Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon Stories: Neverending Story: Difficult Answers to an Easy Question

Characters & Ages: Bobby- 11 going on 12; Diana- 17 going on 18; Sheila- 17; Presto- 17; Eric- 18; Uni- 3 (unicorn); Hank- 18 going on 19; Venger- unknown; & Dungeon Master- unknown

Summary: The kids have to choose between finally going home... or staying and helping the Realm survive.

Spoiler: Basically, random episodes from the Animated D&D series, as well as the un-aired "Requiem" episode by Michael Reeves. Die-hard fans may not approve of what I do with Uni in this series, and for that I am sorry.

Disclaimer: Dungeons and Dragons is a trademark of TSR and the cartoon is a creation of many peoples, including Marvel Productions, TSR inc., Saban Entertainment, and Wizards of the Coast. I am in no way connected with these people, and I do not claim ownership to these characters, lands, or names. I have borrowed them to share a story... and most likely not a story any of them would have written had they had the time or no. I am making no money from this, and it is just for my entertainment, and that of free entertainment to a select group of friends. Thank You.

Note: Presto's first name (Albert) comes from TSR, and so is official. Last names I based on my own inventions, or the great suggestions of other people.

Second Note: The Series title has nothing to do with the Book or Movie of the same name, but, as most RPGers know, Dungeons and Dragons rarely has an end. Characters get stronger and are discarded at times for newer ones to work with, but every once in awhile, we love to pull out those old faithfuls and utilize them again. Thus, this story was born.

"No! I..." Sheila's soft hazel eyes started to fill with tears. She hated herself when she was so weak, but there were times... like this... when it was the only thing she could do. "Hank..."

Diana put her thoughts into words for her, like she did so often over the hazardous times past. "Hank, there's such a thing as taking duty and honor too far. Are you sure that's not the case here?" Her voice was strong and quiet, the voice of reason in the chaos they'd lived with for three years.

"Be reasonable, Hank. We're finally going home... for good. No more Orcs, no more wet ground, no more scavenging for something remotely edible. We'll have cars and phones and hot baths and soft beds and..."

Presto's slightly nasal voice broke through Eric's reverie, "Maybe Hank's right, though."

"What?! You have got to be kidding, Presto!" The raven-haired teen turned to his younger friend. "Home! Why would we want to stay here? They've got warriors and real wizards to do the dirty work. I want pizza and ice cream and my dad's limo."

The auburn-haired boy winced at Eric's slight on his magic. He didn't back down, however, having learned to stand up for himself when it really mattered. Thus, Presto stepped forward and frowned, softly, calmly stating, "My name's Albert... and I am a real wizard, Eric."

The other youths turned shocked faces to the normally easily cowed young man. Bobby, their youngest member, grinned suddenly and snickered at the shock on Eric's face as Sheila said softly, "Oh, Presto... oh..." She flushed then softly corrected herself with the unfamiliar name, "I mean Albert."

Presto flushed and shrugged, her reaction undoing the determination he'd felt seconds before. "Uh... you can call me Presto... I mean..." he looked at Eric and hung his head. "I didn't mean to snap at you, Eric. You can still call me Presto. But I am a wizard. I'd, uh, appreciate you not insulting me about that, uh, anymore, okay?" He turned nervous golden eyes up to his friend, silently pleading for Eric to respect him, to not make a big deal of being insulted himself this time.

Eric didn't get to respond, though, as Bobby turned to Sheila. "So, are we going or not, Sis? I wanna get out of this place." A desperate bleat had him swinging around with guilty horror on his face. "Oh! Uni... I forgot! I can't take you home with me." He dropped his club to throw his arms around the red-maned unicorn who barely stood as tall as his shoulder. The foal nuzzled his neck, bleating sorrowfully at the human she was closest to in all the worlds.

Dungeon Master and his son, Venger, stood to the side, watching the Young Ones struggle with the choice they had been given: go back to their lives and homes or stay and help defend and rebuild the Realm. It was by far not the easy choice it might have seemed at first glance. They would be leaving three years of friends, enemies, and lives behind to try to become the children they once were, and could perhaps not ever be again.

They couldn't remain out of the conversation for long, however, as Diana turned towards the two powerful beings. She had her strong hands firmly planted on her hips, ignoring the now-familiar feeling of the fur she wore. "How bad is this place? I mean, how desperate are you for heroes?" She had a determination in her voice that matched the glint in her chocolate eyes.

Dungeon Master turned ageless eyes on the young Acrobat, his sad smile more haunting than ever before. "We are in dire need, Young Ones, but the choice is yours to make, not ours to command. Your choice is fading as you stand here. The portal will not remain for long."

"I'm going," Bobby hurried to interject, pulling regretfully away from the unicorn, who bleated sorrowfully. "Bye Uni... I'll miss you." He turned quickly, trying to make his parting easier for them both, scrubbing an arm harshly over his eyes to rid himself of the babyish tears he knew were there. "C'mon, Sis, let's go home." Bobby grabbed for Sheila's hand.

She pulled away, still looking at Hank. "Just a minute, Bobby. Hank?" Her voice pleaded with their leader, begging him to reconsider his choice, to decide they should go home.

The tall blond shook his head sadly and looked at the group. "We don't all have to decide the same thing, Sheila. I'm staying to help rebuild this world. Maybe... maybe I'll come home later." He cringed inside at the sob the petite redhead tried to hold back.

Sheila groped for her little brother's hand and clung to it as to a lifeline. She nodded, but it was obvious she couldn't understand his choice to remain in this horrible place. Instead, she turned towards the others and her voice broke as she whispered, "Presto? Diana?"

Diana glanced towards Hank and back to Sheila. She could see both sides, taste both worlds, and suddenly she made up her mind. "Staying." She felt Hank's steady hand touch her shoulder in silent gratitude for her support, even as the look of bewilderment in her best friend's eyes tore at her heart.

Presto gulped and nodded. "I'm staying, too. I... I'm needed here, and... and Varla's here." His heart still yearned for the red-haired illusionist he'd met in the Realm. Back home there would be lonely nights in the library, waiting for his tired, indifferent mom to pick him up and hurtful days in school while the other kids tormented him. Here there was love and a chance to help an entire world. He felt his back straighten and his shoulders set as he thought of the good he could do here.

With a nod of acknowledgement, but little approval, the seventeen-year-old turned to her last friend. Her voice was almost inaudible, and it ended with another sob. "Eric? We should go."

Glancing over the determined, yet sorrowful, looks of their companions, Eric nodded slowly. He didn't sound as certain as he had a moment before as he claimed, "Right. We're going." With a last look at the other three, the dark-haired youth put a hand behind Sheila's back and guided her and Bobby towards the portal. He paused just outside the glow.

"What's wrong?" Sheila wiped at her tears, trying to bring Eric's blurred image into better focus, trying not to glance back at those they were leaving behind.

He quickly looked down at her. "Nothing." His voice strengthened suddenly and he tried again, "nothing's wrong. Just... God, I must be insane!" Eric turned away from the soft glow, letting go of the siblings to stride back to the others. "You better be right about being able to get home later, Hank, or I'll haunt you for the rest of your life!"

"Eric!" There was sheer desperation in Sheila's voice and her grip on Bobby's hand tightened, to much protesting from her now squirming brother. "But... home... we've wanted it so long, worked for it so hard. Why..." she couldn't understand why even Eric would stay after all the whining and complaining he'd done just moments ago.

Bobby's voice brought her attention down to the eleven-year-old and she frowned at the doubt on his youthful face.

Horror filled her eyes and she shook her head, "No! Bobby, you're going home even if no one else is!" Before anyone, especially the young Barbarian, could react, Sheila pushed the boy through the glowing portal, calling out, "Tell Mom I love her, Bobby!" and then, the mystical gate closed.

Sheila turned to see the stunned looks of the other teens, hear the accusing, mournful bleats of the little unicorn… face the knowledge that the two powerful mages had known what would happen all along. The look in Dungeon Master's wise old eyes confirmed it. Unreasonably, the last angered her, hurt her more than the actual decision had. She sobbed and flung herself at them blindly, crying out, "You knew we would stay and Bobby'd go. You knew and didn't help us!"

"I knew that the Barbarian would return to your world, yes." His voice was soothing, but didn't contain the comfort the young Thief so desperately sought. He placed a hand on her bowed head, feeling her wracking sobs, but holding up his other hand to prevent the others from coming to her yet. "And I knew that you would remain in this one. His leaving was foreseen in a dream, but your staying was ever etched into your souls. Your heart would not allow you to choose otherwise."

"I... I sent him away... alone..." her own fear of being alone made Bobby's fate that much harder to bear, despite being the one to choose it for him.

Dungeon Master gently lifted her face up and softly dried her tears with one aged finger. "He who loves is never truly alone, Young One. Bobby will return to you one day, whether in this world or another is hard to say. He will, however, have the comfort of a special friend through the waiting."

"Dungeon Master?" Hank's voice held wonder, even as he kept it to its normal steady calm. "You called him Bobby. You've never used our real names before."

"I kind of thought you didn't even know them," interjected Presto, an air of disbelief and guilt playing through his nasally voice.

Venger laughed, a deep echoing sound filled with joy rather than the menace they had come to expect from him. "Dungeon Master knows the names of every Young One brought to this world, and every Young One who will ever be brought to this world. You were never merely tools to my father, after all."

The laughter had surprised the teens, and they turned to him as Eric pounced on Venger's words. "Wait a minute! You mean there are others? We're not the only people whose lives you wrecked?"

"Eric," the soft warning was almost habitual for Hank, and, just as habitually, the Cavalier ignored it.

"And you made us stay in this godforsaken place! I can't believe I fell for that... again! Oh, sure," his ranting now culminated in his storming around in an ever increasingly agitated pattern on the hard stone floor. "This world always needs heroes, he says. The choice is not ours to command, he says. But does he tell us we're not really the only people he's snatched and used? No! He..."

"Eric!" Hank's hard voice broke through his friend's anger long enough to quiet him, at least temporarily. "We made our decision. Now we should honor it." The Ranger turned to the pair of mages. "What do we have to do, Dungeon Master?"

"No, Hank!" Eric shot back quicker than Hank had expected. "He should have told us there were other lackeys here. He held out on us, knowing that if he told, we'd have gone home. Admit it. If you'd known there were other schmucks for hire here, you would have happily gone back home to football and homework and archery tournaments. He manipulated us into staying here!"

Sheila's sob was barely audible, and Diana's stern voice telling Eric to calm down was ignored. But it was Presto's surprisingly steady voice that brought the ranting teen up short. "I wouldn't have changed my mind. I would still stay. I... I want to stay."

"Presto! Never say you like it here?" Eric whirled on the other teen in shock once more.

As Presto nodded, opening his mouth to further defend his choice, Venger interrupted. He was picking up the discarded club.

"You are still needed, Young Ones, whether others are here or no. Everyone who chose to stay is needed now more than before. For not only must a world be rebuilt, but a new evil must be fought."

Dungeon Master sighed, sadly, and nodded in accord with his pupil, his son. "Today, you cease to be apprentices and step onto the paths of truth. Today, you will forever be changed." And before the teens could even think to protest, a blinding light swirled into the room from everywhere. It spun around them, twisting and churning, until it seemed to fill their very senses. And, just as the tugging sensation started and the light began to pull them, it could be said that a quiet voice, filled with regret, whispered, "Forgive me, Young Ones, for what you now face."

To Be Continued in Chapter Two: Bobby's World

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