Nightmare in Dreamworld

“It’s surreal to be back here…” Minny mumbles, mostly to herself.

She was on board Automaton and Cardinal Conjury’s mobile base, the ‘super jet’. Unlike last time, the ship didn’t land to let Minny and Kaneko on, instead a small spider-like drone with 5 arms came into their room and helped carry Kaneko’s unconscious body to a platform where they could be magically lifted aboard. Thankfully, with both magical and technological expertise, that experience was not nearly as chaotic as it might sound.

Minny knelt beside her cousin as Auto and Cardinal busied themselves with other things that they didn’t explain to Minny. Watching her cousin’s unconscious body, Minny felt the need to do something that might make her more comfortable. She tried to lift Kaneko up and get her jacket off, but her limp arms proved unwieldy. Minny felt helpless.

“Can I help with that?” Cardinal asks, sitting on her knees, placing a few books and notebooks beside her. Minny nodded and Cardinal directed, “Okay, just grab her arm. Here.”

Minny did as she was told, holding Kaneko’s arm as Cardinal helped with the sleeve. Minny just had to pull the arm out and then pulling off the rest of the jacket took a lot less effort.

“Ha. Thanks.” Minny sighed, laying Kaneko back down on the makeshift mattress of blankets and comforters that Auto had set out for her.

“I see you’re not in magical girl mode… I don’t know about that stuff, I mean you’re a normal girl.” Cardinal said.

Minny ran a hand through her auburn hair, responding, “Yeah, I decided I wouldn’t do it any more. All I do is mess stuff up for everyone else.” Minny looked down at Kaneko, avoiding eye contact with the girl in front of her. “Woah. What the-”

All along Kaneko’s arms were large yellow bruises. She was in a fight, no doubt.

“How about I check her out. Make sure that she is actually in Dreamworld, like your cat friend told you.”
Minny anxiously bit her lip as Cardinal took some powder from a small pouch on her belt and began to sprinkle it all over her forehead. As the powder met with Kaneko’s scalp, it began to sparkle faintly.

“Mmm…” Cardinal murmured in understanding.

She took her right hand and began to point downward, creating a tiny green flame that drew a floating circle in midair above Kaneko’s head.

Once the circle was complete, it began to grow, creating a strange symbol in its center before disappearing into vaporous smoke.

“So… what’s going on with her? Is she really in a coma?” Minny asked, hesitantly.

Cardinal sat back, moving her legs to her side. “She’s in Dreamworld alright. A talking cat told you that?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“I honestly believed that was more of a popular misconception about magical girls. Ha!” Cardinal chuckled softly.

“Okay, well, do you know how to fix her? Can you get her to wake up?”

Cardinal tapped her teeth together in a ‘How do I explain this’ way. “I can’t do anything with her by myself. However, I can send you into Dreamworld and you can help her escape.”

Minny tilted her head slightly, confused. “Like, you’re gonna send me into her coma dream?”

“Yes. And no. When I say ‘Dreamworld’, I’m not just being cute. Or more accurately, your cat isn’t. Dreamworld is another plane of existence. A metaphysical space that lies on top of the physical world. Think of it as a internet that connects the minds of every sentient thing in the multiverse.”

Minny nodded as if she understood. Thankfully Automaton came out of the cockpit at the perfect time to clarify.

“It’s basically a place where everyone’s dreams connect.” He explains, taking a seat in one of the beat up armchairs that was bolted to the floor. “Don’t worry, it took a while for me to understand it too and I still don’t quite get how the collective unconscious works at all.”

Minny chose to disregard that last statement, before continuing. “Okay, so I can go in there, grab Kaneko and pull her back out with me?”

“Yeah.” Cardinal says. “I can send you straight into her Dreamworld layer, but then you’re gonna have to find your own way out.”

“And how does that work?” Minny asks, chewing on her lip again.

“If you get back to your own mind, inside the dream, I can pull you both out. You’ll need to travel through the collective unconscious. As far as everything I’ve seen and read though, that part should be pretty easy. You’ll be able to feel it in your mind.”

That set off a flag in Minny’s head. “Wait. Have you never done this?”

“No.” She says matter of factly. “I’m not extremely experienced with most types of magic, especially not psionics. But, I can get everything I need from the books. It might take a little more effort, but it’ll get the job done. Trust me.”

“I guess if you’re confident…” Minny said, looking back to Kaneko. She had to know what happened to her; Why she came back before saving her friend. Most of all, Minny had to save Kaneko.

“...I’ll do it.”

Automaton clapped his hands together in a slightly too cheerful manner, before he said “Great! I’ll be working on that thing in my workshop.”

Cardinal rolled her eyes and turned around. “Jeez, read the room. Besides, I keep telling you that its only a bench.”

“Yes, but you don’t work in a workbench. You work in a workshop!” He yelled back. Minny could hear him smiling under his mask.

Cardinal tapped her leg for a second before looking back to Minny. “Sorry, he’s very particular and he has a problem controlling his tone. I’m sure he’s worried too. It’s just how he is. Anyways, you’re probably going to want to sit in the armchair.

It took Minny a second to catch up with the conversation in her head, before she jumped into the old armchair.

Cardinal followed her with her eyes and once she looked settled, asked, “Are you ready?”

“I guess.” Minny responded.

Cardinal let out an anxious breath, “Okay. You’re going to feel sleepy and when you fall into unconsciousness, you’ll be pushed into the body of your Id, your unconscious self. Once there, you should see…” She looked down to check her notes before continuing “... A sort of white light that should lead you into Sukeban’s Dreamworld layer.”

Cardinal looked down at her notes again before placing her hand in the air above Kaneko’s head again. “Klatuu Barada Nikto…”

Another green rune appeared and immediately, Minny’s eyes began to grow heavy. As they fluttered closed, Minny could have sworn she saw her wand on a bookshelf, behind an old birdcage. It was supposed to be in Minny’s dresser drawer, out of sight and mind.

A moment later, Minny was standing in the middle of her bedroom.

“I’m… here.” She said out loud to no one.

Something was out of tune, but nothing was wrong. It was just different, as if she had seen a snapshot of her room from a while ago or if Kaneko had decided to move everything around while looking for something.

Minny walked toward the window, getting a glimpse of the outdoors. The sky was basked in orange and pink light as the sun set behind the buildings. Twilight was always Minny’s favorite time of day.

Something caught her eye in her reflection. Looking down, she was wearing her Pastel Princess outfit. She didn’t bother to take it off or look for the wand to transform back into her normal self. She’s allowed the fantasy here, right? It is a dream after all.

And then something else caught her eye. Turning around, it wasn’t only in the reflection of the window. A bright bluish white light was emanating from around the edges of the bedroom door. She moved across the room quickly, turning the knob and throwing open the door, only to find something other than the hallway that was supposed to be there.

The doorway now opened to a classroom. A Japanese one, as far as Minny could tell. It looked like classrooms did in anime and there was Japanese kanji scrawled on the chalkboard. Minny figured that this had to be the right place.

As soon as she stepped through the threshold, a wave of humid air washed over her. Looking down at herself, she suddenly wasn’t wearing the Pastel Princess outfit anymore. Apparently coming to this other… layer(?) changed your clothes for you. Now Minny was wearing a cute schoolgirl outfit with a pleated red skirt.

“This could be pretty cool… Is Kaneko’s dreamworld an anime? That would be so sick!” Minny half-thought, half-mumbled.

Stepping through the classroom revealed a very realistic feeling setting. Every desk had something in it, every drawer was stuffed with papers. Sure, Minny had a hard time focusing on the words, but that was probably because she could barely read Japanese.

Setting down a book she was idly flipping through, Minny moved to look out the window. She was on the second floor of the school, in a classroom near the front corner.

Looking out at the Tokyo landscape, Minny could tell that something was off. There wasn’t a single cloud in the pale blue sky and every building looked like it was brand new. There was almost nothing but blue and white as far as she could see, along with some trees and whatnot. It was idyllic. Something she never really associated with Tokyo in real life. Heck, weren’t there supposed to be walls to keep out all the giant monsters?

Well, any way you look at it, Minny still had to find Kaneko. But where would she be? There wasn’t anyone around that Minny could ask…

Minny turned around and noticed an analog clock on the wall reading 4:15 or so.

“School’s out? I guess I’m supposed to be cleaning the class or something… Welp, I guess I’ll have to shirk that responsibility. Sorry, dream classmates!” Minny said, walking back toward the only door in the room that she hadn’t been through yet.

Sliding open the door, Minny found a hallway. “I’m not sure what I was expecting”

Finding a door at the end of the hall, she opened it. Beyond was an exterior staircase that gave her a good view of the front and side of the school.There wasn’t much beyond the school’s fence besides a parking lot and maybe a convenience store? She wasn’t too sure.

Once she got to the ground floor, it was a simple matter of walking around the front of the school where a large gate sat, open. Across the street, Minny could see a number of people going about their buissness.

“Great. I can ask someone for directions!” Minny thought, stepping out onto the sidewalk.

She saw someone standing on the corner in a similar uniform to hers, and decided that he would probably be the best person to start with. She walked up, thinking about what she was going to ask this guy. How do you say you're looking for your cousin in her coma dream without sounding a little crazy? She didn’t manage to figure that out before the crosswalk sign turned to go and the boy was beginning to walk away. She decided to walk beside him and ask.

“Hey!...” She started, as they crossed, but something wasn’t right. She was ready to explain the whole thing to this stranger, but when she looked at his face. There wasn’t anything there. Or rather, everything was there, 2 eyes, a nose, a mouth. It was everything that made up a face, but somehow, Minny couldn’t recognize it as such. It was like a background character in a tv show. He was a stand-in for a real person.

The ‘boy’ looked at her for about a second before he turned and walked away, leaving Minny stunned in the middle of the road.

For a few seconds, she didn’t know what to do or where to go. Minny stood there stunned, when suddenly, she heard a fairly familiar sound, the impact of fists on bodies. A fight was happening behind some bushes to her side.

Minny crouched down and stepped through a small clearing in the shrubbery so she could see what was happening. In the parking lot of that convenience store that Minny had seen earlier, there she was.

“Don’t tell me you’re going soft on me!” She shouted.

Kaneko was smiling as she faced off three other students. They weren’t wearing the same uniform as that other kid though. Weird.

The 3 guys charged Kaneko all at once, apparently all trying to tackle her to the ground. Before they could even touch her, she jumped up and out of the way, making them all smash into each other and onto the ground.

Kaneko circled around the heap of bodies and gloated. “You guys are going easy on me. What’s up? You aren’t sure I can take it?”

The three grunted and groaned as they stood back up. Two of the assailants moved back, letting the largest of the three step forward and crack his knuckles. Even though he was facing away from Minny, she could tell that he was grinning. He fit the bill.

“Okay, give this a go!” He cried before charging towards Kaneko again.

Instead of trying to tackle her again, he took a boxer’s stance and began to punch Kaneko at near superhuman speed. Kaneko still managed to dodge every thrown punch, eventually ducking down and then coming back up with a massive uppercut that sent the guy at least a foot off the ground.

Even watching it happen in front of her, Minny couldn’t believe that was real. It looked like a fighting game or a wrestling show. As the guy groveled on the floor, Kaneko moved to his side and extended a hand to help him up.

“You’re doing better than last time, but you gotta train a lot more before you’re ready for me.” Kaneko said.

The guy took her hand, letting her help him up. “Thanks. I thought I might have had a better chance this time, but I guess you always prove me wrong.”

As Kaneko helped the student back up, she patted him on the back and said, “Maybe next time. Now, get outta here, I’m trying to hang out with my friend.”

“Of course! We’ll get outta your hair!”

“See ya.” Kaneko said, watching them leave before going back to the curb where Naoko was sitting patiently and drinking a coffee.

Minny sat for a few moments, contemplating whether or not she should go out and interrupt them. Is this really the dream that Kaneko wants to be stuck in? She did seem pretty happy to be fighting with that guy. And she gets to hang out with her old friend in a pretty nice looking version of Japan. If Minny got to do the same thing, but it was a magical girl anime instead of some weird delinquent girl one, she’d probably want to stay too.

Suddenly, she thought-. No. That wasn’t her voice inside her head. It was someone else’s…

“We’re under attack!”

Who? Who could- Oh! Cardinal. Wait, they’re under attack?

“There’s what looks like a school girl and a man with green skin and a lab coat. They’re riding on these big drone things. Thankfully, Auto’s been able to hold them off and set up the shields, but I have to go help, so you’re gonna be on your own.” Cardinal explained.

And then the voice stopped. Minny was alone again in her own head and she had to act.

Minny hesitated for a second, wondering if she should really jump in there to try to get Kaneko to come back with her. There was no other way though.

She ran from the bush into the parking lot, “Kaneko! We have to get you out! Please!”

Kaneko turned her head, confused at what she was seeing. “Minny?”

“Yeah, Minny. We have to go, Cardinal and Auto are both in a lot of trouble. We’re the only people who can help!”

“Minny, what are you talking about? Why aren’t you in your club? And who the heck are Auto and Cardinal?”

“What do you mean ‘who are Auto and Cardinal’? They’re the superheroes that we met when Sylvia got possessed! Don’t you remember?”

Kaneko looked really confused. Naoko looked a little frightened.

“Are you joking or something?”

Minny couldn’t believe it, her mind was reeling, but she knew she had to snap out of it. There were people that needed Kaneko. She had to get out of there, no matter what.

“Kaneko… I need you to think about it. Is this place perfect? Is there literally any part of your life right now that you don’t enjoy?”

Kaneko still looked a little confused, but she tried to humor Minny. “Um… yeah, actually. This place is pretty great.” She seemed to understand the absurdity of the response as she said it.

“This whole place is in your mind. You’re in a coma right now, like Sylvia.”

Kaneko looked a little shocked. She understood something. “Sylvia… Who is that…?”

“Our friend! She has blonde hair and a cat and she loves magical girls and stuff. We have history class together!”

“Yeah. Yeah, she- She tried to apologize to you.” Kaneko said.

Minny didn’t know about this, “What? For what?”

“For always being a jerk… Ha! Gosh, she was a wreck.”

“Wait, when did this even happen? She was put into the coma on Halloween and we barely even talked before that.”

“She told me on Halloween, she was dressed as a werewolf I think.”

Minny was still getting more and more confused. She definitely was wearing a werewolf costume that night, but when did that happen? She was only apart from Kaneko for a second before…

“Um, but do you remember halloween? Do you remember what else happened?” Minny asked, trying to redirect the thought in her brain.

“I helped you chase off that girl who was harassing you and then there was an explosion and… Naoko…”

Naoko, who had been silently listening to the conversation beside Kaneko on the curb, suddenly joined in. “Me?”

“Yeah, you had been… possessed. By an alien.” Kaneko sighed. “And I went chasing after you and couldn’t get you back.”

“What do you mean you failed? I’m okay. I’m fine!” Tears started to run down Naoko’s cheeks.

Kaneko grimaced as she remembered what had happened.

“Kaneko- I- I’m okay, right? I’m gonna be okay? Please! What’s going on?” A desperate Naoko pleaded. It was as if the world forced the reality of knowing onto her mind.

Something was wrong. Minny could feel it in the actual fabric of that world.

Kaneko turned to Naoko, her gaze softening. “I’m going to save you. I won’t rest until you’re okay. Trust me. Please…” She stared at Naoko, now bawling.

Then she turned back to Minny, determined. “How do we get outta here?”