S01E02 - Punishment and Peace

General Summary

We rejoin the story of the newly created team of Phantasy Inc, at the home of Sandy Suffolk, who is spending a quiet evening with the love of her life, Samantha Sideris, before retreating to their bedroom for the night's sleep. Unfortunately for Morpheus, this does not quite go as planned as she finds herself randomly jumping into the dreams and nightmares of other people.
One of these nightmares is a battlefield. She is in a Humvee, with a group of soldiers. The sides are missing and, to one side, a body lies sprawled on the ground. She hears a voice shouting at someone, "Come on soldier, keep moving, keep fighting!" This is at a terrified soldier, sitting in the back of the vehicle, shell-shocked.
Suddenly, and with some jarring of consciousness, she retreats into another dream. This mind is a young one. She is scared, but not for herself, but for her parent. Morpheus decides to travel to this mind. She wakes, dresses in her costume, then travels through the Dreamscape to the location of this young girl.
She appears in a small bedroom, the young girl, though asleep, is responding to the argument happening in the other room. Morpheus becomes insubstantial and walks into the other room where a man, clearly ex-military, is waving a gun around, in the throes of an episode of possible PTSD. He is struggling with the reality of his world. His wife, bravely, clearly trying to help the man she loves, pleads with him to calm down and put down the gun. As Morpheus steps into the room, he turns on her with the speed of a trained soldier, firing two shots. She tries to put him to sleep, but he resists her Power. He believes that Morpheus is in his head, his wife, however, listens to the Hero as she pleads for the soldier to let her help him. At this point, having heard the two gunshots, the young girl, enters the room, now fully awake.
Morpheus, thinking fast, draws upon the knowledge she has of her day job and her experience, persuades the man to give over his gun to his wife. The Hero then tells them of her Power and explains how she can assist, though working with him in his dreams. She then becomes substantial as a show of faith. She then tries her power again, this time, he doesn't resist and falls into a deep sleep.
Once again, they appear in the aforementioned scene of battle, the same soldier in the back of the Humvee. This time, however, Morpheus becomes aware of another presence as a voice says, "Ahh, another plaything..." Morpheus tries to alter the nightmare, trying to help the soldier who she now realises is the same man sleeping on the couch in the 'real world'. It appears for a moment, but is then changed back to the original scene.
The scene shifts. The vehicle is moving, accelerating. The vehicle ahead disappears for a moment in a ball of fire as an IED is triggered underneath it. This is then followed by the front of the vehicle Morpheus and the soldier she is trying to help lifts up as an other explosion is heard. The Hero tries to alter the nightmare again; trying to change the direction of the explosion but something exerts it's will and the explosion continues as-is.
Again, the scene shifts and the vehicle is surrounded on all sides by shadowy versions of enemies the soldier would expect to see in this nightmare scenario. Their features are twisted, nightmarish and they attack, their intent, to break the mind of the soldier. Morpheus heals the soldier's mind twice, drawing the attention of the one controlling this hellscape of a nightmare.
Up on one of the dunes, an apparition of dark shadow stands, its form constantly in flux, the lines starkly contrasting to the gentle curves of the dunes on which it stands. Its form constantly creating and dissolving spikey shadows as it observes. Morpheus again hears it speak. "You are a little tougher than most!" It raises a rocket launcher, again keeping in the theme of the nightmare with it's choice of weapon. Morpheus imagines a Sarlaac pit opening up under it and the assailant, for just a moment, loses its footing. That momentary loss of balance sends the rocket off-target, sparing both the soldier and Morpheus some punishment. The assailant is then dragged under the sand.
Our hero, hoping that the nightmare man is defeated, conjures up a 'safe' scene for her to talk to the soldier. It's at this point she learns his name; "Frank Castle". They start to chat, trying to help Frank with the nightmares that have been plaguing him. As they talk, Morpheus becomes aware that the scene has subtly altered. As she looks around, she notices that the person on the table beside them has changed into the being she saw on the sand dunes. Getting a closer look, she sees that he is a black, shadowy form with sharply angled features and protrusions that shift constantly. This man, clearly working within the Dreamscape, seems to be preying on those with nightmares and is someone Morpheus decides she needs to keep an eye out for.
Suddenly, Sandy is lying in a hospital bed, awake after realising the extent of her injuries. The Nightmare Man is trying to induce her own nightmare. Morpheus pushes back. She changes the scene so that the attacker is in a McDonald's uniform, the words, "would you like fries with that?" almost escaping his lips. This change is short-lived, however as he fights back, altering the Dreamscape again, with a growl of "Never!"
At this point, things get serious for our Hero. The man lashes out with his mind, dazing and injuring Morpheus. She tries bug spray on him as Frank screams. His hands and lower arms are covered in spiders, biting and crawling over him. She changes the scene, turning them into tiny hamsters that are no longer biting, but lovingly nuzzling the ex-soldier.
The rapport of gunfire momentarily startles Morpheus. When she looks around, she sees that Frank has been shot and is dying. Yet again, she realises that this damage is in his mind, so she uses her Power to Heal him. The Nightmare Man swipes at her with those strange claws, their shapes constantly in flux, yet always lethally sharp. She uses her Healing on her own mind this time.
The Nightmare Man, pushes Morpheus out of the dream and she awakens on the floor of the apartment, next to the couch on which she had fallen asleep. Realising that she is not actually awake, she pushes back at the Nightmare and re-appears back in the McDonald's scene, where Ephialtes, thinking he has won, is turning his attention to the soldier. He turns, his face taking on a surprised look as our hero reappears. Morpheus, clearly now having had enough, forcefully awakens the assailant, kicking him completely out of the dream.
When Morpheus wakes, she is again on the floor by the couch. Frank also awakens, his loving wife by his side. The little girl, seeing Morpheus is hurt, makes her a cup of tea. The reunion between Frank and his wife is a tearful one and Morpheus suggests that they get help. She gives the details of Dr Sandy Suffolk, who works at the Military Veteran's Association and the details of Drake Detective Agency, should the nightmare man return. Her job for now complete, Morpheus says goodbye and steps into the Dreamscape, to return home.

Report Date

29 Nov 2020

Primary Location

Dreamscape