Taken Away (Dustberry)

Chapter 4

(Underswap Sans's Perspective)

I should have expected this. I told myself. Dust even warned me.

"Hello, Killer." Dust said to the other skeleton. "And yes, this is Blue."

I felt myself tremble as Killer's empty eye sockets trained on me. He had a sinister smile on his face.

I took a few steps forward and held out my hand for him to shake. "H-hi there."

Killer closed his right eye socket slightly and chuckled. He ignored my hand and said, "You're so innocent, it's almost cute."

I tensed at his eerie tone. "W-what?"

His hand reached behind his back and returned wielding a knife. "How about I show you how I greet new monsters?" He asked, excitement filling his voice.

I gasped and flinched back as he leaned forward. My eye sockets closed in fear at the incoming attack. Nothing happened. I looked and saw Dust had put a protective arm in front of me. His eye lights flared.

Does he care about me? I wondered hopefully.

"You can't harm him, Killer." Dust stated firmly.

"And why not?" Killer asked. He grasped the handle of his knife harder in frustration.

"Because what good would he be to us dead?" Dust's reply hurt me. After saving me twice, he didn't care about me as a monster, but only for his personal gain by keeping me alive? A sadness began to fill me.

"Well, I could still hurt him and not kill him." Killer pointed out.

"But if you hurt him too badly, we might have to carry him back." A new voice spoke from behind Killer. I was feeling too depressed to bother to look at the newcomer, so I just listened to their conversation.

"The hell are you doing here, Cross?" Killer asked.

"I thought you two could use some of my expertise." Cross replied smugly.

Killer let out a low growl at his comment, but didn't reply.

"We should probably get going." I looked up as Dust said this. Where were we going?

"Yeah." Killer muttered in agreement.

I glanced at the new skeleton dressed in black and white. I assumed he was Cross. Besides the giant knife on his back, he didn't look as scary to me as Killer did. To be honest, he actually looked a little friendly. I silently hoped that the other friends of Dust's were more like Cross and less like Killer.

"BLUE!"

I was snapped out of my thoughts as I heard someone yell my name. I noticed that Dust, Killer, and Cross narrowed their eyes in the direction of the voice.

"BLUE!"

I suddenly recognized the voice. "PAPY!" I shouted back.

Killer glared at me, his knife still in his hand. "Shut up, you idiotic fruit!"

I froze in fear, but felt the feeling melt into relief as Papy burst through the forest and stopped a little ways away from us. Two more skeletons I didn't recognize followed him. One of them was dressed in gold and light blue while the other carried a large paint brush. They tensed when they saw the three skeletons that surrounded me.

Killer smiled. "Well, well. If it isn't Ink, Dream, and some tall carrot."

Papy looked at me worriedly. I smiled at him.

"Hand over Blue, and no one will get hurt." The one who I assumed was Ink told them calmly.

"̸̩̀̏̑͂ͅȎ̴̪̐͋͝h̸̬̫̭̍,̷̺̃̂̄̕ ̴̢̫̰͋̈̈́̉I̷͖̻̰̚ň̸̺̗̱̲͋́k̴̪̜̑͝.̵̛̣̟͗.̵̜̆.̸̞̩̙͍̓́"̸̲͋͛̌̽ A glitchy voice seemed to come out of nowhere. Y̸̱̐̈̅̚ǫ̴̐͝u̶̬͍͍͗̂'̴̯̐̔̔͘l̸̰̪̂͌̎͝ḻ̷͇͎̪͗͊́ ̵̺͂b̸̙̩̠̒ẽ̷̢̦̦͇̈̍͝ ̷͚͇́̀̈́͗ẗ̶̬́͐h̵̡͙̊é̷̯̙͜ ̷̘̥͐̀͜ȏ̴̤͚̐n̷̟͍͎͒̀͜é̶͇̗ ̶̣̦̋͝g̷͈͖͎̣͐̍̇͝ȩ̸̟̤̙̾͛t̵̫͕̩͊͛͠t̶̠͊͗͠ị̶̪̟͖͂̑͛̑n̷̜̣̖̂͂̏g̸̨̻̃ ̶̧̜̼̀͘͝h̷̳͎̥̑̈́͠͠u̵͔̞̭͆̈́̈́ͅŗ̷̤͎̝̉̌͗͝t̵̪̑͝.̶̧̘͘"̷̛̟̯̲͍͛́̽