We had been trapped in Ink's hand-crafted prison for ten months by this time, and we weren't happy. Whenever we could, we tried to escape Ink's torture with visits to Outertale or Underswap, but we couldn't always flee like that; he made sure of it. We still only saw him every three days, which was better than every day, but we always dreaded that day when we would see him next. We also had no escape, which was unfortunate, to say the least; if we could have escaped, we would have. Of course, that would have been temporary anyway, since we were too weak to avoid being captured again if an attempt was made; we just had to wait, and wait we did. We probably waited for too long, but we had no choice; it was either wait, hoping for a miracle, or escape, just to be caught again. Waiting at least had a chance. Today was the day before an Ink day, and we were making the most of it; we practically had to if we were going to even live through tomorrow. We were currently playing with the swap brothers in our room, pretending that we were running a city. Nightmare was the secretary, Error was the taxi driver, Horror was the fisherman, Cross was the company owner, Killer was the mayor, the swap brothers were the army, and I was the news reporter.

"It's a beautiful day here in sunny Killersburg, and the temperature is negative ten thousand degrees!" I laughed. "Perfect weather for business as usual!"

"Mr. Mayor, the stock market has crashed for the thousandth time today." Nightmare stated. 

"Tell them to restock!" Killer exclaimed. 

"That's not how a stock market works."

"Of course it is!"

"I'll restock i.'" Horror volunteered, putting a fish toy on the 'desk' we had created out of some blankets.

"Perfect!"

"How a-are my st-stocks doing?" Cross, the company owner, wondered.

"Absolutely horrible!" Nightmare shrugged playfully. "Nobody is buying!"

"Aww!"

"I'll buy a stock." I placed a pretend coin on the desk.

"Y-yay!"

"I'm gonna to go visit Crossy's company!" Killer declared. "Taxi!"

"Taxi's here; hop right in, Mr. Mayor." Error 'drove' up on a toy horse.

"Aren't taxis supposed to be cars?"

"I'm branching out."

"But cars are so much cooler!"

"No nee' ta be a 'neigh-sayer.'" Horror joked.

"Hay!" Killer yelled.

"Is for horses!" I added.

"Are you going to saddle up?" Error asked. 

"Hmm..yeah!" Killer jumped onto the horse plush.

"Ride, pony!" Error rode the horse over to the bed we had designated as Cross's company.

"Oh no, burglars!" Killer added some drama. "Call the army!"

"We need you, army!" Nightmare giggled.

"Army here!" The swapped Sans proclaimed.

"There's burglars!" Killer pointed to some air burlars - very scary. 

"Pow! Zam! Kaboom! We have defeated the burglars! Yay!"

"Yay!" We cheered.

"I hate to interrupt your game, but it's bedtime!" Ink entered the room.

"Aww!" We sighed.

"Ah, there's tomorrow." The swapped Papyrus reminded. "We'll see you then!"

"Super early?" Killer hoped.

"No promises on the time, but we'll see you."

"Do we have to go?" The swapped Sans didn't want to leave.

"Yes, we have to go. I'll read you a nice bedtime story."

"Oh boy, let's go! Bye, friends!" The swapped Sans wasted no time in leaving through a portal.

"Seeya!" The swapped Papyrus left as well, which meant we were alone with Ink.

"So, did you have fun?" Ink switched his expression to a darker one.

Instead of answering, we shrunk.

"Well, I guess that's all right." Ink approached us. "We'll have some genuine fun tomorrow. Now, go to bed!"

We quickly rushed to our soft beds, not wanting to risk angering Ink; the last time that happened, there were a lot of broken bones. Within one minute, the light was turned out, and we were half asleep; if anything, Ink was a good stimulus for going to sleep. I wished I could say good night to Paps, but with the chance of Ink not having left the room, I wasn't taking any risks; Cross said Papyrus understood - he's the best. When I drifted off into my dusty nightmare, I felt uneased; tomorrow was an Ink day, and we all knew what that meant: pain. I almost didn't want to wake up, but I knew that I had to, and I might have been able to prevent Ink from hurting somebody badly, even if it was at my expense; it was worth it. The only good thing about Ink's torture was the fact that my family was growing closer; we had to, or we wouldn't have lasted that long. I tried to enjoy my dusty nightmare as much as I could, but with the fear of tomorrow, I just couldn't. When morning came, we were woken up at Ink's usual hour, which wasn't very exciting, and placed in our line for the morning search; we were bored, but we couldn't do anything about it. When Ink finally finished, he faced us.

"Good morning." Ink smiled, faking kindness; we knew better. "Are you ready?"

We weren't ready.

"Well?" Ink was growing impatient.

We shook our skulls, hoping for the best.

"Oh, I see." Ink chuckled. "You just need more time, is that right?"

We nodded, silently pleading that he would leave.

"That's quite all right." Ink said. "I'll just get you in the mood."

"P-please, d-don't.." Cross mouthed silently.

"And it looks like we have a volunteer." Ink smirked, turning his view to Cross.

"Don't hurt him!" Nightmare's protective tendencies activated.

"So brave!"

At this point, Ink began to torment us once again, starting with Nightmare and Cross. The rest of us did our best to prevent him from doing anything, but he ended up trapping us with an attack, telling us that we'd all "get our turns." It was painful watching Ink as he inflicted injuries on his targets, and every crack we heard made us cry harder; it was almost as if he knew that we cared for eachother enough to give our lives. Actually, he probably did. When Cross and Nightmare were out cold, Ink reached for Horror, who was crying too much to say a single word as Ink proceeded to assault him; Ink was cruel. Horror couldn't even block any attacks aimed at him, since they were moving so fast; he fell quickly, which was probably better for him, since Ink refused to hurt us unless we were awake. By the time Ink got a grip on Error, we had accepted that begging and pleading was useless, but we continued anyway; at least we could block out Ink's quiet taunts. Whenever he had one of us at a time, he always tried to bring out our fears, and at that point, the pain seemed to increase immensely; fear did that, or maybe Ink just got stonger because of it. Whatever the reason, he seemed to like it, which meant we didn't. 

After Error was brought down, Killer was quickly taken, and he received the same treatment as the others; I did my best to block out Ink's manipulative comments, but my attempts didn't do as much as two or more could accomplish. I tried anyway. It seemed like I was able to yell loud enough to stifle most of Ink's taunts, but some still got through to Killer, making him more afraid. I couldn't help sobbing when the inevitable cracks were heard; Killer's cries rose in volume, then ceased when he passed out. I was next, and I had no one to hinder Ink's whispers. He knew exactly how to deal with us, and he did so with skill that was hard to comprehend; we couldn't comprehend it - we had tried. When I was in his line of attack, I knew it was going to hurt, and it did. Within thirty seconds, Ink had broken the arm he always went for; he didn't bother with my legs, since breaking them would have inhibited my ability to walk, and he wanted us to be able to walk. I didn't want to walk if he did want me to; I curled up on the ground, hoping it would end soon. With Ink constantly battering me, it would end soon, right? He would have hit me on the skull or something, and I would have been knocked out, like last time! I just had to wait for him to knock me out..

"Afraid already?" Ink taunted, as he continued to beat me. "That's a pity; I guess we'll just keep going."

"P-please!" I cried. "S-stop!"

"Why would I ever stop?"

I didn't say anything, opting to retreat further into my hope that I would go unconscious soon.

"You're so pathetic." Ink scoffed.

I cried harder; he knew my weaknesses, and he knew exactly how they affected me.

"You don't deserve them, you know." Ink chuckled. "You're lucky they even care."

He was right. I didn't deserve my family..

"All you deserve..is this." Ink began to strike me harder, allowing me to hear a clear crack every time.

Why did I believe that he was right? Did I really deserve pain?

"Don't try to hide from it." Ink said. "You know I'm right."

He was probably right..but I still didn't like it. I didn't want pain.

"Now..we're almost done.." Ink giggled.

I felt myself starting to lose consciousness, but if he stopped right there, I wouldn't have; I was still crying hard, though.

"I'd say just one more." Ink's brush was lifted high.

"What are you doing?!" I heard..another voice?

"Wh-what?!" Ink instantly lowered his brush and turned to see the other.

"Why..why were you hurting them?!" The other must have seen it; I wished I could recognize the voice, but my hearing was a bit fuzzy from having been beaten severely with a large paintbrush, not to mention the fact that I was still plainly crying. 

"W-we were just playing a game!"

"What kind of game involves what you just did?!" The voice was starting to sound more familiar, but I still couldn't place it. "Just look at him!"

"He's..a good actor!"

"The heck he is!"

"He's perfectly fine!"

"He's terrified!" The voice...sounded so familiar; it was right, though: I was terrified.

"Look, I'll prove it." Ink picked me up. "Are you scared?"

I shrunk, crying harder. I was scared; I was very scared.

"Ink, move over." The voice demanded. "I don't know what in the multiverse you did to make him so scared of you, but I swear that if you touch a single bone in his body again, you're going to have a whole lot more to deal with than a scared child."

"He isn't even a real child!" Ink's grip tightened; it hurt. "Have you just forgotten about what he's done? What they've all done?"

"Of course I haven't, but as far as I recall, they've never beaten children like you did."

"I wasn't beating him!"

"Then what were you doing?!"

"Uh...t-teaching self-defense!" 

"Step away from the kid, Ink. That's enough."

"Not a chance." Ink dropped his act, and his grip continued tightening. "You're not strong enough to stop me."

"Are you really willing to take that bet?"

"Of course! You'd stop the second I put him in harm's way; you care too much!" Ink laughed.

"P-please, let me go!" I sobbed, struggling to get free.

"You be quiet." Ink tightened his grip even more, cracking a bone, and making me scream in pain. "The adults are talking."

"For goodness sake, Ink!" The other exclaimed. "Let the kid go already!"

"Hmm. No, it's much too fun watching your reaction."

"Ink, what happened to you?!"

"Absolutely nothing!"

"This..this is why they said you weren't their friend. How long have you been doing this?"

"Oh, that's hard to say..day one?"

"That was...s-so long ago.."

"What can I say? They're fun toys."

"Toys?! Is that all you think of them as?!"

"Pretty much. What else would they be?"

"They're children, Ink! Children!"

"Perhaps once.." Ink looked at my terrified expression with a smile. "But..they're mine now."

"Ink, you're insane!"

"You're only finding this out now?"

"Put him down." The other demanded.

"Nope!"

"I'm not leaving until you do."

"Then you're going to be here for an awfully long time!" Ink laughed, shaking me around; that felt horrible and hurt at the same time.

"St-stop!" I pleaded. "Outer, just go! He'll..he'll only hurt you too!"

"I'm staying, Dust." Outer stood his ground. "You don't deserve this kind of life."

"Oh, he does." Ink stated. "He knows it, too."

"You've tortured them so much that they actually believe they deserve it.." Outer was shocked.

"Yup! I might consider doing the same to you if you don't walk out that door right now."

"Ink, this has gone far enough. I have all the evidence I need to place you under arrest, and that's exactly what I plan to do."

"You can't arrest me! I'm trusted by everybody, and even if you were to find somebody that believed you, I could simply turn you into another Nightmare's gang!"

"I'll do what I have to. Put your brush down."

"You're pretty eager, aren't you? Well, I can deal with that." Ink started to lower his brush to the ground before flinging some red paint at Outer, who blocked it with a few well-placed bones. 

"So that's how you want to play it." Outer prepared for battle. "I didn't want it to have to come to this, but you leave me no choice."

"Finally playing the hero, eh?" Ink gripped me tighter; I knew his plan, and I didn't like it. "Well, let's see how much of a hero you can truly be."

Ink initiated the battle by running up to Outer, who blocked most of his attacks with bones, while dodging the others, and retaliated by summoning standard bone attacks. Ink, the cruel being he was, used me as a shield, but Outer's attacks never harmed me. 

"That's a foul move!" Outer wasn't happy. 

"So what?" Ink shook me around, making me dizzy; I pitied his brush, before remembering that it wasn't alive. Ink really scrambled my mind. "He's my pawn!"

"He's a child!"

Ink responded to this by hurling more paint, which Outer dodged with his expertise. Outer returned an attack by summoning more bones, which he had to control carefully to avoid hitting me; Ink was going out of his way to ensure that it happened. Outer managed not to hit me, though; he even took an attack of painful paint in his frenzy to keep me out of harm, but it didn't phase him. His desire to protect us went beyond pain, and we appreciated it - at least, I did at the moment, and the others would when they woke up. As Outer started a melee attack of bones in an effort to avoid ranged combat, Ink took him head on; I wished I could do something, but my arms were firmly held in Ink's grip, and my magic was blocked whenever Ink decided to torture us. I only had my legs and skull, and those weren't doing too well; it was hard to kick a person that was holding you. Outer fought very bravely, and it looked as if he could even win! I hoped he would win. When it seemed like Outer had the upper hand, Ink played a move he probably didn't even realize he had: he quickly dropped some paint on Outer's hands, binding them firmly to the bone he was fighting with, and he grabbed it. Outer couldn't control the bone against Ink's grip, and Ink took full advantage; he moved it towards me.

"Stop!" Outer pulled away, failing.

"I wonder how you're going to feel after one of your attacks hurts him.." Ink giggled, moving the bone ever closer.

"Ink, you don't have to do this!" Outer forcefully tugged at his restraints. "Don't do this.."

"Oh, and you're the one who's holding it? My, my, that's very impressive! I think I could just pin the entire thing on you, what do you think? It isn't like you'd deny it after this.."

"Please stop..." I sobbed.

"I mean, after your attack hits him while you're holding it, of course. I know you, Outer; you do this all the time!"

"N-no!" Outer put all of his strength into unsummoning his bone, and he did it, at great expense; he was grounded, and Ink wasn't letting him get up.

"That was so brave." Ink scoffed. "You've officially lost this battle. If you go back now, without any intent to tell of these events, I'll let you go peacefully. If not...well, I think you already know."

"Ink, why are you doing this?"

"I feel like it!" Ink laughed. "The wide range of emotions I feel as I inflict pain, the rush of pleasure when things go my way, and oh, the reactions! The reactions to my choices! Why would I ever want to give this up?"

"F-feelings?"

"Of course, feelings! Torturing somebody gives me more emotions than I've ever experienced in any other way! The slight twinge of disgust and regret when I start, overlaid by satisfaction when I keep on my track! Oh, the rush of guilt and sorrow when the inevitable crack comes! But it's all worth it in the end! When the reactions come, it's always worth it. When they scream, I know I'm doing it right, and when they beg for me to 'stop, please!' it fills me with joy; have you ever tortured someone? Oh, I guess not; you're too kind to do that. Well, then, you'll have to just trust me; it's a hell of a lot of fun, and the emotions I feel make it all better! When you know that they have to beg and plead for you to stop, it's all better. A surge of pride, perhaps? Maybe a touch of guilt. It doesn't matter to me! Feeling is feeling, after all."

"Wh-what?!" Outer didn't understand.

"Oh, you aren't soulless..well, I guess you wouldn't understand, then!"

"Get away from that kid." Outer changed his expression; he didn't understand Ink's words, but he knew well enough that he was dangerous, and that was a reason to fight.

Outer summoned some bones from under Ink, which he couldn't use me to block; the real battle had just begun. Ink swung his brush quickly, performing a melee attack, while Outer opted for a more ranged approach, careful of my presence; if he hit me, we all knew it would be over. He would have been emotionally crushed if he even slightly bruised me; he was sensitive, but he found this battle to be extremely important. He kept going. After he got far enough out of Ink's range - that paintbrush was way more versatile than it should have been - Ink began to fling more paint, which wasn't good. With the speed at which the paint was flying, some was even splattering on me, and it burned - badly. I cried harder, which only seemed to reinforce Outer's determination to save us; we knew he would have done it for anyone, but we were thankful that it was for us - the others were still out cold, though. Bones flew throughout the room, accompanied by splotches of paint, which dissipated as soon as they missed their target; that was good for cleanup, but that wasn't the present concern. As the battle continued, everything became too fast to keep track of; I just made myself as small as I could and hoped for the best.

After a while, everything paused. A crack was heard; that could have been a turning point. I opened my eyesockets to see what had happened, and I noticed that the room didn't even look like a battle had taken place; there were no spare bones or paint anywhere, which was impressive. I looked at the fighters, noticing first that Outer was severely injured; I wished I could help. As I glanced over to my captor, I felt his grip loosen slightly; I hoped that was a good sign. They looked at eachother, almost as if they were having some sort of..mental battle? Outer's expression was one of compassion, as he looked out for those he cared for. Ink's expression was one of hatred, yearning to inflict more pain on his victims. Soon enough, one fell; I didn't feel good between Ink's hand and the ground, but I wasn't arguing. I may have wanted to argue when his grip on me tightened one last time, and cracks were heard; I screamed in pain, but it passed. After Ink got a good laugh, he lost consciousness; I was relieved. Outer helped me escape Ink's hand, and once I was free, he hugged me; that felt good.

"Are you all right, kiddo?" Outer asked. 

"N-not really..but I'm better now.." I was still crying, but it was softer now.

"How about we get the rest of your friends up, then we can deal with the other one?"

I nodded.

"All right. Everything's okay now. You'll be safe." Outer lifted me up and walked over to my still unconscious family.

"R-really?" I questioned. "All of us?"

"Yes, you're all going to be safe."

For the first time in a long time, I really felt safe.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean family SAFE!

Thanks for reading my incomprehensible writing!

Bye!