[img]http://i.imgur.com/2uDBgEK.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/nGhQ7Pq.png[/img] [b][u]??? - The Abyss Sea[/u][/b] The Dream Eater’s large, heavy axe felt from its hand, collapsing into and imbedding itself into the clocktower platform’s brickwork, and one by one its body was pummelled by attacks. First, a sound strike by Lute, then a couple of knife throws by Aria, an arrow shot from Lisette and a round of uzi fire from Trixie. ‘Largo’ looked down at its wounds, surveying the beating its body was taking, and then lifted its head back up into the air, its eyes narrowing as it stared at the Guilders regrouping, all of whom gathered behind Estelle, whose burning Fireblade was held determinedly in front of her. Largo scowled, before shouting. An ear piercing bellow that forced all of the Pride to wince. “WHAT IS THIS?!” Largo demanded, stepping forwards and pulling his axe out from the ground. “Do you fools not understand what this is? What I am?!” He swung the axe horizontally again, forcing another sharp slashing shockwave to stream forth the weapon. If it wasn’t for the quick reactions of everyone involved to jump and hug their bodies to the ground, casualties would have been reared, and not even Amy’s considerable healing prowess would have been able to fix the damage. “THIS, is how you should be!” The Dream Eater scoffed. “On the ground, bowing before me! I am fear! I am evil! I am horror! I am the Master of this Domain! Of you!” The ground suddenly trembled, violently shaking. Loose pieces of stone and brickwork shook and clattered atop the clocktower, as the quaking grew more and more intense. The black, oily seas around them started to slosh to and fro repeatedly, forming bigger and bigger waves. And then, suddenly, around them all, the black sea began to burst forth in random spots, explosions rocketing the sea and spurting the viscous liquid up like a fountain. Over and over, this grew more and more frenetic. More and more intense. At the same time, deep lines grew along the ground of the clocktower, shattering and splitting it apart, dividing the Pride. “I am Lord and Master! I control everything! And I will have you submit! This ‘hope’ you feel… it is worthless! Nothing more then a juicy snack for me to feast upon!!” ‘Largo’ grew, his body rising up higher and higher, smothering the sky in a darkness as deep as the black sea, but his body… his body, horrifyingly enough, remained blacker. His form shifted, melting away from the façade of The Lion, to that of a more androgynous, giant form with its bone white, smirking face. A giant hand reached out, to slowly grab and ensnare the Pride, suffocating all light and hope from around them. [b][center]This was its World, and it could do anything it pleased.[/center][/b] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/FvM8cC2.png[/img][/center] ----- [img]http://i.imgur.com/QLodCtj.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/8mPMSWF.png[/img] “Uhn… bro… where are we…?” On a small platform at the furthest reach of the black abyss, two lone figures slowly began to return to consciousness, wearily lifting their bodies up again from the ground. For Don, it felt like there was a hundred man chorus of bros singing the can-can inside his mind, and Marcus couldn’t rate his mental faculties much better. A dull, throbbing pain enveloped them both, but Marcus quickly remembered what had happened to them, and where they were. The room with the knight statues, the tower, the other ‘Marcus’, his friends, the mission. He began to remember everything. “A nightmare,” Marcus gasped, turning to sit, his eyes bulging in fright at the giant black figure looming in the distance. “Dr. Dream… and the Dream Eater. We’re in a nightmare, Don.” “A nightmare?” Don repeated, his head turning to and fro as he searched for his friends. For the Little Missy, his Big Sis, and Selan. “We’re… dreaming?” “Huh?” Marcus blinked, and turned away from the gigantic figure to look back at Don, but he was nowhere to be seen. ------ The ebony shadowed hand descended down around them, its long, thick fingers scraping through and sloshing through the black sea as it clawed its way to tightly shut around them. The sheer size of that hand, and their shrinking platform and the treacherous seas around them made it impossible to escape in time. Estelle raised her sword above her. She wouldn’t give up this easily. She couldn’t. Not now. Not ever. She would hack and slash and stab that hand until she died!! But then, all of a sudden, there was a massive, pounding din, and the Dream Eater’s hand was sent far, far away from the Pride. Out of its shadow, all of the Guilders watched in disbelief as that giant, towering figure stumbled backwards and fell, crashing into the sea and sending more calamitous waves rippling out from its body. An unearthly, bone chilling wail almost seemed to sound as if it came from the Dream Eater… in agony. There was a bright flash in the sky above them. Lifting their heads up, Estelle’s mouth fell wide open in disbelief, at the streaking figure that fell towards them… and calmly landed right before her and her friends, in a breathtaking pose, smoking rise from his fist. “Don?!” Estelle wanted to run and hug him, but with the Dream Eater still there, slowly rising up again, she did not know if it was safe to dare to do. But what was… what did Don do…? “We’re dreaming, bros…” Don said, the words escaping his lips coolly. The ends of his mouth rose, into a calm and confident smile. “We’re all dreaming, bros!” For many of the Pride, that was something they had already managed to figure out. That they were trapped within a nightmare of the Dream Eater’s creation, but what did Don mean? How did he…? He turned, shuffling his feet and turning slowly around and around from one end of the broken platform and off it, onto the black abyss of a sea. But not falling into it. He walked along the surface of the liquid, small ripples spreading out from his feet, tiny waves of light twinkling within the darkness. “It means we can do anything we like!” Don grinned, kicked one leg out and throwing his arm outstretched to the side, the other placed atop his groin, in a spectacular pose. A burst of energy and light enveloped his body, and smoke began to waft up and into the sky from the activation of Don’s [i]passion[/i]. “It doesn’t matter what Mr. Ugly there can do… we can do anything we like as well!” Don turned back to his friends, his outstretched hand towards them curling into a fist. “We just need to [i]believe[/i]... let's take back our dreams!” Estelle looked at Don, rendered utterly dumb. But she closed her eyes, a smile crept across her lips, and she opened them again, even more brand new determination swelling within her. The flame surrounding her sword burned hotter, transforming from red to white, a white flame that crisscrossed around her entire body, and in its blaze creating a white suit of armour adorned in red, fiery lines. As cheesy as Don made it, he was right. If this was a dreamworld… then it meant they could dream anything they liked. They wouldn’t allow the Dream Eater to pervert their dreams with its nightmare anymore.