The dripping skeleton turns to me, surprise on his face. Once seeing me, he smiles and drops the monster he was holding hostage. Upon being dropped, the small dinosaur yells obscenities and insults before scurrying away to hide. "Ah, Hello, Y/N... How nice of you to drop by. Though I am curious... how exactly did a scrawny human like you manage to travel across worlds? Perhaps with the help of a painter, or a protector of dreams...?" He smirks, crossing his arms. Shaking my head, I hold out my paintbrush and glare at him.

"With this. Did you really think Ink or Dream, or even Sans would let me do this?"

"Perhaps not... So, why have you come here?" He asks.

"I'm turning myself in. I have no clue why you want me, but I'm doing this so you won't hurt my friends." I sigh.

"Well, then!" Nightmare smiles menacingly, clapping his hands together. "Why not take the first leap into your new... Let's say 'partnership', with my team and I?" He walks closer and holds out his hand, waiting with a grin.

Go on...

Do it...

You only make them miserable...

You ARE an abomination...

Burden...

With a sigh, I try as hard as I can to push the thoughts away and reach out my hand, the feeling of self loathing getting stronger as my hand nears his.

And then, I snap my fingers.

Ink appears behind Nightmare and slashes his brush at him, diving in front of me before Nightmare can react. Nightmare stumbles and roars in anger, an attack darting towards Ink and I. Ink dodges and tugs me along with him, creating a sort of shield to protect us. I hear Dream shout orders to Sans as he attacks a skeleton who I cannot see. While Ink is busy fighting Nightmare, I notice that Error is gone from sight and I can't find him.

The glitch reappears behind my friend, the neon blue wires sprouting at his fingertips as he prepares to attack, crazy red and yellow eyes glaring ahead with determination and fury. "Look out!" I cry before shoving Ink out of the way, slamming into the snow beside him as Error skids to a stop a mere five feet away. "You okay?" I ask, looking at the skeleton in concern.

"Yeah. Thanks." He exhales. With a brief nod, I rise to my feet and hold out my hand. Ink takes it and I help him to his feet. With a smile, he darts to grab his brush (which fell from his hand when I pushed him away from Error). Once retrieving it, the painter goes back into battle as if nothing had happened. I stand and watch with fearful eyes as my friends fight with everything they have. I have to do something... I can't just stand here!

And with that notion, I grab my brush and run at the skeleton with the one crimson eye, the one I saw in Underswap before we left. I give a sharp yell and push him backwards, catching him by surprise and causing him to stumble. He drops his axe, which I pick up and swing at his body to keep him back.

"Woah, there, kid!" He yells, dodging an attack. "Calm the fuck down!"

"Don't touch my friends, you asshole!" I scream angrily, swiping at him again and again. He trips me and I stumble to the ground, looking over just in time to see Error strike Ink. The painter falls to the ground upon losing his balance, a small gash along the right side of his face. Error charges two blasters in the air beside him, a crazed grin plastered to his face. Tumbling out of the one-eyed skeleton's way, I grab the metal lid of a nearby trashcan and dash towards the two as fast as possible.

As the glitchy skeleton fires the blasters, I jump between the two and shield the painter with the lid, straining to keep from falling backwards. The metal begins to heat up, gaining in temperature as the blast goes on. My palms begin to sting as the metal burns my hands, surely causing blisters as the energy melts the metal. Once the blast fades away, I drop the lid and cry out in pain, looking at my singed hands with tears in my eyes. Ink stumbles towards me and gently holds my hands in his, his eyes filled with concern as he stares at my injured hands.

"Error! Horror! Let's go, NOW!" Nightmare shouts in the distance, a light blue arrow piercing his shoulder. Error glares menacingly and murmurs,

"This i-i-sn't o-ove-r." Before teleporting away along with the other two skeletons.

"Y/N, are you alright?" Ink asks worriedly, looking into my eyes. Shaking my head, I purse my lips and look away, not wanting to look at my hands anymore. With a sigh, he murmurs, "At least it isn't a third degree burn, if you had held on any longer, it would've been... We need to go home. Blue! Dream!" The two other skeletons run to us, deep concern on their faces. "Let's go."

Blue grabs Ink's brush and hands it to him. The painter stands up and brushes a portal on the snow before grabbing my shoulders and helping me through.

~~~

"There." Ink murmurs as he finishes wrapping my hands in gauze. "That should help at least a little bit... are you alright?"

"I could care less..." I sigh, looking at the cut on his face.

"I'm fine, Y/N," He sighs, "Really."

"But you're not!" I protest. "You got hurt."

"You did more than me, you got your hands burnt. Badly, might I add." He murmurs as he places the med-kit into the cabinet.

"I don't care. My friends are hurt, I don't give half a shit if I am."

"Well, now you sound like me," Ink mumbles as he walks back over to me and sits beside me. I lean my head on his shoulder and frown. "Anyways," Ink looks at me, "I think you should get some sleep. You'll heal faster if you rest." With a sigh, I reluctantly nod. As Ink starts to stand up, I grab his arm and shake my head.

"You're warm." I mumble, tugging his sleeve. He smiles and sits back once more, letting me lay my head on him again. Yawning, I snuggle into his jacket and close my eyes, slowly dozing off as everything around me fades.