Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay, guys. I had serious writer's block again.

Chapter 4: Sudden Intervention?

In the corners of Nightopia, NiGHTS guided Youko and Gallontine through the skies of Spring Valley. Although the two young jesters were fascinated at how beautiful the area was than they ever expected, they were still weary of NiGHTS, knowing that he is the rebel who betrayed their master Wizeman. Eventually, NiGHTS came to a stop near a large lake and floate above the grass before turning to Youko and Gallontine, who then shifted into their kitsune forms.

"Well?" He asked, "Like I said to you, Nightopia is a wonderful place. You wouldn't want a place like this destroyed, would you?"

Youko looked around, "...Um..." She and Gallontine scanned the surrounding area: the trees, the flowers, the Nightopians, the sunny clear skies, "It does look pretty..." But suddenly, she recalled Jackle saying those things about NiGHTS and snapped out of her wonder, "Wait a minute... Don't listen to him!" She exclaimed to Gallontine, "He's using his words to sway us away from Nightmare!"

"What are you going on about?" NiGHTS questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Youko glared at NiGHTS venomously, snarling as she floated up to him face-to-face, "You are the traitor who betrayed Master Wizeman, and you're here in Nightopia to prepare to conquer it! Taking all the Ideya for yourself!"

"..." NiGHTS blinked at Youko quietly at the outburst, but then suddenly snickered before letting out a loud laugh at what he had just heard.

Youko seemed confused at this.

"Conquer it? Whoever told you that nonsense?" NiGHTS asked with a laugh, "Who would want to conquer and destroy a peaceful and beautiful place like this? If Wizeman gets enough Ideya, he'll destroy Nightopia along with this place, and you two are mere puppets to him."

Youko stared at NiGHTS for a moment before she gave out a huff, "Hmph." She floated down to Gallontine and began whispering to him, not convinced by NiGHTS' words, "He's up to something.."

"I don't know. The way he's acting, he seems too carefree." Gallontine muttered softly.

"He's probably faking it."

"Although what said about this place is true..."

"He's still the enemy, and the renegade. We can't let our guard down..."

While the two kitsunes continued conversing quietly, NiGHTS thought to take the time to play his dream flute until the two young Nightmaren would return their attention to him. He sat down on air and began playing his invisible instrument, releasing a serene melody while doing so.

Youko and Gallontine's ears instantly stood up on their heads as they stopped their chat in mid-sentence, both hearing the serene melody of NiGHTS' flute. Quietly, the two kitsunes turned their heads to NiGHTS and immediately walked towards him. "What is that...sound? It's so... nice sounding..." Youko asked curiously.

NiGHTS stopped playing his dream flute, glancing down to Youko, "It's music."

"M...Mu...sic?" Youko repeated; she was new to the word.

NiGHTS nodded, "Yes, it's sound that sings."

Youko almost giggled, "Sound that sings?"

"That sounds almost ridiculous." Gallontine said with a snicker.

NiGHTS scoffed, "That's how you two see it." He closed his eyes and resumed playing his flute, letting the music's melody to once again fill the air.

Almost immediately, Youko was enchanted by the soothing music of the flute that she slowly laid down and curled up against the grass. Gallontine was also lured in by the music and laid on his back, basking in the sun as he was lulled to sleep by the soothing music.

NiGHTS, as he continued playing his dream flute, creaked open his right eye to see Youko and Gallontine lulled to sleep by the music. He then found it unusual, as most Nightmarens despise the very sound of music. Although these two high level Nightmaren were drawn to it, even to the point of enjoying music.

As the purple Nightmaren continued to ponder, a faint piercing bellow was suddenly mixed in with the music, and NiGHTS immediately stopped playing his flute when he noticed something didn't seem right. His cat-like eyes darted about swiftly, and the absence of music caused Youko and Gallontine to slowly wake up from their slumber.

"Awww, why'd you stop?" Youko whined softly, looking up at NiGHTS sleepily.

NiGHTS hissed quickly, "Shhh!" His eyes still scanned the peaceful area, yet he saw no signs of anything unusual.

Suddenly, a strange ripple appeared on the lake's surface before a savage whirlwind erupted forth. NiGHTS yelled out, caught off-guard as he was caught and forcefully pulled into the center of the whirlwind, unable to move away nor fly his way out, "Hey!" Down in the portal where the whirlwind was generating from, NiGHTS caught a glimpse of a familiar, dragon-like figure within a dark dimension soaring its way towards him. It streamed through the vortex before ramming its horned head into the immobolized NiGHTS, causing the purple Nightmaren to yell in pain as the figure fully emerged from the portal and hovered inside the whirlwind.

Youko and Gallontine both gasped with shock at what had just occurred. Within the whirlwind, the two kitsunes saw the massive form of a dragon-like monster fighting and struggling against NiGHTS, who was trying to free himself.

"It's Gillwing!" Gallontine exclaimed.

During the struggle, Gillwing managed to snap his jaws onto a small piece of NiGHTS' collar, briefly swinging the purple Nightmare around and causing the range of the whirlwind to expand briefly. The suction of the portal blew against Youko and Gullotine, causing them to close their eyes while struggling against the savage winds. Suddenly, the suction swept Youko up from the ground away from Gallontine and into the air. Squealing loudly in distress, Youko was pulled in towards Gillwing, and she quickly snagged hold of one of the dragon-fish's horns, escaping the swirling winds and clinging on for dear life as she screamed shrillingly, but her cries were mixed with Gillwing's screeching bellows.

"Youko!" Gallontine shouted, but quickly stood back to avoid getting sucked in by the wind as well.

Satisfied that he has captured NiGHTS, Gillwing began to sink back down through the portal, dragging the purple Nightmaren into his personal playground, and also unknowingly taking Youko with him. NiGHTS, despite his best efforts, was pulled down into Gillwing's lair where the dragon-fish is at the peak of his power. As Gillwing dragged NiGHTS downwards, Youko shrilled loudly as she still latched onto the dragon-fish's horn for dear life, experiencing the dreadful sensation of being forcefully yanked downwards to oblivion by a large monster. Eventually, Gillwing's body came in contact with one of the floating rocks in his lair, causing Youko to cease her cries upon impact.

NiGHTS quickly tore free from Gillwing's jaws and was about to fly off, but the dragon-fish coiled its stripped tail around the purple Nightmaren, squeezing the life out of NiGHTS. During the struggle, Youko continued to hold onto Gillwing's horn, whimpering softly, as the dragon-fish shifted and lashed about, still holding its grip on NiGHTS.

With a grunt, NiGHTS wrenched himself free and looked up to the portal, seeing it still open. Without a word, the purple Nightmaren began flying his way towards the vortex and slipped through. As he was about to exit out the portal, NiGHTS gave out a yell as he was pulled back deep into the dark dimension by Gillwing, who was intent on not letting NiGHTS escape, before they resumed their fight.

"You're not getting away!" Gillwing snarled, lunging at NiGHTS with his gaping jaws.

NiGHTS quickly sped out of the way only for Gillwing to chomp down on nothing, "Persistent aren't you?" During their battle, the portal leading back to Nightopia slowly closed, trapping NiGHTS and Youko with Gillwing in his dark playground.

Youko, having fallen off his Gillwing during the fight, was clinging onto the edge of a orange, white-striped floating rock before managing to climb herself up onto the platform. She looked over to the battle between NiGHTS and Gillwing; the purple Nightmaren evasively dodging the dragon-fish's lunges and bites while Gillwing proceeded his assault on NiGHTS. The red kitsune watched the fight progress, though worriedly. "I don't like this..." She whimpered, panting softly. Despite Youko hoping that Gillwing would destroy NiGHTS, she didn't want to end up being in the middle of their battle!

In the distance, NiGHTS sped through the air and flew by, trying to put some distance away from Gillwing to counterattack him, though he didn't see Youko. However, Gillwing immediately gave chase, gliding past the rock that carried Youko. The gust of wind from Gillwing flying by caused the debris and smoke to be swept into the air around Youko as she tried her best to survive the battle.

As NiGHTS streamed through the air, Gillwing maneuvered in front of NiGHTS, his eyes gleaming vengeance as he snarled deeply. With a lash of its mighty, stripped tail, Gillwing whipped a floating large rock towards NiGHTS. The purple Nightmaren evasively dodged the attack, only for the projectile to soar towards the rock Youko was taking refuge on and impact a large explosion. The force of the blast sent Youko flying straight into the air as she squealed loudly once again in distress, spiraling away out of control. The small form of the red kitsune soon reached the height of her ascent and came to a stop in a wide gap where Gillwing and NiGHTS were about clash in battle once more. Youko opened her eyes to see where she was, revealing her purple irises, only to see the approaching form of Gillwing soaring his way towards her.

Unaware of Youko's small frame hovering before him, the massive flying beast pumped his wings and opened his gaping jaws wide, unleashing a thundering and screeching bellow as he was ready to continue his assault on NiGHTS, "You're mine!"

Seeing Gillwing opening his mouth as he flew towards her, Youko widened her violet eyes further, convinced that the massive dragon-like beast was about to eat her. A strong feeling gripped Youko to the very core, and the first time in her short life, she felt a sense of terror that was powered by the fear of getting eaten. Youko closed her eyes tightly, and suddenly a red light began to emit from deep within Youko's body and it started to glow brightly, illuminating the area.

Gillwings slowed down his charge and gazed upon the light radiating before him, pumping his wings to stay afloat and screeching softly in confusion, "What!"

NiGHTS widened his eyes, almost astonished at the sudden appearance of the light between him and Gillwing. Upon closer inspection, the purple Nightmaren saw the glimpsing form of Youko within the light, "Youko?"

Before Gillwing and NiGHTS could gaze in awe at the sight any further, Youko unleashed a light red explosion of energy all around her from the light that coated her, causing the surrounding Nightmarens to struggle to gain their composure against the force of the energy burst. As soon as the explosion disappeared, a large portal was torn open in the middle of the air as a result, leading to the familiar areas of Nightopia. As Youko began to fall downwards, the wake of the vortex gripped the kitsune's small form and she was sucked into the portal to Nightopia with a scream. The red kitsune whimpered softly as she drifted through the multicolored tunnel of the portal and flew out of the vortex, plunging into the shallow waters below. Gallontine instantly saw Youko and floated over to her to check to see if she was alright.

Back down in Gillwing's dimension and although shocked at Youko creating another vortex, NiGHTS caught sight of the familiar world of Spring Valley that laid beyond the other side of the new portal. "There's my ticket out of here." He said, before he sped his way towards the portal with Gillwing streaming after him in hot pursuit.

As NiGHTS nearly cleared the portal, he was suddenly yanked back into Gillwing's dimension as the dragon-fish wasn't done with the purple Nightmaren yet, still intent on keeping NiGHTS in his lair and having his revenge.

NiGHTS growled, "Oh no you don't!" With a evasive loop, the purple Nightmaren streamed up onto Gillwing's head and launched it away, forcefully detaching the dragon-fish's head from his tail as it lashed about wildly. While Gillwing's head began to regenerate, NiGHTS took this as the opportunity to fly back towards the portal and escape Gillwing's dimension completely. "Perhaps be a little more gentlier next time!" He remarked with a smile, and shortly afterwards, the portal leading to the dark dimension closed shut, leaving no traces behind.

Before the vortex sealed away into nothingness, the purple Nightmaren could hear the screeching roar of Gillwing echo out in rage before it died down. He then looked around for Youko, but saw no signs of her and Gallontine anywhere. "Hey...wonder where those two foxes go?" He looked around a little bit longer before he sighed, knowing full well where the two kitsunes went to, "Back to Nightmare I guess." With a swift turn, NiGHTS glided his way into the corners of Spring Valley to overlook the area for any more disturbances.