Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Danny Phantom is owned by Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon.
Previously on "Dreams of Destiny", Hilda, Steven, Ed, Annie and Pony have travelled throughout the world of dreams on the half gem's magical pink lion as they fought one wave of strange ghosts that somehow managed to show up their dreams to the next. After Steven managed to meet, befriend, assist and rescue the latter four from the strange ghosts that were suddenly popping up in every person's dream apparently. They made into dream of the last member of their ragtag group of mishmash misfits: The Man With The Plan himself, Lincoln Loud. Now finally united as one, the six of them charge into battle!
The story continues now...
Chapter 9: The Dream World: Part 4!
Lincoln blasted a ghost that was about to tackle Annie from behind, causing it to vanish into nothingness.
"Thanks Lincoln." Annie thanked him.
"No prob-AH!" Lincoln thanked her but was cut off.
As Annie thanked him, Lincoln let out a scream of pain as he got blasted from behind by a ghost, causing him to face plant onto the ground.
The ghost jumped into the air was about to break Lincoln's spine with a elbow drop when Steven hurled his shield into the apparition's stomach, sending him flying backwards into a group of other ghosts causing an explosion in the process.
"Are you alright, Lincoln." Steven asked as ran up to him and stuck out his hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But I'll definitely be feeling that in the morning," He chuckled before he took Steven's hands before he got pulled up. "Thanks Steven." Lincoln thanked his superior man.
"Anytime." Steven nodded. "I think it's best that we stick together to prevent surprise attacks like that from happening again."
"I agree." Lincoln said as he and Steven then turned their backs to each other with their weapons out.
Ed, overhearing the two amidst the war zone currently going on around them, sliced through a ghost with his spatula and found Hilda stabbing her sword through a ghost's chest, making it disappear into thin air.
"Hey, Hilda!" Ed yelled over to her, causing her to instinctively point her weapon at him, only to sigh in relief.
"Yes, Ed?" Hilda asked.
"I overheard Lincoln and Steven talking and they said that they should stick together back to back. Don't you think we should do the same? After all, Annie and Pony are doing the same thing."
Hilda thought about this for a bit as briefly turned the two Bramelys who were working together as Annie, who was blasting away any ghost who were trying to dog pile onto them from the air, was riding on top of Pony who was currently blasting them away with his dream horn before turning towards before nodding her head. "Yes, I'll work with you, Ed. Let's do this."
Ed nodded as he backed up to Hilda, who turned her back to him. Ghosts began to swarm the two only for them to to get hack and slashed into dust by their weapons...
Away from the battlefield, someone was watching the six fighters from the shadows.
"They fight with such enthusiasm, but they'll be overwhelmed by my Sleepwalkers soon." said a cool, mysterious yet calm voice. "I hope that they don't wake up from this. Their dream energy from them and their towns is flowing through me. I'm sure this will work out for me unlike last time."
The mysterious figure than began to laugh manically as he continued to watch the fight.
After what seem like hours of fighting, Steven, Pony, Lincoln, Hilda, Annie and Ed were soon surrounded from all sides.
"There's too many of them!" Lincoln said as he blasted a ghost back with his blaster.
"And what's worse is that were completely surrounded!" Ed said as he blocked a punch from a sleepwalker before the Ed boy headbutted it back.
"Don't give up guys! We'll find a way out of this!" Pony said as he blasted a sleepwalker back.
"How Pony?!" Annie asked as she blasted a barrel load of ammunition down a creep walker's throats, causing it to detonate. "It's like someone's dreaming these things to attack us and for there to be so many of them. Someone must be wanting us to stay asleep."
Hearing this, it gave Steven an idea.
"Wait a second guys..." Steven began to as he backhanded a ghost behind him. "Maybe that what it takes to get rid of these guys, we just have to dream them out."
"You think that'll work?" Lincoln asked.
"Well, this is the world of dreams Lincoln. Anything is possible while you're here." Steven retorted.
"At this point, I'm down for anything." Ed said.
"So am I?" Pony said.
"Me too." Hilda said.
"Let's dream away these creeps." Annie said determined.
"Oh what the heck, might as well." Lincoln said basically giving up at this point.
"Alright, everyone. Close your eyes and focus." Steven instructed as the group (himself included) did just that.
Surely enough, it was beginning to work as the sleepwalkers began to disappear one by one.
Soon enough the number of disappearances went up by the tens...
Then the hundreds...
Even going by the thousands...
Eventually, all of the ghosts have vanished, causing the group to open their eyes and collapse on the floor on their knees.
"Is that... all of them?" Ed asked, mentally exhausted.
"I... hope so." Pony said, also mentally tired.
"I'm pretty sure... more will... show up." Steven pointed out as he panted from the mental strain on his astral body.
"Steven's right... for now let's... enjoy this moment..." Lincoln said, as he was mentally exhausted before he then got an idea. "And I think... I know... the perfect way."
"What do... you mean, Lincoln?" Hilda asked, turning to him.
Closing his eyes, Lincoln focused some more of his dream power to conjure up a small campfire with three big logs around it.
"Ta-Da!" Lincoln announced. "What's the best way to get to know each other than being around a campfire and telling our origins."
"Oh, I get it now." Steven said as he sat down on the log.
The others soon did the same, with Annie and Pony sitting on a log together, Steven and Ed sitting on one together and Lincoln and Hilda sitting on one together as well.
The group sat in silence a bit before Pony spoke up.
"So, who's going first?"
"I guess I'll go first." Hilda said. "I'm Hilda Jasira and I am from the city of Trollberg and I like to go on adventures and befriending mystical creatures and I live with my mom."
"Mystical creatures are real?" Lincoln, Annie Pony, and Ed asked in surprise.
"Why yes." Hilda confirmed nonchalantly. "Wait, you guys just thought that our world was just technology and no magic of any kind?"
"Well yeah." Annie said.
"Basically." Pony said.
"Almost anyone's answer to that question would be yes." Lincoln said.
"AWESOME!" Ed exclaimed as he jumped up from the log that and Steven were sitting on. "Look out shadow lurkers, cause Lothar will bring you to light!"
"Easy Ed." Hilda said, grabbing his shoulders. "Not all monsters are evil, they just attack when provoked."
"Oh, I understand." Ed said as he sat back down.
"There are other magical creatures out there?" Steven asked in surprise.
"Yes, from trolls to ghosts to whatever else is out there." Hilda said before asking. "Wait, you haven't seen anything outside of the norm have you?"
"No, I'm Steven Universe and I moved to Japan and I've been dealing with gems my whole life." Steven said, gaining everyone's attention. "So anything outside of that is quite new to me."
"Gems?" Pony asked. "What does jewelry have to do with anything?"
"Not those type of gems here on Earth, Pony." Steven said with a chuckle. "Outside of Earth, actually from another galaxy on a distant planet in fact, gems are aliens."
"Aliens?" The rest of the group asked as shock overtook them.
"Yeah, they're basically a magical type of alien." Steven said as he began. "A long time ago, the gems were ruled over by the diamonds. The diplomatic Blue Diamond, the militaristic Yellow Diamond, the overseeing White Diamond and my mother, the bratty Pink Diamond. They used to colonize other planets to make gems, destroying the planets they harvest as a result."
"That's horrible!" Annie exclaimed.
"Yeah, and it got worse." Steven pointed out as he continued his tale. "When my mom got Earth as a colony, she chose to instead start a rebellion under the guise of a gem by the name of Rose Quartz and create an army called the Crystal Gems to stop the colonization and save the planet." His tone began to grow a bitter. "But in the process, she lied to her own forces, be it a Crystal Gem or a gem loyal to Pink Diamond, fight and shatter each other because she lied to all of them about her identity. Her war got so bad that she betrayed, poofed, and bubbled a Crystal Gem named Bismuth away for wanting to shatter the Diamonds and another gem named Lapis got imprisoned by her own kind because they mistook her for a Crystal Gem. When she faked her own shattering, she forced my mother figure named Pearl to help her and before they did it, Pink forced Pearl keep her mouth shut about it. "
"Why do I have a feeling that there was no happy ending?" Pony said.
"Cause I can tell that there isn't, buddy." Annie pointed.
"More like a bittersweet ending, you guys." Steven said as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he could feel his gem begin to glow. "When my mom faked her death, the other Diamonds, thinking that Pink was killed, used their powers to turn almost every gem that was fighting that day, be it their own soldier or a Crystal Gem, into giant, in pain, monsters. Only, my mom, Pearl, a fusion named Garnet, another gem named Amethyst, she wasn't out of the ground for the war, the imprisoned Lapis, and the bubbled Bismuth managed to protect themselves that day."
"Jesus, that's terrible." Lincoln said.
"Yeah, it was." Steven said. "It hurts every time I have to explain it."
"Sorry, I didn't open up any old wounds for you." Lincoln apologized.
"No, it's alright Lincoln." Steven reassured him. "After all it was in the past. Everything's much better now and so am I, both mentally and physically."
"If you don't mind me asking, Steven." Ed asked. "How did you managed to stop the Diamonds?"
"Well, after I found out about my mom's secret. I basically told the Diamonds the truth. Granted it wasn't easy, it was emotionally, mentally and physically challenging. Probably the most challenging thing that I had to do in my entire life." Steven admitted. "It's a good thing I held onto my morals during that time while being myself."
"That does sound challenging." Hilda said as she subconsciously grabbed a hold of Lincoln's hand, which he noticed but decided not to say anything about it at the moment.
Besides it felt kinda nice to him.
"It was." Steven said as then said. "So, who wants to go next?"
"Me and Pony will go next." Annie said as she began as she brought her animal friend into a side hug. "Pony and I are part of the Bramley family of farmers, and we are from the city of Pickleton. I first got Pony when I was 5 and we became the best of friends ever since."
"Our dad is a grumpy farmer who sells fruit at a fruit stand and our mom takes care of the chickens so they can produce for us." Pony said, reciprocating the hug.
"Don't forget that she recently became a policewoman last year, Pony." Annie reminded the animal.
"That's it?" Lincoln asked. "Sounds basically normal compared to the rest of us."
"Oh Lincoln." Annie said, shaking her head. "When you're with Pony and me, there is no such thing as "normal". We would be here all day if I listed off all of the wacky adventures me and Pony go on. So, to save time, let's not, shall we?"
"Oh fine." Lincoln said playfully before he continued. "I guess I'll go next, I'm Lincoln Loud and I'm from the town of Royal Woods and I live with my mom and dad and 9 of my 10 sisters."
"10?!" The others exclaimed in surprise and shock.
"Yeah..." Lincoln said in embarrassment as he felt his cheeks turn red. "10 pain in the neck but still caring sisters."
"Wow, your parents must REALLY love each other if they decided to have 10 sisters and you." Pony said as he laughed a bit.
"Yeah, being a big family can have its heartwarming moments and chaotic ones too." Lincoln admitted. "17 years of scheming against my sisters, us beating the mess out of each other for a petty reason here and there (sans Lily cause she's young), moments where it's me against them and ducking, dodging, pushing and shoving, but hey, that's just how we show our love."
"Wow, where's your parents when you need them." Hilda asked.
"Either staying out of our business or at their jobs." Lincoln answered. "Regardless, their good parents to us. I like to play video games and drawing."
"Guess I'm last." Ed said as he began. "I am Ed, and I am from Peach Creek. I like comic books, hanging with my friends and I live in a Cul-de-sac with my mom, my dad, and my sister, Sarah."
"Okay so what now?" Annie asked.
"Phone number swap?" Lincoln suggested.
The group each pulled their phones and took turns giving each other their phone numbers. For Annie, she had to a two for one since Pony was an animal so Annie had to give them her phone number to compensate for her friend's lack of... humanness.
Just then, this peaceful moment was a mysterious sound of... laughter?
Looking up, the group saw some gray and black colored mist coming together in order to manifest into something presentable.
Out of the mist came a very tall figure with pointed fangs, a body that literally looks like the night sky, dark black with shining dots in it like stars. His head is an oval shape with a point at the bottom, crowned with two curved purple goat-like horns on each side of his head. His eyes are red and he has a slightly curved hairline scar along the side of his face, going through his right eye. He also has a small goatee. He does not seem to have any visible humanoid legs, but instead seems to have many tentacles, similar to an octopus.
"Well, isn't this quite the group of misfits we have here?" said the mysterious being.
"Did anyone dream this thing up?" Ed asked.
"Nope." was their collective answer.
"Asked the boy who dreams of just a normal day in Peach Creek." said the night sky creature.
Ed was speechless as he was shocked that this creature knew exactly what he was dreaming about.
"Alright you dream peeping creep." Lincoln said as he took a step forward. "Just who do you think you are anyway?!"
"I'm glad you asked, Mr. Destined Super heroic Dreamer." The ghastly ghoul answered, shocking Lincoln a bit. "I am Nocturn. The Ghost of Dreams."
"So, I'm guessing you're the one who were summoning those ghosts we've been fighting?" Hilda asked as she pointed her weapon at the ghostly spirit.
"And causing our dreams to go all weird and stuff?" Annie asked, raising her wrist blasters.
"Impressive, girls who dream of normal days in their respective cities." Nocturn said as slowly clapped his hands as his words shocked the two girls. "Yes, those sleepwalkers were mine and I have an unlimited supply of them. Watch."
With a snap of his fingers, an army of 1 million sleepwalkers appeared in front of the heroes, much to their shock.
"You may have an army, Nocturn." Steven began as he grabbed Lincoln and Ed's hands with his own. "But we have a strategy."
Realizing what Steven wanted them to do, Annie grabbed onto Pony's hoof who grabbed onto Ed's hand as Hilda grabbed onto Lincoln's hand. Together, they close their eyes and focused as much of their mental strength as they had.
Despite knowing what they were trying to do, Nocturn didn't make a move to stop them. Instead, he chuckled.
"Oh please, even if you all do wake up. You won't be able to defeat my legions upon legions of sleepwalkers." The dream ghost said with confidence. "With the dream energy of your town's people, including you guys has made me and my army extremely powerful!"
The group blocked out the ghost's taunting as they focus their energy to escape the dream world.
Suddenly, a series of cracking noises could be heard all over the dream world...
It was working.
A few seconds later, the dream world imploded in on itself as a huge flash of light expanded throughout the realm.
"Guys, I think it's working!" Ed said as he heard the dream world begin to collapse.
"So do I." Annie said.
"Keep going. I can feel myself waking up." Lincoln said.
"Once I'm awake, I'll try to remember your phone numbers." Steven said.
"So will I." Hilda said as she refused to open her eyes until she was awake back in the real world.
"Annie will probably remember for both of us, but I'll do my part to pitch in that department." Pony acknowledged, causing Annie to chuckle.
"Good to know that you're going to pitch in my friend." Annie said.
Suddenly, the cracks were beginning to manifest from beneath them.
"Keep going. There's no place like home, there no place like home." Hilda said in a chant.
Deciding to just go with it, the rest of the group began to chant the same thing, resulting in the cracks growing faster.
Suddenly the ground broke like glass beneath them, causing them all to scream as they fell into the empty black void of nothingness...
Despite this, they refused to let go of each other.
"Guys, when we wake up! Let's meet up together!" Steven said, above the screaming.
"Sounds like a good plan." Annie said.
"I'm in." Ed hollered.
"But where?" Lincoln asked.
"I think in Trollberg!" Hilda suggested.
"Might take me a while but I'll be there." Lincoln said.
"So will me and Pony!" Annie said as she held onto Pony tightly.
"You betcha!" Pony confirmed.
"If I get to Lion, I'll pick you guys up!" Steven said.
"Thanks, man." Lincoln said. "You're a loyal person."
"We'll we're friends and friends stick together no matter what." Steven said.
Just then, five different colored portals appeared behind each of them.
Despite their strength, they were each forced to let go of one another.
The first was Pony, who was sucked into a red portal.
"Ahhhhh!" Pony screamed as he disappeared.
"Pony!" Annie screamed as she felt herself getting sucked into a yellow portal and disappearing into it.
"Annie!" Ed screamed before he got sucked into a green portal and vanishing into it before Steven, Lincoln and Hilda's eyes.
"Ed!" The three screamed before Steven felt himself getting pulled into a pink portal.
"Oh man." Steven as he felt himself losing his grip on Lincoln and Hilda's hands. "Don't worry about me, we'll meet again in the real world." He tried to reassure them despite the circumstances currently taking place. "Remember, I have Lion and some friends of mine, so it's not just the six of us." He finally go as he was sucked into the pink portal.
Before completely disappearing, he yelled out one more thing.
"I'll see you guys in Trollberg, and don't worry, we'll stop Nocturn!"
With that declaration out of his mouth, Steven completely disintegrated right before the two's eyes, much to their horror.
Suddenly, Lincoln and Hilda felt themselves being pulled into a orange and blue portal respectively.
But Lincoln didn't want to let go of the blue haired girl's hands, much to her confusion.
"Lincoln, aren't you going to let go?" Hilda asked.
"Well I obviously want to, but part of me doesn't want to." Lincoln said, struggling to maintain his grip.
Hilda knew what he meant as she was feeling the same way about the white haired boy as she also didn't want to of his hands. They just... felt right.
Regardless, the two needed to wake up.
"I feel the same Lincoln, but you know as well as I do that we have to wake up. We won't be able to stop Nocturn if we stay here." Hilda pointed out.
"Yeah, you're right." Lincoln as he finally let go of his "friend's" hands before disappearing into the orange portal. "I'll see you in Trollberg, if I can managed to get there of course."
"I'm sure will, after all, you're the man with the plan." Hilda said as she vanished from Lincoln's line of sight, with tears in her eyes.
Lincoln vanished into the portal with a loud scream.
To be continued...
This 4 part mini arc is now over. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned to find out how this story continues. I'll see you all next time.