ALP - 3 - Unprecedented



It had been about a week since we were turned into children, and we had been having the time of our lives! Acting our age was pretty easy when it was how we acted normally; we were very childish. We continued school and training as usual, and we adjusted to our tiny bodies nicely; apparently I was the smallest - almost two feet high was short! - which I didn't mind, since I liked being small. We were preparing to go out for the first time since we were turned into children, and we were thinking of how we were going to pull it off; children terrorizing universes were not very scary - other than human children, of course. We decided to just wing it and see what happened; in the worst case scenario, we got laughed at - that didn't bother us. We just had to spread negativity, and that was what we were going to do! We picked a universe that could be scared of anything, and we had about half an hour before our adversaries arrived. They tried not to laugh at our condition, but they couldn't help it; Dream was the only considerate skeleton there - he only chuckled, slightly, and he even masked it with a cough. Ink stepped forward with his speech after he regained his composure.


"Nightmare and gang!" Ink laughed as he said this. "Okay, I can't. This...this is too funny!"


"We're not that small!" Nightmare complained.


"You-You're so tiny!" Ink couldn't stop laughing.


"And here we have the 'compassionate' Protector. Watch the way he laughs at these tiny children, mocking their size."


"Okay..okay, I'm done." Ink calmed himself down. "Nightmare and gang! Leave this AU, or we will use force!"


"That's child abuse!"


"You're not even real children!"


"That doesn't matter!"


"We're fighting anyway!"


The battle soon began, and it was becoming quite clear that being a child was not an advantage in battle; attacks had to be dodged quickly, and if we were hit, we received more rebound than when we were adults. Ten minutes into battle, Nightmare and Error had been forced through portals against their wills; the adversaries were trying to capture us, and they were doing it. Pretty soon, Horror was captured as well, and Killer, Cross and I were the last ones in battle. Cross was grabbed from behind and pushed through a portal before Ink grabbed Killer and I by our jackets and carried us through one of his openings, securing victory. When we reached the other side, we noticed that we were in a colorful room with six beds. I didn't like where this was going. Ink dropped Killer and I after we were relieved of our (many) weapons, leaving us with the rest of our family; after this, Ink left the room, and we heard a lock click. We were as trapped as children in a locked room. On the bright side, we had no doubt that Ink meant for us to turn into children, and we were not dead yet. We gathered in the center of the room to converse.


"This is crazy." Error stated. 


"Maybe it's kiddie jail." Killer guessed.


"Lookin' like i.'" Horror admitted.


"I-I don't like th-this." Cross confessed.


"We just need to remain calm; we'll get through this." Nightmare comforted.


"This should be interesting.." Papyrus pondered; he's the best.


"Beds are soft." I mentioned, hopping onto one. 


"Ooh, they are!" Killer felt the soft fabric of the blankets and pillows.


"I guess looking at the bright side is paying off." Error found the softness soothing.


"Wonder why they'd pu' us 'n a room wi' windus." Horror hummed.


"With what?" Killer didn't understand Horror's phrase.


"Windus." Horror pointed to a window.


"Ohh, window. Got it!"


"I-I think the f-fall is enough to keep u-us from j-jumping.." Cross looked down the drop; it was over twenty stories.


"Is now a good time to develop an irrational fear of heights?" I wondered. 


"No." Nightmare pulled me away from the window that I had walked up to. "Let's just stay far away from the windows."


"Okay."


"I would catch you if you fell, brother!" Papyrus assured.


"Thanks, Paps. You're the best."


After a few minutes, we heard the lock unlatch, and the door opened, revealing Ink, Dream, and the swap brothers. They locked the door after they entered.


"I bet you're wondering what's going on!" Ink said.


"Not really." Nightmare could care less.


"No interest whatsoever." Error shrugged.


"We're fine wi' bein' small." Horror responded.


"Don't n-need an ex-explanation." Cross joined.


"The square root of pie is more pie." Killer stated.


"That has no relation, but okay." I didn't question it.


"Um.." Ink was confused. "We turned you into kids."


"We know." We harmonized. 


"We figured the last try at reforming was a bit underplanned, so we've come up with a new idea!"


"No reforms." I was stern. 


"Yes reforms." Ink glared at me. "We decided that kids would be much easier to control and teach, hence, kids!"


"That logic makes no sense." Nightmare deadpanned. "We're just smaller, not dumber."


"You're also adorable!" The swapped Sans was in awe of our size. "You don't seem half as scary when you're tiny!"


"I resent that." Error growled, but the swapped Sans only found it more adorable.


"So we'll be teaching you how to be good little children, and you'll be together, so no worries!" Ink smiled. "We'll go over the rules now!"


"Rules are stupid." Error was determined to match his will against Ink's. 


"No, they aren't. Right, the rules are as follows: no trying to escape, pay attention to the lessons, be polite, no rough housing, stay away from the windows, no weapons, meals are scheduled - and they're not just tacos; that was a mistake - you have a bedtime at eight o'clock-"


We groaned at the mention of a bedtime; that was unheard of in our family.


"It isn't that bad." Ink rolled his eyelights. "Continuing, just because you're small does not mean we expect you to act like children, but I guess if we say that, you'd do it on purpose, so we will expect you to act like children. The room is completely childproofed, with soft blankets and pillows, and stuffed animals everywhere, I guess. Who..put the stuffed animals everywhere?"


"I couldn't help it!" Dream chuckled nervously. "Nightmare liked stuffed animals before, so I'd expect him to now!"


"Huh. Well, they might help. If you want to do any activities, please ask for whatever you want; we want to make you feel as comfortable as we can during this process. Reforming criminals will be hard, but I know we can succeed this time! Any questions?"


"I got a question." Killer smirked.


"Please, ask."


"Do you really like stuffed animals?" 


"What?!" Nightmare was surprised. "W-well, maybe a little..but j-just the big ones..the scary ones..yes, the scary ones..totally."


"That was the most adorable thing ever!" Dream squealed.


"No, it wasn't!" Nightmare was embarrassed.


"Does this 'kid' thing wear off?" Error wanted his old jacket back.


"Not that I know of.." Ink thought for a moment. "I guess we'll find out."


"The' thin's 're soft!" Horror was impressed.


"Well, we designed them to be some of the comfiest things in the entire multiverse; we want you to feel comfortable as we reform you."


"Can we just not be reformed?" I hoped.


"That isn't really an option."


"Wh-what are you planning t-to do after you've all-allegedly 'reformed' us? L-lock us up in s-some forsaken universe?" Cross knew Ink's true nature.


"Of course not!" Ink laughed. "We'll simply find places for you in normal society!"


"What if we don't want places in normal society?" Nightmare would have much rather gone home.


"Well, at least you won't be terrorizing AUs anymore."


"I feel like this's gonna end badly." Killer sighed.


"That's temporary! Well, we're going to arrange a few things; you stay occupied!"


Ink, Dream, and the swap brothers left the room, locked the door, and left us to our own devices. 


"Wanna break every rule within a minute?" Killer was scheming.


"Yes!" We confirmed happily.


"Okay! I wanna try to escape!"


"I'll stan' near the winduw." Horror grinned.


"I can get a weapon!" I plotted.


"We shall rough house." Nightmare took Error to the side.


"I-I'll be rude to this st-stuffed animal." Cross picked up a teddy bear.


"Ready?" Killer asked.


"Ready!" We answered. 


"Let's do this!"


After this, we went about our rule breaking, just as we planned. Killer began to try to escape in some creative ways, even ramming the door with a giant stuffed animal. Horror leaned against a wall that was in between two windows; he was breaking the rule thoroughly. Nightmare and Error initiated a training fight that was way less intense than their usual ones, but it qualified as breaking the rule. Cross was being rude to the teddy bear; it counted. I had the task of finding some way to make a weapon, which was easy with pencils; there was a small desk in the corner of the room. We had broken all the rules we could think of, and it was actually fun; we liked this. After about five minutes of constant rule breaking, the lock of the door was unlatched, and Ink walked in, looking quite unimpressed. Without saying a word - which freaked us out - he took my makeshift weapons, broke them, and set all of us in the middle on the room. After this, he began to speak.


"So.." Ink scoffed. "You've decided to act like children, eh?"


We nodded.


"Well, we planned for that." Ink grinned. "If you're going to act like children, we're going to treat you like children. You're being awfully bad; do you know what we do to bad children?"


"Give them candy?" Killer hoped.


Ink chuckled. "No...we teach them a lesson."


That unsettled us; we didn't like where this was going.


"One at a time." His expression became somewhat dark.


Ink grabbed Killer's jacket and dragged him out of the room, leaving us to worry; we worried. Ink wasn't the nicest person, by a long shot, and we knew that. We hoped Killer would be all right, but we doubted it; his emotional state could have made him an easy target if Ink had a mind to manipulate it, and Ink was known for manipulation. What the multiverse saw good about him was honestly beyond us. The sheer fact that he was practically ignoring Horrortale should have been at least some indication that something was off, but that was apparently not the case. Ink and Killer had been gone for about an hour by the time our worrying doubled, and we were severely concerned for Killer's well-being; for all we knew, Ink could have been brutally torturing him! We hoped that wasn't the case, but with Ink, we expected it. When we finally heard the lock unlatch, Ink was carrying a crying Killer; we wanted to fight, but we couldn't while Ink was holding him. When Killer was dropped, we rushed to his side; he looked scared, but he wasn't injured - that was good. After we had a minute with Killer, Ink picked up Cross and transported him out of the room, against our wishes. We worried more. After a few minutes, Killer stopped crying.


"Are you okay?" Nightmare doted.


"Yeah.." Killer wiped his tears away. "Just..scared.."


"What'd he do ta ya?" Horror was ready to deal out justice.


"He..he knows what we're scared of.."


"What?" Error didn't understand. "How could he possibly know that?"


"I dunno, but it works!" Killer was scared. "He told me..he told me that we'd all be..all be punished differently.."


"What did he do to you?" Nightmare inquired.


"He...he locked me in a dark room..I c-couldn't see!" Killer cried.


We hugged Killer; he needed it. After he was completely calmed down, he allowed us to ask more questions.


"What's he planning to do to the rest of us?" Error wondered. 


"Um..I think he said Crossy gets locked in a room with a cow, he's gonna beat up Horror and Error, Nightmare has to sit in a completely positive room, and he didn't say anythin' about ya, sorry, Dusty."


"Remind me how nobody thinks this guy is evil again?" I sighed.


"This is stupid." Error commented.


"Hope Cross's a'ight." Horror sat down on a bed.


"Yes, that is a concern.." Nightmare admitted. "His fear is not something to take lightly.."


"How're we gonna get out of here?" Killer asked.


"I'm not sure.."


"Aww man!"


"I suppose we'll wait, then. Something will happen soon."


"Yeah, Cross'll probably be terrified when he comes back." Error pitied Cross.


"Indeed."


About an hour later, Ink returned with the shaky Cross and absconded with Horror, who wasn't thrilled. Cross was very shaken from his experience, and he only wanted to hug somebody; he wasn't in the mood to talk, and we could understand that. After this hour, Horror was swapped with Error, and he didn't look very good; he had lots of bruises, but nothing was broken, thankfully. At this point, we realized that Ink was deadly serious about ensuring our obedience; he wasn't going to tolerate our normal behavior. When this hour had passed, Error was returned in exchange for Nightmare; I wondered why I was last. Error looked worse than Horror did, and we were determined to help him. We quickly hugged him and tried to distract him from the pain; he had suffered a broken leg - apparently, Horror was lucky. We managed to make him forget about the leg and played a game with him; it almost felt like we were home. When Ink came back with Nightmare, he gave us a minute to see him; he looked horrible - positivity really took a toll on him. When my jacket was inevitably grabbed, I knew there was no use to struggle. I wondered what was going to happen next.


The hallways were long, and Ink seemed to be excited to get to our destination; I didn't like that. Papyrus told me a few stories along the way to calm my nerves; he's the best. I really appreciated the way Papyrus was always trying to make me feel confident, even when I knew I wasn't. Sometimes, he actually did make me forget about the dread I had, further proving that he is the best. Papyrus finished his third story of the walk when Ink opened a door; I assumed it was our destination, and I was correct. The room looked pretty menacing by itself, having dark walls and a complicated lock on the door; Ink set me on the floor and began to lock the door as I took a better look at the room. It was actually just a chair in the center with not much else; I hoped I would just be sitting in this room for an hour, but I doubted it. Papyrus told me another story as I waited for Ink to finish locking the door. When he completed his task, he picked me up once more, set me in the chair, and tied me up with a rope. The rope was tight.


"Now that we're all set up, would you like to know what you'll be getting?" Ink seemed way too happy for this scenario.


"Not really." I really didn't. 


"That's to be expected. In that case, I won't take the time to tell you!" Ink reached into his pocket.


"Wait! Maybe..maybe yes?" I would have rathered to know than not to know at the moment.


Ink chuckled. "Golly, you're paranoid, aren'tcha? Well, since you asked, I'll tell you! This little thing here..." Ink pulled what looked to be a finely sewed, multicolored bracelet out of his pocket. "is going to do some pretty messed up stuff!"


"A bracelet?" I was still nervous, but I wasn't as nervous.


"Oh, this isn't just any bracelet! This is a highly advanced device that we're currently testing out, and you're our lucky test subject!"


"This is child abuse!" 


"Eh, you're available, and we couldn't think of any other way to tor-punish you, so, here we are!"


"I know what you were about to say."


"No, you don't. Now put the bracelet on."


"No!"


"You don't exactly have a choice in the matter." 


Ink proceeded to grab my arm and place the bracelet on my wrist, which didn't actually hurt; it felt like a regular bracelet. There was silence for a few seconds as Ink checked his other pockets for something else; he pulled out a small remote control - I really didn't like where this was heading. With a malicious grin, he pressed a button, and a searing pain shot up my arm. Ink was having fun with this; I certainly was not, and I was very vocal about it. When he pressed the button again, I found myself in no pain at all. He pressed another button, which moved my arm against my will; that was a very odd feeling, but it soon stopped, and I was back to normal. He continued pressing buttons, each having a different effect on me; some hurt, others were passive, and a few didn't seem to have any effect at all - my skull simply hurt a bit, but that wasn't much. When Ink pressed the last button, I felt a very real effect. My soul began to hurt tremendously; I immediately knew what had happened - the magic restorer was forcefully turned off. I despised that bracelet. When Ink reversed the effects, the restorer turned back on, but it seemed that Ink knew what had happened, and he was planning to take full advantage of it. He pushed one of the buttons that simply made my skull hurt once more, untied me, and took me back to the room, where I was forcefully thrown onto the ground.


After Ink left, my family rushed towards me.


"Are ya okay, Dusty?" Killer hugged me.


"I'm not sure.." I honestly replied. "Ink did something.."


"What did he do?" Nightmare was serious.


"He can..turn it off."


"That's impossible!"


"Apparently not.."


"Don't worry, Dusty!" Killer hugged me tighter. "We'll protect ya!"


"Thanks.."


"U-um..Dust?" Cross looked concerned about something.


"Yeah?" I turned to him, and Killer let me go.


"A-are you just g-going to ignore y-your brother?"


"What do you mean? I'd never do that."


"H-he's trying to g-get your attention.."


"Really?" I looked around. "I don't..see him?"


"Wh-what are you t-talking about? H-he's right there!" Cross pointed to the air.


My eyelights widened. "N-no..."


"D-Dust?"


"I c-can't.." 


I fainted.


~~~chapter end woot~~~


Dust bean not in good spot.


Thanks for reading my dramatic writing!


Bye!

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