-Chapter 205-

Cold Nightmare

Knothole

At Knothole's infirmary, Team Sonic and Amy had been laid out. Sticks still hadn't given up trying to rouse them, poking Sonic with a stick.

"C'mon, wake up already!" she shouted.

She rapidly patted his cheek, before slapping him repeatedly. Finally, she grabbed a slew of instruments, performing a one-man band routine with drums and the like, slamming cymbals together as she sang in a screechy, high pitched voice. Suddenly, a net flew over her, entangling her. Shard stepped forward, the net fired from his arm cannon, and reeled her in.

"Okay, enough already," he insisted. "You've tried everything to get them up, kitchen sink included, and it's not working."

Sticks was hissing and clawing at the net like one of her rabid counterparts, but Shard was unfazed.

"Stick her in the cells for now," Sally ordered, holding Sonic's hand, running her thumb over his glove. "At least until she exhausts herself."

"Aw, c'mon!" Sticks whined. "Not again!"

"And don't forget the jacket."

"I'm trying to help! I've done nothing to warrant the jacket!" Sticks lunged at them through the net, hissing and clawing again, her tongue flicking out like a snake. "Lemme outta here!"

She snarled and grumbled as Shard and Sally exchanged deadpan looks.

-X-

Ten minutes later…

Sticks was confined in a padded room in the Knothole cells, wrapped in a straitjacket and struggling.

"Now you're gonna stay in there until you calm down," Shard declared, closing the door.

She struggled a bit more, then slumped.

"I will murder you all one day," she swore. "Mark my words."

That just got her sprayed in the face with a water bottle.

"You're really not helping your case here, Sticks!"

-X-

Meanwhile, the infirmary door opened, allowing a familiar black cat to enter.

"Ebony, thank Aurora," Bunnie sighed.

"I came as quickly as I could," Ebony said. "What exactly is going on?"

"We've all been having crazy nightmares for the past week," Sally explained. "And now, no matter what we try, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy won't wake up."

That got Ebony's attention.

"Nightmares? I too have suffered from such affliction. I merely thought it to be the result of late evenings and stress."

"So it's not just us Freedom Fighters that have been having bad dreams?" Kat questioned. "What the hell is going on here?"

Without breaking stride, she casually dropped a Mobium into the swear jar Cheese held up to her.

"Hopefully, I can answer that question."

Ebony approached Amy, kneeling beside her before placing a hand on her forehead. She muttered a spell beneath her breath, and a strange, purple mark began to manifest on her chest.

"Yeesh," Johnny winced. "One hell of a skin rash."

Cheese cleared his throat, holding up the swear jar. With a sigh, he dropped in a Mobium.

"Oh, my," Ebony let out. "The Endless Dream…"

"I don't like the sound of that," Cosmo remarked nervously.

"It's a powerful curse, one meant to trap its victim in an eternal slumber," Ebony explained.

"What, like Sleeping Beauty? Snow White?" Shorty questioned.

"In a manner of speaking." Ebony nodded.

"Who could have cast this curse?" Rotor asked. "Naugus?"

"Nah," Porker chimed in. "Sal ain't affected. If it was Naugus, he'd have gotten her too, if not all of us."

"This magic is beyond the Order of Ixis," Ebony said. "This is something... far more powerful."

"But if it isn't them, then who?" Antoine questioned.

Emerald Coast

Meanwhile, in Maginaryworld, Team Sonic and Amy were walking along, looking over the icy palm trees and frozen surf. Lumina flitted overhead.

"It's so weird seeing the coast like this," Tails mused.

"What's weird is being able to walk across all this ice without feeling cold," Amy remarked.

The second she said that, she was instantly cold. Sonic sighed.

"Amy, remember this is a dream world," he pointed out. "It's all in our heads."

Amy just hugged herself, shivering and trying to control her chattering teeth.

"Just think, 'I'm not cold,' and you won't be," Sonic advised.

Amy closed her eyes, and a pink, puffy coat appeared around her body.

"Ah, that's better," she sighed.

Sonic shrugged. "Eh, whatever works."

Knuckles squinted, looking ahead. "Hey guys. I think I see people up ahead."

"Must be more Dreamers like us," Tails suggested.

"Well, let's check it out," Sonic decided.

They moved in closer, and indeed, they saw several humans and Mobians scattered across the beach. Almost all of them were frozen, either partly or entirely. However, what was really surprising were the strange creatures harassing the frostbitten dreamers. They all matched the dual tropical and icy nature of the world, ranging from two-legged fish on ice skates, to yeti with surfboards clad in Big Kahuna Island (1) shirts, to palm trees wearing scarves and mittens.

"What are those things?" Amy questioned.

"Voidlings," Lumina explained. "Creatures created by Void to spread his corruption and evil."

"C'mon, we gotta stop 'em!" Tails exclaimed.

"Damn right we do," Knuckles readied his Shovel Claws as Amy heaved her hammer onto her shoulder. "Let's get 'em!"

"Tails, you focus on that Precioustone shard," Sonic instructed. "We've got these things!"

"I'm on it!"

They charged forward, placing themselves between the Dreamers and Voidlings. Sonic tapped his feet on the ground, rolling his shoulders in preparation for a fight.

"Pop quiz, hotshot," Sonic began. "You've made the mistake of picking on innocent people in front of a hedgehog who hates stinkin' bullies. What do you do? What do you do?"

One of the Voidlings, a palm tree, turned to him. To Sonic's surprise, tears seemed to be streaming down its face.

"What the-?!" he was cut off when the tree opened its mouth, unleashing a volley of frozen coconuts at the hedgehog.

Amy clashed against a yeti, who was using its surfboard as a club. She blinked when, rather than the grunts or roars she was expecting, the beast was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Are you... are you crying?" she asked.

Rather than answer, the yeti grabbed her and threw her into a snowy mound.

"What in Aurora's name is going on?" Knuckles demanded. "Are these things seriously crying?"

"They are beings of nothing but pain and suffering," Lumina replied. "I am not surprised. If you truly feel for them, end their misery."

"That's not how we do things!" Sonic snapped. "Tails, find that shard!"

Tails looked around, the Miles Electric beeping before getting a strong signal at a figure nearby.

"That way!" he shouted.

He flew forward as fast as he could, approaching the figure that only seemed to grow taller and taller. Soon, he found himself staring up at an eight feet tall woman that seemed to be made entirely of ice, possessing long flowing white hair resembling a cape falling down her back and donned in a long dress patterned with markings similar to Void's. In her chest was a pulsating stone. She raised a hand, a long blade of ice forming in her hand. What really caught Tails' attention, however, was that she was crying just like the other Voidlings, her tears freezing and turning into snowflakes as they fell.

"I really hate to do this, but I need that stone," Tails told her.

Focusing, he transformed the Miles Electric into a blade of his own. The Ice Queen crossed blades with him, clashing repeatedly as she continued to sob.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, but I need that shard!"

He aimed for the shard in her chest, landing a strike. The Ice Queen recoiled, unleashing an intense wind that blew Tails back and left him partially frozen before floating away.

"Tails!" Sonic screamed.

He rushed over, quickly trying to break the ice. After a moment of punching at the ice and getting nowhere, he got an idea.

"Been a while since I did this... here goes!"

He began rapidly rubbing his hands together, the friction heating up his hands before he placed them on the frozen fox. Tails slowly began to warm up.

"T-thanks…" he let out as soon as he was thawed. "The... the Ice Queen got away."

"It's alright, Tails," Amy assured. "We'll find her again."

"Yeah, we got this," Knuckles agreed.

Lumina suddenly flitted over to them.

"I found something!" she exclaimed. "You might wanna see this."

She led them to a figure encased in ice, hands extended slightly and a pained grimace on their face (2). They almost looked like a jester, clothed in a flamboyant outfit with a red vest and puffy white sleeves.

"Okay…" Sonic began, "who's this clown?"

"That 'clown', as you put it, is Nights," Lumina replied. "Hero of the dream world. I wondered why he hasn't been seen since Void started causing trouble…"

"Right," Knuckles nodded. "Stand back."

He reeled back his fist, Shovel Claw ready. As he got to work breaking the ice, Sonic looked Nights over, thinking, before he perked.

"Wait a sec... I've seen this guy before. He's a theme on one of the pinball games at Casinopolis!"

"Holy…" Amy's jaw dropped. "He is!"

"It is not unheard of," said Lumina. "He has appeared in many dreams, and his influence often follows the Dreamer back into the waking world."

Finally, the last of the ice broke. Nights stirred before taking a deep breath, his eyes snapping open. After a few moments, he took in the faces around him.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," he remarked. "We meet again."

Sonic blinked. "We've met before?"

"Yes. In a dream you had on Christmas Eve 3237 (3)."

"Sorry…" Sonic rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't really remember my dreams."

"Few people do." Nights bowed to Lumina. "Lady Lumina."

"There's no need to be formal," Lumina said simply. "I'm merely Lady Illumina's servant."

Nights seemed to sigh. "Of course…"

Tails raised an eyebrow, but couldn't ask any questions before Lumina got to the point.

"Nights… what happened?"

"When I found out about what happened to the Precioustone, I went to confront Void," Nights explained. "He was... stronger than I expected. Next thing I knew, I was frozen solid."

"Good thing we came along, then," Sonic remarked.

"Good for me, at least." Nights' eyes fell on the curse marks poking through their shirts. "Less for you. You have my sympathies, and my aid."

"Right," Tails nodded. "The Ice Queen with a Precioustone fragment gave us the slip. If we stop her and get the shard, maybe we can thaw the rest of this place out."

"She has a castle at the end of the beach," Nights answered. "It was once the Sandcastle of children's dreams, but this blizzard has turned it into a palace of ice."

"Then that's where we're headed." Sonic decided. "No time to lose."

Hovering slightly off the ground, Nights flew down the beach.

"Hey, wait up!" Sonic shouted.

-X-

They chased after him, soon arriving before a massive ice palace.

"No way in but up," Nights turned to Sonic. "We'll have to Dualize."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"Nights is able to Dualize with Dreamers like yourself," Lumina explained. "The process allows your bodies to assimilate with one another."

"So... we fuse?" Amy asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Nights replied. "We become one another. You can control my movements and vice versa."

He held out his hand, as if wanting a high five. "Just take my hand. It's easier to show than tell."

Sonic shrugged, then took the high five. Light swirled around him, and in a blinding flash, Sonic was transformed. When the light faded, Nights was gone, and Sonic stood in his place, wearing his clothes.

"Sonic?" Amy asked.

"Yes, and no," Sonic replied, both his and Nights' voices coming out of his mouth. "It's both of us. Now, let's stop this Ice Queen."

With that, Sonic/Nights took off flying for the tower. Tails immediately grabbed Knuckles and Amy, flying after him.

-X-

Inside the icy throne room, surrounded by frozen statues of children, the Ice Queen wept. She suddenly perked as Team Sonic and Amy burst in, floating overhead.

"Your blizzard-causing days are over, Ice Queen!" Sonic/Nights declared dramatically.

She sobbed loudly, throwing her hands out and causing several icy spikes to form.

They dodged around, avoiding numerous spikes and blades as Sonic/Nights flew forward, spinning in midair before plowing into her gut.

"Hand over the shard," they ordered. "I don't want to hurt you when it's clear you're already hurting enough."

The Queen merely lashed out with an ice blade, Sonic/Nights ducking as Knuckles ran in, performing a Spiral Upper that sent her airborne. Amy jumped over him, hammer at the ready, before pounding her down. The ice that made up the queen began to crack.

"C'mon, cough it up!" she ordered.

As the queen began to rise, Tails sent her into a wall with a tail whip. Sonic/Nights pinned her down, grabbing ahold of the shard.

"Sorry," they told her.

With a mighty tug, they tore the Precioustone shard free. Almost immediately, the queen's sorrow faded, and she gave a fleeting smile as she began to melt.

"Thank you…" she whispered, closing her eyes as she melted away completely, leaving only a fairy-like creature in its wake. Then, all of the ice began to melt, dripping off in large waves. The jagged, icy edges parted ways to reveal soft, sandy walls and structures. The dreaming children all thawed as well, cheering and laughing before going right back to playing in the sand. The group looked over the fairy, seeing the various Voidlings also reverting to fairies as Sonic and Nights split apart.

"Huh," Sonic mused. "They all look like that doll Saffron carries around."

"Nightopians," Lumina clarified. "The natives of this world. So Void's corruption extends to more than the fabric of this dimension."

"No wonder the Voidlings were so upset," Nights mused. "They were corrupted. They must have been in so much pain."

"This is horrible…" Amy let out. "Aurora knows how many Void's turned into monsters."

"At least now we are one step closer to stopping him," said Lumina. "We have the Shard, and that is enough."

"It will be your last."

They all looked up to see Void hovering overhead. Nights clenched his fists, ready for a fight, but Void merely scoffed.

"Oh, Nights. Our last encounter should have shown you I'm a whole different game than Wizeman."

"It did," Nights confirmed. "But no matter what, you will be stopped, and this destruction will end."

"We won't let your evil keep messing up our dreams!" Amy declared.

Void sighed. "You're all short-sighted fools, focused on your narrow interpretation of morality. Can I truly be considered evil, when I'm just doing what comes naturally?"

Both Sonic and Tails caught wind of that, and it left them thinking.

"It matters little in the end," Void decided. "I will get what I so desire, no matter what it takes."

And with that, he was gone.

"Vile entity of darkness," Lumina spat in disdain.

"Don't worry, we'll stop him," Knuckles promised.

"Yes, of course," Lumina nodded. "The next dream world awaits."

Author's Note:

(1): An island from Archie, here interpreted as Mobian Hawaii.

(2): Think like Han Solo in carbonite.

(3): Reference to the Christmas Nights into Dreams side game where you could play as Sonic.

Nights joins the crew, and they have a Precioustone fragment! Can our heroes save the dream world?

Please R&R. Until next time!