Flashback: The Basement
Rust stares at the ceiling. He feels like crying but it doesn’t feel like he has the energy. He wants to pretend he’s being strong. That he’s not crying because it’s
not that bad, or he’s being brave, or any number of perfectly good reasons. Not because there wasn’t any point. Not because he’d been crying for what felt like weeks already, and there just wasn’t any more to cry.
His arms are securely manacled together over his head, attached to the ceiling by a short chain. He’s on his knees. Or more accurately, knee, because he only has the ne left. Everything halfway from down his right femur was gone. It still felt like it was there sometimes, and he does his best to not look down anymore. That way he could pretend it was still there.
Rust feels so tired. He can’t even bring himself to struggle, and he lets his gaze drop from the ceiling to stare at the machine in front of him. And the soul inside it.
His soul. He lets out a dry sob, despite himself. It looked so
small. It hadn’t always been that small…or misshapen. Rust closes his eyes, not wanting to look at it.
He wants to give up. He wants to just
let go. Accept that he’s going to die here, in this weird world full of other versions of everyone. His phalanges curl weakly their restraints.
No. Not weird. They’re all messed up. Wrong. The people keeping him here…they were nothing like him and his brother. He knows
his Papyrus would never stand for this happening to anyone, let alone him.
Then you shouldn’t have let him die. Rust shudders as the thought enters his mind, unbidden and unwelcome.
I don’t- I don’t deserve this
though…right? He opens his eyes again to stare at his soul, mandible trembling.
Deserve doesn’t really matter, though, does it Sans? This is what you get. This isn’t the first time this line of thought circled around in his mind. He whimpers. He’s gone over it repeatedly. He kept coming back to it. He constantly came back to it. It’s not as if he has something better to do with his time. He can barely move anymore. He flinches when he hears footsteps above him.
They’re back. He shudders again. He hates it when they come in to check on him.
No. Not check on me. Check on the machine. One of them would occasionally come down to change out the containers, but they never talked to him. They didn’t even look at him. No matter what he said.
At first, he had yelled. Spat insults and empty threats at them. After that, he tried bargaining. They had to know he was more useful alive than as…whatever they were doing? Using him as a battery? Still, they didn’t even seem to hear what he said to them. He went back to threats for a while, but when nothing happened, he broke down. He begged them to stop. Screamed at them. Pleaded through pained tears for them to at least
look at him. Nothing. It was like he wasn’t there.
He’s pulled back to the present by the door to the basement opening. He doesn’t even bother looking up. If they were going to ignore him anyway-
“Holy
shit.” Rust jerks his head over to the door. It wasn’t either of them. It was some other guy? Well, not just some other guy, another Sans. Rust feels his soul clench. He opens his mouth, ready to demand this other Sans get him out of here. But what comes out of his mouth isn’t quite the stoic command he’d hoped for.
“H-help? Pl-please P- Wh-what- wh-whatever y-you want?” Tears prick the edges of his eyes. He didn’t want to say that. He didn’t want to look like this he didn’t want to neg. He lets out a sob. “Ohgod. Pl-please- I d-don’t-”
I don’t want to die here. Please don’t
leave me here please don’t be one of their friends. The other Sans stares at him for a moment, just gaping. Then he springs into action, stepping forward and reaching for the restraints, practically ripping them off with his claws. Rust, no longer held up by anything, collapses to the ground. He lets out a whimper as his bones clatter on the cement floor.
“I dunno what’s goin’ on here,” says the other him. “But I’m getting you the fuck outta here, okay?” Rust begins to sob openly.
What’s wrong with me? I was done with crying I was done. He tries to cover his face, shaking. He can hear the alt fiddling with the machine, and he gasps when he feels the other skeleton pick up his soul. Despite his gentleness, it still hurt. Rust looks up to see him crouching over him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registers that this Sans is too tall.
“I’m…sorry.” He eases the soul back into Rust’s chest as gently as he can, but Rust still inhales sharply. Every little movement was agonizing. “I- my name’s- I’m Black. I’m gonna pick you up, okay?” Rust nods. It was humiliating, but this was nothing compared to the last few
weeks here. Black scoops him up carefully and holds him to his chest. Despite himself, Rust lets out a little sigh. He’d never been a
touchy-feely guy, but the last few weeks had been hell, and this small comfort felt like a lot. He closes his eyes.
“All right, then. Uh…” Black walks to the door, and up the stairs. He’s in a hurry to get out of here, now that he knows what the owners of the house are capable of. “Where…do you want me to drop you off?”
Oh fuck. Rust had spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to escape, but he hadn’t considered what he was going to do after. He doesn’t even know
where he wants to go. He had only spent about twenty minutes in the Citadel before being drugged and dragged into the basement. He shudders. “I-g-guess- wh-wherever? N-not- n-not b-by th-this place?” Black pauses at the top of the stairs and looks down at him.
“You- I mean, you need to stay with a friend or something, man, I’m not just gonna dump you on the side of the road.” He doesn’t feel like he needs to tell Rust that even in the nicest parts of the Citadel, a magicless monster missing a leg was too tempting a target. Rust hiccups and does his best not to cry harder, but he’s not that successful.
“I d-don’t kn-know an-anyone I j-just g-got- got h-here and-” He’s cut off by his own sobbing.
I’m gonna die? I got out but I’m gonna die anyway I’m ruined I can’t fight I can’t even walk! He feels like he’s going to vomit, but they haven’t been feeding him often enough for there to be anything to bring up.
“…” Black looks at him for a moment. He could take him to the hospital, sure. But the Swap and Tale Districts tended to not be…very accommodating of fell monsters. They didn’t even like the fell Papyruses very much. They would definitely stick a bracelet on this guy, possibly even a collar. Fells were “too dangerous” and “might attack others without provocation.” He forces down a sneer. Now was not the time to get angry about that. Black takes a deep breath.
“Well, you know me, I guess. So you can crash with me for a while. I can do a little green magic. Nothing crazy but…I think it will help.” Rust feels dizzy, fingers digging into Black’s sweatshirt. He looks up at him, desperate hope on his face.
“s-stay- wi-with? R-really?” Rust’s expression is painful for Black to look at. He shifts Rust in his arms and rubs his back.
“Yeah, sure, it’s not like I need all the room in my place. You can stay till you feel better. Rust nods, too choked up to respond, and holds onto Black’s sweatshirt tighter. Black’s expression softens. “You’re gonna be just fine, man. Don’t worry, I got you covered.“
Rust sags against him in relief. The last people he trusted were…those two. But this guy is the same as him, right? Well, not exactly the same. He has a gold tooth and is way taller.
It’s not like I have a lot of other options.“th-thanks,” he manages to choke out, before Black teleports them both away.
