Nextgen Kids: Legend of the Nine Newborn

The Dreamverse, Night 6: Crumbling Dreams

So, I've been playing Celeste, and man, that game is nuts! The challenge levels are so difficult, you have to memorize so many button and jump combinations! It's so stressful, yet it feels so invigorating to play a platformer like this! Sadly, it's really distracting me from this story. ^^; XD

Night 6: Crumbling Dreams

Hall of Doors

"Hah hah hah HAH! Nice job, Pitch!" André cackled gleefully. "I can't believe you swiped all their Chiptoons! If this were a game, I'd say you used a cheat code!"

"I must admit they presented a challenge. But any challenge becomes easy once you know the strategy." Pitch smiled proudly. "Now then, I shall be the one to present these to His Majesty." He turned in the direction of the library's portal.

"Wait a second, Shady!" André flew in his way. "Now ain't the best time. Darkrai's son came back for another round, and he brought some friends with him. If we bring the Chiptoons now, they might get swiped."

"Well, that presents a problem. But I can't just hold onto them, or else those brats will track me down."

"'Guess you shoulda dealt with Marshadow while you were at it! Ya messed up there, haha!"

"Shut it, Fly! I'll just send these to the Nightmare Generals. Those kids will never be able to recollect them all! MONKEYS!"

Sand Monkeys formed from his Blacksand, screeching and dancing madly. Pitch tossed a Chiptoon to each of them. "Bring these to the Nightmare Generals at once! I'll be keeping this one for myself." He held up the yellow Chiptoon collected from Celeste. "I can feel the chi from within it... This Chiptoon contains Jirachi's Wishes. This should help me terrorize her."

"What about me, Pitch? Don't I get a Chiptoon?"

"Of course not, you couldn't even grab them yourself. You should focus your efforts on crushing those girls and seizing Marshadow."

"Yeah, well who needs ya?! There's still one Chiptoon left, so while those brats are tryin' to get them back, I'll take that one for myself! Hehehehaha!" The Black Lum flew off with determination.

"His voice is a nightmare." Pitch scoffed. "..." He looked to the Sand Monkeys. "And what are you still doing here?!"

The monkeys shared confused glances and pointed at their Chiptoons. "Oh, right, we don't know where the generals are. We should give them a call." He pulled out a sandy cellphone.

Other dreams

Cigar Stacks was a dreamscape of cigar-like smokestacks fuming up the sky. The stacks were being strangled and broken by black brambles, causing the smoke to shroud the ground. Terry Stork was forced to hold his breath in the smog. "Now I see... This dream was built from your own frustration." Äs Nödt spoke through the smog. "You despise your mother's smoking habits to the point where it's all you can think about in your own slumber. How do you stay awake after a night of such anxiety?"

Terry silently growled in anger, trying to search for the general, but he couldn't see a thing. He sank into a Shadow Veil before the brambles could stab at him, but Nödt could sense his presence via Terry's fear and stabbed at the ground.

...

Chimney's dream was Train Reign, an endless field of countless trains that roll into infinity. Unfortunately, the trains had come to a dead stop, their wheels crumbled. Chimney herself was trapped within a single train, with nothing to eat but mounds of dead Gonbe. She refused to eat at all costs, not until she were free. But as she felt her dreamself starving, it felt all the more real.