"Alright...." Mike started, causing the fake Barb to shift her head and look up at him, leaning her head onto his shoulder. "What the hell's your deal!? First you scare me into nearly shitting myself, then you chase me in...where ever this place is, and now you have me tied up onto a chair only to just snuggle me!"

"Hm..." The fake Barb placed a finger onto her chin, humming to herself. "Pretty much", she replied, placing her head onto his chest once again.

"...Can you at least tell me, where am I and who are you?" Mike said, sighing in defeat.

"Oh! That's easy!" The fake Barb exclaimed, now sitting on top of his lap, dangerously close to his crotch with Mike's fake now slightly red. "First off, you're unconscious from your previous adventure. Right now, we're in a void that's somewhere in your mind" she said, causing Mike to look at her confusingly.

"Wait...You mean I can just...materialize things out of thin air since we're basically in my mind?" He asked, causing her to nod. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE?!"

"Well excuuuseee me! But I was busy giving you a fright!" She gave a huff and puffed her cheeks out cutely.

"......Right"

"Anyways, as for who I am, just call me Spines. I'm the consciousness of Barb!" she said, puffing out her chest forward proudly and giving a smirk.

"....You serious?" He asked, causing Spines to nod.

"Eeyup! I normally stay inside of Barb's head, since she normally doesn't want me to intrude. Though...I must say" She gave him a small smirk and her eyes half lidded. "Barb has some good taste" she licked her lips

Mike then blushed profusely, causing Spines to giggle cutely. "I should revert back to my normal form" she said, getting off of Mike's lap, much to his utter gratefulness. Spines then held her arms out, a small white light enveloping her. Her grey and black scales soon turned purple and the black tendrils as well as the huge gash on her stomach disappeared and her black hair changed to the color green. After a while, the light soon intensified and flashed brightly, blinding Mike for a moment before dying down, only to reveal Spines in a black blouse and dark blue jeans. She almost looked the same as Barb, except for the fact that she had an odd pink iris color.

"Ah! Much better!" Spines exclaimed, twirling slightly and stretching her limbs. "Great to have my colors back! Being black and grey sucks". She turned her head back to face Mike, who was staring at her with a wide eyed expression.

"Damn..." Mike muttered under his breath.

Spines giggled before walking behind of Mike, proceeding to untie the knots of the ropes that had bound him to the chair. "Sorry bout all that. The opportunity just presented itself to me, so I took it. No hard feelings" Spines said in a guilty tone.

"Yea...I still kinda hate you for doing that. But I'll be over it soon so it's fine" Mike said comfortingly, causing Spines to smile. Once she was done untying the ropes and freeing Mike, he quickly stood up and stretched himself. "Ngnn...Good to be back up"

Mike turned around and saw that Spines' head was still hanging low, still obviously upset at what she did. Feeling pity for her, he sighed and walked up to her, giving her a hug, causing her to squeak in surprise. "It's fine. You don't have to be upset" he spoke soothingly, as he patted her back.

"...Barb was right about one thing..." Spines muttered loud enough for him to hear.

"Hmm...? What's that then?" He asked, pulling out of the hug.

"...You really are special. Not to mention weird" Spines said, adding the last part as a joke. This caused the two of them to laugh. "Thanks"

"Don't mention it" Mike said, smiling at Spines, to which she returned. A thought then occurred to Mike. If what she said was true about this place being in his mind, maybe he could at least change the dullness of the place into something more nice. "Hmm..." he muttered, closing his eyes before imagining himself being back at the library.

Unknown to him, the scenery then began to change. The black 'floor' finally looked like a floor and the emptiness of the void began to fill up with various different objects from the library. Spines was slightly taken aback as to how fast the transformation happened, often shifting to different spots.

Mike then opened his eyes and found himself at a replica of the library, with Spines laying on top of the sofa. "Now this is cool!" he said to himself, walking towards the dragoness, striking up a new conversation.

After a while, the rest of the group, except for Barb, had left the room, to give her some time alone with the unconscious Mike. Once they left, the room was filled with a deafening silence with only the sounds of the machines that was next to Mike's bed. Barb was still laying next to him, hugging him close as if her life depended on it. She was still sniffling, with a few tears in her eyes and a permanent smile on her face.

"Y-You know...Yo-You're stupid, you k-know that?" she asked, as if expecting an answer from him. "We-We could have both r-ran....B-But we kn-knew that th-those wolves w-were too fast....We could h-have both di-died....B-But you ri-risked your life to let me escape..."

"Wh-Why...? Wh-Why did y-you...do it?" she sniffled, a few more tears ran down her face. "...I had n-never felt so scared of l-l-losing someone...I-I had never f-felt so useless a-at that point of time..." her voice quivered as more tears started to fall. She sniffed and wiped her eyes before smiling. "T-To be honest...I've n-never felt so attached to s-s-someone before...S-Sure, I have Tw-Twilight, my mom, aunt L-Luna and my friends...not to m-mention Eris. B-But...You're different.."

"It's only been two days...And to be honest...I felt like I had more adventure in those two days...I met you, an odd and funny alien in the Everfree...Then there's that...incident between us. A-And j-just hours ago...I nearly lost you...A funny..crazy..kind..handsome alien" She clenched onto the blanket that was covering him. "St-Stupid...St-Stupid human...."

More tears started to drop as she remembered what happened over the two days, more importantly the recent event that nearly took his life. She had no idea why, but the moment she laid her eyes onto him, something inside of her just shook. Whenever she took a quick and secretive glance at him, her heart would beat faster. It didn't help her during that time when, for a brief moment, Mike was wearing something dapper, making him very handsome to her.

But her mind could never forget the moment where he stood up for her. He fought valiantly, using whatever he could to help fight off the timberwolves. She could still remember how their claws and teeth sank into his flesh, violently shredding him to pieces, as she merely stood back and watched, fear and horror gripping her.

She could still remember faintly how her mind was fogged with rage and anger from the sight of her dearest friend in her arms as death seemed close to claiming him. The time she spent brutally dismembering the wolves and burning them alive. The fear in their eyes before she would deal the death blow.

And yet...The mere sound of his voice caused her to calm down instantly. Her anger and rage diminished as soon as she heard his voice squeak out her name.

...

"Wh-Why...Why is it so hard to say..."

...

"...I..."

...

"...I...lo..."

...

"...I love...you"

Author's Note

BOOM! I'M BACK WITH AN UPDATE!!!

Yea...Sorry bout the huge delay guys, things are getting rather rough for my life as of late, though don't worry too much! Anyways, I do hope you all enjoy this new chapter and...

AIHJODHYUGKDVYISTG UINKJUGYUKFNUISKLDHUMIFS

BARB FINALLY CONFESSES!!! HOLAY SHIT!!

Welp! At least we now know that Mike will be okay soon!

Anyways, that's all from me! I'll be seeing you soon!

Oh! And as a last note,

Are you ready for some hot animatronics?!

Huehue. 2 hot 4 u