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[InTheNightlight]

"I don't know anything, but I've been told about them. They're unusually large, having come to life by a sorcerer placing a piece of paper with powerful spells written on it inside the mouth. The only way to stop it is to have pull the paper out...But, there's a catch. The Golem will usually fall on the one who pulls the paper out, undoubtedly killing everyone in range. And about the holograms...excuse me, this is gonna take a lot of breath." He pull a glass of water out from hammerspace, took a drink and cleared his throat. "ARE YOU SAYING THAT SELPH WASN'T EVEN THERE?! Then what, pray tell, put me in the cage? Maybe it was just Selph's ghost or something. I know how ghosts are." He caught puzzled looks from his fellow maren. He thought that was a good time to: SHUT. HIS. TRAP. "Uh, never mind. C'mon. I think it's time we payed a visit to our dear friend, Wizeman." He said. The maren followed his glance and saw they were right in front of Wizeman's palace.

[Nyclone]

"Who are you kidding?! TAKE. ME. BACK." He paused "NOW." He turned to Dusty. "I've read about that specific type of golem. It's, I think, called a Swiss Army Golem. It works like a robot, and most of it's limbs are filled with weaponry, hence the name 'swiss army'."

[Deraj]

"Excuse me, but what sort of flawed logic makes you think that a bunch of rouge maren are just gonna be able to waltz up to Wizeman and not get turned into little cinders?" Dusty asks. "We've got NiGHTS, Frostbite, even myself at times. Nyclone, I think, and I'm pretty sure a few others. We step any further into Nightmare any more than we are now, and we all die. No questions about it. You hang around with rouge maren, you're aiding and abedding a criminal. Enough said. No trail, no jury, no nothing. You're just..." Dusty searches for a word. "Well, to put it bluntly, you're screwed. End of story."
Dusty stands up. "Look, I know I'm no Frosty, but I've hung around with him long enough to know that he'd want us to just... Stay here and regain our energy. It's not exactly safe here, so close to Nightmare's borders, but it's safer than down there with that thing. Security spells are usually locked to a specific area, so if it thinks it's chased us away, it shouldn't try to follow us."
"And if it doesn't think it's chased us away...?"
"... Then there's nothing we can do that can stop it from tearing us apart, without ending up like Frosty here." Dusty admits. "Maybe worse."

[InTheNightlight]

DaYZ halted the maren. "I've got that covered! You see, I myself am a rogue maren. I also can transform others besides myself." He snapped his fingers and a flash covered them. When it dissipated, they all looked like human versions of themselves. "Phase 1: Infiltrate Wizeman's Castle. Now that we look like dreamers, Wizeman's army will arrest us, and since we can change back..." He changed them all back to nightmaren. "We can take-down Wizeman easily! I mean, NiGHTS defeated ol' Wizeguy TWICE with only two dreamers each time! If there are at least three or more of us, WE CAN'T LOSE! C'mon. Please? Wizeman's practically the only one who knows how to stop this madness. Besides, where else can you go? The tunnel is OUT of the question. Selph's ghost is probably going to hunt you down. And remember..." He switched them back to dreamers. "While you're a dreamer, you can't fly and can't get away from Wizeman's troops. So what's it gonna be? Either we face Wizeman, or we face Selph! And trust me, Selph can trap you in a prison like a mouse is in a mouse trap! And I'm NOT going in there alone! Not to mention that the hallways are so long, we'll regain energy. And we are nightmaren, so in Nightmare, we heal quicker! So, what's your choice?"

[nightdreamer]

"Great either get blasted by a walking weapons factory or go and "visit" Wizeman who isn't a push over. Either way we're going to have to fight just to survive. And we don't even know if Selph's already out and walking around ready to tear the whole dream world apart. And I have a feeling we'll have to face both before we're done." Illusia groaned. "So what's the vote? I think we stand a better chance with Wizeman than with that poisonus weapons factory at the moment, eventually we're going to have to face that thing to either get the staff of Selph or face Selph himself.

[Deraj]

Dusty waves his hand, shattering DaYZ's transformations, and changing them back into Nightmaren. He felt as if someone had just punched him in the stomach. Energy expendature = Bad. "I'm a medical maren. I heal faster than any of you, hands down. We don't need to go into Nightmare and take an unnecesarry risk. Once I'm better, I can heal any injuries you've taken. And in case you haven't noticed, there's a bit of a gap in power between second-level and first-level maren. At the very least, we have to wait until Frosty regains consiousness before we do anything suicidal. Which is exactly what this is, in our state. It doesn't look like it, but we just travelled three days distance in three minutes, and we have to REST. According to Nyclone, there is no shortcut around this." Dusty looks over his shoulder. "Unless there's something you haven't told us."

[Nyclone]

"Nope. I've lived there all my life, and never found any way to beat the system. And I am a rouge, but I've heard of Frosty the Smart Mouth, and wanted to make sure he wouldn't pull anything on me. Wizzy may have been weakened from the NiGHTS incident, but he was the one who created Selph. I suggest that we stay in my dimension to heal ourselves. Nothing can reach us there."

[Deraj]

Dusty nods. "That's probably the safest option. But do you even have enough energy to open the portal again?"

[InTheNightlight]

DaYZ thought. "I guess you're right. I--HEY WAIT UP!" He zipped after the now leaving nightmaren. "Okay, sure, you THINK it's suicidal, but like I said, we'll heal in the hallways faster. But, of course, we're safer in Nyclone's dimension, so..."

A figure leaped down in front of them. It was a bright orange nightmaren with yellow stripes on his horns. "Hello, DaYZ..."

"Hey, DaRKNES!" He ran forward to greet his friend. He grinned. "Do you have the staff?" The larger one, apparently called DaRKNES asked. DaYZ's grin faded to a frown. "I'm sorry. Selph showed up and trapped me. I was so close to getting the staff too..."

[nightdreamer]

"Oh boy everyone's out to get that staff before the whole Dream World and Reality gets torn apart for different reasons." Illusia comments looking at DaRKNES. "So I take it that you're a friend of DaYZ's?"

[Deraj]

A straining sound comes from Frosty's direction.
"Frosty!" Luna says, kneeling to help him up. Frosty gently swats her away, picking himself up.
"I pass out for two seconds, and look what happens..." Frosty says, straining to keep himself on his own two feet. "Everything's gone to pot."
"Frosty, you shouldn't be awake yet! You've been poisoned, and-" Dusty starts.
"Can it, Fox. The replicates have been listening and filled me in. I know what's wrong with me." Frosty says, staggering on the spot like a drunk man. "And I don't care. You obviously can't lead this group."
"Neither can you, in your condition!" Dusty says. Frosty staggers forward , stopping less than an inch from Dusty's face, and he simply glares at Dusty.
"Even without using my special abilities, I can still kick your a** up and down the Transition."
"Frosty, you need sleep!" Dusty says.
"I can sleep when I'm dead." Frosty says grimly. Frosty turns to DaRKNES. "And you. You just show up here and ask 'Where's the staff?' Too cowardly to come here and get it yourself?! We go through h*ll, come up empty-handed, and you show up, fresh as a pansy, and all you have to say is 'Where's the Staff'?! Who do you think you are?!"
"I apologize. The poison is making him delusional!" Dusty says. "Well, more than normal, anyway..."
"Shut up! I'm fine!" Frosty says.
"No, you're not!" Dusty says. "And if you keep this up, I'll put you down by force if I have to!"
Frosty slowly turns to face Dusty again, his bloodshot eyes radiating bloodlust, and an ever-growing lack of self-control. Everyone could sense the impending fight, and involuntarily took a few steps back.
"But Frosty and Dusty barely have any energy... How are they going to fight without killing themselves in the process?"" Fig whimpers, clinging to Luna.
"I don't know... And I don't think I want to..." Luna says.

[InTheNightlight]

DaYZ sighed. "The things I do will get me killed one day..." He pushed Dusty and Frosty in their faces just as they leapt towards each others throats. "COOL IT YOU TWO! You!" He pointed to Frosty. "Do what your name implies! You!" He pointed to Dusty. "Don't lose a temper! AGH! THIS INCESSANT FIGHTING IS TEARING US APAAAAAAAARRT!!!!!!" He gripped his horns. Everyone looked oddly at the seemingly crazy nightmaren. He straightened up again. "Sorry. I was a soap opera for a nightmare earlier." DaRKNES walked up to Frosty. "Excuse me, you little female canine but I asked DaYZ to get the staff because I was busy FIGHTING MY BUTT OFF AGAINST WIZEMAN! I saw that hardly any of you wanted to face the guy, so where does this put you? Hmmm? You have some nerve CALLING ME THE COWARD!" He turned and started talking to DaYZ. "Okay. So you couldn't get the staff. That's okay. We'll just need to think of a strategy. What EXACTLY did you see down there?" DaYZ explained about the golem and the hologram. DaRKNES pondered this. "Stay here. I'm going in after it." He started towards the hidden entryway to the staff. "WHAT! That's your plan? I feel I should stress that it's even more suicidal than walking straight into Nightmare." DaYZ tried to stop the ongoing maren. "Getting the staff is the only way to stop this. I'll be fine." He whispered something that DaYZ couldn't hear. He whispered, "May we be equal to the unbalanced." DaYZ stared. "In all my years of knowing nightmaren...that is the strangest one I've ever seen..."

[iNSOMNiAC]

Somni has been slumped in a corner the whole time the rest of the group was bickering, slowly and painfully picking the splinters out of his arms, chest, and even tail. The grey 'Maren groans pitifully as he does so. He occasionally watches the group with glazed eyes and sighs...Then goes back to his task. Oddly, he hasn't said anything..

[Deraj]

Frosty glares at DaYZ, DaRKNES and Dusty, his eyes quickly darting between the three. Finally, he just spits at the ground, a little needle of ice planting in the dirt, before storming off, back toward Nightopia. Luna trails behind him at a safe distance.
Dusty sighs.
"What are we going to do? Without Frosty..." Fig asks.
"Don't worry. After the poison clears his system, Frosty will be back to his old, semi-stable self again, and he'll come running back to make sure DaRKNES doesn't keep the Staff for too long. Even if it means doing something crazy." Dusty says. "Until then, we're just going to have to make due without him."
"But why would Frosty want to hurt DaRKNES?" Fig asks.
"Because Frosty doesn't trust anyone but himself. He doesn't know their plans, and if he does, he just suspects that they're lying to him." Dusty pauses, before turning to DaYZ. "Why does DaRKNES want the Staff so badly? A Level-Two Nightmaren fighting off Wizeman and The Golem by himself... You've gotta be pretty desperate. And even then, you've gotta wonder why Wizeman would just let DaRKNES go instead of finishing him off while he was still in Nightmare. No Level-Two is strong enough to take down Wizeman by himself... Even NiGHTS can barely do it."

[iNSOMNiAC]

Somni looks up at the group wearily. "Hmph..He ran off..? I figured he would eventually.." He shakily manages to stand up and walk towards the other 'Maren. "Not like we need a stuck-up, delusional brat leading us anyways.."

[InTheNightlight]

DaYZ answered Dusty's question. "DaRKNES isn't a Level Two maren. He's a Level One. He ran off before Wizeman came to. As for the Staff, he said that whoever weilds it controls the most powerful maren of all, Selph himself. He told me that if anyone got the Staff into the wrong hands, death and carnage are the only two factors that will come of it. He said that he must destroy it. He's the only one who knows how. For you see, DaRKNES was created with Selph's DNA. Wizeman sought to create a powerful maren like Selph only it wouldn't betray him. But DaRKNES caught on. He left Nightmare and evaded Wizeman's flunkeys. Now that the Staff has come into question, there's no telling what will happen. DaRKNES predicts there to be a war. But this time instead of opposing each other, the light and darkness must join forces against a new monster. Selph is the monster, AND HE MUST BE STOPPED AT ALL COSTS." He finished. Everyone, even Frosty stared at DaYZ.

[iNSOMNiAC]

Somni's ears prick up some as he turns to DaYZ, a bemused look in his eyes. "Oh, really? Ahahah, you're not very good at telling lies, little one. But I will admit that I am...curious as to what you and your other little friend are doing here~"

[InTheNightlight]

DaYZ sighed. "All I said just now was true. DaRKNES and I are here for the Staff to stop the war but we had no idea that Golem was down there. Plus, I don't think that Frosty is gonna lead us anytime soon, so I think we should--" He was interupted by Frosty punching him in the mouth, hyperventilating. DaYZ had undoubtedly been knocked out by the impact.

[iNSOMNiAC]

The grey 'Maren takes a step back and stumbles some, still a little woozy. "Oh dear. I think poor Frosty might have a bit of a..Uhm..Fever."

[Deraj]

"Oi! Shut it, or you're next!" Frosty says, pointing at 'Somni. "I came back to punch YOU to begin with, for that 'delusional brat' crack!" Frosty inspects his glove, picks something off of it, and throws it at the unconscious DaYZ. It was one of DaYZ's bloodied teeth.
Dusty winces. Frosty was still a danger to himself and others, what with the poison apparently having a worse effect on him than the others, but he didn't want to set him off again. "So... You're staying?"
"Of course I'm bloody staying. Once I started thinking about you idiots going down in that cave on a frikkin suicide mission, without my 'gentle guidance,' I practically RAN back here."
"And you came to this realization so quickly... How?" Dusty asks.
"You can thank Luna for that." Frosty says, pointing a thumb at Luna.
Frosty looks around. "Oi. Where's tall, orange and freaky?"
"DaRKNES went back into the caves, remember?" Dusty says.
"He WHAT now?!" Frosty yells. "When was this?!"
"Just before you stormed off! Don't you remember?!"
"NO!" Frosty says, slightly panicked.
Dusty watches as Frosty swings into an uncharacteristic panic attack.
"What's going on?" Fig asks.
"I think we can add mood swings and short-term memory loss to the list of symptoms Frosty is suffering from..." Dusty says.
Frosty suddenly stops. "Why was I panicking again?"
"DaRKNES went back into the caves after the Staff." Dusty says again.
"THAT BASTARD!" Frosty yells, running into the caves after DaRKNES. "THERE'S NO WAY HE'S GETTING HIS GRUBBY PAWS ON THAT STAFF BEFORE ME!!"
Dusty watches as Frosty disappears into the caves. "... Do you guys think he remembers that he's all out of energy? Or even remembers there's the Golem down there?"
Everyone shakes their heads, no.
"... We'd better go save him." Dusty finally says, when it became apparent that Frosty wasn't coming back out.

[iNSOMNiAC]

iNSOMNiAC suppresses a small giggle fit as best as he can. "Although he seems to be a little on the violent side, I think it's still Frosty." He stretches and slowly heads down into the caverns after the icy Nightmaren.

[InTheNightlight]

DaYZ woke up just to see the maren head back into the caves. "Hey, Wait up!" As they headed into the caverns, they heard a 'clack' noise. It echoed again five seconds later. Suddenly DaRKNES reappeared in front of them, holding a clearly unconscious, slightly battered, Frosty. DaRKNES was also battered, but had sustained MUCH more damage. For one thing, his eye was swollen and shut tight. His right hand also had a large, gaping hole in the palm, showing red, raw skin. He also had the Staff. "You guys...shouldn't have come here." He grunted as pain surged through him. "Get out. Here." He handed Frosty to Luna. "I got him away just in time. Here, DaYZ." He handed DaYZ the Staff. "Take the Staff...and get out..." DaYZ slung DaRKNES over one shoulder. "Hold on, Buddy. I'm gonna get you out okay." He followed the other maren up the hidden stairway. When they got out, DaRKNES got out of DaYZ's grasp. "I'm fine. I just barely got away from that...that THING. About the other one..." He gestured to Frosty. "I don't know if he was knocked silly or fainted because of his delusions."

[iNSOMNiAC]

Somni purrs as he looks at the staff in DaYZ's hands. "Oooh, what a pretty little thing..."

[InTheNightlight]

"Okay. Now that we have the Staff, I suggest that we--LOOK OUT!" He warned. They hid in a bush as one of Wizeman's maren came by. "Shhh..." DaRKNES sneaked up on it and began pounding on it's back. "Hey! Watch it!" It said with a slight feminine voice. DaRKNES got off the tall maren's back. "N-NiGHTS? What the heck were you doing? So close to Wizeman's Palace?" DaYZ crawled out from the bush. "NiGHTS? Hey, NiGHTS!" He rushed up and high-fived the tall, purple maren.

[Deraj]

Dusty looks Frosty over. "A few bumps and bruises. Nothing he doesn't normally take. He's fine. And quiet, which is a plus. Just as before, all he needs is rest."
Dusty turns to NiGHTS. "NiGHTS. Always a pleasure."
Dusty quickly turns to DaRKNES, looking over his wounds. "... Shot clean through the hand, a black eye, various weapons wounds, and still going. It always amazes me how much abuse you Level-Ones can take. However, at this point, I'm afraid that one more fight, even with a Level-Three, and you're going to go down. You need rest. Nyclone! What's taking so long with that portal?"

[iNSOMNiAC]

iNSOMNiAC growls softly and walks up to NiGHTS, snickering. "Well, well...Now that those buffoons have the staff, guess what /I/ get to bring home as a prize~?"

[InTheNightlight]

At that moment, a shadow fell over them. They looked up to see two jester-like nightmaren and something that seemed like a beach ball. "Well, well, well...Look here, Puffy, Jackle. The brats got the Staff FOR us. How thoughtful." He lunged towards the Staff. "Not that we'd really ever CARE." DaYZ reacted too late and crashed to the place that he'd left the Staff. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you looking for THIS!?" Reala held up the Staff. Jackle let out a high-pitched cackle. "Reala! You...YOU..." DaYZ was suddenly grabbed by gigantic hands. "Whassamatter, DaYZ? Cat got your tounge?" A scratchy voice asked. "Clawz!" DaYZ choked out. Reala shot a yellowish substance out of the Staff. "What the? This is...GLUE?! WATCH OUT!" DaRKNES warned.

Note: ...I think that Sonic The Movie is acting like a drug to me...

[iNSOMNiAC]

Somni's mouth widened to a devilish grin. He burst out laughing and stared down NiGHTS. "Time to go home~! Ahahaha!" The grey 'Maren spikes up his tail and quickly wraps it around the purple traitor. iNSOMNiAC grins at his struggling catch. "Now behave or I'll have to shish-kabob you!" He dashes off, behind the three other evil Nightmaren. "Now the only left to do is get rid of these brats, yes Master Reala~?"

[Deraj]

Dusty growls. "That traitor...! Fig! Chase him dow-"
"No!"
"Frosty?!" Dusty turns around to see Frosty, struggling to get up once again.
"If Fig chases him down, then what? Reala doesn't give a cr*p." Frosty says, taking out his replicates. "Either way, they've got the Staff, AND Nights."
"Well, what do we do, then?!" Dusty asks.
"First, we regain our strength. Nyclone's dimension is more than useful for that, with it's seperate timestream. We can heal in a few minutes there. After that, we can deal with the traitor. It'll take them a few hours to get to Wizeman's castle, anyway, so we've got plenty of time." Frosty says. "Anyone who has a problem with my plan can shove it."
"You've got a plan?"
"I've got the framework of one, yes! I'll knock out the specifics while we're in Nyclone's dimension. Now, Nyclone! Hurry up!"

[InTheNightlight]

"Hold on! DaYZ, you alright?" DaRKNES placed a hand on DaYZ's shoulder. "I don't feel so..." He grunted. "...good..." "What's wrong, DaYZ?" "Clawz...forced something down my throat..." DaRKNES pondered what it was. Suddenly, he realized that Clawz had fed DaYZ..."A BOMB! GUYS! CLAWZ FED DAYZ A BOMB!"

[iNSOMNiAC]

Somni cackles and tightens his grip on NiGHTS. "Ooh, Clawz is such a clever kitty!" He turns his attention to Reala. "Do you want me to sit here and keep my grip on NiGHTS, sir? Or would you rather I go down there and help to eliminate those punks?"

[InTheNightlight]

Before Reala could answer, DaYZ began to bloat, the bomb having eploded. Suddenly, he shrank back to his original size and his cheeks filled up. "Uh-oh...HIT THE GROUND, HE'S GONNA BLOW!" DaRKNES yelled. "This is going to hurt a little..." Reala sighed.
"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPP!!!!" DaYZ let out a loud belch. The shock waves had been powerful enough to knock Puffy, Jackle, and Reala back into a tree, but Somni had ducked just in time. DaYZ sat there with a dazed look. He snapped out of it. "Excuse me!" He grinned.

[Deraj]

Frosty smirks. "You've gotta show love for cartoon physics. Now, Nyclone. Do it!"
Soon, a portal opens up, and Frosty watches as everyone jumps through. Finally, Frosty throws a shard at Reala,. Reala blocks the shard with the Staff, causing the shard to shatter. FInally, Frosty jumps through, and finally Nyclone.

"What took you so long, Frosty?" Dusty asks.
"I'm bitter. I threw a shard. ... Tipped with a replicate-crystal tracer." Frosty says, smirking. "The tracer is on the Staff, so all we need to do is recover, and then kick Reala and that Traitor's a**es all over Nightmare."

[iNSOMNiAC]

[DELETE THIS POST - I have no idea how to.]

[InTheNightlight]

"All right, so we're here in Nyclone's Dimension. Reala and the traitor are outside the portal, along with NiGHTS...I'd usually make a witty pun about now, but I've got pun block..." DaYZ smirked. "I just can't believe that Somni did that..." DaRKNES growled. "I can. I KNEW I didn't like that guy for a reason. Well, at least we're safe here...our only problem is that Reala has the Staff, and even with Frosty's tracer on it, Wizeman probably has his greedy mits on it right now..."

[Deraj]

"Ah, that's the beauty of Nyclones Dimension." Frosty says, feeling his strength returning already. "Seperate timestream. A few days in here is only about two or three minutes out there. We've got plenty of time."
Dusty goes over to DaRKNES, beginning to heal his wounds. "Yeah, but the probalem is that iNSOMNiAC already knows about it. They're going to be peeling out as fast as they can."
Frosty smirks. "Still won't do them any good.

[InTheNightlight]

"What do you mean, 'Peeling out'? ..." He looks at the top right-hand corner of Nyclone's Dimension. "Wow. Who'd have thought that this RP would get to 517 posts? ...What's wrong with me? Why am I pointing things out that break the 4th Wall?"

"Plothole." DaRKNES says.

[Nyclone]

"No matter what Somni does, this place has no openings. I and Eldest Jester are the only two keys. And Eldest refuses to leave this place." By this time, Nyclone was able to walk again. "We could leave the staff here."

[Deraj]

"Let's just leave that as a second-to-last resort. THe last resort being blowing up the staff." Frosty says.
"But wouldn't that release Selph?" Dusty asks.
"I don't see the immediate danger of that. We set him free, the first person he's gonna go after is the one who locked him up to begin with: Wizeman." Frosty says.
"Although I see your point... What if Selph decides to undo everything that Wizeman has done? You know, destroy Nightmare and all of the Nightmaren?" Dusty asks.
"Selph is a Nightmaren. He can't exist without Wizeman." Frosty says.
"Then just lock Wizeman away the same way Wizeman locked him away, and then do what I said." Dusty says.
Frosty pauses. "That would be a problem. But, it won't be my problem. I plan on being in the Waking World by then."
"What is your fascination with the Waking World, anyway?" Dusty asks.
"Oh, let's compare. Chased, shot, and made miserable every day by Wizeman's goons, versus doing whatever the h*ll I want. Oh, desicions, desicions." Frosty says, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

[nightdreamer]

Illusia looks at Frosty. "First things first we're going to have to handle Reala and his little goon squad before they get to Wizeman with both the staff and NiGHTS. Knowing Reala he'll use that Staff in battle now and will prove to be one heck of a problem. And iNSOMNiAC won't give up NiGHTS without a fight. Hopefully we won't have to release Selph because I would rather that both the Dream World and the Waking World to stay intact, thank you very much. Besides who's to say that once Selph's done with the Dream World that he won't go into the Waking World just like Wizeman has been TRYING to do for years?" She comments her voice sounding level but everyone that knew her knew that she's mad as heck at iNSOMNiAC, worried about her sibling and a few other things that she wouldn't voice out loud to the rest of the group especially Frosty.