Tina, Steve, and I ran to the lighthouse, moving through the small forest on the island, while Chris giggled in my arms, despite the headphones over his ears. In the distance was the sound of laughter, but we’d gained a small lead on the Nightmare creature, since it had immediately gone for the B-movie Horror Antagonist that’d been coming out of the water.
“What’s wrong with him?” Steve asked as we ran past trees.
Unlike with the cloud stairs earlier, he was easily keeping up with me. Tina was using neon-green snakes sprouting from her back to swing herself forward like some knock-off Spider-Man.
“The laughing is making him insane,” Panda answered.
“It’s not affecting me,” he replied, hopping over a knee-high root while talking.
“That’s probably because you are already borderline insane,” the plushie explained.
The sound of crashing trees came from behind, and I looked back just in time to see the many-armed creep barreling its way towards us. It was using its hands and arms to turn itself into a ball of sorts and the sight alone would make any sane person lose their marbles.
“TICKLE…”
Steve started smiling and so did I. It was quite uncomfortable.
Suddenly Tina slingshotted herself forward and past the last line of trees. By the time we broke out of the forest, she was already halfway across a swampy field to the lighthouse. Arney the Tickler was way too close for us to be able to make it, since it was about half a mile, so I hooked my right foot around Steve’s leg and brought us both to a halt. He immediately face-planted on the ground, before shooting back upright with a furious mud-stained face.
“What is wrong with y—!?” he started yelling.
“hole.Worm( )!” I interrupted him, while placing Chris back down on his feet.
A black shadow appeared under us, while the Nightmare creature rapidly closed the distance. Then, just as Arney broke from the forest, we were swallowed up by the Transport Worm and sent into that bizarre inner space.
“That was way too close!” Panda exclaimed. “I’m worried about what happens to me if Arney gets you.”
“He might be able to tickle you as well.”
“Stop that… You’ll give me nightmares.”
“Did you really have to do that!?” Steve exclaimed, walking past one of the bean bags that Chris had plopped down into, while he continued to giggle.
“My hands were full,” I replied.
He frowned, before adopting a worried expression. “What do we do? Even if we get to the lighthouse, this thing probably isn’t much faster than that Mr. Hands.”
“Please don’t call him that,” I pleaded.
“What? Why? He has a lot of hands.”
“It’s a reminder of a traumatic video I watched.”
“I still can’t believe you shared it with your grandmother,” Panda commented.
“She really loves horses.”
“Focus!” Steve said, snapping his fingers. “Don’t make me use my ability on you!”
I narrowed my eyes. “If you do that, I’ll actually kill you.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“He’s right though,” Panda remarked. “What are you going to do when you arrive at the lighthouse?”
“I’ll give you guys enough time to run to the top,” I said.
“Really, you’d do that?” Steve replied, surprised.
“I’m shocked,” Panda added.
“Shut up, both of you, and get ready to take Chris with you,” I told Steve.
The tube-like interior of the Transport Worm narrowed quickly, before the three of us were squeezed out of the end, landing on our feet right in front of the lighthouse’s door. A second later Tina pushed past us and through the entrance.
“Go!” I yelled to Steve, who immediately dragged the giggling Chris with him and up the stairs.
“What’s at the top?” Steve yelled back down.
“Either the doorway to the next place or a way to locate it on this island!” I called back, while moving away from the door to meet Arney who was coming in hot.
I pulled my right arm back and sent forward a punch just in time to hit right as he came within reach.
“Fak yuu, handsy prick!!” Brock yelled.
The impact did nothing and countless arms grabbed a hold of me. Each of them were dark like petroleum and stank like it too, with an overwhelmingly-heady stench filling my nostrils.
Just as I was lifted into the air, my delayed punch finally registered and the force was enough to push the whole creature back several yards. I immediately dropped back to my feet as its grip on me faltered.
“Crimson Claymore!” I exclaimed. The crack and pop of violent power came from my hand where a sword of red energy instantly appeared.
I crouched down to trigger SPRING_HEEL, then shot myself towards Arney. With as much power as I could manage, I swung the blade through his disgusting body as I flew past him. I landed on my Schmonic Boots and slid for a few feet, before launching myself forward again with another slash, which went right through his red-skinned grinning face with disturbing yellow-glowing eyes.
As I skidded away following the second attack, the first finished its delayed effect from my Damage Sleep passive. A red line went all the way through the Nightmare, and when he tried to move towards me, several of his arms just fell away from his body.
Then the second registered and he was split in half.
“Fuck you!” I yelled as Arney the Tickler died.
“Gambit…” Panda said.
“What!?”
“You can’t kill a Nightmare. At least not forever.”
“What do you m—?”
WARNING!
The Nightmare has been temporarily defeated, but it is still locked onto your scent.
“Motherfucker…”
While still holding the claymore that would cut through anything, I ran back towards the lighthouse, before barging through its door and hurrying up its spiraling metal staircase. Every step sent echoing creaks up through the interior. When I was almost at the top, my claymore vanished, its 1-minute duration over.
At the top was a door that Steve was holding open for me. I went through it and came out onto a balcony of sorts, with the mechanism chamber in the center. Instead of the large light bulb that was supposed to be within the round chamber at the top, there was another door, this one painted yellow. Tina was already standing inside and looking at it, with Chris next to her. He seemed to have finally stopped laughing, but the headphones remained on his head, which was probably for the best.
“Alright, let’s go,” I told him and Tina opened the door, revealing a weird-looking room with mustard-yellow wallpaper and a soggy-looking carpeted floor.
“What about the monster?” Steve asked.
“It’ll be back.”
The three of them went through the yellow door first and when I was just about to go through as well, I heard a sound in the distance.
“TICKLE…”
It was clear I couldn’t defeat him, so I had to find the Dreamer quickly and wake everyone up.
“Hopefully he stays within Dreamland,” I muttered.
Before I went through the door, I touched my left hand to the frame of it and activated my Rebel’s Ring.
‘Rebel’s Ring’ x
For the discerning gentleman, who can’t help but want to blow stuff up.
Activate to turn any non-living thing into a bomb that explodes after 10 seconds.
Cooldown: 6 hours
Weight: 1.2 Pandas
image [https://i.imgur.com/yXO6ScO.png]
“Do you think blowing up the door will actually work?” Panda asked, unconvinced.
“We’ll see. Nothing wrong with trying, right?”
Then I walked through the yellow door and came out into a chamber where my team was waiting, alongside other people. I recognized some of them from the sleepers I’d seen in the ‘Temple’, but my alarm bells were ringing.
“Skinstealers,” I muttered, as my boots sunk down into the soggy carpet.