A new adventure awaits brave Taryn, but this time, she won't be alone!

Chapter 4: A New Partner

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a place both unusual and very familiar. "What?" I gasped. "Where am I?"

"Hey, welcome back!" I heard a voice call out. "You did fantastically yesterday!"

I turned around and stared in amazement. "Mark? Wait…" At that moment, I was suddenly hit by a surge of recollection, my adventure last night coming back to me. "I remember everything now. How could I have forgotten all of that?"

"Don't worry, that's perfectly normal," Mark reassured me. "It is still a dream, remember? People hardly ever remember what they dreamed, and even when they do, it's often vague and fleeting."

I nodded slowly. "Well, I guess I have to apologize for not believing you last night…"

"Hey, don't sweat it," Mark beamed, patting my shoulder.

"I have to admit, this is still super unreal to me." I looked around the Markihub, seeing the people chatting merrily away. "I still don't understand anything about this place, but I'll take the chance I have to help as many people as possible!"

Mark smiled and raised his fist. "That's the spirit, Taryn!"

At that moment, I heard the deep ring of the bell echoing through the hub. "I guess I'd better hurry, huh?"

"Seems like it," Mark agreed. "Your first priority would be to update your class and get a better weapon. You'll know who to turn to for that. When you've finished your preparations, meet me in the Training Centre." With that, he turned and walked off.

I went straight to the weapon shop and strolled up to Wilford. "Good evening, young lady," Wilford announced. "Would you care for a stabby object?"

"Well, I'm actually here to update my class," I replied, placing my weapons on the counter.

"Ah, but of course, my dear," Wilford cried. "Every fighter that comes here after their first mission gains new levels to their specific classes. As a Warrior, you can choose to upgrade to either a Sword Dancer or a Soldier. Sword Dancers can channel magic in their swords to inflict… incredibly strong attacks. They also have a higher defense against magic attacks. Meanwhile, Soldiers focus on a more direct physical assault. Their defense and attack also get stronger. What say you, missy?"

I thought over both options for a good while. While I had been doing well against the weaker Terrorlings, Slender Man proved to be a tougher challenge. I had a feeling that in this line of work, I'd be facing much stronger enemies, and I won't always have Mark to help me out. So with that in mind, I made my decision. "I'll take Sword Dancer; some magic attacks will be helpful to have."

"Very well, milady." Wilford took my old sword and replaced it with a new sword with a crescent blade. "This beauty is the Oshirinoken which, in some fancy foreign language, means… 'Ass-piercer'. Use it wisely and it will mince your enemies into sauerkraut." He then took out some new shoes and a steel shield. "And here is some armor to accommodate your new sub-class. Good luck! And be sure to come back for an upgrade next time you're around."

Once I'd put on my shoes, I spent a few minutes testing my new sword. It had a good weight when I swung it and its blade looked sharp enough to cut through anything. "I'm definitely testing this bad boy out in the Training Centre."

As I sheathed my weapon, I heard the door open. I turned and was surprised to see Vicky standing at the entrance. "Hey, there you are!"

Hearing my voice, Vicky looked around. "You?! W-what?" she gasped. "So… this is really real?"

"Yeah, it's real," I replied, walking up to her. "Crazy, I know. I'm still in shock myself. But now you'll be helping save other people just like I helped you!"

"M-me?" Vicky looked frightened at the thought. "No, I-I couldn't… I don't want to hold anyone back. And what if I mess up? What if I get scared? What if I-"

"Vicky, calm down!" I grabbed Vicky's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "It's okay to be scared of what might happen. When I came to save you, I was also scared."

"You were?" Vicky asked.

"Of course, because I thought I would be too late. But I wasn't; I saved you, Vicky. And now you can save someone else."

Despite my words, Vicky still looked apprehensive. "Tell you what, how about you become my partner?" I offered. "We would make an awesome team!"

"Y-you think so?" Vicky breathed.

"I know so," I replied with a nod. "Now, first off, you should pick a class. Go talk to that guy, he'll get you set up."

Vicky looked at the direction I was pointing and her eyes widened. "Is that…?"

"Yup, just watch out for his dagger," I joked. "Meanwhile, I'll restock on items and all that. See you in a bit."

As I turned to leave, Vicky called out, "Hey Taryn?"

I paused to look at her, seeing her smile. "Thanks for everything."

I smiled back and winked. "No prob." With that, I left her to choose her class…

As I walked through the meeting area, I spotted someone waiting by the stage, someone wearing a familiar red shirt. "Oh my gosh," I cried, running up to him. "Hi Wade! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, uh, hi," Wade replied. "I'm here to help Mark on his mission tonight."

"Really? That's awesome! Do you come here often?"

"That depends. Sometimes I like a change of pace and to hang out with Mark- Uh, I mean…" Wade glanced around shiftily. "I mean, not Mark. Puh, that guy is the worst!"

"I heard that!" Mark shouted from across the hall.

I laughed at that. "Well, good luck with that. See ya!"

I then entered the shop where I saw Octodad… doing some weird dance on the floor. "Um, am I disrupting something?"

With a burbling cry, Octodad got to his feet and turned to me, making more burbles.

"You've got new stock, huh?" I somehow translated. "Okay, let me see 'em."

Octodad staggered behind the counter and carefully took out three boxes. One had a ton of heart-shaped treats, one was full of no-name brand cinnamon whiskey, and one had hundreds of bottles of hot sauce. He pointed to each of them, burbling an explanation.

"Okay, let's see if I got this right," I said. "Those hearts are a better version of Heart Fragments, the whiskey's a better version of Rum and Dr Pep, and the Hot Sauce revives a fallen ally." Octodad nodded. "Great, let's do a deal."

I quickly discovered that I had more Dream Points in my purse than my first time. Deciding to save the question for Mark, I bought five Full Hearts, five Whiskeys, and five Hot Sauces. I also bought some Throwing Daggers and three extra Markihorns just in case. "Pleasure doing business with you."

With my stocks full, I left the shop but I'd hardly taken a step away before there was a series of banging and crashing. Quickly, I peeked through the door and was surprised to see the shop was a complete shambles. "Uh… what just happened?"

Octodad shook his tentac- I mean, arms in a manner that seemed to say "Nothing." As he did, I noticed the box of Full Hearts stuck on one arm, spilling its contents everywhere.

"Are you sure?" I cried. "It looks like a tornado came through here!"

In reply, Octodad burbled in a way that seemed insistent, while smashing a shelf down with the box.

"…Okay," I murmured before slowly closing the door again. Better to leave this mess for him or Mark to clean up.

I then saw a red-haired girl coming out of a room opposite me. "Excuse me," I called to her. "What's that room over there?"

"That's the File Room," the girl replied. "Mark says that you can research the Terrorlings and other things in there."

"That sound cool," I said. "Thanks."

The File Room, I discovered, was similar to a section of the library. Some people were sitting at a table, either reading books or playing on a tablet. Others were scanning the bookshelves, looking for a specific topic. I then saw that, in the middle of the room, another Markiplier lookalike was standing stiff as a mannequin. This copy was wearing a blue shirt with a holographic rainbow G on it.

One of the browsers, a boy in a green hoodie, approached me. "I see you've spotted ol' Google-plier."

"Oh yeah, him…" I suddenly remembered the Google IRL sketch Mark did with Matt. "Is he… safe?"

"Oh, perfectly safe," the boy replied. "He answers any question you ask him. Just… don't bring up shutting off his inhibitors. Mark warned us that he might go kill-crazy again."

Slowly I walked up to Google-plier. "Um… Okay, Google."

With a tone, Google-plier robotically turned his head to me. "Hello, human," he said in a deep monotone. "Please deliver your order quickly. I am currently in the middle of plotting the destruction of mankind. Do you have a command for me?"

Still a bit unsure of him, I decided to go for a simple question. "How did I earn so many Dream Points?"

"Another newcomer, great," Google-plier grunted. "Every time you defeat a Terrorling or boss, your fight efforts are meticulously calculated by an advanced algorithm to ensure the most effective means of remuneration. Then when you next return to the Markihub, said remuneration gets added into your account and the cycle begins again."

"So basically, the more Terrorlings I fight, the better I get paid?" I summarized.

"Yes," he replied through gritted teeth. "Now if you don't have any other commands, be on your way."

"Alright," I said, leaving the File Room.

I returned to the Armory just in time to see Vicky come out, wearing a green leather cloak over her sweater. As I waved her over, I heard the bell again. "That's the second chime. We've got some time to kill before our next mission. So what class did you pick?"

"I picked Mage," Vicky replied, holding up a wooden staff. "That's what I usually pick in RPGs."

"Great choice!" I beamed. "Now let's go find Mark and ask him about our mission."

We quickly found him in the Training Centre, finishing his tutorial with two teenage boys. "Okay, now go across the hall to the Armory. Get your weapons from the arms dealer then meet me in the hall."

"Thanks, Mark!" the boys called before running out.

Vicky and I then walked up to him. "Hey Mark," Vicky called.

"Oh, hi," Mark said. "You must be Vicky!"

"I'd like her to be my partner for my next mission, whatever it may be," I told him.

"That's good to hear. You'll need each other's backs for this one." Mark became serious again. "There's another person trapped in their nightmare. This one is happening in a town at the edge of a big forest. A group of Terrorlings are surrounding an area in the town, so I'm betting that's where they are."

"How do you know about this anyway?" I asked.

"Tiny Box Tim scouts out the nightmares as they appear. Whenever he finds someone, he reports back to me. That's how I knew where to find you, Taryn."

"But you can't go there now because you're doing a mission with Wade," I recalled.

"Exactly," Mark agreed. "That's where you two come in. Just like last time, you'll have to make your way through the forest, get into town, and fight any Terrorlings you come across."

"Terrorlings?" Vicky gulped. "Are those the monsters that chased me last night?"

"That's right," Mark replied. "They are the manifestations of your target's deepest fears, the monsters in your dreams. But I should warn you, not all Terrorlings look the same."

"So, those hooded bad guys in Vicky's dream…?" I asked.

"…Is just one of their forms," Mark concluded. "Terrorlings can take whatever form they need in order to attack their victims."

I swapped a worried look with Vicky. "So we won't know what they'll look like in each person's dreams until we get there?"

"Well, for some Terrorlings, just watch for pretty much anyone that doesn't look friendly. There's a good chance they're not. Sometimes, they can appear as pure blackness; that happens when a Terrorling is regenerating. We call those Shadowlings."

"Oh boy…" Vicky rubbed her hands together nervously.

"Don't worry, Vicky," I said, patting her on the back. "I'll be by your side all the way."

"Taryn's right," Mark agreed. "As long as you two stick together, I'm sure you'll be just fine! On that note, you'd better head back to the main room. The third chime will go off at any moment. Good luck, girls!"

"Thanks, Mark," I beamed. "Come on, Vicky. We don't want to miss the portal."

As we sat in the main room, waiting for the next chime, Vicky tapped my shoulder. "Hey, Taryn?"

"Yeah?" I replied, looking at her.

"Is it just me, or is this whole scenario a lot like a video game?"

"Whaaat? Naah…" I then frowned. "Wait, is it?"

"I mean it's just interesting because…" Vicky looked over her shoulder. "You know that guy we were just talking to, Mark? You know he's that YouTuber, Markiplier, right?"

"Of course, I've watched a lot of his videos. In fact, I actually met Tiny Box Tim when I first got here."

"I'm kind of a big fan too! But he is a Let's Player after all, so the whole video game theme fits." Vicky looked up as a group of teens walked past us, including the two boys we saw talking to Mark. "Do you think everyone here knows who he is?"

"Y'know, I haven't really thought about it," I admitted. Just then, we heard the third chime ring. "Well, we can work that out later. Our shift is starting!"

We ran up to the stage just as the portal opened. "You ready, Vicky?"

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Vicky cheered.

Without another word, we jumped into the portal, ready to face our next challenge…

As we stepped out into our location, Vicky suddenly stumbled with a cry. I was quickly at her side to catch her. "I got ya! The landing's a little jarring, but you'll get used to it."

"Thanks," Vicky sighed, getting to her feet. "So where are we?"

"We're in our target's dream, I think." With Vicky upright, I took a proper look around. Just like last time, we were standing in the middle of a forest, but this wasn't as dark as Slender's forest. Instead, the land was bathed in the gentle warmth of a morning sun. A thick mist curled around the tree trunks like ghostly wraiths. "It's kinda pretty here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, not as scary as the one in my dream," Vicky agreed.

Suddenly, a dark portal burst open before us. Vicky gasped and jumped back, while I grabbed the hilt of my Oshirinoken, ready for trouble.

As we watched, a figure stepped out of the portal. He was dressed in a white pinstriped suit and a purple tie. His eyes were hidden under the brim of a white fedora, but he had the smile of a sleazy businessman about to swindle some poor sucker out of their life savings. "Good day, girls!" he spoke in the tone befitting said businessman. "You have been hand-selected by me, Dr. Money, to join my exclusive program. How lucky you are."

"Stay back, Vicky," I hissed from the corner of my mouth. "I've got a bad feeling about this guy."

"Now, now, girls, don't worry," Dr. Money reassured us, not too convincingly. "You are going to be worth quite a hefty sum. Why don't you just come along with me? I only need you to lend me a hand… or two. Maybe three. Or how about a kidney? You really only need one anyway."

"I have a better idea," I snapped. "How about you piss off? Okay, bye!"

I looked around in time to see Vicky backing away slowly, and apparently, Dr. Money had seen it too. "Where do you think you're going? Don't you want to make a pretty penny? It'll only take a minute."

Quickly, I grabbed Vicky's hand. "Let's get away from this creep!"

Vicky nodded and we ran off, pushing Dr. Money aside. I looked behind to yell at him, but then I saw him holding something sharp. As he threw it, I realized that the thing was aimed right at my partner! "Vicky! Watch out!"

Without thinking, I pushed Vicky aside, knocking her into a ditch. A second later, I felt a painful jab in my right arm and I suddenly felt dizzy. I just had time to see a syringe sticking out of my shoulder before I collapsed to the ground.

"TARYN!" I heard Vicky scream. "You… you monster!"

My vision was starting to blur, but I still managed to see Vicky run off into the forest. I then saw Dr. Money walking up to me, followed by some strange shadows.

"Don't bother, I have what I need," I heard him speak, though his voice was starting to fade. "Your services are needed elsewhere. Go deal with…"

The last words faded with my vision. My last thoughts were of Vicky, hoping she would be safe before the world faded to black…

Uh-oh! What terrible fate awaits our heroes? Will Vicky be able to summon the courage to save her friend? Find out in the next chapter.