Nightmare release his grip and watches as the tiny body falls to the ground. With a roar of outrage, Horror tackles the Guardian to the ground while Nightmare is still looking at the bitty. There is no doubt that Pinto has been taken completely out of the fight. There is no chance of him subduing Nightmare, but unseen by all, someone else waits patiently for their chance to strike.
"Take Pinto back to Blue!" Horror shouts as he struggles to keep Nightmare down. It does not work well. Nightmare easily shoves Horror off with the strength of all four tendrils.
It still gives Cross a few precious seconds to bend down and scoop up Pinto. Cross has no idea how to pick the bitty up without injuring him further. The guard does his best to be gentle as he lunges away from Nightmare's lashing tentacles. Cross feels awful for doing it, but he opens a portal and sprints through before slamming it closed again. He swears to return as soon as possible.
Cross does not bother knocking. He uses his shoulder to slam open the door to Blue's house. Both Blue and Dream have been waiting anxiously for any sort of the news. They jump as Cross comes crashing through the door. His hands are cupped in front of his chest.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry," Cross apologizes breathlessly. "Please take him! Heal him! I have to go back."
Blue automatically holds his hands out. Cross cringes as he hastily eases Pinto's still form into Blue's hands. Dream covers his mouth in horror when he sees the state that Pinto is in. Cross sends one more regretful look over his shoulder as he hurries away and opens a portal to return to the fight.
Pinto is blessedly unconscious. His injuries have to be horribly painful. His arms and legs are broken in multiple places. One of his lower legs hangs on only by the thin fibula. By the way his clothes fit, it is obvious that more than one of Pinto's ribs have caved in. The only place where he has no injures is his skull. Pinto's precious paint vial is gone. It was crushed, and some of the glass shards left scratches in his back. There is no blood. Bitties don't bleed.
"Heal him!" Blue cries, snapping them both back to reality. Dream holds is hands underneath Blue's. The Positive Guardian folds his thumbs in to gently touch the bitty on either shoulder. Dream's hands warm with green magic. They both watch anxiously as nothing happens.
"It's- Its not working," Dream stutters. His green magic refuses to touch Pinto. It feels as if Dream is trying to push magic into an inert brick wall.
"Maybe bitties are different? I don't know," Blue says in a panic. "What about his AU? Would someone in a BittyTale AU know how to help?"
"It's the only idea we have," Dream says grimly.
The Guardian opens up a portal to the original BittyTale. When coming to an AU for the first time with no specific location, portals tend to appear near significant locations. Dream and Blue are not overly surprised to find themselves standing in front of what looks like a pet shop when they stumble out of the portal. The large front window on the shop is strangely covered up by cardboard. That detail matters little. The only thing that they care about is the fact that this store is related to bitties. They rush inside. The woman behind the counter is a bit startled.
     "Do you know how to heal bitties here? Green magic won't work," Dream asks in a rush.
"Well, yeah, green magic wouldn't work. Bitties aren't really alive," the woman says. "How bad is it?" Blue holds out his hands, and the woman looks surprised, but not sympathetic like someone would normally be over an injured pet. "Wow. I'm surprised it hasn't dusted. The bones can be secured back into place as long as you can pay."
Blue is absolutely disgusted with the way this woman talks. Dream is just as disturbed, but more focused on doing whatever gets Pinto treatment the fastest. "We can pay. Whatever it takes," Dream says quickly.
The woman leads them into the back of the shop. They enter an exam room that has an elbow-high table in the middle. There is a man organizing the supplies in the cabinets on the other side of the room.
"Tony, we've got a bitty here that needs some pretty extensive patches. The clients are willing to pay for whatever you need to do for it to be back on its feet," the woman explains. She soon leaves as soon as the man looks over.
"Lay it on the table so I can get a look," Tony says as he closes the cabinets and walks over.
Blue is really starting to dislike these people. He is reluctant to put Pinto down, but eventually complies when Tony spreads out an absorbent pad on the table.
Tony's eyes widen in interest as he inspects the damage. "I've never seen one this bad. They usually fall apart after the first few broken bones."
"Can you heal him?" Blue asks.
"I can fix it as long as the bones are all here," Tony says flatly. "Please stand back as I work."
     Pinto is still unmoving as Tony gets out his instruments. The man tips a fine powder into a beaker and mixes it in water until turns into a thick paste. Tony then pulls up a stool to the counter so that he can sit while he works. Blue and Dream circle around the counter to watch.
     Tony uses a small pair of scissor to cut off Pinto's clothes. The damage to his ribs is even more grisly. One of the ribs falls right off. Tony picks it back up with a pair of tweezers. He dips a cotton-tipped stick into the beaker and dabs the paste onto the remaining stump of Pinto's rib. Tony then presses the rib back into place. More paste is smeared along the outside of the break and then smoothed out so that it is mostly unnoticeable. Lastly, Tony shines an ultraviolet light onto the break to sure the paste dries.
     In this same manner, Tony goes about repairing all the fractures and breaks. He acts more like he's rebuilding an action figure rather than a living thing. It is uncomfortable to watch, but Dream and Blue are thankful to see Pinto being pieced back together. The uncomfortable truth is that Pinto can't be dusted as long as he holds the title of God of Creation. Even though his artificial body is not made to last, he will persist.
     "That should do it. A few joints were damaged, and that was a bit tricky, but it is all repaired now. Make sure that you feed it when it wakes up." Tony casually picks up Pinto without any concern over the recently sealed injuries. Blue flinches and quickly gets his hands underneath to cup Pinto. "Sorry about the clothes. You can pick out a new for 50% off if you'd like."
     That last comment is Blue's last straw. Cradling Pinto's bare and unconscious body, Blue can't believe someone could be so heartless. He angrily turns his back to Toney and marches out of the exam room without a word. Dream manages a small thank you before he also leaves.
     "Come on," Dream says, gently grabbing Blue by the shoulder to stop him. "I didn't like that, either, but we at least need to get Pinto some new clothes."
     Blue huffs in annoyance, but allows himself to be redirected to a wall of packaged clothes. There are two dozen different outfits to choose from. Every package comes with a top and bottom, but some have extra Outer clothes such as jackets. Dream spots something familiar and reaches up. It is an exact copy of Pinto's last outfit. Three more packages are behind it. Dream is unsettled by how capitalistic this whole Bitty market is. Dream and Blue eventually make their way to the front counter. The woman rings them and slides a paper with the total across the desk.
     "Would you like to start a payment plan?" She asks.
     Dream doesn't really understand this world's currency, but that number has a lot of digits. Dream doesn't have to pay for things very often. He pulls out a coin purse from his inventory and dumps the contents onto the counter. A small pile of gold coins spill out. "Is this enough?"
     The woman nods slowly, eyes blown wide as she stares at the pile of gold. Blue and Dream quickly leave once they know that all debts have been paid. The two of them are discussing how they're going to get Pinto into his new clothes when they look up and freeze. Multiple people are waiting for them outside.
     Nightmare can barley look at the pair knowing what he has done. Dream and Blue tense, but it quickly becomes obvious that Nightmare is no longer aggressive. He is not the only surprise visitor. Killer has to lean against Dust for balance. Cross looks rough, but he is standing on his own power. The upper portion of Horror's right jacket sleeve is soaked in blood.
     "...... Is the bitty alright?" Nightmare asks quietly.
     "We think so. And Fate?" Dream asks warily.
     "Gone."
     There is a tension in the air. The two groups still don't know how to treat each other. Ink's death and the failed treaty are heavy weights to bare. It is Blue who finally extends the Olive Branch.
"Why don't we all go back to my house to talk?"