Mystic Dreams

## Chapter 1

The sun had barely started to peek over the tall hill's horizon when Puppy woke up. It wasn't just from her inner automatic wake up call that caused the pup to wake, which normally starts later; it was also a faint rustling by her ear. The girl groaned, and opened an eye to see a fox pacing restlessly.

"Anakin," she yawned, rolling over. The fox turned around to face her, his eyes etched with concern.

"I'm sorry, Puppy. Did I wake you?"

Puppy got to her feet and stretched. "It's alright. Any danger?"

Anakin, nightly, would patrol their camp, making sure no harm would come to any of them. He never slept at night. While the others asked, and sometimes pleaded, for him to sleep, he always declined, stating at this point in his life it was impossible for him to sleep at night. The only sleep the fox ever got was a 2 hour nap around midday, in a very light slumber.

Anakin shook his head. "Very quiet tonight."

Puppy nodded, then looked around her tiny camp to see if anyone else was awake. Mackenzie, a small, white and yellow cat was curled up in a ball, eyes shut and motionless. She often slept so quietly and so still that the occasional flick of her tail was confirmation she was still alive.

Asmodeous, a large, blue and black cat lay sprawled across a branch in a tree. While as a cat, he hardly ever slept on the ground like the others. It provided some security, however. The branch he slept on protruded right above the camp, not too high up, and his pelt color allowed him to blend into the night. If anything was to attack, chances are Asmodeous would sense it first and could defend immediately.

"So...how'd you sleep?" Anakin asked the dog.

Puppy gave a small shrug. "Alright. Nothing special." Anakin asked that to each three every morning. Almost as if he felt he was missing out...

"Good morning!" a voice chirped. Mackenzie, head and tail raised high, walked up to them. "How was patrol, Anakin?"

The fox nodded, and then proceeded to ask her the regular question. Mackenzie replied similarity to Puppy.

Anakin stretched, and then said, "I'm going out to hunt now." He lifted his head and called to last sleeper. "Asmodeous! Wake up! Time to help me hunt!"

There was silence, until a raspy voice purred, "I've been awake. However, I'm not accompanying you on the hunt this morning."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to," the cat replied, rolling over to face him. He stuck out his tongue teasingly. "I'll help you later on, maybe."

In no mood to argue, Anakin huffed, "Alright. I'll be back in a few."

A chuckle came from the tree as Anakin disappeared down the hill the kids resided on and into the clump of trees beneath. Asmo had gotten out of the past three morning hunts, which agitated the others quite a bit. Mackenzie and Puppy exchanged a glance, turned their backs to the cat, and engaged in conversation.

However, a sharp shriek tore into the stillness of the morning not five minutes later.
Mackenzie jumped up. "It's Anakin! He's in trouble!"

Asmodeous stretched, yawned, and jumped out the tree. "What has the 'ole fox gotten himself into this time? Come on."

The cat changed into his pseudo form and followed Anakin's path down the hill. Puppy and Mackenzie followed. The deeper the children went into the forest, a loud, sweet, and sickly smell began to engulf them. The more they progressed, the thicker the smell got, until the three found it difficult to breathe.

"Where....Ana...kin?" wheezed Mackenzie. After a short while, Puppy finally spotted him. He was lying unconscious between two intertwined trees. However, next to him, in full bloom, was a giant flower, like none other the kids had seen. It sat about three feet tall and two feet wide. It had erect pink-purple petals, so sturdy they didn't budge in the blowing wind. The flower's pistil had sharp, black stamen, almost as big as the petal themselves. But the most peculiar of it all was how the entire plant appeared to be omitting a faint, electric-blue light. It was obvious that this flower was the cause of the deathly smell, and the reason Anakin was out. Puppy's vision suddenly got clouded, and coughed up blood. Asmodeous, head and world spinning for him, staggered over to Anakin and scooped him up. The pseudo then turned and ran back out the forest, Mackenzie and Puppy following.

As soon as the smell weakened, they gulped for air and loss footing. It took them almost half the day to use the strength they had left to find their hill and walk up it. Exhausted and whoozy, they collapsed yet again.

Mackenzie lifted her head. "Is everyone okay?"

With a cough, Puppy replied, "I'm fine."

Asmo just nodded, and turned his attention to Anakin, getting up on his knees. "He's out cold. Alive, thankfully."

Puppy, a bit hesitant, got to her feet. "Well, half the day has gone back and we've gotten nothing productive. Anakin will need to be cared for accordingly. Asmo, you stay with him and care for him. Mackenzie and I will go hunt for you two on this hill."

Asmodeous lifted an eyebrow. "Are you sure you both are well enough to?"

"We need to be," Puppy said uncertainly. "There's no use in lying around all day when there's chance to get stuff done. Plus, Anakin will need to eat. Come on, Mack."

With a barely audible moan, the cat got to her feet, and followed Puppy into the cluster of trees around their camp.

## Chapter 2

### **Puppy**

The girls quietly, trekked through the forest, eyes, ears, and smell open for any prey. After about five minutes, the two split up to hunt one on one. A distinct smell wavered through the air and into Puppy's nostrils. A squirrel. The dog held onto the scent and followed it. However, the stronger it got, Puppy noticed it was smelling less and less like a squirrel, and more and more like another dog. Another dog near their territory *was* a threat. The smell was extremely strong now. Puppy pulled back her lips in a snarl and kept her head and tail erect. The second was coming from behind two trees in front of her... Puppy leaped out, growling.

However, instantly, she froze, dumbfounded. The forest cleared up here, until there was nothing but the sky and the grass. Several yards in front of her, was a brown dog, who looked he could be a mix of an Australian Cattle Dog and a Jack Russel. While his main coat was brown, his front right was was green, he had a green underside and a same-colored tuff of fur on top of his head, hanging over the top of one eye. The coloring was unnatural for a dog. His eyes had no whites, were simply green all over. He had white irises and his pupil was so small it was hardly visible. Around his neck was an orange bandana, with a bright yellow C on the front. Puppy recognized this dog anywhere.

It was her own OC, Chip.

Was she delusional? How on earth did he get there? How on earth was he there. She made up her own OCs; they didn't exist. How was it possible? Puppy, although retreated in her threatening appearance, still kept her head and tail up high and started to back away from the other dog. Chip had his head low, but his eyes were locked on her. Was that even Chip? Maybe it was a prank pulled on her, or an uncanny look-alike.

Puppy finally spoke, "Chip?"

The dog just blinked.

"Are you Chip? Is that you?"

The possible Chip lifted his head, turned around, and bounded off.

"Hey, wait up!" Puppy called, chasing after him. "Don't run from me!"

The other dog led Puppy on quite a fine chase. Usually, around this time, Puppy would've felt fatigue, however, instead, her body was rushed with adrenaline, almost as if she'd forgotten how to tire. Finally, Chip abruptly stopped. Puppy slowed her pace, and it was then when she noticed the entire landscape had appeared, and she was in some sort of electric-blue void.

"Where did you take me? What are you doing?"

Chip didn't turn around to face her. He didn't budge. Puppy tilted her head, wondering what was going on with the dog, and still puzzled by all the events. She walked up to him, and noticed he was staring into what looked like a flat well. She followed his gaze into it. There was nothing but pink and purple spirals, appearing to twist and turn forever into the depths of eternity. Fatigue finally tugged at the dog, and she found her eyelids getting....peculiarly...heavy.

Suddenly, Chip let out a bellowing scream, turned to Puppy, and pressed his nose against hers. Startled, Puppy jumped back, right into a set of claws that tore into her back.

### **Mackenzie**

Mack had just about given up hope hunting. There didn't seem to be any prey anywhere in this part of the forest. Oh, well. Maybe Puppy had better luck. She could go back to her and check... An alarming smell suddenly caught in her nostrils. The cat tensed up, fur on her back bristling. There was a rustling to the left of her. Blinded in fear, she didn't budge, but her claws instinctively unsheathed. She braced herself, but nothing appeared.

The smell was still strong, but Mackenzie slightly began to relax... The next thing happened in a blur for Mackenzie. Something large and brown tackled her, letting out a deep roar. Mackenzie sliced at it as much as she could, and with all the force within her she pushed it off her. She then tried running away, but she discovered the forest had disappeared, instead replaced by an electric-blue dimension-like world. She still tried to run, but she couldn't tell if she was distancing herself or not. However, while running, she abruptly lost her footing, and tumbled to the ground. The creature was approaching, but she didn't care. This was how she would die, at the feet of some monster in some strange dimension. Shutting her eyes, she braced herself--

--to find herself being lifted up and held tightly. Mackenzie gathered up enough courage to open her eye to see a giant *bear*, hugging her. This bear, however, was patched all over, with a bright, dotted necktie. There were jagged tears across his face, stuffing bulging out of them, supposedly from where Mack had scratched him in defense. This was no monster. This was an alive teddy bear.

"Oh," said Mack. "You aren't so scary at all, are you? In fact, you're pretty nice."

The teddy bear gently patted Mack on the head.

"What brings you here? And do you know where we are?" the kitten asked, tilting her head.

The teddy bear nodded, and lifted Mackenzie up, setting her on top of his own head. He then turned around, to reveal an entirely different world. There were rainbows, falling from somewhere in the sky, everywhere. Spotted colored clouds floated around near the ground, with kittens riding them. There was a rainbow waterfall, with a few mice playing in it. [EDIT LATER. MORE DESCRIPTIVE].

Small human children ran around, playing what appeared to be tag. Mackenzie awed, and the teddy laughed. He walked to the foot of a rainbow, set the cat down, and gently nudged her further, as if encouraging her to play in this mystical new world. Mack, a bit hesitant, just stared at everything at first. Then, she bounded deeper into the magic. She played tag with some of the children, who adored her. Afterwards, they all ran to the waterfall, laughing and splashing the mice and each other. Mackenzie played and played for hours, meeting a lot of new friends in the process. Mackenzie soon got a bit bored with the regular play, and dared for something different, more exciting. However, a voice called out,

"Look at me!" Everyone looked to see a kitten, who looked to weigh no more than an ounce, climbing up the ridge of a rainbow. A few of the mice gasped, while some children squealed. The teddy bear, who had been sitting to the side, watching them play all this time, simply adjusted his necktie.

"I'm gonna climb it all the way to the top!" the kitten cried. "Who wants to come with me?" The creatures murmured amongst themselves. Mackenzie, something tugging at her heart, looked at the kitten. It was too small and too fragile to be able to safely be up there alone. In fact, it shouldn't be up there at all. And no one else would be fully capable of saving it, as they were as young as it, other than the teddy bear, who obviously had no interest in helping anyway. [EDIT LATER. FIX RUN ON]

"I will!" Mackenzie shouted, making her way to the foot of the rainbow. However, she suddenly started to second guess herself. She was about to *climb* up a rainbow. Was that even possible? As she remembered from her elementary school science class, a rainbow was only a spectrum of light. It wasn't tangible. The cat took a deep breath. Maybe the laws in this world weren't the same as the ones in hers. The kitten seemed to be fairing fine. And she wasn't going to back down now. Narrowing her eyes, she put her paw right on the rainbow. To her surprise, she was able to do it. It felt hard, sturdy, almost like a ramp.

"I'm coming!" the cat cried as she started to bound up. As sturdy as it felt, it didn't make it any less slippery. Mackenzie lost her footing every other second, and hardly made any progress up it. How was the other cat doing it? It just stared at her, in perfect balance, as if the rainbow wasn't like wax at all. To keep from falling off the edge, Mack had to keep her claws sunk into the surface, but her balance was still off, having her tip each way.

"I'm....on...my way!" Mack wheezed as she carefully trekked up. The kitten tilted its head. The higher up she got, the better, she found, her balance was centered. So the cat didn't have any advantage over her, other than height. [EDIT LATER. BAD SENTENCE]

She approached it faster and faster. It got to the point where Mackenzie could retract her claws if she wanted to. It was hardly slippery at all. Mackenzie tried pulling back her claws....but found she could not. Grunting, she lifted a paw from the surface, but found she had to tug to do so. She set it down as she lifted another, but it gave even more resistance. What was going on? Anxious, she tried lifting the paw she just set down, but she could not. It was stuck. Almost as if the rainbow was eating it.

"What?" She tried all the other paws, and they gave the same. At that moment did she feel how tighter they'd become. The kitten, who was now only a few feet away from her, showed no change in emotion. He still looked confused and a bit impatient. Mackenzie felt herself getting lower, and her paws getting tighter, the tightness scraping her lower foot. Mackenzie looked down again, to find her paws *gone*. She was sinking into the rainbow.

"Help!" she screamed. "Somebody help me! I'm stuck...I think I'm sinking into the rainbow!" No one stepped up. The kitten just blinked. She starting sinking faster. At this point she was up to her lower legs.

"Help! Somebody! Please! Help me!" The kitten flicked its tail, saying not a thing. Mackenzie looked down at the creatures below her, but they all just started up at her, expressions blank. It was reaching up her legs now.

"I'll do anything! Get me from here!" No one budged. So this was how Mackenzie would die. Eaten by a rainbow, with everyone staring. Hot tears streamed down her face, as it got near her shoulders. She opened her mouth to scream again, but the only thing that came out was a hoarse, raspy, whisper. She couldn't even scream now. Just be watched. Mackenzie closed her eyes to brace herself, as it covered her shoulders and began to crawl down her back. This was it.

However, something inside her told her to open her eyes. When she did, for maybe the final time, she saw that the kitten was gone. The electric blue world had turned a deeper shade, almost like an indigo. She looked down at the ground once more. Everyone else had disappeared as well. Everyone except the teddy bear. But he was different. The tears from his fight with Mackenzie had suddenly vanished, his patches sewn so nicely together one could hardly tell they were there. His eyes...his eyes were crazy. And a deep, wry smirk rested on his face.

"W-What's going on?" Mackenzie said, up to her neck. As her voice was gone, she could only imagine herself speaking it. The teddy didn't need to hear her question to receive it, for no later than she asked that, all of the mice, kittens, and human children appeared in front of her on the rainbow. They wore neckties like the teddy, and shared his insane eyes and smirk. And were coming right for her.

### **Asmo**

They'd been gone for hours. Asmo slowly found himself getting anxiety as more time passed by. He'd many failed attempts to coax Anakin back to life, and Puppy and Mack were taking longer than usual. Something definitely was up.

Eventually, Asmo made up his mind to go find the two girls. But how was he to leave Anakin, though?

Asmo found a hollowed bush nearby. He placed an unconscious Anakin in it and concealed him with leaves and mud. Then, he scratched him behind the ears one time.
"Do me a favor and not die before I come back," Asmo said pointlessly. Afterwards, he turned on his heels, transformed into a cat, and ran the way the girls went.

Asmo caught their scent and hurried on his way. He hoped he could find the girls quickly, so he could make it back to Anakin. Wouldn't be too long before something sniffed *him* out.

He was only able to follow their scent for a few trots, because, suddenly, they were cut off. It was almost as if they'd disappeared.

His head spinning in confusion and his heart sinking, he called, "Mack? Puppy?"

He got no reply to first. He started pacing around the premises, hoping to catch at least a trace of their scent.

Rather, he heard whispers.

His ears sprung up and tilted in the direction of the noise. He followed it.

As he got closer, he realized the voices weren't Mack's or Puppy's; rather, they were foreign. Asmo quickly slowed his pace. His haunches rose, his claws unsheathed, and his pawsteps became almost noiseless. He kept his ears up to drone in on the conversation. Intruders on their territory.

The voices were much louder now, but Asmo could only make out a few words. "Plot...death...data...destruction."

There was a faint blue glow behind a group of trees. Asmo peeked behind it and suppressed a gasp.

Two figures, back to her and huddled slightly together, exchanging harsh and hushed whispers. Both had erect cat-like ears and a bushy tail. Their outfits were exotic and overly complicated. One, covered in bright-blue circuits from the neck down, was emitting a bright indigo-blue glow.

Their anatomy proved they were Pseudos, the same species Asmodeous herself was. However, their designs, their look...was just like Asmo's very own OCs, Kyrus and Kassiden.

The first though that went through Asmo's head was that he had utterly lost it. He'd dreamed of his OCs coming to life for a long time--but it was obvious it wasn't going to happen! He felt nothing of joy or a positive emotion. The whole situation felt...wrong, off. It couldn't be real, no no. He was either dreaming or had lost every ounce of sanity possible.

Despite all logic, Asmo just *had* to get a closer look, to see if they were real or not. He stepped forward, his flank brushing against leaves and thistles and causing a loud rustle. Instantly, the two figures stopped their whispers and shot their heads around, gleaming eyes fixed on him. Asmo's bones turned to ice.

They stayed in this position for a short bit; Asmo frozen and the two unblinking Pseudos staring. Eventually, although he knew transforming into a Pseudo himself wouldn't make the encounter any easier, Asmo tried anyway. The Pseudo's eyes followed Asmo's as he transformed and grew.

The electric-blue one, Kyrus, tensened. The other one, much taller and ridged, with bright red eyes flicked an ear. Both of their eyes shone with recognition, and Asmo could tell they weren't too elated to see him. But then, they turned back around, pressed together and whispering much harsher now.

On a normal day, Asmo might've challenged this, or asked endless questions on how they came to be. But Puppy and Mack had vanished, and a vulnerable Anakin was left back at camp. He'd questioned his own sanity, anyway. So he started to back up, away from the two--

"Not another step, Asmodeous," one of them said, he couldn't tell who.

Asmo froze, blood chilling. A bit of defiance flickered in him, and he felt all defense mechanisms within him turning on.

"Surprised you actually decided to show up," said the same voice--was it the same voice? Asmo's head throbbed and spun. Through all the mental chaos, something was telling him to transform into a cat. That would make his getaway easier.

"Don't even think about it."

Asmo was going to ignore the command, when suddenly, Kyrus swung around, his eyes having lost their pupils and glowing a bright, electric blue. He screamed an inhuman scream, like a cat and a bat harmonizing in a death cry. In his hand he held a rapier, glowing with blue electricity, the entire thing emitting a white light. Kassiden turned around as well, his eyes glowing and a scowl etched on his face, as Kyrus lunged straight for Asmo.

### **Anakin**

When Anakin finally opened his eyes, the light poking from cracks in the shrubs was dim and dark.

Wait, shrubs?

Anakin raised his head, only to hit it on sharp thorns above him. Hissing in pain, he got to his feet, thorns and brambles around him tearing into his fur, and squeezed his way into the light.

"Ow, how I'd end up in--guys?"

The camp was deserted. The scents of Asmo, Mack and Puppy were faint.

Anakin's throat sank and his heart slammed against his chest. Where were they? What had happened to him! He'd fallen asleep and they were *gone*!

"No, no no. Mack? Asmo? Puppy?"

In an immediate flustered panic, Anakin ran around the camp, nose down to catch any of their scent.

Asmo's scent was the strongest, although quite faint. He noticed it trailing out of the camp and deeper into the forest.

"Asmoo? Asmo!"

Although he knew calling at that point would be pointless, he yearned for an answer. He ran throughout the forest. "Asmo! Asmo! Mack! Puppy!"

An answer was what he wanted, and an answer was what he got.

"*Anakin!"*

But it was not Asmo's voice, nor the girls'. This voice cut through the forest's silence sharply and roughly and almost knocked him over. Anakin turned around and--shocked to see, in the place he had just run from, an enormous tank. It stood about 20 feet off the ground, and was maybe 40 or so feet wide. It had enough room for a line of windows, with giant guns being jutted out of each and every one of them. The wheels were large as well, reaching up to the closest appropriate window--they looked as if they could crush anything in its path to dust. Instead of the usual thing on the top, it was giant, rounded like a light-cannon almost, with many buttons jutting out of it. The whole thing was crafted from a dark green and shiny steel. A metal-clad figure stood at the top, leaning over the tank and holding the base of the cannon for support, and shouted Anakin's name again. The figure was covered from head to toe in almost like a robotic gear, with utility belts crammed with tools and weapons Anakin couldn't even start to name. He wore a helmet that covered his whole face--like...like one from Destiny.

Anakin gaped. The tank--it was unlike any other Anakin had seen.

"What are you doing, standing down there and gaping like a bratty baby bird wanting a meal? Don't you hear me?" Anakin blinked, the metal clad figure waving vigorously. "Get your tail up here, fox!"

Without hesitation, or any consideration to the circumstance, Anakin ran over, looking for any way to get into the tank. Suddenly, a gun in one of the windows retreated, and another metal-clad figure appeared, pointing on the wheel. Anakin tilted is head but listened to command, lowering himself and leaping as high as he could, his front paws barely landing on the top of the wheel and nearly sliding off. Grunting, he tried shoving his claws in the wheel for support and using his hind legs to kick him back up, wriggling and grunting and fighting to get a steady grip and his way all the way up to the top. Up there, panting, the figure grabbed him and yanked him inside.

Anakin gasped, wiping his paws off---the floor was metal, with a few mats here and there scattered almost pointlessly. There were metal-clad figures at every window, their guns shoved out, everyone noiseless.

The metal-clad figure who had helped him nodded at Anakin, and then motioned towards the middle of the room. "He wants to talk to you, over there." His voice was deep, but somehow seemed to be filled with static--like the kind you would hear on a beat-up television.

Anakin nodded, not sure what he should be asking, and then scurried to the middle of the room. The top opened and the metal-clad figure who had been screaming his name appeared. He jumped down inside the room, landing on his paws, and then turned to Anakin. He reached up and took off his helmet.

Anakin was shocked. These weren't humans....this was a wolf...fox...thing. He was an anthro, giant teeth, calm but serious eyes. He had a scar from the tip of his ear down around the back of his head--it seemed--and then curled up towards his cheek and down his neck. He had another scar across his muzzle--and his ear had two bullet wounds in it.

*Devout*. The word instantly popped ito Anakin's head.

Devouts? Like this? What was going--

"We're under attack, currently," the Devout said. "Grab a gun, meet you up front."

The Devout ran up to the front of the tank, leaving Anakin. Anakin looked around the room of the tank. Even with the many windows, it still was quite dark. It was weird--Anakin didn't recall it being quite *this* dark when he first came in. The only light the windows seemed to be emitting was a dull blue...it was so eerie, and Anakin sensed everything wrong.

Still--he was in the middle of a fight. He got down on all fours and began sniffing around, until his muzzle touched something slender and metal. Getting up, he felt around and found a row of--some type of gun, Anakin couldn't tell which yet, well-stocked and at his disposal. He grabbed one, and using the little light the windows gave off and the shadows of Devouts lined (betterword) and waiting against the windows, tried making his way to the front.

He swung a door open, pushed his way into a little corridor--Anakin hated being in it instantly and was glad to get out quickly--and then almost stumbled into the front. The first thing Anakin felt was relief. The lighting was *much* better in here--the front of the room had a giant window, with two side windows. The blue light was much, much brighter now...and Anakin could see the room clearly. A platform with speakers and buttons. Two leather seats--for some reason looking very high class, in the middle, with a giant steering wheel about half the size of Anakin himself in front of one. The Devout, helmet back on, was standing to the corner of the chamber, alert and ready.

"I sent the driver back so he could wait at a window. I can drive, Anakin, you man this other window for me, got it?"

What even was happening? How had Anakin gotten himself here?

All he knew was that there were some Devouts here--apparently? And they needed help.

Anakin nodded. "Got it, on it."

The Devout walked over to the chair next to the steering wheel, swung himself on it, and stayed motionless, as if waiting for Anakin to sit before he make any other move. Anakin followed after, sitting in his appropriate chair and shoving his gun out the window.

And what a surprise he saw.

No wonder the lighting was so odd--everything outside had disappeared! It was blue, blue, bright blue upon blue! So much blue it was hurting Anakin's eyes, and he had to look at the outlining of the window.

"Alright, we're moving," the Devout said, beginning to turn the steering wheel. Anakin felt the tank lurch with it. Something deep inside of Anakin's stomach danced. He was working in a tank--he was surrounded by *Devouts*!

But it was constantly being eaten up by another sense--a cold, confused sense...what was going on?

Anakin narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the gun. Gosh--the blue *was* painful.

"There they are, you ready?" the Devout growled. "Stand your ground--get 'em."

The Devout turned the tank a bit--and Anakin could see into clear view another tank. It had its weapon bared.

Anakin narrowed his eyes, and lifting his gun up, shot several times.

To his surprise, it was so powerful it made him jerk back, sending out a brief flash of light as whatever he shot shot out of the barrel.

He hit---something. He could see a bit commotion on the other tank--but couldn't tell...the background was burning his eyes--before its weapon went off, flying straight towards their tank and hitting it so hard it spun.

Instantly, gunshot exploded behind Anakin. His own Devouts fighting back.

Anakin didn't relinquish his own gun, firing back as necessary. He could hardly see--though.

But they weren't malicious. The other tank turned around...and left.

Anakin leaned back and blinked his eyes. What had happened?

The Devout gasped. "Thank goodness. They're gone. Excellent job."

Anakin nodded, panting. "Doesn't the background hurt your eyes?" he gasped.

The Devout turned to Anakin and tilted his head. "No...? Why--"

He was cut off as gunshot filled the tank again.

"Oh gosh..." the Devout said. "What's happening thi--"<

He couldn't finish. The door swung open...Anakin had no time to turn around to see who. With the crack of a gun, the metal-clad Devout was blown from his seat, body hitting the steering wheel.

Anakin gripped his gun and turned around to defend himself when the gun went off again, sending something hurdling straight towards Anakin's neck--and while it exploded in pain, everything abruptly went black.

## Chapter 3

Puppy jolted awake, eyes snapping open and gasping. She swayed, digging her paws deep into the dirt...she was alive and safe! Safe!

Looking around, Puppy was surprised to notice it was nighttime. They were at their campout...everything peaceful and quiet.

It was all a dream...all a dream.

A thick shriek cut through the night as Mackenzie shot up from where she slept. Her fur was ruffled and she began pacing, "No...no...no."

Anakin lifted his head. He was alright--or so he should have been. His eyes were wide, like two small moons stuck to his face--as he watched Mackenzie pace around.

Puppy ran over to Anakin and almost tackled him over in a greeting. "You're okay! Oh my gosh--I thought..."

Anakin looked over at Puppy and blinked--he was clearly happy to see her, too, but something was clearly bothering him. His eyes went back to Mackenzie.

Where was Asmo?

Puppy looked up at Asmo's tree. She could clearly see his silhouette up there--but it was motionless. Puppy didn't know whether to call to him, and left him alone.

Mack stopped pacing, and then looked at Anakin. Swelling up temporarily with joy and relief, she ran over to him and knocked him over. "Anakin! You're okay! I thought you were dead--oh my gosh."

"S-Same..." started Puppy, shocked.

"I'm..." Anakin stopped. "W-wait, how?"

Mackenzie stepped away from Anakin and sat down. Her ears were held high in worry and her eyes were nearly as wide as Anakin's. "I...I had a horrible dream last night."

"Me too," Puppy started.

"...Same," said Anakin.

"Odd," Mack said, tilting her head. Then, she cowered a bit. "I had a dream Anakin went to go hunting and then we lost him--and when we found him, he was unconscious by this weird flower that made us all sick. Puppy and I left to hunt for ourselves--"

"Whoa..." Puppy interrupted, eyes wide. "I had the same dream."

Mackenzie stopped, shocked. "W-What?"

"I....I remember dreaming about a flower too...and then it blacked out from there," Anakin added meekly. "When I woke up, all of you were gone."

"...same," a voice said. The three turned around to see Asmo, turned around. His black fur disappeared into the night, and all they could see were his bright blue eyes--they looked tired, but clearly worried. "Puppy and Mack...they left to hunt. I was  with Anakin--they didn't come back...and so I left Anakin and went to look for them myself."

"That's so..." Anakin started, "...odd."

"Did it happen?" Puppy asked. "Maybe that really did happen and I'm getting confused...but after that..."

"After that!" Mack started, jumping to her feet. "I got attacked by this bear thing and--"

And she started spilling out a horrific story about how the a human-sized teddy bear took Mackenzie to this odd, supposedly lovable world, and how everything suddenly turned dark and Mackenzie was nearly murdered by every creature and suffocated by a rainbow.

The three stared at her in horror...and slowly each others told about their stories.

"It was so...disturbing," Asmo said with a shudder. "My characters were right there--here--it was so real! I had really lost you guys and I *saw* them in the forest I was looking for you guys in."

"Maybe that was a memory...the flower and us losing each other?" Puppy asked. "I don't know--I doubt we would have dreams so uncanny."

"But still..." Mackenzie said with a shudder.

"...well," Anakin said, getting to his feet. "What now?"

"I'm sure as heck not going to back to sleep, fox," Asmo said. "I can keep watch over you guys, though, 'specially you, Anakin--you haven't had rest in forever."

"And the one time I do rest, this happens," Anakin shook dirt, sand, and oddly some small leaves out of his pelt. "No, sir, Mister Cat. I'm not sleeping either."

"I doubt any of us are going to be able to go back to sleep," Puppy said with a sigh. "Let's just stay up...I guess."

The three nodded, even though it was clearly the middle of the night. They sat there, staring at each other with no clue what to do.

"...we could play a game?" Mackenzie proposed.

The quartet avoided sleep as much as possible. They played a few, somewhat trivial and boring games, such as guess the object--hard to do when you're anxious--finding objects with a certain color, counting branches on trees, until the sun came up. During the day, when it was time to hunt, the whole group stuck to each other like glue, hunting as one, in the little clearing they were in. This sadly gave rise to very little prey and they were hungry for most of the day. After this was just a day of, as engaging as it could be, chat. Anything to get their mind off the previous night's dreams.

They did whatever for the longest time, until midnight of the following night came around again. They had no intention of falling back to sleep--but fatigue tugged them.

"It was just one night of nightmares," Asmo said reassuringly. "...just one, sucky night. But I highly doubt it's going to be this bad now. But we need to sleep, alright?"

The other three exchanged a nod. They knew Asmo was right. The blue cat scurried up his tree and curled up, and the other trio did the same.

Just one crappy night of dreams. Alright. Perfectly fine. That was all.

It had better be.

## Chapter 4

### **Puppy**

When Puppy opened her eyes, she was back in the electric-blue world.

The dog's heart sunk. No...no, not again. Would this be a reoccuring dream?

She knew what would happen, at least. She'd meet Chip, who would expect her to follow him to a vortex-pool-thing. He'd then push her into the claws of crazy animals. She just had to avoi--

She was *sentient*.

Puppy was shocked to have remembered all of that--to know she was dreaming! She was self-aware in this dream...which meant possibly she had control over her own mind!

She could *avoid* Chip, and possibly make this dream her own. Get rid of the horrid electric blue--which, frankly, was hurting her dream eyes--and make it a nice, calming dream or something.

How to do so? Puppy lied down and focused really hard. Maybe she could force the background to become a nice mountain range. Put some birds in the sky and have a cat playing a ukelele.

*Okay, Puppy. Mountain range. Mountain range. Soothing mountain range.* She shut her "eyes" and chanted quietly to herself. *Soothing mountain range. Soothing mountain range.*

This went on for about two minutes. When Puppy opened her eyes, she didn't see a mountain range.

Instead, she saw a pair of bright blue cat eyes.

She jumped back and shrieked. It was a male kitten, orange with green markings--Leaf, another character of Puppy's--and his face was right in hers.

Puppy got to her feet and tensed her muscles. She'd *never* have the heart, normally, to hurt one of her OCs..and definitely not a young and generally innocent one like Leaf. But with all this craziness happening recently--

Leaf looked taken aback, and then, to Puppy's surprise, shook his head at her. He sat down and gave his shoulder a quick lick--for some reason--then met Puppy's eyes with a blank gaze,

"Where're your buddies?" Puppy demanded. "I'm not dealing with any of you guys' chaos. I'm tired and I want to sleep normally, for crying out loud. But I'll handle anything."

Leaf blinked at her, and shook his head again.

"What are you shaking your head for? You're not telling me where they are?"

*He's mute, you bright Puppy,* Puppy thought to herself. ...or, was she thinking to herself? This was her own head, right? Maybe some omnious voice of this dream void--it *did* seem disconnected to her, as if she didn't say it herself--

While she was having this mini-conflict, Leaf got to his paws and left.

...wait, what?

He probably expected her to follow him, like Chip did. No. Not again. Puppy turned tail and ran the *opposite* direction.

This electric-blue world seemed endless, as if she were running through an ocean…vacuum. Everything was lucid, it looked so unnatural. Puppy’s stomach sank. This was too unnerving, and making her sick.

After running for what felt like an hour—Puppy stopped, her body aching.

Which was a mistake. She heard a low growl behind her, and turned around to face Chip. He wasn’t as nonchalant-seeming as he was when she first met him. His muscles were tense, his head was lowered, his tail was spiked up. His lips were pulled back in a growl, showing off huge incisors. His tongue slapped the top of his mouth a few times, making drool spill down his chin.

Puppy raised her shoulders and head, preparing herself. “alright, Chip, I’m ready for you!”

As if listening to her, the dog pounced.

Puppy wasn’t ready as she thought. Chip pummeled her over and knocked the wind out of her, her head slamming against the floor. She saw stars for a moment—

Chip continued by sinking his teeth deep into her shoulder, making her scream. Her shoulder was wet and warm and burning in pain—he’d squirted out blood.

Puppy regained her strength, and used her forepaws—biting her teeth against the pain—and  all the strength with the injury she could gather up, and shoved Chip off her.

Chip’s muzzle was bloody, and he licked it, pouncing again.

Puppy dodged out the way in the nick of time, taking advantage of Chip’s temporarily dazed moment to leap onto his back and bite *his* shoulder. Chip yet out a yelp, and rolled over—throwing her off in surprise.

Puppy got to her feet again with something else tackled her—this creature with claws shredding up her back like the last dream.

Puppy turned her head around and bit the leg of whatever animal it was, and twisted her head to throw it off. To no surprise, it was a blue-cream cat, Chip’s friend, Bobby. Bobby hissed, quick back on his feet, and Chip was preparing to pounce.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Puppy saw another cat quickly approaching, ready to pounce. Puppy could just make out—almost unrecognizable in her Anger-Extreme form—Candy, when both Chip and Bobby attacked again.

She threw Bobby off only to have him be replaced with Candy…and when she swatted off Chip, Scratch sliced her cheek.

Four OCs…probably more coming. She couldn’t fight them off.

So, she did the smart thing. She knocked off Candy, with her claws hanging onto her back, and darted away.

The animals collectively yowled and took chase.

As Puppy was running, she saw *more* of her OCs appearing, coming from all sides. Not Alfred, Tick, Gibby, Grimm, even little Tiffy.

She dodged them, fighting off one OC who came too close briefly. Maybe if she kept running—they’d all get tired or something! Or lose interest! Or…OR SOMETHING! What could she do? She had no where to go and from the fighting she just endured, *she* was getting tired.

Puppy then noticed the scene around her changing. Instead of what appeared like a pure electric-blue void everywhere…there were shapes appearing. With slightly darker outlines indicating them from the background. Hills? Tall, semi-spiked…rock, sort of things? The world was looking more like a land.

YES! She could hide behind one of them—

But alas, she got so caught up in the surprise of the world having changed that she’d slowed. And three animals caught up to her, pouncing on her and slamming her onto the ground.

She just had to fight them off and quickly run behind one of the hills. She’d have a short bit to hide.

She tried rolling over but the animals were too heavy for her to get that much momentum…or lift up for that matter.

She then shrieked at the top of her lungs.

That caught one of the animals off guard, yes! She wiggled herself a bit, taking advantage of this surprise and further loosening one of their grips. This gave her enough space to roll over, throwing the two tighter-gripped animals off. She got to her feet to attack them, when some bird—probably Squail, then—wrapped, its wings around her neck. She fell backwards to crush him, and Crash—sweet fluffy Crash—took this opportunity to swipe at her exposed belly. She used her hindlegs to kick him off, and more animals toppled on her.

Chip shoved his paws on the top of her head, slamming her face into the ground, and some other animals were clawing her ears. She got to her paws again, shrieking.

*Follow me*.

What the—

It was her weird mental voice thing again. Where she thought it was her head but it didn’t come from—

Who? Who was “me?”

Puppy looked around, but all the animals around her were aggressively either pacing around her or preparing for attack…or were attacking.

Except for one. A green and orange cat sitting slightly away from the chaos, gaze meeting hers.

Once their gazes met, he nodded and turned around, about to walk off, and looked back again.

No. No this was too crazy. Leaf was going to lead her into another trap. Her own beloved characters were trying to kill her. She wanted to throw up. Her head spun. These animals were going to kill her.

Her distraction with Leaf only sent her to the bottom of a vicious animal pile. She was going to die. She was going to die.

Stupid animals. Dang Leaf.

She wouldn’t let this happen. Every time she tried to find space and strength and tried get up, another animal would pull her back down. She couldn’t die at the paws of her own characters. She kept trying. She kept being pulled back. No. She couldn’t. She wasn’t. They pulled her back…she pulled herself forward. And fell. And got up. And pulled as hard as she could…

Fur was ripped from her tail, ears and back, but she was free. No time to wince in that horrific pain, she ran as fast as she could into the hills and rock-appearing landforms. Those quick, insane animals were on her heels right after. There had to be somewhere to hide. Somewhere to hide…

### **Mackenzie**

Mackenzie had hoped with all her might she wouldn't get another nightmare, but just her luck, she was back in that horrible electric-blue world.

No, no no no. Her heart sank. She didn't want to have to go through what she'd experienced last night--not again, no. Not that horrible rainbow, those horrible demented animals and children...

Mackenzie shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe this dream would be different. Sure it was an electric blue world, but maybe the dream would be different this time. Maybe she wouldn't suffer...

She opened her eyes and resolved to explore the world. Find something nice here, avoid those demented creatures.

She scanned her surroundings--and was surprised to find plateaus, outlined in a darker blue to separate them from the background, in the distance, as well as some hill-like landforms.

The last time she'd been to an area such as that, there were crazy animals swimming in a waterfall.

However, Mackenzie wasn't sure if she felt too comfortable being out there in the open. at least there was some idea of security in the hills. She made her way to them.

When she finally reached the base of one of the hills, resolved to climb one to see the landscape—if there was one. She started making her way up—

“Mack!”

Mackenzie froze, her fur spiking up. The voice wasn’t someone she recognized—so it wasn’t one of her friends.

She dared to turn around to see the kitten who had run up the rainbow, and got her trapped. But this time, he was bigger, as if he’d grown up a bit…and had a female voice. His look-alike older sister? He changed gender?

“aww, don’t be scared of me! I’m real sorry about what happened last time. I could make it up to you?” the cat tilted their head and smiled kindly.

That was enough for Mack. She turned back around and started going up the hill. She couldn’t go back down if they was blocking it, but she may be able to climb around the side and go down from there.

“Gee.” The cat suddenly appeared beside her and moved in front of her, sitting down. Thankfully the incline wasn’t steep yet. “Rude, much, Mack?”

Her heart sank and she unsheathed her claws, inching backwards. “What’s with you?”

The cat looked at Mack’s paws. “Wow. No need to get aggressive. I’m just trying to talk to you.”

Mack then reared up and sliced them on the eye. “Frick, leave me alone!” Mackenzie turned around and darted back down the hill, glad gravity was making her abit faster.

The other cat yet out a yowl. They were most probably following her but Mack wasn’t about to look over her shoulder and check.

As soon as she got to the base of the hill, she made a sharp turn into the valleys.

The hills were very close to each other, making the valleys somewhat narrow. It was a difficult path for Mack to follow, winding and twisted. She heard the other cat running behind her; they weren’t too close, but were quickly approaching.

Mack’s breaths quickened. She made a quick turn around the corner of a hill and slammed into something large and furry. She shook her head, and looked up.

Right into the face of the teddy bear. He looked just how she had last seen him. Huge, wry, unnerving smirk, crazy eyes, perfectly patched up.

Mack slowly backed away, shaking. No…

She heard the skidding pawsteps of the cat behind her, them gasping for air.

“There you are!” the other cat rasped. “She’s been runnin’ from me.”

The teddy bear tilted his head. “That’s not very nice. Your cat friend was only trying to apologize. It’s only fair to forgive.”

“Yeah, give me a chance at least.” Mack looked over her shoulder at the other cat. She hadn’t been accurate in her aim—their eyelid was cut and bloody, but their eye unscathed. They walked closer, constantly flicking their tail. “I mean, how bad can that be?”

Mack’s fur, which was standing on end at the time, almost started to flatten. She *did* hope for a nicer dream, after all.

But the teddy bear was still looking demented and all of this still felt wrong. So Mackenzie leaped on the hill closest to her.

She’d misjudged it. It was steep—too steep to just simply climb, and she wound up having to shove her claws in the dirt to hang on. She tried scurrying up this way, but she wasn’t fast enough. The huge bear snatched her and brought her close to his face.

“You didn’t forgive Marble. You’re a bad, bad cat. We don’t like bad cats.” He tilted his head and blinked at her, his smile slowly turning into a scowl.

“We don’t,” said Marble.

Well, wasn’t that ironic of him to say! Mack clawed his face—she’d taken this bear on once, she could take him again. When he screamed and dropped her, she started to run. Marble slammed their paw on Mack’s tail to keep her from running, but she quickly turned around and swiped her paw on their eye again. This time she was successful, blood streaming from Marble’s eye. Before the bear could get up, Mackenzie ran away.

She kept running, never looking back…and didn’t stop until she was sure she couldn’t hear their pawsteps anymore—but kept running more just in case. When she could run no further, she sat and leaned against the  wall of a—

Wall?!

Mackenzie looked around her, and noticed with a sinking feeling she wasn’t in a valley anymore; she was in more of a short ravine. The inclines around her were steep—she didn’t think she could climb them too easily, and the space had greatly narrowed. She was encased on all sides.

She wasn’t sure if she liked this, as it made hearing the animals a bit more difficult. But with her fatigue, she didn’t have much of a choice. All she could do is hope the cat and bear hadn’t somewhat climbed *up* the inclines and were going to jump down on her.

With that terrifying thought, Mack instinctively looked up. And jumped to her feet in horror.

### **Asmo**

Asmo was shocked to find himself in what seemed to be a barren land. There were smashed buildings, debris, everywhere. And…surprisingly, the sky…the ground….was a bright, electric-blue. It was fairly painful to look at. A bit away from him, there was a collection of many broken down house-like buildings…possibly a village of sorts.

Asmo, curiosity getting to him, started walking towards it.

Only when he reached the outskirts of the village, and finding it much bigger than he’d gauged, did he start to hear the crying.

It was muffled, but sounded young, like a child’s. Ears perking up, Asmo walked into the town, looking around for the source.

Asmo surveyed the area as he walked in. There were no signs of life anywhere. By the state of the houses, many caved in and broken, and the crumbling sidewalks, the village seemed to have been abandoned for quite a while.

But the crying was coming from somewhere in it.

The further Asmo walked into the village, the louder the crying was. Eventually, he’d gotten into the center.

There were boarded up shops with broken windows, benches covered in cobwebs. There was a fountain in the middle—to Asmo’s surprise, it was wet!

From rain? Did this electric-blue weird dimension place have rain? Was the fountain recently in use?! Someone used the fountain?

The village was weirding Asmo out. This was a very *hum*an-like village, and he hadn’t been near any human towns for a while.

His ear shot up. There! The crying was coming from one street!

Asmo turned his head to a street perpendicular to the fountain. He didn’t have to walk far down it to see a small child, curled up while hugging his knees to his chest, sobbing.

To Asmo’s shock, he instantly recognized the child as Radii.

In his previous dream, he had meet Kyrus and Kassiden…

And the electric blue glow off Kyrus, now that he thought of it, from the previous dream, was eerily similar to the background in this world.

Was he back in the first dream? No…he’d been in a forest…and

Enough of that! His own young OC was crying in front of him—he had to do something.

Asmo leaned down in front of Radii. “Hi, Radii.”

Radii didn’t lift his head up or seem to recognize his name being said. Asmo perked his ears up and looked around. There seemed to be *no one* else. This child was here on his own. Poor guy.

Now worried, asmo picked him up, holding him out in front of him. Radii kept his face covered, sobbing. “Hey, Radii, it’s going to be okay, I promise. Tell me what’s wrong, did you get lost?”

The young Pseudo finally croaked, “Why did you do it?”

Huh?

“Why did I do—”

“Why did *you* *do it*?” Radii looked up at asmo, wide eyes tearful but filled with burning hatred. Asmo’s heart dropped. “Why…”

“I don’t understand…” Asmo  started. “What did I—”

“GET aWaY FROM HIM!” a shrill voice screamed. Asmo’s senses kicked in, ears perking up again and he only narrowly dodged a dagger—which landed perfectly in the wall of the building in front of him.

He turned around to see Trigara, her body slanted, her face scarred and her hair a mess…and her eyes wild, filled with the same hatred as Radii’s. Instantly, Asmo set the young Pseudo down. “What happe—"

“GET aWaY!” Trigara screamed. From how Asmo had…well, *developed* her, she was not known to be—

Screw that. His characters had obviously lost their wits. And for some reason hated him.

Asmo slid away from Radii, then backed away from the two.

And backed right into someone tall. He looked up right into the smiling face of Kyrusiden.

“Hello there,” Asmo’s very maniac  OC purred, tilting his head with a grin. “Nice to see you again, Asmodeous. We missed you dreadfully.”

*See again*? *Missed*?!

Everything about this was wrong, and with Trigara looking as if she’d been bitten by a rabid squirrel, staring Asmodeous down hungrily, and one of his most deadly OCs grinning down him, Asmodeous took off running.

“Don’t run off, Asmodeous. We should talk.” Kyrusiden’s voice sounded too near, but Asmo wasn’t about to turn around to see how far he was. No, he was going to keep running. He had to get out of this town.

Danged village. He had to navigate through houses and streets, tripping over cracked sidewalks. He contemplated hiding in or behind one of the houses, but he didn’t like the idea of being trapped.

…then again, he didn’t remember seeing anything *outside* of the village. Being chased out in the open is worse.

Resolving on keeping hidden, Asmodeous dared to glance over his shoulder.

Kyrusiden was in the lead, with Trigara holding Radii’s hand and following close behind. Asmo looked back in front of him, and quickly darted right between two houses.

He inched through them until he got to the next street, heart pounding. He heard Kyrusiden’s shouts and taunts, “Nothing should be scary about *talking*, Asmodeous.”

Gosh, why’d he have to make him with that smile—it was etched in Asmo’s mind.

He ran down the house a short bit until he jumped to a house. He tried the door and slid in. Thank goodness they were broken down—the locks were totaled.

Like most houses, it wasn’t the *safest*. There were gaping holes in the wall, the roof was cracked. But it provided shelter.

Asmo kept his ears perked for the three Pseudos outside, when something grabbed him by the scarf.

“What’s he doing here?!” another voice hissed.

Asmo twisted himself around to see his captor. Bright, fiery red eyes. White, spiky hai—

“That [I do not curse, so there will be a censored message here] Kyrus probablydid this—he was the one to be with him last,” Kassiden said with a growl. He put his face close to Asmodeous. “Your loss, Fuzzy. You should’ve stayed away.”

*Fuzzy*?

The other Pseudo stepped into the light, Mryminous, his eyes narrowed. Blood turning cold, Asmodeous lifted his arm and punched Kassiden in the face. He growled and Mryminous hissed. Before either of them could attack, Asmo transformed into his cat form and darted out one of the holes in the house.

The houses weren’t safe…the streets weren’t save…he could try another hou—

The village had suddenly come to life. Pseudos of all types were pouring out houses like a swarm of angry bees…making an appropriate beeline towards Asmodeous. He was seconds from being trapped.

Thank goodness—he’d made it to the outskirts of the village, free to the empty land. There were hills and tall spiked rocks—but they were probably crawling with Pseudos too—he had a *mob* of them chasing him…he had no where to go.

All he could do was run and hope for the best.

He glanced over his shoulder. The pseudos were bunched together in one large mass heading for him. They were screaming and shouting—all acting as insane as Trigara had seemed.

What had happened to them? Why were they all mad at *him*? What did he do—

All of these thoughts abruptly left his mind as he slammed into something furry, and fell backwards to the ground.

### **Anakin**

“I *hate* this shade of blue, now,” Anakin grumbled as he walked towards the tanks. He couldn’t believe he was back here. He didn’t even know why he was walking towards his tanks—he didn’t see anything else on the horizon except for some hills not far away, but why go there? Plus, he recognized this tank as the last one he was in.

Where he and his comrades had “died.”

Maybe morbid curiosity is what brought him there. From the outside, the tank looked abandoned, but Anakin still went to inspect it.

Anakin put his paws and the wheel and sniffed around it. It…smelled abandoned, but there still was traces of life…

As if on cue, something barreled him over.

“anakin!” the Devout growled. It was the same Devout that had—*died* before?! “You let them take over! You failed us!”

“I-I’m sorry—” he started. “What happened? I thought you died—”

“Yeah, we lost a good ‘mount of our Devouts, and I nearly died. *You* should’ve been the only one to—”

“Enough.”

Another Devout, walking bipedal reared around the tank.