Hehe, there's more!

"Probably won't be for a while," I said.

Three weeks later:

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy reading this group of shorts as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Comments are welcome and appreciated!

~~~~~

"Camping"

This short was requested by loseafy!

Classification: more on the fluff side.

Warnings: threats, small violence.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

"Come on, Dusty!" Ink urged me to continue, despite the fact that I was carrying everything! He was carrying nothing!

"I-I can't!" I wasn't strong enough to lift so much weight, not to mention the fact that I couldn't see anything!

"Hurry up, or I'll give you a reason to!"

"I c-can't!" I nearly tripped over a rock, almost dropping everything.

Ink's growl didn't stop me from my hesitation; I would have much rathered to deal with a punishment from him than to fall into a lingering ravine of some sort, never to be heard from again! I whimpered slightly when I was pushed to the ground, seeing the clearing we were in for the first time. All of Ink's equipment lay on the ground around me as Ink grabbed my jacket and raised me up to his eyelight level.

"Now, Dusty." Ink's voice was suddenly more scary when there was no threat of falling into a ravine. "This trip is not going to be ruined by you; in fact, it would give me much pleasure to torture you out here, but we are not here for that. We are here to wait for a rebel band to show up so I can capture them, and, fortunately for you, childish screaming could drive them off their path. Until they arrive, you are in charge of making me comfortable, all right?"

I nodded, resulting in Ink's dropping me.

"Good, now set up the tent." Ink ordered.

"I..d-don't know how.." I admitted fearfully; Ink groaned.

It was rather funny watching Ink set up a tent, since he had no idea how to do it, either! He slapped me hard enough to crack my skull when I laughed, but it was worth it! In the end, Ink banned the first tent from existence and placed an already-made backup one in its stead, lying down inside to rest. After a minute or so, Ink spoke to me from inside the tent.

"Dusty, bring me a pillow and a blanket." He demanded.

I sighed, crawling over to the fallen backpack to grab the requested items before giving them to Ink. Despite the large amount of items Ink had made me carry all the way here, none of them were for me..except for my Hope, which I simply refused to leave without. The only reason we were even here was because the rebel band had set up a magic-blocking device along their predetermined route, and Ink had decided that he and I could last a day or so in the wilderness. I didn't know why I had to come, but I supposed that Ink didn't want to do anything for himself..I was just his servant for today. When Ink was satisfied, I lay down on the bare ground, laying my skull on the backpack to gain some sense of comfort..I was tired. Of course, before I could attempt to grab some sleep, Ink interrupted my short peace, demanding some water! But we hadn't brought water.

"What do you mean we didn't bring water?" Ink scoffed from inside his (no doubt cozy) tent. "Go find a river and get some - here's a bucket."

A metal bucket was thrown out of the tent rather quickly, hitting me in the skull to add to my pain from earlier. I whined slightly, but I decided not to argue..that would just end in pain. It took about an hour to find a suitable stream, but I found it, and I filled up the bucket. Honestly, I was exhausted at this point, since I had essentially been walking for five hours without much stopping, and it would be another hour to make it back to Ink. While he wasn't around, I decided to take advantage of the stream, taking a small sip of the refreshing water to gain a bit of energy; it wasn't much, but it would do. Honestly, I had stopped asking about what I ate and drank long ago; as long as it wasn't obvious poison, I would just eat it..I didn't get to pick and choose. So when a seemingly clean stream of water was placed in front of me, I was not going to argue! I didn't know how long I had sat at the stream, but I did know that Ink would be angry if I didn't return to him soon..unfortunately, he was just going to have to be angry, since I didn't know where I was. I hugged my Hope tightly as I watched the water in the stream flow by, occasionally stooping over to see my reflection in the clear waters. I stayed there for about thirty minutes before I heard a voice from behind me.

"Hey, kid..what're you doing here?" The voice was directly behind me; I gasped in fear and turned around swiftly, seeing a Sans. "I don't..recognize you..where are you from?"

"N-nowhere im-important.." My voice betrayed every ounce of fear I possessed, which was growing higher by the second.

"You..don't have to be afraid, kid; I ain't part of any evil army, and I won't hurt ya. Are you..on the run?"

I whimpered slightly, shaking my skull; this must have been one of the rebels..I wondered how hard Ink would beat me if I told him of Ink's presence.

"I, uh, get it; are you with the resistance? Any rebels?" He asked.

"I-I w-w-wish.." I hugged my Hope close.

"Evil army, then?"

"N-no.."

The Sans seemed confused when I gave a negative response. "Who..are you with?"

"N-nobody..I d-don't want to be with an-anybody.."

"I get that; I felt the same way, when my AU was invaded." The Sans sat down next to me, staring down at the water. "I didn't want to be in any army, but I also didn't want to be in any faction against it..I tried to live alone when I escaped the initial invasion, but I couldn't find any food; I eventually joined up with a rebel faction, and I guess I'm kinda with them, now. I'm a, uh, scout; we're planning to move down this stream, here, to a different location further in the forest. I'm the one who gets to go first."

"What happens if you don't go back?"

"Then they'll think something happened to me and take a different route..probably something a bit safer. So, what about you? If you had to choose, where would you rather be?"

"Resistance..my brother's with them.."

"Why aren't you?"

"..." I turned to look at the water. "Not..allowed."

"How so? Did you do something to annoy them? Betrayal, perhaps? I won't judge; barely anyone does that, nowadays."

"I-Ink.."

"..He took you from your family?" The Sans seemed angry when I nodded. "That's just cruel..it's when I hear things like that when I feel like I'm actually doing some good in this twisted world." The Sans looked down at me. "So..how did you escape?"

"I didn't.."

"Then how-" The Sans paused when he realized why I was here. "You said you weren't with the army."

"I'm not.." I sighed. "Go back to your rebellion; tell them not to go this way. Ink himself is waiting for you..he's located about an hour's walk away from here in a clearing, but I think he'll come looking for me pretty soon..aside from that, I can't help you."

"Why are you helping me if you came with Ink? Wouldn't he bring a warrior with him?"

"He is the warrior..I'm a servant. Don't let the fact that he's the only one make you think that he won't win; he always wins..please get your friends away from here.."

"Why don't you come with me?"

"He'll track me..please, go.."

"..I won't forget this."

"For both of our sakes, please do..I don't want Ink to punish me for telling you this..I'm already going to be punished for getting lost!"

"You're lost?"

I nodded sadly, sighing. "He sent me out for water..I found the water, but I don't know how to get back.."

"That's..rough.."

"I'll live..go, now; I don't want you to be here when he finds me."

"All right.." The Sans stood. "Thanks, kid."

"Sure thing.."

So the Sans left, and I remained by the stream. I didn't necessarily look forward to getting a beating in the middle of the forest, but I knew it would happen; Ink wouldn't have let me go on something such as this. When the angry yelling came into range, I took a deep breath, grabbed the bucket of water, and made my way over to Ink, where he took the bucket and stepped on one of my legs, threatening to snap it under the pressure.

"Dusty, what happened?" Ink demanded an answer.

"I-I-I-I g-got l-l-lost.." I whimpered fearfully, hoping that he wouldn't break my leg..I liked walking..

"Oh, Dusty..you didn't try to run away from me?"

"No." I said that sincerely, since I truly hadn't tried to run away.

"Your expression betrays no lie." Ink pulled me to my feet, no longer stepping on my leg; he picked up the bucket of water. "Good. So, you got lost?"

"M-mhm." I wondered why he was waiting so long to hit me as he led me back to the tent..maybe he just wanted to do it there.

"I guess that's understandable; this is a big forest."

Ink didn't strike me even once on the way back to camp, even though he had every chance to..my silent questions were not answered. When we reached the tent, I found that Ink had set up a small firepit, though there was no fire as of yet. He set me down in the ground and bid me make a fire, which I did obediently.

"Dusty, make me a s'more.." Ink ordered; it was at this point that I realized why he hadn't beaten me yet..he wanted to keep playing servant.

I frowned, placing a marshmallow onto a stick and holding it over the fire with my legs as I grabbed some graham crackers and chocolate with my hands. Soon enough, Ink had his s'more. Then he asked for another. I made over thirty s'mores within the next hour, with Ink only eating the first and placing the rest to the side. When he was done with commanding me to make s'mores, he posed a different challenge.

"Dusty, I can't possibly eat all of these myself - help me?" He smiled.

"I thought I wasn't allowed to have sweets.." I said, almost silently, as I stared at the treats; Ink had always said that sweets and food that tasted good were for masters, not toys..

"Ah, that's right..well, we can make exceptions - unless you don't want any."

I decided to take the bait, slowly moving my right hand over to the campfire snacks, waiting for Ink to break my hand off and laugh as he devoured everything before my eyelights. But that didn't happen. He actually allowed me to take one, smiling as he watched me nibble at the sweet and taking another for himself. He continued in this odd manner for several hours, sharing his treats with me happily. Meanwhile, the rebel band slipped past us successfully, and Ink didn't seem to mind; he seemed content with telling me scary stories (they were horrific) and munching on s'mores as the fire slowly burned out. When it did, he claimed that it was time for bed, and he allowed me to sleep in the tent with him as he drifted into unconsciousness, followed by myself.

That actually wasn't so bad.

~~~~~

"Papa"

This short was requested by loseafy!

Classification: fluff and angst.

Warnings: torture, threats.

Canonicity: alternate timeline.

~~~~~

Ink was my captor. He tormented me daily, neglected me, and had hurt me in ways that I wouldn't have even wanted him to be hurt in; he wasn't a nice person by any stretch of the imagination. But one day, he pushed a bit too far.

"Dusty, do you know how I call you by a nickname?" He inquired, sitting up in bed one morning.

"Y-yes?" I responded, wondering where he was going with this.

"Well, I want you to call me by a nickname, too! I even know the best one!" Ink paused, coming down to my level. "Call me, 'dad.'"

I didn't regret slapping Ink in his face - not one bit. I only had one dad, and Ink was not him! I hissed as I retreated across the room, hiding myself from the mean artist under a safe spot I had recently found; it was under a large dresser, and Ink couldn't reach me if I pressed myself up against the wall enough. Ink, of course, came running over, poking his skull under the dresser to see me - well, half his skull, anyway. Ink was too large to fit under the dresser, but I was not, and I took advantage of that!

"Dusty, I only want you to call me that." Ink tried to make me do it, but I wouldn't! "If you start calling me that..I won't hurt you anymore."

"..." I wouldn't deny that, for a split-second, I contemplated giving in; the thought that my constant torture would actually cease sounded like heaven. "L-liar!"

"Dusty, you, of all people, should know that I am not a liar...at least, not in such serious matters. Dusty, if you accept me as your adoptive father, I will take good care of you, and I'd only hurt you if you directly disobey me! Think about it, Dusty; you and I would be family."

I thought about it. And what I saw scared the living soul out of me. There was no way in hell I was going to be "family" with Ink! I refused to leave my safe point that day, and I didn't respond when Ink had a nightmare; he didn't deserve my comfort! The next day was a feeding day; I refused to eat, even when Ink shoved the food under the dresser. I didn't like the thought of Ink's being my dad..it reminded me too much of my first dad, who had thrown me out into the cold with a newborn baby brother and no food..I didn't want another dad like him! Only Nightmare had ever been a good dad to me, and he was dead! He had been killed by Ink! Ink couldn't ever take Nightmare's place! He couldn't!

"Dusty, I'll be honest, here." Ink spoke to me, one week after I had taken refuge under the dresser. "I was going to use you as bait to capture your brother, and I was planning on brainwashing you, and a bunch of other stuff. But I..I don't want that, anymore; I just want to love someone, and I'd like it to be you. I'd really be a good father to you..despite everything."

When I was reset due to starvation, I immediately hid myself under the dresser again after being taken from Dusttale. I spent a month under the dresser, hiding whenever I died.

"Dusty, please!" Ink had grabbed hold of me to prevent my hiding, and I was struggling with every once of strength I had.

"Let go of me!" I kicked him in the leg, causing him to fall on the floor as I ran to my safe spot to cry.

"Dusty.." Ink lay on the outside of the dresser. "I can see that this tactic isn't working. If you don't come out from there, I'll just destroy the dresser! This is your final chance to give in peacefully; I will torture you until you accept me if I must. Don't make me."

Ink growled when I stayed silent, curling up and crying in my soon-to-be-demolished hiding spot. I sobbed when he began to hit the dresser with his paintbrush, breaking the wood of the weak piece of furniture easily and throwing the pieces of it into a portal. When the dresser was gone, Ink picked me up, only to slam me down onto the ground; he held me down tightly, deciding to speak as I let the tears fall from my eyesockets.

"Now, Dusty." Ink sighed, tightening his grip on my wrists. "I tried to let you accept me on your own, but it seems that you simply need more persuasion. As you know, I have no need for rest; I only sleep because I enjoy it. In light of that, I can quite literally torture you for all of eternity..and I will. When the next guard comes into this room, I will have him cancel everything on my schedule until further notice, because I am not going to leave this room until you call me, 'dad'; you should prepare for some intense torture, Dusty, because I will not hold back this time. Remember, Dusty; you can stop everything by saying that one simple word."

He tortured me. From hitting me as hard as he could to slowly tracing every crack he created, he tortured me. He cut several of my bones in half only to crack them more, and he threw me against every wall of his room, intending to cause me pain. He never muffled me; he wanted me to say that word, but I wouldn't! I wouldn't give in..I couldn't give in! He no longer force-fed me his paint; he threw me into a container of it and gave me the choice to drink it all or call him by the title he so desperately wanted. I chose to drink. He refused to feed me, although I didn't think I would have eaten anyway; his desires sickened me, and I didn't want to be related to him in that way! I didn't want to..I couldn't take it..

"Come on, Dusty!" Ink traced over some new cracks on my sternum. "It's only one simple word. Say it, and all this pain will go away!"

I didn't say it; Ink growled.

He brought his fist down on my sternum, breaking the fragile bone in two and making me scream in pain. "Dusty, what will it take to force you to accept me?! I've already broken you several times, and still, you resist me! What is wrong with you?! This is the first time I've ever tried to be kind to you, and I get rejected?! Maybe I just shouldn't try.."

Ink sighed, lying down on the ground next to me and weeping.

"Do you enjoy watching me fail?" He asked. "Perhaps you just want to remain my toy, and nothing else..is that it? What do you want from me?!"

"..I-I want.." I couldn't believe that I was doing this, but it was better than breaking down somewhere along the line..I was too close to that already. "M-my brother's s-safety.."

Ink looked at me with tears in his eyesockets and a smile. "I won't lay a finger on him unless he attacks first."

"F-fine.."

"What do you call me?"

"P-papa. I-I can't call you d-dad.."

"Fair enough."

Ink opened a portal beneath me, allowing my shattered body to fall through after he stabbed me through the soul with his paintbrush. A second later, I was uninjured, sitting next to Ink on the floor; I hoped I wouldn't regret my decision.

"So, with this new development, you are no longer my toy." Ink smirked, wrapping an arm around me to pull me closer. "From now on, you are my son, and I will treat you as such. No more torture sessions, and no more manipulation; I think I'll like this better."

"You won't..get another toy..w-will you?" I hoped he wouldn't.

"No, Dusty, no more toys..unless you want one, but I'd doubt that for right now. You will be regarded as my son and heir, although I don't expect to be dying anytime soon - or ever, really. You will eternally be ten years old, and every birthday will be your tenth birthday. I expect to hear my title of relation at least once a day, although I won't punish you if you genuinely forget. All right, Dusty?"

"A-all right..Papa."

So life continued. True to his word, Ink didn't hurt me unprovoked; the punishments I received now were much easier to take than torture. I made sure to refer to him by his new title once a day, despite the fact that I didn't enjoy the concept; I had no choice anymore. As for life in general, my living standard improved greatly. Ink gave me a bed - a real bed! - and allowed the the freedom to wander as I pleased, no longer confining me to his room. I was able to visit my friends more often, and the high ranks couldn't touch me anymore! Of course, that didn't stop them from trying, but Ink ensured that there was a severe punishment for anyone who dared to harm his "heir." Ink treated me as an actual child, even sending me to his form of a school, which took up one hour of my weekdays and was fairly straightforward (do the math, then go home and read a book). As the years passed, I began to..accept it. I liked having Ink as my papa..I didn't know why. Perhaps it was the fact that he didn't harm my body or my mind. Maybe it was because he was never rude to me. I just didn't know; all I knew was that Ink was my papa, and I enjoyed being his son. It was a Saturday today, and we had just woken up; I still slept in his room, but I didn't mind it that much anymore, since I no longer slept on the floor.

"Good morning, Dusty!" Papa hugged me as I woke up.

"Good morning, Papa!" I hugged him back tightly, giggling. "I love you!"

"Wh-what..?" Papa seemed surprised by something.

"I..love you..? Is something wrong, Papa?"

"No.." Papa looked down and smiled at me. "I love you, too, son. Do you want to do something together? I have the day off!"

"Really?" I was happy that my papa got days off! "Can we play with the high ranks?"

"Dusty, your proposal is cruel and childish." Papa chuckled. "I love it! Get changed first, and I'll get into my position!"

"Okay, Papa!"

I crawled out of my bed as Papa left the room, and I made my way over to my dresser, where I changed out of my pajamas and into my day clothes; Papa had made sure that I had clothes for every occasion, such as sleeping! I didn't know why I needed special clothes for sleeping, but they were comfortable, in any case! When I was dressed, I ran to the door and made my way down to the guard lounge, where most of the high ranks would be waking up by now! I opened the door stealthily, making sure that nobody saw me as I carefully entered the room; not all of the high ranks liked me, and they would hurt me if they even saw me without Papa around..they weren't very nice. Once, a group of them had taken me out of our room in the middle of the night to beat me outside; Papa couldn't hear my screams. When the morning came, he was very angry, since a group of low ranks had found me and brought me back inside; I had suffered a lot of broken bones that day, but Papa had punished the high ranks severely for hurting me! I hid immediately upon making it inside the room, and I-

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" A high rank had lifted me up by my hood; I apparently wasn't very stealthy.. "A little kid, how sweet. What are you doing here, buddy?"

"I-I wanted to p-p-play.." I stuttered.

"Well, I'm down for games; are you guys good with playing around?" The high rank looked to his friends, who nodded. "Then let's play!"

"W-wait, wh-what are you-" I struggled in vain when a piece of cloth was used to muffle me; that..wasn't part of the game..how was Papa supposed to rescue me if I couldn't scream?!

To further limit my ability to scream for help, the first high rank grabbed a large pillow from a bed and put it on the ground before pushing me down and forcing my skull into it; I could only struggle as I heard the high rank's friends prepare to hurt me..I wanted Papa! When the high ranks began to break my bones, my screams were effectively canceled out by the safeguards, making it so I could barely hear myself! Papa would never hear me! This wasn't part of the game! The game was to scream before the high ranks hurt me and watch Papa scold them! Some of my friends tried to stop the mean ones, but they couldn't..they weren't strong enough. After twenty minutes of pure pain, the door was kicked open - the high ranks had locked it to prevent Papa from getting in - and the high ranks who had hurt me were lifted into the air violently. Papa soon realized that I couldn't move, running over to me concernedly. He turned me over, causing me to wince, before untying the cloth that had been tied around my skull and hugging me softly. He shushed me as I wept, and he picked me up carefully, trying not to harm me any more than I had already been; he made the high ranks who had hurt me follow us as he carried me down the hallways..they were going to be in a lot of trouble.

"Shh, Dusty, it's okay." Papa comforted me as I lay in a hospital bed, with doctors examining my bones. "You're going to be all right, right?"

"R-right.." I couldn't nod; everything hurt.

"I'm going to put these miscreants in a cell until you get better, and then, when you can move, you can watch me punish them, okay, Dusty?"

"O-okay.."

"I love you, Dusty."

"I-I love y-you, too, P-Papa.."

I spent a few days in the hospital. My friends visited me while I couldn't move, and a lot of them brought games to play with me; Papa also played some, and he was really good at them! While I couldn't move my arms, Papa moved my pieces and things for me; I loved him. One morning, I found that my arms and legs had healed, and I could move again! I giggled happily when Papa came in, hugging him tightly; he immediately hugged me back and asked if he should punish the cruel high ranks now, receiving an affirmative. I walked behind Papa quickly as he led me to the dungeon, where the mean guards who had hurt me were imprisoned. I didn't necessarily like the dungeon, since it was scary, but I knew that Papa wouldn't let anyone hurt me. When we reached the cell with the meanies, Papa entered it, preparing his paintbrush to hurt someone; I sat down to watch. Watching Papa punish people was very entertaining, since he made it look good while also dealing the most damage possible! I smiled and laughed as I watched the punishment, which lasted for several hours; Papa was very angry that these high ranks had hurt me, and it showed. When Papa was finished punishing them, he took me to our room and cuddled with me.

"Don't ever leave me, Dusty." Papa didn't like the idea of my leaving him, and I didn't, either.

"I won't, Papa." I assured, cuddling him more.

I loved my Papa.

~~~~~

"Visit"

This short was requested by loseafy!

Classification: fluff.

Warnings: none.

Canonicity: not canon.

~~~~~

I was sleeping. I enjoyed sleeping, especially when it meant that I didn't have to see Ink for a while; sleep had always been the one realm where I was safe, free to do as I pleased! But not tonight. Tonight, I found myself - yes, myself, as in, my body - standing in a black void, with only a sofa as far as I could see. Hesitantly, I decided to sit on the sofa, oblivious to whatever types of tricks could have been used on me in this state. Perhaps this was my mind's way of telling me to get some much-needed rest? I didn't know. Suddenly, four figures appeared in the void with me, and I began to tear up at the sight of them; four skeletons had appeared, and I knew them well! I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I wanted this moment to last forever.

"Heya, Dusty." Killer - Killer! - sat beside me. "How've ya been doin'?"

"I-I-I'm fine!" I suddenly found my voice, attempting to hug all of them at once; if they were mere figments of my imagination, I would take back everything bad I ever said about my imagination! It was amazing! "Y-you d-died.."

"We know, Dust." Nightmare sighed. "We can't stay in this realm for long, but we couldn't help but notice your suffering..we wanted to offer some reassurance."

"H-how did you get here?"

"We..made a lot of deals."

"Will you be okay..?"

"Yes, we'll be fine; they weren't bad deals. For now, let's just focus on you."

"I missed you!" I savored the touch of each of my fallen family members.

"We missed ya too, Dusty." Horror smiled softly. "It ain't fun seein' ya suffer."

"There are some who would say otherwise.."

"Well, they're jerks!" Killer shrugged; that made me giggle.

"Y-you're a good p-person, Dust, and we l-love you." Cross hugged me tighter. "D-don't be sad, p-please?"

"Yeah, be happy!" Killer exclaimed, putting his arms up in the air. "And I really like that doll Error made for ya; we're goin' to be able to see him next!"

"You would like it the most." Nightmare chuckled.

"It's me! How could I not like it?"

"Fair enough." Nightmare looked at a watch that was on his wrist. "We really don't have that much time..is there anything important you'd like to say?"

"I love you.." I hugged them all as best I could. "D-do you know how Paps is doing?"

"He's trying to save ya, no matter what Ink says!" Killer assured. "He loves ya."

"Thank you.."

"Sure thing, Dusty."

"Before we go, we each have something to say to you." Nightmare announced; they must have put a lot of thought into this visit. "I urge you to stay strong, no matter what tasks or trials are placed in front of you; we'll be watching. If you ever need strength, know that we'll be with you through it all. I love you, Dust."

"Yeah, Dusty, we'll be lookin' out for ya and rootin' for the good side; I love ya like a brother, and I want to tell ya that there's nothin' ya can't do!" Killer's encouragement helped me.

"I migh' not be all tha' good 'ith words, but I love ya." Horror's encouragement was conveyed through his strong hug.

"I-Ink can hurt your body r-really bad, Dust, b-but he can't h-hurt you." Cross stated. "R-remember that pain i-is temporary; wh-when you're rescued, th-this will all just f-feel like a bad dream. I-I love you, Dust."

"I-I love you guys, too.." I hugged them as tightly as I possibly could.

I wept silently as their figures disappeared, and the black void cleared quickly.

"Good morning, Dusty!"

~~~~~

"Immortality"

Classification: neither..maybe a bit of angst.

Warnings: hints at Ink's suicidal nature.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink was immortal. That was what he told people, and that was what he believed..but one day, I decided to ask what 'immortal' truly meant.

"Ink?" I approached his bed, being pulled up onto it for Ink to rub my skull.

"Yes, Dusty?" Ink responded, moving to the side a bit to allow me some room.

"What does immortal mean?"

"Unable to die..? Don't you know that?"

"Yes, but..what if someone cuts you up into tiny pieces and scatters them across several multiverses?"

"I'd reform, if given enough time, or I would just take a different form."

"What if someone threw you into a volcano?"

"I'd teleport out."

"With lavaproof magic suppressors?"

"I'd burn up and wait for my residue to piece itself back together."

"How long would that take?"

"It would depend on how long it takes for my residue to combine, but I'd say at most five years."

"What if your residue is destroyed?"

"I'd take a new form."

"What form?"

"Probably something similar to my current one."

"What if that's destroyed?"

"I would repeat the process."

"What if you can't take another form?"

"...I don't like to talk about that." Ink seemed uncomfortable with that subject, but I wasn't going to stop my questioning so soon!

"Why not?"

"Because, Dusty, someone could be listening."

"I am listening..?" I thought that was obvious.

"I mean someone else, Dusty."

"Can you whisper it to me?"

"..I suppose. Come closer, Dusty."

I leaned in to hear Ink's whisper, and what I heard was the most hilarious thing ever! I couldn't help my giggling!

"It's not funny, Dusty!" Ink huffed.

"Y-yes, it i-is!" I tried to stop giggling to spare Ink's dignity, but being reborn as a baby sounded silly!

"Lots of immortals have done it!" Ink stopped rubbing my skull; I stopped giggling immediately, and he continued.

"What if no new babies are born?"

"Dusty, it goes for every multiverse ever; babies will be born!"

"So you'd have a chance to end up somewhere that's not here?"

"In theory, yes, but I'd have a likelier chance to be reborn here, since this is my homeworld."

"What if all the multiverses stop having babies?"

"Then..I'd be reformed in some other way; I just can't die, Dusty!"

"What if you wanted to die?"

Ink paused, looking down at me. He proceeded to burst into tears, but I didn't know why; perhaps it had been something I said? I didn't know.

"Are you okay?" I wondered, ignoring the fact that Ink was squeezing me too hard.

"I-I'm fine, D-Dusty!" Ink was still crying..I never knew why.

It was probably just an immortal thing.

~~~~~

"Crying"

Classification: smol angst.

Warnings: violence, mean Ink, sad Dusty.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

I was crying. Ink's treatment of me had made me fragile, and even one small word could hurt me in ways that it never would have hurt me in before! Ink wasn't good with understanding emotions. All he understood of emotions was how to receive them and what they felt like; he didn't know how to console anyone, even if he was truly trying. Or maybe he did, and he just didn't want to..

"Dusty, shut up!" Ink growled, squinting at the report that a high rank had just brought in. "I'm trying to focus!"

I couldn't stop; I hugged my Hope tightly. After a minute, Ink threw the report down on his bed and turned to face me.

"What do you want, Dusty?" Ink didn't understand that I was crying because the high rank had glared at me harshly. "Do you want peace? So do I, so be quiet!"

Ink's yelling didn't help my crying to stop; rather, it made it louder. Ink groaned, kneeling down beside me, only to smack me in the face harshly.

"Now shut up!" Ink commanded; his actions only made my crying worse.

He yelled in frustration, slapping me again, with the same results. He attempted this until I was almost certain that my face would bruise, which made me cry even harder! When he acknowledged the fact that hitting me wouldn't stop my crying, he scoffed and picked me up as one would an unwanted toy, holding me just above the ground and swinging me by my wrist; sometimes, I didn't like how tall Ink was compared to me. He took me to the guard lounge, where he set me on a table in front of the swapped Sans, who was confused - to say the least - when a crying Dust was set before him.

"Make him stop crying!" Ink ordered. "I've tried everything!"

"What..did you try?" The swapped Sans was hesitant.

"I smacked him around a few times; the little idiot deserved it."

"..You don't hit someone to make them stop crying..you have to be gentle." The swapped Sans pulled me into a hug.

"I don't know the meaning of the word; he's just crying to get some attention - not that he doesn't already get enough of it."

"Next time he cries, try hugging him? He's already calmed down.."

"Don't tell me how to control my toy."

"Yes, Sir.."

"Now give him to me; you've done your job well."

"Have a nice evening, Sir.." The swapped Sans handed me over to Ink, who put me under his arm this time, holding me like one would a suitcase..

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Ink left the guard lounge with me in tow, setting me on the floor when we returned to his room and continuing with his work. I had nothing to do now, since I wasn't crying, which meant that I could basically do whatever I wanted..Ink wasn't big on rules. With my newfound freedom, I decided to-

I decided to stub my toe, apparently. It seemed as if we would be going to the guard lounge again, after Ink slapped me a few more times, since..

I was crying.

~~~~~

"Induction"

Classification: angst.

Warnings: violence.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink couldn't visit every universe that was conquered. Sure, he visited a lot, but more were left without his traces, and the judges of those unlucky universes, instead of being presented to Ink as a prize of some hunt, were immediately transferred to the dungeon; there was a section made specially for them, and Ink had a ceremony to induct them into the army twice a year. Today was the day of the ceremony, and I was coming, as I did every ceremony. The judges who had already been turned into guards during the half-year attended as well, since it was essentially their formal orientation; they just got a head start on their peers. Every judge in the large group was given the choice to become a high or low rank, and nobody could predict how many would accept the offer; sometimes, there were five, and other times, there were none. The future high ranks were the first to be inducted, although, their initiation was a bit different, with a noticeable lack of pain. The rest of the judges had much pain inflicted upon them. At the moment, Ink and I were just arriving to the ceremony grounds (the place where everything seemed to be), and there seemed to be a group of about six hundred judges waiting to be turned into guards.

"Dusty, you're coming up here with me." Ink pulled me up the stairs to the stage, although I hated being up there..he knew that, and that was probably why he forced me to come.

I looked down at the judges with a frown as I sat down, leaning against the podium that Ink stood behind as he prepared to give a speech to the "new" arrivals. Many of them gave odd looks to me, specifically, probably wondering who I was and why the ruler of the multiverse was toting me around like a pet; Ink sometimes answered the silent questions, and sometimes, he did not..it seemed as if he would, this time.

"Greetings, judges." Ink quickly noticed that barely anyone was looking at him, but most of the judges were looking at me. "Ugh, that's just Dusty, my toy. Dusty, you're being distracting; get behind here and stop confusing the people."

I did as he said, crawling into my space under the podium; Ink had put a small one-way cabinet inside it to allow me to watch the proceedings of an event without distracting the audience with my, "annoying presence." Personally, I enjoyed the semi-solitude of the cabinet.

"With him out of the way, let's get on with important matters." Ink smirked. "Out of the lot of you, one judge has chosen to join me willingly; come up here, whoever you are."

A judge walked up to the stage with a smile, stopping in front of Ink. The initiation for high ranks was quite simple; he simply pledged his full allegiance to Ink and got to sit down next to the other high ranks. As for the new low ranks..they weren't so lucky..

"Raise the cage." Ink ordered, resulting in several large metal spikes rising up out of the ground, trapping the judges in a cramped makeshift cage; the few who didn't become trapped were instantly grabbed by several low ranks and forced up to the stage on their knees..I didn't enjoy watching the next part. "Ah, what a beautiful day.."

Ink opened several code bars, one in front of each prisoner, and he started from the right, changing each's code one by one until he reached the other side; every judge present had been through agony, and some were still screaming two minutes after he was finished. Then the spikes lowered. Ink ordered that they be brought up again, but this time, the cage was more constricted, and not all of the judges could fit inside. The ones who didn't fit were taken up to the stage. By this point, most groups realized that being inside the cage was a good thing, and not everyone was above sacrificing another's freedom to stay inside. Some were willing to sacrifice themselves for the others, or they just wanted to get the process over with..but not everyone knew that the process wasn't unavoidable. Ink always gave chances; he didn't put people into situations they couldn't escape if they put their minds to it. If I had a good plan, I could escape; there were several secret passageways from the cells in the dungeon that allowed freedom; low ranks could escape Ink's cruelty for a price, although it was their brother's life. As with everything else, Ink offered a hidden chance for freedom..and the chance was in the cage.

As the spikes constricted more, fewer judges were able to fit. It eventually became so small that nobody could fit, and that was when most people simply gave up. Sometimes, a judge tried to make it, but that one was usually crushed to death by the spikes. The way to escape was simple: jump onto a spike while it was coming up. It was available to do at any time, but barely anyone took the chance; some judges were impaled by their choice. If someone managed to survive the jump, they would be sent through a portal to a different universe, and any magic suppressors would be nullfied. But hardly anyone knew to do that. And so, after a few hours, each and every one of the judges that had been brought here had been forcefully inducted into Ink's army, and none had escaped. When the ceremony was over, Ink pulled me out of my cabinet, and he brought me back to his room, where he decided that a torture session was in order.

I didn't like Ink's methods.

~~~~~

"Video Games"

Classification: more on the fluff side.

Warnings: mentions of virtual death, bullying.

Canonicity: not canon.

~~~~~

If Ink wasn't a ruthless dictator with a thirst for blood, he probably would have been considered normal, if not a bit odd. He enjoyed the things from before, and he showed it by setting up a gaming platform for the high ranks to play video games on..I didn't see how that made his empire stronger; it likely didn't. As for himself, he also played on it when nothing else seemed fun, or when he wanted to annihilate someone; he was good at all sorts of games, and video games were no exception. I, on the other hand, was..a "noob," as the high ranks called it. I was never much for technology. I remembered the day Ink decided to intoduce me to his world of virtual games, and I had found it..interesting? It had been during the twenty-fourth year of my time as Ink's toy, and he had set up the platform only a week earlier. I recalled my confusion regarding the fact that a laptop had been set in front of me as I had been playing with my Hope.

"Dusty, you're gonna love this!" Ink had his own laptop as he turned on the one in front of me. "You know how there used to be tons of video games in the past?"

I nodded slowly, sitting up.

"Well, I made my own outlet for them!" Ink opened an application on the laptop titled, 'InkGames.' "It helps that I'm a coding master, too! Just look at it!"

"What..is it?" I hesitantly asked.

"Oh, Dusty, it's a computer! I wanna play some games, and you're gonna help me win! Now make an account, quickly!"

I sighed, maneuvering the mouse to the "Sign Up" button and being presented with a bunch of boxes, one of which asked for my serial number? I..wasn't a guard..I didn't have a serial number. I decided to avoid that box, typing in my name (Dusty), age (Ink told me to type ten), and other random personal information. When I reached the "select username" button, Ink leaned over and typed in, "DustBunny," although I didn't know why. Everything else was fairly straightforward until I reached the dreaded serial number box, at which point, I tapped on Ink's shoulder and shrugged.

"Oh, I forgot about that.." Ink hummed in thought before typing something on his laptop. "Let me just put you in as zero, since that's your value, anyway."

With that, I had created a meaningless account, and Ink was happy. For a second. Until he decided that he wanted me to play a game with him. He didn't take long to make me his virtual "friend," and soon, we were joining a game server, and Ink put some headphones on each of us so we could hear the other players, apparently.

"Wh-what are we doing?" I stared at the virtual rendition of myself fearfully.

"We're playing a murder mystery game, Dusty!" Ink giggled. "We've got to wait for this round to end!"

"Are we gonna die?"

"Dusty..it's a game; it's not real. Haven't you ever played a video game before?"

"N-no.."

Ink looked at me incredulously. "You poor, poor creature..I'll be your guide into this world of wonders. First thing's first: you can move using the arrow keys here.." Ink pointed to some keys. "Or these letters here." Ink pointed to some others, moving his pointer finger as he went along. "Spacebar to jump, and that's the basics. When we get into the game, you'll either be the good guy, the bad guy, or a nameless random. If you're the good guy, you get a gun, and you have to try to shoot the bad guy by left clicking. If you're the bad guy, you get a knife, and you can click to stab the randoms or click and hold to throw your knife - don't worry, it'll come back to you in a few seconds. If you're the bad guy and you find the good guy, kill him before he kills you. If you're a nameless random, you can either guide the good guy to the bad guy to hope he wins, and if he dies, you can pick up his gun and take his place, or you can hide and hope you live. Do you understand?"

"Uh.." I looked at the controls confusedly. "Why is it so complicated?"

"You'll get the hang of it. In the meantime, just remember that your goal is to stay alive."

"Okay.." I knew how to stay alive; that was one of my strengths!

We waited for the timer to run out on the screen, and I noticed that several people were appearing out of thin air while it did! I wondered how that worked..

"Who are they?" I questioned.

"High ranks who are also playing this game." Ink smirked. "They can't see us yet, since I have admin, being the creator of the game; when the round ends, I'll let them see us..you whould prepare for a lot of voices pretty soon, since when we appear, we'll be filtered directly into the chat."

I sighed at all the technical terms Ink was using..I wasn't cut out for technology. What in the world was "admin"? I decided not to think about it too much, instead preparing for whatever form of torture this would be. The "round" ended when the timer ran out, and several other beings came into view simultaneously..had they lived?

"Oh!" I jumped when I heard the voice of a high rank through my headphones..was that supposed to happen? "Uh, hello, Sir..what are you doing..here?"

"I didn't make the system just to not use it." Ink chuckled. "I'm not as old-school as you think."

"I-I'm afraid!" I whimpered.

"Dusty, it's voice chat; you're just hearing the high ranks."

"I don't l-like this.."

"Deal with it, Dusty."

"Aww, the little brat can't handle a simple game!" A high rank laughed through the headphones.

"I say we target him!" Another sounded as if he had painful fantasies.

"A-aren't there any nice games?" I was desperately hoping that Ink would allow me to leave this confusing nightmare.

"Not for you!" Ink giggled. "Come on, you'll get used to this! Give it a try!"

I whimpered as the game started, sending me to a different place..it reminded me of teleportation. In the middle of a screen lay some sort of spinner, which began to spin; when it ended, the game deemed me as a, "nameless random," just as Ink had said..now I just had to hide and stay alive? I could do that.

"Dusty, follow me." Ink ordered, resulting in my sighing.

I was lucky that I had been teleported next to Ink, otherwise, this would have been more difficult. I looked at Ink's "character," which had the title, "InkTheDictator," and I tapped the aforementioned arrow keys to follow his character with my own. As I slowly followed him, I noticed that both of our virtual selves were essentially replicas of our real selves, although there were a few differences. Ink's character had his multicolored eyelights, and it had his paint splotch on its cheek, but it also had a crown, and it had a cape, as well. As for mine, it didn't have dried paint staining its clothes, and it was significantly shorter than Ink's character, as I was in real life. My character also sported bunny ears that were popping out of its hood, for some reason. I eventually got the hang of maneuvering my character, and I was able to keep up with Ink's fast-paced movements. Apparently, he was also a nameless random, and he was looking for the good guy instead of hiding, as I wanted to. We walked around aimlessly for a few minutes, finding no other signs of life; perhaps we were the only ones left? I tried to make my character stick close to Ink's, just in case, as we moved through the virtual building.

"Dusty, get the gun!" Ink commanded, leading me over to a floating revolver that hovered above a dead body; I didn't like this, but I picked up the weapon nonetheless and continued following Ink, holding the weapon out as Ink had suggested, in case I didn't have enough time to press a number button before I had to shoot someone.

I didn't like this game; it was too cruel for me. As Ink and I traversed the hallways, it didn't take long for us to meet up with another life form, but this was the "bad guy" Ink had spoken of earlier, and he encouraged me to shoot..but I had forgotten how to shoot. I screamed in fear as the bad guy's knife killed my virtual character, and I cried when it was dead..but then it came back? It came back completely unharmed, in the first place Ink and I had been in! My virtual character wasn't hurt! Now that was a miracle; it had been cut to ribbons a second ago, but now it was perfectly fine! Ink scolded me for forgetting how to shoot, but he had picked up the revolver and killed the bad guy, which meant that everything was okay.

Over the years, Ink had taught me how to play many games, and I eventually understood his gaming terms, despite the fact that they had confounded me in the beginning. Nowadays, I could competently play several games that Ink liked, including these things called, "RPGs." They were basically killing everyone in sight to become more powerful; they reminded me of the kid's genocide runs..I didn't enjoy being reminded of those. Today, we were playing one of those games, one which Ink and I had played for quite a while now, and we were skilled at it.

"Hey, Dusty, let's fight the next boss!" Ink's character began to run to the highest leveled area we had reached so far, and I was obliged to follow him.

"Okay." I nodded, following him.

"Dusty, I need, like, ten more pvp kills; let me kill you!"

"Okay."

I watched as Ink's character ripped mine to shreds several times; he had chosen the most graphic weapon in the game, and it showed. When he was ready, we fought whatever beast he had thought of while coding this particular game, and we won, of course; Ink refused to lose.

I still didn't know how I felt about video games.

~~~~~

"Cruelty"

Classification: angsty angst.

Warnings: torture, angry Ink, torture, torture, and torture.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

I was Ink's toy. That could have been translated into many different ways, and most, if not all, of them were applicable to my circumstances. I was his toy in the sense that I did what he wanted when he wanted, under threat of punishment. I was his toy in the sense that he played with me. I was his toy in the sense that he used me as he wished. I was his toy in the sense that he abused me. I was his toy in the sense that he owned me. He was my master; I was his toy. If he didn't want me around, he would tell me to go away, and I would do so. If he wanted to break my arm, he had every right to do so. If he wanted to make me cry, he could. If he wanted me to hurt someone, I would be forced to do it. If he wanted to kill me, he did so. If he wanted to find out what made me tick, or wanted to uncover my darkest secrets, he would. That was what he wanted today: to find some secrets. The thing was..that I didn't have any more secrets. Ink didn't believe me. I had told him everything I could think of, from hiding spots I had as a child to what flavors of nice cream I preferred! I couldn't find anything else to tell him! He knew everything about me..possibly more than I did. Nevertheless, he had strapped me down to a table, and he wanted to know something..

"Dusty, you must have something locked away inside that small skull of yours." Ink fingered the instruments of torture that lay on the counter next to the table.

"I-I-I don't!" I didn't want to be hurt..

"Perhaps you know something you shouldn't..is that the case?"

"N-n-no! I don't kn-know anything!"

"Why do you lie, Dusty?"

"I-I'm not lying.."

"Dusty, when did I say that you could contradict me?"

"N-never.."

"So why did you?"

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Sorry won't cut it, Dusty." Ink picked up a blow dryer and plugged it in. "So why did you?"

"I-I.." I began to cry as my soul was pulled out of my body. "I didn't mean to! P-please forgive me!"

"No, Dusty.." Ink held the blow dryer against my soul. "This offense will be paid for with your screams."

"N-no, no, no! P-please, I-agh!"

I screamed as my soul succumbed to the heat of the device. Ink was very..creative. He didn't simply use blades and paints..he used things that the average person would have passed over with but a glance..he knew that a blow dryer produced heat, and he knew that I, specifically, was sensitive to drastic changes in temperature. With a bit of adjusting, he had turned a blow dryer into a torture device, and it was effective..I had been burned in more places than just my soul, but I was the most sensitive there..and my eyelights, but I believed that Ink wasn't going to torture me in that way today..or, at least, I hoped he wouldn't. This torture made my soul believe that I was in a scalding hot environment, and it made me sweat rapidly as a result; I was usually soaked by the end of it. After ten minutes of what Ink liked to call the "heat treatment," he placed the torture device aside and looked at me as I struggled to stop crying, ultimately failing as my tears mixed in with the liquid magic that had been forced out of my body...yes, I sweated magic.

"That was fun, wasn't it, Dusty?" Ink was cruel, but he wanted an answer.

"Y..y-ye-es.." I wept, hoping he would leave off the torture for today.

"You know, you still haven't told me why you contradicted me." Ink's words terrified me as he ran his phalanges over my now-wet jacket. "Will you?"

"I-I-I-I.." I couldn't speak coherently, even with my determination pushing me to; I was already burnt out, with the sudden release of magic weighing heavily on my energy levels.

"I see.." Ink ignored my whimpers as he placed the blow dryer back on the counter, reaching this time for what most would see as a simple bowl of nice cream..not Ink; to Ink, this was just another torture device, the exact opposite of the blow dryer, to be exact. "It seems we will just have to continue."

"N-n-no.."

I sobbed fearfully as Ink dipped my soul into what could have once been perceived as a snack..a dessert..it was cold. I shivered as my soul was submerged in it; the liquid magic only served to worsen my predicament. My soul was more susceptible to temperature than most, and Ink knew that. The torture methods he used on me were used on many prisoners, but he noted that they sometimes affected me more than they did others, and he took full advantage. When skeletons were exposed to extreme temperature, their bodies did one of two things: they either tried to cancel out the temperature by finding the opposite degree, or they tried to match it. Mine always tried to match, much to my pain; matching to coldness when I was wet resulted in the liquid's freezing! Ink liked that. He enjoyed watching the liquid magic that had previously soaked my clothes freeze to my bones, only lowering my temperature more. After an hour of Ink's enjoyment, he peeled the solid magic off my bones - it hurt! - and allowed me a minute's rest to get my body temperature back to normal. When there was no longer an excess of heat or cold, he faced me once again.

"So, Dusty, are you ready to talk?" He wondered; by this time, I had forgotten what had warranted my punishment..had I done something wrong?

"Hm..?" I looked at him tiredly, silently begging for sleep.

"..You forgot, didn't you? You always forget!" Ink slapped me. "How can I have fun when you always ruin it by forgetting what you did?! You stupid toy!" Ink growled, reaching for another torture device. "Well, this will ensure that you pay either way."

"M-m-mercy.." I pleaded upon seeing what Ink had taken from the pile.

"No, Dusty; disobedient toys who forget their place deserve no mercy. Show me your teeth, Dusty."

"P-please-" I was cut off by Ink's yelling.

"Show me!" Ink demanded. "Who is your master?!"

"Y-you.."

"Who is your owner?!"

"You.."

"Who do you obey?"

"You!" I sobbed.

"Now show me your teeth."

I felt the tears streaming from my eyesockets as I bared my teeth, hoping Ink would give me some tidbit of mercy..but I didn't think he would. I flinched when I heard Ink start the drill, and I screamed when he drove it into one of my teeth..I must have been very disobedient for him to do this. I struggled so much that he had to use his other hand to keep my skull in one place as he tore my teeth to tiny bits with his drill; the drill was only used when he was very angry, as it could cut through bone easily. When he was done mangling my teeth, he moved on to my skull, making holes wherever he desired and disfiguring me however he pleased; by the time it was over, he had used his drill on every bone he could get to. At some point, my clothes had been thrown to the side to avoid having them damaged..the only nice thing Ink did during torture sessions, really. When Ink was finished, he took a step back to admire his work; I wanted sleep. I closed my eyesockets and decided to fall asleep before Ink could stop me; I sometimes got away with that, and this was one of those times, thankfully. When I woke up, I found that Ink had decided to use me as a teddy bear tonight..I just went back to sleep.

Torture was tiring.

~~~~~

"School"

This takes place in the "Papa" timeline.

Classification: angst with small fluff.

Warnings: violence, manipulation, sad Dusty.

Canonicity: alternate timeline.

~~~~~

I went to school. In the beginning, school was easier than it was going to be now, since I was the only student..then Papa realized that people had children. The guards in the army were under his full control, and that extended to their young ones; Papa didn't want the children to grow up without an education, and the easiest way to fix that problem was to change the school I went to a little bit. Instead of being the only student and just having a worksheet every day, today, there would be other students and a real teacher! Papa had made sure that this teacher was a smart one, since they would have to teach children that were sometimes older than others. This was going to be fun, too, since Papa was going to make it a secret that he was my Papa, because he didn't want anyone to treat me differently because my Papa was the ruler of the world! I was excited for school today, since this was going to be the first day with the new school, and Papa said that it would take more than only one hour! He said it was going to take at least six, and I would get homework! I had always wanted to go to a real school, and today, I was going to! I woke up this morning to the kind voice of my Papa, just like every morning!

"Wake up, Dusty." Papa always made sure to wake me quietly. "It's time for school!"

I opened my eyesockets slowly, yawning as I held my Hope close; I always slept with my Hope! When I had laid in bed for thirty more seconds, I sat up and walked over to my dresser after hugging Papa. I decided to wear something special today, and I chose my favorite jacket! Sure, it was a bit dusty, but that was fine; I liked it better that way, anyway! When I was dressed, Papa hugged me once more and gave me the directions to my new school room, which wasn't far from our room at all! I left the bedroom quickly, wanting to see the wonders of my new school! It wasn't every day I got to change up my schedule, and I was excited to do so today! I made it to the schoolroom in only a couple minutes, and when I entered, it was like a dream! The room was very colorful, and there were other children there! I didn't see other children often, since they were usually either sent to their home universes or kept hidden inside the compound; this was the most I had seen at one time! I looked around the desks that were scattered around the room, soon finding one that had my name on it; almost every desk had a name for identification purposes, and I took mine happily! Then..I waited.

The teacher didn't come for another ten minutes after I arrived, but that was fine, since I came early! As the minutes passed, more and more children arrived, and eventually, every desk with a name had been filled, and even a few without names! Then the teacher arrived. She was a Toriel, since Toriels were known for being good teachers, and she seemed happy to be here! I watched as she sat down at the large desk in the front of the room which faced the rest of us, and I waited to begin the lessons that I had been looking forward to all month! After a moment, she spoke.

"Good morning, class." She greeted, receiving several returns. "You may call me Mrs. Toriel, and I will be the instructor for this class. Before we begin, it will be good to go over some rules, since most of you have likely never been in a classroom. If you have a question or an answer to a problem, raise your hand and wait to be called on before speaking."

She continued to list several rules for the classroom, and I listened carefully; I didn't want to accidentally break a rule! After the rules, she had a roll call, and everyone on her list was present! She also got the names of the extra students who had sat at the unmarked desks. After a few more things, she began to teach! She began with some addition, which was quite easy for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless! I learned many things during the few hours in which she taught, and I enjoyed it all! About noon, she announced that it was time for a break known as "recess," and I was excited to meet my classmates! I decided to watch everyone else for a bit while I played with my Hope to see who was eager to meet others as well, since I didn't want to speak to someone who wasn't ready to make friends yet; that would have been rude, and I might have discouraged them from ever making friends! I found that a group of about five students were smiling and talking, and I figured that they would be good to speak to first, since they didn't seem afraid of speaking to others! I hugged my Hope tightly as I approached the possible soon-to-be friends.

"Hello!" I smiled, hoping to make a good first impression. "My name's Dusty, what's yours?"

"Who let the baby in here?" One of them asked..well, I was a bit short.

"I'm ten!" I corrected kindly.

"Hi, ten, we don't like you, go away." Another smiled while saying that..that wasn't very nice..

"O-oh.." I frowned; maybe this was just a group of people who were too afraid of having friends, but they tried to hide it by smiling and talking? "I-I'm sorry.."

"Just get out of our sight, pipsqueak." The first scoffed at me..that wasn't nice at all..

"I..guess you don't want to be friends?"

"Friends? With you? Oh, gosh, you're hilarious! Why in the world would anyone want to be friends with a shortstack like you?"

"Wh-what?" I didn't want to cry..but I didn't think I had a choice!

"Do everyone a favor and just go away."

I wept as I ran back to my desk; I didn't like this anymore..it was scary! I curled up under the desk and cried for a few minutes, barely noticing when the teacher sat down beside me.

"Are you all right, child?" She inquired.

"N-no.." I whimpered.

"What's the matter?"

"N-nobody wants to be my f-friend.."

"Did you really ask every person in the classroom?"

"W-well..n-no, but..th-they said nobody w-would.."

"Who is they?"

I looked over to the group that now resided in the corner of the room, still laughing and talking as if nothing had happened; the teacher sighed.

"Child, you simply picked the wrong group." The teacher placed a hand on my shoulder softly. "They are the children of the higher ranked guards; they were born seeing themselves as superior..their parents encourage it. It's no fault of yours that they don't want to befriend you."

"Th-they said I was t-too short.."

"Child, many children are short! As the years pass and you grow, perhaps you'll even be taller than they are one day!"

"I-I don't think so.." I hadn't grown even an inch in decades..

"Well, I'm sure that there are plenty of other people who would love to be your friends."

"R-really?"

"Really."

"Th-thank you.." I wiped my tears away.

"Of course, child."

"I..have a question.."

"Yes?"

"Why do they think they're better than everyone else?"

"Their parents are warriors, child; they want their children to be strong, so when the day comes that they are offered a place in the military, they will have the strength to accept the offer and serve well. It isn't their fault, really; if their children are forced to be low ranks, they would be injured more often..they just don't want to see their children hurt. Can you understand that?"

"Mhm..they want them to have happier lives, but in order to do that, they have to be meaner than everyone else?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"That's sad.."

"Yes, it is..but different people live differently. Don't let their words hurt you."

"..I want to be their friends and make them happy!"

The teacher smiled at my enthusiasm. "I don't know if that will work..they see anyone who isn't the child of someone important as simply.."

"Lesser?"

"Yes.."

"That's okay! I can pretend to be lesser if I can make them happy!"

"Well, I wish you luck with that, child, but I cannot protect you if they decide that they don't want you as a friend."

"That's okay! Thank you, Mrs. Toriel!"

"You're welcome, child."

With my newfound determination, I walked over to the group of children again and smiled.

"Hello again!" I grinned.

"Shorty, we already told you, we don't want you here." One of them rolled their eyes. "What are you doing back?"

"Mrs. Toriel said that you weren't against having friends, and I wanna be your friend!"

"Mrs. Toriel is a weird old lady! You shouldn't believe her!"

"That's not very nice to say.."

"Surprise, we don't care!" Another laughed.

"You should apologize.."

"Have you even heard a word we've been saying?" One chuckled. "We don't care about how others feel! We don't have to!"

"That's sad. If you want, I could care about how you feel!" I assumed that if they didn't care about others, it just meant that they didn't know how to care about themselves, therefore leaving them oblivious about others.

"You're a little twit, aren't ya?" One of them glared at me. "Would you like to know what we do to little twits?"

"Sure!" I wondered if they knew how to make friendship bracelets; I hoped 'twit' meant 'new best friend'!

"All right, then." He stood. "Just close your eyes!"

"Okay!" I did so, wondering if he- "Agh!"

I began to cry again when I realized that 'twit' did not mean what I had thought it meant! It meant something bad, and the other had hit me really hard! He had hit me so hard that I fell over! I hugged my Hope tightly as I cried, and the group of other children moved to a different spot in the classroom. I cried until the teacher announced the beginning of lunch, which was also a break period; I had more time. It appeared that simply saying hello to the group wasn't going to change how they felt about me; I had to try a different tactic, and that involved candy. I figured that if I had some candy, the group would value my words more, or at least listen for a few more seconds; it was a good thing that Papa had put some candy in my lunch! Papa knew that I liked candy, and he allowed me three pieces a day, if I was good! If I was super good, or if the day was an event of some kind, he sometimes raised my limit! Today was one of those days, apparently, as I found five pieces of candy in my lunch. I decided to eat the rest of my lunch first, though, since I didn't want to start crying again and miss it if this went awry. Papa had packed me a sandwich for lunch; he was so cool! When I finished, I put the candy in my pocket and approached the group for the third time.

"Hello!" I smiled, tilting my skull slightly at the looks of utter disbelief I received.

"Didn't we tell you to take a hike?" One scoffed, putting his food down.

"Uh, no?" I didn't remember their saying that. "Would you like to take a hike with me? My papa knows a really good hiking spot!"

"No, we do not want to do anything with you!" Another burst out, causing me to flinch.

"Aw, hey, guys, let's not be so rude to the little guy." Well, at least one of them seemed to not be so bad? "How about this, little guy? Two days from now, after school, our dads are taking us out to do a little training for when we grow up; you can come along, if you're brave enough!"

"I am, I am!" I jumped happily. "Can my papa come, too?"

"Well, if he doesn't gave too much on his schedule."

"Okay! I'll ask him! I'm sure he'd love to come! Thank you!"

"Sure, whatever, the only thing is that you have to limit your contact with us until then, all right?"

"Um..okay..can I tell you if my papa and I are going to come with you?"

"Sure, but that'll be all."

"Okay! I can't wait!"

That went well; I didn't even have to use my candy! The rest of the day went well, and we didn't get any homework, since it was only day one! When school ended, everyone was dismissed, and everyone went in different directions; I wanted to stay a bit later, though, since I wanted to give Mrs. Toriel a gift for helping me! When everyone else was gone, she saw that I had stayed behind, and she came to my desk curiously.

"Is everything all right, child?" She questioned.

"Uh-huh!" I nodded, reaching into my pocket. "I wanted to thank you for helping me earlier; without you, I wouldn't have had a chance of getting friends!"

"Well, you're welcome, dear; it's a teacher's job to make sure her students are happy!"

"And I wanna make you happy!" I pulled out my last piece of candy and offered it to her; I had eaten all but this one, and I wanted to give it to Mrs. Toriel, since she was very nice.

"Oh, child, I couldn't..I can't imagine what troubles your parents must have gone through to get you that.."

"It's okay! Please, take it! I'd be really sad if you didn't.."

"Well..all right..thank you, child.." Mrs. Toriel took the piece of candy and put it in her own pocket.

"Aren't you gonna eat it?" I hoped I hadn't made a mistake..

"Oh, no, dear; you see, I have children of my own, and I'm sure that they'd be happy to share this..thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome! Tell your children I said hi?"

"Of course."

With that, I left the classroom, and I made my way to my room, where I hoped Papa would be; I wanted to tell him everything about my day! When I got there, I..didn't find Papa..he must have been working. Well, I supposed that I would just have to find him! I was about to embark on my journey to find my papa when..he walked in! I hugged my papa happily, giggling as he spun around with me in his arms. He set me down on my bed, where he finally asked the question I had been hoping to hear.

"So, how was school?" He inquired.

"It was awesome!" I clapped. "I learned a lot of stuff, and I made some friends!"

"Oh? What are their names?"

"Uh..they didn't tell me, but I'm certain that I'll find out!"

"That's..odd."

"Yeah, but that's okay! The invited me to go with them on something they called, 'training,' and they said you could come, too! Will you?"

"Training?"

"The high ranks are their parents, I think, so they probably do that a lot! Can I go?"

"I suppose so." Papa nodded. "And I'll come too, but remember not to tell them who I am until they see me!"

"I won't, Papa!"

"Good. Now, what did you learn about?"

I told Papa about what I had learned in school that day, and we cuddled together to read a book afterwards. The next day, I told my new friends that Papa and I were going to join them, and they were a bit surprised, but they accepted it! That day passed quickly. Soon enough, school was finishing on the day of the event, and I walked up to the group that I had left alone a bit as my part of the deal. Now, it was time for the training thing. One of the students in the group opened a portal after everyone else had left, and we all went through it; Papa knew where we would be, since he knew everything! He also had complete access to the locations of all of the high ranks, and he had asked a few where they would be training their children. It appeared as if we had arrived before the high ranks, since nobody else was here in this apocalyptic wasteland of a training area.

"Why is it..burnt?" I couldn't see any life..everything was dead..

"We train here a lot; isn't it cool?" One looked at me expectantly.

"I..guess..?"

I didn't like this place..it was scary. After a few minutes of waiting, a few high ranks came out of a portal, and their faces all turned to smirks when they saw me..this wasn't good..

"Hey, Dad!" One of the children waved to the high ranks. "We got that new target!"

"Well, out of all the kids in that classroom, it just had to be him." An evil guard cackled, picking me up by my hood. "This is a coincidence.."

"Is there something wrong with him?" Another wondered.

"No, he's perfect. Small, quick, and scared; you kids picked a perfect target."

The evil guard threw me about thirty feet away from everyone else, and I instantly heard a blaster's charging..this wasn't good; this wasn't good at all! I whimpered as I felt a blaster's laser near me, and I rose to my feet to run as fast as possible away from here; it was times like these when I wished I could use my magic, but I couldn't, since that would hurt me. I just had to wait for Papa to arrive! He would save me from the cruel high ranks and their children! I just had to wait..which was easier said than done, since there were dozens of attacks hurtling toward me, and many of them ended up hitting their mark. I sobbed as I ran faster, despite the injuries I had endured so far. At one point, I tripped, and that was it for me; I was going to die, wasn't I?! I was going to die here! I curled up on the ground and sobbed, waiting for the pain to grow enough to kill me..but it didn't. At some point, it stopped, and I was picked up by familiar arms.

"Oh, Dusty.." Papa held me close. "You're gonna be okay."

Papa turned to the cruel high ranks and their children, who had hurt me badly; they seemed afraid - especially the children.

"So..what did I tell you about hurting my son?" Papa was angry..

"U-um..n-not to?" A mean guard stuttered.

"That's right. And..what did you just do?"

"H-hurt him.." An evil guard moved his child behind him in a desperate attempt to keep the young one safe.

"That's right. Luckily for you, I've decided to allow Dusty to choose your punishments; you'll all be held in the dungeon until he decides..and you'd better hope he heals quickly."

"Y-yes, Sir.." The high ranks bowed their heads and frowned.

So it was done. The high ranks and their children were kept in the dungeon until I recovered, and when I did, Papa and I visited them.

"So, Dusty, how would you like them to be punished for their mistreatment of you?" Papa questioned, in front of the high ranks.

"Uh.." I thought for a moment. "Can they help me get friends in school?"

"...No torture?" Papa raised an eyebrow (I still wasn't sure how he had them...or how Error had them, either).

"Nope." I shook my skull.

"..Not even one?"

"..." I shrugged. "Maybe the kids..they tricked me."

"Is it too late to say we're sorry?" The oldest child in the group didn't want to be tortured.

"Yes, it is." Papa answered for me.

So the children were tortured while their parents helped me get some friends at school, and when everything was over, I had lots of friends, and Papa cuddled me to sleep.

I had the best papa.

~~~~~

"Forget"

This short was requested by loseafy!

Classification: probably more angst.

Warnings: mention of violence.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

There were three things that I noticed when I woke up. One, my head and soul felt weird. Two, a skeleton I didn't know was looming over me. Three, I couldn't remember who I was..

"Dusty, that was stupid!" The unknown skeleton scoffed at me. "Now look, you've gone and cracked your skull open! What am I supposed to do if my right hand can't do his job properly?!"

"Uh.." I had no clue what this skeleton was talking about. "Who..are you?"

"..." The unknown skeleton picked me up suddenly, and he looked at my head closely; somehow, the action didn't cause pain..? "Darn it, Dusty; this is why we don't let you near people with bricks.."

"Um..what?"

"Nothing. Follow me."

"Uh..okay?"

The unknown skeleton grabbed my wrist and pulled me through some sort of portal, which led to somewhere bright; I assumed it was a medical facility, since there had apparently been bricks involved before I had woken up..or something? I was confused when the unknown skeleton whispered something to a person in a lab coat, but I was more confused about the fact that he hadn't put me down yet. After a bit of whispering, I was taken to what I believed to be a hospital room, and the first skeleton placed me down in a bed.

"Now, do you remember anything?" The one in the lab coat asked.

"No?" I gave a confused expression. "Should I? What happened to me..?"

"You were hit in the skull with a brick during a riot." The first shrugged.

"I was what?!" I believed that I had every reason to freak out, but I managed to only half-hyperventilate.

"Eh, you lost your memories, I guess; if the doctor can't fix you, I will."

"That..doesn't sound very..comforting.."

"Your opinion doesn't matter right now; doctor, what's your diagnosis?"

"Based on the circumstances, I would say that if he gets lots of bedrest and is not mentally strained, he should be fine.." The 'doctor' responded.

"Will he get his memories back?"

"I will need to run a few tests to determine that."

"Do so."

"Yes, Sir."

I didn't enjoy the tests; they felt weird. One of them involved an intense - very intense - evaluation of my soul, and my discomfort was immeasurable; thankfully, it was the worst one, and it still didn't hurt in the least. I would have guessed that I would have been in pain after taking a brick to the skull, but I felt just fine! When the tests were done, the doctor said that I would likely regain my memories in about a month, if not sooner, and if I didn't, he could help. Until I was able to remember, Ink (that was the first skeleton's name) was going to allow me to stay with him, which was very nice, in my opinion! And that was how it went..until I met someone..who felt..familiar. I approached the tall skeleton curiously, wondering if I had known him in the past; I had known many of the people I had met in the past. Since Ink wasn't here, I could simply..talk.

"What's your name?" I wondered.

"..Papyrus." He smiled softly at me.

"Did we..know eachother?"

"...Somewhat. You..did not like me very much."

"Why not?"

"I did something that you did not remember consenting to..and you ended up hating me for it."

"Why?"

"Someone told you to."

"That..sounds unfair; didn't I give you a second chance?"

"..No, you said I did not deserve one."

"I must have been very cruel back then..I almost don't want my memories back, if what you say is true."

"It matters not; you will soon regain your memories, and you will go back to hating me."

"..Perhaps I will remember this, and I will offer you a second chance. Was the problem my fault or yours?"

"Neither..but both..we both contributed to it, yet neither of us were the true cause."

"Who was?"

"I cannot say; I have sworn an oath never to tell you, although I wish to."

"Why would you do that?"

"I was forced to."

"Under what threat?"

"Your life."

"By whom?"

"The one responsible."

"The cause of our division forced you to never tell me who he was?"

"Quite correct."

"Then you are not at fault; you deserve a second chance."

"It is odd..I have gotten so used to hearing you tell me the opposite, that I have begun to believe it, and hearing your voice say this now confuses me."

"Many things are confusing. I enjoyed this talk; I hope to remember to forgive you."

"I do not think you will remember; what I did is quite unforgivable."

"Tell me."

"At one point in your life, you did not know what was right or wrong, and you came to me for guidance. I told you what to do, and you obeyed without question. You began to rely on me for instruction on everything; you have always been a follower, not a leader. I continued to tell you what to do and how to do it, not realizing that I may have only been worsening the situation. To put it into perspective, I once told you to kill, and you did so without hesitation or questioning; I realized at that point how much trust you had actually put in me. When the one whose name I am not permitted to mention came along, he attempted to force you to follow him, instead; in order to do so, he had to remove your trust in me, and he did so without fail. That is the cause of your hatred towards me, and I regret not forcing you to make your own decisions instead of taking over; it would have been harder, granted, but you might have escaped your fate."

"Fate is not something to be escaped from. I understand my error, truthfully, and I understand why you regret, but you had a choice to make; picking the easy way out was not a mistake, as you may not have even noticed that you had a choice. Decisions are often made when there is little to no time to consider them; no one can blame you for what you did. If I do not recall this conversation, know this: I forgive you."

"..Thank you."

I didn't remember that conversation, but the one who needed it more did.

~~~~~

Wow what was that last conversation-

I developed a different writing style..somehow..

Wow.

That was a poor excuse for an amnesiac short..sorry.

"Disobedience"

Papy is in this.

Classification: angst.

Warnings: threats, sad Dusty, mentions of violence.

Canonicity: alternate timeline.

~~~~~

Papy had always been obedient, ever since he had broken. Well, he had mostly been obedient; there were times when he forgot the rules or was too emotional to follow them. I could forgive him if it was a mistake or he was letting his emotions get in the way. He had always been good about following the rules, and he sometimes gone out of his way to remind me of them so I wouldn't get hurt..he was the best toy I could have ever hoped to have! He had always put me first, even above his own desires, if he believed that I would be happy; I couldn't imagine having anyone else as my toy! Today was another beautiful morning, and I was waking Papy up.

"Good morning, Papy!" I smiled, rousing the taller skeleton..but he wouldn't respond? "Papy?" I placed a hand on his sternum, but his temperature seemed fine.. "Papy..?"

I became worried about my toy when he didn't wake up after a minute! He had always woken up as soon as I greeted him, unless he was ill! I hoped he wasn't ill..I decided to consult Ink.

"I-Ink, Papy isn't waking up!" I whimpered, hugging my toy as best I could. "I-is he sick?!"

"Let me see.." Ink walked over, kneeling beside Papy and checking his temperature, as I had before. "He feels fine..and he isn't dust, so dead isn't a possibility..try stabbing him."

"O-okay.."

Ink handed me a knife, and I lodged it into Papy's arm, receiving a small chuckle from my toy; he wasn't dead! I proceeded to lift his eyesockets, looking into his tired eyelights..perhaps he just hadn't gotten enough sleep last night? I sometimes didn't want to wake up when I didn't get enough sleep, and Papy was quite similar to me.

"Papy, did you fall asleep at the right time last night?" I inquired.

"Mm..no..." Papy yawned, curling in on himself.

"Oh, that explains it! He must have had trouble sleeping!" I giggled upon figuring it out, and Ink smiled at me. "Time to get up, Papy!"

Papy must have had a lot of trouble getting to sleep last night; he simply rolled over when I told him to get up!

"Papy, you can get more sleep later!" I shook him softly. "Get up, now, please!"

"Later.." Papy mumbled, likely still half-asleep.

"Papy, you have to get up now!"

"No.."

"Wh-what?" I looked to Ink confusedly, wondering why Papy was acting like this...

"Hey, Papy!" Ink took the route of yelling loudly. "Get up before you make Dusty cry, because you're the one who'll have to deal with him if he does!"

No response. It was at that point that I began to tear up; any sort of yelling mixed with a Papy who wouldn't follow direction was too much for me..I was fragile, as Ink called it.

"Well, now you've done it!" Ink scoffed. "Comfort him now!"

Papy didn't move.

"Dusty, get the collar." Ink commanded.

I nodded, running over to Ink's bedtable to procure the punishment collar..I hoped Papy was just too sleep-deprived to know what he was doing as the tears streamed down my face. I gave the collar to Ink, who roughly secured it around Papy's neck and activated it. He then slapped Papy, who screamed out in pain; I couldn't say that I didn't think he deserved it..well, I could have, but it would have been a lie. The loudness of his scream made my crying a bit worse, though. When Papy's pain subsided, Ink demanded that he get up and comfort me immediately, but..Papy refused?

"Papy, what is wrong with you?!" Ink was infuriated.. "You're a toy; start acting like one!"

"No." Papy yawned slowly; I began to cry harder, knowing that Ink wasn't only going to hit him this time.

"Dusty..go to the guard lounge; tell Dream that he'll be taking care of you for the next week."

"Y-yes, Ink.." I nodded, grabbing my Hope and running out of Ink's room as fast as my small legs could carry me; I did not want to be in Ink's room while this was going on.

I ran to the guard lounge with tears running down my face, hoping to reach the room in question before Papy's punishment began. Thankfully, I did, and I clutched to Dream as soon as I could reach him; he was surprised, to say the least.

"Dust..?" He picked me up and brought me to his eyelight level. "Is something the matter?"

"P-Papy was b-bad, and I-Ink's gonna p-punish h-him really b-badly!" I sobbed.

"I see.." Dream walked me over to his bed, laying me down on it softly as I hugged my Hope. "Let it all out; you're gonna be okay."

"Wh-what about P-Papy?"

"..He'll be okay when it's over. Why did you come here?"

"I-Ink said you w-were going to t-t-take care of m-me.."

"Ah, I see." Dream held one of my hands firmly, but not too firmly. "Dust, trust me; everything will be okay."

"R-really?"

"Really. Would you like me to read you a story book? I know one with lots of pictures!"

"Y-yes, please.."

"All right, you just sit there, and I'll grab it."

And he did. Dream had a big storybook to read to me, and there certainly were lots of pictures! Ever since the execution, Dream had made sure to let Nightmare's love of books live on, and he had developed a liking for them, as well! Nightmare would have been proud..I wished he were here. When Papy's screams started up, I flinched harshly in Dream's grip, holding onto his arm tighter; he didn't stop reading, much to my comfort. I enjoyed the times when Dream would take care of me, even if I did prefer Ink..but Ink wasn't in a good mood right now, and that made Dream the better caretaker. When night descended upon the empire, Papy was still screaming; Dream realized that I had nowhere to sleep, with Ink's room currently being off-limits. I told him that I could sleep on the floor, but he refused to allow me to do that. Dream suggested that I slept in his bed, but I refused to put him out. In the end, I made the decision to sleep on one of the tables in the eating area; they were clean, and Dream couldn't change my mind. I heard Papy's screams through my dusty nightmare. So it went, for a week, and Papy's screaming didn't cease once..until it was over. I returned to Ink's room to find Papy on the ground, under a smiling dictator.

"Hello, Dusty!" Ink grinned, allowing me to come over for him to rub my skull. "I think I fixed Papy; shall we see?"

"Mhm." I looked to my toy. "Good morning, Papy!"

"G-good..m-m-morning..D-Dusty.." Papy seemed ready for the day ahead!

He was obedient to a fault for the rest of the day.

~~~~~

"Spectate"

Classification: angst.

Warnings: torture.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink didn't torture just me, although, sometimes, I wished he did. No, there were others who faced his wrath, and they likely feared it more than I did, if that were possible. Ink's dungeon worked in a specific way: the prisoner was thrown into a cell, given a number, and then made to wait. When a guard was given the task to torture that specific prisoner, the torture began; the prisoner didn't know when or how they would be tortured..all they knew is that it would happen. After the first round, some prisoners thought it was over..but they were wrong; depending on the crimes committed, a prisoner could face from three to one thousand torture sessions during their stay. A small crime, such as criticizing ink's actions more than the daily allowance, warranted three. A large crime, such as striking Ink..warranted the maximum of one thousand. After the prisoner had been tortured, they would go free, and few ever came back for a second round. Sometimes, Ink would pick a random cell in the dungeon, and he would torture whomever he found inside; his sessions didn't count toward the prisoner's total, unfortunately. On more rare occasions, he would force me to watch as he tortured a prisoner..today was one of those rare days.

"Come on, Dusty, don't drag your feet!" Ink scoffed, pulling harder on my wrist as he led me down to the dungeon.

I didn't like the dungeon. It had the distinct smell of blood, nobody smiled, and the screams echoed off the stone walls. The floors were never cleaned, and one didn't have to be a scientist to know that the dark red dried liquid on the floors wasn't always paint..it was sometimes paint, but most of the time, it was not. The dungeon was exclusively lit with only torches, some of which were equipped to be used in torturing the prisoners. The cells and cages were never cleaned, giving way to illnesses that only added to the pain the prisoners faced; many guards had caught a few just by being down here. The torture devices were cleaned, however; Ink was strict about that, as a small token of mercy to anyone who was tortured. Just by looking around, one could see several prisoners through the bars of their prisons, with some begging for mercy, others feeling pain from recent torture, some..being tortured, even others awaiting the inevitable..no one was happy down here. Most prisoners had lost a part of themselves, whether it was an eye or a leg..some were paralyzed, while some lucky souls had the energy to pace their cells. Some were in cages, suspended from the ceiling; there was no room to walk in those. Ink took his time to pick a prisoner, but he eventually decided on a Papyrus, likely because I was there..I didn't enjoy watching alternate versions of my brother being hurt.

"Dusty, be a good toy and sit there." Ink pointed to a spot on the ground outside the cell, and I sighed, taking a seat; my eyelights were firmly fixed on my Hope, in the hopes that Ink would be too invested in his torturing to care if I was watching.

He wasn't. Upon his discovery that I had averted my gaze, he left the Papyrus in the cell and grabbed me by the neck, slamming me against the bars a few times until I promised to watch him. I turned to look at the Papyrus, who was afraid of Ink; I couldn't blame him. To begin the torture, Ink grabbed..acid. He placed a protective covering over the Papyrus's mouth, ensuring that there were no holes in which the acid could seep through, before doing the same to any other openings on his skull, excluding only the spot in which a human would have had a nose; skeletons had but a hole. Ink laid the Papyrus down on the ground and brought the opening of the container of acid..right to the hole. I whimpered as Ink poured the acid into the poor Papyrus's skull, eliciting a scream of agony from the victim, and I cried as the Papyrus tried to sit up, only to be stopped by Ink's strength, which kept him down. In a feat of cruelty, Ink blocked up the Papyrus's nose hole and allowed the Papyrus motion, only for him to find that there were no more exits for the acid; he was being burned alive from the inside out, and the fact that his motions had likely brought the acid into contact with his eyelights and teeth, he would be scarred heavily. After ten minutes, the acid finally began to seep through the Papyrus's now-deformed skull, and Ink waited until all of the acid had left before removing the coverings he had put in place.

"It surprises me how you're not dead yet." Ink chuckled at the Papyrus, who found that he could no longer speak; from the lack of even a small gleam from his now-larger eyesockets, I assumed that he had also lost his sight. "Well, let us continue."

The Papyrus was strong and brave, despite it all. He endured three of Ink's forms of torture before turning to dust, although I wasn't sure if that was a good thing. He was reset, and Ink was about to hurt him again; I deicded that the Papyrus had gone through enough pain..I didn't want to stay down here longer than I had to.

"I-Ink?" I spoke up timidly, catching my captor's attention.

"What is it, Dusty?" Ink sighed, putting down a toothbrush; yes, he could torture someone with a toothbrush, and it was excruciating.

"C-can we go n-now?"

"You're a wimp, Dusty."

"P-please.."

"Only if you let me torture you instead."

"F-fine.." I nodded slowly, knowing he would say that.

"Great!" Ink left the Papyrus alone in the cell, opting to pick me up and carry me to..a different one; if I had been forced to choose between the dungeon and Ink's room, I would have much rathered to be in Ink's room.

But I didn't have that choice.

~~~~~

"Hatred"

Classification: angst.

Warnings: mean Dusty, violence, flashbacking.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

My brother was, above all other beings, the most annoying person in the multiverse. Despite how I would try to escape him, he always showed up within my vicinity. Ink's private torture sessions with him didn't deter him from trying to regain my trust, and I doubted anything would; he was too determined. I had just been on a simple walk in the compound when he approached me, allegedly desiring to speak about current events.

"So..there have been a few riots.." He was bad at hiding his true intent; I saw through him like glass.

"If you see a riot, the place to report it is down the hall and to the left, not here." I walked past my brother, only to be blocked by his arm.

"Ah, yes, well, there are a few other things I have been meaning to speak with you about.."

"Not interested."

"I believe you will find this-" He was cut off.

"I will find it annoying, bearing a striking resemblance to you. If you have nothing of great value to say, don't communicate."

"Brother-"

"Don't call me that."

"But you are-"

"I am Ink's right hand, and I am your colleague; that doesn't mean I have to like you."

"We are still brothers.."

"I don't see how; let me pass before I report you..again."

"I know we are not on the best of terms, but please, listen to me.."

"No."

"Just for one minute?"

"Not in a million years."

"I know I have hurt you, and I apologize.."

"Apology not accepted; it will never be accepted."

"Must you hate me?"

"..Yes. Let me pass."

"Why?"

"Because I have somewhere to be."

"Why must you hate me?"

"Because Ink told me to; he showed me the truth about you, and nothing you say can change that."

"People change."

"Not you."

"You are the one who asked me to do it.."

"Liar. Why would I ask you to control my life?!"

"You were afraid..do you not remember?"

~~~oh boy a flashback!

"P-Paps.." I whimpered over the pile of dust that had, until now, been alive.

"Brother, please do not cry.." Paps urged. "Why are you sad?"

"I-I can't do this..p-please stop me.."

"I cannot do that; you must choose for yourself what is right, brother."

"D-don't make me do that! P-please..I c-can't..everything..i-it's too much! S-stop it, Paps! Y-you can stop me!"

"I can do no such thing, brother; you must decide for yourself."

"D-don't you understand?! I can't! M-my mind tells me t-to kill..t-to hurt..my-my soul tells me t-to stop..b-but I can't, Paps! I can't..I-I don't know..I don't..recognize myself..wh-who am I?"

"Brother, please do not think in this way.."

"I can't c-control myself any-anymore..P-Paps..t-tell me what's right..tell me..wh-what do I do?!"

"..."

"Please! I-I'm begging you, Papyrus! T-tell me what to do! I-I'll do it!"

"Brother, I..this is not right.."

"P-please.."

"I.." Papyrus sighed. "All right, brother; I will be your guide."

~~~the end yayyy!

"..I.." My soul felt wrong; something..was happening to me..

"Brother..?" My brother had a hopeful look on his face.

Something was happening to me; I couldn't remember..what couldn't I remember?! I looked at my brother's face..no. He was lying..he had to be! But why did it feel so real? No! He was a liar! But my memories- meant nothing. He manipulated me, and in no instance did I ever stoop so low as to request him to; my memory was crafted from my mind..just an illusion. It wasn't real. I glared at my brother; I didn't know that he could craft such illusions..I was glad that I had seen through it, just as I had seen through him.

"Brother..please talk to me." My brother had thought that his silly trick had worked, but it hadn't!

"Oh, Papyrus.." I unsheathed a dagger. "You have annoyed me for the last time."

I enjoyed watching my brother's eyelights give way to a fearful gaze as I tackled him to the ground, summoning his soul; it was a clear white, portraying purity..my dagger would fix that! An impure monster didn't deserve an untouched soul..I wondered why I hadn't done this before. Perhaps I was waiting for the right moment. I hovered the tip of my blade just over the manipulative monster's soul, preparing to end his hobby of stalking me.

"B-brother.." He was actually going to try to talk his way out of this? How cowardly.

"Ah, ah, ah." I smirked. "No talking; your tricks are all but over. Say goodbye to a life without pain, since this..will never end."

I carved. His screams were more enjoyable than anyone else's; he was the only one I truly wanted to hurt! I chuckled lowly as I slowly mangled his soul, using a more painful technique than I usually did; he deserved it. When I placed my dagger back into its sheathe, I quietly left the screaming skeleton to his pain; he was curled up in the middle of the hallway - that would teach him. I didn't regret carving his soul in public; he deserved it, did he not? Ink congratulated me later; he knew I could do it.

My brother was back to bothering me the next day, as if nothing had happened.

~~~~~

"Joyride"

Classification: fun angst? Is that a thing?

Warnings: scared Dusty, breaking the law, police chases, all that good stuff.

Canonicity: I really want to say canon. So canon.

~~~~~

Ink conquered universes..for the most part. An underground was simple to conquer; there weren't more than a few thousand monsters, at most. A surface, however..was not so simple. Ink wanted to conquer surfaces, but his army wasn't large enough for that, yet; he said that he would likely conquer other multiverses (yes, he was planning that) before even thinking of conquering a surface. As a result, surface universes were safe from Ink's conquering, and there were free judges..but they weren't permitted to know of the multiverse. Any that had before had been forced to forget, and that was that. When Ink wasn't interested in torturing me, he had a long list of things he liked to do..and one of those things was visiting surface universes..and committing various crimes. If he ever got arrested, his soldiers would invade the universe and get him back, however much they would have preferred he had stayed. Today, he was preparing for a visit, and I was his carry-on..I hated doing this. After a reset to allow my body some familiar movement, he opened a portal to a surface universe and pulled me through before placing me in..a baby sling. This was going to be just awful, wasn't it?

"All right, Dusty!" Ink pulled out a list. "Today, we're committing..grand theft auto! Shall we find one of those supersonic cars, or something a bit easier for the police to catch us in?"

"Can't you just not steal it?" I hoped.

"..Dusty. I don't do 'not stealing.' Hmm, Velox sounds fast..but I don't know. Eh, let's give it a try!"

So Ink went to a dealership which sold the type of car he wanted to steal, and he, quite literally, stole it. Without a key. Just..walked in and used his coding magic to activate the engine..and drove off. I was now in the front passenger seat, and I was afraid; Ink had crashed cars more than once on these trips, and I did not enjoy those moments. I had no choice. I put on a seatbelt and hoped for dear life that Ink wouldn't crash this time.

"Oh, come on, Dusty!" Ink rolled his eyelights at my use of a seatbelt. "Don't be so afraid!"

"I-I don't want a a repeat of the last incident.." I whimpered just thinking about it.

"..." Ink fastened his seatbelt. "Fair point."

With that, Ink drove the convertible down a highway, chuckling as he rose above one hundred miles per hour. Surprisingly, no policemen had seen us yet, but I was certain that we would get some attention soon enough. At one point, Ink stepped on the gas pedal as hard he could, pushing the car to its fastest speed, which seemed to be just short of 280 miles per hour..I was going to die here. I held onto my seatbelt firmly as Ink cackled in amusement, trying to push the car to go faster..then we were spotted. I whimpered as Ink dodged the other cars on the highway, some of which were smart enough to pull off the road before we got to them. Several police cars were behind us ten minutes into the ride, and a helicopter was trailing behind, as well. At that point, I decided to assume the role of the unwilling child hostage, and I began to cry. The police must have noticed me, since they didn't use..extreme measures to stop Ink, who was laughing hysterically as he recklessly dodged more cars. In an effort to subdue Ink without hurting me, the police set up a blockade a bit down the highway..which Ink drove right through, damaging the car, but not damaging us, somehow.

Many more attempts were made, including nails on the road and closing any roads that Ink might have possibly driven on..until we were caught. The police had parked a helicopter in the middle of the road just to stop Ink, who realized that we were not going to get past that. He groaned as he slowed down to a stop, seeing no other way to go. As soon as he stopped, several police officers took him into custody, and he sighed, knowing that it would probably be a day or two until one of the high ranks reported his disappearance and instituted a search. As for me, I was shaking, whimpering, and crying; that was my natural response to danger, and the police handled me gently; I ended up clinging to this world's version of Undyne, since she was the most familiar person to me. Ink was hauled off to some prison somewhere, while I was taken to the local police station, where they would treat me kindly until Ink was released. The next three days were nice.

I didn't like it when Ink did that, though.

~~~~~

"Confession"

Classification: more angsty, but not that bad.

Warnings: violence.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

The high ranks were emotional. Their ruthlessness was equaled by their inner pains, and it was, most of the time, simply a coverup. Of course, I was the only one who was willing to listen. Ink didn't care one iota about anyone's feelings, and everyone else had work to do. Dream or the swapped Sans probably would have been happy to hear the high ranks talk, but they would have considered that to be showing weakness..as a result, they spoke to me. I was probably the only person they could both beat mercilessly while speaking to, as well. Today, Ink had decided to be present for one of the high ranks' sessions, although he was hiding; he had suspected that this particular high rank had betrayed him in some way, and he wanted to find out if he was right. When the high rank came in, I whimpered, knowing that this mean guard was almost the level of an evil one..he was very close. He walked up to me slowly, preparing to attack; I began to cry. Then he tackled me. He had pinned me by my scapulae, and I didn't think that he was going to let go. I allowed him to crush my bones under his hands; Ink wouldn't have liked to see me fight back. I screamed, though; Ink liked to hear my screams. Then the mean guard began to speak.

"They don't like me, you know." He punched me. "Think I'm a traitor..I'm not, though! I just have someone I care about in the resistance..so what if I like to visit them?" He snapped my left tibia. "Not like I say anything..just visit..why is that so hard to believe?!" He stepped on my skull; I feared that he was going to kill me! "Just..why?!"

"Excuse me for a second." Ink had heard everything, no doubt.

"S-Sir?!" The mean guard stood at attention.

Ink began to speak with the mean guard about his friend in the resistance; from my perspective, the talk wasn't that bad! The mean guard was so grateful for Ink's belief that he forgot about hurting me! When he was gone, Ink set me on his bed and faced me.

"Dusty..why did you confess to you?" Ink wanted to know.

"I-I..don't kn-know." I honestly responded.

"..Do any other guards confess things to you when they come here?"

"S-sometimes.."

"..Interesting. Dusty, you're going to be my spy; if any high ranks tell you that they've betrayed me, you tell me. Understand?"

I simply nodded.

"Good toy." Ink rubbed my skull. "To entice you, if you plan on disobeying me..for every high rank who you turn in honestly - don't lie, now, or I will punish you harder than you've ever been punished before - I'll give you an hour of free time, to do whatever you wish - well, anything except for visiting Error; that's only once a year. Will you obey, Dusty?"

I nodded again; that offer sounded much too good to pass up!

"Good." Ink smirked darkly.

So I obeyed. It wasn't as if I owed the high ranks who literally tortured me anything; in reality, I had every right to turn them in to Ink. If anything, that was one less torturer to deal with; my hours of free time were rare, but I enjoyed them.

How could I not?

~~~~~

"Catch"

Classification: fluff.

Warnings: none, I don't think there are any.

Canonicity: alternate timeline.

~~~~~

Papyrus was fighting Ink in Grillby's. A massive guard training had just taken place. I had been reset, and Papyrus had found me in Dusttale. A magical barrier formed by Ink himself prevented me from reaching my brother; I was forced to watch the battle and hope that he would win. Ink was struck down; I gasped as the barrier fell, and I looked at Papyrus with a smile. Then a portal opened below me; I reached for something - anything - that could keep me from falling into it, and I managed to grab the floor that I had just been sitting on. my grip wasn't very strong, however, and I was quickly losing it!

"I have you, brother!" Papyrus - Papyrus! - grabbed hold of my hand and lifted me up, holding me tightly and hugging me.

"I-I.." I didn't know what to say..

"I love you, too, brother." Papyrus said it for me.

"Dude.." Undyne just had to ruin the moment..it was fine; I had my brother. "Are you still the Papyrus we know? 'Cause, you're, like, a million times cooler now!"

"Older." Paps replied.

Clanking footsteps could be heard from outside.

"I believe it is time to go." Paps hugged me closer as he made a portal. "I apologize that I cannot save you."

"Someday." Asgore commented.

Paps nodded and carried me through the portal before anyone could catch us; he had saved me! I hugged him as tightly as I possibly could, and I never wanted to let go! Actually, I didn't; I held on to him until he had to leave the next day, to protect a base. He said that he didn't want me in harm's way, and I understood; I knew that I wasn't ready for battle yet, but I would begin to train.

With my brother, I had hope for the future.

~~~~~

"Hurt"

This takes place in the "Papa" timeline.

Classification: angst.

Warnings: violence, bullying, sad Dusty.

Canonicity: alternate timeline.

~~~~~

Papa had always been good to me. If I needed to talk, he was always there. If I was being bullied, he would have a torture session with my bullies. If I didn't get enough magic from my meals, he would add some more! Papa was the best papa I could have ever asked for, and he never made me feel wrong. If I didn't feel like cuddling, Papa understood. If I was ill, Papa would take care of me. If I was angry, he would let me rant. I loved having my papa around, and I preferred to be near him as much as possible; people..weren't kind..when he wasn't around. When Papa was around, everyone would be kind, but when he wasn't..I wasn't so lucky. The low ranks were fine; they didn't treat me wrongly. My friends from school were happy to be my friends, and they didn't treat me wrongly, either. It was the high ranks and their children. Whenever the teacher wasn't looking, one of the high ranks' children would try to hurt me, and they sometimes broke bones! The high ranks made simply walking unsafe, and they would follow me until there was nobody around to stop them from hurting me. Today, I had decided to go into the courtyard to pick some flowers for Papa, and I hadn't realized that I had been followed. Before I knew it, I had been forced behind a large bush, only to face three high ranks.

"S-stop!" I sobbed as they stepped on my fragile bones. "P-please!"

"Aww, he said 'please.'" One of them mocked me. "What a polite victim!"

I screamed out as they began to kick me around, which caused one of them to smash my skull against a wall.

"Now, now, kid; you're to be quiet." Another chuckled. "If you scream again, we'll be forced to hurt you faster."

Faster meant bone breaking - lots of bone breaking. They would jump on me instead of stepping! I didn't want to be jumped on; I tried to be as quiet as I possibly could! The high ranks continued their fun until they had broken all of my limbs and most of my ribs; at that point, they decided to leave me on the ground to suffer, but not before tying a thick cloth around my mouth to prevent my screaming for help..I could only wait. And wait I did. It took five hours for someone to find me, and they hadn't even been searching! Well, I had gotten up earlier than usual this morning, and the guards were only to search for me if I had been unseen for three hours; the high ranks probably reported that they had seen me when the question was asked, in order to delay the search.

"O-oh, no!" A low rank knelt down beside me, checking my cracks and removing the cloth that had kept me quiet as I wept. "Don't worry, I'm going to get some help; I can't carry you on my own without hurting you more."

So the low rank left me, only to come back a couple minutes later with two others. One was no doubt a doctor, since he began to use healing magic right away, and the other was a low rank as the first. They put me on a soft stretcher to avoid hurting my bones more, and I was glad! As the doctor healed me up enough to be moved without risking further injury, one of the low ranks decided to initiate a conversation to get my mind off the pain.

"So, what brought you out here this fine morning?" He wondered.

"W-well, I was going to pick some flowers for Papa, but then some high ranks grabbed me.." I shed another tear, which the other low rank wiped away. "I-is Papa worried?"

"I have no doubts."

"Oh.." I didn't want to worry Papa..he was too good of a papa to be worried!

"All right, we should be able to move him." The doctor announced, a moment later.

"Where do you want to go?" The first low rank wondered.

"I wanna go see Papa." I needed to make sure that Papa wasn't worried about me, and I couldn't do that in the hospital!

"I can take my medical supplies there if he needs me." The doctor nodded, gesturing for the low ranks to lift the stretcher.

It didn't take long for us to reach Papa, and Papa was worried, but when he saw me, he was more angry than anything else; he promised to torture those high ranks mercilessly. I was laid in my bed, and when everyone else had left, Papa sat at my bedside and used his healing magic on me, which was much stronger than almost everyone else's. I watched in awe as my cracks shrank, becoming barely visible as I regained my motion; Papa always took care of me.

"Feel better?" Papa inquired.

"Yes." I smiled. "Thank you, Papa!"

"Of course, Dusty; it's my job, after all! Are you up to cuddling?"

"Oh, yes!"

I lept into Papa's arms, giggling as he carried me to his bed, since he was too big for mine. We cuddled to sleep, and Papa told me that he loved me, which I replied to by saying that I loved him more. This escalated, until both of us decided that we loved eachother the same amount, but Papa got a bonus, since he was older, and he had more experience. When I woke up, it was only two o'clock, but I was glad, since it was Saturday; I hadn't missed any school! I decided to do some of my homework while I waited for Papa to wake up; I finished everything except what I needed his help with! I opted to play with my Hope and few other toys while I waited for Papa to wake up, and when he did, he was happy to help me with my homework!

"Let's see, here.." Papa looked over my homework with a discerning eyelight. "This is fairly difficult for a fourth-grader..try to focus your calculations on the apples."

"Thank you, Papa!" I did as he said.

"Of course, Dusty."

When I finished my homework, I smiled and put it in my school bag before hugging Papa; he was so smart! We began to play at that point, and Papa played as the bad guy, while I was the hero who stopped him! After our game, he had to go to a meeting; I didn't want to stay alone, though..the high ranks weren't above coming into our room when they knew Papa was out. I convinced him to let me come, and I promised that I would be super quiet while he was speaking! I held Papa's hand as we walked, and his presence made the high ranks only smile as we passed. When we reached the meeting room, Papa pulled up a chair for me, and I sat down, popping a lollipop into my mouth as I waited for the meeting to commence. The high ranks entered one by one, some glaring at me when they thought Papa wasn't looking, but none of them tried to hurt me, since Papa was here! I didn't say a word as the meeting went on, since I didn't want to interrupt Papa! When the meeting was over, Papa and I were preparing to leave, but one of the high ranks approached us before we could.

"Uh, Sir, could I have your attention for a moment?" He requested. "I didn't quite understand one of the subjects."

"Sure." Papa rubbed my skull softly. "I'll only be gone a minute, Dusty; would you put my papers in my bag, please?"

"Okay, Papa!" I nodded; I didn't want to disappoint Papa!

"All right, what were you unsure about?"

The high rank led Papa out of the room, and I put all of Papa's papers into his bag so they would be safe! When I was finished putting the papers away, I was..grabbed.

"All alone." A high rank pushed me onto the ground; this wasn't good.

"Pa-" I was cut off by a hand over my mouth.

I struggled and cried as the high rank held me in place, allowing his friends to kick and hit me as they pleased. At some point, I tried to kick back, and I managed to kick one of them in a sensitive spot, forcing him to the ground.

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that!" The guard I had kicked growled.

He rose to his feet and punched me in the face hard enough to crack my skull before grabbing my two top ribs and..pulling down. My scream couldn't be covered by any hand, and Papa came running to find something that angered him greatly. The high rank dropped me immediately, and Papa knelt down by my side, rolling me over to see the damages. It didn't take long before my jacket was almost entirely red with blood, since the high rank that I had kicked had broken almost all of my ribs. I sobbed as Papa teleported the high ranks who had hurt me to the dungeon before picking up my ribs and the rest of my body to teleport me to the medical wing; Papa could do a lot of things, but he wasn't skilled at reattaching ribs..if that were even possible. A few doctors wasted no time in taking me to a room, and they said that they would have to do..surgery?! That thought scared me! I whimpered and begged Papa not to leave me, but the doctors said that he had to..he promised that he would come back as soon as he could. The procedures weren't as bad as I had thought they would be; I was put to sleep so I wouldn't feel the pain too much. When I woke up, Papa was by my side.

"Papa?" I yawned, trying to move, but flinching when it hurt.

"You shouldn't move, Dusty; your ribs are still very sensitive." Papa enlightened.

"Oh..thank you, Papa."

"Of course, son."

"When can I move?"

"The doctors said it'll take about a week; you'll have to stay here for a while. Sorry.."

"It's okay, Papa! I can stay here!"

"If you want, I can bring some of your toys here."

"Really?" I liked that idea! I also wanted my Hope.

"Sure! I'll go get a few for you."

"Thank you, Papa!"

"You're welcome, Dusty."

So Papa left me in the hospital room, and he brought back some of my favorite toys, including my Hope! I giggled as I watched him play with them to entertain me, since I wasn't allowed to move even my arms to prevent being injured further. After the week in the hospital, I was allowed to leave, although I had to take it easy; the doctors said that laughing was fine, and that led to the dungeon, where the high ranks who had hurt me had been staying for the past week. Papa tortured them hard, and I enjoyed watching him deal out justice! When the torture was over, Papa took me to his room to cuddle, and we cuddled. After I had almost fully recovered, Papa allowed me to go back to school, which I had unfortunately been absent from for a while. I was eating lunch when Mrs. Toriel left the room to get some supplies from down the hall..and the high ranks' children took note. Despite the fact that I had a lot of good friends, nobody was going to stand up to my bullies..the last time that had happened, my friend was put in a coma..and I wasn't going to allow any of my other friends to suffer that fate. So when I was pushed to the ground, I didn't bother asking for help, since nobody was going to come.

"Where've you been, little guy?" One laughed, kicking me.

"My dad says he's been in the hospital, since he's such a wimp that he can't take a little pain!" Another taunted.

"Maybe we should help him with that problem!" Someone stepped on my left arm.

I sobbed as the older students hurt me, hoping that the teacher would come back and stop them soon! She was only away for five minutes, but that was five minutes too much!

"Stop that right now!" Mrs. Toriel's voice was stern, and the older kids ran back to their desks as soon as she yelled.

Long story short, Papa was called to come pick me up, since I couldn't walk again. I was crying as Papa took me to our room, and Papa knew why; when we reached our room, Papa set me down on my bed and sat next to me.

"Dusty, please don't cry." Papa wiped my tears away.

"I-I-I don't w-wanna be h-h-hurt anymore!" I sobbed as Papa used his healing magic to fix my bones.

"Papa's gonna find a solution, Dusty; Papa's gonna make everything okay."

"R-really?"

"Yes, son, I'm going to make sure you're never hurt like this again, or at least..not as often.."

"O-okay, Papa." I tried to smile.

So I was healed again, and Papa had a plan. The next day, Papa came into my room with..my old babysitter? I silently asked him why Fell was here - not that I didn't enjoy a visit, since I loved seeing Fell, but he hadn't been in our room in years.

"Dusty, meet your new personal guard!" Papa grinned. "Whenever you're in trouble, he'll protect you if I'm not around!"

"Really?" I smiled, running over to hug Fell and Papa.

"Really." Papa chuckled, rubbing my skull softly; he was the best papa ever!

Fell was no longer a low rank, but he wasn't a high rank, either; he was my guard, and that was a special job! During the days, he would only leave my side if I wished him to, and at night, he would sleep right outside the door, ensuring that nobody would try to break in. When I was in school, he would sit in the corner, ready to protect me if anyone made a move. For the first month, nobody tried anything, and I had no bones broken. Then came Fell's first test. I had just left school, and I wanted to play in the courtyard; Papa was out on a mission today, which prevented my seeing him yet. I sat down next to the small pond in the courtyard to see the fish; I liked all the colors, and some of them looked like rainbows! After a minute of watching the fish swim around in the clear water, a couple high ranks..pushed me into the pond. They tried to hold me under, but they were soon attacked by Fell! He pushed the mean high ranks into the water and pulled me out.

"Thank you, Fell!" I hugged my friend.

"You're welcome, kid." Fell looked at my clothes. "How about we get you dried off?"

"Okay!"

So off we went, and I was safe. Papa said that he had chosen the right guard for the job, and I agreed!

Papa made the best decisions.

~~~~~

"Discipline"

Classification: angst.

Warnings: violence, torture, child abuse.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink's point of view.

Dusty was my toy. He was broken enough to be loyal, and he knew better than to disobey; he disliked his punishments, and he learned from his mistakes. After all these years, a good slap was enough to put him back in his place; of course, it was rarely ever just a slap. Those were only for minor mistakes, such as tripping while on a leash or having a short emotional outburst that annoyed me. No, he was smart enough to know what to do after the first time. But he wasn't always so lucky. Sometimes, he would mess up..sometimes, he would get on my nerves..sometimes, he would doom himself. But that wasn't often; truthfully, it was rather rare. Dusty was a very obedient toy, and he knew better..most of the time. He would speak if I told him to, he would scream if I desired it, and he would cower when he knew I was angry; he knew what pleased me and what set me off, and he handled that knowledge well. Good days were plentiful..but sometimes, Dusty just couldn't help himself. Today was one of those days, and I would have been lying if I said that I didn't wait for them; sometimes, I just made up a rule on the spot, simply to punish him. I didn't do that this time, though; this time, Dusty just made a mistake.

"Dusty, do you prefer the color red or purple?" I asked, on a walk one day.

"P-purple.." Dusty mumbled softly; he knew I would hear him.

"Why don't you like the color red? Is there something wrong with it?"

"..Reminds me of you."

"Dusty, you really should learn to like me more; don't you think-"

I paused, upon hearing a sound that..I was not supposed to hear. Children's laughter. That simply wasn't right; children in the AUs were supposed to be locked away inside of schools..what were children doing laughing?! I growled slightly, wondering which of my idiotic guards had allowed this outrage! I grabbed Dusty's arm ferociously, quickly tying a rope between us before dragging him behind me as I followed the sound and ignoring his whimpers as he clutched to his doll in an effort to keep it with him. I found the source of the crimes in Snowdin..the town. My guards were watching children play?! The smiles on their faces were sickening; everyone froze, however, when I entered the scene.

"Guards.." I chuckled humorlessly. "What are you doing?"

"U-uh..just..w-watching a..h-hologram..?" One tried to trick me, but I was far too smart for that.

"I see."

I walked up to one of the children, who shivered slightly as she looked up at me. With a swift strike, the "hologram" was on the ground, crying.

"Oh, yes, what a convincing hologram." I scoffed. "Guards, I believe you owe me an explanation."

No one spoke. Only the cries of a small child were to be heard. I nodded, looking toward the rest of the children.

"Then I suppose I'll have to resort to public beating until someone tells me." I smirked at the children.

I took one step toward them, but I..tripped?! I sent an immediate glare behind me, meeting the fearful eyelights of my toy...he had used the rope that bound us to trip me!

"Oh, Dusty.." I pulled him closer with the same rope, smiling as he tried to fight it, but he eventually ended up with his neck in my hand. "That was not a smart thing to do! I suppose it has been a while since your last beating, hasn't it? Well, then, a punishment is in order."

So, instead of beating children, as I had originally intended, I found myself beating Dusty. I didn't use weapons today; I didn't have to. The screams that rang out every time a bone broke made me feel much better about the children; they were soon sent back to their school to continue their indoctrination, but I continued to beat Dusty. The snow around us was red - his least favorite color, as I was finding out - with his blood, and several guards had begged me to stop his discipline early! That wasn't going to happen. Every punch, every kick..I just needed more. When Dusty was lying on the ground, half-conscious, with cracks on every bone of his body, I knelt down by his side and whispered softly to him.

"Was that worth it, Dusty?" I asked.

Dusty didn't reply; I hit him again to possibly raise his awareness.

"Was that worth it, Dusty?" I repeated.

"Y-y-yes.." Dusty coughed out.

"Someday, Dusty..I will force you to beat children..they shouldn't matter so much to you."

"N-never.."

Many, many years later, I laughed as Dusty harshly tortured a child, and he seemed to enjoy it as much as I.

~~~~~

"Attention"

Classification: fluff.

Warnings: Dusty neglect.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink was a busy person. He was a dictator! Recently, he had had a lot of work, and..he had forgotten to feed me. He had simply left in the morning, instead of rubbing my skull or playing with me; he hadn't even bothered to wake me up! Today was a feeding day! I didn't like the sensation of being hungry; it gave me too many bad memories..starvation, isolation..desperation. Even if Ink was busy, he should have at least left me some food! I could feed myself by now! But that hadn't happened. In fact, Ink had missed the past five feeding days; I had died several times, and I was determined not to die again! Having had enough of his neglect, I crawled up to his bed, and I waited for him to return, feeling content to glare at the door harshly until he came back to his room. When he did, he was confused, since I wasn't allowed on the bed; I wasn't allowed to glare at him, either, but he had brought this upon himself. If he wanted me for a toy, he should have at least acknowledged me! I wasn't some pet that he could just neglect as he pleased! I was his toy, and I felt that I had every right to confront him with his recent treatment of me. When he approached me, he instantly knew that I was not in a good mood.

"Can we..talk tomorrow, Dusty?" He was not getting out of this! "I'm exhausted.."

"No!" I snapped, causing him to pause before looking at me.

"..Then what's so important?"

"Me!" I scoffed. "If you're going to have me as a toy, at least feed me every once in a while! I don't miss the torture sessions, but I'll be darned if I let you go another day without doing anything to me! I'll take torture! I will! Just stop neglecting me!"

"..." Ink avoided my gaze. "I haven't been neglecting you."

"You haven't fed me in weeks! You haven't even spoken to me! You haven't commented about your supreme authority, and you haven't told me what a useless being I am! You haven't..you..haven't..you haven't smiled..what's wrong?"

"..Nothing. I'm fine, Dusty."

"No..you aren't..you wouldn't let me yell at you like that if you were fine..you'd be torturing me and hurling insults. You wouldn't let me glare or call you out..what's wrong?"

"There's..just a lot on my mind right now, Dusty..but I can handle it."

I moved closer to Ink, who had taken a seat on the bed, sitting up against him.

"I..may not like it, but..I am someone you can talk to.." I reminded.

"..Not right now." Ink sighed, hugging his legs closer to him.

"Do you..want to cuddle?"

Ink only nodded silently, and I took my chance to cuddle him softly. I offered to allow him to hold on to me for comfort tonight; he..seemed as if he needed it. I may not have liked him, but I wasn't going to let him suffer in silence, as much as it would have been beneficial for me; I could take torture..watching someone cry their eyesockets out wasn't something I could take without comforting them. Ink accepted my offers of help, although he didn't tell me what was wrong; that was fine, since I didn't need to know. When morning came, Ink fed me, and he tried to give me a light torture session; that was his way of saying that I had helped.

I was happy to.

~~~~~

"Behavior"

Classification: angst.

Warnings: torture, violence, threats.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink's point of view.

Dusty was..my toy. In the beginning, before he came back to life, I wanted a companion, and that led to my choice to have a pet..person. I wanted a pet that would speak to me, and one that I could understand; the first few were..not good. The first killed himself after a month. The second betrayed me. The third simply couldn't survive. I must have had about ten before Dusty came along, but when he did, I knew he was the right one. Small size, perfect for cuddling; determination, to make it a challenge; quiet voice, wouldn't disturb me; easy to break, made it more fun; able to be manipulated, I'd have a goal; obedient, he was perfect. Truthfully, for the first year or so, I was considering getting rid of him; he was a lot of trouble back then. But..I decided to keep him, and my decision paid off well. He was submissive, and he would do as he was told; that made for some interesting times. Today was a day like any other, with only my imagination serving as our limit. Today, I wanted to cuddle him, and he would obey me, as he always did.

"Dusty, up." I commanded; he knew simple commands well, standing up. "Here." He walked over. "Cuddle." He climbed into my bed. "Good toy."

Dusty was truly the perfect toy for me; he knew when he was broken. Of course, he hadn't always obeyed my orders; in the beginning, he quite despised me, growling whenever I told him to stand, sit, or roll over. Over time, however, he gradually began to submit, likely tired of the torture sessions we had when he disobeyed; he found obedience more fruitful. I rubbed his skull as we cuddled, receiving a soft hum that was strangely reminiscent of a purr. Dusty probably didn't know that he did that when I rubbed his skull, but I enjoyed it all the same; I had domesticated him. Having him as a pet was one of my better decisions, as he was also caring toward me, despite the fact that I was cruel; it was his nature, after all! After accepting that he would be with me forever, he began to grow..attached, if that was the correct word; he started noticing things about my that he hadn't before, and he began to like me. He didn't know it, of course; he still didn't know it right now! Someday, he would find out, and he would begin to accept me..I couldn't wait for that moment. At the moment, however, I would simply stick to teasing him; he didn't know this, but every time he became frustrated with me, it was a little bit more difficult each time, and, eventually, he wouldn't be able to become annoyed or frustrated with me.

"Dusty, I love how obedient you are; don't you?" I asked.

"..." Dusty sighed.

"Dusty..aren't you obedient?"

"..Yes.."

"Don't you love being my toy?"

"..." Dusty shivered slightly.

"Do I have to ask every question twice, Dusty?"

"N-no.."

"Then..don't you love being my toy?"

"..."

"Dusty, answer the question."

"..."

"Dusty, if you don't answer the question in the next second, you really aren't going to like what happens next. Do you enjoy being my toy?"

"..." Dusty whimpered.

I sighed before lifting my hand. Dusty flinched harshly, whimpering as he tried to back away from me, but he wasn't going to get away from me; he had to be taught a lesson. These lessons came frequently, since my toy was being constantly tested, and he didn't like to submit to me in those situations; he felt that it would have been giving in..and he was right. So my toy was grabbed, and I began to beat him. As I gave him his due blows, I reminded him that this could have been avoided if had just answered the question; torture sessions may not have been optional, but beatings certainly were, and my toy seemed to forget that a lot. After the hour-long lesson, my toy lay on the floor, crying and hugging his doll, but we weren't done just yet.

"Dusty.." I knelt down by his side, tracing a particularly bad crack in his skull. "That didn't have to happen, you know; you could have just answered the question. So..in light of that, do you love being my toy?"

"N-n-no.." Dusty sobbed.

"..That wasn't the right answer, Dusty."

I never allowed Dusty to express any displeasure with his state; if I did, he would do it constantly. Therefore, when he professed to dislike being my toy, I looked at the clock and began another hour of harsh beating. It was necessary to force him to express pleasure with his current condition; the more he lied, the more he would begin to believe it. I remembered convincing a prisoner that he was a banana once by forcing him to repeat it constantly; he argued vehemently on the subject whenever it was brought up, and he never stopped believing that he was a banana. The same principle was being applied to Dusty; the more he gave in and told me that he enjoyed being my toy, the more he would begin to truly enjoy it. When his second beating ceased, I knelt down by his side once more, pressing down on a rather large fracture on one of his arms; after his scream, I spoke.

"Now, Dusty.." I chuckled. "Do you truly love being my toy?"

"Y-y-yes!" Dusty cried.

"Say it."

"I-I t-truly.."

"Say it."

"I..t-truly l-l-love b-being..your..t-t-toy.."

"That's good." I rubbed Dusty's skull as my version of a reward, and he purred softly in response. "Shall we continue that cuddle?"

He nodded, and I picked him up to cuddle.

I loved my toy.

~~~~~

"Abducted"

This takes place in the "Papa" timeline.

Classification: fluff and angst.

Warnings: kidnapping, starvation, sad Dusty.

Canonicity: alternate timeline.

~~~~~

Ever since Papa had brought Fell to protect me, the high ranks and their children had mostly stopped trying to hurt me, which was good; I didn't like being hurt. Fell was a very good protector, and he was an even better friend! He would play lots of fun games with me, and he would even help me play pranks on people when Papa couldn't! Sometimes, both of them helped me! Papa liked Fell, too; he said that Fell was good at protecting me! The high ranks still tried to hurt me when Fell wasn't in their sight, though; he had become ill once, and he had to stay in bed until he was better..the high ranks had hurt me a lot when that happened. Everything was okay now, though, since Papa had punished the cruel ones mercilessly when I healed, and they had promised not to hurt me again, even though they would probably try anyway. At the moment, it was summer vacation, which meant, in simplest terms, no school! I honestly liked school, but I had a summer project to work on until school was back in session, which meant that I wasn't going to miss it too much, and I could still visit all of my friends! Right now, Fell was in the courtyard, looking for me during a game of hide and seek; what he didn't know was that I had slipped inside and was now three stories above him!

"Fell!" I shouted down, giggling. "Catch me!"

I gave him a good ten seconds to locate me before jumping out of a window, which was more than the high ranks used to give me before they pushed me out, except they threw me down from the roof; three stories was child's play. I giggled when Fell lept to catch me, barely grasping me before he hit the ground; that was so much fun!

"We should do that again!" I clapped happily.

"Um..do we have to?" Fell didn't seem as excited..I wondered why.

"I guess not, but why wouldn't we want to?"

"Well..for one thing, you could have broken several bones."

"But I didn't."

"And you could have broken..my arms, if you had been falling fast enough."

"..Oh.." The thought of hurting Fell hadn't occurred to me.. "I'm sorry."

"That's..that's all right. But, uh, next time you want to go jumping out of buildings, maybe ask Ink to get you a trampoline or something so nobody gets hurt?"

"Okay! That sounds really fun!"

"I'm sure it will be. Any plans for what to do next?"

"Hmm..nope, what time is it? Do you think Papa's off work yet?"

"Let me see.."

Fell looked at his wristwatch, which was one of many things that he carried at all times for his job. Being my personal guard, he needed to carry several things, such as emergency food and water, weapons, and toys! My Hope was still my favorite toy, though.

"It's eight o'clock..there's still time for one more fun thing, if you want to, or we can go back to your room." Fell stated.

"Let's go see if Papa's there!" I wanted to tell Papa about everything!

"All right, then!"

I grabbed Fell's hand and began to walk with him to my room, where I hoped Papa would be waiting; he had a lot of work some days. We spoke along the way, mostly about what we were going to do tomorrow; I wanted to go visit a Snowdin to play games, since they had snow! I liked playing in the snow; it was cold, but it was also very rewarding! I hoped Papa would be able to come along, since he liked playing in the snow, too! When we reached the room, Fell opened the door for me, and I thanked him as I walked through; Papa was home! I ran up to him to hug him tightly; I was very happy to see him!

"Hello, Dusty!" Papa hugged me back, just as tight! "Was your day all right?"

"It was great!" I replied. "Fell and I went fishing, and I caught a goldfish! Isn't that awesome?"

"That is impressive!" Papa looked to Fell. "Anything happen?"

"No, Sir." Fell responded. "The day was peaceful."

"Very well, I think that's all for today. You may take your post outside."

"Yes, Sir."

Fell left the room, and Papa carried me to his bed, where he cuddled me softly. We cuddled until bedtime, at which point, we put on our pajamas and went to sleep. About two in the morning, I was awoken by a strange feeling, but the feeling soon showed itself as familiar; I was thirsty. After finding no water by my bedside, I grabbed my Hope, yawned, sat up, and began to walk to the door, where Fell was no doubt sleeping. I felt bad for waking him up in the middle of the night, but there were no other ways out of the room that I was allowed to go through; the windows weren't going to get me to the cafeteria! I pushed the door open slightly, nudging Fell just a bit, but he woke nonetheless.

"Hm..?" He sat up. "Kid..? What..is it?"

"I'm going to get a glass of water." I told him.

"All right..do you want an escort?"

"Uh..." I looked at the scary dark passageways fearfully; when Papa had learned of my fear of the dark, he had given me a nightlight to counter it, but..the hallways didn't have any light..I didn't know how Fell managed to sleep in the dark. "M-maybe."

"Still scared of the dark?"

"..I'm working on it.."

"You weren't scared of the dark before.."

"Before I was attacked in the middle of the night by a group of high ranks..m-more than once.."

"Ah, sorry, kid..I kinda forgot about that."

"I-it's okay..w-would you walk me?"

"Of course."

Fell stood up, and I grabbed his hand before following him down the unlit corridors. Every step scared me, but I felt better when Fell turned the kitchen light on upon our reaching the cafeteria; the light made the unknown darkness go away. After grabbing my glass of water, Fell turned off the light again, sadly, and we began our return trek, but this one didn't go so well. We were halfway to the room when we heard the sound of a portal's opening. Normally, that wouldn't have been bad, but it was currently nighttime, and no one was allowed to portal into hallways during the night without permission; judging from the multiple footsteps that came through the portal, permission hadn't been given. On a whim, Fell pushed me against a wall and had me curl up to hide, while he stood in the dark, readying his weapons. When I heard the sound of armor falling to the ground, I whimpered, knowing that Fell hadn't attacked anyone; he had been attacked. As soon as I felt a hand grab my arm, I screamed as loudly as I could, hoping that a guard on the night watch might have heard me. I was pushed through a portal before I knew what was going on, and I blacked out before seeing any traces of light, except for the portal, of course.

When I regained consciousness, I first found that I was sitting up. Secondly, I couldn't feel my Hope! My eyesockets shot open, adjusting to the light slowly, but I already knew that my Hope wasn't near me. I looked around anxiously, wondering if this was another kidnapping attempt by the high ranks; if it was, it had worked, unfortunately. Upon viewing my surroundings, I found that I was in a..cell. It wasn't one of Papa's cells, since I knew what those looked like; this was..somewhere else. I heard rain outside..it hadn't been raining when I had gotten my glass of water. I looked around for my Hope, finding no evidence of its whereabouts. I hoped I had dropped it for Fell to take care of; I would have much rathered that Fell took care of my Hope than the prospect that some evil villains had it! Fell would take care of my Hope; I knew he would. After taking in my surroundings, I found that my wrists were bound to a stone wall - the floor and ceiling were also made of stone, but everything else was barred - that was behind me. I sighed, hoping that my pajamas weren't too dirty; Papa didn't like it when my pajamas were dirty. After some time of waiting, a Sans entered the room; he surely wasn't a guard, but he also wasn't a high rank.

"Hey, kid." He stood outside my cell, looking at me oddly.

"Why did you take me here?" I asked.

"It wasn't my idea; the others think you'll be worth something, and we kinda need that pesky dictator to leave us alone."

"Why?"

"He's been trying to take us down..and winning."

"Why don't you just ask him to stop?"

"That's what we're planning to do..with you."

"Why me?"

"Because he likes you, and he doesn't want anything bad to happen to you."

"Then why did you kidnap me if you know he wouldn't want that..?"

"..If he doesn't agree to leave us alone, you'll be hurt."

"That's mean; you shouldn't be hurting people."

"..." He took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. "Just be quiet and don't make any trouble."

"Do you have my doll?"

"We didn't see a doll.."

"Oh.."

"Look, you'll probably be out of here soon enough, so just get some sleep. Chances are you'll be back before you know it."

"I'm hungry."

"We don't feed prisoners; we can barely feed ourselves."

"Why?"

"Because our supply lines keep being cut off."

"I'm still hungry."

"Deal with it."

The Sans walked away, and I sighed, closing my eyesockets to get some sleep. I had a dusty nightmare as I slept, as usual, but when I woke up..I was still in the cell. I was more hungry, and I hadn't drunk my water from before; I wanted food. I would have walked around the cell, but my wrists were still bound to the wall, preventing any such motion. Soon enough, the Sans from before checked on me again, and I wanted to know if Papa was going to take me home yet; I wanted to play!

"Can I go now?" I hoped.

"No, we still haven't heard from the dictator." The Sans replied.

"I'm hungry."

"You still aren't going to be fed."

"I'm thirsty.."

"..I think we can spare some water."

"Thank you!"

"Sure."

The Sans kindly gave me some water, and I accepted it thankfully; I hoped Papa would come for me soon. When the Sans left, I continued to wait for Papa, sleeping on and off; I was bored. There was nothing to play without use of my limbs, and whenever the Sans came in to give me some water, I couldn't drink it by myself! My boredom prevailed for three days, until it eventually gave in to the sole hope that Papa could come soon. I felt very weak without food..my magic was too low. Day after day passed, until it had been one week since I had been kidnapped..I wondered if Papa knew where I was. When the Sans came in today, I decided to inquire.

"Is he coming yet?" I questioned, after the Sans gave me some water to drink.

"No, not yet." The Sans shook his skull.

"Does he know you have me here?"

"Not in this specific place, but he should at least know that we have you."

"Are you gonna let me go soon?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On if he's coming for you."

"..And if he..doesn't..?"

"Then you'll die here."

That scared me. I whimpered softly as the Sans left, my whimpers soon turning to sobs; I wanted Papa! On the ninth day of my captivity, I was fed something to keep me alive for a little bit longer, but Papa had to come soon! On the fifteenth day, I found myself half-conscious, but I was unable to wake myself up any more; I didn't want to fall asleep. When the Sans entered the cell to give me some water, he spoke to me, but I couldn't hear his words; everything was blurry..I didn't know if Papa was coming for me. Maybe he didn't get the message..or maybe he had gone out on a mission before he knew I was missing; he wouldn't have left me to die if he knew! On the sixteenth day, the Sans came into the cell once again, but he didn't give me any water. Instead, he released my wrists from their bonds, causing my arms to fall down along with the rest of my body. I was shaking fearfully as the Sans picked me up; was he going to kill me?! I couldn't stop the tears from streaming down my face as the Sans carried me somewhere else, and I couldn't see past the blurriness when I tried to look at our surroundings. All I remembered before I lost consciousness - for what I hoped wasn't the last time - was being handed off to someone with a warm grip.

"Dusty?" A whisper filled my hearing.. "Dusty, wake up, please.."

"P-Papa.." I tried to speak..I wanted my papa..

"Papa's here, Dusty; I'm right here..please come back.."

"P-P-Papa.." I heard my papa! I heard my papa!

"I'm here, son." Someone hugged me.

I tried to open my eyesockets, and I slowly managed it, finding..Papa. I smiled happily when Papa's eyelights met my own, and he smiled just the same! We both began to cry happy tears before hugging eachother, although I couldn't move as well as Papa could. I soon found that we were in our room, and the cell no longer held me; I was with my papa, and that was all that mattered! After a small while of being happy and hugging, I decided to ask the questions that had been on my mind for a while.

"Papa, how long was I there?" I wanted to know.

"Over two weeks, Dusty." Papa responded.

"..When did you find out?"

"Just before I rescued you, Dusty; I didn't know until you had been there for very long, because I was out working on something very important..and no one bothered to tell me.."

"O-oh..where's Fell?"

"He's in the medical wing; they hit him pretty hard, unfortunately."

"Oh..is he okay?"

"He'll be fine in a while, but it might be a few more days before he can resume his normal duties."

"All right.."

"Did they hurt you, Dusty?"

"Not..physically.." I frowned. "But they didn't give me much food or water.."

"I'm sorry, Dusty.." Papa sighed.

"It's okay, Papa." I wiped away one of Papa's tears. "I'm okay now."

"Are you? Do you need anything? Anything at all?"

"..I'm a little hungry.." That was an understatement, but I didn't want Papa to worry about me.

"I'll get you something to eat, then; you stay here and rest."

"Okay, Papa."

Papa then left me alone, and I turned my attention to my Hope, which was now by my side! I hugged it softly, since I didn't have enough strength to do anything else. I had missed my Hope..I never wanted to be separated from it ever again! After a few minutes, Papa returned with a tray of food, which I thanked him for before eating a pleasant meal. Within a few days, I was happy and healthy again, and Fell had recovered, too!

Papa always took care of me.

~~~~~

"Harm"

Classification: angst.

Warnings: none that I can think of.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

I had been Ink's toy for sixty-two years at this point, and he was truly the best owner one could ever have! He cared for me, fed me, kept me safe, and played with me! As a toy, I enjoyed being played with, and Ink knew that; he was the best. Today, he had gone out on a rather long mission, and I was waiting for him in his room patiently, as a good toy would. As his toy, I was obliged to do nothing without him, since that would have been disobedience; Ink was my master, and he deserved to see everything that I did! Of course, playing with my Hope and my bunnies and doing things that he told me to do were a different matter entirely, but those things were to keep me from being too bored while I waited for him to return from his missions or work. I was currently sitting on the floor, holding my Hope tightly as I awaited the arrival of my owner. When he came, I donned a smile that he would enjoy coming home to, and I stood, hoping that he would want to play with me..but my smile fell when I saw him. He..had injuries..he had them everywhere. I ran over to him quickly, almost not reaching him in time to ease his fall to the ground..I would need help. After laying him down on the ground - I was too weak to do anything other than that - I left.

My leaving Ink's room was essentially..forbidden without his presence. His room was the only place I could roam freely, and leaving it was direct disobedience to a very important rule, but I had no choice this time. I decided to find someone I knew I could trust with Ink's well-being, and the first person I saw was Dream. I scurried over to him as soon as he was in my sight, and I hugged my Hope tightly, hoping that Dream would help Ink!

"Dust?" Dream was a bit surprised by the fearful expression I wore. "Is something wrong?"

"I-I.." I tried to calm down before speaking. "Help.."

"All right, what do you need help with?"

Dream was more than receptive to my pleads for help, and he followed me without even knowing what was wrong! When we reached Ink's room, he became a bit more cautious, but he followed nonetheless. Upon seeing Ink's condition, Dream seemed as if..he didn't want to help?

"P-please help him!" I begged; perhaps Dream simply needed some confirmation that Ink wasn't faking his injuries?

"I.." Dream looked at me for a few moments, before looking to Ink. "All right, I'll heal him..but only because you asked me to."

"Thank you!"

Dream began to use his healing magic on Ink, who responded slowly, but his wounds began to mend after a few minutes. After thirty minutes of intense healing, Ink started to regain consciousness, and I held his hand as he did. When forty-five minutes had passed, Ink ordered Dream to return to his previous duties; he was okay! I grinned happily as he sat up, and I giggled when he rubbed my skull comfortingly.

"Thanks, Dusty." He said.

"There's no need to thank me; I'm happy to have helped!" I responded.

"Still, you deserve something special for helping me; shall we cuddle?

"I would love to!"

Ink was always worth my time.

~~~~~

"Knights"

Classification: undecided.

Warnings: hints to violence.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

I asked questions. Ink knew this. In the five years that I had been dead, I had missed a lot of time, and many things had happened in the short time frame in which I had been out of commission. After being captured by Ink and exposed to..things I didn't wish to think about, I found that I had many questions, and Ink seemed to enjoy it when I asked them, although I wasn't sure why. In any case, it gave me an excuse not to be tortured for at least a few minutes, and I was not going to pass chance such as that up! So, when Ink brought up torture, I sometimes tried to counter his thoughts with an inquiry.

"Dusty, I have nothing to do for the rest of the entire day!" Ink was about to torture me, but I had a weapon ready.

"Why do the guards wear armor?" I quickly questioned.

"Uh.." Ink paused for a moment to regain his bearings. "That's interesting to ask, Dusty. I suppose it's because I liked the thought of knights in stories..and I wanted some of my own."

"Are you ever planning on changing it?"

"No, I rather like an army of knights in shining armor at my command; it makes me feel like a king!"

"You..are a king."

"You flatter me, Dusty." Ink rubbed my skull softly. "Do it more."

"Um.." Now, it was my turn to regain my bearings; Ink had accepted my request to forego torture, now opting to force me to compliment him. It was better than torture. "You're..very regal; you would look very nice in a crown. You would probably pull off a suit of armor, too. Why don't the guards ride horses?"

That was the triple; I rebounded the conversation in his direction with another inquiry.

"Hm.." Ink contemplated the topic for a moment. "I suppose I do like horses, but caring for thousands would just be too much work; I would need to turn civilians into servants to care for the horses, not to mention the feed..it just wouldn't be practical, and magic attacks just aren't meant for horseback. Do you think I would look good on a horse, Dusty?"

"Yes, I think you would." I resumed with my part of the conversation. "You would likely look best on a painted horse, considering your theme. You should try it sometime."

"Perhaps I will..but for now, it's time for a torture session - no more questions, Dusty."

I sighed as Ink dragged me to the floor; I had been hoping to continue that conversation for several minutes.

Things didn't always go my way, unfortunately.

~~~~~

"Science"

Classification: probably more fluff than angst.

Warnings: violence, mental torture.

Canonicity: alternate timeline.

~~~~~

Dusty had been my toy for about fifteen years now, and all was well. He was recently becoming more loyal, although he still had a very long way to go until he was ready to accept me; that was fine. Today, his babysitter was out on a mission, and no one else was available to watch him; I didn't want him to be unattended today, which led to my decision to bring him to work with me! Dusty didn't necessarily enjoy coming with me on my rounds, but he had no choice! Today, he was being particularly picky, unfortunately, but that was fine; he could just suffer on the end of a leash if he wanted to be that way. Dusty's disdain for collars was one of the reasons I used them, although not often. He was remarkably behaved most of the time..I honestly didn't know what had gotten into him today. In any case, we were currently taking a walk through my laboratory to check on several experiments that I had ordered to be run, and Dusty was..restless. Perhaps I should have considered taking him for a walk after this; he just couldn't stay still! Right now, I was engaging in a conversation with a scientist who has been working on a special mixture for torture (my favorite pastime), one which would hopefully cause much damage to any victims I had.

"It burns through bone?" I liked the sound of that!

"Yes, but it won't burn through steel." The scientist confirmed. "If you use it, you should be careful what surface you're..working on; it will burn through most substances."

"I understand. Will it counteract or assist paint?"

"That hasn't been tested yet, but odds are it will assist."

"Good." I felt a tug. "Dusty, cut that out; sit."

Dusty let out a restless noise, sitting down only for a second before standing up again and walking around me boredly.

"Ugh..do you have any sedatives?" I hoped.

"Not at the moment, but I'm sure I could get something together." The scientist chuckled slightly at Dusty's antics.

"Actually, nevermind...I think I'll just take him to a forest where he can run around a bit; torture won't get rid of his excess energy, unfortunately. In any case, I- what's what sound?"

I heard the sound of some sort of..device. It sounded as if it were..powering up?

"That's.." The scientist looked around before dropping to the ground. "Get down!"

As much as I didn't enjoy being told what to do, I believed that urgent commands that would have been beneficial to the preservation of my sanity, such as, "Get down," were worthy of recognition. So I dropped. Dusty, of course, did not drop to the ground in his restless state, opting simply to continue his walking; that was a mistake, of course, as, a few seconds after the smarter beings were on the floor, a laser fired..and it hit Dusty. A pained scream filled the room, before suddenly ceasing; Dusty fell to the ground, losing his consciousness, and I made my way to his side quickly. When I confirmed that Dusty was still alive, I shot a sharp glare at the scientist.

"What..was that?" I had a solid hidden threat lingering in my voice.

"Um.." The scientist looked at the direction that the beam came from. "Oh..o-oh, dear.."

"What happened?!" I yelled, intent on finding out what had hit my toy.

"I-it wasn't a torture device!" The scientist assured; well, at least that was clear.

"What was it?"

"A m-machine..meant to.."

"Yes?"

"M-meant to m-mimic the m-mentality of an..an-animal.."

"..You turned my toy's mind..into that of an animal?!"

"I-it wasn't me!"

"Then find the person or persons responsible and bring them to me! Now!"

"Y-yes, Sir!"

The scientist ran off, leaving me with Dusty. This..wasn't good. Although I had always treated Dusty as a pet, I had never wanted him to act as if he were an animal! I preferred his true personality, with his perseverance and loyalty..the one who did this should have been hoping that there was a way to reverse it..or else. The one responsible turned out to be a jittery Alphys, who had activated the machine by mistake; thankfully, it was reversible, and most of my science department was going to work night and day to fix this little problem. As for me, I supposed that I would simply have to care for Dusty until he returned to his usual self. I took him back to my room while he was still unconscious, and I lay him on my bed. If he was going to act as an animal, I would have to gain his trust; perhaps I could use this to my advantage. With my plan in mind, I waited for Dusty to wake, and he did, an hour later. Almost immediately, he shied away from me, trying to run, but he was still on his leash; he didn't get very far. Nevertheless, he went as far as he could..which was about two feet away, once I pulled him closer. He shook in fear as I moved a hand closer to him, likely believing that I would strike him, but this time, I did not.

"You like that, huh?" I smiled as he responded to having his skull rubbed; his purring betrayed his content.

It seemed as if he did like that, since he didn't try to run away again; instead, he curled up next to me and enjoyed his time of favor. I decided that, while he was like this, I would treat him kindly, since I wanted to see if his personality would change if I treated him better in this state; it would be an interesting experiment, if nothing else. So, breaking tradition, I fed him three times a day, skipped torture sessions, and maximized cuddle times; he was kept on a leash the entire time, but after a few days, he would simply stay by my side, and I doubted that it was even necessary. To my joy, he continued to walk on two feet; crawling would have been annoying. He didn't speak during this time, but that was understandable, due to his situation. Day by day, he grew to love my presence, and he showed it with his patience toward me and his obedience. Two weeks after the incident, I wanted to cuddle with Dusty; in this state, he actually bothered to cuddle back.

"Here, Dusty." I beckoned for my toy, and he came from across the room, stopping only to stand next to my bed and await his next commands; I loved this attitude! "Cuddle time."

I chuckled at my toy's reaction, which was, quite simply, to climb onto my bed and nestle himself beside me, smiling brightly as he waited for me to give him his desired affection. It didn't last long today, however, since a knock at my door came but ten minutes after the start, and I had to answer the door. I ordered my toy to stay put, which he did, before I walked over to my door and opened it, finding a scientist.

"Yes?" I inquired.

"Sir, we have a way to reverse the effect of the ray." The scientist replied.

"Ah, good." I looked back to my toy. "Come, Dusty."

With that, Dusty and I soon found ourselves following the scientist to the laboratory, where a new platform and some shiny machinery now lay. After a brief explanation, Dusty was placed on the platform, and I stood at a safe distance, prepared to observe to proceedings with interest. Following a bit of preparation, the machinery was turned on, and Dusty was hit by yet another laser, but this one seemed less painful, since he didn't scream out. Instead, he simply fell unconscious. As with the last time, I took him to my room and laid him on my bed, preparing to wait for his awakening. It only took thirty minutes for him to wake, and when he did, he was immediately met by me. Instead of jumping back, as I had expected him to do, he simply sat up and tilted his skull, giving me a confused expression.

"Dusty, can you speak to me?" I hoped the reversal had worked.

"Yes." Dusty nodded.

"Good." I rubbed his skull, now ready to see if anything had changed in the past two weeks, or if my efforts had been for nothing. "How do you feel about me?"

"..You're okay."

"How so?"

"I remember what you did..and I liked it. I don't think you'll do that again, but it was nice.."

"What was it like?"

"..Weird. It was like seeing my mind from the inside.."

"Do you like me any more than before?"

"..I can't say no." Dusty sighed.

"That's very good, Dusty. Most would try to deny it."

"I..can't."

"You mean you physically are incapable?"

"Y-yes.."

"That interests me. Is there anything else you cannot do?"

"I..d-don't want to tell you.."

"Tell me."

"I.." Dusty shuddered slightly.

"Tell me now."

"I-I can't d-d-disobey!"

My eyelights widened at that..an obedient toy..forever? I had to test that.

"P-please don't.." Dusty knew what I had in mind.

"Dusty, Dusty, Dusty.." I chuckled darkly. "You and I are going to have some very fun times!"

"N-no, no, no..p-please, mercy.." Dusty wasn't above begging at this point.

"Slap yourself."

Dusty performed the action against his will, shedding a few tears when he knew that I would definitely abuse this power. Sure, I had been expecting an ounce more of loyalty, but forced obedience? Well, that was simply a dream come true! In honor of the occasion, I decided to force him to have a torture session..on himself. His screams were so much more exhilarating when he was torturing himself! With this new development, I decided to order a few test subjects to undergo the same treatment that I had given Dusty, with each paired to a master, who was one of a few high ranks who volunteered. Each subject displayed the same condition that Dusty suffered, and I loved it. As a sort of celebratory event, every high rank was granted permission to have someone to follow their orders; most of them accepted. I eventually did go back to torturing Dusty manually, since he found out that he could kill himself if he did so before I ordered him not to, but that was fine; he was still permanently obedient.

Science was a wonder.

~~~~~

"Life"

Classification: angst.

Warnings: violence, torture, sad Dusty.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink didn't always have reasons for the things he did. Sometimes, his reasons were simply because he could. Perhaps that was why he tortured me..I didn't know. All I knew was that he was my tormentor, and I would never escape him. Maybe that was why I never fought back..it was hopeless, and it wouldn't help me..only hurt me. I had grown used to being treated as a plaything, just..something for my owner's amusement; I wasn't allowed to make my own decisions, much less affect his. In the beginning, I refused to allow him to make my decisions for me, but my efforts were fruitless; if he wanted something done, it would be done, and fighting back was forbidden. Now, I simply allowed him to do as he pleased; it wasn't as if I could change anything. I was just a broken toy. Perhaps that was why I didn't struggle to escape or run away when he beat me. Why I would have rathered to lie down and give in than to resist. I didn't have enough strength to resist anymore..he had taken that away from me; I didn't think it would come back. Life was more..simple when I gave in; moving with Ink's schedule essentially meant doing what he told me to when he told me to do it, and it was so..easy to become lost in a haze of obedience.

"Dusty, come here." Ink commanded; I came. "It's time for another torture session; isn't that great?"

I simply nodded; disagreeing was a path to more pain.

"That's very good." Ink rubbed my skull. "Come on, get on the floor and lie down."

I did so as Ink made his way to today's torture spot and sat down; I made myself comfortable in his lap, despite the fact that he was about to inflict pain on me.

"Open wide." Ink ordered; I did, flinching only slightly when he reached for a bucket. "Now scream."

As the paint inside the bucket came into contact with me, I did as Ink told me to, screaming in pain, just as I had done every other time Ink tortured me. Being wracked with pain was just a normal sensation for me; it wasn't as if I could escape it. If Ink wanted to abuse me cruelly, that was his choice, not mine. If he wanted to punish me without cause, he could. I had accepted the fact that I would never be free, and I had benefited from my conformity. I was just a plaything; I didn't matter. When the torture session ended, I was thrown to the ground to cry, which I did without hesitation; it was expected of me. I curled up, sobbing and hugging my Hope, while Ink savored my cries as he did some paperwork. When my crying ceased - after three hours - Ink was still working, which meant only one thing: I was free! Granted, I wasn't free from him, but I had some free time, and I planned to make the most of it. I kept my eyelights on Ink as I slowly crawled over to my corner. In only a few seconds, I had retrieved my bunnies, and Ink didn't seem to care. With that in mind, I began to play with my wonderful bunnies, feeding them and cuddling with them; it was a good thing that Ink's paint didn't hurt them! I believed that Ink caught on to my quiet giggling, but he didn't act on it.

"Dusty." Ink spoke up, when he finished his paperwork; I looked at him. "It's time for another torture session; put your bunnies away."

With a sigh, I obeyed. Ink usually made me go through at least three torture sessions per day, sometimes more. The most he was willing to put me through was eight, which reassured me whenever we reached that number. The most amount of hours he would put me through was fourteen, unless he was punishing me harshly, of course. Today, however, I had ensured that I was very obedient, which meant that he wouldn't be punishing me! The torture session lasted for about three hours this time. If I were to be honest, I had no idea how Ink's paint torture worked; the paint in his buckets seemed to be infinite, even though I knew that that couldn't have been the case! Maybe it was..Ink had paint powers. Whatever the case, Ink allowed no time for breaks, and I found myself hating paint just a little bit more each day. At the end of every day, Ink would stow his paint buckets under his bed and put on his pajamas, wishing me a good night. Night was my only time of true freedom..

I wish it came more often.

~~~~~

"Cold"

Classification: fluff and angst.

Warnings: none.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink's room was cold; he kept it at an average temperature of about..I didn't know, but it felt like near freezing at night, if not below that! When Ink had first turned me into his toy, the cold had been unbearable; I couldn't say that it was any better after fifty-eight years. I had gotten used to..no, I really hadn't. I had never gotten used to the cold, even after trying desperately to; it was worse in the winter. I may not have been able to feel pain..but temperature still affected me. As of now, it was a cold winter day, and Ink had turned the air conditioning on..I wished I knew his reasoning for that. I was too cold to play with my Hope, only wanting to get somewhere warm..but Ink's bed was off-limits to me unless he ordered me on. After three hours of constant shivering, I became desperate enough to at least ask why Ink had turned the temperature down so much...I approached the warm bed.

"Dusty?" Ink turned his attention to me; he was so strong to not be shivering! "Do you need something?"

"I-I-I want t-to ask.." I pulled my jacket closer around me, although it did nothing to help my shivering. "Wh-wh-why is i-it s-so c-c-cold?"

"Oh, the temperature?" Ink looked at me closely, no doubt noticing my shiver. "Are you cold?"

A shaky nod confirmed his suspicions.

"Oh, Dusty!" Ink chuckled. "If you were cold, you should have told me! I wouldn't let anything bother my favorite toy! Here, climb up next to me."

"Th-thank you!" I smiled at my master's kindness, making my way onto his warm bed and moving close to him.

"Of course, Dusty! If you ever get cold, you can always tell me; I'll keep you warm."

Ink was always so nice.

~~~~~

"Family"

This takes place in the "Papa" timeline; yes, I know this is the fifth story in that timeline, but I like it :3

Classification: fluff.

Warnings: none.

Canonicity: alternate timeline.

~~~~~

Papa was doing something important today. Normally, I would have been in school, but today was a weekend, and school was out. On days such as these, I usually played games with my friends or with Fell, but I didn't want to play games today..I was bored.

"That cloud looks like a fish." Fell pointed to a fish-shaped cloud.

"Yep." I sighed, looking at the clouds; Papa had made all of the clouds shaped as different things to entertain those who watched them, but today, I didn't feel like watching the clouds.

"And that one's a flower."

"Mhm."

"That's a potato."

"A potato?" I looked at the cloud Fell was pointing to. "That's more like a ball!"

"Football or bouncy ball?"

"Potato ball!"

Fell chuckled. "Potato ball it is!"

Silence mostly reigned for a few minutes, with Fell occasionally pointing out some of the more intricate cloud shapes.

"Dust?" Fell eventually addressed me.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Are you all right? You usually don't leave the cloud watching to me.."

"I'm okay..just a bit bored." I sat up in the soft grass of the courtyard; Papa had made it extra soft after I had scraped my bones several times and hurt myself after falls. "It's just a boring day, I guess."

"Want to do something fun?"

"Like?"

"I'm sure Ink would be all right if you were to visit a few AUs, maybe one with a nice pond; we could find a waterfall that isn't in a Waterfall."

"You mean a surface one?"

"Sure."

I thought about the idea for a few moments, deciding that I would definitely enjoy that! With a grin, I grabbed Fell's wrist and began to run to Papa, to get permission to leave; I wasn't allowed out without his knowledge, just in case something happened. We found Papa in a hallway, which was convenient, since I didn't necessarily want to interrupt a meeting, even though I knew he would allow me to.

"Papa!" I called out, approaching Papa with Fell in tow.

"Hm?" Papa's gaze shifted toward us, and he smiled when he saw us. "Oh, Dusty! Do you need something?"

"Papa, can Fell take me to a universe or a few?"

"Well, I don't see why not..do you have your emergency button with you?"

"Yep!" I lifted my left hood strap, revealing an emergency tracking button that Papa had given to me in the event that I was kidnapped again; that event a few years ago had made him a bit afraid of my going out, which led to his giving me the button.

"In that case, you have fun; I'm afraid I won't be home until dinner, but I hope you can make do without me?"

"We can!"

"All right, then; have a good day, son."

"I will!"

With that said, Papa continued on his way to whatever kind of work stuff he had to do, and Fell took the liberty of taking me to a slightly less crowded hallway to open a portal.

"Where to?" He inquired.

"Hm.." I lifted a phalanx to my chin, thinking of different universes to go to. "Is..your universe nice?"

Fell seemed a bit surprised when I mentioned his universe..I wondered why. "I..wouldn't know.."

"Why not?"

"I..haven't been there..since all of this began.."

"You mean you haven't been to your home in over a century?" I was astonished; that was a long time!

"Yeah.."

"We should go there!"

"What?"

"If you haven't been there in so long, I'm sure everyone there misses you!"

"They probably think I'm a traitor.."

"You'll never know until you find out!"

"I guess..are you sure you don't want to go to a nice surface AU?"

"I'm very sure!"

"Then..here we go.."

Fell promptly opened a portal to Underfell, and we stepped through, finding ourselves on the outskirts of his Snowdin. When I looked up to him, I saw a nostalgic wonder in his eyelights, but it was also mixed with..sadness; I assumed that it was because he had been away for so long. I took him by the hand and began to lead him into the town, where a few guards were on duty. For a very long time, I wondered how there were many guards in every universe, while only one guard was taken from each universe. The answer was cloning; Papa made at least three copies of every judge, but only one was the true judge that had been taken, while the others were simply guards from the start, but they had all of the emotional capabilities of their original. Papa was smart! I hummed a tune as I skipped through the town, waving happily at some of the guards that were patrolling the town as Fell looked around. Soon enough, I noticed the presence of someone that I knew would be very special to Fell; his brother. Truth be told, I sometimes missed my own brother..I knew that he fought against Papa, but he was still my brother..it didn't matter; Paps was too busy with his own life to rejoin mine, and I understood that.

"Hello!" I waved at the tall skeleton, who had been walking through the streets, not yet having noticed us until I called out.

Fell seemed tense when his brother turned to look at us, although I wasn't sure why; Fell had always told me that he and his brother had always had a great relationship..maybe it was the more than a century of separation. Slowly, his brother approached us, and Fell took a few steps forward as well, not letting go of my hand until he got close enough. They stopped about a foot apart from eachother; Fell slowly removed his helmet, although I didn't see how that triggered the next action, which was a tight hug, mixed with tears. I sometimes imagined what it would be like if I were to see my brother again..sometimes, my daydreams were exactly like this. I didn't know that Fell had missed his brother so much; I would have to arrange another meeting like this sometime soon. When the hug ended, Fell's brother led us into his home, which seemed nice; it reminded me of my old home in Dusttale's Snowdin, except this one had a different color scheme and a few other differences. Fell and I sat down on the couch, while Fell's brother pulled up a chair in front of us. After a few moments of silence, a conversation was started.

"It's..been a long time." Fell's brother wore a small smile.

"Yeah.." Fell nodded slowly. "You look older than I remember you.."

"We all stopped aging at some point..no one really knows why. Why did you leave?"

"I..had a chance to help; I wasn't going to sit down and allow myself to be conquered. I guess it was too hard to resist for so long."

"When..did it happen?"

"..I don't remember. It was too long ago..much too long ago.."

"I thought..soldiers weren't allowed to visit home.."

"Most aren't..I'm still not.."

"What do you mean? Are you here..wrongly?"

"No, I'm allowed to be here.."

"Then..who is this?" Fell's brother looked at me confusedly.

"The reason I'm allowed to be here. I guess I should start from the beginning." Fell took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. "I was forced to be a low rank from the beginning, and it stayed that way for a very long period of time. I did what I was ordered, and I did it when I was ordered..but I made a friend along the way. This is Dust, my friend..and Ink's son."

"..I wasn't aware the dictator.."

"He's adopted, not biological."

"That makes more sense.."

"I befriended him before he was adopted. He used to..well, the high ranks..bullied him..they really don't like him. In order to prevent more incidents concerning his son's safety, Ink decided to give him a personal guard, one who would protect him and make sure he's happy. I volunteered as soon as I got the news."

"You're a babysitter?"

Fell chuckled. "Yeah, I'm a babysitter."

"How did you get here, though?"

"He ordered me to; I'm his to command, and he's much kinder to people in general than his parental figure is."

"I'm glad you've found a nice friend."

Their conversation lasted for an hour, but I didn't bother them; interrupting conversations was rude. When it did end, I assured Fell that he would be able to see his brother again sometime soon, and he trusted me. I still wanted to go to that surface universe today, and that was our next stop! We spent a few hours by a waterfall that was beautiful, and we enjoyed ourselves greatly, playing games and having fun to pass the time; Fell even jumped from the top of the waterfall into the pool below..okay, maybe it was a bit closer to the ground, but he still jumped from fairly high! When we were finished with our games, both of us were soaked from our time in the water, but that was fine; Fell always carried a spare change of clothes for me, and he was fine with wet clothes until he could change later, since temperature didn't affect him that much. As soon as we reached the door to my room, however, he teleported away to change, but that was fine, since it was dinnertime; Papa would be home, I hoped. I opened the door to our room happily, walking in with a smile, but I soon froze up. Papa was there..with Papyrus. I could barely believe it! Papyrus had made time in his infinitely busy schedule for a visit?! This was the best day ever!

"Papyrus!" I ran up to hug my brother, whom I hadn't seen in a very long time!

"Hello, brother." Papyrus smiled at my warm reception; if I had known that he had been planning a visit, I would have spent all day doing something special for him! "I missed you.."

"I missed you, too! I have so much to tell you! Take a seat; I wanna tell you everything!"

"Brother, I cannot simply sit down.."

"Why not? You're visiting, right? Do you have to leave so soon?"

"I am not visiting.."

"Then..why are you here?"

"To save you."

"..." I was..very confused at this point. "From what?"

"From-" Papyrus was cut off.

"Boredom, of course!" Papa filled in. "He came over for a nice visit to rescue you from the pits of boredom!"

"Oh!" I giggled. "Thank you, Papyrus! Will you stay for dinner, please? I can show you all my favorite toys, and we can play with them!"

"Brother..?" Papyrus seemed odd..did he not like my ideas? Perhaps he had brought new toys to play with?

"He'd love to stay!" Papa corrected. "I'll put dinner on the table while you two catch up."

"Okay, Papa!" I smiled as Papa got up.

"What..did you say?" Papyrus asked.

"I said, 'Okay, Papa'? Is something wrong, Papyrus?"

"Who is..?"

"You don't know?" I tilted my skull, receiving a slow denial. "Papa adopted me."

"But..but he tortured you!"

"Papyrus, lots of people have tortured me..torture doesn't make someone irredeemable. Papa's made amends for what he did to me; I forgave him a long time ago."

"He is evil!"

"Not to me." I shook my skull. "Papyrus, I thought you would have known..people can change; Papa has changed. He's nicer now, and he hasn't laid a finger on me in decades! He..protects me."

"He must be manipulating you!"

"He isn't, Papyrus. He promised never to do so ever again..and he also promised never to hurt you without it being self-defense. Has he hurt you?"

"..." Papyrus's skull lowered. "No.."

"Give him a chance, please.."

"He still tortures innocent people every day! Just because he may not hurt you does not mean he does not hurt others!"

"He might have a few mental illnesses..but he's still my papa."

"Are you listening to yourself?!"

"Papyrus..if it were me..would you give me a chance?"

"You are my family..of course I would.."

"He is my family, Papyrus. Just like you. As you would give me a chance, I have given him a chance..and he's only needed one. I don't expect you to trust him right away; I know you've only seen his bad side for as long as you can remember..but please, give him a chance to show you that he isn't the type of person you think he is!"

"..." Papyrus sighed.

"Will you stay for dinner?"

"I..came here to overthrow him.."

"Do what you will; I'll accept your decision."

With that, I walked over to the table that Papa and I ate at, and I took my seat next to Papa, who had made a very nice dinner; Papa always made great dinners! I began to tell him about my day, and he listened, laughing when I told him that the fish at the waterfall liked cookies, and that they had had a tea party underwater! Papa enjoyed silly things such as that, and he told me about the fun parts of his day, which were fewer, since he had worked most of the day, but he still had some funny stories! When dinner was over, I looked around the room, finding no trace of my brother..Papyrus probably just needed some time..it probably wasn't fair of me to think that he would give Papa a chance when he was part of the resistance against Papa..in retrospect, that might have even been translated as betrayal, and I didn't want Papyrus to be seen in that way. I was still saddened when I didn't see him, though. I sat down on my bed and hugged my Hope, desiring comfort; Papa noticed, coming over to me and pulling me into his lap.

"What's got you down, Dusty?" Papa knew..

"I..m-miss him.." I began to cry, and Papa comforted me.

"I know.." Papa sighed. "I guess I thought you'd be happy here even without seeing him..but I suppose I was wrong."

Nothing but silence and my quiet sobs were heard for several minutes, until Papa finally spoke up once more.

"I..am willing to do something...that you might like." He stated. "I'll..let you visit your brother."

"R-really?" I looked up at my papa in awe.

"Yes, Dusty. You deserve to see your brother, and I guess I've been too selfish to see that; I've wanted you all to myself, and that's wrong. I'm not going to nesessarily like it, but you can visit him..with your personal guard, just in case there's danger."

"Thank you!" I hugged Papa as tightly as I could, smiling widely.

"You're welcome, son."

"When can I go?"

"Tomorrow, after school; it's too late for visits right now, and you need your sleep."

"Okay, Papa."

"Change into your pajamas, and I'll read you a bedtime story."

"Yes, Papa!"

I did as I had been told, and soon enough, I was being tucked in by my papa as he read me a story. School felt too long the next day, but after several hours, Fell was creating a portal to Dreamtale, and we went through. I didn't remember where the resistance base was located, but Fell did, and he led me there! After a bit of hesitation, we knocked on the door, but it didn't open..we knocked again. After a few knocks, I called through the door, hoping that someone would recognize my voice. Thankfully, someone did. The door was opened, and we were allowed inside the base. Soon enough, Papyrus came, and I hugged him as soon as I could, being lifted up into his arms in a loving embrace.

"I missed you more in that one day than I did in all those years.." Papyrus admitted.

"I did, too.." I didn't try to break free from the hug.

"How did you get here?"

"Papa said I could visit sometimes; he said it was wrong to keep us apart."

"I love you so much.."

"I love you, too!"

Fell and I spent the next few hours with Papyrus, and we enjoyed every second. Papyrus was reluctant to let me go home, but I promised to visit again; he said that he would be looking forward to it. When Fell and I returned home, Papa was waiting for me.

Papa always knew best.

~~~~~

"Testing"

Classification: angst.

Warnings: torture, violence.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink liked to torture me. Whether with old ways or new ones, he had always loved to torture me. It wasn't in Ink's nature to bore himself, however, and some days, paint just didn't cut it. That was why he had forced me to become a tester. The word had used to mean many things before Ink's takeover, but now it was a term that everyone knew related to torture. Despite the fact that I was tortured constantly, Ink had decided that constantly wasn't enough. Testers were forced to..test new torture strategies that Ink had developed, but they weren't the ones performing the torture..they were the ones who were tortured. If something hurt, they had to report on it. If something was ineffective, they had to admit it. I was Ink's personal tester, which meant that I was forced to experience the torture techniques that Ink came up with first. Today was a testing day, unfortunately, and I found myself in the testing room, which was right next to the dungeon, although it was significantly cleaner. Ink immediately set me down on a chair and reached for a..cheese grater. Having done this long enough to know that almost anything could have been used as a torture device, I whimpered. Ink strapped my left hand down tightly to the arm of the chair before bringing the grater up to one of my fingers; I felt tears already.

It turned out that my bones were weaker than the average skeleton; losing a finger didn't seem any more bearable with that knowledge. Next on Ink's list of torture devices was a crowbar. Honestly, I had grown an unhealthy fear of crowbars during my time as Ink's toy; he could torture people in so many ways with them! I was reasonably frightened when Ink positioned the claw between my ulna and humerus..and began to pull. I screamed in agony as I felt my bones being forced apart, with the space between them only being filled with magic and metal. Skeletons were not supposed to have their bones torn apart in that way! Contrary to common assumptions by non-skeletons, we could not physically detach our limbs without a horrific amount of pain! Perhaps it was different in other places, but I hadn't heard of any. When Ink had successfully ripped my forearm off, he put the crowbar aside and looked at me carefully.

"So, how did that feel?" He chuckled, smiling at my quivering frame. "On a scale of one to ten, ten being, 'I want to die,' and one being, 'I wouldn't care less if you had done it a thousand times.'"

"S-s-six.." I managed to get out; I had been through worse, but that was still bad.

"Hm..I think we'll use it on more fragile skeletons, then."

Ink then returned to his table of torture devices, looking over them carefully before choosing one. He chose a..book? Truthfully, I had seen a lot of torture devices in my time, but..books? I really, for once, had no clue how to torture someone with a book..well, anything short of hitting someone in the head repeatedly, but even then, it would have to be a big book..the one Ink chose was thick, but it was hardly large, only being a few inches long on each side. I hope he wasn't going to make me eat it..although, I didn't think that eating a book was enough to be considered torture..

"Open your mouth, Dusty." Ink ordered; was he..actually going to make me eat it..?

Despite my confusion, I didn't ask any questions, only opening my mouth and wondering where this was going. Ink..stuck the book into my mouth, but he didn't force me to swallow it; he made me bite down on it. Perhaps this was a test to see if books could muffle sound? I thought that paint ropes that burned if one tried to speak were enough, right? I couldn't voice my questions with the book in my mouth. Perhaps there was a weapon concealed in the book? Maybe it was a bomb? It couldn't have just been a book, right? There had to be something else! Ink didn't do anything else..was this an anxiety trigger? To my confusion, Ink pulled up a chair and sat down, leaving me to wonder what in the world was going on..hour after hour passed, and I became tired; it must have been night by now. I was close to dozing off when Ink stood up and took the book, throwing it away.

"I guess that one's a fail, then." Ink sighed. "I was kinda hoping you'd have some sort of reaction..I guess not. Well, there's always tomorrow."

Ink proceeded to unstrap me and lead me back to his room, where we both went to sleep. I wasn't exactly sure what Ink had been expecting to happen, but the book had left a bad taste in my mouth..paper wasn't necessarily the tastiest material, but I would have eaten it if Ink had forced me to. As I descended into a dusty nightmare, I decided to think about my family; Nightmare had always liked books.

Maybe it was because they wouldn't hurt him.

~~~~~

"Isolation"

Classification: angst.

Warnings: threats, torture, forced self-harm.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink's point of view.

Dusty had many fears. From me to my paints, from torture to losing his stupid doll, he had many fears..but there was one that I had realized early on, but had been given no explanation for..yet. Dusty was afraid of being alone. I didn't know why, but he was terrified of being alone. Perhaps it was because he needed someone there..or perhaps he had been tortured in his life before meeting me? In any case, I had recently developed a form of torture based on his fear: an entirely gray room. This room had nothing inside, even a light source being absent; the light was formed from magic. The room had other magic properties which automatically restored magic to anyone inside, forcing the one in question to stay alive, even without food. Today, I was going to test my new torture device on Dusty, but I needed a reason first; I couldn't have simply shoved Dusty in there without a reason! Well, I could have, but that wouldn't have been as fun. So, one day, when I was lying on my bed, I turned my skull to see Dusty, who was playing with his favorite doll again; he truly loved that thing, but taking it away wasn't a good punishment..I had learned that the hard way. I wasn't going to do that again!

"Dusty." I addressed, causing my toy to look up at me. "Tell me how amazing I am."

My toy just glared; he wouldn't compliment me if I were the only person left in the entire multiverse, but I was going to use that to my advantage.

"Dusty, if you don't compliment me right now, I'll simply have to punish you." I warned; Dusty glared harder, and that was that. "All right, then, take your punishment, see if I care."

With my reason, I considered myself free to take Dusty to his new least favorite place. I grabbed his arm tightly and began to drag him down to the dungeon; he must have been expecting me to put him in a cage. He was surely not expecting me to drag him in front of what must have seemed like a vault door. Well, I did! I opened the door with ease, savoring Dusty's confused noises; he silently begged me to tell him what was going on, but I wasn't going to! When the door was opened, I pushed Dusty inside, and he fell to the ground, unable to get up before I shut the door behind him. With that out of the way, I needed only to wait; I decided that a week would be enough to see if the torture was effective or not. I was a bit bored without Dusty to liven up my life, but he had to be punished for his disobedience! A week was enough, though. Definitely enough. I didn't want to punish myself, after all! I needed my toy! When the week was over, I hurried down to the dungeon, back to the door that I had shoved Dusty through a week earlier. I had been expecting Dusty to walk out with a frown; that would have been reasonable. Instead, I was greeted with a bawling Dusty who rammed himself into me, clutching to my legs as if he was trying to convince himself that I existed..

"Um..Dusty?" I looked down at my toy, bewildered.

"I'm sorry!" He sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry..please don't leave me alone, please don't! Y-you're amazing! You're a wonderful person; please don't put me back in there!"

I..didn't know what to say. This form of torture had worked incredibly well! Instead of simply teaching him a lesson, it had convinced him to obey! He had never complimented me before, yet here he was, showering me with praises, begging me not to put him back into the scary room alone. This called for serious self-control; thankfully, I had that.

"Well.." I knelt down to my toy's level, wrapping him in a hug as he returned it. "I suppose you don't have to go back in just yet; that's only for bad toys who don't obey their masters. Are you going to be a bad toy?"

"N-no!" Dusty answered quickly.

"Then you'l be a good toy and obey me?"

"Yes!" Dusty clutched to me tighter.

"Then you shouldn't have to go back. Would you like to go back to my room now?"

"P-please.."

"All right."

I picked Dusty up, finding that he wouldn't let go of me; that was fine. As soon as we returned to my room, I set Dusty on the ground, and I went to lie down on my bed. Now it was time to find out how much the torture had affected him.

"Dusty." I said, causing my toy to listen. "Tell me how amazing I am."

"You're a very amazing individual." Dusty said, quickly; he seemed paranoid.

"Continue."

"I..could think of very few people in the world like you; I don't think there are any, really.."

"Go on."

Dusty did. From that point on, he was increasingly obedient, following orders without questioning me even a little; I enjoyed that. Two months after the punishment, I was sitting on the roof of the compound with Dusty, watching the stars.

"It's very pretty tonight, isn't it?" I questioned.

"Yes." Dusty nodded.

"Dusty.." I looked down, seeing the courtyard below..and I had a wonderful idea! "Jump off the roof."

"..What..?" Dusty probably thought that he heard me wrong.

"I want you to jump off the roof. Hurt yourself."

"B-but.." Dusty didn't want to.

"It's either jump or visit the isolation chamber again..your choice."

Dusty froze for a moment before inching closer to the edge; it surprised me, what lengths he would go to in order to avoid the recently-dubbed "isolation chamber." After a few seconds of hesitation, he stepped over the edge, and he plummeted to the ground; the scream that rang out when he hit the bottom told me that he had lived.

My toy was surprisingly obedient.

~~~~~

"Commands"

This short is a sequel to "Science."

Classification: angst.

Warnings: torture, forced obedience, violence, forced self-harm.

Canonicity: alternate timeline.

~~~~~

I didn't like being forced to be obedient; I couldn't even try to refuse! My body just did what Ink told me to do, disregarding what my mind had to say about it! Ink seemed to enjoy my unwilling loyalty, forcing me to hurt some of my friends against my will and not allowing me to apologize..they understood that I couldn't stop myself, but that didn't make it any easier! I wished life would go back to the way it was before; I would have gladly taken Ink's cruelty than hurt anyone else, but that wasn't possible. Today was a day like any other, and Ink would no doubt order me around another dozen times in the next hour, simply because he could.

"Dusty, would you be so kind as to grab my jacket for me?" Ink knew I had no choice. "It's rather chilly today."

I frowned as I did so, bringing Ink's red jacket over to him. He put it on, looking at my face oddly.

"Smile." He commanded; I felt my expression change against my will. "Better. Would you like to accompany me on my rounds today?"

"No." I answered, one of the only things I could do for myself in this state.

"Come along, Dusty." It was too bad Ink didn't care about my answers.

Ink had a wide range of jobs to do on work days, but they were usually limited to only a few common things, with rare exceptions; interrogations were common. As such, our first stop of the day was an interrogation, where a resistance member was fighting the straps on his chair when we came in; Ink stopped him with a harsh blow, using his brush to break one of the prisoner's arms. I was seated on the floor, hoping to simply stay put the entire time, but I doubted that I would be granted such leisure.

"Good morning!" Ink greeted the prisoner, who didn't respond. "No greeting? Fine, we'll get straight to business, then. What are the resistance's plans?"

"I don't know." The prisoner responded simply.

"..." Ink raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"I missed the briefing, partly why I was caught; I don't know anything, therefore, your threats won't work on me."

"..Well."

There was silence for a good minute before Ink decided what to do.

"I guess we'll just turn you into a guard, then." Ink pulled up a code bar.

"You can't." The prisoner interrupted.

"..Why not?" Ink must have noticed that the prisoner was correct; otherwise, he would have simply continued.

"Disruption frequency. You can't do a thing to me."

"..." Ink pondered this dilemma for a few minutes, only getting an idea once he looked at me. "Well..we could always do what we did to Dusty.."

"..What..do you mean..?"

"Oh, yes, that would be perfect. Dusty, stand."

I stood, sighing; I didn't like it when Ink decided to change others into what I had become.

"It's a relatively simple process, and you'll probably enjoy it..we just need to find your new owner." Ink chuckled darkly.

"Wh-what..?" The prisoner was frightened.

"Dusty, tell my future spy what we're going to do to him."

"A physical adjustment process." I started, wishing I could stop. "The victim is forced into an animal-like state, in which the future owner will treat them as a pet. After two weeks, the victim's mind is restored, but the loyalty that was forced into them during their time under the influence sparks unflinching obedience. The victim will be at the mercy of their new owner, forced to obey any order given without hesitation; resistance is impossible."

"That's right!" Ink rubbed my skull, smirking at the prisoner, who was now clearly afraid. "Dusty, can you think of any high ranks who would want to control a spy?"

"No."

"Eh, I'll ask them later. For now.."

Ink called a guard into the room, and the prisoner was taken to be changed, likely soon to be a spy for Ink. The prisoner would no doubt be fitted with a two-way hidden radio, at which point, he would receive orders that only he could hear as he unwillingly worked for Ink. Several others in the resistance had met his fate, but Ink couldn't learn everything from them. When the prisoner had been taken away, Ink decided that it was time to move on to the next thing on his schedule, which was..torturing prisoners. For the rest of the day, that was what he did, and he forced me to do some of it..I wished I wasn't doomed to obey him. When the day turned to night, Ink finally called an end to the torture, and he took me back to his room..but my work wasn't over yet. Ink had a new nighty ritual of lying down on his bed and ordering me around before bed; he made sure that I was always worn out by the time bedtime rolled around. I stood by his bedside, turning my skull to see his smirk as I resigned myself to my fate; it wasn't as if I could simply change my circumstances, although I desperately wished that were the case. I doubted that I would ever be free of my condition, which, to me, was more like a curse..

"Dusty.." Ink hummed, thinking of what to force me to do, and smiling when he made his decision. "Spin around, and don't stop until I tell you to."

So it was done. I spun around until I felt as if I were going to throw up all of the paint that I had been made to ingest over the years, and even then, I continued. When Ink noticed my feelings of nausea - ten minutes after they began! - he finally gave me permission to stop, and I collapsed, watching the world spin without me..

"Stand up, Dusty." Ink commanded.

I stood, promptly falling due to my dizziness, but my body insisted on standing. My legs gave out several times before I was able to stand, but I needed to hold on to a support in order to remain upright; my support was Ink's bed. When I looked at him, his smile was replaced with a glare; he was..furious.

"Dusty, when I tell you to stand, I expect you to stand immediately!" Ink growled. "You took three minutes!"

"S-sorry.." I pulled myself closer to the bed in an effort to stay standing.

"Sorry isn't good enough! You deserve a punishment, and I'm planning on giving you one!" Ink's tone promised intense pain.. "If you don't want to stand, that's fine, Dusty..break your legs."

I screamed as my body kicked my legs against Ink's metal bedframe, knowing that the pain wouldn't stop until Ink bothered to heal my legs. The pain should have stopped after a while on its own, but my body seemed to think that punishments were meant to last, and I sometimes found myself scratching at my wounds involuntarily, making them hurt worse! When the bones in my legs were cracked enough from the impacts, and when my entire body felt as if it were wracked with unbearable pain, Ink decided that it was time to go to sleep.

"Dusty, bring me my pajamas." He demanded, not taking into account the fact that I couldn't walk; he likely didn't care.

I dragged myself over to Ink's dresser, grabbing a set of pajamas and taking them to my tormentor. As soon as he was dressed, he ordered me to go to sleep. I didn't bother moving from my spot; it would have caused more pain.

I didn't like pain.

~~~~~

"Tailor"

Classification: fluff and angst.

Warnings: sad Dusty, mentions of violence.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink had celebrations. When his birthday came around, there was a party. Every time a group of guards was officially brought into the army, there was a party. When a major battle was won over the resistance, there was a party. Today, there was going to be a party, and it was celebrating the person I would have least expected: myself. Usually, I was just..there. I wasn't special, and I was by no means loyal to Ink! The reason for the party was to give me an award: most pain endured since the beginning of the empire. It had only been fifteen years, and he was bestowing this "prestigious" title upon me. While I couldn't deny it, I didn't want it; I didn't exactly enjoy Ink's parties, for several reasons. First, the high ranks always made it a mission to try to hurt me in some form during the course of the party, and Ink would let them. Second, I was usually forced to wear a collar, since Ink didn't want me to be separated from him..and because he didn't want to miss the time when the high ranks would come to hurt me. Third, people always stared at me. Sure, people often gave me pitiful glances, but that didn't mean that I had to like it! I didn't like attracting attention..Ink was probably throwing this party for that exact reason.

"Dusty, stay still!" Ink was trying to take off my jacket! I wasn't going to let him! "You're covered in paint!"

I growled, refusing to part with my favorite jacket; Papyrus had given it to me, and I would never let Ink take it! I curled up to further prevent Ink's cruel act. My Hope and my jacket were the two most important things in my life, and I would not part with either! My Hope gave me the strength to continue with each day, and my jacket reminded me of the best brother in the world, and I would not allow Ink to defile them!

"Dusty!" Ink pulled harder on my jacket, intent on removing it from my person, but I only curled up more. "If you don't let me take this, I'll-"

Ink and I both froze; a sound had rung out - one that I couldn't mistake. My spine felt..colder. I turned around hesitantly, finding Ink..who was holding a ripped blue fabric. I began to shake as my sleeves fell down to the ground next to me, and before I could fully comprehend what was going on, tears were running down my face, and I couldn't even consider stopping them! My jacket had been destroyed! I sobbed as Ink eyed the ripped jacket, trying to think of a solution..or wondering how to rip up my Hope next! I held the aforementioned doll tightly as Ink sighed, picking me up with the parts of my jacket. He was carrying me somewhere; I didn't care. My jacket had been torn up, and nothing could save it! Ink took me to a room in which a few chairs sat, and he set me in one of them before taking the pieces of my jacket to a guard who worked here..was he going to burn my jacket?! After giving the parts of my jacket to the guard, Ink sat down in a chair next to me and tried to comfort me, probably only to get me to stop crying; Ink didn't like it when I cried. I sobbed on Ink's lap for over an hour before the guard from earlier returned, probably to tell Ink how the burning went..

"Here it is, Sir." The guard said, but I didn't look up.

"Oh, finally." Ink sounded relieved, pushing me off his lap and onto the next chair. "This looks fairly good."

"I tried to hide the fact that there were tears in the fabric very carefully, Sir; this is the best I could do. I also washed it..I hope you don't mind."

"That's all right; you may go."

"Thank you, Sir." The guard left us.

"Hey, Dusty, stop crying."

Ink lifted my skull, and I saw-

"You like it?" Ink smiled.

I nodded, unable to form words as I gazed upon my jacket..the guard had raised it from the dead! I hugged my jacket tightly before putting it on, noticing that the dust had stayed on, even after being washed! I felt much happier knowing that my jacket was no longer dead.

"All right, Dusty; I'll allow you to wear your jacket to the party, but we have to go now." Ink compromised, receiving a nod.

The party was fine, overall. The high ranks managed to find a whip to harm me with, but aside from that, I managed to have a fairly peaceful experience. At the very least, I managed to ignore the attention that I received. My friends also shielded me from anyone who tried to hurt me for a while, which I appreciated immensely.

I had the best friends in the world.

~~~~~

"Blanket"

Classification: beginning fluff leading to serious angst.

Warnings: coldness, torture, threats, violence, violins- wait no, sad Dusty.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

My friends were nice; they always gave me encouragement when I needed it and helped me get through hard times. When I had first mentioned the fact that Ink's room was cold at night, I hadn't expected them to do anything, but one day, the swapped Sans and Dream came to visit me together, and they brought a box.

"What's that?" I wondered, inspecting the package.

"It's for you." The swapped Sans confused me.

"But..I'm not allowed to receive gifts..Ink will hurt you.."

"Not if he doesn't know!" Dream reminded.

"He'll find out..I know he will."

"Well, will you at least open it? Maybe he won't take it away.."

"I..guess."

Sighing, I opened the box, revealing...a red fabric? It was rather thin, but it was..a blanket. I looked to my friends, wondering why they were giving me this.

"It's for when you sleep.." The swapped Sans explained. "So you won't be so cold at night. It's thin enough to hopefully not raise any suspicion from Ink, and it's red, to match with the paint on the floor; with any luck, you should be able to hide it somewhere, even if Ink does find it at some point. We just want you to be a bit more comfortable..you can only have to use it on the coldest nights, to make sure Ink has less of a chance of finding it."

I didn't know why, but I agreed, nodding and hugging my friends. For the remainder of their short visit, they helped me to find a good hiding spot for the blanket, which was in a spot of the floor that was covered in red paint; the blanket didn't seem out of place whatsoever. When Ink came back, he didn't notice it, and the swapped Sans and Dream took their leave. For the next few weeks, the blanket went untouched, since I didn't deem any nights to be cold enough for the need, and I eventually forgot about it altogether! Then came the night. Ink usually air conditioned his room, but tonight was a winter night, and there was a blizzard outside. Instead of using the air conditioner, Ink opened the windows. He seemed quite at home as he slipped into his warm bed, falling asleep in what must have been an instant, but I was freezing! I tried hiding from the cold under his bed, but that didn't help much. The curtains were flying too high for me to reach. My jacket offered little warmth. Then..I remembered the blanket. Shivering, I deemed this night to be cold enough for the use of a blanket, and I grabbed it, wrapped it around myself, and fell asleep. It wasn't that warm, but it was warm enough.

"What is this?!" I was woken by Ink's loud voice; he towered over me, and he was holding the one thing that had kept me from freezing to death last night.

"U-u-u-um.." I shook in fear; Ink was not happy.

"Well?!"

"A b-b-b-blanket.."

"Did I ever say you could have a blanket?"

"N-n-no.."

"Then why..do you have one?!"

"I-I-I.."

"Who gave this to you?"

I backed away slightly, not wanting to put my friends in harm's way.

"Who?!" Ink stepped on one of my legs, cracking the bones and causing me to scream. "Tell me!"

"No!" I sobbed; I couldn't let my friends be hurt, no matter what Ink did to me!

"What did you just say to me?" Ink grabbed me by my hood and brought me up to his eyelight level.

"I-I won't..t-t-tell you.." I mumbled, not feeling brave enough to speak any louder.

"Oh." Ink dropped my hood, catching me by my neck before I hit the ground. "Okay, Dusty. That's all right; you won't tell me who gave you this blanket. That's perfectly fine. I mean, it's only a blanket, after all! It isn't as if I opened the windows last night to torture you or anything, and this blanket got in the way of that! Oh..wait. I did." Ink began to walk to one of the open windows. "And seeing as I did.." Ink held me out the window, the only thing stopping me from falling being his hand. "I guess I'll just have to torture you again."

Ink jumped out the window, bringing me along. When we reached the snow below, Ink landed on me. Before I could even think of getting up, Ink grabbed his paintbrush and began to create something; I couldn't see what it was. Honestly, I was surprised that Ink hadn't broken my spine from falling on me, but it remained unscathed. Ink then lifted me off the ground, forcing me to look at what he had created, which was, quite simply, a cage made of ice. The ice was see-through, allowing onlookers to see clearly the..cloud that was inside, which was laying down snow..inside. The snow slowly melted a while after touching the ground, but it would never fill up; the small slits in the ice of the cage would ensure that. Before I could beg Ink for his forgiveness, he had already stripped me of my clothes and pushed me inside the freezing cage.

"No warmth this time." Ink chuckled. "I'll be back in a few days, Dusty; I hope you learn a lesson from this experience. I hope I don't find you using any blankets in the future without my permission."

Ink walked away. I shivered in my cage of ice, looking for a way out, but there was no such thing; I was trapped. An hour into my cold torture, I collapsed for good, not being able to find the strength to stand in the unrelenting coldness. I simply curled up and wondered how the snow managed to even melt in this definitely-below-freezing temperature..Ink's magic must have played a role in that. My tears froze to my face, and my soul was practically screaming out in pain; I felt my bones freezing from the inside out..this was not good! I spent five days in that cage, feeling my bones locking into place and my soul's desperate attempts to correct everything that was going wrong..but it wasn't enough. My soul's beating eventually slowed down, until it took a minute for each beat; by all counts, I should have been dead by now..but Ink wouldn't allow me to die. When the fifth day was over, the cage melted, and Ink picked my frozen body up, teleporting to his room. He placed me on his bed and wrapped me in one of his warm blankets; my bones thawed within five hours, and my soul began to beat faster. When I had thawed out enough, Ink dressed me in my clothes and sat on the bed next to me, allowing me to stay under the blanket he had provided.

"So..how do you feel, Dusty?" Ink looked down to me, rubbing my still-cold-to-the-touch skull.

I sneezed, shivering slightly.

"Uh..Dusty?" Ink sighed when I sneezed again. "I guess you caught a cold..I wonder how. Don't worry, Dusty! I'll take care of you!"

So I was fed soup and given comfort for the next few days, with Ink acting as if he had no idea how I could have become ill, despite his being the cause. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that I was warm for a while.

I never accepted a blanket as a gift again, though.

~~~~~

"Cheer"

Classification: fluff.

Warnings: none.

Canonicity: canon.

~~~~~

Ink was usually happy. He would go around and act as if he ruled the world, since..he did. Sometimes, he would be sad, but it wasn't very often, and he could always cheer himself up..except for today, apparently. I didn't know what had happened, but when Ink came into his room, he was sobbing; Ink never sobbed like that...I thought only I did! Despite my better judgment, which told me to leave him alone, I decided to approach him. He had stuffed his face into his pillow, and his body told me that he was incredibly upset. I waited an hour for him to stop; he didn't. After an hour of constant crying, I had to do something! So I went to my corner, and I grabbed my bunnies. Whenever I was sad, my bunnies could always cheer me up, and I hoped they would work for Ink, too. I climbed onto his bed, and I laid my bunnies next to him before moving to sit on the floor; I didn't want to disturb Ink. He didn't notice the bunnies' presence for a few minutes, until Thunder tried to climb one of his arms, at which point, he looked. He gave out a hopeless chuckle when he realized that my bunnies were next to him, but he didn't turn them away; he pet them softly, as if to accept their comfort.

Minute by minute passed, and Ink's crying faded, being replaced by occasional giggles when Thunder and Lightning did something that was entertaining in his eyelights. Soon enough, Ink had settled down comfortably with my bunnies, petting them softly as they comforted him, and the sobbing from earlier had disappeared. My bunnies were truly the best bunnies in the world, and no one could convince me otherwise. After a while of playing with my bunnies, Ink called me over to his bed, and he hugged me as he continued to pet my bunnies. He spoke three minutes later.

"Do they..have any toys to play with?" He inquired.

"No.." I replied, stroking Lightning's pure white fur.

"Why not?"

"You said they were just animals and they didn't deserve it and that it would have been a waste of time."

"..Dusty, I'm always right..but sometimes, I can feel inclined to change my mind about things. This is one of those times."

"You mean..you'll give them toys?"

"Yes..they deserve it."

I smiled at Ink's decision, and I continued to play with my bunnies.

"Dusty?" Ink said, a few minutes later.

"Yes?" I responded, looking at Ink.

"Thank you.."

"You're welcome."

An hour later, Ink had expanded my bunnies' home, and they were given several toys to play with while they were unattended. Of course, they were unattended less frequently after that incident; Ink made sure that they were played with at least once a week. I never learned what had made Ink so sad that day, but I wasn't going to bring it up; some things were best left in the past, and that event was one of them. All that mattered was that my bunnies were happy, and with their new home and toys, I believed that they were more than happy, considering everything. I was glad that Ink liked Thunder and Lightning, and I was also glad that I received more chances to play with them! Once or twice every few months was not a lot, and this new system made everything easier; torture sessions were cut short if Ink realized that they hadn't been given enough attention in a certain time period, and I definitely enjoyed that new aspect! At the end of the day, everyone was happy, and that was all that I cared about. Thunder and Lightning were happy, Ink was happy, and I was happy.

That was all that I needed.

~~~~~

The end.

Just kidding! It is time for the bloopers!

~~~~~

"Dusty, hide me!" Ink hides behind Dusty, who is now confused.

"Why are you afraid?" Dusty questions. "Aren't you immortal?"

"It's the IRS, Dusty! They're after me! They can kill immortals..financially!"

"..."

~~~

"Guard..what is that?" Ink wonders, looking at an old film.

"They call it an 'atomic bomb,' Sir." A high rank replies.

"..I want one."

"I'll get the science department on it right away, Sir."

~~~

"They're just animals, Dusty." Ink scoffs; Dusty frowns, hugging his bunnies.

*Bunnies comfort Ink in troubling times*

"It is time to treat you like the king and queen you are." Ink hugs the bunnies.

~~~

"I am constantly suffering, and my life is miserable" Dusty says.

"Would you like some more pain?" Ink smiles.

~~~

"Isn't your food good?" Fell wonders.

"It tastes bad..Ink doesn't give me good food." Dusty sighs.

"Hm..here, kid, take this; maybe it'll help." Fell hands Dusty a ketchup packet. "I don't like the stuff, anyway."

"Thanks.." Dusty pockets the packet.

*Two minutes later*

"Contraband!" Ink's laser vision disintegrates the ketchup packet.

~~~

"Ink, you have made my life the worst thing ever." Dusty admits.

"I know." Ink chuckles.

"I forgive you."

Ink explodes.

~~~

"Dusty want a cracker?" Ink holds a saltine cracker above Dusty.

"Yes.." Dusty tries to jump to get the cracker; he would like good food.

"Beg me."

"Please?" Dusty uses puppy dog eyelights.

"..Eat." Ink crumbles under the stress of witnessing the adorableness.

It was super effective! Ink gave Dusty a cracker! Dusty gained 0 exp! Dusty ate the cracker.

~~~

Ink points at Dusty.

"There are four things you never mess with." He says. "His doll, his bunnies, and his jacket."

~~~

"I thought he was your toy." A high rank hums.

"Yes." Ink nods.

"But now you've adopted him?"

"Yes."

"Is he even okay with that?"

"Yes."

"How?!"

"He likes me."

"..He's weird."

"Don't insult my wonderful child!"

~~~

"Dusty, you are the single most important thing in my life." Ink rubs Dusty's skull.

"I thought that was your paintbrush." Dusty thinks.

"..You are actually the fifth most important thing, now that I think about it."

~~~

"I love my bunnies." Dusty hugs his bunnies.

"I love your bunnies, too." Blue pets them.

"They're very nice." Dream agrees.

"They're the best bunnies I know." Fell grins.

"They're all right." Ink shrugs.

~~~

Ink parachutes into a volcano.

Without a parachute.

~~~

"Dusty, slap yourself repeatedly." Ink orders.

Dusty does so.

"Why are you hitting yourself?" Ink giggles. "Why are you hitting yourself?"

~~~

And that is all!

Now, you've probably noticed the shiny new canonicity rating on the shorts. This is to help everyone (including me) know what's canon and what isn't, and I'll be putting the shorts from the other extras right here to make it easier.

Garden: canon.
Missing: canon.
Rescue: alternate timeline.
Leader for a Week: reader's discretion.
Painless: canon.
Nightmares: canon.
Punishment: canon.
The Newcomer: not canon.
Rescue (Alternate version)(Bad ending): not canon.
Illness: canon.
Dungeon: canon.
The Takeover: canon.
Daily Life of a Guard: canon.
Failure: alternate timeline.
Revived (and the subsequent shorts in the timeline): alternate timeline.
Pets: definitely canon.
The Rival: not canon.
Error 404 - File not Found: canon.
Horrortale: canon.
Tricks: canon.
Visiting: canon.
Mission: canon.
Torture: unfortunately canon.
Scare: canon.
Check: canon.
Coercion: canon.
Lies: canon.
Another Toy (and the subsequent shorts in the timeline): alternate timeline.
Human: not canon.
Jacket: canon.
Compliments: canon.
Care: canon.
Walk: not canon.
Kidnapped: canon.
Hide and Seek: canon.
Reverse: different multiverse.
Begging: not canon.
Bath: canon.
Carve: canon.
Need: canon.
Kneeling: canon.
Demon: canon.
Painting: canon.
Realization: canon.
Breaks: canon.
'Amnesia': not canon.
Comfort: canon.
Blame: canon.
Reward: canon.
Sense: not canon.
Brother (and the sequel short): alternate timeline.
Insanity: canon.
Withdrawal: canon.
Initiation: canon.
Death: alternate timeline.
Switch: not canon.
Arena: canon.
Stolen: canon.
Rain: canon.

There we go!

With that done, I'll take the time to say that requests are still open, and I really enjoyed writing the ones in this batch! If you think of a request, please tell me? Honestly, I'll be happy to write twenty requests from the same person, so don't be shy!

Now I need to add ratings, warnings, and proofread..yay.

Word count before that: 40,805 words.

Word count after that: 41,202 words.

~~~extras end woot~~~

Thanks for reading my extra extra extra writing!

Bye!