dismayed as he saw the projectiles get stopped before his target hissed out,"Valiant attempt, but you simply don't have the means to overpower my wind!"

Just as the Pillar-man prepared to overpower Raven, Judith took down the enemies in her way and jumped above the horned man."The wind is my element punk, it won't save you from me! Radiant Moonlight!"

The blue-haired Enji put all of her energy into her spear before it surged with blue light. She then proceeded to charge straight down at the Pillar-Man. Wammu was not expecting such an intense attack and had to redirect all of his energy to keep Judith and Raven's combined mystic art attacks back at once. As he saw Judith's determination he grit his teeth." No…I won't lose to you, you won't over power me!"

While after a few seconds it seemed like Wammu might have had enough power to back up his declaration, Joseph had fought his way through the enemies in his way to see the situation, and grasp his hand." If that's the case we just have to cut that power off! Its over Wammu, Hermit Purple!"

The elder Joestar hand his unique Stand form to unleash purple vines to grasp Wammu by the neck. While it effected his target a little, Joseph then unleashed Hamon energy through the vines, the natural weakness of the Pillar men, to force Wammu to lower his neck and weaken his attack, allowing Judith to pierce through her enemy's spell and strike Wammu in the head.

Her blow was powerful enough to vaporize her target's head, and the rest of Wammu's body quickly evaporated moments later. Joseph saw the remains of his former enemy disintegrate before he closed his eyes. "Stay in the past Wammu, I won't let vengeful ghosts stop us, no matter how stubborn they are."

Joseph's attention was suddenly drawn to the source of many battle cries and saw that his sons and their comrades were still struggling against Kars. Despite being out numbered, Kars having the power to transform every cell of his body was more than enough to even the odds.

At the moment, Joseph saw Jotaro have Star Platinum punch Kars as hard as he could, only for the Pillar Man to have his fists transform into rhino horns to block the strike, and make Jotaro get damaged from his own attack.

While Kars was blocking Jotaro, Polnareff tried to attack the enemy from behind with his Sliver Chariot. While Jotaro's friend with gelled hair thought his stab was going to go through, at the last second Kars smirked, and had his hair transform into octopus like tentacles to grasp the Stand's blade.

Kars saw his attacker's shock and quickly slashed Sliver Chariot with his arm blade to slice Sliver Chariot's face. Because of the symbiotic relationship of a Stand User, Polnareff had blood come out of his face as well.

His attacker chuckled at this, and was about to follow up his assault when he noticed Josuke was charging at him from the left. Just as Shinning Diamond appeared Kars suddenly grasped Polnareff by his legs and hurled him at Josuke.

Kars was about to attack the younger Joestar, till suddenly Noriaki ran up from the right, had Hierophant Green appear, and tried to barrage Kars with a burst of his Emerald Splash.

To the red-haired man's dismay, he was not able to fire his projectiles fast enough, as Kars swiftly had wings come out of his back, and fire off needle like arrows to shoot down every emerald shard.

Kars then took to the air and as he saw the four looking at him he formed a smirk of distain."So, this is the extent of skill that Jonathan's offspring has eh? Your Stand's are, amusing, but they still amount to nothing in the face of the ultimate life form! I don't care if it's not honorable, I'll kill you all like the dogs you are! I don't have any romantic spirit, nor do I want to become a warrior like Wamuu... because the method isn't important. All that matters...is to get the final victory!"

Kars then released a barrage of feathers from his wings, and to the group's shock the feather's all rapidly transformed into piranhas. Jotaro winced before he tried to have his Stand knock them out of the way. Him, Josuke and Noriaki were able to deflect most of the raining piranhas, though one did get hit in Luigi's direction.

Mario's brother was too busy dodging Bowser's barrage of fire attacks to notice the other battles. However, he was forced to notice when the redirected Piranha landed on his mustache.

Luigi only noticed what was going on as the fish moved up his mustache, causing him to scream even louder. "Mamma Mia, how are we supposed to win when it's raining meat eaters!"

Yoshi jumped over another incoming fire ball before grasping the piranha on Luigi with his tongue, quickly turned it into an egg and fired it back at Kars.

While the transforming Pillar Man easily sliced the egg in half with his shoulder blade, Yoshi just looked determined." C'mon Luigi don't freak out! This is not even the only time it's been raining zombie fish! No matter how crazy things get we just have to hang in there like always till it's less crazy!"

Kars chuckled at the green dinosaur's defiance before he floated downwards."It would seem that there are some, bizarre creatures roaming around since I last saw the sun. You seem, durable despite your frail, soft shell. Well, absorbing every last one of your talents will make coming on top of this Battle-World even easier."

The transforming man suddenly dived at Yoshi, only for Jotaro to get in his way."You wanted to fight me, so you better damn finish what you started!"

The man with the hat had his Stand once more go at Kars. Kars tried the same trick as before, only to notice that Jotaro was smart enough to have his fists only aim for punch friendly parts of his target's body no matter how fast Kars morphed his body.

This caused the long-haired man to chuckle." You do have as good instincts as your father, but it's impossible to defeat someone as evolved as me merely by punching hard!"

"Tsc…guess we will see who is full of it soon enough!"

Kars saw Jotaro was not backing down and merely narrowed his eyes before trying to slice into the Joestar with his shinning arm blades. Jotaro managed to dodge the strikes, and unleash a powerful uppercut that managed to hit Kars hard enough to leave a bruise.

While not a fatal blow, it hurt Kars enough to make him wince. Jotaro saw his enemy prepare to dash at him, till suddenly Noriaki gave Jotaro cover and unleashed another barrage of projectiles.

Kars easily deflected the attacks, but as he did Repede suddenly growled before lighting crackled around his body. While still being a dog with a blade in his mouth that did not speak English, the canine Enji made his intentions clear before his body rippled.

Kars realized the dog's intention when Repede charged at him at a burst of speed. Kars saw the dog's blade was rippling with energy and swiftly moved back as fast as he could, only to find that Repede was still faster than he thought, as the dog manage to slash him across the arm.

Kars saw blood come out of his arm and cursed, being distracted enough for Polnareff to jump up from behind and have Sliver Chariot's blade come down to slice off Kar's left arm. Jotaro smirked as Kars looked dismayed before he cracked his neck." For all your talk, you bleed like everyone else."

Kars had his wound glow with golden light before he hissed out," You're going to pay for being so smug Joestar! Are you desperate to at least make me feel some pain to not feel so pitiful? Because I can recover from a wound like this as if it was, GUH!"

Jotaro merely narrowed his eyes and suddenly burst at Kars while shouting out,"Think I'll let you just patch yourself together? Like hell!"

Jotaro's Stand yelled with fury as he punched Kars repeatedly in his head and still recovering limb. Star Platinum yelled with fury as the Stand punched its target hard enough to be smashed into the large crystal fragment.

As Kars got smashed more and more into the fragment he growled out,"Don't get cocky brat! No matter how relentless you try to be, your still one mere human!"

Kars suddenly had spikes form out of his chest and tried to impale Jotaro. The man's Stand managed to block the spike's with his armored fists, and as Jotaro as his enemy try and rip him apart he calmly uttered," Maybe, but I did not say I was going to pull it off alone! Now Josuke!"

The younger Joestar quickly dashed forward and jumped above Jotaro to have Shinning Diamond unleash his own barrage of punches. Kar's got hit in the face a few times before he snarled out,"Tag out however much you like, your punches are even weaker!"

"Maybe for now, but I have a few curve balls with my punches! Now Shinning Diamond!"

Josuke had his Stand glow, before the crystal behind Kars also glowed. The pillar man started to wonder what was going on before he got his answer, and the crystal pillar and Kars suddenly merged together. The purple haired man yelled in fury, before part of the crystal became stuck in his mouth.

Josuke saw friend and foe alike look shocked before he just chuckled." Shut up already! Shinning Diamond can do more than just repair things that were damaged, it can repair damaged things around someone, including inside them if I'm ticked off enough! You may be undying, but that just means you're stuck being a statue forever!"

Kar's unleashed a muffled scream of fury as he wiggled his fingers frantically. Jotaro saw the fingers start to turn to drills before he grasped his fist tightly." Kars does not seem like the type of guy to accept things easily."

Rita suddenly ran up to the group before throwing out an agitated," Well he will just have to take it because only hearing enough of him is annoying me! Evolve enough to get out of this creep, Ancient Catastrophe!"

The brown-haired mage had four large orbs of energy form around the immobilized Kars, before firing four beams of energy at once. Still bound to the pillar, Kars was not able to see the attack coming, and could not adapt in time as energy surged into him. The Pillar Man screamed in fury before he was vaporized.

Everyone waited a few moment and after they saw Kars did not come back Jotaro merely adjusted his cap." Well, not how I figured this would end but, as long as it ended."

Joseph ran over before he chuckled at the sight of his victorious scion."Jotaro, Josuke, everyone! Great work stopping Kars! Now, we just have to get out of here to make Dio a memory to!"

Josuke chuckled before he looked around." We seem to be cleaning house here so we can beat that bat till he gets us out of here in no time! Let's…huh? Oh damn."

The young man's zeal dampened quickly when he heard Bowser roar, and saw that the giant Koopa King was now raining down fire all over the area before he winced." Well, just got to take down a few larger roadblocks, hopefully won't be any more of a pain then the other giants."

Josuke and the others quickly got out of the way of Bowser's attacks as they tried to figure out how to overcome the combined onslaught of the Koopa King and Mr. L. Currently the ones fighting the two the longest have been running around just trying to keep themselves from being barbecued.

After Yoshi ate the piranha Bowser just intensified his assault. Mario tried to protect Yoshi and his brother, but when he hit Bowser in the jaw with his hammer, Mr.L jumped on his head. As Mario staggered from the hit Bowser chuckled and unleashed a storm of flame at his long time enemy.

The giant member of the Justice Force yelled in pain as he was set ablaze, and as Dream Bowser saw his long-time adversary run around to try and put the fire out he chuckled." Oh yah…it feels good being the one tag teaming! I mean, even when I teamed up with my paper self it did not feel as good as this! In the end Mario, you're the one that was holding the Mushroom Kingdom back, and now you're going to pay for it."

Mario winced before jumping over Bowser and trying to grasp him by the tail. The plumber tried to give his trademark spin while yelling," Your even crazier than the real Bowser, you're a crazy talk is not going to slow me down!"

Mr. L suddenly jumped up and used Luigi's Lighting Hand power to unleash a painful amount of voltage into Mario. Mario's cry of pain caused his brother's shadow to laugh." That's just the thing" Bro", your shadow smothers the Mushroom Kingdom so greatly that no one else has a chance to shine!

I'm not talking about that fake water joke that Bowser's kid dressed up as or Wario, I'm talking about your shadow! Everyone dances to Mario and Peach's tune, no one else gets a chance to shine!

Maybe Peach was not keen on marrying Bowser but ever think if you gave the others more respect things would have turned out better? It's the same with Donkey Kong and the others, you just assumed you were the hero! And now you're going to see how things really are!"

Mr.L then knocked Mario hard in the face, before Bowser hit him so hard that he shrunk back to his normal size. As Mario landed hard enough for his hat to fall off Mr.L high-five Bowser before Luigi's giant shadow muttered,"At last, time for the final game over Mario! I'm going to help Lord Dio win battle world, and then as a prize the world will be rebuilt as things should be, with Luigi being the super star!"

Yoshi saw the others start to run over to Mario's aide, and also saw Luigi look overwhelmed with fear before he whimpered," That giant jerk is not telling the truth, right Luigi? The Yoshi's have known you brothers since you were born, and even before then!

And that's why we know that Mario never wanted to do that repress thing on anyone, not even only semi evil jerks like Bowser! You don't really have that much of that resent stuff to your brother, do you Luigi?"

Mario's brother grasped his fists tightly before muttering," Of course not Yoshi! I mean sure the jokes get old at times and the lack of respect after all of the years can be a pain. But even so I would never want my brother to disappear!"

Antasma laughed before he suddenly floated in between Bowser and Mr. L." You can't repress your heart's true desire green one, not here! You knew it was vrong so you repressed your desires all this time, but at last you can make your deepest vish a reality! Join us Luigi, strike down the enemies of Lord Dio and you vill have your new vorld!"

Luigi suddenly got angry before shouting back," Shut up you bat freak, you don't understand me as much as you think! I admit sometimes I feel like I'm second fiddle to Mario, but that's not the full story! It gets to me times, maybe enough times that it creates giant tacky evil versions of me! However, I never would wished for my brother to have never existed!

He and I are a team, and when I think about it even despite how things can suck because of how things are I would never want Mario's life, it's too much pressure! I'm happy with Mario being the star and me being the support player, it's what a brother does! I mean I get enough time to shine on my own without it being exhausting! I want things to stay that way, and I'm not going to let you freaks, or even your boss or your bigger boss screw that up!"

Antasma saw Luigi's defiance and just widened his bat like teeth."I see the propaganda has been deeply drilled into your think head! No matter, your shadow will overtake you, and emerge as the mastermind! Finish this!"

As Antasma pointed at Luigi Mr.L then cracked his knuckles." This is to pathetic to go on! Enough of your blabbering, you're going to be what you want to be the easy way or the hard way!"

Mr. L stomped over to Mario's direction and prepared to stomp his foot down right on the plumber. Yoshi quickly summoned another giant metal egg but to his and everyone else's shock Luigi suddenly ran up and yelled out," Hey jerk, if you're a figment of my imagination then that means you work for me! And that means I'm not going to have anything that's a part of me hurt my big bro!"

Luigi suddenly took a high jump and landed on Mr. L's nose. Luigi saw his taller eviler self-glared at him before he glared back." This may be a crazy nightmare, but I'm waking up now! It's been a while but I remember what that one friendly Shy-Guy in Wart's palace told me about dream worlds! If it's even partway my dream, then it's going to go my way! And my way, is going to make sure every last part of me is set on protecting Mario!"

Luigi suddenly grasped Mr. L's nose, causing the taller man to wince." No wonder everyone makes fun of you when you're this annoying! I'm going to, huh? What the, no!"

Everyone was shocked as Luigi suddenly started to glow green, till suddenly the entire landscape glowed green as well. Mr. L resisted till suddenly he started to glow green as well. The giant masked man cried out in fury before he took out his hammer." NO! I won't be held back by you again, I'm going to be the super star, I, AH!"

Everyone was amazed as Mr. L's entire body turned green, before turning into countless copies of Luigi, each with clothing that was identical sans for being different colors. Antasma saw Mr. L fall apart and shirked with rage." You vorthless simpleton! You're to veak to size your dreams when they are offered to you on a plate! Someone that pitiful, is just an eyesore to Lord Dio! Vanish!"

The purple bat like creature devoured his own orb of dark energy before swiftly hurling black lighting at the defiant plumber. Luigi shocked everyone by using his own elec hand power to neutralize the lighting.

Mario woke up to see his brother stare down Antasma, before Luigi fiercely declared," You're the eyesore batty! And I'm not going to let your tricks get the better of me! It's time for true green power!"

Luigi suddenly raised his fist in the air before the clones that composed the giant Mr. L suddenly all glowed green before going into Luigi's body. Everyone was amazed as suddenly Luigi emerged, now being taller than Bowser. Antasma widened his eyes as he saw Luigi had a green aura around him." Vhat is this? I am the master of this dream prison, and you're all the inmates!"

The now giant plumber just readjusted his hat and responded with a firm,"Well you did not expect how strong your inmates were so we are busting a breakout! You thought you could trip us up with our worst nightmares but they are not as scary as you thought Antasma!"

Antasma responded by having dark energy crackled through his body."Then I vill become the vorst nightmare, the final nightmare that all of you will have! Every last one of you will pay for mocking me!"

The bat like man suddenly fired an even larger burst of lighting at the giant Luigi, and while the plumber screamed in pain Jotaro ran at the villain."I had enough of your squawking punk! I'm going to tear your throat out!"

Antasma saw the Joestar coming for him and just sneered. "Your tricks are useless to someone like me!"

Jotaro suddenly saw his target split in to dozens of bats and had Star Platinum punch the bat flying his way. The others were able to fend off the bats, till they all suddenly transformed into Antasma 's full form and fired dark lighting everywhere.

Luigi prepared to help the others when suddenly heard a roar and saw Bowser charging for him. Luigi tried to fight off the nightmare of his long-time enemy before the Koopa King snarled out," I thought you were at last going to be cool Luigi! But if you're stuck on being a weakling then you're going to get what all wuss's get, the ultimate game over!"

Bowser prepared to unleash a blast of raw energy from his mouth, only for Yoshi to fling his large Metal Egg at his target's jaw. As Bowser bit his own mouth Mario ran up to his brother before yelling out,"You're the only loser a here Bowser! You're just a bad memory!"

Luigi looked at Mario before he winced."Bro…sorry you got hurt because of me. I.."

Mario just cut him off with a wink."Don't let that Antasma jerk get to a yah Luigi, it's his fault! C'mon we have things to do so let's wrap this up! You're going to have to be the big guy this time!"

"On it Mario! Remember that tag team move we worked on? Sounds like a good time to try it out! Get ready for the most ultimate Luigi Cyclone there is fake Bowser! That's right, eat the Luiginary Typhoon!"

Mario quickly jumped on Luigi's hat, and after making sure his brother was secure Luigi took a high jump and extended his arms before rotating around like a twister. Bowser saw Luigi coming down and just snarled." This going to scare me? Your just an easy target! Enough of this, fry Mario bros!"

The former member of the Zannacross Empire unleashed a massive flame at the Mario bros, only for Luigi to show his new combo move was not just for show. Lighting crackled all around his body and spun down like a drill, easily cutting through the flame.

Bowser saw his attack was failing and got into his shell to try and impale Luigi with his spikes. However, Luigi showed how powerful he was in this state as the Luiginary Typhoon managed to cut through the shell.

Mario had held on this entire time, and as he saw Luigi was making progress he grasped his fist tightly."This might have been too extreme for the real one, but since you're a nothing but raw anger I can't an afford to hold back! The real Bowser moved on, so its time you did to! Giga Fireball!"

Mario jumped down and landed on one of the cracks in his opponent's shell and unleashed the most powerful fireball he could muster. The Bowser nightmare winced for a moment as he felt a burning sensation spread before he yelled out,"No, this was not supposed to be how it went down! I want a refund, I want my lawyer! I want my m, GUHA!"

Mario's aim was true, and Bowser, or at least his replication shattered in to countless fragments. Before Mario even landed on the ground Antasma saw his biggest enforcer be destroyed, causing the bat like villain to hiss out,"Curse you vermin! All your doing is causing you to suffer because you can never escape from Lord Dio!"

Jotaro had just finished upper cutting Oneiros into the air, and after seeing Flynn and Estelle vaporize the angry Dream Specter with their holy magic he just glared at Antasma." That's funny, I was going to say the bigger you puffed yourself up the easier it was going to be to shatter you! You been exposed for the pathetic punk you are!"

"You still don't understand, you're in my vorld!"

Antasma suddenly snapped his fingers and fragments of the ground burst up around Jotaro and many of the others. The hat wearing Joestar quickly saw the orbs were glowing and tried to have Star Platinum punch one out of the way, before the orbs suddenly spun faster and exploded all around him.

Orbs also exploded around many of the others, and as Antasma saw many get blasted into the air his eyes glowed red."If this level of despair is not enough for you vermin to submit I'll just add another layer! That's right, I'll throw you all into even deeper dreams, till you break completely! No matter how hard you all struggle, this entire vorld is under my control!"

Yoshi saw Josuke, Raven, and a few of the others suddenly get consumed by the dark spheres around Antasma like they were Pokémon before he winced." What if crazy batman is right? Yoshi wants to know how Luigi made evil Luigi make him giant Luigi!"

"I did not do any special magic spell or anything Yoshi." Luigi responded as he looked at his own giant hammer." I just wanted really hard for the evil me to not win and for me to be able to help Mario. I don't know how this place works but even if Antasma is controlling this dream thing it's still made of some of our thoughts, so we can still wish how things work!"

Mario saw Antasma flying at them before he tensed up,"Well then since you got the process down pat wish us victory Luigi!"

"Got it bro, just give me some cover!"

Mario nodded, before he unleashed another Giga Fire Ball at the same time as Yoshi unleashed a giant explosive egg. Antasma saw the two heroes unleash their projectiles and quickly counter acted them with a barrage of dark lighting.

As the attacks canceled each other out the Lord of Nightmares had another dark energy sphere go at them, before Luigi suddenly lunged forward and smashed the orb with his hammer.

The moment he did the orb glowed green, and while Antasma tried to merely have the orb go back at the giant plumber, he only realized to late he no longer had control over the orb before it smashed right into him enough to knock him into the wall.

All the orbs glowed green, releasing the captured hero's, and as they fell Luigi looked determined. I don't know how long I can wish control over his stuff, get him while we have the chance!"

Jotaro swiftly ran over to his current opponent before giving Antasma a damming look."Sounds right up my ally, get ready Josuke!"

The male fighter swiftly had Star Platinum unleash a pulverizing barrage of punches on his target. After a few moments of yelling,"ORAORAORA!" Jotaro smashed Antasma upward, before Josuke pummeled Antasma even harder with Shinning Diamond before smashing him into the ground.

As Dio's bat like lackey got smashed into the ground the ground morphed to a cross like stake thanks to power of Josuke's stand. Joseph saw the work of his son and just grasped his fist tightly." Well, this quack does not seem like the same kind of vampire as Dio but this should work! Hermit Purple, Sunlight Overdrive!"

The elder Joestar once more had purple vines burst out of his hand to grasp Antasma, and as soon as the vines made contact they discharged solar energy into their target, making the nightmare manipulating villain scream in pain.

Seeing that they had as good as chance as they were going to have, Mario, Luigi, Yuri, Flynn, Estelle, Rita, and everyone who had enough energy fired their best attacks at Antasma from all sides. As the purple man was barraged by powerful projectiles all over he desperately tried to use all of his power to manipulate the dream world to ward off the attacks, only for that to fail.

As his body began to burn he glared at Luigi with raw hate,"Such fools, can't stop me! VITNESS ME LORD DIO! SCREEHEEECH! SCREEP! SCREEEEBTH!"

Despite his fury, Antasma was overpowered and swiftly vaporized. As the entire area around their enemy exploded Yoshi looked happy." Alright we did it! Wait, what happened to Yoshi once the bad guy is no longer around to boss him around in his dream?"

Mario saw the entire area quickly begin to shake before he winced." I don't know Yoshi this is a lot different than when we fought Wart so there is only one way to a, huh? Mamma Mia!"

Everyone saw cracks form all around them, before there was suddenly an explosion. Mario felt like he was being thrown around in a washing machine for a moment, before he looked up and blinked before he realized he was back in the Turtle Rock Tower, with Yoshi, Luigi, and the others around him.

Luigi resisted the urge to throw up as he looked around and slowly got up."Well…don't want to jinx it but it was nice enough for the bad guys to not just blow us up when we beat them. Wait…this is not a dream in a dream is it? Are you a dream?"

Yoshi just licked Luigi on the face before he giggled."Yoshi is real Yoshi silly. This is real, Yoshi can smell it!"

Jotaro nodded as he calmly looked around."I think we shattered the Nightmare sphere when we destroyed Antasma. Speedwagon did say that one of the races Dio captured was the Pi'illos.

At first, I thought he was drunk but guess there was something to those guys having some magic related to dreams. Doubt they were to found of being slaves."

Yuri made sure the others were ok before he looked around."No offense dude but I'm more worried about the people I know them some guys that sound like living pillows. It was crazy for a while but what happened to Link, Aqua and Doug? No way guys like them would be taken out so easily!"

Joseph glanced around and saw two glowing pillars in the distance, and saw that that where Bedman was had now been consumed with purple energy before he winced." Can't say for sure but from what I remember that bat squeaking about the others had more" Special" situations. Guess Dio for some reason or another has an interest in them."

"They can break out of it, Yoshi knows they can!" The green dinosaur said with resolve. Before the others could respond the group saw the other orb start to glow, causing the make shift party to wonder just what was going on with the others.

---

Little did they know things were direr then most of them figured.

Link's situation was rapidly escalating, as the magic of the Dream Specter was rapidly purging Hyrule's champion of his emotions. Link saw Cia kept giggling in a deranged manner and since his anger was purged his fear drive him." No…got to get out, otherwise Zelda, and everyone else is in danger!"

Morpheus merely closed his eyes at Link's struggle." Terrified at the fate that awaits you? Fear not, for such an emotion will vanish swiftly. Worry, terror, panic, frustration, sadness, nostalgia, duty, affection, soon everything will be purged from you, till you have naught the will to even move, to even breath."

Link fell to his knees as his had a blank look form across his eyes." Why…why is a point to such efforts when it all feels so, pointless?"

Cia looked ecstatic before she walked forward." At last, your purged of Hylia 's corruption so you can see the truth, that it is all pointless! Now your free to say enough is enough, and join me as we travel to the new existence together!"

"He had the will of a warrior," Morpheus uttered as he crossed his arms,"But a mortal can only struggle for so long. Now, let's bring him before Lord Dio already so we can, huh?"

The two were shocked as Link's sword hand glowed with light, before the emblem of the Tri-Force suddenly materialize. A golden aura suddenly blazed out of the member of the Justice Force's body, before more flowers started to bloom all over Link. Cia saw this and hissed out,"Morpheus what is this? Enough of the theatrics!"

"This is not my doing! Something his empowering his soul, but by now his soul should be a blank canvas!"

Link suddenly grasped the Master Sword tightly before his eyes blazed with golden light."Villain, I'm driven by more than my own strength! I have the Tri-Force with me, I have Zelda's will protecting me, so something is always guarding my soul besides myself!"

Cia had her eye twitch before she seethed out," Damn it, of course Hylia would try and protect her puppet! I was too excited, but clearly, I have to be more thorough! Well then…if her toys are interfering I just have to remove them!"

Link swiftly charged at Cia, only for Morpheus to intercept his slash. As he did Cia swiftly hit Link with a black beam of energy that caused her target to scream in pain. The Shadow Link that looked like his Fierce Deity state swiftly struck the Master Sword to knock it out of Link's hand.

Cia then floated backwards to the edge of the chamber and intensified her beam, causing the image of the Tri-Force on Link's hand to flicker. "I told you I was a celestial one, and since I did I have control over her work, such as the Tri-Force! Yes, having such a power will ensure that the Forsaken Calamity ritual will succeed! And on top of winning Battle World, you will be mine!

Come now, you seen all the people you lost here, how can you not be bitter after Hylia made you sacrifice so much for her never ending delusion?"

"I don't know how much reason you see as of late Cia, but its more than a whim! Even if her wish is not realized just yet, saving people over the years is something I never regretted for an instant! Besides, some of the pictures in this twisted shrine are of people I don't even know!"

Cia glanced behind her and saw a picture of a man in a purple bunny outfit that looked a lot like Ravio before she shrugged." Did some of the other fool's dreams get caught in this spell? No matter, soon everyone but me will be purged from your memories, from your very soul! Then there will only be room in your heart for me! There is no one that can save you, enough is enough just, AHH!"

The tan skinned woman shirked in pain as she felt a painful sensation, and found out that the arm cutting her staff was suddenly cut off.

The source was the Master Sword, but the person currently holding it was not Link, but Ravio, who appeared have the lower part of his body merged with the wall.

The man in the costume saw Cia look at him with pure shock, and Morpheus and the Shadow Link's looking at him with looks of raw hate before he chuckled anxiously." Sorry about that…don't normally want to annoy possible customers but, after seeing the situation letting you have your way would be very bad for business!"

Cia had her jaw drop, before she suddenly shrieked out,"You…damn…clown! How dare you! A scum like you will pay for meddling where you don't belong! KILL HIM!"

Morpheus quickly charged at Ravio, only for the purple gem on the man's golden bracelet to glow, before he quickly withdrew into the wall. Cia and her men saw Ravio run around as a moving painting on the wall before she quickly grasped her staff with her non-severed arm."Sneaking around like a rat won't save you now, your magic can't save me!"

Cia fired an energy blast from her wand only for Ravio to run faster, and run right to the ceiling. He emerged when he was right above Link before shouting," Your wrong, you're the one who's going to pay for betraying Princess Hilda's trust Cia! Link, catch! Ah!"

Ravio threw the Master Sword at its rightful owner, and as he did Morpheus unleashed a purple energy blast for him. The panicky merchant quickly withdrew into the roof of the shrine, but Link was not sure if his ally made it in time.

As Ben's comrade regained his preferred weapon he looked at Cia with raw determination."I wasted enough time with your madness Cia, this ends now!"

The owner of the Master Sword charged right at the one who was obsessed with him, only enough for Morpheus to get in front of her and seethe out,"Your right, your defiance ends now maggot!"

The Dream Specter unleashed another purple energy blast only for Link to deflect the attack with his Mirror Shield. Link then focused all of his energy into the Master Sword and prepared to strike. Morpheus prepared to counter, only for Link to suddenly thrust the blade of evil's bane forward, and unleash a golden energy projectile shaped like a sword. The blast hit Link's target before he could react, and got blasted right through his chest as a result.

Morpheus widened his eyes for a moment, coughed up blood and fell to the ground, causing Cia to glare at Link."I don't care how much you resist, you will be mine, you will embrace your true self!"

The Shadow Links all charged at the true one again, only for Link to respond by grasping his sword tightly, and unleashing a whirlwind slash attack that also unleashed a circle shaped golden energy slash, cutting all of the shadow Link's and hitting them into the wall.

Before he even stopped moving he quickly took out his bow and fired a Light Arrow, hitting Cia just as she was about to raise her hand, piercing her hand and causing it to get stuck to the wall.

Link saw his opponent hiss with outrage and merely aimed another light arrow for Cia's head."This will be your last warning Cia. I feel sorry for your plight, but that sympathy will not interfere with my duty! Your cause is hopeless, relent while you still can."

Cia coughed up blood and cursed as the holy magic from Link's arrow made her entire body burn. She then looked at the Tri-Force still blazing in Link's hand before she looked wild." Damn you, damn you Hylia! Your magic is greater then I figured, but I won't give up now! I'll simply…have to change course. Yes…if it takes Lord Dio's power to break you free then so be it, that's what I'll do!

It's useless my dear, Lord Dio has all he needs to break the seal on the Forsaken Calamity ritual. And when his power merges with Demise, even without the Divine Beasts he will have the power to be champion of all of battle world!

It will be painful my love, but you will thank me when your free, and reborn along with all there is! Just try and save your so-called comrades if you wish, if there is anything left of them now!"

Cia suddenly kicked her wand up with her foot and grasped it with her teeth, and quickly cast a spell to warp herself out of the area. Link saw the Shadow Links instantly erode into dark fragments before he took a weary sigh."Well…looks like this madness is only postponed."

"That's fine by me, I could use a time out."

Link widened his eyes and turned around to see Ravio panting on the ground, holding his face. The hero of time, wind, twilight, and more saw the man had smoke coming out of his mask before he smiled."Aye, and it's because of your bravery that it did not end tragically. You have my thanks Ravio…I admit at first, I thought you were just another kooky merchant like some I know such as Tingle and the Happy Mask sells man. But you proved you have the heart of a hero deep down."

"Ah well…guess I should not be surprised…we have more in common than you might think fella."

Link raised an eyebrow before Ravio's mask fell apart. To Link's shock he saw himself, albeit with black colored eyes. The member of the Justice Force remained on guard as he stepped back."By the great Deku tree, your me?"

"Hey come on, that Beyonder guy said he took guys and gals from all over the universe right? Can't two people across all time and space have the same face?"

"True enough, but I would very much like to know just what your true relation with Princess Z, Hilda is mister Ravio."

Ravio winced before he looked at his broken mask."I suppose that's a reasonable enough question. I don't know what your story is pal but I was in a family that had a history of being great warriors. Problem was, I was not really keen on going down that path. My family and well, the entire kingdom wanted me to be the successor but, the more they pushed the more I resented it.

Then after Princess Hilda listened to Prime Minister Yuga over me about invading our neighbors to get more resources, I decided I had enough and left Lorule. After all, if everyone else was not taking their duty seriously, why should I? And so, I left and became a merchant. Still…I regretted leaving Hilda, and I heard that Yuga was pushing her to do some really messed up stuff.

Just when I was trying to figure out if I should try and return suddenly I wound up in this crazy Battle World. As messed up as this place was I was ecstatic that I got a second shot at making things up with Hilda. That is, till I found out Yuga teamed up with this Dio creep faster than a furious Cucco can call a pack! Then to top it off they sweat talked Lana, and suddenly she betrayed everyone, became this Cia chick and handed Hilda to Dio on a silver platter!"

"Did you hear all of that woman's rants?" Link looked around as he mused."Is what she says about her origins being true? She knew a lot about me, yet I never saw her in my life."

"Beats me pal, I knew her as Lana and she was Hilda's aid since she could walk. We got along well enough, though she always enjoyed giving me hell for not living up to the" Legend of Hilda". Still, right before she warped out with Hilda she ranted about taking revenge on the celestial ones for "altering" her memories or something.

I don't know how much of what is driving her is just Dio messing with her mind or something else, but either way I have to find a way to help Hilda! I may not be as great a warrior as you but I still could have done something if I did not say enough back then! If I don't try, I'll regret that till the end of time. Granted…with how things are looking that might not be too long anyway but I have to try!"

Link looked at the Master Sword carefully before he looked back at the man with his face." I can relate to that my friend. Your story confuses me at some points, but, with how, unstable things are in this Beyonder's reality, I'll just figure that its related to that madness.

Either way, Hilda cannot be left at the mercy of this Dio. I'll do what I can to help you find your redemption my friend, as long as you can help me and my comrades."

The two shook hands before Ravio winked." I'll do what I can, thankfully I learned a few things when giving Dio's forces items."

"Ah…would one of them be how to escape from this dream prison? Did Cia always have this power?"

"Er…far as I can tell she is not the one responsible for this magic she was just making use of it."

"Oh…I suppose that Antasma demon did cast that spell. Yet I don't see him, do we have to find a weak spot in this realm or something?"

"Well I don't think we can just wake up by being pinched or something. Still…I' remember hearing about someone else in Dio's army being the one that caused nightmares. It was a, huh? Whoa!"

The two heard a cracking noise and looked up to see the glass windows were all cracking. Moments later the entire area started cracking till everything broke, till Link saw a light engulf him and Ravio.

After a tense few moments Link saw he was back in Turtle Rock, and as he heard explosions in the distance he tensed up."Did the trap fade with Cia's departure, or is this just another trap? Either way, be safe my friends."

Link went at the source of the explosion as Ravio hastily put his mask back together, but little did Hyrule's ace warrior know some of his comrades were having even harder times facing their inner demons.

---

As Link fought his shadows, Aqua was doing all she could to stay one step ahead of her own. While her malevolent phantoms were her only opponents, to the blue haired Enji's dismay they kept countering every one of her attacks be it physical or magical.

Aqua tried to break the stalemate by unleashing a few ice mines around her, only for the center most Phantom Aqua to have a purple aura around her expand before she dashed at Aqua, and had orange waves lash out around her body. To her dismay, the orange lines carved through the mines before they could explode.

Aqua swiftly jumped out of the way, and cast another spell to have white blue chains of ice burst out of her sword to try and constrain her opponents. While she managed to bind them, only for the other Phantoms to all giggle darkly and fire orange energy beams from their blades. Aqua saw that the beams swiftly became orange needles, and head in her direction in seconds, before she raised another barrier, only to be dismayed to see the orange needles slowly drill through her barrier.

The center most Aqua Phantom just looked smug at the real one's fear." Its futile, your magic, cannot block your own fear, your own regret. You buried these emotions deep into their heart, but now they are bursting out, and will shred you apart!"

"Give me a break, I'm not some frail flower!"Aqua muttered as she winced."I hardened myself long ago to not give in to those regrets, to make sure I never let such weakness cause people harm again!"

"Your resolve is strong, but in the end, you, we, are only human Aqua. Every living soul attempts to do things to make them feel safe, to make them feel secure. When someone is in a state of mind that makes them feel at ease, when pressed for a respond they seldom have a coherent answer.

To press further, unveils that such feelings make them feel happy, and being pressed to face the truth makes them feel despair, feel closer to the true bitter reality. All living things try to hide from the truth, try and escape their fear. Aqua, you tried to fabricate a deep facade, but its failing apart.

Doug has seen it cracking, he is seeing what you really are and pushed away. Just like Max, you were too weak to grasp what you wanted."

Aqua looked down for a moment, before she grasped her blade tightly and looked back at her phantoms with a new burst of defiance." It's true, every living being has regrets and other emotions they hid deep down.

It's not that I don't have such things, it's just that when I'm on the job, I freeze all those regrets so they don't interfere with the job I have to get done!"

"Tsc, all you Enji make such statements of resolve, but they can only hide so much!"

One of the Aqua Phantoms charged at her barrier with enough force to shatter it and tried to slice her target's head off. As Aqua parried her blade, the phantom noticed that her arms were quickly freezing before the real Aqua smirked." Maybe they do, but I take it a tad more seriously than many. For one, I trained enough to be able to have my aura make my body, and anything around me have a temperature below zero."

"Nonsense, your mastery over water and ice is not that good. If you truly could go to such lengths your body's molecules would not be able to even move, no human can exist in such state."

"And yet I can, I assure you I worked out the special barrier that can protect me. I'm just glad all my training to be in the state of absolute zero was not just for cooling off unstable volcanos or super novas."

Her opponent narrowed her eyes and was about to yell something, when suddenly ice burst out around the entire area, freezing the phantom solid. The other Aqua Phantoms jumped back, and at seeing their shock Aqua just pointed her frigid blade at her opponents." You're clearly not me, if you don't know my own limits. Or maybe you're just the part of me that can't handle this intensity. I'm no god, I can only handle such a state for a limited time, you know it's cold when even Shiva could not handle the training after a while. Anyway, no matter what regrets I have about Doug, Kira, Max, and everyone else, I'll freeze out whatever pain those feelings cause me to do my job!"

The Phantom Aqua's dashed around the area so rapidly they were leaving after images before they all screamed out," You can't fool yourself Aqua Tiran! If you want to just die in denial, then so be it, you can't freeze out your true regret!"

Aqua noticed that the light in the area was flickering more rapidly now, and while she did not see anyone else, she just narrowed her eyes." Maybe, but I can freeze out enemies who try and play with my feelings! Your hiding very well, but you made a mistake isolating me from my friends, because I don't have to hold back! Enough, Spellweaver, Hakka no Togame!"

Aqua suddenly turned snow white and had ice form around her body, before she swiftly struck the ground with her Rainfall blade. As she did a pillar of cold mist burst up into the air and spread out over the entire area.

The Phantom Aqua's all charged at her, but in only a few seconds they stopped, because they and the entire area became frozen solid. Aqua slowly looked up, and saw the light and stopped glowing, before it shattered, revealing Phantasos. The female Dream Specter could only shiver as she reached out at Aqua."Are…are you a god? No…no mortal can survive such cold. Lord…Hypnos…must…turn…the."

Cracks suddenly formed all over Phantasos before she shattered into diamond dust. Aqua saw the phantoms shatter moments later before she sighed, and begun to thaw out.

As she raised her hand she saw she had a cut on it before she winced." One hundred and nighty degrees…. now thirty-one degrees. Damn it, I still have the pacing off a bit, if my focus was off any more I would have damaged my body tissue, and no one would be around to heal me. Still, there is no time to waste on games like that. Doug, are you and the others going through such assaults as well?

I can't speak for the others, but this can be a mess depending on how they try their approach. Doug…I know we have not been on the same page as of late, but I'm not willing to give up yet! I know that spark is still there, we just need to work through this. I was wrong to think of what Max would have done instead of how your heart works. Just please, please don't give in to your anger!

I know, I know that there is more in your heart then that! I really wish you would open up to me about the truth, but as long as you're not totally dead set on closing your heart off from everyone, as long as there is still a sliver of the man I was attracted to left, I'll keep fighting to hang on to what we have! Please Doug…please keep fighting."

Aqua saw the entire Dream Prison begin to crack and merely braced herself as the reality shattered, and she did not waste time charging through back to the main dimension to confront whatever was keeping her away from her friends.

---

Little did she know that as she did, Doug was facing an even more dire situation then she figured. Since we last left him, the blond-haired male was still taking in Bedman's sudden bizarre attack.

However, after seeing parts of his body look like a book, and digesting the man in the machine-like bed's rants Doug's anger exploded. The Bedman saw Doug's aura erupt with such force that the entire pocket dimension began to shake, yet the outburst did not move Bedman an inch.

Seeing Doug's anger just caused the man with glasses to chuckle."Ah yes this very explosive temper is precisely why you caught the eye of the higher ups. That being said, you're wasting your breath. No matter how angry you get, your situation won't change."

Doug grit his teeth and just snarled with rage before he attempted to kick Bedman in half. Despite his blow coming out in less than a second, before he could hit his target his foot stopped. Bedman took delight in the larger man's confusion and merely titled his head."My…I figured there was a wide gap between our intelligence but do you have no attention span at all? You will pay if you make me repeat myself to much. Get it into your head that I was serious about Heaven's Door's power. I converted you into my reading material, thus your body is no longer yours to command. Your memories are my files to read at my leisure, your body is little but programs for me to command."

"Damn it, I'll give you that your one of the top quacks with fetishes I seen over the year's punk. But if you think you can break me into being your puppet then I tell you what this is going to end with you a broken mess, magic or no magic!"

"Heh…always resorting to physical action eh Doug Fitter? I can't be to shocked really, after all that trip down memory lane shows just how banal aggression runs in your family. Still…the more you insist on keeping up this futile tete-a-tete…the more you run the risk of me breaking you utterly. And that would be a shame since there is so much resource material to comb through!"

To Doug's outrage Bedman casually flipped the pages on his face like it was a comic book while the member of Squad 7 found his body completely paralyzed. After a few bitter seconds the man in the bed just snickered."To be perfectly honest while colorful, your life as a book is rather repetitive.

Mostly a series of fights. At some point the scope evolves from petty gang fights to martial arts training to fighting grand epic missions for the Enji so it could possibly entertain then casual masses. However, such a tale fails to arose someone with such, refined tastes."

"God damn it, you're like the prick I remember the one time my ma dragged me to a book club! Think I give a damn about what a snob like you thinks of me? Despite what elitists bastards think being on the winning team that saved the entire universe in the ultimate battle between good and evil is a really big deal jackass!"

"Heh…first of all I see your memories of that so called" snob" and while he indeed is more refined then a brute like you, compared to me he might as well be a barbarian. More importantly, we are here because things are not as finely wrapped up as you were lead to believe eh Enji Knight?"

Bedman snapped his fingers before the entire area around him changed, to a reddish sky. As the sky rapidly became filled with various TV's Bedman got right in Doug's face." Even if your every memory was not at my disposal the bitterness is so ripe in you that I can all but see it ingrained into your aura! You really did trust your friend Ben Auro for a bit, you were willing to have some faith for your"Bro" and think things would truly change. However, you quickly saw that reality was not unfolding like how the chosen one, Cosmos, and all your Enji Knights envisioned it.

Yes…you quickly realized the grand dreams of utopia, of paradise, was just a cruel joke that everyone refused to keep telling. After all, you are not like most of your comrades.

Even if many of the Enji had tragic backstories, even the ones of more tragic or humble origins managed to have something to give them hope. Yet your eyes were grounded in reality, you had no choice but to see the world how it really was if you wanted to keep living.

Yes…your quite bitter at your friends dragging you down in their delusions, far more then you admitted to most. You just want them to give up so that things can be "Simple" so you can be done with the" drama" yes? Well, if that's your heart's desire then you just have to embrace the true ruler of all. Who knows, if you play your cards right Rabum Alal just might give you what you really want. That is, if you stop resisting."

"Tsc…think my heart's desire is to be your boss or his boss's puppet? Just kill me now, I may not agree with Ben and the others on everything but I'd still never turn on them for freaks like you! I'd rather die a free man then be a whipped dog!"

"You really are testing me, but at the same time I'll show some mercy since your line of thought is so, primitive. So called warrior of light, is it not time to be honest with yourself? Really honest? You have your personal code to appear honorable, but it's just excuses to run away from hard choices. Yes, peel away all the layers, all the excuses and at your core you're just running away from the truth!

After all, as we seen, you know your trash, you just said it yourself before my pawn went through with his pitiful ambush. I admit I am curious though…about the paradox in your behavior.

You clearly loathed your father and most of your family for most of your life. And yet when they died they died like the scum you always knew you were. And yet…that disgraceful end made you feel closer to them then to your closest friends."

Doug grit his teeth as a bitter surge swept through his body before he chucked bitterly."How would such a so called" evolved" dude relate to common folk anyway eh? I'm not going to deny I did not have many found feelings for my pa and most of my siblings.

Never had one of those fairy tale moments were everybody reached a new level of understanding either, despite how much Ben and the others love that stuff aside from Donnie there was no miracle breakthrough, last time we talked we still pissed each other off.

That being said…even if they were no saints, even if they had more darkness in their hearts then light and all that, blood is still thicker then water! When it's all you got, even if you don't like them, you can turn to your kin because they know that your pack is your own when no one else really is! My pa sure as hell not father of the year but, even if he moaned about he kept paying the bills.

They all sinned…stole and all that, but they did not join the Zannacross Empire either! They were not mob bosses, all they wanted was enough to have respect, and sometimes they felt screwed over so they broke the law to make up for it! But guess they were too greedy eh, because they turned to demons and were erased with all the other "deplorable"! I give my pa slack because as much as I hate to admit it, he was right about more than I thought.

I thought I would not end up like him, but just like him, after the big job, the big"final ultimate" war, most of the Enji ditched me for their own problems. Sure, Ben and James kept wanting to invite me to things, but it was just to bask in their glory. Them and Gouken always wanted to just make me part of their legacy, and only care about my deal when it's part of their deal!

Tsc…I'm not too bitter about it though, it's just how life is, how it really is. Much as the Enji talk about friendship, most bonds don't last forever, that's just how it is. Even true love is just an illusion, the legends just last because they cheat with magic.

That's just fine with me though, I only need the simple things, and as long as people don't try to meddle in my business I tend to my own. Course, since you and your boss is meddling in mine I'm going to make you pay no matter how many wacky spells you throw at me!"

The Bedman was silent for a moment, before he suddenly burst out laughing. He saw Doug glower and just leaned forward."That is quite the bravado laced speech, I'm sure it inspires many simpletons.

However, I can see through your façade Doug Fitter, I can see what you really are. I want to know what truly drives such actions, not just the cover story so I'm going to peel away all your layers till I get to the core!"

Small needles suddenly came out of Bedman 's bed and attached themselves to Doug's shirt. Doug saw his enemy's needles suddenly rotate before his shirt peeled off like it was yarn. "What the hell turns you on freak?" Doug roared out as more of his chest became book pages "I'm no schemer, I say it how it is! Most of the time I don't start fights unless someone's looking for it! Sometimes people don't understand what that means but that's how I roll!"

Bedman snickered as he snapped his fingers and had Doug's pants unravel next." Maybe you believe it, but I want the truth, the true rational buried in your subconscious, in the depths of your heart! It's true if you had a truly abhorrent secret you would hardly have been accepted in to your precious Enji order and would have fell with Zannacross. That being said, even if your heart did not completely weigh more with darkness, it does not mean that the darkness there is not hiding a major shame.

Yes, the sin you wanted to repress out of existence, the shame you told no one! But you can't hide that from me Doug Fitter! I'm going to shatter your mask and force you to admit your true self, with the power of Heaven's Door even your deepest memory can't be hidden!"

Bedman then had his eyes glow and kept unraveling everything Doug had on till he was naked, and then forced him to be flung to the center of the area. The blond-haired man yelled in fury but could not stop the Bedman from having most of his body turn to book pages. The Enji then saw a screen appear right in front of him, till his opponent waved his hand and caused more pages on his body to turn. Suddenly the screen showed Doug when he was thirteen, and saw in front of him a man chocking to death on the ground.

Bedman laughed once more at seeing Doug's eyes instantly widened with shock, and regret." And here it is, the secret you intended to keep to your grave! After your mother divorced your first step father, she vowed she found" true love" with this Jessie Hasselhoff.

He and you did not see eye to eye though, and you were not very fond of how things were unfolding eh? But you got a lucky break, and the chap died one night, chocking on his own vomit as a result of all the drugs he binged on before sleeping.

Ah well nothing could be done, it was the fools own fault yes? Well, guess you know the truth yes? You, by chance, were already up to use the bathroom, when you saw Jessie choking. You were more than strong enough to save him if you wanted to, but you didn't. Instead of trying to save him or calling your mother or the medics, you watched him die and went to bed.

Now, it's true that you did not take any action to cause him to die, and it's possible that your efforts could have amounted to naught anyway, so it would seem that this in itself was not enough to damn you in the eyes of the angels. That being said, the sin, the "Kegare" still is rooted in the depths of your soul Doug Fitter! Yes, in some cultures Kegare is known as the pollution of one's soul, stained by darkness and what not. You always said you fought for the little man when you could, that you cared for your mother.

And yet you watched the person your mother at the time cared for deeply die without doing one single thing to help. Jessie Shiban was verbally abusive to you but had yet to physically harm you. There was a possibility your situation could have gotten worst, or better, but you did not even try.

You knew what you did was wrong, and it traumatized your mother to the point that even when she did get remarried she did it out of desperation.

You never told anyone but the anger malformed you, made you even angrier. You got into more fights, and it was by luck that your Master Gouken found you so you could use that rage to something society found, productive. You even managed to use that rage to become one of the hero's that saved the universe.

And yet…even that could not erase the stain. Because deep down you know your true self is that of a coward Doug Fitter. You run away from your relationships, the one with Maria, the one you currently had with Aqua, with all your friends.

You're the type that always thinks the grass is greener on the other side, because you blame your environment on what's happened to you. Then you coattail on someone or something else to have another shot at finding true peace, and thus the cycle repeats! Thus your never content with anything you have, just the idea of something that can be better! Your unable to hold on to anything or anyone, because your obsession with true freedom is to be free of any pain, or responsibility, like the responsibility of your mother's happiness! For someone who tries to act so tough, you really are quite pathetic!"

Bedman then unleashed another burst of cruel laughter, and as Doug saw the memory of Jessie choking to death play over and over he snarled with rage."My life just some book for you to laugh at you smug freak?

Again and again, I had to deal with crap from smug pricks like you, thinking you're so much better, thinking you know me! Even if you're seeing my memories, you don't know a damn thing about me bed freak!

Yah…I let that Jessie punk choke on his own damn vomit, but it's his own damn fault! Part of me was scared of what he would do, that he would react worst then pa or some of ma's other boyfriends did when they were hung over. But I admit…I knew he would be nothing but trouble for me and ma if it went on. I love Ma but, she always had a type that could play her like a fiddle.

Jessie…Jessie was just going to do the same old dance with her, once the romance wore off, it would have been the same as the others because it never lasts damn it! I knew how it would look if I said one thing, so I never said anything. It was not nice, but I did what it took to survive! It's nothing fancy, just the basic instinct to live freak! I don't care if others think I'm right or wrong, good or evil, all that stuff amounts to a joke in the end! I'm going to keep living, no matter what!"

Bedman saw Doug scream at the top of his lunges and just titled his head."The obsession of man is truly an amusing tale. Your memories are so ripe with passion I can feel the experience as if they were mine! Alas…despite your passion it still won't do you any good. Shout all you want, you won't break my control and thus you can't hit me! The sooner you give in to your true nature the sooner we can wrap up the, huh?"

Bedman saw Doug's aura get even more intense, and while it still did not affect the blond-haired man's enemy, the intensity of the aura caused a large part of the ground below Bedman to suddenly burst up. The purple haired kid like man was surprised for a second, before the attachments on his bed formed large arms and easily shattered it.

Bedman saw Doug was just getting even more wild before he snickered."How sneaky of you, trying to attack me indirectly eh? I suppose you always have been someone who tried to find loopholes. My fault on not writing iron clad instructions. Too bad, I'll correct that oversight this instant! Like it or not, I'm going to rewrite your very soul to be completely obedient!"

The man in the demonic bed once more had an appendence shaped like a pen writhe out to attempt to write on Doug's paper like chest. Upon seeing this Doug grasped his hands so tightly that blood came out." Like hell I am! Damned or not, I'm no one's slave! If I have to die anyway I'll die free! Kaio-ken!"

Doug hastily unleashed the Kaio Sage art spell and as his aura turned blood red he unleashed enough power to burst out of his bindings. Bedman saw his pen appendage vaporize and saw that despite being naked and half of his skin having transformed into pages, Doug still had a look harsh enough to make his enemy flinch.

The blond-haired man gave a roar of berserk fury before bursting all over the area before he sighed, and had his bed's hands transform in to wheels with spikes on them that begun to spin rapidly." Ah yes, the sage art you learned to close the gap between Ben, Ezan, and all the other elites eh? Nice try but your still under Heaven's Door's power, thus you can't, GUH!"

To the villain in the bed's shock, he felt a powerful impact hit the left side of his bed with enough force to smash him to the ground. Bedman willed himself to rebound and warped to the top of the area in an instant. He saw Doug was still blazing around at enough speed to be a red blur.

The bearded male quickly unleashed another roar of primal fury before Bedman had his eyes glow red."Damn it, I'm directly ordering him to not attack, and yet he unleashed a blow on me all the same? Wait…I think I get it now. Heh…he's entered a berserk fury, and shut himself off from his mind altogether. He's acting on pure instinct, attacking everything that seems like a threat on impulse."

Bedman felt a shift in the air and suddenly warped to another part of the area. As he heard Doug yell again he narrowed his eyes." You are indeed quite the beast, but even if your mind is in a chaotic state, I can still read the rage raiding off your soul enough to sense when danger is coming! Even if I can't control you for the moment, I still have more than enough power to subdue you directly and put you in your place!"

Doug's target promptly blocked an incoming blow from the martial artist, and while the blow pushed Bedman back a few feet and created a shock-wave, the manipulator of dreams held Doug back long enough to slam into him with his other spikey metal fist.

Despite being in a berserker state, Doug managed to catch the punch right at the spike. Bedman retorted with a snicker before his bed suddenly spun around like a spikey top.

However, the blond-haired man just yelled with fury before he unleashed a berserk charged Guren Senpukyaku kick in response. The Bedman was shocked to find that Doug's blazing kick was strong enough to hit him back before he grit his teeth, and suddenly warped to the very center top of the dream prison. The round head like segment of his bed suddenly rotated in a complete circle before sprouting a demonic grin.

The bed's head then detached, and suddenly had a dozen copies of itself shoot out all over the area, before they all exploded in an instant. Each explosion had enough potency to shatter an entire city block, but Doug's attacker saw a blur burst through the various explosions. This caused the man in the bed to grasp his fist tightly." I'm no mere thug like Azrael and the others, primal will won't overcome someone like me! Déjà vu!"

The purple haired man again snapped his fingers, and just as all the explosions from his attacks faded, time itself rewound so that the bombs exploded a second time. Doug was able to evade the first volley, but in his berserk state was unable to realize what his opponent's magic was doing till it was too late, and got hit by one of the right most bombs.

The attack knocked Doug into the air, and Bedman wasted no time warping above the blond man and having his bed body slam Doug into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.

As Doug coughed up blood Bedman instantly had his bed's hands grasp him by the throat, before two pen like tentacles came out at the sides of his bed. The member of Dio's army saw Doug still struggle before his bed like head widened its mouth large enough for an alarm clock to emerge.

The alarm clock unleashed a ringing noise that caused Doug's eardrums to rattle with pain. As Doug yelled out in pain his attacker further tightened his hold."You proved how far your drive to survive will push you, but this is simply learning the hard way that you're at the limit of what someone like you can achieve!

We talk about "survival of the fittest" a lot but all that really means is the skilled live and the unskilled die. Since you're clearly in that second group, maybe pick your fights a bit more carefully? Do you understand what I'm saying? It's never going to matter how much you "want it" when you're up against someone who can kill you with a sneeze.

Yes…you're not special like Ben Auro, Lacus Raystar, Ezan Zeon and the others! You're just a very skilled brute who's pushed his luck as far as it possibly can go. Your just one mere man defying someone who's in a class far above your stature. No matter how skilled you are, someone who keeps it as "real" as you must see how this will end!"

Bedman prepared to try and rewrite Doug into being his slave when suddenly the entire dream dimension rippled and its color turned bright red. Suddenly fire erupted around Bedman before a new voice cut in with a sly," Got that right punk, it can only end with you getting barbecued!"

The Bedman was shocked as he saw two Chakrams consumed with fire sour out of the flames and slice through the tentacles. They quickly shifted directions to head for the Bedman's head, causing the bizarre villain to warp to another part of the room.

As he did he saw Axel land near Doug. As the two locked eyes the red-haired man chuckled."Commit this to memory freak, messing with my teammates is not going to happen!"

Doug, having fallen out of his berserker rage, saw Axel catch his weapons before he spat out blood."Axel…the hell you doing here? The plan was for you to watch the ship!"

"Heh, did this freak smash you hard enough that you forgot how to say your welcome dude?" The former member of the Organization wryly threw out." The plan was to make sure we pulled this thing off, but the ship's scanners picked up some really uncool particles so I figured I might as well check on things. Relax, that Star Lord and his crew may be goofballs but they can be counted on to be guard dogs, long as this does not take too long.

My hunch was right, the Rem Particle readings were what I thought they were, a punk using illusion magic in the same way Zexion did. Good thing I decided to jump into the sphere with the largest power level first, cause what the hell is going on here man?"

Doug just grasped his arm tightly before spitting out,"Nothing worth talking about, utter then this "Bed" loving bastard likes his mind games."

"Yah I kind of got that impression dude. Like some serious messed up SMN going on in here!"

Bedman just eyed Axel curiously before he leaned closer."An intruder? Most curious, you must have formidable magic at your command to intrude into my personal dream sphere."

"Let's just say, my former job required a lot of precise, skills." Axel uttered as he got into a fighting stance." One of my former teammates liked to pull the same kind of mind games you seem fond of. You know…you kind of look like a younger Zexion, but Xemnas would have known if he had any siblings. Wait…if this is a nightmare kind of thing, and you have Zexion's powers with Larxene's love of kinky torture, does that mean this is my nightmare?"

Doug groaned as he got back on his feet."Unless my nightmare is your nightmare Axel that's sure as hell not the case here! Damn it, don't mess around with this dude, he looks weird but he don't mess around."

"Thanks, but kind of got the impression of that when I came in and saw you naked and half freaking book Doug. Seriously, did not survive this long to take the odd ones lightly. Whatever, here, whatever this spell is heal yourself quick so we can get this done."

Axel swiftly threw a spare elixir he brought with him at Doug to cure him of the effects of Heaven's Door. As Bedman saw his spell be undone he

Alright, got things to do and no time to waste with some punk who is too lazy to even get out of bed!"

Bedman had the hands on his bed turn to wheels again, and as they spun rapidly he put out a chiding,"Quite confident of yourself, but we will see who is the one who can back his confidence yes?"

Axel braced himself as he felt an influx of energy, and saw the Bedman charge at him with faster speed then he expected. The former Dark Enji managed to intercept the strike with his Eternal Flame weapons. As the two struggled to overpower each other Axel saw his opponent look intrigued."You may be an enigma to me now, but soon everything you are will be an open book to me!"

The red-haired man saw the Bedman's bed's head start to move and swiftly dashed back and flew above his target before he formed a slick grin." I'm just getting a hunch there is more of a reason to stay away from your bed aside from how much it reeks. Not knowing where those tentacles have been is enough to be honest. Ah well, good thing you love that bed of yours so much because it's about to become your coffin, after your cremation! Burn baby!"

Axel swiftly flung his blazing ring like weapons at his opponent, and while Bedman casually batted the attacks away, using his magic Axel had more wheel shaped projectiles of fire come at his target from all directions.

The man with the former title of "The Flurry of Dancing Flames "saw his target's bed keep transforming to various shapes before he narrowed his eyes, and had his aura burst out before focusing his power, and combing his two weapons before swiftly unleashing a wheel of fire twice the size of the others that he hurled at his target.

Bedman saw the attack just as it hit him, and the entire area become consumed with flames. Axel grinned for a moment at the sight of his result, but saw Doug still looked tense, and head a grinding noise above him before he glanced up, and saw Bedman coming crashing down on him.

He blocked the strike, but was pressed to the ground. As he struggled to keep Bedman off of him his attacker rasped out," I assure you, if you have not figure it out this is no normal bed. I observed you fighting Verse. If you struggled with a pawn like him you have no chance against me. You do seem like one who's full of secrets, it will be a pleasure making you my next source of inspiration vie Heaven's Door! And now, to do just that!"

"Did I say I gave you permission to read my life?" Axel grinded out as he saw more tentacles appear."Hell no! This is no library punk, high time I make this area as un book friendly as you can get! Hades Aegis!"

The male with the wild red hair unleashed all of his power before flames erupted out of his body, with such intensity that the Bedman saw his pens melt. As Axel became clad in an armor of raw magma he narrowed his eyes."You're going to burn for messing with my crew, got it!? Volcanic Storm!"

Ben and Doug's comrade suddenly spun his weapons around again before his armor unleashed countless flames in to the air, that quickly become a deadly rain storm of flames that were all heading for the man in the bed. Bedman dodged most of the attacks and batted one fire ball away, before he realized that his machine started to melt upon contact.

Bedman quickly warped away from Axel before throwing out an erratic," You have only yourself to blame for making your submission as painful as possible! Even if you're not linked to Heaven's Door I can still read your thoughts! No matter how much you turn up the "heat" you can't defeat someone like me! Hemi Jack!"

Bedman snapped his fingers again before red blood spilled out of his bed, and quickly took the shape of giant demonic rams that's bodies were covered with red eyes. Axel snickered as the odd projectiles stampeded at him and swiftly had pillars of fire erupt underneath them to cause them to explode prematurely. As Axel charged at his enemy, the foe with purple hair suddenly grinned before he snapped his fingers and uttered "Déjà vu".

Moments later the energy rams reappeared right in front of Axel's face. As they unleashed unsettlingly large bah noises and started to glow their target narrowed his eyes." Throw a whole heard of them, it's not stopping me! Magma Gale!"

The man clad in magma swiftly spun around and had a cyclone like a solar flare erupt out of his body. The Bedman winced as he saw his attacks all instantly shatter in the face of Axel's attack, and as he saw the Magma Gale head his way he quickly warped to another section of the area.

When he did he saw yet another one coming for him, and warped to yet another area, only to see the same result. As he prepared to warp again this time Axel had flash stepped right above him, and by the time Bedman noticed he already was striking. As Axel saw his target hastily block his attack he had a wild look in his eye." You can read a fire's thoughts but you're still going to burn if you do! Erupting Volcanic Crusher!"

Axel swiftly focused his magic energy and had an ax of raw magma form on his right hand before he swung it down to attempt a lethal blow. Bedman tried to parry the strike with his bed's right limb once more as a bladed wheel, only to be shocked to see Axel's strike was intense enough to melt the limb.

Bedman quickly swerved his head to avoid a direct blow to the face, but the strike still instantly vaporized a large chunk of his bed and caused an explosion. Axel remained on guard but allowed a chuckle as he heard his opponent scream out in pain.

After a few seconds Axel and Doug were both relieved to see the move left some damage. Bedman's bed was now on fire, and the man in the bed's glasses were melted, and was currently clutching his face.

Axel saw the furious look on the smaller man's face and just pointed his blazing weapons at him."You got it all wrong bed boy, I'm the one far above you! Like I said, my former teammates had tricks like yours, and I was trained on how to break through them!

After all, can't be a good galactic assassin if you fall to pieces to a few tricks in the astral plane! Do yourself a favor and take your death like a man, cause since you put Aqua and the rest of my team in danger like this you're not going to get any mercy!"

"You think your funny, do you?" The Bedman snarled out as he grasped his wounded head."Your able to produce more intense flames then I figured, but in the end, all you did was wake me up. All you have done is make me angry!"

"So, you're the type that needs a kickstart so hard core that coffee won't do eh brat? Not my fault you did not take this seriously till it was too late,

This is what happens when you try and take on the most hardcore guys around when in a god damn bed!"

"Tsc…you're the one who failed to realize what your defying till it's too late! I deal with beings like you like this, to not break them to easily! Yes, this bed is my limiter! I wanted to save the full show for that chosen one, but if you insist on annoying me, then know that you're not angering any mortal, your defying the will of Ruvik "Hypnos" Victoriano, the God of Sleep!"

Axel and Doug both tensed up as the arrow on Bedman, on Hypnos's face suddenly glowed red, before transforming to a blood red hexagram like star.

The entire area suddenly started to shake, as Hypnos rapidly aged to a man in his twenties, the remains of his bed swiftly morphed into a set of medieval like black and purple colored armor. As black peacock like wings sprouted out of the back of the armor Hypnos glared back at his two opponent's he grasped his fist tightly." You done it now, your last moments will be lamenting you ever caused my wrath to erupt!"

"Stroke your ego all you want punk," Doug spat out as he got into a fighting stance." I don't give a damn if I pissed you off, even if you're not a kid anymore your still just another stuck up asshole for me to trash."

Axel saw the massive purple aura now emitting from his transformed opponent and chuckled darkly." Eh…to be honest you better keep your guard up dude. I remember hearing that Hypnos was one of the celestial ones who sided with Zannacross right before he got sealed up last time. The dude was a big shot who oversaw the dreams of the mortal realm, Zexion would rant about him every now and then since, he based his skills off of this dude's data. Guess this explains why this punk gets a kick out of seeing dreams and all that."

Doug just spat on the ground before he cracked his neck."I had enough of show and tell today dude. I don't give a damn who this freak is, angel, demon, whatever, I'm making it clear that no one gets away with treating me like their sadistic book project!"

Axel saw the fury in the blond man's eyes and chuckled."Well you do got a point, with everything's at stake our live's are on the line. No matter who is in our way, there is nothing any of us won't do to stop all of you! Pride's a luxury we can't afford right now!"

"Bah…betting your own life, the proverbial ace up the sleeve of reckless types like you that you wave to your obstacles like it means something."

Hypnos spat out as he grasped his fist tightly." Be as defiant as you want, but to overturn the steel-clad curtain of reality…you need the resolve to uproot every fiber in the fabric of time. People talk about the superficial…about intangible things…about dreams, the projections of their chaotic souls. And yet…it's the tangible things that matter. Concrete…undeniable. Yet people still go on about insisting that "All people matter, that every petty dream is equal."

That illogical paradox became my obsession, the crux of my actions…to eliminate anything and everything unnecessary. Only then will reality at last be pure. Dio and I share the desire for a world pure of worthless thoughts, thus my desire to make sure his world becomes reality! You will pay for thinking your lowly whims can compare to my ambition!"

Doug struggled to contain himself before shouting back a livid,"I am SO god damn sick of so called elites like you saying how things should be! All you omnipotent fellas do is babel about your authority, your elite ideas, like they mean a damn to me! Just because you're a little stronger or were born with something others did not get you think your word's law eh?"

"Why of course, after all in the crude manner simpletons like you understand things it's the law of nature!"

Axel remained undaunted as fire blazed out all around him." And that's why you're going to lose freak, don't matter if you're a mad celestial one or not, anyone that tries to fry me is getting fried back! Grand Nova Guillotine!"

The former Dark Enji burst at Hypnos like a raging star before that mass of fire formed in to a Guillotine, one that tried to cleave its target in half. As Axel reached his target Hypnos had his armor's wings glow, before the bottom two transformed in to glowing shields that blocked Axel's attack.

As Axel pressed harder, his opponent had his two upper wings transform into hammers, and swiftly smash the man clad in magma armor to the ground.

Before he even hit the ground Hypnos waved his hand, and the ground below Axel burst up to become a claw of raw ice to grasp the former Dark Enji and try and cool him off. As the angel of sleep heard Axel yell he formed a cruel grin." You may be formable warriors without a doubt, but you're in my dream world, my absolute world all the same! Everything within this pocket dimension obeys me, and the law of this realm is that you will be my servant! Heaven's, huh?"

Hypnos had some of his wings become pen tipped tentacles to attempt to make Axel his slave, but as he had the pens dive at his target, a massive yellow energy blast suddenly roared out from the left to vaporize the pens. He saw that the blast came from Doug, who had recovered enough to unleash a Masako energy blast to protect Axel.

At seeing the deranged angel glare at him Doug just flashed a defiant half-lopped smile." Read me like a damn book and you still don't know me enough to know I don't back down no matter how bad the odds are supposed to be! After all…a real man makes his own odds!"

"Ah yes…you truly are the type that refuses to see the truth even when its staring at your face Doug Fitter." Hypnos proclaimed as he ascended downward." You call me " egoistical" yet you're the one whom's every action is based on a delusion, who does everything he can to hide from your inner self.

Its only because liberating your true nature brings such possibilities for this Battle-World that I don't just kill you outright. However, the more you anger me, the more painful the process is going to be."

Hypnos prepared to have his way with Doug till Axel suddenly broke out of the magical hold he was in and unleashed another Erupting Volcanic Crusher attack at his enemy. As Hypnos blasted the attack away with an energy blast from his hand Axel darted around his enemy in a circle." You may have got your collar on him dude, but not on me!"

Axel dashed around fast enough to cause a circle of fire to blaze up. One part of the flames headed for Hypnos, causing the armored man to have the ground underneath the flames to burst up. Hypnos saw no one was there, before Axel slammed into him from the right. Doug saw Hypnos look distracted and grinned before yelling out," Keep the heat on dude! Sphere of Might!"

Doug fired another yellow energy blast at Hypnos just as Axel had fire shoot at his target from all directions. While Hypnos easily evaded Doug's attack and unleashed a shock-wave to blast away the flames, as he did Doug used Kaio-Ken once more to burst at his enemy before he had time to react, and punched him hard enough to bruise his face.

Seeing the shock on Hypnos's face caused the blond man to laugh." Not great at multitasking dude? Reading thoughts don't do you much good when it's too much for you to react in time eh? That's what you get for being so keen on thinking so much you don't know how to act!"

Doug and Axel both attacked as rapidly as they could to not give Hypnos time to react. Their opponent had the wings on his armor transform to blades to try and slice into the two, and unleashed another shockwave to try and blow them back.

As he saw Doug press through the shock-wave he hissed out," You damn humans and your hypocrisy! Your so obsessed with your freedom, that your enslaved by the idea without even bothering to think about what you really want!

That's why no matter what so many of your kind have, your never content! Such paradox fools whose hunger can never be sated, are better off being putted out of your misery!"

Doug saw Hypnos raise his hand and quickly caught it, before breaking his snapping finger. As his opponent screamed in pain Doug wasted no time punching the master of dream magic in the face. Doug let his anger explode as he made sure to punch Hypnos again and again to make sure he could not focus he yelled out," You still don't get it? I don't care if you're an angel that's lived longer then my entire family tree that's still your damn opinion!

What could someone like you, who's had his needs handed to him on a platter know how much freedom means to someone who had to earn it!? I'm not up for being a hermit who owns nothing but I'm not obsessed with owning the top ship or wall or whatever! It's not about the best title either, those things worth fade faster than you blink, no matter how much Ben won't let his fade. Nah…I'm after true freedom, and that' having the freedom, the power to not be at the mercy of anyone's whims but my own! Maybe the shape of what that is keeps changing, but it's my right to keep chasing it, no one else's!"

"Enough already! I saw the depths of your soul Doug Fitter, in the end you want to wipe out the debt you feel is on your soul, to wipe the slate clean from the guilt you feel from letting Jessie die, from knowing you're a sinner! But you just can't admit nothing will ever be enough because it's who you are at your core, and you will just keep lashing out till you die!"

"Shut up, SHUT UP! I can be the person I want to be, I can have the life I want to have, if you elitist jackasses stop trying to shove your joke ideas on me!"

"Even if you by a miracle defeat me, Dio, and win all of battle world, unless you ask your prize to alter your mind to be one of never ending bliss you will never be happy, because you know you're not worthy of it! I'll force you to face your true self, I'll drag it right out of your souls so that your own darkness, your true self will be the one that kills you!"

Doug saw Hypnos grasp both him and Axel and start to have their shadows be dragged to him before he quickly uttered Kaio-Ken once more and tried to grasp his enemy's hand to crush his arm. As his target's wings tried to interfere the Enji spat out," My shadow, my feelings and all of that crap is not being loaned out to anyone prick! I told you…no matter how many memories you shove at my face I know who I am!"

"And yet you repress your true feelings, your true desires all the same! You can't resist, in my domain all you can do is delay the inevitable!"

"That so hotshot? If your all big and bad why you even need to hide in the first place? If you were really that tough you would come at us like a real man, so you're clearly a coward who has to sneak around! Guess you're too afraid you would get the pounding a shill like you deserves!"

"I'm no coward Doug Fitter…I just don't need to interact with scum like you on your level! You're not my peer, your just my research material! I could destroy the lot of you lesser beings, but it would be a boring game to end with no drama!"

"You say that yet you're here being a lap dog for that jackass Dio!"

"Tsc…I'm not like Azrael and the other dogs! Dio is the one who likes the attention, I'm fine striking form the shadows to get what I want!"

"Now who is telling themselves things to feel better eh freak? You're afraid of being killed and you know it! That's why you only feel safe fighting in a dream world eh? And that's because you know if you don't have absolute control, the "savage" is going to kill yah! And you know what? Your right because that's what's gonna happen! If you really read my memories then you know I killed better fighters then you! So, you really don't have any thoughts of me kicking your ass through your damn bed punk?"

Hypnos saw Doug's eyes were dearly serious, and could not help but have his eyes twitch. He then chuckled darkly before shouting out an erratic,"You really think you can bluff with me? Your cunning is an open book to me, this very moment I can tell you intend to punch my face in! It won't work, your mine! Heaven's Door!"

Doug threw a punch just as the mad celestial one had another pen tipped tentacle shoot out for him. As it did the member of Squad 7 suddenly opened his palm and fired a small energy blast. The blast knocked the pen upwards, and as Hypnos widened his eyes with a burst of speed Doug roundhouse kicked the pen back, into Hypnos's neck.

Doug took great pleasure in hearing the armored villain scream in pain, and as Hypnos saw his own armor glow he blurted out,"No wait this, GUH!"

Energy suddenly crackled all over the Lord of dream's body, and as Axel saw half of his opponent's face transform into a book, before a small explosion burst out of his back he snickered."Damn man, for someone so hard core looks like you can't take your own meds!"

"Sure seems that way dude." Doug said as he watched Hypnos stagger back." Looks like your paying the price for being over imaginative eh?! What, did the "common man" scare the superior elite enough so that his fear became reality because he could not control his own power in his own realm?

Guess that's the breaks when your thoughts become reality eh? To damn bad, this show's ending now! Final, Shoryuken, Heaven!"

Hypnos saw Doug come at him with his ultimate attack coming for him and yelled out," No, even wounded I can't lose to some hypocrite like you! Damn humans and your delusions! If explication is evil, then humanity is evil! Eternal Sleep!"

The disgraced overseer of dreams attempted to force Doug and Axel asleep instantly, only for his still crisscrossed power to overload and an explosion to blast out of his arm. Doug wasted no time having his fist smash into his target's face hard enough to knock out some teeth.

Doug then slammed his other fist into his opponent's chest hard enough to crack his armor, and as Hypnos struggled to block Doug with his wings he shouted out," I won't lose, not to an hypocritical vermin like you! I, huh? NO!"

To his dread Axel had flew up right above him, and as he came crashing down Doug's teammate shouted out," Man up dude, all dreams end sometime so time for you to face reality! Grand Nova Guillotine!"

Axel once more unleashed his powerful blade with the force of a bursting star, and while Hypnos tried to block it with his wings, as he was distracted Doug poured even more power into his fist, and Hypnos heard a cracking sound before he saw Axel cut through his defenses. As he saw Doug's look of wild rage Hypnos cursed out,"This absolute devotion to their delusion, is this why Rabum Alal finds this savage so fasciation? Is his bottomless obsession truly the catalyst for the final reckoning? Is this the answer? The final, answer, to, GUH!"

Axel pushed all the power he had to break through, and succeeded in having his Grand Nova Guillotine attack slice through Hypnos to melt his head. Doug did not hesitate for a second to have his punch smash the remains of his opponent's body into his teammates attack.

Doug saw the rest of Hypnos melt, and as he saw the dark energy above him flicker, and float out of the area he just spat on the ground." Maybe you were right dude but I don't give a damn if people as a whole see what I do as evil. I'll be whatever I have to do survive. The answer is that there is no final answer, anyone that says there is one is just full of it. Things will never be set in stone till your dead, so either accept it for how it is or get out of the way already."

Axel looked around to make sure their enemy was truly dead before he snickered." Guess we both seen that some dude's just refuses to commit that to memory eh? Seems like I missed the whole story but good thing you did not get wasted by a dude in a bed eh Doug?"

The red-haired man saw Doug just looking at his now normal chest before he sighed." So that dream lover was making you look at memories or something to try and mess with yah? Cliché as they can get…but whatever he showed you don't let it trip you up. We all have things we regret, I sure as hell wish I could have done more for Sora, Kari, Isa, and the others. But…"

Doug suddenly cut Axel off with a bitter chuckle before he looked down and looked at his hands." That's just the thing Axel…I don't regret what happened. I sure as hell wish I could have spared my ma some pain, but Jessie was just going to hurt her more if that went on, so better a little pain now then a lot of pain later. I never doubted it was the right choice, it was a done deal!

That's why I never brought it once in my entire life, because it was business that only affected me! It was my business, no one else's! So do me and you both a favor dude, and stay out of my business! You keep being keen on that, and we're going to have a problem, got that memorized?"

Axel saw that Doug was still brimming with anger before he rolled his eyes." Really…you want to talk about that now? Fine, if you're talking about what I think you're talking about then I'll just say I'm not out to screw anyone over Doug. But listen up, if you're not going to take Aqua, or her feelings seriously, then don't expect her to be a doormat."

"Tsc…what about taking my feelings, my ideas seriously?"

"Is that suppose to be a joke dude? No joking around here, do you even want to work things with Aqua or not?"

"Tsc…what I want's just a joke to everyone eh? From where I'm standing, the lot of you's big dreams are just jokes. Still…to be brutally honest Axel, I don't know right now, I just don't. Much as I love trolling, I don't want Aqua to suffer. But when it comes down to it I'm putting my freedom over everything, including her.

Not sure if there is enough space for both at the moment. Some times, solitude is the ultimate freedom. Maybe not everyone can deal with it, but its not something for the weak. "

"Seriously dude? C'mon, no man's a island, everyone needs bonds and all that jazz."

"Maybe that's how Cosmos made us, but maybe that won't always be how the rules are eh? I don't know, I'm still trying to figure it out. But if anyone's going to try and get in the way of me figuring out I"ll kick them so hard I'll smack them out of the damn dimension! And if this punk or his buddies think they can keep trolling me by locking me away I swear I'll, huh?"

The two men heard more cracking noises before the entire dream prison exploded. As Doug suddenly landed on a steel ground he heard many gasps, and after blinking he saw that Aqua, Link, Yuri, the Mario brothers and all the others were around them, having broken out of their own dream prisons shortly before hand.

Aqua blinked at seeing Doug and Axel suddenly in front of her before she stepped forward." Doug, what happened to you? How did you get here Axel?"

The red-haired man powered down and calmly put his weapons away before throwing out a casual," Ah well, saw some readings that did not sit well with me and since the talking tree and racoon dude did not seem totally useless figured I'd let them keep watch while I checked out things here. Good thing I did to, though seems you guys did all right."

Airy suddenly flew out of a startled Ravio's pocket before putting out a chipper." Yup, we all showed those nasty jerks who's boss!"

Link glanced back at Ravio, who had hastily put his mask back together with spare tape, before looking at the fairy." Airy, you were with us the entire time? Why did you not show yourself the entire time we were dealing with Cia?"

"Again? What you expected me to do to that nasty lady?"

"Well…I have had fairy allies in the past who's assistance was the difference between life and death."

"And you just assume that because I'm a fairy I can do the same stuff? That's racist!"

"Er…well…never mind. Still would feel more secure if you were in a bottle."

Estelle looked around before she looked worried." Everyone ok? Oh my, what happened to the child in the bed? Did one of the villains take him hostage?"

"Nah girl, more like the punk was the one behind all of this!" Doug answered sorely." Dude turned out to be some wacked out fallen angel, but all that "bedman" is now is a dead man."

Aqua took in Doug's current state of undress before she gasped." Doug, what did he do to you?"

"Nothing worth wasting time talking about Aqua, we got a job to do, right? We still set to do that thing at the top for that Divine Beast guys?"

Joseph and Jotaro looked at each other before the younger Joestar shrugged." We will have to make sure they did not rig anything but, should have enough time to pull things off, long as we hustle."

"Well then lets double time it guys!" Doug shouted before moving to what seemed like the upper levels." I'll get my spare stuff on the Zodiac Pinion when this is done. Right now, just want to make sure we don't miss our chance to nail this Dio bastard! Then I'll own every last one of these elitist shills, till I can finally be done with this damn drama, forever!"

Doug spat on the ground and walked to the elevator, not even realizing in the state he was in, to many of the others he looked more like a furious monster out of a horror movie then a man.

Authors Notes: Well, to explain a few possible questions Mr.L was Luigi when he was brainwashed by Count Bleck in Super Paper Mario, felt like a proper embodiment of Luigi's inner darkness. The dream Luigi is from the giant Dream Luigi battles in Mario Dream Team.

Ah, for those that are confused and care, Hypos is not the real identity of Bedman from Guilty Gear, however he is a major antagonists from the Saint Seyia series, as the god of dreams itself. I figured since we don't the whole story for Bedman just yet the two had enough in common to make it be a logical turn of events. I suppose if it turns out Bedman's true history and motives end up not being anything close to Hypnos well...just put it being under the Beyonder creating a corrupt fusion of the two men for Battle World lol.

The name Ruben Victoriano is not related to either Bedman or Hynos, but is the main enemy from the game the" Evil Within", the spirtual successor to Resident Evil created by its creator Shinji Mikami in 2014 that felt more like Resident Evil then say, Resident Evil 6.

Got a sequel so it did something right, and was fun enough to deserve a nod however small since Bedman and Ruben share enough to be mixed together for this, ah well was worth a shot lol.

Well, hope people liked how the dream battles concluded, with any luck enough to leave a review. Till next time boys and girls.( Heads down a warp pipe)