Time seems to slow down as your imminent demise is approaches.

They know the other is there. You can see the triumphant look on Error's face, and the sadistic glee in Nightmare's eyes. Error's tugging on your bad arm with her strings and it hurts.

You can barely think through the pain. You reach for your pocket with your good hand.

"That's a shame," she says. "You were so close."

Nightmare raises his spear.

In one swift motion, you pull out your glass shard and cut the strings. You duck under Nightmare's spear as he slashes at your neck, and ram into him, pushing him aside and running back the way you'd come.

Your don't look back. You can hear them yelling and giving chase, but you ignore it. Error said you were close. You were right. You could make it if you just kept running.

You don't stop running. You can't stop. Error could grab you at any moment. You have to keep going.

She does grab, you, a couple of times, but your shard of glass—now stained red from you clutching it desperately—frees you each time.

Thank god you thought to break that mirror.

You're gasping for air, but you still don't stop. You can hear Nightmare and Error behind you. They're determined to catch you.

But you're just as determined to escape.

You run past Cross. She doesn't have time to try to stop you, but just seeing her is enough. If you get stuck, or slow down, there's no way you'll make it out of here. Not with all three of them after you.

You're pretty sure you're leaving a blood trail, anyway. Your hand doesn't hurt that much right now, but it's bleeding badly. You wouldn't be able to hide from them anymore. You just have to keep running and pray.

Your legs burn.

Your lungs feel like they're on fire.

You have no idea where you're going.

You're sure that the moment you stop, you'll die.

All confidence and hope that you'd had before is gone, replaced by blind panic.

They're yelling after you, but you don't register any of it.

Finally, you see light. On the wall and floor ahead, a much nicer, softer light than the harsh yellow industrial lights in the warehouse.

You turn the corner, and to your great relief, it is the door. It's not a trick. You're so, so close.

You can make it.

You sprint for the door.

You hear swearing. Strings whipping through the air. The dull thunk! of something hitting the wall. The scrapping of metal against the floor.

Your can smell the fresh air. See the sun.

You're almost there.

-------

Nightmare leans against the wall, wheezing as he and his friends watch their latest victim escape.

"Well," Cross huffs. "Shit. They were good."

"They broke that mirror on purpose," Nightmare coughs. "They had a shard of glass with them. That's how they'd been getting out of the traps."

"They cut my strings with it, too," Error chimes in.

The three of them stay in the hallway, catching their breath. [Y/N] had collapsed on the ground outside. After a moment, they roll over, and the Meme Squad hears their ragged breathing. Nightmare isn't in much better shape.

"...They broke that mirror on their first day here," Cross remembers. She's quieter than before. "I think they might've been using trash from the food we gave them to lay a false trail for us, too."

"I like this human," Error decides. She opens a portal, pulls three cold water bottles out, and hands them out to her friends.

Nightmare mumbles a 'thanks', and sits against the wall to drink.

"...What if, just this once, we keep them."

Cross and Error look back outside. [Y/N] is still on the ground, but they seem to be getting their breath back.

"We could make a room for them here," Nightmare continues, looking with them. "With an actual bed and stuff."

"We could bring stuff from their house, too," Cross says, tilting her head. "Decorations and stuff to make them more comfortable."

"I could make them a blanket," Error muses. "It gets cold in those rooms at night."

[Y/N] groans and starts sitting up, and the Meme Squad look away. [Y/N] watches them for a moment before getting up. They hiss every time their broken arm is jostled, or they move their sliced up hand.

The Meme Squad left a weather-proof box at the exit, and put their victim's belongings in it, so they could get them back when they escape. They'd made sure to tell [Y/N] about it before they sent them through the maze. Nightmare can't see the box from inside, but he knows that's what [Y/N]'s walking towards. He can just barely make out them muttering something.

After a moment, they step back into view.

"...Oh shit, i don't know if they can get home on their own," Nightmare realizes. "Hey! [Y/N]!"

[Y/N] freezes and slowly turns around. The Meme Squad snickers. "Can you get to other universes?" Nightmare calls.

[Y/N] frowns. "Uh....I...don't think so?"

Cross pushes herself up from the wall. "Yeah, you're not getting home on your own." Upon seeing [Y/N]'s terrified look, Cross laughs. "Aww, don't look so scared. We're just going to drop you off in your AU. Probably around where we found you. Don't worry."

[Y/N] doesn't look any less worried. They bite their lip. "I...I don't trust you to actually take me home."

This one time, they're right.

"Well, you could try to find someone else to get you home," Error shrugs. "We're really far from town, though. I don't know if you'd make it."

[Y/N] shifted from foot to foot. "...How far is it?" They ask.

Nightmare tilts his head. "Ehh....Not sure. Few miles. We can get you some water if you want to try to go that way." He focuses on their hand, which had now been in the dirt. "...I still wouldn't recommend it, given your injuries."

They look down at their arms. He can feel the emotional exhaustion from them as they sigh and their shoulders slump. "Alright."

Nightmare takes one last drink of water, and stands. "Cool. Got all your stuff?"

"Y...yeah."

Error stretches her arms over her head. "Let's get going then."

As Cross and Nightmare follow after her, [Y/N] looks more alarmed. "Do you all have to come?"

"Yes," Cross says flatly. Nightmare can sense their fear.

Error creates a portal in the air, and steps though. Then she pokes her head back to the other side. "Yeah, this is it. Come on."

Cross and Nightmare let [Y/N] go first.

It's early afternoon at the motel. There's no one around. Of course there isn't; they'd made sure the few people who had been there wouldn't call JR or the police if they heard screaming. It makes [Y/N] uneasy though.

Error silently opens another portal while [Y/N] isn't paying attention to them, and the Meme Squad slips through. They hide behind the motel building, keeping [Y/N] in their sights. [Y/N] turns to where they had been like they're about to say something, only to find that they're now alone. Or least, they appear to be.

Nightmare and his friends continue to watch them as they call for help, seeing as they had no idea where their car was at this point.

They're going to have to follow [Y/N] home to get the appropriate things from their house to make them comfortable in the warehouse.

They're going to have so much fun with their new friend.