Black. All I am currently seeing is black. Man, sure it was filled with scary people, but I’d like to be back at that white space.

‘What is so scary about us?’

Huh, a speech bubble. Wait, why is there a speech bubble here?

‘How else am I supposed to communicate with you?’

Talking.

‘Sorry, I am mute.’

Ah, that makes sense. By the way, where am I and who are you?

‘You are currently in the Dreamrealm. You are in a coma, after all. As for who I am, well I am the Sandman.’

Oh, The Sandman. The guy with the dusty hair and body?

‘Yeah. That’s me.’

So, what am I doing here, and why do I not see a really cool giant robot fight? That is what I want my dream to be about right now.

‘You are dreaming of a cool robot fight,’ suddenly, a window appeared. Through it, I could see two really epic robots, one purple with yellow flames coming out of its back and the other covered in an aura of light, were duelling each other, one holding a giant spear and the other a swordfish, ‘It is just that I pulled you out of that dream so I could talk with you.  Daniel interrupted our discussion with you, sending you back before we were even finished. Although the Grim Reaper could explain to you, I decided I would be the one to explain what we truly wanted to talk about. I am first in line, after all.’

First in line? For what?

‘I will not go into details, but each of us, excluding the Grim Reaper, are currently troubled by an avatar of yours. In exchange, we will help you deal with an avatar each. So in total, we will help you with 24 avatars. As for the rest, depending on who you ask, there will be a price. I am sure you can ask the Grim Reaper. I'm sure she'd be willing to help, for she is your friend.’

Is that all?

‘Yes. Now then, should I go into detail as to what avatar of yours is currently causing me trouble?’

Sure, I guess.

‘I am sure you know, but I will tell you anyway. As The Sandman, I make people go to sleep and dream. However, after ascending to the Cosmic level, I am now the controller of the Dreamrealm. As such, it is my duty to keep all dreams safe. Unfortunately, an avatar of yours has recently gotten a hold of a part of the Dreamrealm, and by some miracle, gave sentience to certain nightmares and now raids the dreams of many.’

Woah there, isn’t that a tad big for a starter avatar?

‘Do not worry, whatever happens in the Dreamrealm does not affect reality. This is precisely why we let me go first, as it poses the least amount of danger. Be warned however, as if it continues, then it is unknown how quickly that avatar of yours will be able to harm the real world.’

By the way, do you know which avatar it is?

‘The Nightmare.’

Oh. I forgot about that one. If I remember correctly, she’s basically the girl from the Ring and Freddy Krueger in one, right? The long hair and pale skin mixed with long fingernails that act as claws and a wide brim fedora. That’s who we’re fighting, right?

‘That is correct.’

Huh. So when do we go at it then?

‘Soon. However, you are about to wake from your coma, and there will be a few surprises for you. Do not worry. When the time comes, I will come to your aid. However, only against one avatar. After that, either ask the Grim Reaper or help me against the Nightmare so you may get another one of us that gather around the roundtable to be your temporary ally.’

Got it. Also, what surprises?

‘Let me just say that not every avatar went off and became independent.’

Okay. By the way, for that avatar you’re going to help me capture, do I get a choice?

‘If you have an idea as to who you want to get, then I will assist.’

Good. I’m thinking you and I should go capture the Maid.

‘I was thinking you would get one of the avatars you frequently used in combat first. So why the Maid?’

Simple. For one reason and one reason only. I can’t do housework.

For a few seconds, the speech bubble in front of me only had three dots.

‘I see. A valid reason, I suppose.’

Now then, I can go back to that robot fighting dream, right?

‘Sure. Ah, before I forget. You will wake up from your coma quite soon.’ And with a wave of his hand, I went back to my dream, which was the second coolest dream I had.

Oh, an unfamiliar roof. No wait, I recognize those depressing tiles anywhere. The hospital, huh. Looking around, it seems I got one of those private rooms. Nice.

Hmm… awfully quiet. Man, if only some relatives were here waiting. Oh, what am I saying? Most are gone, and the ones still here are probably off in Hawaii. 

“Eh.”

Huh, there’s someone here. That’s unexpected.

“Uh… what was I supposed to do? Uh… where’s the nurse calling button?”

Sitting up, I could clearly see who was in the room with me: black hair, purple eyes, a normal-looking face and a school uniform. Oddly enough, they’re wearing a witch hat.

“Ah, it was this button, wasn’t it? Don’t worry mama. The nurse will be here soon.”

Wait. Mama?

pojlk

Yep. Another chapter. To be honest, I was trying to make it so I'm ahead of what was already released, so I always have a chapter at hand, but as it turns out, I cannot fight that urge to release a chapter upon finishing it. So now I'm going to have to actually type up some chapters. Eh, whatever, with the coronavirus postponing all my assignments due dates, I suddenly have a lot of free time.

Well then. I have no idea what to type now. Guess I'll leave a fun fact about the universe in this story that will probably never come into play for this story. Fun fact: There is a pebble that will always deal 1 DMG to anything it touches. It ignores absolutely everything. In fact, even the Old Man can be damaged by this.