A Tale of Rust and Flesh ~ Part 3

	Falling...
    Falling...
    Falling...

	Kris was nowhere in sight. She was alone.


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	Susie's eyes slowly opened. She was lying on a strangely familiar ripped mattress. Susie was still wearing her normal light world clothes, and they were as dirty as they usually were, if not worryingly dustier than usual. She was even wearing her muddy shoes in bed. Susie groaned and grabbed her head with one hand and her stomach with the other as she felt her head pounding with a throbbing headache along with a horrid pain originating from a horridly empty stomach. The headache didn't feel like a hangover, rather, it felt like she had been knocked out via blunt force trauma. The draconic monster sadly had enough experience to know what both felt like.

	The last thing Susie remembered before waking up was falling into the piercing darkness in that underground bunker. However, from Susie's point of view, it seemed like that was all just a dream. She rationalized that she had gotten knocked out somehow, and that she dreamt the entire day up. It wouldn't be the first time he had a dream that felt so real before.

	Past the brown locks of hair covering her face, Susie couldn't make out very much in terms of detail, but the colors were familiar. The dull grays and light blues told her that she was in her room. "...Great." Susie mumbled before she slowly lifted herself up to sit on the side of the mattress. Susie wiped the sleep and hair out of her eyes to get a better grasp on her surroundings.

	The floor was carpeted, but due to heavy use and a lack of cleaning, it might as well have been hardwood or concrete. Several dark stains littered the floor. One spot on the wall was slightly cracked and seemed to be at the center of a splash right above a pile of wet broken glass and a stain on the floor. The rest of the wall was similarly cracked and dented, and had the occasional poster from some band or movie from decades ago.

	The ceiling was mostly clean and undamaged, but it could definitely use a fresh paintjob. Susie's room itself was mostly barren save for her ripped, sheetless, pillowless mattress, a dresser with one of the legs being replaced by a stack of books that Susie strangely didn't recognize, and a heavily clouded mirror next to the door. On the ceiling, a light with a small decorative piece in the center that Susie had come to affectionately refer to as "ceiling tiddy" seemed to be turned off, which was odd considering that the lightswitch next to the door was flipped up.

	"Fuckin' power must have went out again..." Susie groaned under her breath. As she slowly stood up, the dragon girl approached her door and attempted to open it. It was locked. Susie's eyes widened as she started to shake slightly when she realized what this meant. Whenever she was locked in her room, that meant that she wasn't going to leave without being screamed at at best, or without a cut or
several bruises at worst. She didn't even remember how she ended up back in her room or what happened before she went to sleep.

	All Susie knew was that she was afraid. The draconic monster backed away from the door before doubling over and clutching her stomach as it began to growl again. She was very hungry, but she didn't know how long she would have to wait before she could leave the house and maybe steal something. The pain tugged and nipped at her furiously. Susie barely managed to suppress any grunts or whimpers from escaping her throat as she tried to push through the starvation.

	Susie sat back down onto her so-called bed and waited. She would have to just wait for her dad to come and punish her for whatever she did this time. The draconic monster tried to come up with any reason or excuse that this was happening again. Did she backtalk him? Did she come home too late? Was he angry about her grades at school? Did he find out that she had taken some of his booze he loves so much?

	Whatever the reason, it's not like it mattered much now. She could act as tough as she wanted to at school, she could steal other classmates' lunch, she could act like she didn't care about anything, and she could shut everyone out, even Kris to an extent. However, none of that actually mattered when she was stuck in her room, hungry, and anticipating hell.

	Susie waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. The draconic monster racked her mind to try to remember what had happened to no avail. All she could think of was that set of double doors that she vividly remembered cracking open with a crowbar. She remembered daring Kris to sit in that old chair. She remembered the darkness that engulfed her. The falling... That couldn't have happened since she obviously wasn't in the dark world. Susie began to panic as she couldn't think of any potential excuses to use as a defense if her father came and busted her door down.

	"Okay, okay, calm down..." The dragon girl leaned up against the wall, crossed her legs 'Indian style', clenched her fists in her lap, and continued waiting. Waiting... Waiting... Waiting... The hunger felt like it was getting worse and worse. Her stomach growled again, but all she could do was clench her eyes shut and try to focus on remembering how she ended up back to her shitty mattress.

	All she could think of was those doors. Susie knew he wouldn't believe her if she tried to explain what happened to her before she blacked out. Her stomach growled again, interrupting her train of thought. "God damn it, I can't even think straight." Not being able to come up with anything she could say, Susie resigned herself to facing her father. Suddenly, something sparked within her soul. It was an angry feeling backed by biological instinct.

	"...No." Susie stood up and dusted herself off. "I... I'm sick of this! Why did I even try to justify this shit? I beat the living hell out of Lancer's dad for being a shitstain, so why is HE any different?" With a newfound vigor in the face of her energy draining starvation, Susie frantically searched around the room for anything she could use as a weapon.

	She couldn't use one of the books. They wouldn't be heavy enough, and a book was a very awkward and unwieldy weapon. Maybe she could break a leg off of her dresser? No, she doubted she was strong enough to break it in her current state. Was there anything in the drawers she could find? If she remembered correctly, she still had some stolen chalk she saved up for emergencies stashed in her dresser. If she could fill her stomach with SOMETHING, then having to fight her dad with her bare hands would be a little less painful.

	Susie opened the middle drawer, but immediately froze up when she saw the crowbar sitting there instead of her chalk. "No way. No fucking way." The desperate dragon yanked the crowbar out of the drawer and held it tightly against her chest. This was her chance. Maybe if she could escape, she could live with Kris. If Toriel knew what was happening to Susie on a daily basis, then of course she would take her in. How could she not, even after how shitty she's acted towards her in the past?

	Susie steeled her resolve and waited next to the door for her father to barge in, crowbar in hand. Getting into position, she waited several minutes, ignoring the hunger clawing at her. She felt her arms and joints stiffen from standing still for so long in an uncomfortable stance. Her patience was running thin by the second. Susie began to formulate a different plan. One that involved her breaking the doorknob off of the door and making a break for it. She wouldn't get any revenge this way, but at least she might be free from any more abuse. Susie lowered her weapon and almost stepped out of her spot next to the door.

	That's when she heard heavy footsteps approaching. Susie bent her knees and raised the crowbar above her head, ready to strike at any moment. The doorknob began rattling and slowly turning. "He must be drunk again. Good." The door creaked open. As soon as a silhouette came into view, Susie instinctively clenched her eyes and swung at what looked like its head as hard as she could. The crowbar loudly collided with the figure in the doorway, causing it to fall to the ground with a dull thud.

	As soon as the now panting dragon opened her eyes, she was startled by what she saw, or rather, what she didn't see. There was nothing on the floor to greet her but... dust? Had she done it? Had she really-

	*drip* *drip* *drip*

	Susie looked to her right to see thick, slimy blood dripping from the crowbar. Monsters don't bleed. Susie KNEW that monsters did not bleed. They didn't have blood, so where the hell did this slimy red shit come from? Susie's thoughts were interrupted by a growl from her stomach. It didn't matter anymore. The door was wide open, and she still had a weapon with her. It was time to make a mad dash for the door.

	Susie's sprint came to a screeching halt, almost tripping over herself when she didn't see the living room she had expected. There was a small room that had the same floor, ceiling, and walls as her room, but there was a door with light shining underneath. It looked like it led outside. Susie didn't recognize this room one bit, and began to wonder if she was even in her house anymore. Maybe... Just maybe... everything that happened behind those giant rusty doors in the woods actually happened, and this is some kind of fucked up alternate version of the world she knew.

	With a deep breath, Susie stepped outside of the confines of what looked like her room. As she did, however, the hunger in her stomach became muted. She was only moderately hungry now. It still hurt, but it felt better. It's as if he had just eaten something. Something small, yet satisfying. The only thing left to do now was to leave. Susie twisted the doorknob in front of her and pulled the door open. The bright light that flooded the room hurt Susie's eyes, but they soon adjusted. She was in... a train yard? There were railroad tracks and the occasional train car sitting by itself with no engine to pull it along.

	Susie looked up into the sky to find that it was completely clouded up. She couldn't make out any blue for what seemed like miles. Susie wasn't in Hometown anymore. Just as Susie was about to step outside onto the gravel below, she couldn't help but think that she was forgetting something extremely important...

	Kris. She needed to find Kris. If she was transported here from another portal, then that means that Kris was in this new realm with her. The dragon girl found herself with a goal. To find her human friend and to get back home. But... this was a big trainyard, and he could be anywhere. There was a building nearby that seemed interesting. A loosely hanging sign above the front entrance read "WASTE DISPOSAL". The door was wide open, so someone had to have been there recently.

	Susie began her trek towards the building, and made a promise to herself and whatever higher entity was listening that she was going to get back home with Kris, no matter what it took.

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*YOU WON!
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