I had been trapped for four months in Ink's room. My will had broken quite some time ago, and according to his 'plan,' I was on step four. I was scared when he lifted that brush or looked at some paint, and the fact that he called me 'Dusty' just made it worse! It seemed as if Ink had no care whether I lived or died; I knew he didn't. Heck, he could just bring me back to life! I hoped Paps was faring better than I was, because I could barely hear my soulbeats; Ink probably wanted me to die. Paps is the best; he probably already had an amazing plan to rescue Error and possibly me - I didn't expect him to want to rescue me after my blunder. It was currently the afternoon, during one of my scheduled breaks; Ink had to put those in place so I wouldn't pass out as easily. I wasn't sure whether that was good or bad. I wasn't able to move my limbs at this point, and I was pretty sure that I would die for the first time pretty soon; I almost hoped the reset wouldn't work. My break was ending soon, and Ink was eagerly awaiting that time; he was sick.

"Dusty?" Ink looked down at me, making me look up. "Do you want to play with someone else today?

"M-m-maybe.." I didn't usually want any of the higher ranks coming anywhere near me, but Ink had beaten me so much in the morning that I simply wanted to get away from him. Even if the higher ranks were a bit worse occasionally, I wasn't scared of them. I didn't exactly get a choice in the matter, anyway.

"That's good to hear! Two of them wanted to play with you today! One will come in ten minutes, and the other will come around five, giving you ample time with each of them! Your break ends when the first comes; don't forget to enjoy yourself! By the way, do you want to know their names? Perhaps you could get a better understanding if you knew who they were."

"N-" I was cut off.

"You do? Wonderful! Their names are Blue and-" There was a knock on the door. "Huh..he's early..oh well! You'll get to know him soon enough! Have fun!"

Ink stood and answered the door; a guard completely covered by armor walked in. Even if I couldn't see his face, I knew he wasn't going to be nice; the upper rank symbol on his chestplate confirmed that. Ink told him to have a good time and left the two of us alone; the guard then walked over to me and knelt down, as if he were inspecting me. When he had gotten his fill of my condition, he summoned a sole bone and began to beat me with it; he was certainly not nice at all. After he managed to break the bone he had summoned, he made some more, all of which produced cracks. I was screaming loud enough for him; that was made evident by his deep chuckles. I could see why he joined Ink; he was almost as sadistic as the artist, but he wasn't quite there. At the end of his few hours with me, he knelt down to me once more to observe the changes he had made; they were many, and he seemed proud. I was in tears when he finally spoke.

"I thought a Dusttale would be stronger." He chuckled. "I guess Ink is capable of breaking anyone..or maybe you're just weak."

At this, he ended his term and left my sobbing figure on the floor; I was glad when he left, but I couldn't seem to stop crying. I wanted Papyrus. He's the best, and I knew he would comfort me if I needed it. I still felt guilty about Error, but I had experienced more pain in the past four months than I ever had before, and it just seemed to build more and more. I was constantly shaking, my whimpering annoyed Ink to no end, and I cried at unexpected intervals; I wasn't okay. This wasn't something I could simply shake off; this would be in the back of my mind for the rest of my life, even if I was rescued. I could remember every beating I had received and who had given it to me; I could even remember who laughed harder the louder I screamed - Ink was in that category. When the clock hit five, the door was slowly creaked open, and a small Sans with a blue cape entered the room; he sat beside me and..shushed me?

"Shh, it's okay." He whispered amidst my crying. "Everything's okay.."

"Y-you?" I could hardly believe that the swapped Sans joined Ink willingly.

"Yep..me. I guess you must be thinking some pretty awful things about me..I didn't pick this role; since I used to be part of the Star Sanses, he forced me into it..at least I can help.."

"H-how?" 

"Your suffering only grows more the longer you continue like this..I'm going to kill you."

The swapped Sans sighed as he pulled my broken body into a hug.

"At least then, your bones will be healed..and you won't be in constant agony.." The swapped Sans made a good point. "Just..let me know when you're ready."

"What ab-bout..your b-brother?" I whimpered.

"Papy's..a lower rank..he doesn't get killed if I do anything wrong..at the most, I'll get a stern beating..but it's for the greater good, right?"

"I d-don't want you t-to be h-hurt..f-for me.."

"Don't worry about it; this is you I'm doing it for, not me."

"I.."

"Shh, everything will be okay. Are you ready?"

"I-if..you are.."

"All right..I'll see you around, Dust."

"B-bye.."

"It'll only hurt for a moment.."

The swapped Sans held me close one last time before stabbing me straight in the soul with a sharp bone. I screamed loudly, but before I knew it, my pain had passed; I was dead. I hoped Papyrus was doing okay; he's the best. It didn't take long for me to begin to feel the power of a reset coming over me, and pretty soon, I opened my eyesockets to see my familiar room. The first thing I noticed was that the swapped Sans was right: my limbs were healed, and I could actually move on my own. If Ink kept to his word, I had an hour to find out what happened to my home, and I wasn't going to waste it. I noticed that Papyrus wasn't there; he wasn't affected by the reset, which meant he was safe somewhere else. As I walked down the stairs, I found a few new things; the couch had been moved, and it was blocking the window. I wasn't sure what that would accomplish, but I didn't question it. I decided to open the door and see the outside for the first time; what I saw shocked me. It didn't look like the Snowdin I knew; it looked like a sadness festival. There were a few guards overseeing the activities of the town, and the inhabitants were less than happy to accomodate them. I walked into the main town square, seeing more of the same; I also noted that it was colder. When I had successfully walked thirty steps away from my house, I was tackled quite hard; I looked up to see Undyne.

"Traitor!" She glared at me; as an after-effect of my recent problems, it frightened me a bit. "You betrayed all of us, and now, you're gonna pay!"

"Hey!" A guard pulled Undyne off of me with the help of another. "Break it up!"

"You joined the enemy! How could you do that?!" Undyne struggled viciously against the guards.

"B-but I d-didn't.." I stuttered.

"Dust?" The guards seemed shocked to see me.

"Oh my goodness..did you die?" One of the guards assumed, receiving a nod. 

"Oh, sure!" Undyne was obviously still under the impression that I had joined Ink. "What did he do, die while taking over a defenseless city?!"

"Don't you read the newspaper?" A guard wondered.

"Dusttale doesn't get that yet." The other reminded. "Word of mouth for a year, then the papers roll."

"Right..we're allowed to tell her, right?"

"I think she'll probably try to kill him if we don't.."

"What are you talking about?!" Undyne growled.

"Undyne, your Sans never joined Ink."

"Then why did he leave?!"

"We don't know.." The first shrugged. "But we can tell you where he ended up.."

"Where, pray tell, did he end up?!"

"Ink's floor.."

"What? What does that mean?"

"Ink didn't use him as a guard..he's a..um.."

"Punching bag." I helpfully supplied. "I'm basically a punching bag."

"But..how?" Undyne had stopped struggling.

"Captured on a mission for the resistance." The second guard enlightened.

"I hate to ruin the moment, but I've been denied any recent information about my brother..is he okay?" I hoped. "Is he still as cool as I remember him?"

"You mean that dopey brother of yours wasn't killed?" Undyne lifted an eyebrow.

"He's not dopey! He's the best!"

"He's too kind; I thought he died on day one."

"Your brother?" The first guard smiled. "He's fine. Heck, he's the best leader the resistance has! Amazing fighter, too; I've seen him fight twenty guards alone and come out on top! Sure, I was one of them, but it was incredible!"

"Really?" I grinned. 

"Yep! You're lucky to have him as a brother. From what I've heard, he's been focusing every effort he can on tracking you down and rescuing you!"

"What about Error?" 

"Not much change there...he's locked up, still."

"It's all my fault.."

"You didn't do anything wrong; nobody could have predicted it."

"I should've."

"Wait..you mean his brother's part of the resistance?" Undyne obviously had no clue.

"Well, duh." The second guard snickered.

"So, are you okay?" The first guard was worried about me.

"I'm not in pain, if that's what you mean." I responded. 

"That's good; I've heard rumors of what goes on in there..they aren't pretty."

"Even without having to hear them, I'll vouch for their truth. So, what exactly is a forced reset? It seems to only have affected me.."

"That's exactly what it is: a reset's power focused on one individual or group of individuals."

"I see.."

"Anyway, we wouldn't want to take up your time; you only have an hour, right?"

"Unfortunately." I sighed.

"That's cruel..an hour of freedom every time you die isn't fair.."

"Any suggestions on what to do?"

"As far as you're concerned, there are no rules; do whatever you want."

"How come he gets freedom?" Undyne hardly felt it fair.

"Let's see.." The second guard pretended to think. "Oh, how about the fact that he might not be able to walk by the end of the day? Or perhaps it's because he has to endure literal torture. Take your pick, please."

Undyne grumbled, saying nothing more. 

"If you want a suggestion, I think there's a group in Grillby's." The first guard pointed toward the building. "It's pretty popular for 'escaping oppression.'"

"Thanks." I smiled.

"No problem, but you might wanna be careful; they know you're the Sans here, and some of them don't particularly like you."

"I'll try to keep that in mind, thanks."

After that exchange, I decided to take the advice and head to Grillby's; it felt like an eternity since I had been there last. When I reached the entrance, I hoped for the best and opened the door. Everybody stared at me; that was a horrible sign. Seeing as I only had fifty minutes left, I decided to ignore it and continue walking; Grillby was in his usual place, and he seemed like the best place to start. Hoping for the best, I took my usual seat. Grillby looked at me for a moment before starting conversation.

"Sans." He said. "You've changed."

"Yeah.." I found it a better start than others. 

"Changed for better or worse?"

"I don't know."

"There have been rumors that you were dead or joined the enemy. I refused to believe them until I had proof; would you care to provide me with anything?"

"I never joined the enemy..but I did die..a couple times.." I included my execution.

"Where have you been?"

"I could get specific, but for sake of clarity, I've basically been being tortured for the past I-don't-know-how-long." I did know how long, but that wasn't important.

"Why? Did you oppose someone you shouldn't have?"

"You know Ink?"

"I know of him."

"He and I go way back. He's hated me since forever, and just seeing me alive seems to annoy him."

"What was he like before he started dictating?"

"Sadistic. He hasn't really changed."

"It's a pity that you have to go through that."

"What's going on here?"

"Being conquered."

"I never would have guessed."

"Sans, are you feeling all right?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You haven't told a single pun in the time you've been here."

"I guess not." I sighed.

"What happened to you?"

"I changed..like you said."

"You're not going to talk about it, are you?"

"Not yet..how have you been doing? What's being conquered like?"

"It's horrible. I'm only open because I have to be, and I can't even close when I choose - not to mention I don't get paid."

"That must be annoying."

"It really is."

"How about everyone else?"

"It's pretty much normal life with too many restrictions to count. Some of the bigger ones include: no speaking badly about Ink, no conspiring against Ink, no complaining about rules more than twice a day, and no casual conversation with the guards."

"Why can't you have a casual conversation?" 

"Apparently they have too much work to do, and they don't care about us."

"That's not true..they care, but Ink has them so wrapped around his fingers that they're too afraid to step up."

"Perhaps..how do you know all this?"

"Being tortured in Ink's room gives me the special privilege of knowing a few things as I try not to fracture my bones more than they are at the moment."

"Your bones don't look fractured."

"I died, and they brought me back without injuries to torture me again."

"Why are you here?"

"I get an hour here before they forcefully take me back..forty-three minutes now."

"You want to learn as much as you can before you have to go back.."

"Mhm. What happens if you break a rule?"

"It depends. Since our home is apparently a 'new' possession, we only receive small punishments..after a year, it's supposed to get worse."

"I see.."

"So, do you have any idea what this 'reset' thing is? I haven't quite understood it."

I chuckled a bit. "Resets! Well, I guess that's overdue."

"Is it one of Ink's weapons?"

"I don't know about now, but I would be glad to tell you how resets work. A determined human child falls into the underground; they're the eighth - usually. They would be the seventh soul we needed to break the barrier. They die. Oh? What's this? Time moves backwards. Suddenly, the child is alive once more, and their soul isn't taken. Unlimited power to mess with time - and people's lives. I seemed to be the only one in the whole underground that remembered them - other than a stupid talking flower - and I remembered them too well. They drove me insane! Of course, it wasn't simply the constant, neverending loop; that's a story for a different time. Does that make sense?"

"Surprisingly, yes."

"Good. What were those rules, again?"

"No speaking badly or conspiring against Ink, no complaining more than twice a day, and no casual conversation with guards?"

"I think I'll just break every single one of those.."

"Why? Don't you care about the consequences?"

"What's the worst he can do? Torture me? Kill me? He's done both already; I'd love to annoy him further."

"I suppose that's true. Have fun with that."

"I hope I will." I cleared my throat. "Ink is a sadistic freak who doesn't deserve to be in charge of a lemonade stand!"

Grillby had to try so hard not to laugh; we had made a lemonade stand a long time ago, and it had ended in the worst way possible.

"These rules are utter garbage and must be thrown away as such." I stated proudly. "I shall overthrow Ink with a complex scheme involving potatoes. These are stupid rules. The rules must die.

"You've broken three rules in twenty seconds; good job." Grillby gave me a thumbs up. 

"Now I need to find a guard and casually converse. Bye, Grillby."

"Goodbye, Sans." 

I hopped down from my seat and headed towards the exit; I had thirty-five minutes left when I found a guard to talk to.

"Hello." I greeted. "Would you like to have a casual conversation?" 

"Somebody told you about the rules, eh?" The guard smiled. 

"I'm going to break them in a sheer disregard for authority." 

"That's nice. Have any other plans?"

"Is there anything about my brother? Books, posters, pictures, even?"

"I don't have anything on me, but I think there should be something in the guard station.."

"Where's that?"

"The forest, near the entrance to the ruins; I think the conveniently shaped lamp used to be there.."

"Are only guards allowed there?"

"Hey, when Ink said you were to have free roam, we took him seriously; you can go anywhere."

"Thanks."

"No problem. When you get there, files should be about resistance leaders."

"Thanks again!"

"Sure."

I started my trek to the forest, which took only three minutes as I ran. I had thirty minutes left when I reached the new building; I wondered where the lamp was. I found the door locked when I got there, meaning I had to knock; I didn't mind. The door was quickly answered, and I came face-to-face with a couple guards; they looked happy to see me.

"Dust?" One of them assumed, recieving a nod. "We've been expecting you; word travels fast here."

"Come on in!" The other led me to a table with some files spread on it. "We sort of guessed what you'd wanna see, but if you want anything else, please ask; you don't have much time left.."

"Thanks." I grinned.

"No problem!"

I wasted no time in looking for information on Papyrus; he's the best, and naturally, he was easily found. There was a lot of information on him, including his abilities, weaknesses, and even a skill rating - it was high, which pleased me to no end - but the thing that drew me in the most was his accomplishments section. It was five pages long, and it had so many things! What really interested me was that this was only from his time alive! I couldn't even imagine the good he did as a ghost! I eagerly read about how cool my brother was, realizing that he was the best brother ever! I already knew that, but this only increased my admiration; Paps is the best. When I had finished reading, I found that most of Papyrus's missions were..rescue missions. He was trying to rescue me. I didn't know how to express my feelings; Paps had tried over fifty times to rescue me in just the past four months! It didn't matter that he failed every time; what mattered was that he tried, and I couldn't have asked for more. I knew Paps would save me eventually, and he would save Error, too, whether before or after! When I finished reading the last bit of information I could find, I had my skull unexpectedly bashed against the table.

"Time's up." I heard Ink's voice say, before I passed out.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean home?

Thanks for reading my inquisitive writing! 

Bye!