"Nightmare!"
Upon hearing the loud shout, Nightmare, the feared Guardian of negativity, manages to dart out of the way of an incoming attack aimed at his back. One of four tendrils on his back quickly reacts and grabs the attacker by the ankle and hurls them away. Ink, the Creator of AUs, gives a surprised shout as he crashes into one of his allies. Nightmare can't help his small grin when his twin gets knocked down. The Guardian of positivity wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. Dream and Ink lie in a pile of tangled limbs.
"I'm sorry, Nightmare," Cross says as he comes to stand at Nightmare's side. "Ink used one of his blasters to get behind me." Cross is one of Nightmare's trusted allies and a wicked fighter. Nightmare trusts him to put up a descent fight against Ink for a short while, but others would have a better chance as a group.
"Stay close to me. We can't leave yet. This AU is still too positive," Nightmare says flatly. Spreading pain and misery is the reason that Nightmare needs allies in the first place. Against opponents like Ink and Dream who are backed by the Multiverse's favor, Nightmare can't stand alone. He loathes to admit it.
Dream and Ink are quick to get back to their feet. Dream readies a shot with his bow and levels it while Ink rushes forward with his giant paint brush. Cross raises his weapon and meets Ink with a heavy swing. Nightmare sees the danger quickly and pulls Cross back by the waist while another tendril is shot through by Dream's arrow. It would've hit Cross if Nightmare hadn't acted. The Guardian winces at the glowing arrow stuck halfway through his extra limb. Corrupted magic or not, it still hurts. A trickle of glowing blue magic leaks from the wound and mixes with the black tar.
Nightmare should not have been hit that easily. He's too slow. Spreading negativity as a team worked for a while, but now the scales are tipping back in positivity's favor. Instead of fighting Dream, Nightmare is constantly confronted by Ink and various other supports who have no idea that a balance exists. Nightmare has very slowly been getting weaker as the scales tip. Nightmare tried once to explain his reasons to Dream, but the other didn't believe him. After all, Nightmare isn't Dream's brother anymore. Nightmare is just the result of corrupt and evil magic inhabiting and then splintering the former Guardian of Negativity apart. Dream's beliefs couldn't be further from the truth. Nightmare remembers every second of agonizing pain as his body transformed into what it is today. He's very much still the monster who was ridiculed and betrayed by everyone in his home AU. Why should Nightmare ever expect Dream to understand?
     Panting in excursion, Nightmare raises his tentacles in a defensive position as he takes stock of the situation. The negativity in this AU isn't rising higher despite the brutal conflict taking place. The sight of their protectors fighting off the radical villains is giving the AU's residents hope. Nightmare is just now noticing the way Cross favors one foot. The side of one of his boots is sprayed an acidic red from where he was clipped by one of Ink's attacks. It is dangerous for Cross to continue like this. The loyal knight would keep swinging if ordered, but Nightmare is nearing his limit. Ink and Dream have no idea that after a mere hour of exchanging blows, Nightmare can feel the weight of his extra limbs dragging him down.
     "We're leaving," Nightmare finally decides.
"What?" Cross gasps, "But we're nowhere near done! And-"
"We're leaving," Nightmare says again, but this time with more bite to his words. His subordinates are getting a little too comfortable with him if they think that they can talk back to a direct order. Cross goes quiet with that and just waits for his boss's next move.
Before Ink or Dream can launch their next attack, Nightmare envelopes both Cross and himself with his tentacles. They both fall through the shadows and portal out of the AU. When Nightmare's tendrils fall away again, the two find themselves standing in the middle of their base's entryway.
     A simple home would not do when Nightmare decided that he would need a place to home any potential subordinates. Nightmare combed through a few abandoned AUs before stumbling across this wood and stone fortress in the middle of a dense forest. Whoever lived here before is long gone. Nightmare decided to make it his. He had hope that such accommodations would demand respect from those underneath him. There are stone archways on either side of the grand entryway and a large staircase straight ahead. Nightmare can hear commotion coming from one of the side rooms. Cross hurries behind when Nightmare moves towards the noise.
The other skeleton monsters look up as the two enter. Horror is standing the closest to the doorway. The large hole in his head and single blood red eye gives him an intimidating appearance, but Nightmare can sense the distress in the large monster's aura. Dust has his hood pulled far over his face, but it's not dark enough to hide the slight pain that shows on his face. Dust has one hand clasped around the other arm, stanching a wound that's still slightly bleeding. The last member of Nightmare's little 'gang' is sprawled out across the big couch and bleeding all over it. Killer is the first one to speak up despite his considerable wound.
"Heyyyy Boss," Killer drags out, straining to wear a smile while attempting to sound casual despite the pain. "You're back early."
"What happened?" Nightmare asks curtly. He shoos the others to the side to get close to Killer. Nightmare kneels beside the couch to get a good look at Killer's leg. His right femur is nearly fractured into two pieces. Nightmare has an image to uphold and wears a blank expression towards the grievous wound. His hands tremble for a moment before he forces them still. At some point, his subordinates had become a little more important to Nightmare than he lets on.
"A couple Fells were sent at as," Dust explains, "Blue and Honey were there, too. We didn't know anyone was there until Red already got a hard hit on Killer. We have to leave after the idiot kept fighting on the same leg and almost broke it."
"Don't act like y-you wouldn't have done the same," Killer snaps. He puts on a good show of gusto for someone who's almost snapped off a bone.
Despite his rotten, corrupted soul, Nightmare feels guilty. The three of them should have retreated right away if Killer was injured so badly right in the beginning. They only kept fighting because they new that Nightmare needed it. Better yet, if Nightmare had never split the group up in the first place, perhaps none of them would be as injured. The balance has never been so far tipped into positivity's favor. Nightmare needs to try new tactics to even the score, but he is unwilling to send out the others without his presence ever again.
"Can you heal him?" Horror ask softly, scratching at the edges of the hole in his head in agitation. Horror is a very protective monster and hates seeing the few he cares about hurt. He probably carried Killer home in the end.
"Give me some time," Nightmare sighs. Healing magic is not easy for him. Once upon a time Nightmare was an even better healer than Dream. On the rare occasions that they let him try, Nighttime used to heal the worst of the villager's disease and injury when Dream was unable. His former proficiency may be the only reason Nightmare can still use healing magic despite his very core rejecting such gentle magic.
Nightmare holds his hands just above the crack on Killer's leg. Since the incident, Nightmare's magic manifests in a neon blue color. Only his healing magic clings to a shade closer to purple as if that magic come from a slightly different source. Nightmare has refused to answer questions when the others ask him about the odd irregularity. Nightmare can feel the physical drain as he keeps using the healing magic, urging Killer's fractures to edge close. He's never told anyone how demanding the magic is on him. Killer quickly becomes drowsy and falls into a light doze as a side effect of Nightmare's magic.
     "This..... will need more than one healing session," Nightmare finally says as he lowers his hands. The wound is much better than before, but still fragile. "Don't let Killer walk. I'll look at it again in the morning." Nightmare stands up quickly, knowing that his exhaustion would show if he didn't push himself. "As for the rest of you, go patch yourselves up in the infirmary. Use some healing items. I'll look at whatever's left tomorrow." The Guardian turns away and heads for his office. He'll need to attend to his own injuries before he can rest.
Cross, Horror, and Dust talk quietly amongst themselves. Non of them notice the faint stain left in the carpet from where Nightmare was kneeling.