At first it was just an understated commotion- low rumblings and the noise of moving feet. Then, as fear set in, the screams began. Shrieks rent the air now thick with smoke and steam. People ran to and fro helplessly, trying to escape- what? The screams continued. The smoke and fire and fear, and now waves- salt water drenched him and he cried out-
The Commander flung himself upright in bed, a cry strangling in his throat. Getting ahold of himself he realized he had been dreaming.
“You ok, Commander?” asked Eaglebones. The guitarist had risen from his bunk beneath MC Bat Commander’s own and peered at his friend’s face in the near darkness. “You had the dream again didn’t you? Anything I can do?”
“No. No, I’m fine, Bones. It’s alright. Go back to bed.” Eaglebones placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder and regarded him sympathetically for a moment before turning and climbing back into his bunk. The Commander lay back down and tried to relax. It was always the same- his dream. He saw fire, tasted smoke; the noise, the screaming, always returned to him. Like some resilient weed whose root wouldn’t die, it came back to push its thorny fingers into him.
The first time it happened he’d woken all of them with yelling. They’d prodded him about the details, seemingly curious about something that could frighten their Commander so much. In retrospect the fear made very little sense. Nothing in the dream stood out as particularly scary. A fire, the ocean, vague sounds of fear- none of these should have held power over him. After all, the Aquabats frequently faced more hideous kinds of peril. Yet in the nightmare universe, fear didn’t have to make sense. In the end it was only a dream. Except that it turned out the dream was no simple one-time occurrence. The nightmare taunted him, returning again and again. After the first few times the others got used to it. But the Commander would never get used to that feeling. He didn’t share with the others how terrified the dream always left him.
Life continued as usual. Foes and gigs came and went. They rescued others (but mainly themselves) and sang their songs, always hopeful, always excited for the future. On the face of it, the Commander was optimistic, but in the deep secret recesses of his heart he felt the dream tug at him. He wanted answers. He had none. Late one night he and Eaglebones were clearing up the lab with Jimmy. A protracted battle with a particularly destructive enemy had made a shambles of the place. Bones held the dustpan, while Jimmy swept fragments of glass into it. “Thank you Eaglebones. That should just about,- about,- about,-” the Robot began stuttering as his speech mechanism glitched. Eaglebones reached over and gave his twitching friend a sharp tap on the noggin to free him from the repetitive loop. “Thank you.” Jimmy said at last. “It’s probably my battery. I should recharge…” “Go on,” said the Commander. “Bones and I can finish the rest.” Jimmy stepped into his recharge station and powered down. The Commander and Eaglebones worked together, sweeping and righting furniture. After they’d finished they sat on the floor resting with outstretched legs. It had been a long day. Wanting to talk, the Commander began slowly. “There’s something really been bothering me…”
“Your back again?”
“No. Not that. I mean that dream. You know, the one I always have. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, man.” The Commander had wavered a long time on whether to speak at all. He knew he couldn’t share with Crash, or Ricky, or Jimmy. Ricky and Crash looked up to him too much. And dreaming wouldn’t make sense to Jimmy. Eaglebones was someone the Commander relied on to step up when he was in the line of fire. Eaglebones was the right person to go to, if anyone was.
“I don’t know…Maybe I’m crazy to let it bother me as much as it does. But I’d appreciate another perspective. Tell me what you make of it, Eaglebones.”
Bones leaned forward in an attitude of listening.
“In my dream, I’m in a bed, only it’s not a bed, it’s like a boat or a swing or something. And I’m sleeping, but there’s sounds going on around me. Like a panic. I can hear shouts and smell smoke. Then it keeps getting louder and people are- screaming and waves are splashing me. The entire time the screams just keep getting louder and more terrifying. But sometimes at the very end it’s. Different.”
“Different how?”
“The screams keep right on going, but I hear music near me, real close by.”
“Music?”
“Yes. It’s quiet and just barely audible. But it’s there. Do you think that’s why I wanted to form a band? Is the dream telling me music is the answer? Music is what will get me through- anything?”
“Maybe,” said Bones thoughtfully. After a moment he said, “Commander? Why is getting to the bottom of this so important to you? Are you worried it makes you less of a leader in our eyes? You should know you don’t have to worry about that. We’d follow you into anything.”
And so things went on as they always do. And a time did come when it seemed like they might not get through. The Aquabats were broke and their only hope was a big project- the salvation of the entire world. The Aquabats were in the right place at exactly the right time for once. As the giant robot body towered over the five ‘bats, four of them cowered in fear. But one knew his time had come. And he was ready. As the Bat Commander watched, what moments before appeared to be an innocent young girl turned into a giant head. It rose, competing the body unit. Bat Commander felt a strange emotion inside himself. It was…familiarity. He knew this scene- somehow. Then, time stopped. The Commander felt his heartbeat slow and his breathing halt. The letter ‘M’ was emblazoned red on the giant creature’s forehead, burning into the Commander’s eyes. Burning and blazing. Like a fire. Suddenly the Bat Commander was no longer standing on the pavement overlooking the city. He was in a hut, at night, staring out the window as fires lit the village. Smoke was everywhere. People were screaming. Where was his mother? He caught sight of her running towards the hut. She burst through the door and gathered him up in her arms. The small boat-shaped hammock in which he slept swung wildly. His mother carried a satchel slung over one arm, and now the tiny future Aquabat Commander occupied the other arm. With her free hand she tugged at her husband’s elbow. ‘Hurry’ she said. ‘Make for the canoes.’ They rushed outside and made their way to the beach. Chaos met them in their path. The village was unrecognizable. Undaunted, his mother plunged onward through the haze till they reached the shore. Others were there. Two of the most sound looking canoes were launched. As they pushed into the dark black waves he looked up in the sky. Through the smoke, he could see that which attacked them. It was large and black, with a huge white face. On its forehead was a large red ‘M’. He felt himself start sobbing and he clutched at his mother. She stroked his head and began to sing a tune, low and sweet.
Son you are my little man,
Now be silent if you can
Things that you can’t understand
Happen now in our fair land
Father, Mother gently row,
Where we go we do not know
Hope we have to see us through
All old things must now be new
Son you are my little man,
Dry your eyes and take my hand
Things that you can’t understand
Happen now in our fair land
Now he was standing on a sandy shore gazing out at sea. It was a sunny day. The waves were peaceful and the sky was bright and blue. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned. It was his mother. “Mom?” He said, astonished. “Yes dear.”
“What’s happening?”
“You’re remembering what you need to.”
“Remembering? This was real? These dreams I’ve been having were real all along?”
“Yes my son. This was our home. Aquabania.”
“Aquabania? But, but- that was just some story I made up!”
She shook her head and looked at him, smiling gently. He looked over his other shoulder and saw his father standing on his left. He looked at them; first one, then the other.
“But- I don’t understand.”
His father spoke. “You were only three when it happened. You weren’t talking much yet. You were so young- just a tiny little child, so helpless and innocent. Heck, you still put seaweed and sand in your mouth when we weren’t looking.” The Commander couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“So,” continued his mother, “we thought you were too young to remember that day on the island when-”
“When Space Monster M came.” he finished for her. Bat Commander hesitated. “He is real then. My friends! They need me! Where-?” He caught himself short as it dawned on him his location didn’t quite make sense. He didn’t belong on a nameless beach with his parents. How did he get here anyway?
“Slow down,” his father said, noticing his confusion. “You’ve only been gone an instant. We’re connecversing. We’ve been wondering if you’d show the ability.”
“The ability?”
“Most Aquabanians have mental abilities. It’s the reason we can connect to speak to you now.”
“Wait, so Aquabania is a real place- the real place I’m from? And you kept this from me?? How could you keep my own heritage a secret from me? You had no right!”
“We know.” His mother interrupted him quietly. “We made a mistake. We should have told you. We thought if you did know it might frighten you, that it might give you nightma-”
“Nightmares?”
His mother hung her head lower. “We know. It was a mistake. If we could go back and change it we would. I’m sorry my son.” The Commander bit his lip. She’d done what she thought best and had only tried to protect him. It could have been done differently, but that didn’t matter now. As angry as he was, he knew he couldn’t hold this against her. Besides, there were bigger things he needed to do.
“Mother, Dad, I have to go help my friends save the world.” His parents looked at one another. “We know. We all know.” Seven others appeared in a ring around the Commander. All were clad in aqua garments. Some he recognized as his aunts and uncles. His two parents stepped into the circle to make nine, all surrounding him, the tenth. His aunt spoke. “Confidence is M’s weakness, let it be your strength. Avenge our loss. Save the world.” Then they all spoke as one, “Go, son of Aquabania.”
The sand and sky, the Aqua-clad individuals, the calm blue day, all faded away. Space Monster M loomed overhead. And the world waited.
In the end Space Monster M was defeated. The Commander’s aunt was correct; it was confidence that was M’s undoing. And Eaglebones was also correct. The Aquabats would and did follow their Commander into anything. The fight was hard, and they were all frightened that, this time, they faced their own demise. The Bat Commander should have been more terrified than any of them. But instead he found the fear draining from him. It was replaced by resolve. He would not let the Space Monster M of his dream rule him. He would not let terror consume him. He’d been instructed by his people to do something. He would do it.
The battle with Space Monster M caused a chain of events that lasted many days, and spawned many adventures. The Aquabats dispatched every enemy they met neatly, and sometimes not so neatly. One evening some time later, they were all in the battletram’s media room taking a well-earned movie break. On screen, fires crackled and people fled in confusion just before the hero stalked in to save the day. Bat Commander smiled to himself as he stuffed popcorn into his mouth. He thought of the day he was the conqueror. His ordeal with Space Monster M had driven the nightmares away. He’d triumphed and found his own true backstory in the process. As he had these thoughts he noticed Eaglebones looking at him. “What?” He whispered in Bones’ direction. “No. Nothing.” Replied Eaglebones, looking embarrassed. “I was just thinking about the movie- the subject material…Commander? This doesn’t bother you does it? I mean, do you still have the dream? The one you told me about?”
On television, the hero was being fawned over and the end credits were rolling. The Bat Commander smiled. It was good of Bones to look out for him this way. Still smiling he answered, “No, that dream doesn’t bother me anymore. It hasn’t been back for some time. In fact I’ve been meaning to tell you- tell all of you a little story. It’s about a place called Aquabania…”