"Honestly, I'm impressed with your valor.

"Time and time again you come to this same dream world knowing what your fate is.

"Time and time again, you pick up your weapon despite knowing what end awaits you each and every cycle.

"You were clearly never meant to win this battle, and yet you're always here to fight it.

"Striving for a role of a victor, a role you were never meant to have.

"You truly are impressive."

oOo

The same nightmare, the same monsters, the same darkness, the same sensation of doom and death as he woke up in the coldest yet warmest sweat imaginable.

Cody looked at the clock. It was already four in the afternoon; somehow, even worse than yesterday.

"Went to bed early and everything," he grumbled to himself as he sluggishly slung his clothes on.

Cody stepped out of the cabin and yawned as he let the afternoon sun bring him back to reality. He had a cool face now, but deep within him laid a genuine concern that something was truly wrong with him. He wasn't even feeling anything after going a day without any food.

"Hey there sleepyhead!" A familiar overly chipper voice greeted him.

"Morning Izzy," he yawned again, too concerned about his questionable health to face her.

"Man, you look aaaawful," she snorted. "A bunch of the guys from the Gophers were talking about how you were twisting and turning and clawing all night long. I'm telling you, if you've got a ghost issue, I can eat them for you."

He wanted to think it was too early for this, but it was already mid afternoon.

"No, Izzy," he sighed, rubbing his head. "It's just...a bunch of bad nightmares, okay? I always die in them so my brain thinks I actually died and I get bad reactions from it. That's it."

"Hmm, maybe you got some brain worms in you? Need some deworming done?"

"No Izzy," he groaned, turning his head to finally show her to her face how much he did not appreciate her banter. "No, I do not-"

The frail tech geek was immediately greeted by the violent hissings of an enraged raccoon, causing him to topple over. Izzy held it tightly in her arms like a new pet while she hung upside down from the cabin rooftop.

"Settle down George," she patted the raccoon's head, enraging it further. "Cody's a friend! No need to get all rowdy. Here, catch!"

Izzy tossed the raccoon right towards Cody's body. He'd suffered enough physical and mental trauma from wild animals that summer and stealthily dodged the creature like his life depended on it. After the raccoon landed onto the cabin floors rather than his face, he slammed the door shut and trapped it inside the musty building as it rocked the door, furiously trying to smash its way out.

"Well, I guess I can't go back to bed even if I wanted to," Cody said nervously.

"Oh yeah," Izzy began again as she lifted herself back onto the roof. "Gwen and Trent are at the beach right now if you wanna go crash their make out session."

That's the last thing he wanted to do after yesterday.

With Izzy gone, Cody was left alone to mull over his day all on his own. Today was supposed to be their last day on the island before everyone was gone for good. Thanks to the absolute trashing of the island, any and all plans for one final party were cancelled lest they get stranded here for another week picking up trash in the forest. As usual, everyone was off to their usual groups and pairs. And then there was him.

Cody sighed. Maybe there was still some trash left over? He slowly trudged off, trying his best to hide the feelings of dejection that still lingered from the day before.

oOo

Am I going crazy?

Is this what happens to people before they start having breakdowns?

It's not normal to have the same exact dream for months, right?

It's not normal to have a voice talking to you in your dreams, right?

You're supposed to be able to control your dreams, aren't you? Why is this happening to me?

Clearly, wandering off on his own was a mistake because now poor Cody managed to think himself into sheer mental exhaustion. So many things were causing him to turn into a ball of stress and there wasn't anyone around he could reach out to calm him down.

…?

Cody blinked. In front of him was a cave he'd never seen before. He swore he ran around like an idiot around these woods long enough to have seen every nook and cranny of them, but it seems there were parts that still alluded him.

After being mauled by a literal bear weeks earlier, you'd think the teen would make the wise choice to run as far from the cave as possible, but there was a strange feeling about it that kept pulling him in despite all common sense. Taking a deep breath, Cody walked in.

As it turns out, even if he had never seen the rocky structure before, everyone else on the island had. The walls were filled head to toe in crude cave doodles and chalk drawings. Everything from amateur anime chibis to autograph practice sessions from the various campers lined the walls. It was apparent that this place must've been a popular secret hangout session for the contestants, yet here he was discovering it for the very first time, having never heard a peep about it from anyone else.

He trudged further into the cave, admiring the bountiful cave scribbles along the way. To his surprise, a door lay at the furthest depths. Was this a hidden crewmember room for the show? Why would everyone hang out this close to the show's staff? He didn't notice any cameras anywhere, so maybe this area was a blindspot?

Cody slowly shifted his eyes over his surroundings, making sure that no one else was in the vicinity. With the coast clear, he gingerly turned the knob.

…

No dice.

"Figures," Cody shrugged. The door was locked tight. He wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting.

With his one plan of mischief foiled, he collapsed to the ground in exasperation. He took another long look at the scribbles which nearly piled up towards the roof of the cave. He recognized the doodles and writings of everyone there. No one seriously thought to tell him about this place even once? What did that mean about his standing in anyone's life? Heck, even Ezekiel managed to leave a mark here. But him?

Cody glanced across the cave. There was a small little section reserved for what was clearly all artwork drawn by Gwen. Near the very bottom was a very intricately rendered heart that contained yesterday's date alongside Gwen and Trent's signatures.

He knew he had no business to butt into her life like that, but seeing all that probably got to him the most. He really did assume the two formed some kind of a bond until he was foolishly proven otherwise just yesterday. To him, this cave was just a reminder of his lack of meaningful connections. Just what he needed to see on a day where his mood was already so full of self loathing.

Cody eyed a corner right near the mysterious door. It was one of the few patches of rock left relatively unscathed. With a frown, Cody reached into his pockets for a Sharpie pen. There was no reason for him to do this, but he felt like he needed to leave a proper mark on the island. A single piece of proof that for a period of time, he existed in the lives of everyone here.

He glanced at the finished drawing and frowned. He had attempted to draw a small cartoon monkey, but his lack of artistic abilities resulted in a crude dark scribble that was barely a few steps off from a stick figure. Even worse, the black Sharpie pen he used failed to make the drawing pop out in the dark corner of the cave. This cavern had been thoroughly covered by chalk and paint; and then there was his dour doodle hidden away, nearly blending in with the nothingness altogether.

"Might as well sign it," he chuckled weakly. He was used to faking himself in front of others. Now he was trying his best to fake amusement to himself.

...There was a rustle.

Cody turned around, expecting one of the several couples of the group to kick him out for privacy. His eyes widened and his face deflated as he instead gazed up at a tall and unfamiliar figure in a pitch black cloak that hid away all traces of an identity towering over him.

His first instinct of course was to scream.

"Who the hell are you?!" He cried out as he snatched the largest rock he could find as a makeshift weapon.

The cloaked figure continued staring at him in silence. Cody was beginning to suspect this was a ghost and desperately tried to steady his shaking arms as he readied himself to attack. He flung the rock, and it failed to reach its target in any capacity as the figure began walking towards the door instead.

Cody continued shaking in fear as he observed the stranger shifting their supposed blank gaze from him towards the door. His mind was a jumbled mess. Should he run? He should run, shouldn't he? Oh God, he needs to run away right now before-

"Tell me, what do you think is beyond this door?"

Cody blinked. He was too frozen to utter a response.

"Too speechless I see?" The figure continued. "I suppose someone as insignificant as you would never understand."

"U...understand wh-what?" Cody stuttered.

"It is of no concern of yours nor is it within your field of comprehension." The figure placed his palm on the door. "This is the true key to this world. Beyond it is nothing but darkness."

What?!

The figure turned towards him once again, causing the poor teen to stumble backwards in fright. His feet caught on to a small string of pebbles and forced him to topple over to the wall behind him. He closed his eyes shut as he winced in pain. Now wasn't the time for clumsy injuries however. He needed to leave NOW.

Cody opened his eyes once again, ready to evade anything the figure would do to him.

...Only to see that they were no longer in sight.

Cody darted his panicked face in every direction. The figure could pop up from behind to kill him at any moment, he just knew it.

The cave was completely silent aside from his beating heart and labored breaths. Several minutes passed. They never came back.

I have to leave, he thought. In fact, he wasn't sure why he hadn't done so already. Cody dashed out of the cave as fast as he could, still convinced the stranger would come back at any second to finish him off. In his panic, he didn't even notice Gwen walking past the entrance until the two collided against one another and to the ground.

"Ow! Watch where you're going!"

"I am so sorry," Cody replied aghast. "Sorry, there was like a guy in there. I don't know who the hell he was but he was definitely not a crewmember. Where did he go? Did you see him? He was here, right?!"

"Calm down!" Gwen shouted loud enough for his adrenaline to dissipate. "Look, I heard you screaming and ran over here to check what's up. Didn't see anyone other than you leave that place."

"B-but," Cody bluthered. "That means he's still in there, right?"

"Cody, there's nothing in there anyone could hide behind. Not even any larger rocks. If you didn't see anyone on your way out, then there's no one in there."

"I…" He was so confused.

"Hey," Gwen restarted with a calmer tone. "I know you've been having a ton of freaky nightmares recently. Maybe you were just hallucinating it?"

"I…" Was he? "I guess…"

…

Wait, Gwen was right in front of him.

"Shit, wait, I'm so sorry," he stammered.

"What? I don't even have a scratch on me. It's fine."

"No, no, I mean," Cody grasped his head in an exasperated manner. Here we go… "I mean yesterday. I'm sorry about being, well...stupid."

"Oh, that," Gwen bit her lip. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I probably came off a lot harsher than I meant to."

"No, but like, I've been misreading everything the whole time I've been here. You can just forget about everything, alright? You won't ever see me again after tomorrow."

"Whoa, whoa," Gwen quickly gestured her hand for him to stop. "Look, I get it. You don't know how to people. It's fine, alright? Trent told me everything. You don't mean to be cringy on instinct, but you do. I get it. Just leave it, okay?"

Cody blinked. Apparently the promise he made Trent to not let Gwen know anything about his real self did not go both ways.

What a dick.

"You're, uh," Cody scratched his head. "Has anyone ever told you you're surprisingly forgiving?"

"No, I'm not. Have you seen me and Heather?"

"Aside from her," Cody continued. "Like, you're still tolerating me despite everything. Even I would've started avoiding me at this point."

"Well for one thing, you're giving yourself way too much grief than you should," Gwen responded. "Second of all, I don't know, hearing what Trent had to say about you, I guess I could relate a little.

"I was really sick as a kid. I had some kind of weird rare disease and pretty much lived in the hospital. By the time I left, I had no clue how to really talk to or get along with other kids. Several years go by and," she gestured towards herself, emphasizing her gothic attire. "Well, all this baggage and rotten attitude happened."

If he wasn't expecting Trent to open up to him yesterday, he certainly wasn't Gwen to do the same today. "Really? You don't look sick."

Gwen shrugged. "I just got over it one day. Never had a relapse. Heck, I barely even get like 'normal' sick anymore. Don't even know what happened."

Gwen yawned as if this conversation was dragging on past her own personal convenience. "It should go without saying, but don't tell Trent about that. I'll let him know on my own eventually."

Luckily, this time Cody didn't have any deeply personal backstory to be ratted out later in exchange.

"Of course," he smiled. He laughed lightly. "It's funny. All three of us are really just weird loners with issues, huh? What a coincidence."

"All three?"

Oops.

Even if Trent didn't bother keeping his story a secret, he was smart enough not to reveal that guy's absolute mess of a background. His eyes shifted around, panicking as he tried to come up with any solution to distract Gwen. "Uh-"

Luckily for him, or not luckily at all, that distraction came in the form of mysterious rustles. Suddenly, his mind no longer looked for ways to change the subject. Now it was reminded him that just moments before, he was being confronted by who-knows-what who had run to who-knows-where. Were they back?

Gwen saw the panic in his face. She didn't believe in the mysterious stranger Cody claimed to have seen, but the frozen terror he displayed right in front of her was infectious. Things got worse as soon as the two began to hear muffled ambience. The mutual look on their faces told them both that they needed to leave.

Unfortunately, they decided on this much too late. The rustling quickened to a vigorous pacing and the muffled noise drew nearer by the second.

Fortunately, it was just Owen being mauled by the rabid raccoon from earlier.

"GET OFF OF ME! OWW! I SAID I WAS SORRY!" He cried as he passed by the two like they weren't even there.

Izzy quickly followed from behind. "Aren't you glad I told you to get those rabies shots now?" She laughed as if watching her maybe-boyfriend getting attacked by a possibly diseased animal was the most entertaining thing in the world.

Cody and Gwen were left standing in silence. They both had an urge to break into laughter, but neither wanted to possibly be the only one laughing.

"... Hey," Gwen began.

"Yeah?"

"That guy you said you saw earlier in the cave? Was he wearing a black trenchcoat?"

Oh shit.

"Do you know who I'm talking about?!" Cody replied frantically.

Gwen facepalmed in stress and aggravation. "Oh God, I saw someone walking outside last night, but I thought it was Duncan." She rubbed her temples. "Shit, is there another serial killer here? Why is this happening to me?"

"We, we just have to survive until the boat gets here tomorrow morning, right?"

"Have you ever watched a slasher flick?" Gwen snapped. "Until tomorrow morning is more than enough time for someone to wipe out half of us."

She began to run off. "Go help gather the others. We are not having a repeat of the serial killer challenge."

She was already too far gone for him to ask questions. Neither of them were even sure if this stranger was there for blood, but neither wanted to risk it. Cody started running off as well. Owen and Izzy couldn't have gotten too far. He'll warn them first.

He blinked. A small drop of water landed on his cheek. Then came another. And another. Soon, a steady stream of rain enveloped the entire island.

"Seriously?" He whined. Possible serial killer and rain, huh? What an awful combination.

"Is this going to delay the boat too?"

oOo

Hi Al,

Sorry to spring this up on you without warning. I meant to tell you before I left, but I'm afraid there's no time for that.

I've noticed the stars slowly blinking away. I don't know why, but it can't be anything good. I'm leaving to consult my teacher. After that, I'll probably be gone for a while.

I hear that there's supposed to be someone with a key. Whoever they are, they'll be the key to stopping this. If it's not too much trouble, no, you and Loudred have to find the Keybearer or everything will be lost.

Here are the coordinates to a place called Traverse Town. Head over there as soon as possible and find a man named Leon. He'll point you two to the right direction.

Good Luck,

King Raichu

P.S. Can you say sorry to Lopunny for me? And I know Piplup's going to be pretty mad too, so sorry if he gives you any grief. ^_^;

Piplup finished reading the letter in an unimpressed tone.

After the ruckus in the garden, Queen Lopunny had ordered Alakazam and Loudred to move over to her personal quarters. With the contents of the letter now revealed, it was now obvious to everyone else why Alakazam was in such a panic.

"He just up and left?" Lopunny squeaked. "How are we going to let everyone know?"

"More importantly," Piplup interrupted. "This big world saving task the King is going on about? Why is he entrusting it to them?!" He pointed across the room to where Alakazam awkwardly stood twiddling his hands and Loudred sat down, looking as if he was going to fall asleep again. In comparison to them, Piplup commanded a much stronger and ferocious presence despite the two easily towering over the tiny penguin.

"He could have asked for me, he could have asked for Gremninja or Charizard or Infernape or literally anyone else but he asked for you two?!"

"Now now," Lopunny calmed the small Pokemon down. "I'm sure he has his reasons. We have to trust his judgement."

She turned to face the pair. "You know what this means, right? The two of you will have to leave immediately."

"Wait, wait, wait," Alakazam coughed. "Look, I'm with Captain Piplup. Do not send me off. I'm not made for this kind of thing."

"You're right you aren't," Piplup mumbled under his breath, earning a light shove from Lopunny in response.

"Look," Alakazam continued. "I'm an advisor. I don't want to suddenly leave you alone with all the paperwork and any possible panic this is going to cause."

"You know I've taken over for him before. Don't write me off that easily," Lopunny giggled. "The King asked for you, didn't he? That means he thinks this is a task only you can handle."

"Yeah," Loudred nodded in agreement. "This means he has faith you can help him save the day. He's King Raichu, right? He's always believed in you, so have faith in him."

Alakazam stood in silence, mulling everything over. It's true that the King had always believed him when no one else did. Everyone knew he owed a great deal to the King which was why he was always so loyal and faithful to serving him despite being an "outsider" in this castle. If the King believed that someone like him could help with this important task, then he had to believe in his friend's judgment.

Alakazam closed his eyes and took a deep breath before responding. "Fine, I'll go."

"Alright!" Lopunny squealed.

"You better not mess this up," Piplup harrumphed.

"You're gonna do great! Best of luck to you," Loudred chimed in. This triggered daggers from Alakazam.

"Why are you acting as if you're not involved in this too? Come on!"

Alakazam activated his telekinesis and dragged Loudred alongside him as he marched out of the room.

Soon, the two arrived at the castle's hangar; the topmost portion of the castle that was the bridge between them and the stars. Any nervousness Alakazam once had was now gone as he eyed the area with childlike wonder.

"Oh man, Loudred," he said excitedly. "That's the new model they brought in last month, right? Is that what we're riding in?"

"Haha, you're such a kid," Loudred laughed. "You've seen the Gummi Ships before. Though I guess this is the first time you'll be on one as a co-pilot and not a passenger. Hope you're a quick learner."

"As if you know how to pilot one," Alakazam snapped back.

As the two settled into the ship, it suddenly dawned on them that, indeed, neither of them had ever piloted a Gummi Ship before. Alakazam glanced at Loudred awkwardly who just bursted out in guffaws in response.

"Don't laugh! Seriously, how are we supposed to pilot this thing?"

"Hi guys!"

The two jumped. Skitty leapt upwards from her hiding spot from under the dashboard. She definitely was not supposed to be here. In fact, was she even allowed in the hangar?

"What the? Get out of here!" Alakazam attempted to shoo her away, but, to his horror, she began to slap her tiny legs and her oversized tail alongside the dashboard controls like they were her own personal playthings. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Hahaha, I guess we'll have to learn as we go along whether we want to or not," Loudred chuckled heartily as he pointed at the front window. The ship was getting ready to take off and the workers in the hangar had begun opening up the exit in response.

"NO, NO, NO, STOP, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" Alakazam screeched as Loudred continued to laugh without a care in the world.

Back within the lower floors of the castle, Lopunny and Piplup walked through the halls, getting ready to properly begin their temporary kingdom takeover. Lopunny suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Maybe I should've sent some others with them. I don't even think either of them have piloted a Gummi Ship before."

"See?" Piplup huffed. "I should've gone on this mission! They're an advisor and a bard. They don't have any experience."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Lopunny responded. "They've been on adventures with the King before. You should have the same faith in them as the King does."

All of a sudden, a loud mechanical burst erupted outside. The two exchanged grim looks with each other before running towards the nearest window to assess the situation. The Gummi Ship the pair had been assigned to zig zagged wildly in the sky. Lopunny and Piplup's faces slowly turned into panic. Were they going to crash? Was this journey over before it even started?

The two were mentally debating with one another to send for a rescue team immediately, but after a few more tumbles, the ship finally made its way smoothly out of the atmosphere.

They both took a long string of silence to take in what just happened. They seemed to have had things figured out when they left, but...were they really going to be okay?

oOo

It turned out, Cody didn't have to worry about spending enough time on the island for the supposed killer to get to him. Nor did he have to worry about the sudden storm delaying the ship. In fact, the ship was here way ahead of schedule.

The heavy rainfall had suddenly turned into a storm akin to a typhoon in no time flat. Despite that, Chris and Chef requested the ship to get them all out of there much earlier than expected. There were apparently some concerns about the storm causing a possible landslide in the portion of the camp right where Chris and Chef's cabin lay and neither of them wanted to deal with that for even one night. Of course, none of the campers were happy about this. The were all pretty unanimous in pinning this evacuation as a suicide mission.

"Are you insane?!" Courtney screamed. "Do you see this storm? We leave now and we are going to die!"

"Seriously," Leshawna added. "I knew you two were crazy, but this is a whole different brand of crazy!"

"It's just a storm," Chris brushed it off. "Chef's rode through hurricanes back in...whatever war he said he was in. Ain't that right, Chef?"

"Yeah, let's go with that," Chef loudly responded as he carefully began preparations in the wheelhouse.

"Just a storm?!" Heather screeched. "Do you see this?! I already suffered enough on this hellhole of an island. I am not dying on it!"

"Technically, you'd be dying in the water, not on the island," Harold interjected.

"Who asked you?!"

"You goddamn psycho shitfaces!" Eva growled. She began to move towards the boat with her fists tightened into wads of veins. The storm was the only barrier between her and possibly killing Chris, and he was more than aware of that.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't come any closer!" He warned and attempted to maneuver through the wobbling ship to gain more space between him and Eva.

As Chris continued antagonizing the frustrated teenagers, Cody stood in the back and darted his eyes everywhere in search of Trent and Gwen. He didn't realize it when he got there, but the two of them were the only campers who weren't present. He bit his lip thinking back to the cloaked stranger. Was there a possibility that they got to them? Gwen was trying to warn the others about them. Did they stop her and Trent was out there trying to save her? Either way, he dragged her into this, so he had to help.

Cody looked back at the crowd. Eva had begun hurling stones at the boat while a bunch of the guys seemed to be joining her in assaulting the TV host and his death trap. It didn't look like things were going to resolve soon, and frankly, Cody had the same desire to board that thing in the middle of this hellstorm as everyone else. With that, he snuck away from the crowd and towards the woods.

"If none of you guys want to leave, then we are leaving without you and we're not sending another boat!"

"What?! You can't do that!" Owen cried.

"Yeah," Izzy added. "Do that and I'll alert my lawyers to break out of jail and send their followers to convert you two!"

"Wh-what?" Owen blinked.

"My lawyers," Izzy happily stated matter of factly. "They both got really into alternative religions in law school and decided to start one themselves. I'm not religious, so I wasn't into it, but they're so good, they've managed to convince all of their clients to…"

Izzy spotted Cody running off. What was he doing?

Her eyes widened. There was something even more peculiar than Cody fleeing the scene. Blobs of deep black were manifesting out of nowhere. The larger they grew, the higher they elevated until they ultimately took the form of shadowy pitch black creatures; unbeknownst to them, the same ones from Cody's dreams.

No one believed Izzy at first when she called the group's attention to them. It was Izzy after all. She was always spouting crazy shit. But when they turned around in curiosity, the truth seeped into their terrified faces. Suddenly, the teens who were so desperately attempting to stop the boat from leaving were now desperately trying to make their way onboard. Chris and Chef were much quicker on the uptake however and were already drifting away, much too far for the teens to jump on.

They were trapped.

oOo

Crap, where would she be? Where would either of them be? Cody frantically thought to himself as he dodged his way through the rain and wind while he navigated through the dark woods. It was already easy to get lost in here, but now that the storm was causing everything around him to flail around, it was near impossible.

Cody's ears perked as he heard rustling from behind. He instinctively turned around and his face morphed into a look of horror as he saw what was behind him.

Those creatures. The ones from his dreams. They were getting closer and closer to him.

He experienced that same dream enough times to know what would happen if they got to him. In fact, he stood there and assumed they were going to fulfill the omen right now. Cody shut his eyes and braced himself for the end. He could hear the rustling continue past him however as the creatures advanced forward like a path of pitch black writhing.

"What the?..." he breathed. Something was formed in his head. His dream, the creatures, the mysterious figure. Were they all connected somehow?

He took another breath. He figured there was a chance he'd regret this, but he decided to follow the path of black in hopes it would lead him to something. Anything.

And in the end, it led him to the very top of the peculiar cliff that lay on the island. Trent was sitting at the very edge.

"Trent!" Cody mustered all the strength in him to outrun the Shadows and towards the other teen.

"Trent, Trent," he wheezed as he stopped to catch his breath from behind his friend. "Gwen...I can't...I don't know where she is...There was...there was this guy...Trent, we have to find her!"

No response.

…?

Trent had not budged at all. There was an eerie lack of any sort of reaction from the sullen teen. He sat there chillingly nonchalantly despite Cody's panicked words and the chaos of the weather.

"D...dude? Hey, Trent! Did you hear me? Gwen is-"

"I'll find her."

Huh?

"I'll find her and bring her with me."

What in the world?

Trent's words were icy. Cody couldn't tell if he was acting strange or if this was the "true" him he told him about yesterday.

"What are you talking about?!"

Trent finally got up and slowly turned to face Cody with the icy movement to match his unusually cold and hollow words. The expression on his face showed no hints of any emotion despite the small smile that was plastered on.

He held out his hand.

"You don't have anything that matters in this world right? How about you leave this place too?"

Wh-what? What is he talking about?

… Is he going to jump?!

Cody wasn't sure how to process anything that was occuring. And when a stream of Shadows erupted from the waters behind Trent, he was even less certain. A wave of Shadows was hurtling towards them. Trent did not seem to be in the right state of mind to move out of the way. Cody knew what those creatures were capable of. They could kill him in his dreams over and over again, but he wasn't going to let them get his first friend.

He reached for Trent's hand, ready to snatch him away from the wave's path.

But he was too late.

Cody couldn't feel anything. His body and mind were quickly numbing. It was just like his dreams but only now, it was final.

Was he going to die for real this time?

…

...No. He still had to find her.

If he died, no one would care, but if she did?

She was someone who needed to live.

The numbness continued, but something was happening alongside it. Something that had never occurred before in any of the countless nightmare simulations Cody had faced in the past few months.

There was warmth.

"Perhaps I was wrong about you

"Or perhaps I wasn't.

"I'd love to see you prove me wrong.

"You're much more interesting than I could have ever imagined."

…

…

…

…!

There was a burst of light.

He opened his eyes.

He was alive.

He eyed the surrounding area. There was no trace of the torrent of Shadows that threatened to kill him and Trent.

...Trent!

Cody searched frantically. Where did he go?

His time to piece together what had occurred unfortunately ran out. Shadows manifested from the ground around him and replaced the hoards that had disappeared into thin air. Only something was different. The Shadows earlier completely ignored him. It caught him off guard as they always chased him around like magnets in his dreams. These new Shadows however were operating in the same wavelength as the monsters he was familiar with.

A Shadow leapt upwards, ready to pounce him. Cody yelped and swung his arm on instinct. That's when it finally occurred to him.

He was clutching tightly on to an oversized key. And that same key had just destroyed the creature.

With the Shadow gone, more slowly replaced it. Cody had attempted to fight back against these creatures countless times in his dreams, but they were all fruitless efforts. He never knew they could actually be killed until now.

Their numbers steadily increase. Cody cringed. Even though he now had a means to protect himself, his limited knowledge of combat was no different from the sloppy shield whacking he performed back in his dreams. There was no way he was going to be able to fend them all off. He had no choice but to run.

There he was running frantically through the woods once more. There was so much going on and no time at all to think things through lest the Shadows caught up to him. He was searching for Gwen, but where on Earth would she be? And where did Trent go? Did he have to search for him too? In fact, should he even be worried about searching for others in the situation he was currently in?

Cody skidded to a halt. He managed to circle back to the cave that he discovered just a few hours ago. A lightbulb lit up in his head. If Gwen was going to be anywhere, she'd probably be there. Cody turned around and made sure that he lost the Shadows for good before quickly shuffling in.

Lo and behold, there she was at the very end of the cave's short pathway, standing towards the strange door.

"Gwen!" Cody ran forward. "I've been looking everywhere for you! I found Trent and…"

He hesitated. He still wasn't quite sure what occurred back there. Was Trent even still with them? He didn't want to think of that possibility, but it was best left alone for now.

"Look, we have to get out of here. There are monsters everywhere!"

…

...No response.

"Hey..." He reached forward and grabbed her shoulder on the off chance that she just didn't hear him the first time around.

She turned around.

Cody froze. Something wasn't right. Gwen had that same icy look that Trent held just earlier. Only somehow, she looked even icier; as if she was both waking up and falling into a deep coma right in front of him.

He was taken aback. After what had just occurred with Trent, he wasn't sure how to handle her current demeanor.

"Hey...are you okay?"

Gwen's eyes stared blankly in his direction. Her lips pursed, mouthing something that was too soft in volume to decipher. He couldn't even ask her any more questions because he was witnessing something far more alarming.

Gwen was fading.

What the hell?!

His first instinct was to try to reach out to her, but yet another alarming incident occurred, putting a stop to that.

The door burst open.

He wasn't sure if it was the might of wind or pure darkness, but he was soon sent flying. There was no time to grab ahold of Gwen to move her away from harm. There was no time to figure out what exactly happened to her.

All he could feel as he hurtled across the air was the same warmth he felt right before he reemerged with this key he was wielding.

Cody crashed to the ground. He had managed to make it back to the main campgrounds. Only things were not quite the same as when he left. The chaos from the campers desperately fighting against Chris were now replaced by the chaos of the campers fending themselves off from the shadow creatures.

There was nowhere to run. The monsters were gathered at every inch of the area. People had gathered on rooftops, crawled under the cabins, and some had even run towards the woods he had just been thrown out of. Off in the distance, the boat had steadily floated away, or at least as best as it could against the strong winds of the storm that were only intensified by the second. They had been left for dead.

And if things weren't bad enough, they were going to get even worse.

From the grounds, a new blob of pitch black formed. Only this one did not result in one of the many shadowy creatures that now infested the island. This void grew and grew and grew. When it finally took form, Cody could do nothing but let out the most horrified scream that ever left his body. He stared at the new monster that towered above him.

It was the same tall monster from his dream. The same one that would end his life over and over again while it stared down at him in a mocking fashion, knowing it would always win.

Darkside.

"What the hell is that thing?!"

"We're all going to die!"

"What are you just standing there for? Kill it!"

"You think I can do anything about that?!"

Cody stood frozen in place. He had the means to fight back now, but all he could think about was the predictable outcome that would come from a fight against it. He had witnessed the same scene enough times to know he had no chance. His peers were right. They were going to die. He was going to die.

Darkside lifted its fist into the air before crashing it down back onto the ground, right where Cody stood. He managed to just barely miss his demise. The monster repeated this process again and again as if it were attempting to break apart the island itself. The tremors were strong enough to cause tidal waves in the water, sinking Chris and Chef's getaway ship instantly. Cody could do nothing but prance around in panic. He knew he was going to die, so why was he trying so hard to live? There was no way he would survive this fight. He might as well just stand still and let it happen.

Darkside lifted its fist once again, getting ready to pound the very ground the scrawny teen stood on. Behind its emotionless face, Cody could see the same expression he projected on to it every time it killed him in his sleep; the smug feeling of an effortless victory.

He was so sure this was his last moment alive that he and the creature mirrored the same look of shock as a rabid raccoon smacked straight into the fist, causing Darkside to briefly lose balance.

"You'll never take me alive!" A familiar voice screeched.

Cody turned. Izzy had somehow managed to nab every single powertool and then some from the arts and crafts cabin and appeared in what almost looked like a full suit of armor made up of hammers, chainsaws, and drills.

Izzy glanced over at Cody. "Hey, you've got a weapon, right? Come on!"

She let out a blood curdling battlecry before dashing forwards towards the dark giant. Darkside was overwhelmed by her attacks, but not in a way that seemed like they were actually doing anything. It looked like it was swatting away a persistent mosquito that was much too fast to kill. Truly, this strange key he held may possibly be the only weapon that could actually harm it much like what happened earlier with the tinier Shadows.

Cody gawked at the scene. What was he doing? Why was he so ready to throw away everything?

He was going to live.

Everyone here was going to live.

This was the day he would finally defeat Darkside.

Darkside had finally knocked Izzy away. As the giant began to refocus itself onto its real target, in that split second where it was still wide open for an attack, Cody charged forward.

Everything after that was a blur. He wasn't sure how the battle concluded or whether or not he won or lost. All he knew was that he was alive as pure light engulfed him, the island, and the rest of the world itself.

"Perhaps you truly aren't ready. But I believe you will pull through even if you aren't.

Even if you never will be."