Chapter 60: Rejoiced Reunited

CatNap and DogDay were in the blank void again. Their eyes were shut as they then opened their eyes to look around.

"We're here in the void again?" DogDay wondered,

CatNap then looked at something.

"Hey, look!" He said as he pointed to a black void with a bright blue light across it, "What's going on over there?"

"Looks like the blue sky." DogDay replied,

DogDay then saw the Dark Critters group, sleeping.

"And look at this!" He said as he and CatNap looked at Howard, BuffBuffalo, Winnie and Sneaky Sal, "It's those four…"

"Yeah, but where's RebelRaven at?" CatNap wondered,

"It seems like you two need answers again." A familiar voice said, "But for the final time."

CatNap and DogDay then turned to GuardianDove.

"Oh, hey GuardianDove!" DogDay said,

"Hello." GuardianDove said, "First off, congratulations you two, you have saved all of Crittopia from The Hour Of Joy happening."

"Thanks…" CatNap said, "But… What do you mean this is the final time we need answers?"

GuardianDove then showed them RebelRaven, who was no longer a Dark Critter as he was in his punk attire, which was his normal attire the whole time.

"I'm right here." He replied, "Thank you two for freeing me from Prince Prototype's control."

"W-Woah, what's going on?" DogDay wondered,

"It's a long story." GuardianDove said, "But I knew RebelRaven. He was my first "customer" or patient that I visited in his dream. He was at his lowest point of life and I told him to keep on fighting until he achieved what he wanted. But, this Prince Prototype individual had better plans for him. So I made sure that no one else would get their skins under the minds of Prince Prototype. That includes your friend Bobby and of course, you two and CraftyCorn."

"Well…" CatNap said, "And to think that you were a big help…"

"Now, don't you two worry anymore. Peace has been achieved again and you can continue to carry on with your lives. However, I will no longer be assisting anyone in their dreams."

"What?!" DogDay said, "Why?!"

"My time was up years ago and I think Heaven has had enough for me now that The Hour Of Joy is no longer inevitable."

"H-Heaven?"

"D-Did you actually die?" CatNap wondered, surprised,

"Yes, from a sickness." GuardianDove replied, "I used to be a priest and a saint for a church, but I had no idea what Heaven has in store for me until now."

"Oh… We're sorry…" DogDay said,

"No worries. I'll be back at peace soon."

GuardianDove then looked at the bright blue light ahead of them in the black void.

"Now, we shall be heading our way there." He said, "I originally wanted someone to sacrifice themself to have them and myself cross to Heaven so that the sky in your real world can turn blue again, but RebelRaven volunteered without hesitation. He wanted to atone for what he had done as Morris, even though he was under the control of Prince Prototype."

"Are you sure?" CatNap wondered,

"Yes, I'm sure." RebelRaven replied, "I guess Heaven has room for a punk rocker like me."

"But, what about those four?" DogDay asked as he showed GuardianDove and RebelRaven the other four Dark Critters,

"Those four will be going with you two back to the real world." GuardianDove replied, "Only this time, they'll be way different critters than they last were. However, I believe you might not see any of those four again…"

"Oh… Uhh…"

"No more wasting time."

The bright blue light was slowly dwindling.

"We must hurry now, RebelRaven." GuardianDove said to him, "Come on."

"Right." RebelRaven said as he turned to CatNap and DogDay, "Once again, from the bottom of our hearts, thanks for everything."

"Indeed, thanks for everything."

GuardianDove and RebelRaven past by CatNap and DogDay as they headed towards the bright blue light.

"W-Wait!" DogDay said as he tried to catch up to them, but was stopped by CatNap, "Huh?"

CatNap silently shook his head, no.

"CatNap…" DogDay said,

DogDay looked back at GuardianDove and RebelRaven entering the bright blue light. Then, a bright white light started to shine upon entering, which once again, devoured CatNap and DogDay while they were covering their eyes from it.

CraftyCorn meanwhile was in her zen garden as she saw it all happening at the final pillar of light.

"Did… Did they win?" She wondered,

Then, she saw 2 round white lights shining above and moving down to where she's at.

"Woah!" She said,

CraftyCorn then saw CatNap and DogDay appearing out of the light.

"G-Guys!" She said as she had tears in her eyes and went to hug them,

"Crafty!" DogDay said with glee and emotion, "We won!"

"Yes, and about time as well!" CatNap said with emotion,

"You guys did it!" CraftyCorn said, "Ahh! You guys did it!"

Then, a ray of light was shining down on them as they all looked up to see the sky turning blue again.

"Yes… We did it…" CatNap said as he sniffed,

Everyone else in Crittopia then saw the last pillar of light fading away as the red sky turned fully blue again. LabRat, after losing to Bubba, fled without telling him what happened as he promised as he looked up at the blue sky.

"We failed…" He said as he groaned and turned to his group of masked critters in red and black, "Alright, let's get Bitsy and Lenny back to us and retreat! We must think of something else until we hear from Prince Prototype!"

Bubba and his friends meanwhile saw the sky turning back to blue again.

"It's… over." Bubba said in relief,

"The red sky turning back to blue feels… new again." Bobby said,

"Yeah…" KickinChicken said,

"But… Where's CatNap and DogDay at?" PickyPiggy wondered,

"Yeah I'm with her, where are they at?" Hoppy wondered, "They must have been dueling Morris, weren't they? And that last pink pillar of light just disappeared."

PickyPiggy's phone then rang. She took it out of her pocket and noticed something.

"I got a text." She said, "From someone anonymous."

Everyone else was surprised and concerned.

"Meet us at Verygreen Park." PickyPiggy read, "Outside of a woods connected to it."

"Well… We better see what this is about." Bubba said, worried,

CatNap, DogDay and CraftyCorn meanwhile were near Verygreen Park as they were in the woods.

"I don't know, guys…" CraftyCorn said, worried "This seems like a bad idea."

"Don't worry, they miss you as much as we do." CatNap said,

"That's right." DogDay said, "Follow our lead, ok?"

"Ok…" CraftyCorn said as she gulped, "Let me know, ha ha…"

Bubba and his friends meanwhile were in Verygreen Park, confused.

"I'm not sure if this is even legit." Bubba said, "Maybe it's one of those prank text messages you've gotten, Picky."

PickyPiggy then got another text.

"Turn around." She replied, "Guess we're turning around."

Bubba and his friends turned around and to their surprise, CatNap and DogDay were there.

"CATNAP! DOGDAY!" They shouted as they went over to give CatNap and DogDay an emotional group hug,

"You guys!" DogDay said as he was about to cry, "We're alive and well!"

"Oh, you two have us worried sick!" Bobby said,

"Well that, and we took down that Morris guy!" CatNap said,

"It looks like you two have done your parts as well." Bubba said,

CatNap and KickinChicken were then face-to-face with one another.

"...So… The past is the past…" KickinChicken said, "And I just wanted to say I'm sorry to you. Same for you, DogDay."

"Just don't get too overboard like I did." CatNap said, "Ok?"

"Wait, when did you snap?"

"Long story."

"Oh…"

"Well, just don't do anything that you just did to me or CatNap or anyone like that again, ok?" DogDay asked,

"I promise."

"Good."

"Oh, by the way." CatNap said, "Me and DogDay didn't do this alone."

"Huh?" Hoppy wondered, "You didn't?"

"Who else y'all got?" PickyPiggy wondered,

DogDay turned his head to the woods.

"Ok, you can come out now!" He said,

CraftyCorn heard DogDay's words and took a deep breath.

"Who are they talking about?" Bobby whispered to Hoppy,

"I don't know." Hoppy whispered back,

The grasses and trees started to shake as CraftyCorn steps out to reveal herself to the rest of her friends that she hasn't seen in over a year. Everyone else was shocked to see her. Bubba on the other hand was on the brink of tears.

"CRAFTY!" Bubba shouted as he ran over to hug her,

"Bubba!" CraftyCorn said, "Oh my, it's been forever!"

"I miss you! It wasn't the same without you, really!"

"I know… And I miss you too, same for you all."

Everyone else went over to emotionally hug CraftyCorn.

"This has to be a dream!" Bobby said,

"Yeah, like holy shit!" Hoppy said, "You're alive!"

"There's no way you survived a year without us from whatever the Hell you've done!" PickyPiggy said,

"We're so happy you're back!" KickinChicken said, "Really!"

CraftyCorn sniffed.

"You guys, thank you…" She said, "Thank you so much… I really miss you all…"

CatNap was about to cry and he sniffed.

"Wow… Our whole friend group is back together again." He said,

"Yeah…" DogDay said, emotional, "And this whole apocalypse that we have to deal with is over. Even though we were part of it for a moment."

"I would rather not bring that up anymore, just saying."

"I know, but at least it's finally over… However, we might as well recover from what just happened over the years so that we can finally feel rejoiced and reunited again…"

"Of course… Hey, DogDay?"

"Yeah?"

"...Thanks for being around."

"And thank you for giving me words of encouragement up there. And for being the best buddy I could ever have on my side."

"Heh, you're welcome, man…"

"Come on, our friends are waiting for us."

As CatNap and DogDay went back to their friends again, everyone then looked up at the blue sky above after being rejoiced and reunited again. They were smiling again together like they haven't smiled in over a year. Hopefully next year, everything will be better again for the critter crew.

Back in the woods, two mechanical hands were seen picking up 2 masks that resembled Sneaky Sal's mask and RebelRaven's mask. A voice was heard, chuckling, menacingly.

"Those two have done their duty well…" A Masculine voice said, "But unfortunately…"

The masks were then destroyed to pieces by the mechanical hands.

"I've had enough of them." The voice continued, "I must bring forth a new group of respected critters in order to take over this universe… But I'll give them a year… Including him, CatNap…"

The voice then laughed softly yet menacing. What does he mean by universe? Why is CatNap mentioned? What will he and his friends do about it?"