your name is reginald, you are in a group called the toppats with their leader terrence suave and an evil cyborg kidnapped your mentor edna foxtrot earlier and wants to kill you now.
“Oh no, really?! That’s awful! What do i do about that....?! I need to do something....” He brooded, walking up and down the room as he was thinking, before conlcuding he had no time, since the evil cyborg could show up any moment to kill him.
“Guess my hair and mustache trim needs to wait for later. I need to get out of here first...”
He headed for the door, peeking out. He was getting nervous, hands shaking as he looked down the corridor.
Janus who's only friend was Remus for a long time, but finds out that Remus has been abusing one or more of the other sides
TW: Deception, Manipulation, Slight gas-lighting, Multiple mentions of torture.
Janus sat in his room quietly cleaning up some of his wounds. Remus had tortured him a bit last night then left. Janus sighed and finished. He got up and looked for his friend. Of course Remus was his friend, Remus couldn’t control his actions sometimes, he didn’t have the self control others did. Also who else did Janus have, he was alone without Remus, and Remus was alone without him.
“Remus?” Janus called out and looked around. There was no answer, he checked into Remus’ room to no avail. Sighing Janus decided to just go get a snack.
--
Hours later Remus appeared in their living room, he looked satisfied as he was covered in blood.
“Remus?! Are you alright?” Janus asked and immediately got up off the couch.
“Fine, what are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be in your room.” The last part phrased like a statement not a question.
“Sorry, what happened to you though.”
“Just a bit of torture and fun.” Remus smirked.
“But, you tortured me last night, that was hours ago,” Janus stated confused.
“You? HA! No, you didn’t think you were my only toy, did you?”
“I.... But...” Janus couldn’t think, but how? It was only him and Remus. Remus had even Restricted him from seeing anyone else.
“Oh, so foolish.” with that Remus walked away to his room leaving Janus behind.
Janus sat down, Remus had lied that he was the only one, Remus must of not meant to.... they were important to each other.
summary: Dream tries to get away from the swap brothers. Will he succeed?
Edited by the lovely @trashydragonartist7
tag list: @anxiety-is-married-to-depression @angelofthehalfmoon @trainwreck-of-skeletons @hisame-amadashi @therandomskelekey @capisnotonfire @butterfly-619
He'd managed to evade all of the sentries - getting a feel for when the next one - or pair - would show up. He jogged and teleported as quickly as he could (as he was unfamiliar with the area, he could only teleport as far as his line of sight guided him), and froze as he spotted a final sentry station, but he didn't sense anyone immediately around him. Dream teleported to the other end of the clearing and ran through the far-too wide apart gate, and skidding to a halt as he saw Stretch, Blue and Hatchet fighting.
"Why are you here?" Stretch hissed, one of his eyes glowing a bright orange, sending a wave of bones after Hatchet, who dodge with a quick flash of teleportation.
Blue summoned several odd-looking skulls, who started to charge with a light blue magic that would probably be incredibly destructive. "Leave this timeline! You are alone without allies, I suggest that you go."
Hatchet summoned the same number of strange skulls, their energy clashing together and cancelling it out, sending bones after both of them. "I ain't here to cause trouble! Just leave me the fuck alone and I won't mess with either of you or anyone in this timeline."
"So what, are you here for spider ciders and donuts from Muffet's?" Stretch asked sarcastically, glowering more at the other.
Dream yelled as loudly as he could. "WAIT! STOP!" All three of them froze, turning to stare at him as he sprinted towards them, too many bones and offensive magic in the area immediately surrounding the three of them for him to teleport in.
As he was unused to running around in snow, he misjudged how much it would take for him to stop moving, and nearly fell face first into all three of theirs' bone attacks. But a surprisingly solid pair of arms grabbed him around the waist and teleported him a short, but safe distance backwards, an unknown voice calling out from directly behind him, laughing merrily, "Pff-hahaha! Careful there, friend. That could have been a pretty dicey situation."
Dream blinked and looked up at the person holding him as Hatchet cursed violently behind him. They were wearing a long brown scarf. One of their eye lights were a blue circle, the other was a golden star with a smaller blue circle inside of it. "I... Uhm... Hello? Who... Who are you?"
Their eye lights turned into exclamation marks - one orange, the other green. "Oh! I'm Ink. It's wonderful to meet you... At first I thought you might be a different Swap Sans... But no... You're someone entirely new. Who... Who are you and where are you from?"
"Don't answer that!” Hatchet snarled, his singular eye light glowing brightly. The other sent a couple of bones in their direction.
Ink, who was still holding him, easily dodged, laughing merrily and answered cheerfully “That was rude Hatchet- that is what you've been named by the others at least. This mysterious stranger is safe with us. Three on one, those aren't good odds.”
Dream was thinking as quickly as he could. He was in a very vulnerable position at the moment, but none of them were aware that he wasn't neutral in their fight with his beloved mate. “I… Among other things, I am a healer… May I please check the three of you and heal any injuries you have? One of you is already very badly injured - given the crack in Hatchet's skull..."
"Neither of us got a scratch. And that bastard's better at dodging than that crack looks... Although I'm guessing that you knew that already, given that he clearly recognizes you." Stretch called out, frowning a little as he glared a little at him "... You have an LV of one, so you're obviously not a fighter... I'm not sure I entirely believe you when you say that-"
Dream sighs, and he causes both of his hands to glow bright green. He sends an attack at the other - more or less a condensed ball of healing energy at Stretch. It moves too quickly for the Papyrus to dodge and has no negative effect on him whatsoever. What it does do is top up the other's MP. "See? Healer." He wiggles his fingers and giggled a little at the startled expression on Stretch's face.
Blue bolts over and checks his brother, a relieved sigh leaving him when he notes that his brother is in better condition after the green attack than he was before. "I would ask that you refrain from suddenly casting magic at one of us, even to prove that you are a healer, friend."
Dream ducked his head and blushed a little, fidgeting with his hands, "I... Sorry. I hadn't meant to frighten you, Blue...Uhm... Mr. Ink, would you please put me down?"
The taller skeleton pouted a little, his eye lights turning into a pink hexagon and a purple square. "Oh, I suppose so... Say, what timeline are you from? Like, do you know what your universe is called?" Ink set him down, though the other was still touching him.
Dream shook his head, entirely honest when he said, "I have no idea what my home timeline is called." He froze for a moment, his eye lights briefly shrinking as he realized that he... Could only very distantly sense Ink's emotions. Which was very odd, as they were in direct physical contact with him. Especially since he hadn't been expecting the other's touch, he should be nearly overwhelmed by the other's feelings. The other's emotional control must be incredible to do such a thing. Or he was using some sort of spell to hide his emotional state - which given that Ink was fighting against Nightmare, made sense... But why then, were Blue and Stretch's emotions as clear as Hatchet's, if they fought alongside this skeletal guardian?
"Oi! Hatchet, why the fuck did you... Oh fuck." Dust called out, suddenly teleporting over, his eye lights taking in the scene before him.
Killer teleported directly behind Dream, slashing his knife Ink's arm that had been casually thrown across his shoulders. "I don't think so! He's ours! You don't get to keep every cute thing or being you see!" With his other hand, Killer grabbed Dream and threw the other at Dust. "Get him out of here before the Stars take him, would you? It'd be a pity if we lost our newest healer so soon."
Ink dodged, pulling his brush from behind his back, sending a retaliatory wave of liquid magic at Killer - who teleported back to Dust, Hatchet already having teleported over to Dream.
Oh good, their stories were lining up - which probably meant that Killer had been lying in wait, hearing him claim to just be a healer.... The other had likely been waiting until the taller guardian put him down. Dream read the coordinates to the Havenfell that Nightmare wanted them to go and nodded just a little at the other. "Ack... Oh... Oh no..." He looks at Blue and Stretch. "I... I'm sorry for not telling you the full truth.... I just-"
His other half's closest friends teleported him to a different spot in the snowy part of the cave, out of sight of the three of them. Dream immediately opens a portal and the four of them rush through it. Hatchet spoke up first. "I'll text boss - he'll probably have us move again. Ink can create portals too and it's quite possible that he might be able to chase us here."
Dream nodded, having stopped the fib that he'd been about to tell three of Nightmare's enemies - something about having escaped one of the dark lord's strongholds, and had to return with his terrifying lieutenants because his mate was still held captive elsewhere. Dream didn't like to lie - but he certainly didn't want to cause Nightmare more problems by getting targeted by the trio as someone who could be used against the other. "Okay... I didn't mean to go to that particular timeline... I-I just..."
"The thunder scared the shit out of you and you just fled to the first timeline that the portal opened up to on instinct." Hatchet sighed, shaking his head a little bit as he sent Dream a small smile. "We all have things that bother or spook us pretty badly. I'm not mad at you... 'Sides you tried to come back to us as soon as you figured out that it was dangerous."
"I... Thanks, Hatchet." The positive guardian responded, a small smile appearing on his face as he nodded a little.
Killer speaks up after a moment. "Boss has given me a new AU for us to travel too. We should probably get going sooner, rather than later. It would be a giant fucking disaster if Ink ever got his hands on you."
The other showed Dream the message, and the positive spirit started to open a portal, when a voice called out curiously "And just why would it be a bad thing if I were able to talk to Dream for longer than I was able to... It was awfully rude of you to steal him away before I could say more than hi."
Dust reacted first - sending a volley of bones at him while also shoving Dream through the half-open portal, hissing angrily "Like hell we'd tell you that, Ink!"
Dream flailed a little, his golden eye lights widening in shock as he fell through the portal, trying and failing to grab any of the three of Nightmare's best friends in after him, before he lost concentration and the portal snapped shut. The positive spirit stumbled backwards, his eye lights shrinking as he fell through a black puddle tinged with a rainbow hue, getting completely covered in a thick, magical substance that blocked his sight for a terrifyingly long time.
As soon as he managed to uncover his eyes, he stared at the strange place that he was in. There were small, floating islands with large doors, one per island. Dream was unfortunately unable to move to any of those doors, as his soul - the apple-shape it had apparently taken after he'd consumed the last Positive Fruit - was coated in blue magic. He twisted around and realized that Blue, Stretch and several other Sanses were assembled on the same island that he was on- why couldn't he sense their emotions? Dream started to panic as he realized he was coated in the strange liquid substance - it was mostly black but it had hints of rainbow and a lot of yellow. When he tried and failed to open a portal, his magic unable to leave his physical form, Dream immediately tried to roll in the grass to get the substance off - or at least wipe it off with his hands - but they too, were coated in the strange black substance and it wasn't coming off. "P-Please let me go..." Dream called out to the assembled skeletons, his eye lights wide and pleading.
Stretch shook his head as one of the strange Sanses pulled him closer with a touch of his magic, answering after a moment, "We've got some questions for you - like why did you run off, after agreeing to stay with Blue and I? Also how the fuck are you connected to The Bad Sanses?"
Dream blinked and tilted his head a little, genuinely not recognizing the term "... Who?"
Ink spoke up, looking slightly battered, but with four more Sanses in tow. "Hatchet, Dust and Killer... I'm more curious about your name friend. Blue and Stretch told me that your name is Dream... And those three Sanses - most Horrors, Dusts and Killers work for Nightmare, if they're not in their own timelines... And those three specifically he uses quite a bit as they are very powerful fighters." Ink hummed, a small smirk appearing on his face as he wandered over to Dream, tilting his head a little. "... Huh..." His eye lights were changing color and shape too quickly for the positive spirit to figure out what they might be.
"... Where were you going about his name, Ink?" An Underfell Sans growled. "You did have a point with that, right? Not that it's weird that he immediately labeled himself as other than Sans... Although why the fuck his soul is such a weird-ass shape is beyond me."
"Uhm... Would whoever is holding me with their magic please put me down? I don't mean any of you harm, and would simply like to be able to return home." Dream pleaded quietly, staring at each of them for a couple of seconds as he spoke, trying to gauge their reactions - this was much harder without his ability to sense their feelings.
"Oh! Right - so your name is Dream. Which is pretty interesting, since Horror, Dust and Killer all work for an awful Sans-esque being who calls himself Nightmare... Why, even if we weren't fighting, it seems as if his very presence brings down the mood of everyone around him... Whereas you, Dream..." Ink paused for a moment, flicking one of his hands towards the positive spirit, pulling the strange substance off of him, and his aura gently washed over all of them, causing several of the Sanses to startle a little, "Seem to make everyone happier, by just being adorable! ... Or it's something that your magic does."
Shit. Time for a distraction. "Uhm... Okay...? So where are we? It's very beautiful, but I've never been inside of such a strange timeline before... Although this would make the total number of timelines I've been to three." Dream tried, he was pretty sure that he wasn't strictly inside of any one timeline - as several of the doors that were close enough for him to read were labeled with the names of different AUs, but that could just be how this timeline worked.
"Pff-hahaha! You're not in a timeline, this is the Doodlesphere. The center of the multiverse, but not part of any one timeline or Alternate Universe. I set up a portal behind where you were shoved through to bring you here, as the only way that you can leave is either if I let you... Or you go through one of those doors But, given that you're being held in place by Blue magic, no one can interrupt us while we talk." Ink responded cheerfully, one of his eye lights a yellow circle, the other a blue star. "The bad sanses can't get here... Well, Nightmare might be able to, if he could find a door here, but I doubt that he could find one. Not easily."
"I'm not anyone important, not really... I just..." Dream sighed, looking down at the ground, trying to come up with someone that was truthful enough that they might not catch the lies. "I'm a healer, who was pressed into Lord N... His service." He shivers a little, curling in on himself in the way that many who spoke of Nightmare did when under his rule. His beloved really wasn't that bad, but he could be incredibly intimidating when he wanted to. Dream is a nickname his lieutenants have given me because they think I'm really adorable. I've been told that my magic feels nice to other people, but I've never really understood why... I-I have to g-go back to them... M-My... My mate... He's... He's in one of the timelines that are controlled by the... Uhm... Bad Sanses? As you called them? And I... I don't know what will happen if I don't go back."
"Why the fuck do you help those bastards?" The Underfell Sans hissed, looking affronted at the very thought of capitulating with his beloved.
As much as Dream wanted to tell them that they shouldn't fight Nightlight- that the other was working to better the living conditions of those who suffered awfully in dark timelines - it wouldn't cause them to let him go anytime soon. "What other choice do I have? Sure, there are rumors that there are a group of people who fight against him, but until now, I just thought that was just fanciful rumors of the foolish and soon to be..." Dream allowed his voice to fade off, breaking a little. "Everyone I love and care for is under their care. The love of my life included. I didn't know that I could open portals until I tried to flee my home timeline... Stumbling into your timeline Stretch was the second time I ever attempted it."
All of them went quiet, digesting the information that he'd fed them, hoping that they'd believe him entirely. Blue, a small, considering frown appearing on his face as he asked curiously "When you and I first met, you introduced yourself as the Guardian of Positivity, what did you mean by that?"
Oh fuck. Dream had forgotten he'd done that. "I... Uhm… I can create positive feelings within other people with my magic? N-Not that I can exactly turn that part of my magic off… Also I can sense the emotional state of the beings around me unless they’ve got some sort of spell or potion or whatever to hide their feelings from me. Like Ink, for example. I can only very faintly feel his emotions. It’s… A new experience for me.” That was more or less the truth as the Tree had apparently been long-destroyed after Nightmare had eaten almost all of the apples. “... I believe I did explain this to you earlier, Blue?”
The other’s eye lights briefly shrank and a light blue blush appeared on the other’s face as he responded “I… Oh you’re right about that, haha. Sorry! I’ve been accused of being a bit of a scatterbrain - besides none of the others knew until you explained… So yeah?”
“I… Oh, Uhm… Okay?” Dream responded, fidgeting “I… I would very much like to be put down now - I should return to the AU that I was instructed to go to… I don’t… I don’t want to think of what will happen to my loved ones if I don’t… None of the four of them are known for their mercy, haha…” He was working on that with them, actually, but again, that would reveal far more about who he was than he knew he should to enemies. Of course this is the moment that Dream’s phone goes off… With Nightmare’s ringtone. The positive spirit answers after a beat, watching them carefully. “Yes?”
“Dream, where are you? Dust, Hatchet and Killer tell me that you’re not in either AU that I mentioned to go to - has something happened?” Nightmare asked, worry clear in every syllable.
“I… Uhm… I’m in a place called the Doodlesphere, being held in place by blue magic wrapped around my soul. Ink was able to make a portal that I fell into after leaving the first AU that I was told to go to and into the second… I didn’t know that one could layer portals like that… Ink and… several of his allies are kind of surrounding me, and I’m not sure why they won’t let me go… Please stay safe Moonbeam… I-I’ll try to get home as soon as I can.” Dream answered back, hoping that Nightmare didn’t immediately try to attack - this was Ink’s home turf and the positive spirit still hoped that he could talk his way out of this “But they seem nice and reasonable, so hopefully they’ll let me go soon… It’s not like I haven’t been imprisoned before… Hahaha… I love you and I always will...”
“... Fuck. I do have contact with someone who should know a way to get in there. A couple as a matter of fact. Either you’re free in twenty minutes or I’m coming to get you.” Nightmare promised, voice dark and protective.
Dream was about to try to respond when his phone was snatched from his hands. “You know, we were talking to you. It’s rude to ignore us~!” Ink called out, his voice light and playful, but one of the other’s eye slights a blue circle, the other a red square. The other guardian hit the speaker button on his phone and called out curiously. “Hello? I’d rather that you not hang up just yet… Moonbeam, I believe Dream called you? If you can tell me which AU you’re in, I’ll be able to rescue you from Nightmare, so that the two of you can be free of his rule.”
Dream was trying not to freak out, his eye lights shrunk down to pinpricks as he hoped that Nightmare could disguise his voice sufficiently enough for this capricious being not to recognize him. He couldn’t help but point out, “Even… Even if you did rescue the two of us, what about everyone else in our timeline? Do you really think that we’d abandon them to whatever… Whatever he would do to them for our defection? Lord Nightmare does not suffer traitors or runaways kindly - and the punishments can be…” Dream actually didn’t know how Nightlight handled traitors or those who attempted to flee him, but he sincerely doubted that the other reacted well to such things… Given how the other had lashed out at him by turning him to stone for trying to keep some semblance of balance between positive and negative feelings. He shuddered a little, one of his hands coming up to his neck, shuddering a little as a phantom of the pain around his neck from one of the other’s tentacles ran through him. In a very small voice, he responds “Lord Nightmare doesn’t take traitors - perceived or real very well at all.”
Nightmare spoke up, his voice lighter, and without that strange, echoing reverberating echo every time he spoke (hopefully different enough to fool them) “Dream defied L...Lord Nightmare once. In his fury he… He nearly… He cursed him and killed hundreds in our timeline. I was one of the few who were spared because… Well… Healers are very rare in Nightmare’s kingdom and Dream is quite strong, though his magic is primarily passive in nature. I have no idea what Lord N will do if… If Dream fails to show up when he’s supposed to… And I… I have no idea what our timeline is called.”
Ink hummed a little, his eye lights question marks in purple and green, one of them inverted, before he suggested, “Well, if he roars at you for information about your mate, you could always tell him that Dream’s been captured by me! I’m Ink, guardian of the multiverse and I’ve been fighting against Nightmare for decades now with some success! I know some very clever science-y type Sanses who should be able to track down the AU that this cell phone was at least created in, which should bring us closer to where the both of you live. I’m sure that we’ll be able to drive the gooplord and his stabby minions from your timeline.”
“... And what happens to us when you leave? How do we know that he won’t simply retake our timeline and rule more cruelly for daring to hope that we’d be free of his influence?” Nightmare growled, snapping a little, though his voice was still the way it used to sound.
“Oh!... yes, that can be a bit of a problem but depending on how many of you there are, it’d probably just be easier to chase them away and take the survivors to the Omega Timeline. You’ll be sare there, no one can enter it unless the creator of that timeline allows them too, and Nightmare isn’t even aware of the OT’s existence,” Ink explained confidently. “Don’t worry - we can make it look as if The Determined Human decided to reset your timeline and did a genocide run before going to the world above… Or however your story goes.” The very strange guardian explained, sounding far too happy to be suggesting such a thing.
Not that it would work for quite a few reasons, and Dream was trying not to panic at the thought of them finding their home timeline - but he tried to reassure himself by reminding himself that Nightmare would have ample time to marshal his forces if he was unable to escape before they pinpointed their timeline (or Nightmare was unable to find and rescue him). He also knew that saying that humans did not hold sway over the timeline - that there was only a single, unbending march onwards would be… Utterly unheard of for the rest of the multiverse and make things worse, so he stayed quiet.
“... I’m not sure that would work.” Nightmare responded, pitching his voice to be unsure but a tiny bit hopeful. “I just… I would rather Dream come home, so I know that he’s more or less safe. You’re charming and I’m sure you’re a nice person… But I’ve heard would-be rebels in the past and it never ends well for anyone but Lord Nightmare.”
“I’ll just have to prove it to you! And you’ll see your mate again… Once we free your world from Nightmare’s influence! Bye for now.” Ink decided, a light laugh in his voice as he hung up, wrapping an arm around Dream’s shoulders and instructing one of the others “Red, please let go of Dream’s… very unusual… Soul. I’m going to take him to Sci and you two distract each other far too much. Tell me, Dream, do all monsters have souls shaped like yours in your world?”
Dream blushed a bright gold and stuttered as he felt his soul fade back into his chest. “I…T-That’s a very personal q-question… But… My… My mate’s soul is the same shape, though it’s a different color.”
“Fascinating…” Ink hummed, one of his eye lights a yellow swirl, the other an orange octagon. “I’m headed off to Sci’s timeline Talk to you all later~!” With that, the other opened a rainbow portal and teleported the both of them through it.
Could you maybe whenever you have some free time do another misunderstanding trope?
Maybe something where Caretaker is a second in command who’s guarding Whumpee bc they believe Whumpee is a horrible person who deserves to be locked up? And that Whumpee did horrible things that deserve the torture only to find out they’ve been hurting innocent people and they feel partially responsible
I love your writing! 🤍
Hello, Anon! I am so glad you enjoy what I put out there. I would be happy to write this for you!
Caretaker walked into the prisoner's cell. It had been much the same day in and day out. Whumper had ordered them to guard the prisoner after the lengthy interrogations. Day after day, Caretaker took up their silent vigil, unwilling to let the prisoner out of their sight.
The prisoner was dangerous. Or so Caretaker had been told. The prisoner--Whumpee, or so Caretaker had heard them say once--had been responsible for terrible destruction and pain. They had done great evil on the world, and Whumper was punishing them for their crimes. And the list grew each day as Whumper interrogated the prisoner.
Caretaker knew that Whumper was just, was fair, and was doing the right thing. Caretaker had known that for years. Had supported Whumper's quest to rid the world of evil. They gladly guarded the prison cells, knowing that their work enabled Whumper to rest and recharge after a long day of work.
This prisoner--Whumpee--was different from the others. They watched Caretaker each day, their face swollen and bruised. They watched and tried to talk to Caretaker, though their voice became muffled as Whumper broke and rebroke their nose several times.
It had started simply enough. "My name is Whumpee, what's yours?" Caretaker hadn't replied. "That's ok, you don't have to talk to me. Do you know why Whumper brought me here?"
Whumpee's questions had continued for days, but Caretaker never replied. Whumpee began to tell Caretaker more about themself. Each day they shared more and more. Each day they professed their undying innocence. And each day it took everything in Caretaker to not strike the liar down. To not hook Whumpee's wrist shackles to the chain hanging from the ceiling and bat them. Because they could not tolerate the lying, the slanderous words against Whumper.
"Hey.....Caret'er," Whumpee said weakly. Whumpee had learned their name days ago--Whumpee had overheard a conversation between Whumper and them--and hadn't stopped using it.
Caretaker did not reply.
Whumpee coughed, their eyelids drooping. "'m tir'd, Care'er." They blinked hard several times. "I miss home. N-N-Notttt th-th-that there's any'ng l-l-leftttttt. Wh-Wh-Wh-Whumperrrrr de-de-de-destroyed 't'llllllll."
Caretaker finally snapped. "Whumper did no such thing. You destroyed your town. You killed innocents. That is the reason why you are here. Stop your lies. And never speak ill of Whumper again."
Whumpee gave a wheezing laugh. "Notttttt ly'g.......S'ry." Their eyelids drooped closed as they passed out at last.
Caretaker glared at Whumpee's silent form. They couldn't stand the liar. Caretaker looked up as Whumper opened the door. "Welcome back, Whumper."
"They say anything tonight?" Whumper leaned on the door jamb. They always checked in before heading out for the evening.
"Just that you destroyed their town. Lying sack of shit," Caretaker spat at Whumpee.
Whumpre chuckled. "I mean I did. It was the only way I could catch them. Well, I'll be back before morning. Keep me posted." And Whumper left before Caretaker could say anything further.
Whumper. Whumper had destroyed a town. Had killed innocents. Whumper had lied to them. "Hey, hey, you!" Caretaker shouted at the unconscious prisoner. "Open your eyes. I need to talk to you. Hey! Whumpee!"
But Whumpee didn't open their eyes. Didn't respond to Caretaker's terse words. They continued to wheeze as they lay there. Caretaker's mind raced. Whumper had lied to them. Had lied about everything. "I'm getting you out of here," they said more softly as they opened the cell door. "And when you wake, we are going to have a long conversation."
Caretaker lifted Whumpee into their arms, surprised at how small Whumpee actually was. There was no way Whumpee did everything Whumper claimed they did. No way in hell. Whumper had lied. And as Caretaker fled from the compound, Whumpee tucked carefully in their arms, Caretaker feared what other lies, what other pain, they had been complicit in all because they believed every word Whumper said.
Right Hand knew that their moment was coming soon. They had to grab Sidekick before they returned to Lair and to Villain. Or there would be hell to pay.
Right Hand had spent the better part of the afternoon following Sidekick as they meandered through the city on various errands. Sidekick was in disguise, of course, but Right Hand knew exactly who they were.
Which is why they knew their plan would work. They turned to one of their underlings. "Now, I need you to hit me a few times. Make it look good."
"You...you want me to hit you?" The Minion asked uncertainly.
"Yes, hurry, quick." Right Hand could see Sidekick rounding the corner.
"No! Please, stop!" They cried out after the minion got their first hit in. They saw the minion freeze for a moment and glared at them. The minion sighed and struck out at Right Hand again. "Somebody, anybody! Help! Please!"
Right Hand smiled internally as they heard Sidekick run towards them. "Leave them alone!" Sidekick was on the minion before Right Hand could react.
"Thank you, thank you," Right Hand muttered weakly as they tried to look faint.
"Let me help you up," Sidekick said as they offered a hand to Right Hand. The minion had fled and was at a safe distance. Right Hand knew they would come back the moment Right Hand called for it.
As Sidekick grasped Right Hand's arm and pulled, Right Hand slipped the power suppressing cuffs onto Sidekick. Before Sidekick could react, Right Hand jumped up, using their momentum to slam into Sidekick, knocking them to the ground. The struck Sidekick in the head twice before Sidekick went still beneath them. They waited a few moments. The last thing they needed was Sidekick waking up and causing them more trouble.
Satisfied that Sidekick was unconscious, they whistled for the minion. "Now, let's get you home," they muttered to the unconscious Sidekick as the minion lifted Sidekick over their shoulder. "Villain needs you."
Remus after a while helped Patton up. “How about I bring you back to your home, you’re in no position to drive yourself.”
Patton nodded slightly sniffling. He stood up and leaned against Remus.
Remus smiled and brought Patton to his car, thinking Remus grinned more because he had all the equipment he’d need.
Patton got into the car oblivious from grief.
Remus drove him home silently. It didn’t take too long to arrive. He parked in the back making sure there were no cameras, “See you later?” he asked sweetly.
“Yeah…” Patton nodded slightly then walked away and into the building.
Remus sneered as soon as Patton was gone, he had always disliked him. Patton and Roman’s perfect relationship, always telling Remus how he was missing out, how he should date someone. Well now neither would be dating anyone and no more outings as the third wheel of their duo.
Remus put on his gloves and grabbed a pocket knife. He got out of his car and went inside. He knew which apartment was Patton’s from the many times he had come here. He walked there quietly then softly knocked at the door.
Patton opened it, “Oh…. Did I forget something in your car?” he asked, his voice heavy with emotion.
“Yeah, something like that.” Remus said and pushed Patton back then walked in shutting the door behind him.
The usually bright and cheery apartment was dark, the grey curtains drawn blocking out any light. The couch already filled with stuffed animals for Patton to cuddle as he mourned.
Remus looked down at Patton on the pale blue door runner with false sympathy, “I’m not so sorry about all this.”
Patton’s sorrow turned to fear in an instant. He started scooting himself away then got up and ran to the couch, he threw the plush toys at Remus as if they’d stop him.
“Oh poor, innocent, helpless, Patton.” Remus smirked and went quickly over to Patton ignoring the stuffed animals. He pushed him down onto the couch and stabbed him in the chest. “I do so enjoy this,” he said quietly before proceeding to stab him over and over, he watched the pain in Patton’s eyes. He let Patton lay there suffering in pain for a moment before ending it with a simple slice of the neck. Life faded from Patton’s eyes and he stilled.
The white couch a deep red from Patton's blood staining it, blood isn’t an easy thing to get out of white fabrics. The plushies surrounding Patton were ruined, most completely soaked in the blood, Patton would’ve been devastated.
Remus moved away from him and kicked over the TV trying to make it look like a robbery gone wrong.
Satisfied Remus left the apartment leaving death in his wake. He threw out his gloves in a dumpster then got in his car and drove back home to his own apartment.
CW: defiant whumpee, vampire whumper, human whumpee, failed escape.
Darkness.
That was their constant state. Everything was dark. They found themselves shutting their eyes and concentrating on the noises; on the feelings of their hands in the dirt, in their hair, their scraped knuckles and the aching of their neck and twisting of their stomach.
Each noise above the dripping of water made their heart skip a beat as they focused in on the darkness and waited for the voice.
A nightmare.
They hunched over themselves and began to cry as they buried their hands in their hair and pulled as a hunger pang ripped through their abdomen.
"Don't try to escape, and don't be loud." Their captors voice made their airway constrict.
No no no. Don't be loud... don't...
They lifted their head and began to feel along the chain towards where it was attached to the wall. They could feel a rectangle slab of metal with four bolts on each corner measuring about a hands-width across.
Four bolts.
They tried to turn them with their fingers and pulled their hand away, smelling and recognizing the rusty scent.
"Dammit," they said through gritted teeth before feeling around the cuff. They could stick their pinky finger between the metal and their own wrist, maybe...
A small idea. A measure of hope.
They stood up, careful to feel for a roof before undoing their pants and pulling them off. They wrapped the top of one pant leg around their captive hand and fed the rest of the leg through the cuff and began to wrap it around their wrist and arm tightly.
Their heart escalated as their fingers grew numb. They pulled their arm, folding their hand and praying into the darkness for something, anything.
The chain rattled violently and suddenly they found themselves on their back, their hand free.
"Ha! haha!" they giggled with elation even as their hand ached. It wasn't time to celebrate. They got on their hands and knees and felt for the wall, standing up next to it and taking small steps forward until the hard stone turned to wood.
They fumbled for the knob, their mind reeling with what they would do when they got out. They didn't know where they were taken... but it couldn't have been too far. They would simply try to find someone, anyone, to help them.
They pulled the knob and the door gave way. Bright light rushed in, blinding them. They squinted into it and stepped out onto... sand?
Sand, definitely sand. They recalled a beach just minutes from where they were abducted and knew it was usually busy. Their limbs ached as fresh air hit their lungs and the sound of the tides and seagulls silenced their steps. They put their hand up, shielding themselves from the bright light as a breeze cooled their sweating skin. The water called to them. They took another step.
"Who had 43 hours?"
Their blood ran cold, and all at once the sounds disappeared followed quickly by the light. They looked up, and could see bodies moving; silhouetted shadows staring at them from beyond a dome of plastic.
"W-" their lip trembled as their breathing escalated. The bodies began to move, disappearing one by one... all except one. The feeling of dread reappeared as the still silhouette slowly rose from their seat and walked towards the plastic dome until their face was in the light.
"No..." They mumbled, walking backwards until their feet splashed in a shallow pool and their back met the wall.
