After many trials and hardships, Emily, Metal, Belle, Sage, Spirit and Aria had defeated a bear with Death's coat, who tried to abduct Nights. Nights was lying back first on their bed when their friends returned.
"Are you ok?" Asked Spirit, concerned for the dream guardian, as she and her friends and rival ran to their side.
"The... Mono Nightmaren hunter took more energy from me than I thought," They admitted, "The dream core is my only hope of survival."
"Oh no!" Sage gasped, she'd grown very attached to Nights on the journey.
"Nights is strong, Sage," Said Metal reassuringly as he put his hand on his littlest sister's shoulder, "We need to be strong too if we're going to aid them. Can we do that?"
Sage looked up at Metal with hope.
"I...think that is possible, Metal." Said Sage with a small smile.
•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•
The team peeked into the next dreamscape, which looked similar to Metropolis, but everything was black and white, canvases with Monokuma robot posters and there was a giant, platinum Junko statue in the centre.
"That's... a lot of Junko junk..." Said Belle nervously.
"Redundancy detected." Metal attempted to joke and lighten the mood, but Belle didn't even crack a smile.
"That is the Dreamscape," Nights winced in pain, "That Enoshima wants to bring into the waking world."
"...Holy Chaos!" Aria shouted in alarm, "She'll establish Despair City and Hope's Demise in one fell swoop! It'll be instantaneous!!"
The other girls looked at Aria in confusion. None of them knew what "instantaneous" meant.
"Translation: Junko will bring about Hope's Demise and Despair City instantly and nobody, not even our parents, will be able to stop her." Explained Metal.
"Oh..." Said his sisters, Emily and Spirit as they all looked at the ground sadly.
"However," Metal pointed out, "She is unable to make this happen without Nights' authority over the Reverie."
"That's right," Aria added with a smile, "Nights is the key to everything. Without them, she's stuck."
"She must have a plan, though." Emily pointed out.
"Well, whatever it is," Said Belle, now determined thanks to Metal'a reassurance, "We will not let him win!"
Nights smiled up at their friends as they surrounded them.
"Are you sure you're up for this, Night-Night?" Emily asked, while she was smiling, she was masking her concern for the Nightmaren.
"I have to be." Said Nights as they took Spitit's hand. Then, in a burst of black, red and purple sparkles, Nights transformed into a small golden mask with purple and red feathers at the centre.
"Nights?" Said Spirit worriedly as she picked up the mask that was the Dream Guardian she began to see as a sibling.
Suddenly, the Dreamscape shifted and showed the Idea core, the place Nights wanted to reach, in a Monocapsule!
"That must be the Idea core!" Said Emily as she pointed through.
"Caged in one of Junko's nightmare buildings," Spirit hissed, "Nights cut her off from the Reverie, so she cut them off from their own power."
"Oh Hell no!" Said Aria angrily as she drew her hammer and ran into the Dreamscape, followed by the Robotniks, followed by Emily. Spirit and Sage hung back, with Sage picking up Nights and hovering up to place them on the bat's face.
