Chapter Text
"Hey, Vee, have you seen Sprout?"
Astro pushed the back door to Vee's room open slightly, his tone casual but curious. Vee groaned from her bed, sitting up just enough to glare at him.
"How would I know? I've been here all day."
Astro rolled his eyes and waddled over, plopping down at the end of her bed.
"How are you feeling?"
His gaze lingered on the bandages covering her less-than-clean amputation. Noticing this, Vee pulled the covers over herself defensively.
"I'm fine."
"You sure?"
Vee nodded more emphatically this time, her expression making it clear she had no interest in this conversation. Astro sighed, recognizing her stubbornness.
"Do you want anything?"
"'M not hungry..."
"Do you want to be left alone?"
"Yes."
Astro nodded and started to rise, but the door suddenly flew open with a deafening bang.
"Vee, Astro, downstairs NOW!"
Both jumped as Dandy stormed into the room, his expression a mix of fear and fury. His hands were soaked in ichor, and dark stains smeared across his face. Before either could question him, he spun around and bolted back down the hallway.
Vee and Astro exchanged wide-eyed glances before scrambling to get ready and follow.
Sprout was peacefully asleep, Cosmo nestled snugly in his arms, both of them lost in quiet dreams. The moment was shattered by the door crashing open.
"STOP MAKING OUT WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND AND GET IN THE DINING ROOM!"
Dandy's shout jolted both of them awake. Cosmo sprang up first, wide-eyed and startled, while Sprout blinked blearily at the doorway. Dandy was already gone, his footsteps fading as he dashed away. Sprout and Cosmo exchanged a bewildered look before Cosmo slipped out of his arms and hurriedly helped Sprout to his feet. Whatever this was, it seemed serious.
Outside the room, Sprout saw Astro and Vee rushing down the stairs, their expressions matching the dread creeping into his chest. The three shared a brief, tense glance before breaking into a sprint. Sliding into the dining room, Sprout nearly bowled over Astro and Vee as they came to a halt. In the center of the room stood Dandy, hunched over the table. His shoulders were rigid, and his claws dug into the wood as ichor dripped from his hands onto the surface.
"Dandy, what is this about??"
Astro stepped forward cautiously, his voice heavy with concern. The group approached, their eyes darting to the object Dandy clutched tightly in his ichor-streaked hand. The flower let out a gruff, shaky breath, the sound like a growl. His claws scratched at the wood as he waited for them all to gather around, the tension in the room thick enough to choke on.
"So... I recently went down again-"
Sprout interjected
"You know that's dangerous! Why would you do that!?-"
He's cut off by Dandy shooting him a glare that could cut steel as he promptly shuts up.
"... I went down to the floors again, I just needed to gather some things and I found..."
Dandy drops something onto the table.
"This"
The three mains stared at it as, one by one, they all stared at it with shock. It was a ripped-off sleeve, green in color with fluffy cotton cuffs. Intricate darker green patterns, a notable snowflake sewn onto it. The patterns and color were unmistakable for someone they barely see even when Garden View continued to run. Someone who always seemed so desperate to stay happy. Someone who always seemed so detached from reality. Someone they hadn't taken into account this entire time. Someone named...
Bobette.
They all stared at it, the patterns being unmistakably hers. They had all assumed the Holiday toons were long dead, but...
"I had found this hooked on a shelf."
Dandy started, his expression unreadable now as they all looked up at him.
"And a few broken ornaments on the floor that weren't there before..."
He says this, pulling out a sharp undeniably familiar shade of bright red piece of plastic, placing it next to the sleeve
"... She's alive."
Is all he says as he moves back, crossing his arms, letting the others take in this information. Sprout is at a loss for words, Astro opens his mouth to say something but he can't quite get anything out, and Vee is just trying to process all this.
"I..."
She begins.
"What do we do?"
She asks, her voice wavering a little as they all look up at Dandy expectingly. They see his shoulders tense, then relax as he rubs his temples.
"... We're going to look for her."
"What!? Are you crazy!?-"
"MAYBE!"
He snaps, the three of them jumping back in surprise. Dandy doesn't usually raise his voice so it was nearly terrifying when he did, a sense of panic only matched by their old Handlers.
"... Maybe, is that what you want to hear?"
Dandy looks so tired now that Sprout sees, his eyes heavy and posture unsteady. The strawberry sighs as he approaches, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"You're not crazy"
He tries to reassure as Dandy slouches over.
"I feel like I am."
He says as he shoves his hands in his face as he tries to take some deep breaths. They all stare back at the ichor-stained holiday items, dread radiating from them rather than cheer. The mascot tried to calm down as he looked up, whipping the few tears in his eyes.
"We need to-... I need to know if she's okay or not."
Is what he managed to strain out, trying to keep his composer as he looked away into the void. Bobette and him were always seemingly close or at least, on good terms. She shared his spirit of collecting seemingly niche things and having Coal and Pebble do playdates together sometimes. He was scared about her and she was scared about him, even if she seemed to care about Christmas more than anything. Though... If Bobette was active, then everyone else was active. And if everyone else is active, that means Garden View is going to get so much colder than it usually is. It means they possibly have more twisteds on their hands. It means she's been down there since all this started.
...
It means she could be one of them.