A big thank you to:

riinala19, SiriusDoctorWhoHoney329, JulietFloraWinters, psychotic7796, kenobigirliz, I play wid fir3, Loremipsum, starryblossoms, toripaige224, Wragziez, LaylaBinx, Author Squared, CrissyGrace, TTCyclone, and Bane WolfBlood.

I really appreciated the feedback and tried to alter this chapter accordingly.

Darkness surrounded the dirty blonde haired Sorcerer as he entered Dave's subconscious. He was in a room cloaked in a veil of blackness, except for a dim flickering light that hung over a rotten wood door that was hanging by a single hinge. Over the door was a single word embossed in sterling silver, "Dreams and Nightmares". Balthazar pushed his way through the decrepit door, his trench coat billowing behind him. Whatever was behind that door, he knew he had to wake Dave up. The young apprentice was going to get sick if he wasn't allowed to sleep.

Taking large strides, he made his way to the center of the new room, taking in his surroundings. This room was even darker than the first one. No light shone here, making the place look completely void of anything.

Did I skip a step in the spell? Balthazar thought as his eyebrows furrowed in self doubt, But it said that this was the room was his 'dreaming room'. Perhaps Dave is suffering from something else-

A flash interrupted the Sorcerer's musing, and he soon stood before a beautiful middle class Victorian home with a flourishing garden in the front. It had a long driveway that was paved perfectly that led to a pristine teak mailbox. The box read, 'The Stutler's' in golden calligraphy, but below the large letters laid two loopy signatures that read 'Lucy F.I. R. and Nat A.S.' and what looked like a child's scrawl that said, 'David'.

It was a bit too happy and cheery to fit Balthazar's taste, but he bit back a gag and pressed forward. He opened the solid oak door and trudged inside what he now knew to be Dave's old home. As soon as he stepped inside, surprise purged through him.

Terribly tacky mustard yellow flower print wall paper enclosed the entire room that echoed the horrible sight with… Oh dear Lord….Clashing purple couches, violet coffee tables and book shelves, indigo pillows…. Neon purple window treatments embossed with stitching of the ugly yellow flowers. Afraid of being unable to hold his lunch down made him move swiftly to the next room. To his dismay, however, it wasn't much better. In the place of the purple and yellow sat a kitchen with much white that it hurt his eyes.

Balthazar scowled. This was getting frustrating. Where was Dave? It couldn't be that hard to find a kid in his own nightmare!

Thud!

Wait. What was that noise?

Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. Thud. Slam. THUD!

The Sorcerer jumped at the loudest 'thud', and spun around to the slightly random giant, thirty-seven step, hot pink, and bedazzled staircase behind him, only to see a crying ten year old at the base of the stairs that he had obviously fallen down.

Dave.

Balthazar moved to approach the child, but before he could, two thin figures calmly waltzed down that mountain of pink sparkles. A tall lean woman sneered at the child below, and a black haired man with bleach blonde highlights approached the sobbing child first. His checkered sweater vest and striped collared shirt with kakis seemed to radiate 'rich snob' as the preppy man reached down to the boy's shoulder. He grasped it firmly as little-Dave sobbed out, "I'm sorry," again and again. And with the shoulder that the man had in a 'comforting' grip, he shoved the boy off of the last step and onto the floor.

Balthazar saw red. How dare him! A feral growl emitted from the Sorcerer as he made to take a step, only to realize that the floor had melded so that he had sunk in to his ankles, and hardened again to have him rooted to the ground. But he only hissed in discomfort, and waved his hand to free himself and chain up the madman attacking his apprentice. Well, that's what should have happened. In actuality, nothing resulted from Balthazar's attempt at magic except for a furious Sorcerer being sent into a cursing fit. He could do nothing but watch.

"Get up, Mistake." The gruff voice demanded to the thin child as he kicked him in the ribs.

The hysterically crying Dave increased his sobbing, gripping his torso as he labored to his feet. The tears stained the boy's shirt as the continued to fall, only falling faster as the man started to scream.

"I TOLERATED YOUR LIVING HERE FOR LONG ENOUGH, MISTAKE. I WILL NOT HAVE A CRAZED THING UNDER MY ROOF!" The man ranted, totally ignoring the child's distress.

"Please," Dave wept, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to Daddy!"

Suddenly, everything Balthazar was thinking froze on its self, leaving all but one thought stopped. He couldn't believe it… That man was calling his own son, his own flesh and blood, a thing…. That man was hurting his own son mentally and emotionally, to an extent that Dave would be having nightmares of it in his twenties. That man… No. He wasn't a man. The being standing over his apprentice was a monster.

"YOU ARE NO SON OF MINE! AND I WILL NOT HAVE YOUR LYING IN MY HOME-"

The red faced ten year old screamed out through his sob, "I'm not telling a lie! It was real! Balthazar saved me from the bad man in the store!"

A look of happiness crossed Dave's face that shocked Balthazar. Did meeting him really cause the boy this much genuine joy?

"Who would protect you?" A look of disgust passed over the man's features. His face looked pinched, as if he was being forced to eat a cockroach. "You are worth nothing! Now, you worthless Mistake, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

And Dave did just that. Fleeing out of the house with nothing but the clothes on his back, a bull dog, and a ring on his finger, the ten year old took off through the door. Then, just as the child opened it, Balthazar was released from the floor.

The Sorcerer tore after his apprentice, running faster than he had in a long time. He made it out of the door and sprinted down the driveway eyes peeled for Dave. Until he saw a thin figure doubled over and leaning on the mailbox.

"Dave!" He called, but the child could not hear him as the man stood next to him. Balthazar tried to tap him on the back to get his attention; however, his finger just went completely through Dave's back.

Swearing in frustration, the elder Sorcerer merely watched as the red-eyed ten year old put all of his weight on the metal box. Dave then pulled out a permanent marker, and scribbled out the third name, 'David'.

And as Dave finished, Balthazar felt the world dim and suddenly flash until he was standing in a completely different place.

FLASH!

I don't own the Sorcerer's Apprentice, 2010.

So... Was it all right? Original? In character? PLEASE give me some feed back! (Sorry about the shortness, by the way.)

kirby