Dust's POV 2 days later

"Bud, it's okay. We'll find your brother. I'm sure he's okay. Don't worry." 

I said.

  Everything is gonna be ok. 

I thought.

Well someone forgot to tell Ink and me that we were gonna be sent away for testing! Things couldn't get any better!

I get thrown into some barred cell. I get up and find that I'm alive again. I try to summon some bone attacks or Gaster Blaster to get out, but fail. I can't summon anything. All my abilities seemed to be wiped out completely. I look around and besides the bars, there is no way out. Ink gets thrown in beside me. He looks around, living as well now. His eye lights shrink and he runs deeper into the dark cell.

"OOF! What the hell?"A voice yells

I recognize it.

"Geno!"Ink cheers

Geno's here too? You've gotta be kidding me!

"Dust! Geno's here!"Ink says, running over with Geno raised over his head

"Hello. What happened to you guys?"Geno asks

"Error lost control of himself, was hallucinating and attacked us. We were transported here. You?"I reply

"Same story as you guys, except with Reaper. Something is seriously wrong."He says

"Ya, but if Error broke free, so can Reaper! I'm sure it's okay!"Ink says optimistically

"I just hope he's okay..."Geno says

"What happened to your eye, Geno?"I ask

"What do you mean?"He responds

"It looks like it's melting to put it best that I can."I say

"Oh, that's normal. Heh. It's what I hide behind the glitches...which is an ability taken away from me as well as my other attacks and abilities."He says

"Oh. Ok.....You lost your abilities too, huh?"I say

"We all did, I bet. No abilities mean no trouble for them of course."Ink says

"Ya, and they don't have good plans for us. E!Pap just came back and well...he isn't the same."Geno says

"E!Pap is here? Did they take him? Those little-!"I say

"Yes, and I wouldn't do anything if I were you. They seemed to take away more than his code for his attacks and abilities like they did to us. They took away a large piece of him. His memories."Geno says

"What?!"Ink and I exclaim

"Ya and I think I could fix that if I get untied."He says

"Oh, right!"Ink says

Ink and I begin to untie him. He asks questions and we answer him. I give him the full truth, while Ink focused more on the positive side. We free him and he happily thanks us. He reaches into his jacket and takes out a book. 

E!Pap's scrapbook.

"Come on, he's this way! "Geno says

We head through the cell. It's a lot bigger than I once thought. Partly because some barred walls were broken, connecting cells. I start to hear a voice call out. I could hear the fear in it.

"Hello? Hello? Hello! Somebody? Please! Answer me! Hello? Anyone? Am I just by myself? Hello?"It calls, getting louder the more we walked

Then, we see him. He sits against the bars, hugging his knees and hiding his face. All his glitch signs were gone, and with what seemed to be his energy or liveliness. He just looked lonely, scared and sad. The complete opposite of his usual self.

"Is anyone out there?"He shouts

We couldn't get to him. A barred wall separated us from him. But we could reach him verbally.

"E!Pap, hey!"Ink says

"Huh? Who's there?! Are you friendly? If not, I-I will not hesitate to...to..."He says, his head raising and his body stiffening

"Don't worry, it's us, buddy!"I tell him

"Am I supposed to know this 'us'?"He asks

"Over here, buddy. We can explain."Geno says, leaning against the bars that separate us

E!Pap hesitates but comes over. He looks at us and we wave. He nervously waves. He looks at Geno.

"Explain what? And how?"He asks

"Who we are, where you are, why you are here, anything the best you can. How is it by using this. Do you recognize it?"Geno says, raising the book

"I think that's mine.....No, I made it. Am I right?"He says

Geno nods. He slowly sits down and E!Pap does the same. Geno opens it and begins to show E!Pap his very own scrapbook. It was like a parent showing a kid a storybook for the first time. E!Pap would ask questions and point to a picture, which Geno would answer to. Geno was patient and kind throughout the whole thing. E!Pap crashed once they finished reading. When he rebooted, a little sign said above him:*E!Pap.exe has been updated. Info saved.* I smile. I look at Ink and he smiles too. We both know that this is good.

I see E!Pap's eyes light up. Then they narrow. reaches through the bars and places a hand on Geno's shoulder.

"Do you have your scarf with you?"He asks

"No, I don't. I dropped it before coming here."Geno says

"Then what's that? Are you okay?"He asks, pointing to a wound on Geno's chest

Blood was forming and rapidly bleeding out. Geno's face darkens. Geno goes grim. Geno covers it.

"Nothing. I'm fine, I can assure you."He says

"I don't believe you."E!Pap says

E!Pap grabs two bars and bends them so he could crawl through. He crawls through and hugs Geno. I'm shocked.

"What the fu-!"I begin but Ink covers my mouth

"If he is strong enough to hug people to death, he can bend bars."Ink says

E!Pap releases Geno. 

Geno smiles. 

We all sit together and talk. We didn't have much to do nor could we do much. I smile and shake my head. This was neat. I feel better with more friends with me and I could tell my friends felt the same. Though E!Pap was recovering his memories and strength still.

A week or two later

I dunno how much time has passed. I know a lot must have since we each fell asleep and woke up a routine of times. We did not do so bad. They would come by and give us scraps at mealtimes, but nobody knew that I had hidden a stash from Grillby's in my jacket. Each mealtime I would give some out with the scraps once they left, but Ink and I insisted that the scraps were fine. E!Pap and Geno are the ones who need to regain their strength, more than us. But nothing we did could get us out, no matter how hard we planned or tried. Also, part of us is scared of what's ahead or the dangers. Geno is wounded enough, though he denies it. We don't need worse things to happen.

But then, a minion came and it wasn't mealtime. They unlock the door and step into the cell doorway.

"Geno, you're coming with me."They say

Geno tensed and begins to tremble. He knew this time would come but Ink had told him not to worry and that it will be ok. Now the time has come and we have no clue what they'll do. 

He can't fight, he's wounded and weak. They took his abilities away, what next? His memories like they did to E!Pap? His life? What? 

Geno begins to submit to them and stand, but I pull him back down and behind me. I will not let these idiots hurt him! I will not lose Geno, not anyone either!

"He's going nowhere with you!"I snap

"Oh, but he is. And there's nothing you can do about it."They say, swinging their arm

A wave of magic zooms out and hits me. I get knocked aside and hit the wall roughly, struggling to get up. I check my stats and see my hp went down incredibly. Plus to make things worse, my soul cracked a bit. The minion grabs Geno, leaves and slams the door. They snap as they drag Geno off. The door locks up again. 

Ink runs over and tries to help me the best he could to help me. But it wasn't much. We get up and panic. We listen closely. We hear a total of three yells, each of them recognized as Geno's voice. They were loud and each one was more scared or pain-filled then the last. There is a long silence after the third. We look at each other worriedly. E!Pap seemed angry! As in, this was the last straw and he's had enough kind of angry.

"That is IT! We are getting out of here! They can scare me, they can mess with my code, wipe my coded memory clean, lock me up here and feed me as little scraps they want, but they NEVER hurt my friends! I will not let them get Geno! Now come on!"E!Pap snaps, grabbing and bending the bars 

He crawls out and he stands. He turns back to us again.

"You coming or what?"He asks

Then, I see it. His disbelief eye engaged. First time I've seen that. Ink crawls through, nodding. I follow him very cautiously. Once I stood, Ink takes off running. He is fast! Dang. I never realized that. I had to go full sprint to keep up with him. E!Pap holds onto me so I don't fall or hurt myself, running as well. Ink does not slow down. 

"You're fast!"I say

"Ya, I know."He says

"I didn't expect that from you. How'd you get so fast?"I say

"You try fighting the destroyer of AUs on your own with only paints and a big brush or physical combat while he can fire strings, bones and Gaster Blasters at you on regularly just simply training with him. You get some speed to last longer."He says without even a glance at me

"STOP! OWWW!"Geno yells

"Now can we please focus on something more important?"He asks

"Of course!"I say with a nod

"WE ARE COMING GENO!"E!Pap yells

We run and make our way through the halls, trying to listen for anything. Geno goes silent again. Ink speeds ahead of us. We try to find him. E!Pap took any minions who happened to come across us down with some silent(but deadly) bones and Gaster Blasters. 

"They didn't take your abilities away?"I ask

"They thought I didn't have any. People always underestimate the Papyruses. The merciful. The kind. They assume that makes them weak, unable to fight, stupid, especially when it comes to those who are optimistic. Their mistake. Horrible, but theirs and not my problem. It gives an advantage after all."E!Pap replies, then quietly fire a Gaster Blaster at a minion without hesitation

He is serious. Frightening a bit. But his reasons are understandable and I find it cool. I'm also thankful that I'm on his side and not against him. That would be a horrible situation for me. Heh, it'd be like fighting Reaper. Signing a death wish. Never mess with E!Pap or his friends, that's for sure.

Ink kicked any minions that got in his way down or knocked them out. He drops down after one shot a bone back at him. I could see he was struggling to catch his breath. I quickly come to him, E!Pap knocking the minion out and I help Ink up. He smiles but then takes off again as if nothing happened. We follow him quickly, E!Pap keeping me close so I don't overdo it. Everyone has their limits, including me and he can't risk losing me as well, he says.

Soon, I hear a single noise.

Whirr, whirr, whirr! 

"Sounds like something flying or some helicopter!"E!Pap says

"Guess we're in a city while trapped here. Wherever here is."I say

"Okay, let's keep going."He says

I look ahead and see Ink was at a crossroads. Two separate ways to go, possibly only one being able to lead us to Geno. But then, as we got closer, I hear something get summoned. I recognize the sound. It's a Gaster Blaster. And it was summoned right at a wall near Ink.

"Ink! Look ou-!"I yell

Too late. 

A Gaster Blaster fires, knocking the stone wall down. The debri shielded Ink from the actual blast but knocked him back and to the ground roughly. I run over and dig him out of the rubble. He's out cold. 

No! 

"Stay back! I order you! Or I will not hesitate to defend myself and my friends!"E!Pap snaps from behind me

I turn to see the rear of an Error Blaster, or an Error Gaster Blaster. E!Pap stands with his disbelief eye glowing, two Error Blasters with him. One on each side. He stood firmly and blocked us from whoever just broke in. I stand, picking Ink up. I take him out of the rubble and lay him on solid, flat, tiled floor. E!Pap followed, blocking us from sight with his blasters still ready to fire. I hear and sense someone enter. I get up once checking Ink's injuries. I check his soul, it's ok. 

Thank goodness.

I check my soul. The crack deepens.

Crap.

"E!Pap?"A voice calls

I recognize it. 

Reaper.

"How do you know me? Stay back or I'll fire!"E!Pap snaps

I peek from behind a blaster. Spinning his scythe like a helicopter, down comes Reaper into the scene. I smile. And come quickly run over to him.

"Reaper!"I cheer

"Dust! Hey! You're okay!"He says, fist-bumping me

"You know him? In a good way?"E!Pap asks, making the Gaster Blasters disappear

His disbelief eye stops glowing.

"Ya, and so do you, E!Pap."Reaper says

"Reaper, they took away some of his code as you can see. His glitching code and his memory code. He doesn't remember any of you, but is recovering it with his scrapbook. Yes, E!Pap, we do. This is Reaper, or page 42 in that book of yours."I say

"Ah, alright. Are you okay? You seem pretty beaten up and that's saying something when it comes to you."Reaper says

E!Pap's eyes light up and he smiles.

"OH! Interesting! Pleasure to meet you again, Reaper!"E!Pap says, then leans against a wall to read through his book

"I'm wounded a bit, but I'll be ok. So will Ink. They took away my code for my abilities. And by abilities, I mean defense and attack. Ink can't do anything either, the same was removed for him. How'd ya manage a blast that strong? I never knew your scythe could knock walls down like Gaster Blasters."I respond

"That's because it wasn't my scythe or attack."Reaper says, then narrows his eyes at me

"What?"I ask

"Your soul is cracked. I can sense it."He says

"Oh, right! Heh...Minion attacked me when I tried to stop them from doing a certain task..."I say

"Hide that fact from Blue."He says

I nod.

"Whose attack was it then?"I ask

"Error's."He responds

"DuSt!"Error cheers, leaping down beside Reaper and hugging me.

I was shocked. Error? Hugging? Is he okay? His phobia! He's never hugged me before! Hardly anyone for that matter.

"Hey, bud...Are you okay?"I ask

"Am I OkaY? Ya! ARe yOU? I'm sO sOrRy, bUdDy! I'M soRrY dUst! I sHoUlDn'T haVe hUrT yoU! BeCaUse nOw tHoSe iDioTs hUrT yOU! I'M sO s0rRy! I-!"He cries

"Woah, woah, woah! Error! Calm down! Quiet! It's not your fault! It's those idiots! You have nothing to be sorry for, you were just their puppet! So don't you dare apologize! I'm fine!"I tell him

"O-OkaY..."He says hesitantly

"Though I will blame you for the blast. Were you trying to attract attention to yourselves or something?"I ask

"It wAs CroSs' iDea. It WaS sO tHat tHey sToP wHaTeVeR tHeY'Re dOinG, wHiCh cOuLd gIve yOu gUyS a ChaNCe t0 gEt oUt."Error says

"Well, that came at a cost. Quite the consequence. You hit Ink when you blasted the wall down."I tell him

"WhAt?! WhErE iS hE?!"Error asks

I gesture to where Ink laid.

"InKy!"He shouts, running over

He kneels down and lifts Ink so he could lean against the wall. He leans in, closer to him. Error's face lights up the more he got closer to Ink. Ink gets this nervous expression.

Error sways back. His expression darkens. He seemed unsure. Ink's face relaxes but still seemed upset. I think and go to E!Pap. I smirk and see he has finished reading the pages for Reaper.

"Page 61 now."I say

He looks at me, then nods.

He turns the pages and then I see the pages fill with Error and information on him. I see E!Pap's eyes light up and glitch in a way that they sparkle with joy. I look back at the two lovers. Ink opens his eyes and he jumps.

"Glitchy?"He says in shock

"InKy! YoU'Re oKaY!"Error cheers

"Yep! I told you everything would be ok! I-OOF!"Ink says, Error knocking him back a bit with a hug

Error mutters some stuff, nuzzling his head against Ink's lovingly. Whatever he was saying made Ink's face go rainbow.

"H-Hey! Quit it! It's ok!"Ink says

"No! I dOn'T wAnNa!"Error insists

"Then can your brother join this hug?"He asks

"PapY?"Error calls, lifting his head and looking around. 

I take the scrapbook from E!Pap. Ink gestures from behind Error's back for E!Pap to come over. E!Pap looks at me hesitantly. I nod. He goes over and slowly kneels down. He wraps his arms around Error.

"I'm here, brother."He tells Error

"PaPy!"Error cheers

Ink whispers some things to Error, probably an explanation. Error nods and shifts until he could hug Ink and E!Pap at the same time. I smile, witnessing this. Then, Error picks them both up and comes over to Reaper and I.

"Let'S geT oUtTa hErE."Error says

"Ya, about that...We can't go..."I say

"Not yet! Nope!"Ink says, slipping out of Error's hold

"No friend left behind! We're not going anywhere! Not without him!"E!Pap says, pointing to the scrapbook

"What are those two talking about?"Reaper asks

"WhO'S 'hE'?"Error asks

"Those two are talking about Geno. They are determined to get him. We won't leave him behind. He is Geno."I say

"Wait, Geno's here, too? Is he okay?"Reaper asks, his head whipping around to look for him

"Yes....His abilities got taken away as well. They took him out of the cell, which doesn't mean anything good. I tried to stop them and well, that's the 'task' that I tried to stop that got my soul like this. And least to say, we know he isn't having a simple talk with them nor is getting help from them in any way. Quite the opposite."I explain

Just then, we all hear Geno's fifth and final yell. It was the most painful howl I ever heard. But Geno was still trying to fight, telling by the change of his tone.

"OWWWW! ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOURSELVES? CAUSE YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS! WHEN I GET OUT, I WILL-AGH! OW!"Geno yells

Then, another silence comes. Ink, E!Pap and I look at each other. E!Pap holds me close, saying I looked unsteady. Error holds Ink close. The three begin to talk and try to figure out which direction the yell came from. 

I look at Reaper and boy....

He is mad!

And I don't mean the Error level angry or just annoyed, I mean he is pissed off to an extreme. He looked like the I'm-gonna-freaking-use-my-job-to-take-these-idiots-down angry. He's enraged extremely. His hood made his furious, dark expression darker. He looks ready to kill. 

Someone is gonna die. 

And it ain't us.

He turns his head and darts down it.

"Come on!"He yells

I follow without looking back.

Turns out I didn't have to. E!Pap runs past me with Error swinging on strings from the ceiling and Ink was jogging beside me soon enough. Oh, those idiots are in for it.

We find two coming out of a room. They lock it up and chuckle. They casually stroll through the hall, not noticing us.

"We'll come back when that is finished. Master will be proud! We took that weakling down as told!"One says

"No, we're stealing his code for master's use. Taking down sounds like we fought and won, when really there was no fight."The second says

"Still! We succeeded! Oh and the look on his face! Haha! Nothing could be better than that! We're practically unstoppable!"The first says

"ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?"I shout

They look around in confusion. A blur zips past me and punches the second one down. Error scoops Ink up from the floor to the ceiling. I go over to the first, tapping them on the shoulder. They turn.

"Who's unstoppable now?"I ask, punching them

They fall but do not get knocked out. E!Pap scoops me up and runs a good distance back from the two.

"Mmmm, watcha saaaaid?"Ink says from the ceiling, which made Error chuckle

Next, we witness Reaper slam them down and then punch the living daylights out of the two. He got a lot of his anger out and it was amazing but also scary to watch. I've never seen Reaper get like this. His chill, laid-back demeanor melted away as soon as Geno was put at risk. None of us dared join him or throw an attack in, he was doing fine on his own.

Who needs scythes anymore?

That's what I think as he fought them, never summoning his scythe. Error lowers himself down to me with Ink in his arms. He whispers to me that it's partly since he doesn't want to risk falling under their control again and use it against us. He and his scythe aren't on good terms right now. 

I nod, understanding.

At last, Reaper calms down and stops fighting. He digs through the first minion's pockets. 

Nothing.

He checks the second minion's pockets.

He takes some keys out. 

He gets up and goes to the door that the two minions locked. He reaches out to the door with the keys, but froze in hesitation. Instead, he turns and comes over to me. He hands me the keys. I can tell he's nervous.

"Can you guys go in? Something tells me I won't like what's being done in there."He says

"Of course, bud."I tell him, nodding

I go to the door and unlock it. I find E!Pap right beside me as soon as the click noise was made. Ink is right behind me with Error. Reaper leans against the wall by the door. I nod, knowing where everyone is now. I push the door open and see quite the sight. 

Error froze up like he remembered something. He shook like a chill went down his spine so it can't be good memories.

 I see a computer was on and said loading. Something is being tested on Geno. Most likely taking his code. We go inside but Reaper stays out. He doesn't even peek inside. 

Error gets onto the computer. He taps a few things and laughs. He laughs! What could he be laughing about at a time like this?

"What's so funny, Error?" Ink asks

"I'm sOrRy fOr ThE bAd tImInG bUt ThEy Are uSiNg ScRAtCh! A kId'S cOdInG wEbSiTe! HaH! Of AlL tHe wEbSiTeS oR cODeS, ThIs! I wIlL hAvE It sToPpEd aNd UnDoNe wItHin mInuTEs!"He says

Ok, that was funny. E!Pap and Ink chuckled a bit but stop. I held it in. E!Pap finds some boxes while his brother worked. He breaks one open and got smacked in the face with code. He sits up again, though is different. He has his glitches back. 

"I reMeMbEr nOw!"He cheers

He got his memories as well. 

E!Pap goes to a second box and tears it open. Pieces of code soar to Ink now.  He breaks a third box and I get knocked down by code. I get back up with help from E!Pap. I snap to test things out. I summoned a bone attack. I have my abilities back! I smile but then look at Geno in the container. He's out cold. Some wires remove themselves from him.

"HiS cOdE iS rEsToReD. He ShOulD bE fInE."Error says

"ReApEr gEt yOuR bUtT iN hErE NoW! We fIxEd tHe iSsUe! We gOt GeNo!"E!Pap shouts

"What?"Reaper says

"DoN't acT lIkE yOu dIdn'T hEaR mE! I wIlL geT tHe cHaNcLa iF yOu dOn'T cOme iN!"E!Pap says

"But why should I? I hurt him!"Reaper says

"No, you were controlled to hurt him. There'sa difference. He knows you weren't doing it yourself. He told us. He's also very worried about you so get in here! He'd love to see you!"Ink says

"He has? He would?"Reaper asks

Ink looks at me with this expression: T-T

He shakes his head.

"DiD BlUe gIvE yOu tHe pAge?"E!Pap asks

"Ya but Shino distracted me before I could read it! Tucking her in bed and stuff! Then Nightmare woke everyone up with his pots and pans, giving me no time to read it! Why?"Reaper replies

E!Pap facepalms.

"JuSt gEt iN hEre!"E!Pap snaps

No answer from Reaper.

"I'm gonna break the glass! Everyone get back! We don't know what chemicals are in there!"I say

Error breaks the computer and lifts Ink with E!Pap. I summon a bone attack and shoot it at the glass. It cracks, then shatters. I jump to the side to avoid getting hit by the chemicals or glass that drains out.

 I hear a Gaster Blaster growl. I turn my head and see one nudging Reaper inside. It was an Error type. I shake my head. Once Reaper was inside, it went to E!Pap.

 I look to see Geno laid in the container, still unconscious. It's broken open now. He does not move. But I see some of the glass went inward, laying near him. I snap and remove the glass so that nothing hurts him. Reaper quickly went to Geno and picks him up.

"LeT's gEt OuT oF hErE bEfOrE sOmEthInG wOrSe gOeS dOwN."Error says

We all nod, exiting the room. E!Pap stays beside me, helping me walk. I haven't even noticed that I was limping until he came and wrapped an arm around me to support me. I check my soul and the crack has grown.

"DoN'T uSe aNy mOre mAgIc."He tells me

"Ok."I say

I look over my shoulder at Reaper who is carrying Geno.

"How's he doing?"I ask

"Still unconscious but with us so that's good."He responds

I nod and we keep moving. But both E!Pap and I could hear him.

"Come on, Geno. Wake up. Please. We're here. I'm here. We're getting you out of here, just please wake up. Please, Geno."He mutters to Geno quietly and worriedly

He does this for a while. Soon, he stops. I guess he gave up or thought talking won't work. We get outside. E!Pap checks over his shoulder to make sure Reaper was still with us. I hear him gasp. Error and Ink stop at hearing this. I look at him and he nods his head behind us. I look.

And I freeze up on the spot.