42 - Jailbreak



Our quartet had just set out for Ink's hideout, which was apparently stationed in the original Undertale. I had seen it a few times in the past, but it was so changed that I didn't even recognize it; there was a giant building covering what used to be Snowdin, and there were a lot of skeletons surrounding it. It seemed as if Ink had recruited them from different universes, but I didn't understand why they would want to help him. I decided to ask Papyrus, who replied that Ink had the power to create and alter codes, and he edited theirs to force them to assist him; Paps is the best. We spent a few more minutes going over backup plans and strategies, which the kid thought was a waste, but we didn't care. Get in, save Error, and get out - that was our simplistic plan; we had, of course, planned for unexpected occurrences, but we were hoping we wouldn't have to use those plans. When we were ready, Papyrus walked up to the building with Chara, beginning the distraction that would allow an opening for me and the kid. When the distraction was made, the kid and I made our way to the entrance stealthily, and we made it inside.


The inside of the facility looked rather advanced for a building that had only been around for four years, but I attributed that to Ink's power to make just about anything; he made Cross and Chara, so why couldn't he make a giant building? It was a good thing the kid was small and I was trained in stealth, or we would have been noticed almost immediately; the place was flooded with security details, and we had to find a place to hide rather quickly. We speedily hopped into a random room through a random door that we randomly found next to us; we must have been lucky today, since it was a stairway leading down - Error was down, and we had to get there too. We briskly descended down the stairwell, hoping they didn't already know we were here; that would have been bad - we moved fast. The stairs seemed to go on forever, and we wondered if we there was even a bottom; we didn't dare try to find out, though. After twenty minutes of descent, we still had a long way to go, and although I wasn't getting tired physically, the kid certainly was.


"How much longer?" The kid whined. "We've been going for ages!"


"As long as we have to." I answered. "There has to be an end to this."


"What if there is no end?"


"That's ridiculous; we'd reach the center of the earth!"


"My legs are jelly!"


"Quit complaining, it isn't like we're climbing a mountain."


"I have climbed a mountain! It was easier than this!"


"Hate to break it to you, but I think I see an end."


"Really?"


"Be quiet, I think there's somebody down there."


"You be quiet!"


"Shh!"


We descended down the steps more carefully when the end was in sight, which was good, since there were indeed guards down here; the kid and I had little trouble rendering them unconscious, since there were only two. When the guards at the bottom were passed out, the kid and I found a single door at the bottom; it had a cliche window in it that allowed us to see inside - we had to stand on the tips of our toes, though, which was ridiculous. Inside, we noticed a few more guards, which we sized up in our minds, and a sole cell that they were protecting; a familiar glitchy skeleton was inside. We opened the door slowly, so as to not alert anyone to our presence. As soon as the open door was noticed, we wasted no time in engaging battle; if any of them were to trigger an alarm, our situation would become much worse than we could hope for. Once most of the guards were unconscious, the kid began to open the cell, which required extensive lockpicking, while I knocked out the remaining opponents - we didn't want to dust anyone, since they were virtually all originals that were simply being mind controlled in a sense. When I finished off the guards, Error saw my face and immediately started letting tears fall.


"Dust?" Error was in shock.


"Right here, buddy." I assisted the kid in lockpicking. "We're gonna get you outta here, so just sit tight and get ready to run."


"But..you died?"


"With resets, who really dies?"


"I thought your Frisk stopped resetting."


"Being dead was boring as heck." The kid scoffed. "He's still weak."


"I am not!" I argued.


"You are too!"


"No I'm not!"


"They're going to hear you if you keep bickering." Error reminded.


"We shall continue this later." I stated.


"Agreed." The kid managed to pick the lock, finally.


"Let's get running."


The three of us started running towards the other exit that was conveniently located on the other side of the room and did not have a set of stairs; it had a long hallway leading outside. If we could use magic in this facility, I would have done it as soon as we arrived, but it seemed that there was a magic blocking system set up, which didn't bother me, but we could have made good use of a portal for our escape. Instead, we were running, and the kid was falling behind; Error picked the kid up early on, and he had pretty good agility for a skeleton - he wasn't as fast as Killer, though. It wasn't long before we noticed that we were being followed, which was actually terrible, because running and fighting did not mix. Our pursuers appeared to be Ink and a bunch of skeletons, making the situation that much more cliche and dangerous; I didn't stop to think of how they knew we were in the building, only thinking about getting Error to safety, and maybe the kid, since he was carrying them. We were a quarter of the way down the long stretch when attacks began to fly towards us, and they were getting pretty close, by the looks of it; there was also a hefty amount of paint flying, making up most of the attack strength - everything was aimed at our legs, in an attempt to make us trip.


Halfway down the corridor, I was silently wondering what kind of mad skeleton would have a hallway this long, but then I remembered it was to keep a powerful prisoner in, which made sense. If I was being honest, I was a bit tired out at this point: having to run and dodge was exhausting; I could make it to the end, though - I had to. Error seemed to be keeping a pretty good pace, and he had remarkable endurance levels - he was second in the group, after Killer; I was fifth, only surpassing Horror (probably why Killer always tried to make me run) - so he was going to last longer than I was, undoubtedly. I just hoped I would make it through the stretch, since dodging paint and bones was taking most of my energy away, quickly. I wished Killer was there. He would have been through the corridor three times in the time it took us to get halfway through it; I wouldn't have been surprised if he was the fastest skeleton in the multiverse.


When we were three quarters through the seemingly endless passageway, I had been sapped of most of my energy, but I didn't slow down; my determination wouldn't let me. Tiredness was not a stranger to me, and I had fought many times while utterly exhausted, coming out victorious; if you had a mind to do something, determination would force you to do it, whether you wanted to or not. My determination often brought me to killing, which I didn't always want to do, but I couldn't stop it; sometimes I despised my determination for the sheer fact that it forced me to continue on whatever path I chose, never letting me slip, and never allowing me to give up. Determination was helpful in some cases, but in others, it was just a pain - it was helpful in this case, though, and I'd give it that; I wouldn't stop running until it was safe, thanks to my determination, and I hoped Error had the same drive, because I didn't think I could carry him if he fell.


In the final stretch, I was running on pure determination, having lost almost all of my energy; I really had to work on my endurance levels. The attacks seemed to increase in power and speed with every step we took, which wasn't particularly good, since I could notice that even Error was getting tired by this point, and our pursuers were catching up with us. If our plan was successful on the others' end, they should have been waiting outside with a portal leading to Nightmare's house, ready to close it as soon as we entered; I really hoped they were there: this corridor was longer than the entire universe should have been. I had actually never run that much alone in my life, and that was saying something, since I used to run a lot before the resets stopped. Error seemed to be getting a second wind with the end in sight, while I was just maintaining my pace; I fell behind a little bit, but that was okay as long as I didn't-
























































































I tripped.


I managed to do it silently, and they didn't realize, but I had tripped, and I wasn't getting back up; thankfully, Error didn't notice, and the kid just didn't care - they made it to the end, and that was all I needed to know. When they were gone, through the portal, the pursuers surrounded me; I laughed, because I wasn't needed from that point on - Papyrus and Chara both knew how to use Last Hope, and I could rest happily knowing that my family was going to be back, no matter what happened to me! The opponents seemed confused at my glee; they obviously didn't understand self-sacrifice for the better of others, and I didn't expect them to. With Error safe, I didn't care what happened to me; I didn't matter. My usefulness had ended for the time being, and I was laughing about it. They were discussing something, but I was too tired to listen; I just lay face-down on the ground with an ecstatic grin lighting up my expression. I wished I could fall asleep, but my determination was still pushing me on, to my displeasure; my determination was a bit stingy sometimes. I began to listen to their conversation as I allowed my determination to die down.


"I can't believe it!" Somebody, obviously Ink, growled. "You let him escape! You were beaten by a single Sans and Frisk, and what do you have to show for it? This Sans! This is all we got from your mistake!"


"We could..question him, S-Sir.." A guard spoke meekly.


"Fine! We'll question him; I want to find out what AU he's from."


"Great idea, Sir."


"Thank you! Now take him along to the interrogation room and leave us there, alone."


"Yes, Sir."


I felt myself being lifted off the ground, but I couldn't open my eyesockets; I was too tired to do that.


"Huh..he looks familiar.." Ink thought for a moment. "Eh, I can't put my phalanx on it; it'll come to me. Come along!"


I was being moved for a while before I finally gave in to the temptation of sleep, and my determination rested for the time being; I was so glad, because I didn't want to be awake for the entire walk back; that would have taken a longer time than I had left, probably. My dusty nightmare came as a calming wave along a shoreline, soothing me as I rested and preparing me for whatever my enemies had in store for me; I would be ready, and I would stay determined. I felt my determination growing, too. I hadn't really paid this much attention to it for a long time, since I never used it for much of anything except remembering the resets and staying alive; perhaps I was neglecting it - I should have taken more notice of it, but I couldn't change the past: only affect the future. Right now, I had greatly affected the future by setting Error free; hopefully, the rest of my family would follow.


I woke up in a dimly lit room that looked vaguely like the interrogation room I had been acquainted with in the past, except it was more menacing - probably because of the weapons hanging on the wall? - and there were no restraints in this one; I wasn't restrained at all, but I could feel a magic suppressor's familiar hold weighing down on me. I hadn't opened my eyesockets too widely to give the impression that I was still asleep, only moving slightly; this obviously didn't appeal to Ink, who was across the table I was seated at.


"Hey!" Ink yelled. "Wake up, will ya?"


"No need to be so loud." I chuckled, keeping my skull down.


"You do realize that you've released my most protected prisoner from the confines of my prison, right? I'm not going to be quiet! Who even are you, being so bold as to challenge me?"


"Just an old adversary."


"That's funny; no, that's hilarious! All of my old adversaries are dead, except the one you just released."


"Are you sure about that?"


"Of course I am! I killed them all with my own paintbrush, and I even did it legally!"


"In that case, I'm not sorry to disappoint."


"You're an idiot; what could you possibly mean by that?"


I simply lifted my skull and showed him my eyelights, paired with a smirk.


"Dust?"


~~~chapter end woot~~~


Dust bean save Error bean with help of kid sausage, but capture, noo!


Thanks for reading my redundant writing!


Bye!

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