//------------------------------//
// Dark Magic 
// Story: The Nightmare in the Corner 
// by Kaffeina 
//------------------------------//

Tantabus smirked at his other half as it writhed on the ground in the throes of agony. The nightmare demon knew exactly what he was putting the dream incarnate though and he was loving every minute of it. Sure, force wasn’t the best approach to breaking someone, in fact the best way was to force them to make a decision they could never live with. Or, as he had seen, remove his corruption and watch them realize they had done such evils by their own free will.

He basked in the waves of fear coming from something that was supposedly full of hope. As he had thought, Dave had yet to discover what his powers actually and truly were, a boon for Tantabus. The shadow flicked its hand and Dave’s body went flying straight out into a reality, unchosen and random. The dream wouldn’t dissipate, but he would be much weaker.

A dark chuckle leapt from the mouth of Tantabus as he realized what luck he had. Dave had ended up in a place very, very relative to his plans and would be a key to his victory. "Oh, I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts," he sang cheerily as he made his way back through the dream realm to his throne. His nightmares swarmed about, parting before him as he took a seat upon the throne. Slowly but surely, a small group of them approached. Each held the appearance of their past life, though some more so than others. These were the villains who had dared face him before.

Voldemort.

Galbatorix.

Team Rocket.

For some strange reason the last three had believed him to be a Pokemon. A pokemon. Him. It had taken the nightmares thirty minutes to get him to recover enough from his fit of laughter to corrupt the team. Jesse and James were now much more silent and Meowth never spoke out of turn. Their plans were also much more diabolical. Galbatorix's dragon had proved useful a few times and Voldemort was useful in his knowledge of dark arts. (Corrupting Umbridge had been out of the question, she wasn't even possible to corrupt.)

The group bowed slightly and Galbatorix spoke first, "My lord, we have discovered the world of which you spoke."

"Excellent," he pulled the location from the Rider's mind and set off himself. The dream world warped violently around him as he ripped directly into the dreams of a particular boy. Immediately, the nightmare demon began shredding everything the boy found dear or that which filled him with hope. A few seconds of screaming later, the boy sat up, drenched in sweat. He rose from his bed, shaking.

Practically dripping, he shakily looked into the mirror. His own face, pale but otherwise normal, greeted him. A sigh of relief came as the boy started to calm down. Tantabus sat, waiting quietly for his moment. A large man opened the door to the bathroom and looked at the boy with concern. "Ben, are you-" Tantabus struck, ripping out of the boy's head at lightning speed.

The man's head rolled as the boy's screams echoed through the camper. Tantabus stood before him menacingly, and grinned maliciously as a young girl came sprinting out of the front of the camper. She froze as she saw Tantabus, "What are you?" a silent smirk answered her as her eyes finally fell upon the downed man. A choked sob escaped her mouth before she looked back at the nightmare demon. "HOW D-" a tendril lashed out striking her in the throat and causing her to fall silent.

"I think I shall enjoy breaking you. Both of you," Tantabus flung shadowy tendrils out across the camper sinking it into a pitch black. He dropped the camper where he chose in the Fair, one of his many, many rooms. Kicking the unconscious boy, he ripped the device on his arm off. "Perfect," he said, almost purring. Setting the device on his arm, he let it sink into the darkness of his "skin". A moment later, he warped into the body of an alien creature.

"No need for her anymore," a dark laugh echoed through the room and Tantabus warped back. Immediately, the nightmare demon waved his hand over the unconscious children, his eyes flashing a momentary green. He snapped his fingers, allowing the tendrils to begin their usual deeds. As he passed  each of his nightmares, that eerie flash of green came from eyes. Once he felt he had accomplished the task set in his mind, he warped into one of the small horses of reality and disappeared through a portal.





Tantabus reappeared in a lab of some kind, dark and musty. Across the room various experiments and mutant creations sat in vats. A large tome of some sort, surrounded by various runes, was the main focus at the center of the room. Without a moment of hesitation, Tantabus called out, "Brel."

The dark magician appeared at the book, slowly looking towards the pony version of Tantabus. "So, you've claimed the device."

"Indeed," Tantabus reverted forms, pulling the Omnitrix out of his arm, tossing it to Brel, "still believe you can accomplish what I desire?"

"With pleasure," the Void Dweller answered, "though why you would do this instead of killing them is beyond me."

The nightmare demon merely chuckled and pulled out three small marbles, or something of the sort. Idly playing with them in his hands, he watched the armor-clad magician do his work before speaking once more. "They have agreed, yes?"

"As many as I could get, though SHE agreed for some reason," the magician calmly responded, a crackle of dark magic sparking from the slowly changing device beneath in his hands. Tantabus raised a non-existent eyebrow before smirking.

"Of course she would," he laughed, tossing the marbles to Brel as the Void Dweller tossed the Omnitrix back to him.