If you thought the last chapter was weird, wait'll you read THIS.

Chapter 3: Coaster Rescue

"QUICK! SHUT THE DOOR SHUT THE DOOR!"

Ted just managed to slip through the space in the door of Cerberus' lair before the others closed it and locked it. They heard Cerberus' heads collide with the door and growl before walking away.

They all sighed and relaxed.

"I can't believe Wizeman made us walk Cerberus." grumbled Bob.

"Well, it was our punishment for failing our last plan." said the Joe Colony. "And I think Wizeman said that if we fail again, we'll have to give Cerberus a bath."

Charles gulped.

Ralf turned to Ted. "Did you remember to grab the leash?"

Ted froze. "...Oh...Oops."

"TED!"

"Sorry! I didn't think it mattered if we brought it back to Wizeman!"

"Everything matters to Wizeman." Ralf told him sternly.

"'Cept us." Bob pointed out grimly.

Ralf, noticing how dejected the others looked, said, "So that's why we're gonna come up with a new plan so that Wizeman will think highly of us! We'll be First-Level Nightmarens in no time!"

---

The group of ten unlucky Nightmarens were sitting by the roller coaster track, wondering what their next plan should be.

While they were thinking, a roller coaster carrying Nightopians went by them. This gave Ralf an idea. "Hey, guys!"

The others looked up. "Hmm?"

"Maybe we can destroy NiGHTS in a different way. Like, instead of attacking directly, we can attack her heart!"

"How?" Bertha asked.

Ralf pointed a claw at the Nightopians. "If we can kill the Nightopians, NiGHTS will be so devestated that she won't have the emotional strength to fight back!"

But Kenny shook his head. "Nah, she doesn't love Nightopians enough to do that. We should kill something that's REALLY close to her heart. Like Reala!"

The others groaned and Fred said, "You only want to kill Reala because you hate him."

Kenny's large bug-eyes shifted back and forth misceiviously. "No...My imaginary friend hates him too."

"All right, nobody listen to Kenny." Ralf told his companions. "We're killing the 'pians and that's that."

"Great!" Charles agreed. "So how do we do it?"

Ralf pondered, then replied, "The Nightopians will get killed if we crash their roller coaster into something...so we need to find something to block off the tracks."

"Let's use Johnson!" Steve suggested.

"Yeah!" the others except for Johnson cheered.

Then Ted frowned. "Aw, he's not big enough."

"Awwwww!"

"Yay!" Johnson chimed happily.

"We need something big and strong." Ralf looked around. "Um...the giant statue of the camel?"

"Yeah, and how are we supposed to bring that over here?" Bob asked dryly.

"Ok, scratch that." Ralf thought about it some more.

"Hurry! The roller coaster is on it's way here again!" the Joe Colony warned.

"Uh..." Ralf looked around frantically. "Uh..." Finally, because he couldn't think of anything else, he blurted out, "The gumball machine!" He and the others started to carry the giant gumball machine over to the track. "Put it down gently but quickly." he told the others.

But they just dropped it on the tracks and some giant gumballs fell out.

"You idiots! I said gently but quickly!" Ralf growled.

"All we heard was 'quickly'!"

"Who cares? The coaster's coming!" screeched Bertha.

"Let's hide!" said Ralf as he ducked behind a boulder. The others followed him. "Any second now..." he said quietly.

Charles peeked out from behind the boulder and whispered, "Here it comes!"

Indeed, the minor Nightmarens could hear the roller coaster approaching the blockade of gumballs. They waited excitedly for the big crash that was soon to ensue...but it never came. In fact, the sound of the car on the tracks had stopped suddenly.

Confused, Ralf crawled on top of the boulder and looked at the track. The gumball machine and the gumballs were still in their places, but the empty roller coaster car was parked a few feet before the gumballs! "WHAT?! How did this happen??"

The others came out of their hiding spot and groaned. "Aww, so close!"

Ralf clenched his claws, angry that yet another plan had failed. "All right, whose idea was this?? Johnson! Was it yours?"

Ted replied, "Um, actually, I think it was yours, Ralf."

But Ralf shook his head. "Nu-uh! No way would I come up with a stupid plan like this!"

But the bees of the Joe Colony insisted, "We remember it was your idea!"

Ralf tried coming up with an excuse, but all the others were glaring at him, so he just dismissed it with, "Ok, it doesn't matter whose idea it was. But Chamelan should be able to finish NiGHTS and the boy Visitor off, no problem!"

The others thought that that was possible so they weren't too disappointed by their failure.

"So. What do we do now?" Bob sighed pessimistically.

"We could kill Reala and--"

"No, Kenny."

Ralf sighed. "Let's just go back to Wizeman and tell him what happened."

---

"...Gumballs?"

Ralf chuckled slightly. "Well, see, I thought--"

"You obviously didn't!" Wizeman growled. "All of your plans have failed, so far. What's even worse is that Chamelan has been defeated by NiGHTS and the Visitor."

All the minor Nightmarens glared at Ralf.

"What?" Ralf said nervously, trying to sound innocent.

"By now, the boy Visitor is heading towards Delight City. I have already sent Reala there to capture NiGHTS, but I'll give you one last chance to prove yourselves worthy." Wizeman told them. "Remember, THIS is your LAST CHANCE."

Ralf saluted his master. "Don't worry! We won't let you down!"

"But FIRST!" Wizeman spoke up sternly. "Go play fetch with Cerberus. He needs the excercise."

Then the minor Nightmarens left the throne room. "We're gonna die."

Will they? Or will their last plan actually work? Please review.