Chapter 1
You heard the cries of your friend from behind you -cries of alarm, cries of worry, cries for you to come back- but it was easy to ignore them as you flew across the sidewalk, slamming into the door to your apartment. You shoved it open and sprinted in, heading straight for the stairs across the hall. Your feet move swift, but stuttered regularly, sending you stumbling across the floor, just barely catching yourself before you fell. Your head fuzzed constantly, sending you in and out of a panicking stupor.
You knew how to handle this. You could handle this. Just keep running. You slammed into the wall across from the hall, and turned, bolting up the stairs.
Buzz.
You stumbled, slamming your face into the stairs with a very loud “Crack!” The buzzing in your head doubled in strength, and you stopped breathing. For a moment. Shakes wracked through your entire body, leaving you paralyzed on the stairs.
You don’t know for how long.
You came to, shaking your head a bit, and crawling to your feet. Blood covered the entire lower half of your face; your nose was broken. You coughed; smoke was already billowing from the second floor. It suffocated you, but you kept going, stumbling up the stairs. You reached the top, and turned.
A wall of flames met you. You coughed, breathing labored. Your head buzzed, screeching at you. Telling you to turn back. You rebuked it, covered your face, and bolted straight into the flames. You just had to keep going. Keep going!
You were weighless for only a second before you realized that the floor collapsed under your feet. You were falling. Your breath left your lungs as you reached out, trying to grab at something....
Your hands came up empty.
Pain. White hot, searing, lung breaking pain split through your core, stealing your breath. You heard a snap. You felt the snap.
The pain cut in half, and your mind screamed in alarm. “The bottom half of your body!” It screeched. “It’s gone!”
Your vision blinked out, ears stopped working. All you heard was the faintest ringing.
The pain stopped. Was this happening? Was this real? You moved in sedated slow motion, lifting your head, looking forward. You had to find the lower half of your body!
Something was wrong. You couldn’t quite....
You reached out your shaking hands-were you really moving your hands? You were dreaming... You were dreaming....-and reached for the... the thing....
From the center of your torso, about 3 inches from the bottom of your solar plexus, was rebar. You grasped it in your shaking hands, vision beginning to fade again. That... Wasn’t supposed to be there...
You felt the rough texture on your fingers, and didn’t. Everything was numb. You could feel the rebar in your fingers... but that was it. Nothing more. You would have let out a breath... if you could. Instead, you just shivered.
You could feel yourself fading. The buzzing in your head numbed, replaced by nothing. Your shaking hands dropped; you couldn’t lift them anymore.
Your peripherals were stolen, and the darkness around the edges of your vision only encroached more.
With the encroaching darkness came something else.
Peace. You felt Peaceful, almost wisely peaceful. You were weightless, didn’t need to breath anymore. Just to wait.
To wait.
You were dying; you knew you were dying. In only a few moments... you would be nothing.
You... You were fine with that.
No you’re not.
But you were. You had your run... You were tough, but not tough enough to battle this....
To battle death...
You’re not dying here!
Your vision faded more, and you knew that if you could laugh, you would have. You could barely see anything. Just the red glow of fire surrounding you, slowly morphing into pure white.
If time was slow a moment ago, it had stopped now. The white in front of you twisted, melded with the dark, dripped like melting tar.
Formed a face.
It looked at you, panicked. Ah. You knew it was panicked, but you didn’t mind. You felt like greeting it, but at the same time not. You’d be gone soon, anyway.
No. Stay with me, ______! I am devising a solution as we speak!
Ah-! Something was tugging at you. Something near your core. It was soft, but insistent.
I’m sorry! I’m sorry!
The insistent tugging grew in intensity, and slowly grew uncomfortable. You could feel your peace splintering at the edges. Minor streaks of alarm flashed in your brain.
This is going to hurt.
It was no longer tugging anymore. Instead, it ripped.
One sharp instant; one HORRIBLE pain, and time started again.
The world came back. Burning, scorching, real. Your vision snapped back. Smoke filled your lungs. Noise started.
Pain.
PAIN!
You screamed. Your hands worked again, and you reached up, grasping at your middle, clutching and pulling at blood-soaked cloth. Where was the rebar?
Why were your hands glowing?
Your head lolled to the side, eyes catching what they could. Nothing was right. You still couldn’t feel the lower half of your body.
You were floating.
There were things floating on either side of your head with you. Skulls. Huge, white, terrifying skulls with gaping maws and glowing energy at their center.
Panic poked at the edges of your mind, an overflowing dam just waiting for the last straw to snap you from you stupor.
You’re fine, _______. You’re fine.
You’re pretty sure you’re not fine. You were moving upward, fire passing over you harmlessly as you were brought through the hole in the floor you fell through only a while ago. The skulls swivelled back and forth. Finally, they looked up, and the energy in their maws seemed to quiver.
And then explode.
White hot beams, on either side of your head, shot forward. They obliterated the ceiling above you, leaving nothing behind.
Oh. There was the panic. You tensed, your breathing was gone. Your heart pounded in your ears.
You can’t afford an increased heart rate right now! Please! Calm down.
You tried to reign in your panic, to shudder in a breath. Smoke. It had some oxygen, at least.
Just stay awake for me, okay? Stay awake! Stay awake for Tooth!
Tooth.
Yes! If you stay awake, we can save Tooth!
Tooth. You could... You could still save Tooth! You shuddered in another breath, then a third. You held your panic back as your body floated again. From the second floor to the third. Down whatever was left of the hallway. You felt like a puppet as you hovered in front of Tooth’s door. The door slammed open, knocking off the hinges and falling to the ground with a shuddering thud. You wouldn’t know if your legs drug across the ground as you shot through the air toward Tooth’s bed.
A piece of wall had Tooth pinned to the bed, and something... something like memory prickled at your mind. The wall was tossed aside just like the door, jostling you from your thoughts.
Grab them. Don’t let them go.
You did as commanded, wrapping your arms around Tooth. You couldn’t stop the scream that tore from your lips; It was only at this moment that you realized the state of your body. It hurt. It HURT!
Fight it. You have to hold on. I can’t keep my blasters and hold two people at the same time!
You clenched your teeth, hugging Tooth with all you had. The pain blurred your vision, brought tears to your eyes. You shuddered. Tooth seemed to twitch in your grip.
You tried to speak, to tell Tooth it would be ok, but the only thing that escaped your throat was a croak and a cough. Another blast split near your head, cutting through the walls trapping you inside the building. You kept your arms tightly wrapped around Tooth as you floated forward and down. The speed you were going seemed to double, then triple, until you were hurtling at a breakneck pace straight for-
“HUMAN!”
You barrelled straight into Papyrus’s startled arms; he wrapped them around both you and Tooth; you suddenly had weight again.
You’re safe, for now, Resilient One... I’ll see you soon...
You passed out.