Chapter 1: "A heart that's filled up like a landfill"
Chapter Text
Swap went through the portal and after it closed behind him, looked around suspiciously. Dream said there was some strange anomaly in the AU, but neither him nor Ink had time to actually go there, that's why Swap was alone. It didn't seem to be anything they met so far; the readings were strange to say the least.
So when the skeleton was met with only normal-looking Snowdin forest, saying he was surprised would be an understatement.
He wandered around for a while, watching for any abnormality, but nothing seemed out of place. Trees, snow, usual coldness; almost exactly how he remembered his AU. Until he arrived at where the town should be.
It just wasn't there. It didn't look cut out, but rather.. nonexistent. Like it was never there at all. He circled the small clearing curiously. There was no trace of destroyed buildings, or even any fundaments or trash. Something was up.
When he arrived at where his house was and met only a massive pine tree, all of this grew even more uncanny to him. Watching how it would look without them being there made him think of what happened to this AU's him and everyone else. What happened, that was so destructive, they're all gone and yet so subtle the place didn't change at all.
Suddenly he heard voices coming from the forest. He jumped behind the tall tree and listened carefully.
"I told you, this AU SUCKS!" Killer's voice echoed through the empty woods. "Why did you wanna come here anyway?"
"I've got.. a hunch." Horror's response was barely hearable to Swap.
"Alright, but you'll explain your 'hunch' to the boss!" Killer growled irritated. Swap listened carefully, thinking of his options.
Fight his way through? 2:1, it was too risky. Retreat? He had a mission to complete! Besides he couldn't make portals. After a few moments, ho got an idea. Hetook out his phone, as quietly as possible. He wanted to call Dream, inform him-
Before he could enter any number, the radio-like noise erupted from his phone. Swap yelped, almost dropping it into the snow. He tried to turn off the noisy device quickly, but his enemies were already alarmed.
"You hear that?"
"..Hear that."
"Was it from there?"
"..mhm"
Swap sucked a breath, finally turning off the annoying noise. Phone didn't work, so no backups would be called.
He sighed slowly, getting ready for a battle.
He jumped out of his hiding spot, two bones in each hand, ready to be attacked. He spotted two of the bad guys immediately, standing in the middle of the clearing, a few meters away. They immediately snapped their heads towards him. Killer had his arms crossed, his typical expression replaced with annoyance. Horror's face on the other hand was filled with strange unease. He was holding some piece of paper tightly, staring at Swap. Killer whistled loudly, a knife pointed at his enemy.
"Well, well!" He said nonchalantly. "Look who decided to join our adventure!"
Swap huffed irritated. "I should have suspected you were responsible for this!"
Killer chuckled, a shit-eating grim appearing on his face. "Yeah! You shou-" he halted suddenly. "Wait. What are we talking about?"
Swap blinked surprised. "What?"
"What are you on about?" He echoed, scratching his head confused. Swap frowned.
"This AU is emitting some strange readings, that neither Ink nor Dream could decifer fully. They both were only able to tell these aren't exactly negative, but.. not positive either? A weird combination impossible to describe. All of it is just a mess. I'm here to check if it's something to be concerned about." Swap tried to explain, but judging by his listeners' faces, he failed. "You don't know what I'm talking about?"
Killer and Horror exchanged uncertain glances.
"Yeah, it's not our doing." Killer shrugged.
"We are just.. on a.. on a supply run." Horror spoke up lifting up the paper he was holding, which turned out to be a shopping list of sorts. He seemed to be fully unfocused on the conversation until now, glancing around, almost looking nervous.
Supply run? Swap tilted his head, curious. He knew the bad sanses had to do seemingly normal activities, but imagining them outside the battle was hard for him. Especially on such a standard activity as shopping.
Suddenly, he realized something "So, if you have nothing to do with this, then.. who does?" Swap wondered. A chill went down his spine at the cold silence appearing between him and the two skeletons. Or maybe it was a cold wind, that suddenly started to haul a sinister melody? He wasn't sure.
Killer seemed to notice it too.
"Um" he huffed, letting out a small cloud of vaporized water out of his mouth. "You know what? We are kinda.." he glanced at his empty, plain wrist "late for dinner. So how about you go.. check on your anomaly and we'll.. get going." He hurried in no particular direction, dragging Horror along.
Swap turned around. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he just wanted to get this weird encounter over with. So, he walked away-
"Wait what? Why isn't it working???" Swap heard Killer's disturbed voice. His head turned towards the two, but could barely see them behind all the falling snow-
Wait. Snow?
Swap didn't realize it was snowing in the first place. But he could rather call it a blizzard, that started in a matter of seconds. Underground weather doesn't work like that. Weather doesn't work like that. Swap's nonexistent guts got tied into a knot. He turned around, only to realize he couldn't see two skeletons he was talking to a few seconds ago. The only thing he could see was Horror's eye glowing in the distance. It was darting around quickly. And then it got closer and closer until the large figure was standing in front of Swap.
"Did you.. see.. Killer?" His voice was even quieter and more shook than normally. Swap stared at him like he just grew second head. He suddenly felt giddy.
"You lost him?!" Swap exclaimed actually afraid right now. He may not have known Killer well, but he wasn't the type of guy to leave his teammate behind. The taller skeleton nodded, seemingly embarrassed. Swap shivered, the cold started to become unbearable.
"Well, um, maybe we should stick together for now? And, y'know, find some shelter." He reasoned awkwardly. Horror nodded again.
Swap looked around suspiciously. Like something was gonna jump out at them. There was no way they could find anything by just standing there.
"Alright, we should get-"
He's words were cut off when a large, metal arrow pierced his right shoulder.
He let out a yelp, watching the pointy bullet, that pierced his bone blade. The arrow looked similar to Dream's ones, but the colors were... inverted. Dark, nightmarish with negative energy almost radiating from them.
He felt a wave of overwhelming lethargy washing over him. His vision blurred as he fell to his knees, trying to find strength to get up. His head seemed to be filled with lead.
"You're.. You're okay?" Horror breathed worryingly. Swap could barely lift his gaze at him. Black dots swam in his vision as his consciousness drifted away.
***
Chapter 2: "A job that slowly kills you"
Notes:
I wrote this at 2am. I'm AS ALIVE AS EVER
Also merry Christmas. Tasty new year, happy gingerbread and stuff :D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Cold. Stale moldy air. Water dropping on a stone, quietly, rhythmic as a clock. Swap slowly opened his eyes, only to see a dark, dirty ceiling. His senses were dull; for a moment, he thought he was in his house. But as he awakened more and more that hope was soon lost.
His memories became more clear as much as the pain became more noticeable. His arm throbbed and ached as he glanced down at it. His shirt was torn on a shoulder, revealing a pierced wound. He tried to inspect it with his hand, only to realize he was.. chained to a wall? He stared at the dark chain locking his wrists together.
He observed his surroundings carefully. He seemed to be in a cell; a prison? A dungeon? Both options were pessimistic. The thick bars separated him from a short corridor running along the longer wall of the room.
On the other side of the cell a familiar figure laid unconscious. Swap narrowed his vision slightly. He took a deep breath, feeling the stale air filling his nonexistent lungs.
"Horror?" He spoke up. His voice was hoarse and his throat stung, but he brushed it off, at that moment he had bigger problems.
The figure was still for a moment. Then Horror lifted his head, confusion painted on his face. He scanned the room carefully, next glance faster and seemingly more frantic than the last. The slow realization entered his expression, as he started to mutter too quietly for Swap to hear. And then Horror's gaze landed on his cellmate.
"S..wap? What.. is.. is..? Whe..re are..?" His mumbling was barely understandable to Swap. Panic started to rise in his chest as he realized he was just as confused. But he knew the general situation.
It seemed they were kidnapped.
As the realization flooded his mind like cold water, it made Swap shiver. He was never kidnapped before. Of course, some people tried to take him hostage to threaten Ink or something, however they couldn't be called a decent threat exactly. He was able to escape them fairly easily which was good, because he doubted Ink would give any effort at all in getting him out. But at that moment the situation seemed dead serious.
Finally he turned to his supposed ally.
"I don't know," He confessed staring at his shoulder aimlessly, as if it could heal by his gaze. That wasn't a normal weapon that caused this injury. He recalled the look of the object that was stuck in his arm probably not long age. It seemed like this enemy was way better equipped than other enemies Swap encountered previously.
Suddenly, a question rose in his head, regarding his last memory from before they were here.
"Why didn't you leave me?" He asked, kind of without context, so then Horror only tilted his head without understanding, Swap added: "in the AU. There was a threat hiding somewhere and instead of leaving me and escaping, you stayed with me. Why?"
Horror's expression didn't change.
"Why ..would I leave ..a hurt person..person, who wanted to help me?" He asked, staring at Swap. The injured skeleton frowned, actually confused. What kind of question was that?! He would be slowing Horror down, he would be a distraction giving the attacker advantage and-
Before he could form a response, he heard the door somewhere behind him, down the corridor open. Horror's eye fixed on the spot Swap couldn't reach with his sight, an utter shock and surprise replacing his previous expression.
Swap heard quiet, almost unnoticeable footsteps echoing through the corridor. For some reason, it caused a weird fear appearing in his chest. He wanted to run, to fight, to do something, as if his guts knew danger was near before him. The steps grew closer and the figure was finally in his view.
It was a tall skeleton with a colourful, neon outfit and halo over his skull. His eye sockets were unlike any Swap ever saw. It was noticable in the way that made his nonexistent hair stay on it end.
But the most noticeable thing about the figure were the wings. The golden feathered, incredibly wide wings casting a huge shadow on the wall behind him. The figure halted suddenly in front of their cell, watching them from behind the bars.
Swap finally found the courage to speak.
"Who are you?" The monster stood still in front of the door, observing Swap quietly. Then, he opened it with a key that Swap could swear wasn't in his hand just a few seconds ago. As he entered the cell, he glanced towards Horror, as if deciding what to do, and headed towards Swap slowly.
Fear rose in Swap's throat as the unfamiliar monster drew more and more near, but he wasn't going to show it. He pushed himself away from the wall using his hands, getting off the ground to face his opponent. "Where am I? Why did you bring me here?" As his supposed kidnapper didn't answer, he huffed annoyed, "Answer me!" He screamed. Still silence. The winged skeleton looked down at him, a wide smile not leaving his face.
Then, the monster, without any warning launched towards him. Before Swap could flinch back, the attacker grabbed him by the injured arm and pinned him to the wall. Swap gasped, feeling the wound starting to sting more than before. The kidnapper's smile grew sinister as he took out something resembling a phone and drew his attention to it, not acknowledging the pained skeleton in his grasp.
"Leave-leave him alone!" Horror was on his feet, standing as far as he could stand chained to the opposite wall. Swap stared at him confused. Why would he try to protect him? They were enemies! Besides, Horror wanted him dead, like all the bad sanses did.. right?
The winged skeleton didn't seem to pay much attention to him, only half-turning towards him.
"Shut up, you're next"
Horror froze as the kidnapper brought his gaze back at the phone. The pain in Swap's arm became almost unbearable. His vision blurred with tears risking to spill. The ringing in his ears was suddenly accompanied when the phone started to ring.
"Hello?" Swap gasped at the familiar voice.
"Hello, Ink!" The kidnapper's voice was cheery, but honeyed. It would make Swap's skin crawl, of course if he had one. "You may not know me, but I sure know you."
The voice behind the phone groaned annoyed.
"This is the lamest line you could say, really," Ink sighed, probably not getting the seriousness of the situation, which Swap couldn't blame him for. But he definitely didn't appreciate the grip of the calling monster getting tighter. The kidnapper tittered nonetheless.
"You don't understand your position, do you?" The winged monster's smile grew sinister. Before Ink could say anything, the he cut him off " you should really take better care not to lose your teammates," he chirped, shaking Swap's arm harshly. He let out a whimper the sharp pain getting even worse than before.
"Swap?!" Ink exclaimed, "Are you okay?"
"Oh don't worry! He's fine," the kidnapper chuckled, "at least for now," he added, making Swap tense.
"His wellbeing after our talk depends on you," the he informed, smile getting wider. Ink didn't say anything for a few seconds and then-
"If you think you can threaten me so easily, you are very wrong."
Swap suddenly felt lightheaded. He knew Ink was sacrificial and in such situation he would do the same who was he kidding? He would never leave him or Dream like this, but it stung nonetheless. He stared to the device as if he could communicate using it with Ink.
The caller seemed almost amused "you sound pretty relaxed with a friend at a gunpoint." He questioned, squeezing Swap's arm even harder.
".. sorry Swap"
'Click!'
He didn't know what was more terrifying. The complete silence, that suddenly filled the cell after the call ended or the expression of the kidnapper at the news Ink is going to give him nothing. The pure rage, along with madness, was a threatening combination, especially while being vulnerable as Swap definitely would describe himself as.
He swallowed, as his breaths got faster and more shallow. He knew the kidnapper had no reason to treat him even slightly humane.
The winged skeleton chuckled under his breath, "shouldn't expect more from that bastard," He acknowledged, with a hint of annoyance.
Swap yelped as the kidnapper jerked him off the wall he was pinned to, making him fall face first onto the floor. Before Swap could get up he felt a foot pinning him down harshly. It knocked the breath out of him. He tried to get away, but the heeled boot was only putting more and more pressure on his ribs.
"Guess I don't need you anymore." The voice behind him was emotionless.
"Wait, I-"
'SNAP!'
A scream echoed through the dungeon as many of Swap's ribs gave up at once. His vision blurred with tears as his body stabbed, as if he landed on some carpet made out of spikes. He tried to take a deep breath, only to another wave of twinge to erupt where his lungs should be. He started to choke on air, trying to breathe despite the overwhelming discomfort it brought.
He heard somebody's voice, but was too distracted by his poor situation to analyze any words. It seemed it wasn't directed to him anyway. As the seconds went by and the shock disappeared he decided to focus on his breathing. He heard a lot of noises and maybe a scream or two, but was too focused on calming his shaking, irregular breath to understand what was going on.
He didn't even realize when his eyes began to close. Before he could try to stay awake, he was already asleep.
Notes:
Yeah, Ink is kinda a bish here. Ngl next chapter excites me a lot. Also I don't know anything about broken ribs, so might be inaccurate or smth.
ALSO DID YOU KNOW SOMETHING LIKE SWAPDREAM EXCITS?! I genuinely didn't know someone already thought of this before. So it's not my idea, but idk who's the artist.
Thanks for reading and see you next time!
StrawberruS0da on Chapter 1 Sat 21 Dec 2024 06:19AM UTC
Comment Actions
Lucy509 on Chapter 2 Fri 21 Feb 2025 09:45PM UTC
Comment Actions
DinofelisSnow1985 on Chapter 2 Sun 16 Mar 2025 07:47PM UTC
Comment Actions