<-REMEMBER TO HAVE THE WINDOW WITHIN THE SIZE OF THE ARROWS, ALRIGHT?----> [Mike and the Bots re-enter the theater. Crow's net is dented a bit.] Crow: I hate you, Mike. Mike: Yeesh. >A lone Snip dashed hurriedly across the snowy hillsides of Frozen Bell. Crow: Look out! Running scissors! >He was late, Mike: *sings* ..was late, for a very important date.. >and had missed his rondezvous with the others in patrol. A light dusting >of fresh snow was beginning to fall all around, and the sun was setting; Crow: The sun is setting in the sky..Teletubbies say goodbye! >night would be falling soon. Servo[Chicken Little]: The night is falling! The night is falling! > Something told him he did NOT want to be alone at night. Not tonight. Mike: Yeah, time to go to an adult club! > Snip pushed his weary legs onward, trying to move even faster. He was >tired, and hungry. Josh: Quit whinin', ya baby! >He missed his warm nest, filled with other Snips, all chattering and >dining on their evening repast. Crow: And not inviting him. >The sunlight was turning a ruddy crimson-gold, spilling across the hills >and valleys, painting them pink, Mike: *sings again* ..with the sounds of muuuuusiiiiic! >as the ice crystals buried in the white mounds sparkled like glitter in >corner of Snip's eye. > Snip came to a screetching halt. Josh: EEEE E E E E E EEE EEE EE EEEE EEE EE EEE EE EE *BOOOOOSH* >He nearly lost his balance as he backed slowly away from the horror in >front of him. Mike: Not another..Stephen Ratliff story! > The half-eaten remains of another Snip lay strewn across the bloody >snow. Crow: I'd puke, except I don't know what the hell a Snip is. > Snip heaved. Servo: Snip Hooooooed! >His stomach fought to empty itself in vain. Josh: As did his colon. >Snip shivered, trying to regain control of himself. Mike: Those darn Borg nanites! >He had to make it back to the Snow Base now; this news was more important >than his fear and sickened stomach. Crow: I don't think Windows 2000 is an important piece of news. > A strange cry echoed across the blackening sky. Snip took several >steps backwards. Was the creature that killed his brother Snip still >around? Josh: Or was it that damn Pokémon screaming "PIKA!" again? >Snip didn't want to find out. Spurred by adrenaline, his legs nearly took >off without him. Mike: Hey, wait! Come back! You can't leave me here like this! >He ran as fast as he could, but his white fur began to bristle in terror >as he heard the sounds of air rushing over a body--something was chasing >him! Crow: THERE HE IS! IT'S SNIP! GET HIS AUTOGRAPH! >He barely had time to look over his shoulder and see the black claws dig >into his back and snap his spine, crushing him to the ground. Mike: Down, Rover!! Down! Down! >Futile were Snip's cries as the creature locked its jaws around his >throat. Servo: How could he cry? His spine was broken! > His eyesight dimming as death overtook him, he could make out the >shimmering red eyes of a first class Nightmaren..... Crow: There's an original term. NightmareN. Mike: Oh no! It's a Dreamen! No! A DAYdreamen! > Wildfyre presents: Mike: From the same guy that confused you in The Crow: Shattered Fantasies Comes a tale of even more confusion.. >PREDATOR Josh: Versus Aliens! Oh wait, it's the other way around. >-Written by Tarani Wildfyre Crow: That'd be an awfully hard name to do in The Name Game. >-NiGHTS, Wizeman, Reala and related charas (c) The Sonic Team and SegaOA, >Inc. Crow: Oh, wow! A NiGHTs fanfic! Pearl's spoiling us! Mike: It'll be ok, Crow. Crow: *sigh* Mike: If it's a NiGHTs fanfic there'd better be swords and shields.. Servo: That's knights..oh..it's just another of your pathetic jokes. Mike: Yeah..HEY! >-Xia Liu/Nocturne, Paradym, Crescent Rose, Flame and Skaith created by >Tarani Wildfyre (wildfyre2@hotmail.com) Josh: Now don't you go adding me to no porn mailing lists! >-Special thanks to God for the dream that inspired this, and to Paradyme, >who flew with me in my dreams. Crow: And left me there, the dink. > Flame counted once more. Twenty-two, twenty-three....one was >missing? Mike: Oh, wait, I just forgot how to count for a moment. False alarm! > Flame, a hedgehog-nightmaren, or hedgemaren, had been put in charge >of managing the Snips tonight. Her body was a snowy white, and her boots >and gloves were a bright crimson, with marigold bands. Her long spines, Josh: Are they trying to give hedgehogs sex appeal? What's *with* that? >almost like hair, matched, crimson with marigold tips. Her jacket, which >just managed to cover a pleasant upper body, was black, with marigold >trim and red buttons. Crow: ALRIGHT! SHE'S A HOTTIE! Can we continue with the story now?! >A small red fire tattoo, outlined in black, lay across her collarbones, >and on her belly. Though she was only a second class nightmaren, she was >quite intelligent, and could be quite kind--something she hid from the >others, lest it be counted as a fault against her. Mike: Intelligence is futile. Kindness is futile. > "Do any of you know what happened to Snip twenty four?" Flame asked >the gathering Snips, who were settling into their straw nest and eating >their supper. Crow: Why do I always have to live in a tree? Shouldn't we deserve better? > A collective no, then worry, settled upon the group. Servo: Along with bad gas from the bean dip. >Flame was worried too. They'de kept loosing marens in Frozen Bell for >some time now. Crow: At least it's not Taco Bell. >And it wasn't just Snips, either. A young second class nightmaren had be >killed, and his body never found. Ever since Wizeman lost control of >one of the Dark Dreamers.... Mike: He's been forcing the narrator to trail off ever since! > The Dark Dreamers. Josh: Hm..can someone turn on a light? It's hard to dream in pitch black. >Only once every five thousand years did two dark dreamers come into >existence. They were wielders of great power, and possessed the most rare >color of all ideya, even rarer than red: Black. Crow: Well, they're dark dreamers, so I guess that color scheme's okay. >Some say that Wizeman himself had once been a Dark Dreamer, learning to >harness his dream powers until he could cross the barrier into the dream >realm by himself. If Wizeman had been one, one had to wonder what >happened to the other dark dreamer of his time. Mike: Maybe he took five so he could get a drink or something. > Weeks ago, Wizeman had located the male of the set. A ruthless young >man, who would no doubt live a very short life in the conscious world. Josh: Bill Gates? >Such power wasted! All: Yep, it's Bill Gates. >Wizeman did not like it. But then again, Crow: He did own a stock in Microsoft, so he decided to keep his thoughts to himself. >he wanted no one to usurp his authority! He had set about creating a spell that would transform the essence of the sleeper into a Nightmaren, Mike: That'll spook the little bedwetting kids out there. >under his control, and pull the young man into the dream world, using the >boy's own black ideya as the grounding point. Josh: I got an idea! Mike: We're looking for an ideya however! Josh: Ah, darn. > But something had gone wrong. Crow: By Windows 2034, people began to see this as well. >The boy was drug into the dream world, alright, Mike: What was he smoking? >but his transformation was incomplete. He had struggled too much, and had >only become a partial nightmaren. Crow: You know, only gimps write NiGHTs stories.. Servo: And only gimps can understand what the hell he talks about. >His mind had been twisted, and his body reflected it, shifting into a >hideous form; he had absorbed the full evil power of his black ideya, >taking it out of Wizeman's hands. Josh: It's my ideya! You always take credit for my ideyas! > The new being, calling himself Skaith, Crow: No relation to Sheik of Zelda64. It's just a coincidence, folks. >immediately began to complain of an insatiable hunger. Wizeman tried to >keep him under strict control as he looked for ways to satisfy Skaith's >appetite. Food did not work, nor did water. Mike: Maybe he'll eat a rock...let's try that! >Ideyas stolen from sleepers only satisfied him for a time. It wasn't >until Skaith was ordered to destroy a rebel third class maren that he >found what satiated his need. Crow: A year's supply of Butterfinger bars! > Maren essence. > Being imperfectly created, Skaith lacked maren bioenergy of his own. >Ideyas kept his body functioning, but until he could somehow be restored >to either sleeper or maren, he had to steal essence from others to live. Mike: The Robin Hood of dream people! >And true to his pyscotic nature, he cannibalized the carcasses of the >marens he drained. Crow: True, I'd like to sink my beak into some ass, but I don't eat it..mostly I get a slap from the women I bite. > Wizeman was beginning to grow uneasy with Skaith. He was a useful >tool, Mike: Skaith, man or sexual tool? Film at 11. >but he was becoming far too dangerous. He would have to find some way of >either restoring or destroying this maren Predator. Crow: Call Fox and have movies made out of him! > Skaith had plans of his own. He learned what he could have been--the >next Wizeman!--and resented his boss having taken that from him. He made >plans to kill and drain Wizeman, and set about carrying them out. Mike: I'll call the NiGHTs mafia. > But Wizeman the Wicked had been around too long to be unprepared. In >a ferocious battle, Skaith was blown out of Wizeman's castle and into the >Chasm between Dreams--the same place NiGHTS had been thrown into for his >disobediance. NiGHTS had managed to escape because of Elliot and >Claris...but Wizeman doubted any sleeper would want to get anywhere near >Skaith to free him. Crow: With B.O. like that, I'd never sleep again. > Problem solved. Servo: So let's do an Algebra equation! > For a little while, anyways. Mike: Alright, 5 seconds. > "Sir, we've lost another Snip in Frozen Bell," Flame said quitely, >addressing her master. Crow: It's too late. The crew fell asleep during the backstory. > Wizeman floated quietly, ominously, his blue cape rippling in some >unfelt breeze. One of his hands, palm up and eye staring at Flame, drew >closer. Josh: Darn! Just out of squeezing distance! > "And has the body been located?" Wizeman asked. > Flame shook her head no. "I think we need some reinforcement, Sire. >I'm beginning to get worried. It may be a Rebel plan, slowly whittling >away our forces, until they can find the Snow Base." Crow: Is this a NiGHTs fanfic or just a The Empire Strikes Back wannabe? > "I would tend to agree, Flame." Wizeman said, being actually more >polite and reserved than normal. Flame tended to have that affect on him. Servo: Why not? With an exaggerated description like that, who *wouldn't* be affected? >She was an excellent attache`, keeping records, tending to his injured >legions, Mike: Cheating on her husband.. >and setting his mind at ease with her Fire Dance, which was relaxing to >watch. Crow: Until he got burned by the fire. Then it became slightly less pleasant. > He drifted over to a crystalline cylinder, filled with a strange >green bubbling fluid.... Servo: Hey! It's Nickelodeon Gak! >and a body. Flame followed attentively, trying to see what was inside the >tank. Mike: Hey! No peeking at dinner until it leaves the kitchen! > "We have suffered ever since we lost Reala," Wizeman said, one of his >hands placed on the outside of the crystal tank. "He was an excellent >soldier, and a superb strategist." Mike: Except for that battle where he led 500 men against 2000 enemies. > Flame nodded in agreement. Crow: Yeah...now can we jump in bed yet? > "That is why I have cloned him." [Mike holds a rubber duck and squeeks it.] Servo: Yeah..is this still a horror story or a comedy? > Flame gasped softly in surprize, recognizing the very Reala-like shape >in the crystal tank. Crow: Most people are shaped similarly..arms..legs..a head is optional.. > Wizeman's hand began to crack the crystal, and the green sticky liquid >oozed out on to the floor. Mike: No, son, don't get the creepy crawler mix on the floor! >Another crack, and the tank emptied. A final crack, and the body began to >move. Servo: How many cracks does this guy have? > It gasped loudly, the sound echoing through the throne room as he took >his first breath. Crow: Leave me so I can use the throne! >Molten gold eyes opened and he let out a soft moan. Josh: Is..is it still 1987? Has Sega released the Genesis yet? >Slowly, he pushed his way out of the remains of the crystal tank and >floated on his own, trailing red stars. Mike: Look out! Mario's right behind you! > Flame was entranced. He was -definetly- Reala's clone. But there were >subtile differences that stood out immediately. Crow: Probably the female breasts were the first thing. >For one thing, color: This clone had light green skin, a pale emerald in >color; instead of red and black for his hat and boots, it was black and >amber. Instead of diamond down his chest and stomach, triangles, in black, >grey and amber. Mike: Instead of hazel eyes, he had plaid grapes in their place. >His vest was mainly amber, with grey trim and black buttons. And his >eyes...like golden fire. Flame found herself slightly flushed, and coughed >softly as she got ahold of herself. Servo: Flushed.. Mike: Yeah, there's plenty of bathroom jokes. > "Flame, this is Paradyme," Wizeman stated, making formal >introductions. Crow: I have a Paraquarters if you want to shoot down to the arcade for a few minutes. > Flame nodded, smiling widely. Paradyme noticed this, and smiled back >polietly. Mike: How do you do, slut? > "Please see to it that Paradyme is introduced to our troops, Josh: And his reproductive organs. >and that they know he is their new Commander, Flame," Wizeman asked. "I >have another matter to attend to." > Flame nodded, and blushing still, took Paradyme's hand and lead him >out of the throne room. Mike: You want me to bring you back a newspaper to read? [Everyone exits the theaters.] *Planet spins*