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[EZEKiAL]

Scykle stared blankly into the sun, boredom eating away at his sanity. His eyes finally started to hurt, so he closed them and looked away. His stomach suddenly rumbled in hunger, but he couldn't leave the area, or else Reala would have his head.
A blue chip floated in the distance, mocking him.

"Urgh...so hungry..." he groaned. He kicked a pebble, waiting for more blue chips to float by.

[Aura24]

"You know, you could hunt those Nightopians. They are really delish." Yori said, suddenly appearing beside Scykle with a sneer.

[EZEKiAL]

"I could, but that would make me like you...why don't you go play with your girlfriend, pest?" Scykle growled.

[Aura24]

"Now, now, let's not stay bitter enemies." Yori smiled innocently.

[EZEKiAL]

Scykle grunted, listlessly. "Just stop tormenting me and go away. Why are you here anyway? Aren't you going to the Waking?"

[Aura24]

Yori shrugged, "Sadly, Master Wizeman has ordered me to continue my spy mission on your ex-friends. Maybe while I'm here, I'll stick around with Youko and fill her head with more lies about your pathetic betrayal, not that she'll believe you anyways."

[EZEKiAL]

Scykle growled. "Why you...!?"

[Aura24]

Yori jumped away, "Well, I'm off to see Youko. See you, so-called traitor." He then flew away to where Youko went to.

[InTheNightlight]

While Slick and Twilite were fighting, they noticed Scykle and Yori in what appeared to be a fight. Twilite and Slick hid in the trees and watched. They saw Youko and Lucas run away, Scykle and Yori yelling, etc. etc. Soon, they watched above Scykle.

"I thought you hated eavesdropping..." Slick grinned misheviously.

"It's called watching out for a friend in this situation. And WHY are you still here?" Twilite asked, growling. Before Slick could answer, they heard Scykle yell out to Youko. They noticed that Youko just flew off without noticing.

"Woah, that's rough..." Slick frowned at Scykle. Twilite agreed for once. It had to be tough knowing that the one you love didn't like you back, and the fact that Scykle was with Wizeman now made everything worse.

Twilite began to fly down. "Wizeman or not, I don't give up on my friends..." She muttered.

----------------

Tide was in Nightmare now, reporting to Wizeman. "Master, Slick has been located, in Ethereal Forest." He bowed in respect. "Shall Scykhell and I pursue, or leave it to Scykle?" He asked.

"Hmmm..........If Slick shows his face once more, you may pursue. For now, he is free to stay in Nightopia. But he and Twilite are going to be found soon..."

Reala shuddered. He had forgotten to mention Scykle's deal. "Erm...M-Master?" He stuttered.

"Yes, Reala? You seem troubled..."

"Yes well, *AHEM* you see, when-when Scykle agreed to join us, he agreed under the er, condition that we, erm, leave his friends in p-p-peace..." He quivered as a gargatuan hand lowered.

"And WHEN exactly did I agree to THAT?" Wizeman growled. Scykhell snickered as Tide muttered, "Ree's in trouble" over and over in a sing-song voice.

"N-never, Master..."

"PRECISELY." He half-shouted, yet half of the fortress shook."It is unusual that I find out RIGHT NOW..."

"P-please forgive me, Master." He quivered again. "How may I redeem myself within your army, Master?"

"Hmmm......Nothing." Reala quivered even more. "However you shall be stripped from your powers for the next 48 hours. You may ONLY fly, paraloop, and drill dash. You may not summon cages, and you must turn in your Persona." Reala's hands shook as he took off his Persona and handed it over. "Your task is to lead the 3rd levels across the Dream Gate and destroy each My Dream door. There are billions of these doors. If you succeed within the 48 hours, you shall resume as General of the Nightmaren army. If not...we will get to that later..."

"Y-yes, Master." Reala bowed and glided out of the room, along with Tide and Scykhell.

"Well that went well..." Tide smirked.

[EZEKiAL]

Scykhell snickered. "So, that's why we aren't aloud to attack the ruins!"

-------------

"Whatever! Begone!" Scykle roared.

[InTheNightlight]

Twilite had seen Yori and Scykle talking. She instantly knew what happened. Someone, possibly Reala or another powerful Maren, had fought Scykle and told him that if he joined with Wizeman, his friends would survive the war unscathed. She saw Yori fly off after Youko.

"Oh, man, THIS is bad!" Twilite said as she darted after him.

------------------

Reala and an army of Nightmaren were at the Dream Gate, destroying every My Dream door in their path. Soon, they had destroyed 203 doors, trapping 203 vistors' Nightopians inside. With the number of available Nightopians decreasing, Wizeman was coming closer to reaching the waking.

------------------

Twilite finally reached Youko and Yori.

"Youko!" She called. "I know you're in a bitter mood, but you've got to listen! Scykle WAS telling the truth! Yori IS helping Wizeman!"

[EZEKiAL]

Scykle watched Twilite dart into the forest, following Youko and Yori. He sighed; it was going to be a tough eternity.

------------------------

Scykhell laughed, smashing another Door to My Dream. "This is fun! Pretty soon we'll be all done, and we'll be on our way to the Waking!"

[Aura24]

"Oh no, not you too, Twilite!" Youko hissed and groaned, "Look, I'm sick and tired of the lies you guys keep saying about Yori being one of the bad guys!"

Yori responded, "Twilite obviously got the lie from that traitorous Scykle, Youko."

[EZEKiAL]

Scykle heard everything that was happening. "Youko...you're blind..." he moaned.

A Nightopian floated by, carrying a blue chip. The Nightmaren's stomach rumbled again, and the 'Pian looked over. It winced at the sight of the Persona, but came closer cautiously.

"You're not like the others wearing masks...are you?" it asked, in it's own language. The traitor Nightmaren sighed, shaking his head. The Nightopian smiled, giving him the blue chip. "You're our friend, Scykle, no matter what."

A scarse smile eaked its way onto Scykle's face as the Nightopian flew away.

Drifting above, the 'Pian saw three Nightmaren arguing. It floated down to the one who had tears in her eyes.

"You, you're one of Scykle's friends...why are you crying?"

[InTheNightlight]

"Oh, THAT DOES IT!" Twilite took out her rifle. "I SAW EVERYTHING! I HEARD you tell Scykle that you were with Wizeman!" She growled. "You, Yori, are a two-timing, backstabbing little jerk!"

She looked at Youko. "AND STOP CRYING! You've known Scykle longer than any of us! And yet here you are, falling for THIS?!" She shouted. She aimed at Yori. "Time to FINISH this..."

But she heard someone ask, "Why are you crying?" She glanced at Youko and saw that a Nightopian had dropped in. She growled, glared at Yori and left. She wasn't going to stand aside and let Yori manipulate everyone.

It was time she set a plan in motion.

--------------

Twilite was in the shadows of Wizeman's throne room. She had her rifle set to vaporize and planned to shoot down each eye and then Wizeman himself.

"You can reveal yourself, young one..." Wizeman spoke. HOW DID HE KNOW?! Twilite stepped out of the shadows. "Were you planning on killing me? That wouldn't happen, seeing as I've set up a barrier around myself."

"Shut up!" Twilite shouted. "You have killed off millions of people, whether they be Nightmaren, Nightopians, or Visitors, you've set up this horrid building you call a palace, and worst of all, you've set apart the friendship that me and my friends had. This is where it ends."

"Ah, yes, Scykle. I suppose he forgot to mention that he agreed as long as you and the others didn't get harmed."

"No, he mentioned it. But Youko didn't believe him. She went off with Yori, one of YOUR spies!" Twilite snarled.

"Ah, Yori. A marvelous little fellow, though he can get rough..." Wizeman bellowed. He snapped his fingers and Twilite was suddenly in a cage.

"What?!" Twilite struggled against the bars. "Let me out of here, you elephant!!"

"Hey, Twi..." She heard a voice nearby.

"Slick?!"

Slick stood next to her. "Yep. After you rushed after your friends and forgot about me, I decided to take down old Wizey. But somehow, he saw me! Even in camouflage!"

"Now, you will stay there until I see fit for you to leave. Enjoy the rest of eternity, traitors..." The entire land of Nightmare shook as Wizeman laughed. Things were looking grim...

[Dreamer#96]

Lucas watched Twilite run off into the direction of Nightmare. "The only one that's making sense right now is Twilite, which makes me believe her, I didn't trust Yori from the start, and now things are finally making sense." Lucas said. "Evil or not, I'm going to find Scykle, maybe he might be able to explain things, and besides, he's still my friend." Lucas headed off into the direction of the Ideya palace.

[Aura24]

Yori widened his eyes at the sight of Twilite's gun, but sighed in relief when he noticed she left when the Nightopian arrived.

Youko simply ignored the Nightopian and turned away.

[EZEKiAL]

The Nightopian shrugged, flying away.

Scykle met Lucas half-way to the Ideya Palace. "Lucas! Thank goodness! Wizeman just informed me that Twilite has been imprisoned in Nightmare, after a failed assassination-attempt," the Nightmaren continued, "Please go back to the Ideya Palace...I've been ordered to check up on Youko and Yori. I'm sure you've figured out who Yori's really helping. Please, go wait within the Palace. You'll be safe there."

Scykle walked up to the pair of Nightmaren, grimacing.

"Youko...you'll need to come with me..." he muttered quietly, "...and as for you, Yori, Wizeman wants a full report on the status of Ethereal Forest's Waking Portals."

------------

Reala, Tide, and Scykhell returned to Wizeman's throne room.

"The task is complete, Master Wizeman," Reala proudly proclaimed.

Very good, my children, the Nightmare Lord boomed, Now, quickly, choose a Visitor...you leave for the Waking in one hour. Wizeman placed Reala's Persona back on his face, and sent the three away.

[InTheNightlight]

"The Waking?!" Twilite exclaimed. "Oh, no! We were too late!" She glanced at the window, which showed Nightopia. "Good luck guys. We're all counting on you..."

"Well, this gives us some time to get to know each other!" Slick grinned.

Twilite smirked, walked over and said, "Not if you were the last person on the planet..." and walked away, still grinning.

"......" Slick stood there. Then when Twilite was out of earshot, he said, "She digs me." He glanced over at Twilite. "You know, you remind me alot of your mother, but you've got your dad's eyes..." He said. "And both your parents' nose." He chuckled.

Twilite couldn't help but chuckle as well. Her parents didn't HAVE noses! Suddenly, she realized something. "You knew my parents?"

Slick nodded. "Yep. DaYZ caused quite a lot of trouble, and your mother, Light, wasn't any better. But their hearts were in the right place, that's for sure. And by trouble, I meant they were mischeifmakers, but not NEARLY as bad as Wizeman."

Twilite listened. "Really? What else do you know?"

--------------------

Tide rushed off after Reala and Scykhell. Oddly, he hasn't said anything in quite a while.

[EZEKiAL]

A rather...well-endowed Visitor suddenly jumped up to the cage the pair was in. "Hey, guys! What's up?" she cackled, "How do I look?"

Another followed, this one was pale, skinny, and wearing all black.

"Jackle! How dare you abuse the gifts Lord Wizeman has given us?" he said, in a very Reala-mocking voice. The pair nearly died laughing.

"Scykhell here told me that Dad had prisoners locked away up here," Jackle's new body continued, "So we just had to come say goodbye before we all went to the Waking!" The pair continued laughing their heads off.

[InTheNightlight]

Slick and Twilite continued to howl with laughter. Suddenly a young blonde-headed kid wearing dark purple and black stepped in. "I wouldn't be laughing if I were you." He snickered. "Any minute now, the Nightmaren will push through the gate to the waking. But don't worry, you'll be safe in that cage." Tide(the new kid), Reala, Scykhell, and Jackle all left, but not before Tide cracked one final joke. "I hope you two get comfy in there."

"Hey! Not funny!" Slick shouted as Twilite blushed. They both sat down, waiting to hear the sound of Wizeman's laughter.

Twilite sighed. "Well, this is how it ends, I guess. Unless Scykle and the others can get to the Waking, we're doomed." She began to cry silently. "Looks like I'm never going to find out who killed my parents..."

Slick couldn't help but feel pity for her. Her parents were dead, Wizeman was going to win, and her friends might be dead right now. He sat down and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, come on now! Show me that smile! Come on, you can't give up yellow!"

Twilite raised an eyebrow. "Yellow?"

"You know, the yellow Ideya represents Hope! Don't give up hope...I'll shut up now..."

[Aura24]

"I refuse to go with the likes of you..." Youko snarled, her eyes glowing purple.

"..." Yori then quietly slipped away, and disappeared back to Nightmare to tell Wizeman his report.

[EZEKiAL]

(By "the pair" who were laughing, I meant Scykhell and Jackle, but whatever! XD)

As Nightmaren after Nightmaren poured into the Waking, the atmosphere became thicker than usual. The massive amount of dark energy entering the Waking all at once made it similar to Nightmare's air, meaning that dream creatures other than NiGHTS could survive there now, along with a certain God of Nightmares.

The human race watched exclusive news coverage as the Nightmaren Army invaded the United States of America.

Wizeman slowly phased into our world, addressing those who lived there. He loomed stories above the small suburb he appeared in.

Humans, long have you enjoyed the fruits of the Night Dimension. Now, it is our turn to invade your home, and thus, I name myself your new ruler! I am Wizeman the Wicked, and this day, you will all bow to me!

The invading force of Nightmaren cackled in glee, chanting their Master's name as they shed their human bodies and explored their new home.

---------------

Scykle smiled, throwing down his Persona mask. "I do believe that leaves the evil Nightmaren count here at about five or six!" He laughed, joyously. "See, Youko? Nightmare's empty! We can just waltz in there, save Twilite and Slick, take their stock of Ideya, and use them to save the Waking!"

[Aura24]

"Wait..." Youko looks back at Scykle, "How come you're acting all goody now?"

[EZEKiAL]

Scykle smiled widely, hugging Youko tight. "I played Wizeman and Reala like flute! You see, Reala told me that the Nightmaren Army would kill all of you if I didn't join them. BUT!" Scykle giggled at his own cunning, "He also mentioned that Wizeman had a huge stock of Ideya from all the Visitors they had captured. So, I pretended to help them get to the Waking, leaving Nightmare guarded by only the few Nightmaren he left behind! Now we can get the Ideya and use them to stop Wizeman in his tracks!" This is where he got really excited. "Plus...that 'order' I gave to Yori just now was fake, and I do wonder where he has gone!" Scykle laughed, mockingly, "It's like I said, he's been working for Wizeman all along! And best of all..." The Nightmaren was about to burst, "I LOVE YOU!"

[Aura24]

"!!!" Youko was both surprised and shocked at this, then tried to push Scykle off, "Okay, okay, drama boy, let go!"


0000

Back at Nightmare, Yori was looking for Wizeman and saw no signs of him anywhere. "What? Master Wizeman should be here...Wait...Did that Scykle..." At realizing that he's been tricked, his eyes glowed red, "That sneaky Maren!!"

[Dreamer#96]

Back in Ethereal forest...

"What you're forgeting Scykle is that it's not going to be easy," Lucas said, "even if there is a large stock of Ideya, it's going to be guarded."

[EZEKiAL]

"But it's nothing we can't handle, guys," Scykle smiled, "NOW do you trust me, Youko?" He knew that he'd already gained everyone else's trust during his time being "evil".

[InTheNightlight]

Twilite and Slick pressed themselves into the shadows as Yori stepped in. Twilite fumed. She took out her rifle, set it to stun, and aimed...VERY carefully.

BAM!

Yori fell over, stunned and he would be unable to move for the next 15 minutes. Twilite stepped out of the shadows and yelled at Yori, "PWNED!"

[EZEKiAL]

Scykhell lounged lazily on a hammock he had "commandeered" from a family that had gone to "pay tribute" to Master Wizeman. "Who knew humans were so creative!" He yawned, poking at the strange red fruits that hung from the tree above. The monstrous Nightmaren could see his Master, floating in the distance, collecting reports on their new world.

[Aura24]

However, Yori shook off the stun effects of the gun with ease and snarled at Twilite and Slick. "You;ll pay for that...!" His body glowed purple, then it started to grow bigger and bigger, and once it stopped glowing, Yori became a large, four-legged, demonic kitsune, "Now, let's see if we can play a little with my Nightmare form!" He snarled viciously.

0000

Youko flew over to Scykle and lowered her head, "I guess you're right, Scykle, I guess Yori is a spy for Wizeman, but...I still..."

[EZEKiAL]

Scykle smiled sadly. "I know," he murmured, "Still, he lied to all of us and made you and Lucas hate me for what I did. I'm sorry, Youko, but when Yori and I meet, I'm not showing any mercy." He growled angrily, and motioned to his companions. "Let's go, you two. We have to save Twilite and Slick." Scykle grabbed Lucas and dashed towards Nightmare's border.

[Aura24]

Youko closely followed Scykle to Nightmare...

[KUROi the dreamer]

LiGHTS looked around. "What the heck? Nightmarens? Here?" She said. She hasn't seen another maren since Reala told her to go into the forest. "Hmm....nightmarens." She said smiling. "I wonder where there going" She said in a whisper to herself. Then she followed them.

[InTheNightlight]

"Oh, cra--" Slick began, but couldn't finish as Yori slammed a gigantic paw onto the cage, shattering it. Twilite and Slick ran out, Twilite setting her rifle to pulverize. She began firing rapidly, but all the shots simply bounced right off, having little to no effect. Yori batted her across the room with with paw and Twilite crashed into a pillar, knocking it over. She struggled out of the wreckage and attempted to set her rifle to vaporize, but Yori batted her again, and this time, her rifle went soaring into a corner underneath a pile of rubble.

"Looks like we'll have to take him down ourselves!" She shouted. Slick nodded. He stepped between them and said, "Okay, guys, I want a fair fight, a clean fight, no biting, no scratching, and no hitting below the belt unless you REEEEAAALLY want to!" He raised his hand and brought it down in a chopping motion. "DING DING!"

[Aura24]

Yori snarled and charged at Twilite, then opened his jaws and bit down on her arm and started slamming her against the nearby pillar over and over again.

[InTheNightlight]

Twilite grabbed Yori's arm and used the momentum to throw him into a pillar, causing him to drop her.

Yori then picked her up and tossed her into the floor.

"Y'know Slick, you could help!" Twilite shouted and Yori picked her up again.

"I am! I'm trying to find that stupid rifle of yours!" Slick yelled back, digging through the rubble. Yori continued tossing Twilite. Finally, he threw her to the ground and unched her further in. Slick rushed in. "WAITWAITWAIT! TIMEOUT!" He shouted.

[EZEKiAL]

Scykle looked back, hearing a voice behind him. "Hey...! Who are you?" He stopped right at the border of Nightmare.

[Aura24]

Yori roared, "SILENCE!!" One of his three tails raised up and whipped Slick away, "I'm sick of your meddling!"

[InTheNightlight]

Slick slammed into a wall, losing consciousness. Yori prepared to slam Twilite again, but something was wrong. Some sort of barrier was surrounding Twilite.

"C'mon, Twi! You can do it!" She heard a voice say.

"D--...Dad?" She whispered. Suddenly, she regained her energy and exploded in power and rage. When the flash dimmed, she stood there with a green aura, scowling, and holding an emerald-encrusted staff."LETS. DO. THIS." She said through gritted teeth.