(Nightmare's POV)

I stood in my throne room, contemplating on what to do with the statue of Dream. Killer managed to follow me, but I ended up kicking him out after he was mocking me for over a minute. That guy annoys me to no end! I stared in the empty eyes of Dream in his scared pose as he froze. It normally would've took a year for him to recover from being frozen, but since I only gave him a small graze of negative energy, it would take him a couple days. That's perfect timing for me.

I noticed the little voice in my head being quiet. I guess I'll talk to him.

Hey...

I don't want to talk.

Wow. Way to get to the point. I was surprised by his sudden remark. He would stay silent when I talked. Yet here he was, giving sass to himself. Oh the irony.

Just figured you needed to talk. It's bad being silent for so long.

And you're good to talk to?

Well, you didn't have a problem with that when we first met. You practically clung to us like your best friend.

Mm. He hummed.

You're feeling sad again, aren't you? I asked him. He hummed again. I wasn't surprised.

My brother's frozen...

Kind of deserves it though. I tried to interrupt.

And I couldn't stop you from doing it. I'm weak, I can't protect myself, so I have to resort to you for protection. And now I'm paying the price for it.

...

Dream's going to hate me for this. I know it.

You? I asked curiously. Don't you mean us?

No response came this time. Then he spoke again.

Why did you want to help me of all people? You could've corrupted anyone, but you chose to come to me. Why?

You had the most negativity ever felt from one single individual. We were drawn to it. Simple. I replied.

I see. What are you going to do to my brother?

Don't know yet. Maybe I'll slowly torture him, absorbing all his negativity before ending him. Who knows, maybe we'll mentally torture him. Oh the nightmares we can create in his head!!

I heard a knock on the door, and Killer walked in. I could the little voice felt uncomfortable by his presence because my tentacles became roused.

"What do you want?" I growled. He gave a "killer" smile.

"Oh nothing~! I just want to know when we'll be going out to do mayhem again? Or is the great king satisfied with his accomplishment of the day of getting Dream? Don't tell me you're satisfied just like that?" He gave a snarky smile. I returned it with a low snarl.

"If you want to hunt on your own, I could care less. I have my own business, so get out."

"What business? All I've seen you do is brooding on your throne and talking to yourself like a psycho."

"GET OUT!!"

I push him out with the tentacles and slam the door on his face. I could faintly hear him teleporting away, making a quiet chuckle.

Killer really scares me sometimes.

"He's not your problem. Let us deal with him, it's not like he's going to be able to hurt you anyway."

After passing by Dream one more time, I headed toward my room. I needed to think by myself without talking to any idiots. I close the door and read a book. I actually didn't like reading, but the little guy said it's the only thing he likes around here. So why not?

(Inside Nightmare's Soul)

I listened to them reading a story to themselves. While I didn't like them, at least they were reading a decent story this time. It was an underdog overcoming his fears. I loved those types of stories.

I looked around to see if Dream could somehow come in here even if frozen. But nothing. So sign of him anywhere.

(An hour later)

I heard a large crash coming from the throne room. I rush into the room, ready to attack anyone that intruded in my castle. However, there was only the statue of Dream. I growled.

"Killer, come out right now before I have to hurt you myself!"

Still nothing. Odd, he would've come out just to spite me. And Dust and Horror couldn't be back yet. Who would...

A felt a regular arrow shoot through me, clattering on the floor. It didn't hurt like Dream's arrows, but it still left me shocked. Then, a strange individual swooped from the ceiling, coming down at a fast pace. It looked like a cat monster. What the hell?!

He runs to Dream and starts picking him up. He looked at me for a brief second, his eyes wide. Despite that, I didn't detect any negative feelings from him.

"Oh my..." He whispered. My tentacles charged forward toward him. I have to kill him before he takes him away.

"Drop him now! Who are you?!" Then another voice, a female voice, echoed behind me.

"That's none of your concern, Nightmare." It said coldly. Fire sprouted at my back, and hit me directly. However, this fire was really PAINFUL!!! Normal fire shouldn't be able to harm me! I screamed as I tried to put out the fire on me, giving the cat time to fire a hook and swing in the air. He exclaimed something.

"Hang on Dream. We're getting you out of here!"

He knows Dream?

"He knows Dream?" I tried grabbing him with one of my tendrils, but the same fire hit it again. It went into a spasm from the pain, and I winced. Someone then proceeded to hit me in the skull, making me black out for a second.

In that second, another cloaked individual grabbed the two of them, and they were enveloped by a strange form of magic. They were gone after that. The pain was still there in my back, but that didn't stop me from shouting at the top of my lungs.

"NO!!!!"

Well, I guess he won't be getting tortured today. Sorry. Even the voice tried to sound sympathetic, he was snickering to himself. If I had skin, I would've popped a vein right there.

Who were those people?!