Episode 3: I Dream of Beavers – Part 2

Ethan groaned. The first signs of pain sprang from his wound from Tigerclaw and this enraged him to awakening much quicker. He slowly sat up and the throbbing in his side disappaited as he dug his fingers into his ribs, as if to pull the pain out of his body. He rubbed his head and then looked around. Confusion filled him to the brim as he found that the three of them had landed on the tatami mat in their dojo.

Jess grabbed her two kama's that had fallen to the ground and slowly stood with Kaela. Luckily, they looked just as confused as he did. "I guess somehow that door just brought us back home." Kaela said, but Ethan could hear the doubt on her lips as she spoke the words, looking around.

With a look of curiosity, Jess turned from them and peered out the window into the garden behind their home.

"Anything?" Ethan asked, picking up his naginata and striding next to her.

Jess shook her head. "Nobody is back there. Sensei must have left or something."

Kaela hummed beneath her breath and moved her fingers through the ribbon of her own weapon nervously. "Something feels off." She said, "We left the portal in our bedroom, why would we end up back here in the main room?" She turned to look at Ethan as if he had the answers, but all he could do was shrug.

The large metal door was nowhere to be found. The room was empty, save for them – and as far as Ethan could tell, everything looked perfectly normal. The three stood in the room silently for a few moments, as if expecting something to happen. "Well, let's go to our room and see if the portal is still sitting open." Ethan finally decided. Without waiting for a reply, he walked over to their bedroom door and opened it. He nearly ran straight into Sensei who was standing just behind it, his back turned to them.

Ethan gasped and took a few steps back towards Kaela and Jess. "Sensei!" He breathed, "You scared me." Master Hamato seemed to have ignored him, as his tall, old figure didn't give any clue that he had heard or noticed the three behind him at all. He just stared forward into their bedroom. "Uh, Sensei?"

Kaela, Jess and Ethan exchanged odd glances with one another. The white clothed back of Master Hamato still was turned to them. After a few long seconds, he slowly began to turn, as if just now he registered that Ethan had spoken.

The three of them screamed and clutched at one another, letting their weapons fall to the ground. Master Hamato's face had no eyes. His face was split into a wide, hideous grin and long dark drips ran down his eyeless sockets to his chin as if he had been crying ink. With a sudden strobe-like flash of light, he was gone and they were standing alone in the dojo again. "Holy mother of mutations!" Jess hissed through her teeth. "What in the freak was that?"

Ethan was lost for words, his heart still pounding, "U-uh I d-don't—." Fire burst from the floor and the three screamed again and resumed their previous stance of clutching one another for comfort. Blue flames lept from the surrounding walls, consuming them, blowing the teenager's hair in every direction. Eerie willow-whisp blue light illuminated their faces.

"This is so wrong!" Kaela called. "Jess, where did you take us?"

"Nowhere on purpose!" Jess cried back.

"Hell, apparently." Ethan corrected, his eyes wide. What the heck is going on?

Before they could even take in their surroundings, the glass window that led outside shattered, throwing glass shards over them. The little blades bounced off their shoulders and head, and when Ethan turned to see what was happening now he saw a long arm as thick as the circular window itself. Rotting and matted brown fur covered every inch of it and nails as long as Ethan's leg protruded from the ends of it's paw-like fingers.

Ethan shoved them all back with both of his hands and they toppled to the floor on their backsides as the clawed hand pierced the floor where they had been standing. Then the rest of the body the arm was attached to came through. The wall shook and shattered to bits and seemed to vanish away into nothingness, like the wall had never been there. Instead, a huge monster stood in front of them. He had eyes as red as flame – well normal Earth flames, unlike the blue ones that surrounded them. He had a large tail, flat, black and fleshy, covered in thorny spikes and two huge blade-like, yellow buckteeth. On his stomach was a brown depiction of a skull, like he was some sort of demented care-bear.

"It's a giant freaking beaver!" Ethan screamed pointing up at it in horror.

Then, the beaver talked and Ethan wondered why on earth anything surprised him now. The monster's voice was husky, low and echoed, his mouth cracking into a horrifying beaver grin. "I am Dread Beaver!" He said to them, "And your souls are mine!" The walls cracked around them and the Beaver raised his giant array of blades attached to his fingers into the air and slammed them down. Ethan cartwheeled out of the way, Jess and Kaela taking off on either side of him. Recovering from the shock, he grabbed his naginata and with a strong spin, he let the blade swing towards it's arm, but as if it had known what Ethan was about to do, the blade was thrown out of the way, glancing off the long yellow nails of Dread Beaver. His mouth hung open in a sinister smile and he lifted his arm for another strike, eyes like burning coals trained on Ethan. Before he could let his massive paw plummet, a blue ribbon wrapped around the wrist and tugged it back again. Kaela was thrown off her feet as he wrenched harder against the ribbon and she landed sprawled next to Ethan with a groan.

Dread Beaver's laughter filled the flaming home, although no wood seemed to be burning up in it. "This is so messed up!" Ethan cried, trying to help Kaela to her feet. Dread Beaver was now preoccupied with Jess. She dodged several of his swipes narrowly with her kama's and then squealed and jumped out of the way as he spun, his studded tail smashing the spot she had stood moments before. "What the heck are you?" Ethan called, dancing out of the way of another attack and swiping. This time, he made a mark. His blade left a long gash in Dread Beaver's arm, but no blood appeared. The wound was nothing but blackness.

Dread Beaver's husky voice echoed a thousand times over and strange images began to appear in the flames – eyes and mouths and chorusing laughter echoed behind him. "I am nightmare in physical form!"

Ethan could feel something inside him as he spoke – something that worked it's way through the fear around him. He could feel himself feeling tired. Exhaustion sunk into his bones and it felt as though his body was being drained of it's fluids.

Smash!

The pause had been just enough time for Dread Beaver to throw him off his feet and he landed, torso on the ground but legs in the air next to the front door. "Retreat!" He called to the others.

"Again?" Jess asked, "Why do we keep sucking!" Her question was answered with another swipe from Dread Beaver, nearly taking her head off. "Retreating!" She spun around and sprinted for the door, the horrid laughter of Dread Beaver following close behind her.

"Wait for me guys!" Kaela cried in terror. She was pinned near the blue flames in the far corner by their bedroom. The tatami mat began to split and splinter, pieces of the reed began to burst into the air. Something was stirring below the floor, morphing it as it moved. Ethan feared that soon the floor would burst asunder. Instead, several huge serpent heads appeared – white in color with eyes as red as Dread Beaver's and with bodies as thick as Ethan's arms. "Holy—!" One of the snakes reared back and then flung itself forward at her, mouth agape. Kaela flipped out of the way and ran, screaming as she went and tumbled into them. "Open the door – open the door!" She said hurriedly and Ethan threw it open.

All three of them shoved themselves through the door and Jess, with finality, slammed the door shut behind them. They didn't take a second to exchange words and ran for it, down the alleyway, and past the street lights, nearly running into several solitary figures, yet nobody called out angrily at them. Ethan's feet pounded hard against the pavement, shock waves moving through his legs slowed him, but he wasn't going to let any pain stop him from getting as far away from that place as possible.

Finally, gasping for air, the three stopped in a nearby alleyway. "What the – heck just – happened?" Jess managed to choke out. Ethan still couldn't believe how surprised he was by everything that had just gone on. He tried to catch his breath and held onto the nearby brick wall of a building to hold himself up. His legs were shaking and not just from fear – that strange sense that a plug had pulled on his insides and that he was draining away made him nauseated.

Kaela gave one last heaving sigh, drew a deep breath of air and said, "What was written on that door? What did it say?"

Ethan couldn't remember all the words now, but he felt he could get the gist of it if he tried, "It said," He began slowly, closing his eyes trying to visualize the words above the padlock again. The exhaustion wasn't helping. "Something about this place being the Realm of Fear and that we can't escape until we've faced the dreamer's . . . something or other."

"Dreamer's foe." Jess added in.

"Yeah, that."

"I don't know about most dreamers, but I don't think my dream foe is usually a giant demon beaver." Kaela said.

"It might be now." Ethan replied sarcastically.

The three sat there for a few moments, and Ethan didn't speak again until his heart stopped racing. As they became more quiet, Ethan began to realize that something was wrong. By the puzzled looks on Jess and Kaela's faces, they clearly felt the same way. "Does it seem a bit . . ." Ethan trailed off.

". . . Quiet?" Kaela offered.

It was.

The sound of sirens, cars zooming to and from places, people shouting and scrambling feet were all gone. Not even the sound of a stray cat could be heard meowing near the trash cans or soft snoring from one of the homeless people. Ethan hated that his mind immediately went to: Silent as the grave. He didn't want to think about that. "This can't really be New York then." Ethan said.

"The door didn't say exit, it said Realm of Fear." Jess said matter-of-factly.

"So, how do we get home?" Ethan asked.

Kaela shrugged and with a smile said, "Tap our heels three times and say 'There's no place like home?'" She chuckled nervously and it echoed up the sides of the walls that surrounded them and up into the blackest of night skies.

Ethan turned ominously towards the alleyway. "We passed other people coming here." He said. The three of them slowly crept to the far wall and Ethan peeked his head around the corner, prepping himself to scream when he saw Dread Beaver's face a few inches away.

But there was no murderous mutant beaver there.

The streets weren't empty either.

Although no cars seemed to be around, several people dotted the streets. Some stood in the middle of intersections, others on the top of buildings, as if they had been randomly placed decorations. But what Ethan noticed first was their faces were covered in masks.

Really, really messed up masks.

Clown masks.

Some had frizzy green hair and eyes like fire, sharp teeth protruding from a grinning mouth. Others had sad faces, the make up done in blacks and purples, their eyes empty sockets and their hair in long black tangles with big red noses. Another nearby was just a giant smile, with no eyes at all, teeth like knives coming from their gaping mouth. "O . . . kay." Ethan said quietly. "I officially hate this dimension."

"Let's go." Jess whispered.

"What if they move!" Ethan protested quietly.

"I'm with Ethan on this one." Kaela provided.

Jess looked at them angrily, "So, what? We stand here for a few more hours and hope that a door just opens?"

"Yes." Ethan said, but inside he knew there was no way that that plan was going to work. He turned back to the streets. The people still stood motionless, as if they were made from stone.

"What a great idea, fearless leader." Jess mumbled sarcastically.

"Maybe we should just run for it." Kaela said.

"Or we can sneak up on the roofs." Jess suggested.

"We could just attack the people." Ethan said.

"Or we can pretend to be one of them!" Kaela added.

"But where are you going to get a mask like that?" A beaver provided.

"Yeah!" Ethan quickly retorted.

Wait.

The three paused.

Together their eyes grew wide and they spun on their heel, bunching up next to each other for protection, hugging one another and screaming from the top of their lungs.

Another giant beaver had appeared in the alleyway behind them.

This one had similarities, like jagged buck teeth, long yellow nails and burning red eyes, but his fur was colored crimson as if he had bathed in blood. Spines of black protruded from his back and neck and his stomach was stamped with a flaming skull symbol. Seeing that he was noticed, he grinned. His voice was soothing, almost elegant, but nonetheless encompassing as Dread Beaver's had been. "I am Dark Beaver." He introduced himself, "May I eat you?" He sniffed the air with his huge black nose and leaned in, bearing down on them, "You look sweet."

"Run." Ethan hissed and the three jumped out into the street to avoid being flattened by Dark Beaver's barbed tail. "Run! Run! Run! Run!" Ethan called. The three of them sprinted as hard as they could, the sound of Dark Beaver's giggle following them. The clown-masked people remained motionless as they weaved through them. Ethan turned once to see the crimson colored Dark Beaver following slowly behind them, crawling on all fours, his face near the ground, bowed in anticipation.

Jess stumbled up next to Ethan, her arms swinging at her sides to build momentum. "We are getting pretty good at this running thing!" She said, dodging through two masked and motionless civilians. Ethan couldn't tell if she was making fun of him or not.

"Guys!" Kaela pointed down a nearby alleyway, skidding to a stop. Ethan nearly stumbled into one of the clown people as he halted and turned to see what she was pointing at. A lone, black door stood at the end of the alley. Ethan turned to see that Dark Beaver was twisting his way through some of the statues-like people, clown faces staring. It would only be moments before he saw them. Ethan gave a single nod to Jess, who nodded back and the two sprinted after Kaela, diving into the darkness of the alleyway.

Kaela had grabbed the doorknob and wrenched the door open. It was pitch black inside.

"C'mon, we don't have much time!" Kaela whispered urgently.

Ethan and Jess jumped into the darkness and Kaela followed after, slamming the door behind her and throwing them into darkness.