Bierce stood in front of a portal. "Nightmare Critters, are you ready to go through the portal and help Doug collect some soul shards?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Simon Smoke answered.
"Uh, huh." Baba Chops mumbled. She wasn't in the mood to be going out on errands.
"Good, all of you go out there and bringing me the soul shards." The group of nine went through the portal and found themselves on the outside of the hedge maze.
Doug lead the way taking them to a golden statue. It gave them the feel they were being watch. As they entered the maze, Raby Baby asked, "So Doug, why do you want the Riddle of Heaven?"
"I want to fix a terrible mistake." he replied. Before Touille was about to take another step, Doug shouted, "Watch out!" and grabbed the stuffed toy. Sharp spikes jutted right through the ground and would have impaled Touille had not the lawyer stopped him. "Be more careful!" Doug warned.
Icky-Licky cackled at Touille, "Rat kabobs, it does not better than ratatouille!" Touille gave Icky-Licky a deadly look.
"Will you both stop acting like idiots!" Baba shouted. "Let's get out of this maze, I don't like it here." The group of nine found and gathered soul shards. They next saw a golden statue of an 18th century golden statue of a nobleman standing in front of them.
"A solid gold statue?" Poe said. "Whoever lives here must be rich!"
"I got dibs on the statue!" Alister replied excitedly. "Simon, help me move this thing!" The red dragon responded by flexing his biceps. "Doug, your big and strong, help us."
"Hold it!" Doug shouted. The gold statue pulled an axe from its coat and laughed.
"That thing is alive! Maggie shouted. Before Simon and Alister were cut in half, Doug snatched them both out of harms way. He scooped up all the critters and ran through the maze, searching for the exit.
Doug and his allies made it up to a French manor. Doug ran up the steps, kicked the door open, and slammed it closed behind him. "That was close!" Doug gasped for air.
"You can put us down now!" Baba complained.
"Oops! Sorry!" Doug dropped the critters.
Touille looked around the manor and whistled. "I wonder who owns this place?"
"I think it's the guy in the painting just up those stairs." Poe pointed out. They walked up the stairs and looked at the painting.
"Those statues seem to enjoy smiling like the Smiling Critters." Maggie commented.
"Who are the 'Smiling Critters'?" Doug asked.
"Oh them, they were one of the most annoying toys around until Catnap done many of them in." Baba said. "Catnap has been dead for a little bit. He used to be a minion for a mysterious entity known as "The Prototype". Catnap, Dr. Harley Sawyer, Huggie-Wuggie, and Mommy-Longlegs were like five-star general to him until he started having them killed. He is trying to take parts of them and adding them to himself to make himself into a real monsterpiece. The good news is he cannot find us here in the nightmare realms. But now we have to deal with this 'Malak' guy."
The group continued walking through the manor gather soul shards. Every now and then, they had to dodge pendulum blades and spikes popping out of the floor. As they walked down a hallway. A figure in a black suit appeared before them. His face was red and he had horns on his head.
"Are you the master of this castle?" Maggie asked.
"No, I am Malak and those belong to me." the demon lord said. "Doug here has been playing pet with Bierce. If you hand over those soul shards to me, I can help you destroy the Prototype and give you the lives you want. All you have to do is sell your souls to me. Once you lived your lives, you will live here with me for eternity. Not a bad deal considering the fact that I can make you critters human again. What do you say?" Malak offered his hand to Maggie. Doug seized his opportunity. Using Malak's powers, he used the power of swiftness to grab Maggie and the rest of the critters. He took them to a small room and slammed the door shut. "You cannot hide from me forever!" Malak roared. He ordered the Gold Watchers, "Break down the door! Kill Doug! Bring me the soul shards and the nightmare critters!"
Doug and the critters heard the statues ramming something hard against the doors. "Shoot! They are going to break in and bust us!" Simon Smokes grumbled.
"We could wait for a miracle if all else fails." Icky-Licky suggested.
"Don't be dopey!" Baba criticized. "Only fools wait for miracles!"
CRAAASSSH! An airplane flew right into the room through stained glass windows. Doug realized it was a red airplane and it pinned Icky-Licky against the wall. "GET ME OUTTA HERE!" the little lizard roared in rage.
"Now that is a MIRACLE!" Baba Chops smiled for the first time that day.
"You don't like Icky-Licky very much, do you?" Doug asked.
Baba shrugged, "Nah, just because we are part of a set doesn't mean we like each other."
The pilot of the plane climbed out. It removed its goggles and Doug realized the pilot was an anthropomorphic macaw with blue and yellow feathers. She noticed Icky-Licky kicking his little legs and banging his fists on the planes nose.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the macaw explained as she pulled Icky-Licky out. "I was trying to escape Indigo Park and somehow I end up crashing into this castle. It's as though I am in another realm."
"Who are you?" Raby Baby asked, "An angel?"
"No, I am Mollie Macaw, the greatest pilot you ever saw!" the bird said proudly. "I was replaced by another mascot that looked like me and I was flying my plane until I crashed here. Who are you all?"
"I am Doug Houser and these are the Nightmare Critters." Doug introduced all their names to Mollie. "We are trying to escape this castle and the Gold Watchers."
"Who are the Gold Watchers?" Mollie Macaw asked. The doors banged again. "I got the message they're not your friends." She headed to her airplane. "There is a second cockpit in this plane big enough for Doug. Four of you can fit in each of the cockpits. Hurry up, now before they get us!" Mollie, Doug, and the Nightmare Critters all jumped in the plane. Just as the plane's propellers were moving, the doors broke down and Malak and the Gold Watchers ran into the room.
"Stop them! They're getting away!" Malak ordered.
The plane flew out of the room and into the night sky. "Now that is what I call a daring rescue!" Mollie smiled.

End of Chapter