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Chapter Text

Shrimpo felt himself waking up, his eyes opening to see Shelly's head on his chest. Seeing as she was asleep too, he nudged her slightly. "Hey, wake up," he whispered quietly as he did so. He noticed how she yawned before opening her eyes and looking at him. "Could you move your head off of my chest?" he asked her softly, with her doing so immediately after letting him sit up and look at the time. *8:34 huh? Remember it being 6 something when I went to bed* he thought to himself groggy, *now, how am I-* 

"WHAT THE FUCK!" his train of thought was broken by shouting, and given the slightly robotic voice, he knew not only who it was, but also why she was shouting.

Getting out of bed, he quietly walked up to the door before turning to Shelly. "I won't be gone long, but I have to go out and see what this is so that we won't get found. I will come right back, okay?" Shrimpo told her, and despite clearly not being happy about it, she clearly understood on some level that she could not be seen outside, so sat put. He gave her a soft smile, before putting on his typical angry expression and stepping out and walking over to Vee's door where a bunch of other toons were gathering. When toons noticed he was approaching, most got out of his way out of a bit of fear. "YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR SHOUTING VEE," Shrimpo shouted as loud as he could without hurting any toon's ears.

As Vee turned to him, he could feel the anger in her eyes as she stared him down. "As a matter of fact I do," she stated as she pointed to her name, "someone decided to fuck up my door, and you wouldn't happen to know who did it do you?"

Shrimpo could tell she suspected him but brushed it off. "NO I DON'T, NOW SHUT UP, YOU WOKE ME UP," he shouted before walking off towards his room. "I was having such a nice dream too," he muttered to himself, trying to make his story of him just waking up more believable. Eventually he entered his room and slammed the door behind him, before almost immediately being tackled by Shelly. "Damb it Shells, could you not tackle me like that again," he scolded her. She seemed a bit surprised that he told her not to do something, but given how he asked her not too she got off of him and backed up a bit to let him get up. When he did he walked over and started to rub her head which started her purring again. *How am I gonna get out of going on a run* he thought to himself, but he knew that he had about half an hour before Dandy gave everybody the list for who would be going for the day, so he could relax for a little bit. That was what he thought until he heard a knocking at the door.

"Hey Shrimpo?" Astro called out from behind the door.

"What do you want," Shrimpo asked, a bit annoyed.

"Are we still gonna hang out tonight?" Astro asked, "I don't know how well you slept after we talked, so I wanted to check."

Shrimpo thought for a few seconds, looking between Shelly and the door before making up his mind, "I think I might need more sleep tonight, but tomorrow 100% alright?"

It took a second for Astro to respond, but when he did, he said in a slightly disappointed tone, "okay, I understand." Shrimpo really did want to meet up with him tonight, but the risk of leaving Shelly alone was too much at the moment. *What if she was found? What if she reverted back to being aggressive* 

*What if she hurt someone?*

...

Astro, who, while understanding that Shrimpo was too tired, felt a tad bit disappointed that his friend couldn't hang out with him tonight. When passing by Vee's room, he noticed Rodger looking at something on the door, and as he assumed that Vee and Shrimpo got into an argument about it, he decided to walk over to look at it too given how he blocked out the noise of the argument. "Hey, mind if I look at what you are?" he asked the detective toon.

Rodger would turn his head towards the smaller toon and lighten up his expression. "Go ahead, might be nice to have a second opinion when it comes to this," he told the moon toon. Astro would look closely at the nameplate under Vee's door and see the first e was scratched out slightly.

"That's weird. Why would someone only partially scratch out the name?" Astro blurted out loud.

"I don't know, maybe it was an accident? That seems like the most likely scenario given how shallow the cut is, too," Rodger responded. Eventually, Rodger walked away, done examining the cut and going off to find Vee to explain his theory to her.

Astro, left alone with his own thoughts, looked closer at the scratch and noticed it kinda looked like claw marks. "That's strange no toon to my knowledge has claws that can do that," he muttered to himself. The longer he looked, the more and more familiar the marks felt until eventually he realized where he had seen them. "Oh no, I-I gotta warn someone," he in a panic said out loud, before remembering something. Shrimpo was out last night, when he went to his room Astro thought he heard stomping, there was a loud thud in Shrimpo's room a little bit later, and finally the only time that the mark could have been made would be after dark. *No one would ever believe this,* the moon thought to himself, *but I need to reveal this, for the safety of everyone.*

*Shrimpo, what have you done?*

Chapter Text

Shrimpo could hear the noise of paper being slid under the door as he sat up. He knew Dandy wouldn't open the door because last time that happened, he made a few comments on how bad the room looked, and he never opened it again. He had spent a lot of time in his room, mostly dealing with Shelly's shenanigans while trying to get her to speak and remember more. "Paper," is what she said soon after hearing the sliding sound.

"Yeah, it is something you don't have to worry about, okay?" he told her a bit happy she managed to say that, and while she seemed skeptical, she just watched as he walked over and picked up the list and read it to see if he would be going on a run that day. He left out a sigh of relief, realizing that he was not on the list for the day, therefore he didn't have to worry about leaving Shelly alone too long. Soon after reading it, he felt his stomach growl. "Fuck," he muttered under his breath, realizing that he needed to go get some food to not seem suspicious, but that would take longer than it did with Vee's anger so Shelly would be left alone for longer, but he could not take her with him because not every toon is gonna be on a run at once, with many being either on the way to, or in the kitchen. "Shelly, I am really, really sorry about this, but I have to go for a little while to get some food, but I will get back as soon as I can, okay?" Shrimpo would quickly tell her. She let out a low growl in response, not wanting to be left alone for however much time it'd take. *Shit, need to think of a way to calm her,* he would quickly think to himself, before realizing what would make her happy and telling her, "I will bring back a good treat for you okay?" It took a second, but it was clear she relented and walked over and got into his bed, laying down like a dog would. He quickly left the room and started to walk down the hall, a bit faster than he normally would, but not enough to make the few toons that saw him think anything was off. Eventually, he managed to get into the kitchen and started to prepare his food. Knowing that someone could walk in on him, he just quietly grabbed some chicken nuggets and microwaved them.

While waiting for the nuggets to fully cook, he started to overhear a conversation that was going on. "So, what you are saying is that somehow, someone ended up scratching my name plate and then realized what they were doing and stopped? While yeah, it does make sense given how it was. Couldn't it still have been on purpose, but they had second thoughts and decided not to?" a toon, which was clearly Vee given not only the subject matter and robotic voice, but also the clear but of agitation in it.

"While I did consider that option, with how shallow the scratch was, it is clear that it wasn't intentional," the other toon said, and given the slightly older tone of voice and the fact that they came up with the theory on what happened, was clearly Rodger.

"Fine, not like it is gonna ruin the show later," Vee muttered a bit, calming down slightly while also reminding Shrimpo that she had planned to host a show sometime soon to try to get back into the show biz, but before he could think more about it, he noticed how close the microwave was to finishing and decided to stop it 1 second before it did, that way he could eat the nuggets in here while also keeping it so that it seems like he only got 1 plate of them to bring to his room.

"I am curious on why you decided now of all times to get back into making shows," Rodger told her, clearly in a way to imply he wanted an answer.

"Oh, it is because I wanted to lift everyone's spirits. Ever since the ichor operation started and some of the toons twisted, I have wanted to make sure everyone had good moral so that they'd be calmer," she admitted.

"I see. Well, I am excited to see the show, so bye for now," Rodger stated as he walked away, soon followed by Vee.

Soon after, Shrimpo finished eating and started on the plate for Shelly. As the nuggets were microwaved, he looked into the fridge to pick out a treat for her until eventually deciding on a blue macaroon, which he yoinked. Looking at it reminded him of when Shelly first invited Astro into one of their sleepovers. Shrimpo genuinely got along with Astro throughout the whole thing and eventually formed a friendship there. *I hope this will help remind her of him,* Shrimpo thought to himself as he heard the microwave go off. He then grabbed the plate and walked out of the kitchen and back towards his room.

On his way, he passed Cosmo, who noticed the macaroon in his hand. "Hey, that's one of those weird macaroons from the fridge," he noted.

"WEIRD HOW BROWNIE," Shrimpo quickly retorted, using his typical tone of voice.

Cosmo seemed a bit shaken by the shouting. "T-they just appeared, and I don't know who made them," he told Shrimpo before continuing, "y-yeah they are good, but given I don't know who made them I don't know how to tell whoever did that they were."

"WELL, THAT IS FOR YOU TO FIGURE OUT," Shrimpo said, managing to hold back the smile he was feeling really really well before walking into his room. He quickly looked to his bed to find Shelly still there, her raising her head to look at the door and seeing him enter. He quickly walked over and put the plate on the bed, which she sniffed a bit before grabbing one and eating it. Soon after, she started to shove more and more into her mouth, clearly loving the taste. When she finished, he pulled out the macaroon and handed it to her.

Upon it being in her hand, she sat there in silence for a few seconds before quietly saying, "Astro." Soon after, she took a bite of the macaroon and clearly loved the taste as she ate the rest of it in one bite.

"Glad you remembered him, Shells," Shrimpo said, lightly petting her head, but as he was, one thought crept into his mind.

*What would Astro do if he found her*

...

As Astro was coming up from his run, he couldn't help but let out a big sigh of relief. He had entered MANY close calls during his time on this run. Nearly getting hit with Scrap's tail, barley getting away from Glisten as he raged at the fact that they were leaving the floor, and the less said about that last floor with Pebbles and Sprout the better. One thing he noticed, though, was the lack of Shelly, which only served to confirm his suspicion that she was with Shrimpo. *Even with me and the others here seeing everyone but her, it does not mean that they would believe me if I told them, after all, there is a chance I am wrong and that we just didn't run into her,* he thought to himself, counting himself lucky that Dandy hooked him, Goob (who was soul crushed at seeing his sister), Flutter, and Gigi with a few bandages and medkits in his shop. When he got up to floor 0, he quietly left as the others got talking. Going into the kitchen for a snack, he saw Cosmo in there fixing some food. "Oh, uh, hey Cosmo," he would quickly say to the other toon.

Cosmo would get a bit startled by this, but when he saw it was just Astro, he calmed down, "oh, hey Astro, you doing okay?" the ever kind baker asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, what are you making?" Astro responded.

"Oh, I am just making some cookies. Do you want one?" Cosmo asked him

"Sure," the moon said, slightly calming down. Eventually, after the cookies were done, Cosmo handed one to Astro as he took a bite. The taste was wonderful, the way it crunched in his mouth just enough to where it did not hurt to chew but felt satisfying to do so. "These are really good. What inspired you to make them?" he asked the baker.

"Oh, I found these cookies at my door, and when I bit into one, I found out how good they were, so I have been trying to replicate them," Cosmo explained. Astro knew immediately that it was Shrimpo who made the cookies but decided not to say anything, knowing the reason he gave him the cookies was to force him to make better ones.

"Well, do you think you made cookies on that level?" he asked the cosmic brownie.

"Honestly, even dispite how much you clearly liked the cookie, I don't think I have," he responded with. Astro understood why. Shrimpo, for all of his fake anger, was a really, really good baker.

"Well, good luck with that, I have other things I would like to do, bye," he told Cosmo before walking off.

"Bye," was what Astro heard in return. Now he had to work on how to get proof that Shrimpo had brought Shelly, a toon that had twisted, here into the safe haven of all of the toons. He did not know why he thought it was an idea in the first place, let alone one he should do, but he knew that whatever the reason, he needed to protect everyone.

*How am I gonna get into Shrimpo's room?* that was the big question Astro constantly asked himself until he realized that Shrimpo had to get food, and he formulated a plan from that.

A while later, at about dinner time, after eating his food early so that he could execute this plan, he waited out of sight from Shrimpo's door so that he could sneak in when he left. Eventually he heard the door open and close and looked from his hiding spot just enough to see Shrimpo walking towards the elevator, and when he was out of sight, he exited his hiding spot and watched as he went to the elevator and went down to get some food. Seizing the opportunity, he walked over to Shrimpo's room and silently opened the door enough to where he could sneak in, and then closed it with the same amount of carefulness the first part of the plan needed. Taking a look around, he immediately saw Shelly's twsited form, noticing a black scarf around her neck and some bandages on her hands. *How did he-you know what, doesn't matter, I just need to take the picture and get out of here,* he thought to himself as he searched his pocket for his phone.

He had forgotten his phone in his room

"No, no, no," he quickly muttered to himself in a panic, searching every pocket he had for his phone. Just then, he heard some movement from the bed and, out of instinct, hid behind one of the punching bags in the pitch black room. He could hear her getting out of the bed and walking over to the door as he silently prayed that she couldn't see him. Just as he thought she couldn't, he heard her sniff the air and turn to the punching bags growling. *Shit, she smelled me, I have to make a run for the bathroom,* the moon thought as he mapped out a plan in his head. When she got close enough, he shoved the bag into her and started sprinting towards the bathroom. Just as he was about to reach the bathroom, he could feel himself getting pounced on, getting pinned to the ground and being turned over and being face to face with the twisted Shelly. *NO, THIS CAN'T BE HOW I DIE!* Astro desperately struggled to get out of the pin, but as hard as he tried, he just couldn't get out of it.

Shelly leaned in and sniffed his face before saying in a voice that sounded like how she did from his memory, but more messed up and raged "Astro?" This took him by suprise because he did not expect her to speak at all, let alone remember him.

"You, remember me?" Astro asked, clearly surprised that he was not being ripped apart right now.

"What the fuck are you doing in here"

Chapter Text

The sentence rang through the room as Shrimpo closed the door. Astro had never heard him talk like that. It was not his nonchalant voice that he had when not putting on his act, and not his fake anger when he was, no, he could tell he was genuinely pissed off, and he knew exactly why. "I-I'm sorry, b-but I was worried that Shelly might-"

"She might what," the pissed of toon interrupted, "hurt someone? Because believe me, you don't have to worry about her hurting anyone, me on the other hand."

"No," said a voice, catching both of them off guard. Shelly had gotten off of Astro and got between him and Shrimpo.

"S-shelly," Shrimpo stammered out before quickly realizing what is happening and changing tone immediately, "oh shit, sorry Astro."

Astro took a second to think about his next words before saying, "it's okay, but I think the both of us are gonna have a lot of explaining to do, so do you want me to go first or?"

"No, no, I will. After all, even though I am certain she won't hurt anyone, I still brought a main twisted up the elevator," Shrimpo said, clearly having a lot on his mind.

"Oh, okay," Astro muttered out, slightly taken aback by how fast Shrimpo calmed down, but given that he is back to how he normally is, he is not complaining.

Shrimpo sat down on his bed, with Shelly getting on the main part and laying like a dog with him patting the spot next to him, offering Astro to sit down, to which he does. "So, yesterday night, I ended up needing to go on a run for some supplies, on that run I found Shelly alone on a floor, but unfortunately she was not in control yet," he said, slightly grabbing at a bandage on his hand where a few scrapes were hidden underneath.

"Okay, but do you know what caused her to get control?" Astro asked, wanting to know so that possibly he could get some more back, even though he doubted he could get them himself.

"I know that it was because I asked what they had done to her, but it is probably to do with how close me and Shelly were before and how recently she twisted," Shrimpo stated, looking towards the ground, "so unless you want to bring that mirror up here I doubt any of them would be able to come back to their senses without a vaccine or something like that.

"Oh, okay," Astro said, very disappointed that he couldn't, and also knowing that Glisten was the LAST twisted they should try given his need for attention.

"Anyway, after deciding to bring her up here, we ended up going into the hallway, where she ended up scratching Vee's name board by accident, but after that we reached my room where I let her in just before you came to talk to me," Shrimpo continued.

"So then, to cover for Shelly's stomping, you said you were looking for a midnight snack and bumped your head into the door?" Astro asked so that the story could move faster.

"Yeah, after that I fixed her up a bit, before I got actually hungry and had to go out to get a snack, and while I tried to go out on my own, Shelly tackled me because she did not want to be alone," Shrimpo explained more.

"Oh, so that was the thud sound. Well, what happened after I left back to my room?" Astro asked.

"We went out to get some food, we had a close encounter with one of the early birds, but we managed to get back to the room, and do I really need to explain what happened after that?" Shrimpo asked as he finished explaining.

"No, but now it is my turn to explain some things," Astro started, "so, soon after our talk at the door, I walked up to the scratched name plate of Vee, and realized after looking at it for long enough, I realized that it was the same type of mark that I found on floors with Shelly on."

"So you figured out everything based on that? Well, guess that name plate better be replaced before other toons notice," Shrimpo stated.

"Yeah, anyway what happened next was me going on a run, seeing every twisted but Shelly, and forming the plan to sneak into your room when you went to go get food," Astro continued.

"And Shelly did not know it was you until after she pinned you, right?" Shrimpo asked.

"Yeah, and when she said my name I had second thoughts about revealing her to everyone, and now that I have the full story, I will not reveal it to anyone as long as I live," Astro finished.

"Okay, so now what?" Shrimpo asked.

"I'm, not sure," the moon admitted. They then sat in a slightly awkward silence until Astro piped up, "wait a second, what did you plan to do when you had to go on a run?"

"I, was trying to figure that out, I got lucky I did not get a run today, but tomorrow I might not be so lucky," Shrimpo told him, clearly a bit embarrassed and worried.

After a few seconds, Astro got an idea and turned to Shelly, before looking back to Shrimpo and asking, "hey, when you have to go out on a run, could I bring her to my room while you are out?"

After blinking for a few seconds and contemplating the idea, he responded with, "that, doesn't sound like a bad idea actually. What do you think Shells?" When she was asked that, she thought for a few seconds, the lightly rubbed into Astro purring.

"Guess it is official then," he said, lightly rubbing her head, smiling. Shrimpo smiled too, happy that in the end, his friend was on his side, and he had one less thing to worry about.

*Things couldn't be going better right now*

...

Vee was tired, she had just finished the show which she hoped had raised people's spirits and now she was ready to go to bed. When she reached her door and looked at her namplate, howeverer, she noticed something was off with the scratch. She noticed a small bit of a black substance iit, andnd had reached out and touched it. Feeling it, it felt eerily similar to ichor. Thankfully, the amountnt was small enough to make it harmless. However, that didid not help ease her nerves any.

*Who, or what scratched my door?*

Chapter Text

A few days after the agreement is the first time a complication arised, that being the fact that both Shrimpo and Astro had runs that day. Sure, the runs were not back to back, but they still both had to go on runs. Of course, the more nervous Astro had to go on a run second, which meant he had to plan out how to get Shelly from his room to Shrimpo's without anyone seeing her. *How am I gonna do this,* he thought to himself, reviewing a few options in his head. He could try to meet Shrimpo when he got back and they could plan together, but while one or two other toons knew about their friendship, Shrimpo wasn't keen on everyone else knowing about the friendship, and he wanted to respect his friend's choice. The same issue would arise if he stayed in Shrimpo's room, but probably much worse because it would also make people think they had something to hide, and even if it was not what they thought it was, a few of the more curious toons would try to confirm it and find out what they actually wanted to hide. Then Astro got an idea that would work, that being moving Shelly as Shrimpo was coming up the elevator, he had already gone down quite a few floors, and with how slow the elevator is, it is unlikely that it'd reach floor 0 before she was in his room. "Hey, Shelly, how do you feel about going into Shrimpo's room while he is coming up on the floors?" he asked her.

After these few days, she could speak in mostly complete sentences again, and after thinking about the question for a second, she responded with, "that sounds fine."

"Okay, good," he happily said. He would check what floor Shripo was on via his phone app that Dandy made to track the elevator so that runs could be more efficient, and when it said that it was going up, he opened the door to his room and looked for a second, not noticing any toons, but noticing a new camera he hadn't seen before. *That's, weird,* he thought to himself before quietly walking over to it and picking it up to see it was recording. He quietly turned off the recording and pocketed it before quickly guiding Shelly to Shrimpo's room and getting her in it. After doing so, he decided to go back to his room to check the deal with the camera, and sitting down on his bed and looking at the star wallpaper he had, he took out the camera and started to look around it. He noted how green it was and how it had been set up this morning before the first run, but thankfully after Shelly was in his room. After examining it and quickly watching the footage at 2x speed, he decided to ask Vee about it, given she was the one that set it up as revealed in the first few seconds of the recording. As he got up, one question was in his mind.

*Why did she set it up now of all times?*

...

Vee sat in her bed quietly, waiting for the others to come back so that she could go on her run of the day. She did not expect to hear a knock at her door with her friend Astro asking, "hey Vee? Are you in there?" from the other side.

"Oh, uhhh, yeah, need anything?" She asked through the door.

"Kinda, mostly just want to ask about something," he said.

"Oh sure, come in," she replied, watching as he opened the door and stepped inside, looking around at the walls, noticing quite a few outlets as well as a computer. "So, what did you come in here to ask about?" she asked, wanting to be helpful.

"I was mostly curious on why you set this up," he said, pulling out the camera.

"Oh, it is because I was kinda hoping that I could find whatever scratched my door with that," she answered honestly.

"Oh, I see, well why at the very end of the hall close to my door then?" he questioned.

"Because it was the first place I thought of," she answered again.

"Ah okay, you want my help to set it up closer to your door?" he asked, probably just trying to help his friend.

"Sure," she accepted, and soon they found a ladder, found a good place to put it so that it would not be a danger to get back, and then went their separate ways after saying bye.

That night, soon after everyone else had gone to sleep, Vee got up and got the camera back. When she reviewed the footage, she noticed something, that being Astro seemed a bit more cautious than normal. Sure, he had always been a careful toon, but it seemed a bit, excessive how cautious he was. To which, it left her with only one thought.

*Are you hiding something Astro?*

Chapter Text

Shrimpo had just heard the ding of the machine he was working on when he heard the elevator doors opening, signifying it was time to go. He started to run as fast as his legs could carry him, and knowing the fastest path would be blocked by twisteds, he went on the second fastest one. He had to learn the different paths very early on given how slow he was and how little he could run, which he was reducing those issues by eating his chocolate bar and his yellow candy, both giving him more stamina and making him run faster. Hearing the barking of Pebble behind him just as he rushed the corner and was close enough for Goob to pull him in with a hug. While he was thankful for him saving him, Shrimpo could never show it and pushed him off saying, "I DIDN'T NEED THAT, I HATE HUGS."

Goob, in his usual cheerful tone replied, "I know, I just wanted to bring you in." Shrimpo rolled his eyes. He knew Goob hadn't even realized that he had helped him escape Pebble and instead knew he just wanted to hug a toon. After a few seconds, they felt the elevator going up. Shrimpo was not in the mood to try to insult Goob while in his act, so he was glad that he never tried to start a conversation, but given that is what most toons did, he wasn't suprised. He knew that Goob was at least somewhat aware he was putting on an act, but he could never tell how much he knew about his true personality. Eventually, they reached the top floor, and Shrimpo walked off to his room, where he found Shelly, not really surprising though, Astro had a run right after his, so he knew he'd drop her off before he got back.

"Welcome back Shrimpo," she excitedly chirped, rushing over to him.

"Hey Shells, how's it going?" he asked, smiling at his friend's energy.

"Good, you?" she asked back, letting her head down for headpats.

"I am doing fine," he answered, giving her headpats, which started to make her purr.

"Hey Shrimpo?" she said.

"What is it, Shells?" he asked

"Can you tell me a bit about some of the toons?" she inquired.

"Sure, who do you want to start with?" he answered.

"How about with some of my friends," she told him.

"I see, well you had quite a few friends, like Vee, Tisha, Brighteny, Astro, Sprout, Cosmo, and also me, but you have heard enough about me," he explained. They talked for a while about the toons until eventually his stomach growled, which meant it was time to get dinner. He stopped the conversation and stepped outside, and just then, a slight feeling of being watched climbed up his body. He looked around for a second, and while he saw nothing, that feeling of being watched was changed to be missing something, like something deep down within himself knows there is something there that is watching him. He thinks for a moment but then realizes that there is one place no one would think to look for something inside the plant right outside the office area. Walking over, he looks inside and sees a camera, of which he picks up and quickly pockets, before slowly making his way to the kitchen. When there, he sees Astro getting some food and gets his attention while putting on his act, knowing that someone could be listening, "HEY BADSTRO."

He turned and looked at Shrimpo before putting on the act he had to when around him, "what do you want."

"GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THE FRIDGE," he boomed back. Watching him take steps out of the way, he walked up and opened the fridge, and while looking for something to get, he would whisper to Astro, "Vee is onto us having a secret."

Suprised, he responds with, "how do you know?"

"Because she hid a camera in the potted plant right outside the office," he answered, grabbing some spaghetti that was in there and getting it out. Astro seemed a bit concerned but brushed it off and walked out, knowing it might not be the best idea to confront her about this given it was him that she was after. After Shrimpo had gotten his food and ate it, he got Shelly's and returned to his room. When he entered, he gave it to her before they talked for longer, this time about her friendship with Vee, but as they did, one thing was in his mind the whole time.

*What does she suspect?*

...

Vee had thought her plan was pretty smart. No one would ever check the potted plant outside the office. The one in the mini lobby? Maybe. The one right outside the office? No way. Of course, one thing she forgot is that often times people will ask what is the last place they'd look, and given how she can't find her camera, she assumed that Astro did just that. *Darn it,* she thought to herself, *how could I not think of something so simple.* Eventually, she gave up and went for a walk, ending up running into Goob.

"Oh hey Vee, you seem annoyed about something, want a hug?" he asked, clearly wanting to be helpful.

"Sorry, but not right now, Goob," she responded.

"Ah, I understand, but is there something I could do to help you still?" he questioned. Vee looked at him for a second before smiling at his normal optimism.

"Sure, I could use someone as friendly as you's help with something bothering me," she answered.

"Oh, what is it?" he inquired.

"You see, a few days ago, I put a camera up in the toon bedroom hallway to try to see if I could see who or what caused the scratch on my old name plate. Astro found it soon after I set it up and took it before coming to my door to ask about it, and after a quick conversation he helped me set it up in a way that was harder to find while also being more focused on my door," she explained.

"That sounds fine, but I get the feeling that that isn't what's bothering you," he said.

"You're right, what is really bothering me is when I watched the video back, I saw that he was acting more careful than he normally does, and that alarmed me because I worry that he might be in danger, so I set up a camera in the potted plant outside the office, but I think he found it because it is no longer there, and now I am worried he is mad at me because of it because he hasn't given me it back yet," she finished, looking to Goob, "I would like to know what I should do."

He thought for a moment, before coming up with a good answer, "well, you should wait for him to give you back the camera, and explain that you are worried about him, sure, you could be helping him, but you could also be hurting him without realizing it."

Vee thought for a moment before smiling and saying, "thanks, Goob, and now that I think about it, yeah, I'd like a hug."

"Yaaay," he said before pulling her in with a big hug while having a huge smile on his face. Soon after the conversation, they say bye to each other and she goes back to her room. She decides to check the camera location to make sure that Astro had taken it and not someone else.

*What in the,* she thought to herself when she saw it was not in Astro's room, but Shrimpo's. That set off a big red flag in her head (which she accidentally displayed on her face). *Why did Shrimpo take it, he is not really the most secretive toon, and how would even assume that what he was looking for was a camera?* she thought to herself, before getting an idea on what could be happening, feeling rage boil inside of her.

*What is that fucker doing with him.*

Chapter Text

Shrimpo checked his phone, the run had ended, and Astro was gonna come up, and that meant he had to move Shelly from his room to his room and go to be in the next run. He couldn't belive that not only had both of them gotten back to back runs (though it does make sense given the smaller number of toons), but that Astro would have to do another run after he Shrimpo got back from his, let alone a solo one. He turned to Shelly and slightly nudged her while saying, "hey, wake up." She stirred with a quiet murmur and turned to him. "It is time to go to Astro's room, ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered before getting up fully. By now with Astro's help, her head was fully repaired, but they had stopped finding pieces of her, and by now, they had given up on getting her back to her old self physically. They left his room and walked towards Astro's, having to turn a few corners and go to the very end of the hall until opening the door and letting her in, muttering about how annoying this was while seeing her walk towards the telescope and window he had. When reaching Astro's door, Shrimpo felt like he was being watched, and while he looked at every obvious and obscure spot, he couldn't find a camera, so he just walked away, going to the elevator for his run.

The run was going terribly, sure, no one has died yet, but they are on floor 5 and already everyone was really hurt, mostly because they had the worst luck when it came to twsiteds imaginable, getting Pebbles on floor 3, and now here again at floor 5 along with having Toodles chase after them all with none of them having any tapes because Teagan stole them all on floor 4. Eventually, they had finished the machines on the floor and got enough supplies to get out. When Shrimpo reached the elevator, he saw  that Cosmo was having trouble baking something. By now, Cosmo had to step up and be able to bake something without costing him some health after Sprout couldn't get to the elevator in time, but he still had a lot of trouble and often times it did not actually heal. He saw that he was baking for Goob, who was close to death because he had been distracting, and Pebble got a good few bites on him. Shrimpo had a choice here, help Cosmo and reveal his secret of him being great at baking to him or not and risk Goob dying next floor. When thinking over what to do, he couldn't help but remember something from before Shelly twisted.

"Hey Shrimpo?" Astro said.

"What is it?" Shrimpo responded.

"I was wondering why not try to be more friendly with the other toons, I mean, don't you want some friends besides me and Shelly?" he asked.

After thinking it over, he responded with, "because would they really believe that me, the person who has bullied them throughout the entire show could be nice without an ulterior motive," he answered.

"Ah, okay, but maybe you could get them to believe by doing something that helps them big time?" he questioned.

"That might work, but I have no idea how I'd do that," he responded.

"Just something to keep in mind from now on, okay?" he finished.

"Sure," he said.

Coming back to the moment, he took a deep breath as he walked over to Goob and took a few cookies he had made out of his pocket. "YOU BETTER EAT THESE SO WE DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOU LIKE THE OTHERS," he shouted as he shoved them into his hands. Goob started to eat them, and his eyes lit up immediately.

"These are so good. Did you make these?" he asked, mouth full of cookie as he did so.

"OF COURSE I DID, DID YOU REALLY THINK BROWNIE BOY OVER THERE COULD MAKE SOMETHING SO GOOD," he bragged, trying to make Cosmo angry as he didn't notice Cosmo take one from his pocket and start to eat it too.

"Oh my, Shrimpo, we're you the one who left those cookies on my door?" he blurted out.

*Shit,* he thought to himself, having to come up on something on the spot with his baking is not something he was used to. "OF COURSE, I NEED YOUR COOKIES TO ACTUALLY BE EDIBLE," he quickly stammered out.

"O-oh, okay," he said, looking a bit dejected, until Goib whispered something in his ear, which made get a suprised face before smiling. Shrimpo just rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the actual floor. Thankfully, given that he had some more hp, Goob survived the floor and thanked Shrimpo, who dismissed it.

When he got back to his room, he walked over to Shelly and rubbed her head. Eventually, he went to grab some food for both of them and ended up finding Goob in the kitchen. "Hey, do you want to talk?" he asked.

"NO, LEAVE," he shouted back.

"Ah, okay, sorry," he responded, looking dejected while starting to walk away.

After thinking about it for more than half a second, Shrimpo then said, "wait, never mind, but make it quick."

"Yay," he sequeled before hugging him.

"Let go of me," he calmly said. This clearly took Goob by suprise, as he didn't really get the way he was talking before.

"Ah, sorry," he apologized. Shrimpo rolled his eyes as he walked over to the fridge and got out what was needed for a taco as he was thankful that toons did not need the same needs as humans did. "So, how long has this been an act for you?" he asked.

"About a year or two," he answered.

Goob thought for a moment before blurting out, "oh my God, you are the friend Shelly was talking about making and wanted some help with knowing how to be more friendly with."

"Wait, you remember that far back?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, 100%, I love to reminisce on helping friends be better friends to their friends," he started to yap, and he kept doing it too.

*Huh, did not know he liked friendship this much,* Shrimpo thought to himself as he was making his taco. He continued to listen to Goob talk a LOT about different times he helped friends. Shrimpo asked a few questions here and there, but mostly just let Goob talk. Eventually, his taco was ready, and he grabbed a few more sweets than he normally would from the fridge. "Well, this has been nice listening to you talk about friendship, but I am gonna eat in my room if you don't mind me," he told him.

"Oh sure, go ahead, see ya," he said, waving at him. He waved back as he went to his room, where Shelly walked up and looked at the taco, but he had her back up a bit.

"Sorry I couldn't get you some non-treat food, Goob was in there, and given I helped him not die in my last run, so I decided that I could talk to him a bit, but I got you a few more treats than normal" he explained, pulling out quite a few cookies and macaroons. She looked happier than normal as she was given her treats, and they ate a bit, but when they were done she finally found something to say.

"I am happy you could make a new friend Shrimpo," she said. After thinking for a second, he smiled and looked back to her.

"Yeah, me too," as they started to chat some more.

Eventually he saw that Astro was coming back up from his solo run, and saw how late it was. He was about to go to sleep, before remembering the feeling of being watched he had at his door. He thought for a moment, before apologizing to Shelly and rushing out of his room to make a run to the elevator. As he did so, he had only one thought on his mind.

*How did she think of that.*

...

Vee got up and walked out and into the hallway. She walked over to Astro's room, and plugged herself into the camera which she had inserted into his face on the door. This was her brilliant, and slightly crazy, plan to find out the truth, because there is no way ANYONE would realize that there was a camera there. "Okay Astro, what has Shrimpo done to you," she said as she starts to watch the footage, knowing that he would be coming back here soon from his solo run so she could help him as soon as he was here. Eventually, after fast-forwarding through a LOT of footage, she got the part where he went to the door.

"Come on Shells, it's right here," she heard him say. This caught her by suprise and forced her to stop the video.

*But that's impossible, Shelly twisted, we have seen her on runs,* she thought to herself as she resumed the footage. Words can't describe the fear she felt when she saw her walk up to the door, and while she did look better, most notably the black scarf she had around her neck and the fact there were no cracks left on her face, it still didn't change that Shelly, a main twisted, was being let into her friend Astro's room. That rage was only temporary however, quickly being replaced with rage. *He is letting her into his room? Oh boy are the others gonna be pissed when they find out,* she thought to herself, a smile getting on her face. She kept watching as the door was opened (which did force her to look at a wall for a second there), until the door was closed, and the rage was replaced with confusion.

"Why did the schedule have to turn out like this, with both of us having runs, and Astro having two," was not something she thought she would hear coming from Shrimpo, and the tone too. She was more worried about Shelly being there before to notice, but Shrimpo wasn't shouting, he was talking normally.

*I am gonna have to look into that later,* she thought to herself as she tried to make sense of what she already knew. *So, Shelly is here, no idea why she didn't attack him but whatever, I have other things to worry about, like how did Shrimpo force Astro into this, and why did he even bring up a main twsisted,* she thought as she fast-forwarded till she saw the door open, and then stopped doing so.

"Come on Shelly coast is clear," a voice which was clearly Astro said, which to say it caught Vee of guard would be an understatement.

*Why is he so calm?* she asked herself as she watched as the door closed to have Astro right next to Shelly, petting her? *How is he-oh my God, he is not being forced into this is he?* she realized as panic started to creep in. She kept watching as they walked away, and then she fast-forwarded the rest, not seeing anything else. *I need to tell everyone about this,* she thought to herself, but before she could turn to walk off.

"What you got in my door portrait Vee?"

Chapter Text

*Shit,* Vee thought to herself as she turned and saw Astro and Shrimpo standing there, both looking mad.

"Listen, Vee, we can talk about this, but you are gonna have to remain calm," Astro said. He was trying to deescalate the situation, and while this would normally bring an argument down, this was a very different scenario.

"Y-you insane fucks, why did you think it was a good idea to bring ANY twisted up here, let alone a main like Shelly!" she shouted, and while no there were no other rooms with people in them until you reach past the office, she hoped that shouting would wake someone, anyone up that can help her.

"We can explain, but you are gonna have to remain calm," he said back, keeping his distance while making sure Shrimpo did the same, and both knew that him saying something could really make the situation go bad.

"Remain calm? YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ON HOW MUCH DANGER EVERYONE IS IN BECAUSE OF HER!" she kept shouting.

"Look, we can explain, but we can't do that if you keep shouting, so can you please keep it down," he kept trying to deescalate. She knew that she would be getting nowhere, and waited for a chance, which was opened up by both of them looking at each other to start to talk about what they should do. She took her chance and ran past them, trying to get back to her room so that she'd be safe. Shrimpo tried to grab her, but was too slow and just missed as Astro started to chase after her. She managed to turn the first of two corners she'd need to turn to reach the hall with her room.

She saw that they had moved a few things to make it harder for her to escape and thought, *shit, they really thought this out,* as she quickly pushed her body through two wall dividers to go in, just barley not getting grabbed by Astro in the process. She kept going, dodging a few planets in her way, but that lead Shrimpo to be able to get close enough to lunge at her, which she quickly ducked under and saw as he bumped his head into a divider, knocking it down and allowing her to get over it and turn the last corner. *Yes, I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna-*

Thud

She fell backwards after running into something big, and after opening her eyes she saw Shelly standing above her. "Vee?" she seemed to ask, her voice twisted into sounding more threatening and darker.

*No no no no no no no,* she thought to herself as she tried to back away from her. She realized that because of the increased hearing all twisteds had, she had heard her shouting while no other toon had. *I dug my own grave,* she thought as Shelly slowly got closer and closer. She kept seeing memories, like when she hosted her first game show, when she got the mic she really wanted, when she shouted at Shelly over her stepping on her tail, when she apologized and was forgave immediately, when she decided to take her up on that offer to help her get fossils, when her hand couldn't reach Shelly's in time before the elevator closed. *I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't, I don't, I, I, I, I am so sorry,* she thought to herself as she closed her eyes with visual only tears in them, accepting her fate.

...

..?

Vee thought she would be feeling herself being torn apart by now, but she instead felt like someone was hugging her? *Did Goob save me?* she asked herself before opening her eyes, and seeing it was Shelly that was hugging her. She sat there, confused for a good few seconds, before hugging her back, not knowing what else to do. After a good few seconds she felt her stop, but she didn't want to, she didn't want to let go of her first friend ever again. Eventually, she was pulled off, but not with a lot of force as she knew she had to let go. She expected to see Astro being the one to pull her off, but instead she saw Shrimpo who seemed, calm for once?

"Hey, are you alright? You were hugging Shells pretty tight," he said, confusing Vee even more.

"Shells? Wait, you and Shelly wer-are friends?" she asked, trying to wrap her head around like 50 different things at the same time.

"Yeah, for about a year or two," he answered as Astro walked up.

"So, are you gonna be down to listen to what I wanted to explain?" he questioned.

"Yeah, mostly because of how much I need to understand now," she said.

"Okay, but can we do it in my room? I don't want anyone else seeing Shells," Shrimpo said, already opening his door.

"Fine," she said as she got up and walked in. *Holy cow, this place is a mess,* she thought to herself as she saw the many discarded air horns, punching bags, and are those holes in the walls?

"Take a seat," he said as he sat down on his bed, with Astro following and doing the same. Seeing no other place to sit, Vee moved a few things out of the way and sat down on the floor, only to have Shelly walk in (somehow knowing to close the door behind her) and lay on the floor next to her. She rubbed her head and started to hear her purr.

"So, where do you want to start?" Astro asked, wanting to get this conversation over with.

"How about on why Shelly is back here?" she answered, smiling at her purring.

"You see-" Shrimpo started as they both explained everything from how she's back, to Astro finding out, to how they are dealing with doing runs on the same day. Vee just nodded along and was left with only a few questions left.

"So, Shrimpo, how did you and Shelly become friends?" she questioned.

"Oh, uhhhh, she walked in on me making sweet treats and helped me make them, and before you ask, Astro walked in on the both of us hanging out and me and him became friends like that," he told her.

"Oh, well, that answered another question that I was gonna ask, and I am actually all out of questions, so uhhhhhh, now what?" she asked.

"I mean, Shelly, do you want to do something?' Astro asked her.

"Mind if I sleep in Vee's room?" she said.

"Oh, sure, go ahead," he responded.

"Well, this has been fun, but I would like to go back to my room, so yeah, see you then, come on Shelly," Vee said as she got up and left the room, with her following close behind until reaching her room a bit further down the hall. Upon opening the door Shelly dashed inside and looked around, mostly in awe at the futuristic room as Vee closed the door behind her. "So, what now?" she asked.

"I am tired, let's sleep," she answered.

"Oh, alright," she said as she crawled into the bed, followed shortly after by Shelly who did so in a more dog like way. Vee smiled, going to sleep with only 1 thought in her mind.

*It is so good to have her back*

...

Rodger got up from his bed and walked into his bathroom, and looked into the mirror. *You failed all 3 of them,* he thought to himself, *you can't fail anyone else, so you are gonna find any and all secrets that may be here to protect everyone else.*

*No matter what*

Chapter Text

Astro sighed as he got back from a run with Rodger and Cosmo. He knew that because the next run was Shrimpo and Vee, that meant that he was only Shelly duty. He knew things were 10x easier now than they were a month ago when Vee first joined the two of them in looking after Shelly, given that they were able to place cameras in the halls two weeks ago to have less of an issue with moving her from room to room while avoiding anyone having the chance to see her. When he reached his room and entered it, fear hit him immediately.

*Where is she,* he thought to himself, not seeing her in the room at all. He started to panic, rushing out of the room and looking in Vee's and Shrimpo's, nothing. Panicking more, he checked the cameras to see the halls, the main lobby, and the kitchen, nope. He frantically looked in the few places where the cameras could not see that were not inside people's rooms, not there. *What if someone saw her and chased her off? What if someone saw her and got hurt? What if she ran off on her * the these thoughts plagued him until he heard what sounded like talking coming from Goob's room. *Okay, calm down, maybe if you are vague enough, you can ask Goob for help without giving away the secret,* he thought as he walked over, and with a seconds hesitation, opened the door knowing Goob is fine with people entering without knocking if they need help.

*Oh my God,* was his first thought upon opening the door. When he did so, he saw something he never expected to see.

Goob playing patty cake with Shelly. "Oh hey Astro, wanna join?" Goob said, noticing and turning to him.

It took him a second to process what was going on, but when he did, he closed the door, walked over, and sat down. After that, it took him another second to find his words before he finally got them saying, "what is going on?"

"Oh, I am glad you asked. You see, I wanted to hang out with Goob, so I came over," Shelly explained in the most calm way imaginable.

"Okay, but Goob, I need a few questions answered, if that is okay with you," he said, turning to him.

"Oh sure, what question do you have first?" he asked.

After thinking about it for a second, Astro decided that his first question was going to be, "how long have you known about Shelly?"

"Oh, about three weeks now, so I assume you want to know how I found out about her?" Goob guessed.

"Yeah, I do," he admitted.

"Oh, about then is when I was turning a corner and saw Vee leaving Shrimpo's room, and for a while now I knew they were not friends, so that caught as weird, especially sense it was about time the run he was on was coming up, so I decided to walk over and enter the room, seeing her laying on the bed looking at me," he explained.

"Okay, what happened next?" Astro asked.

"Well, she got up and walked over to me, and while at first I was scared, when I realized that Vee had left the room with no scratches and that she did not run up to me, I calmed down and we got to talking," he continued.

"Okay, so how did Shrimpo not find out you knew?" he questioned because of the fact that he should have seen them interacting.

"Oh, you see before he got back, I left the room, but I told Shelly if she ever wanted to come talk to me, just do so, and I am assuming she decided not tell tell anyone and to only go when she is alone," he finished.

"Yeah, he has been good company," she complimented.

"Awwww, stop, you're making me blush," he replied, trying to have some fun with his friends.

"Ah, okay," Astro said, understanding now before turning to Shelly, "do you want to come to my room, or would you rather stay here?"

She thought for a moment before standing up and stating, "your room, I like looking at the stars."

"Alright," he said, checking the cams to make sure no one would see them before walking to the door and opening it.

Before they both went, one turned to Goob and asked, "mind if you answer one more question?"

"Not at all. What is it?" he excitedly said. What they said next caught him by suprise, but it made him smile along with the other person.

"Why do I feel happier talking to Shrimpo more than anyone else?"

...

Rodger had a miserable experience on his run. Sure, he had not gotten hit, but that did not matter when he had all three of them appear on the same floor.

Toodles, she was very young when they met, and she was still young when she twisted, and he had felt a lot of pain after looking after her for 5 years.

Teagan, sure, they were no longer together, but they remained friends, and she helped take care of Toodles to her last breath.

Glisten, while yeah, he got on his nerves at first, but over time, they became like brothers, always helping the other out when needed and being like an uncle to Toodles.

All three turned into twisted monsters that want to kill him, or at least when Glisten gets angry for them being about the leave the floor or being ignored.

Rodger sighed as he looked at some questions he still needed answers to, but one stuck out to him for some reason. He picked up Vee's old name plate, looking at the scratch. He knew whoever did it didn't mean to, but still that didn't mean that he shouldn't figure it out right? Besides, answering one question could help lead to him being able to answer another.

*Yeah, I'll start with this one, the move onto any other questions with help from the answer If it applies.*

Chapter Text

Shrimpo heard the sound of knocking on his door, waking him up. He was only slightly annoyed but knew to shout in case the person was someone who didn't know his true self (even if that list is now only 4 long). "WHO WOKE ME UP," he shouted.

"Tisha, I want to come in to clean up your room, but you never let me in, so I don't know why I bother," she said. He knew Tisha was still grieving for Shelly, and looked at her on the foot of his bed, and thought about letting her in, but he knew she'd end up revealing it to those who don't know if he did.

"NO, BUT MEET ME AT A LATER TIME, I HATE HOW MY ROOM LOOKS NOW AND IT NEEDS FIXING," he decided was the best way he could word it without the act being destroyed.

"Wait, really? Oh, thank you, so what time?" she excitedly asked. Shrimpo was confused. She seemed to be able to see something about his act, but he couldn't tell what.

"AFTER I COME TO GET YOU," he decided to answer with.

"Okay, see you then," she said as she, presumably because of the sound of it, skipped away. He was still tired but knew he had to get up soon anyway, so he decided to wake up Shelly by nudging her with his foot.

"Hey, wake up Shells, what do you want for breakfast?" he asked.

She stirred and looked at him for a moment before saying in an excited tone, "pizza!"

He looked at her face, already giving puppy dog eyes because she knew the answer if she didn't, and rolled his eyes, deciding, "fine, fine, I will get you pizza."

"Yay, thanks, Shrimpo," she chirped as he got up. He walked to the kitchen, where Goob seemed to be waiting for him.

"Hey Shrimpo, how's it going," he said, clearly excited about something. Shrimpo and the others found out yesterday that he knew about Shelly, so he assumed it had to do with her.

"What has you so excited?" he asked as he got out some pizza slices, deciding that he wanted it too.

"Oh, I actually have a plan to help everyone find out about Shelly without having them be scared of her, but it is gonna require a few steps for it to work," he answered.

"Okay, so I assume you are gonna let everyone who knows know and get them and Shelly to gather in your room?" he guessed.

"Exactly, I mean it is not like they won't find out eventually, so we should have them have as calm of a reaction as possible so that she doesn't get hurt," he explained.

Shrimpo thought for a moment while warming up his pizza before answering, "sure, I will bring her to your room, alright?"

"Sounds good, see ya then, buddy," Goob said before leaving. Soon after, he went and saw that luckily, the spot for the 2nd run of the day had none of them, so he decided that it was the perfect time and notified everyone else. He had the 3rd and final run with Astro, so he spent the time before that with Shelly, feeling very happy to spend so much time with one of his friends.

Eventually, the time of the meeting rolled around, and after the other 3 toons that actually live in the hall had gone down the elevator, he brought her to Goob's room and saw the others were waiting for them. "Hey Shrimpo, take a seat next to Astro, will ya?" Goob blurted out when he saw him come in. After he did so, he saw Shelly sit next to him. "So, y'all ready to hear the plan?" he asked, clearly excited.

"Whatever this plan is better not just be "we bring them in and have Shelly give them a hug" Goob," Vee teased. She knew that would not be the plan, but it felt like it would be funny to do.

"Hehe, no, but that could be added if ya want. Rather, the plan is to have us all seem friendly, so they'll be more likely to think that she is," he told.

Shrimpo, thought for a moment, before deciding on something, "you know, we could start with Tisha, I did say that she can come over and clean my room, I could probably slowly drop the act around her as she does so, so Shelly, you wanna stay with Goob after this?"

She turned to him and smiled before answering, "sure, I wouldn't mind."

"Okay, well there goes him, but what about me, Tisha and I don't exactly get along even a little bit," Vee asked.

"Oh, well, can't you try to apologize for something that might have started a fight between you and her?" Astro questioned.

"That's, a good idea, thanks Astro, given how many fights we've had it shouldn't be too hard to find one to apologize for, given I end up recording everything, so I'll do that," she said.

"Okay, so before the people doing the run get back, wanna all hang out?" Goob asked.

"I'm fine with that," Shrimpo admitted. With that, they all started talking amongst themselves, and for the first time in a while, Shrimpo felt very happy. Had he been feeling happy for a while now? Yeah, no doubt about that, but here ans now, actually feeling like someone who belongs somewhere? That feeling can't be taken away. Eventually they saw that the people doing the run were coming up, and they noticed how much earlier they were doing it than normal, which given Dandy's rules, could only mean that they had gotten enough supplies earlier on than normal.

Seeing this opportunity, Shrimpo excused himself and walked to the elevator. When they all came up, they were clearly confused on why he was there, but he knew that this would be faster so just shouted, "TISHA, CLEAN MY ROOM NOW," before walking to his room before anyone could question him.

Eventually, after she had arrived and saw the state of the room, she gasped and said, "you live like this?"

"YEAH, WHAT ABOUT IT?" He asked as he closed the door behind them.

As Tisha got to cleaning, she decided to ask, "are you ever gonna let down your defense around me?"

Caught of guard, he quickly shouted, "WHAT DEFENSE," to try to keep his act up.

"Your angry guy routine you have up, when are you gonna drop it?" she continued to question.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW IT IS AN ACT?" he boomed, hoping for an answer that will let him drop his act sooner.

"This picture is all the proof I need," she answered as she pulled out her phone and showed a picture. The picture was of the night he and Shelly first invited Astro to join them. He lightly took the phone out of her hand and looked at it, reminiscing on that night as he let out a smile.

"Can you get this in picture form? I uhhhhh, want to hang it somewhere in here," he looked up to her and asked.

Clearly caught off guard by how fast he dropped his guard, she stuttered before saying, "sure."

"Thank you," is what he said they got talking as Tisha cleaned the room. She did not expect him to be as chill as he was under his act, but she definitely wasn't complaining. Eventually, it became time for the 3rd run, and Shrimpo left her to finish as he walked to the elevator that Astro was already in as they started to go down.

"Hey Astro, I got a quick question for you," he told his friend.

"Oh, go ahead and ask it," he said as he waited for the question. The question caught him off guard, but it made him smile.

"Why do I feel happiest when near Shelly?"

...

Rodger looked at the scratched up sign and looked at some of the scratches the twisteds have made. By now, he had figured out that a knife couldn't have made the scratch, so this was the more likely option. Eventually, he noticed one that kinda looks similar to the sign scratch: Shelly. Putting the two side by side, yeah, the start is exactly the same as the start of one of hers. This left him with more questions, though. *How is she here? Why was the scratch accidental?* Those were some of those questions, but in the end, he landed on one that really needed answering.

*Does anyone know about her being here?*

Chapter Text

Vee walked up to Tisha's door and was very nervous. The both of them didn't exactly get along, and while yeah, an apology should help, she was unsure if she would accept it. Of course, she had to find those where she was in the wrong, and that took a few days, not because there were none, but because she decided to hide the ones she was in the wrong over into a very hard to reach file in her head. She even marked those as her own fault, so she just had to watch those and figure out what she did wrong. She found one where she started an argument over who was Shelly's true best friend, but no, that would cause another argument over bringing her up. She kept looking until she found a perfect one to apologize for. She knocked on the door and waited for Tisha to open it. "Coming," she shouted as she could hear her walk up to and open the door. "Oh, it's you, what do you want," she asked in a rather annoyed tone.

"I came to apologize about something," Vee admitted.

"Oh, really? Okay, fine, go ahead and apologize," she said scornfully.

"I came to apologize about the time I got mad at you over you taking that bandaid when I was at full and you had lost a heart, I should have been more thoughtful about the fact that you were hurt and let you take it without issue," she apologized.

Tisha thought for a few seconds before asking, "what is your motive?"

This caught Vee off guard, but she knew how to respond, "I want to try to repair the relationship between us given how few people there are left."

"Is that your only reason?" she questioned, not really believing her.

After thinking for a moment, she came up with the perfect answer of, "no, but the other reason involves other people, so you will find out when they decide so, okay?"

"Fine, but if I find this reason to be stupid, then I won't forgive you, so you can find out if I forgive you then," she said as she closed the door.

*Well, it could have gone worse,* was what Vee thought as she walked away, with only 1 thing on her mind.

*Hope that is enough for her to not freak out.*

...

Tisha had finished the last run of the day and let out a sigh of relief. She stepped out of the elevator with Goob, and he patted her on the shoulder, saying, "Hey, you want to come with me? I have something to show you."

She thought for a moment before realizing this could have to do with what Vee was talking about, so decided, "sure, where do we go?"

"Just follow me, okay?" he said before starting to walk towards the elevator up to the rooms. She, while a bit confused, followed. They kept talking while waiting for the elevator to come down, and when it does, she sees Shrimpo and Astro just chatting normally.

*That's strange. It is like they knew I'd be here. Are all 3 of them the people in on it?* she questioned as she got in as they got out. *Or they just happened to be there, that makes sense too,* they kept going down the hall until they reached his room.

"Okay, just in here is what I wanted to show you, but right before I let you in, listen through the door, okay?" he asked of her. She was confused but did so, hearing what sounded like talking.

"Are there people talking in there?" she asked.

"Yep, and are you ready to go in?" he questioned.

"Oh, sure," she answered. Before she could react, he quickly opened the door, rushed her inside, and closed the door behind her before she could get a good look at who was in the room. When she did, her heart started to race.

*T-there's no way, right?* she thought as she saw Vee casually talking to Shelly. She had seen Shelly in this state before, or at least in a similar state, but when she did all she could remember were the animalistic growls and stomping feet of her getting closer as she chased after her, but here she was, talking to Vee like her old self. Tisha walked up to her, tears starting to fill her eyes as she did so, up until she reached her. Both of them had said things, but she couldn't hear them with all of these emotions swirling through her head. She stopped right next to Shelly, who stood up. She then rushed in with a hug and started to cry into her. "I missed you so, so much," she cried.

"I missed you too," she said, hugging her back. They kept like this for a while, until they heard the door open and in came Astro and Shrimpo with some food, and Goob too. Eventually, they would all be talking and eating, enjoying the time they are spending together, but Tisha notices one thing. Occasionally, without prompting, Shelly and Shrimpo at different times would glance at the other before turning their attention back to whoever was talking. Eventually, a thought crossed her mind, which made her smile on the inside for her friend.

*Do Shrimpo and Shelly like each other?*

...

Rodger had manage to convince Cosmo to answer a few questions, as long as they were not too personal, and while that removed a few questions he had from being asked, he knew that the non-personal questions were more important. "S-so what's the first question," Cosmo asked, clearly a bit nervous over this interview.

"Oh, nothing bad, I just want to know if you have seen or heard anything strange?" he questioned.

"No, not really, I mean, I used to think so, but not anymore," he answered.

"What do you mean by used to think so?" he inquired.

"Well, I did notice a few treats that I never made appear in the fridge, but I found out Shrimpo made them, so it's fine," he explained.

"Shrimpo can bake?" Rodger blurted out.

"Oh yeah, he can, and they are all really tasty too, but I am not exactly the one to talk most about it, but don't bother with asking him, I only found out because he wanted to make sure Goob didn't die on a run so wouldn't have to deal with a twisted one," he explained. This was something Rodger put in the back of his mind, but he had many other questions to ask. Unfortunately, none of them had answers that would lead to other paths, so he had to end the interview there and said goodbye to Cosmo while on his way back to the room. He sighed upon entering it and removed Cosmo from a board of every toon being connected to Shelly with a question mark on the path.

*Vee would probably know more than Cosmo would, right?*

Chapter Text

Shrimpo sighed as he went into the kitchen to start to bake. He knew a meeting was gonna happen today, so they had to plan on which toon to show Shelly next, and he was chosen to bake the food for the meeting. Of course, when he went in, because nothing can ever go perfectly, there was Cosmo in the kitchen. Apparently, he had just arrived and hadn't started baking yet. He noticed him enter and turn to him, stammering out, "o-oh hey Shrimpo, why are you in here?"

Now he had two options, lie and get him to leave, or let him stay and maybe get his help with baking, and after weighing his options he decided to tell the truth while still in his act, "I AM HERE TO BAKE, SO DON'T GET IN THE WAY."

"Oh, maybe I can help. Who knows, I might be able to heal toons easier that way," he asked of Shrimpo.

*Wait, this would be a perfect chance to have my guard be lowered while talking to him,* he realized. "FINE, BUT YOU BETTER GOT GET IN MY WAY," he shouted back.

"O-okay, so uhhhh, what are we gonna be baking?" he asked.

"MACROONS, LET ME GUESS, YOU HAVEN'T MADE ANY EVER?" he claimed, trying to keep his guard up for now and slowly lower it over the time they are baking.

"Oh, uhhh, no, so could you show me how to make them?" he requested.

"FINE, BUT ONLY BECAUSE I NEED YOU TO INCREASE YOUR PALLET," he boomed back.

"O-okay," he sheepishly said. They'd start to bake it together, and slowly over time, as planned, Shrimpo lowered his guard, and by the end of it, they were talking like they had been friends for years. Eventually, they finished them and had taken them out of the oven. "Thanks for the help, Sprout," Cosmo said before holding his mouth in shock at that.

"D-did, you just call me Sprout?" Shrimpo asked.

"Omg, I am so so sorry about that, i-it just came out of my mouth, I-I didn't mean-" he started on saying before he held a hand up to stop him.

"It's fine, I understand," he said before laying a hand on his shoulder, "don't worry, I believe that someday we may see him act like his old self again."

"R-really? Wait, why only act and not look?" He asked.

"Do you want Sprout to look the same as he did while also being twice the size?" he questioned.

"... Fair point," he admitted, getting a slight chuckle out of him.

"Well, I have a few people who'd like to test these out," Shrimpo stated.

"Oh, can I join?" Cosmo asked.

"No, it's a bit more personal right now, but I am certain you will be able to soon," he told him.

"Ah, okay, I understand, well bye," he said as he waved as he left.

Eventually, he reached Goob's room (which by now just became the room where they all meet), and opened the door saying, "sorry if I am late, but to compensate I know who to show Shells to next."

"Oh? Who?" asked Astro.

"Cosmo, he helped bake these, and I have already lowered my act around him, so no need to worry about that part," he explained. "So, I am curious, does anyone actually have anything to apologize over to him?" he asked, and the silence afterward was deafening.

"That means that we just have to lure him here without having him panic when seeing Shelly, which given how jumpy he is, might be the hard part," Goob blurted out.

"Okay, what if he sees Shelly eating something he made? Would that help?" Vee asked.

"That might work, so what is the plan besides that?" Tisha questioned.

"Well, I already have it in his mind that if me and him got closer he could join the people who would help taste test these, so how about in about 3 days we invite him, and we have someone grab a treat he made to give to Shells before he comes in, oh and for a code to know the timing, I will knock 3 times, and Goob will say come in, everyone got that?" Shrimpo explained.

"Got it," everyone else said in unison, by now everyone was sitting down in a circle and they just got on chatting, eventually, Shelly laid her head down on Shrimpo's lap, and he couldn't help but to smile and pet her head, letting her purr engine go. He had a thought go through he mind, and he liked the idea, so he kept it in there, knowing that he was the last person they would show her to.

*I will confess after we show you to Dandy.*

...

Rodger sighed as he headed towards his room, but as he was walking to it, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. *What the?* he thought as he walked over to the break room couch and pulled out a camera from between the cushions. *Why'd Vee put this here?* he asked himself as he decided to watch the footage, and as he did so, he noticed something off. This thing just added a new mystery to his collection, but that mystery feels like answering it will answer every other mystery he has had.

*Why did everyone but Cosmo enter Goob's room at about the same time?*

Chapter Text

Cosmo has been enjoying the past three days a lot more than a lot of the days since Sprout became a twisted. He was there to see the ichor overtake him as Sprout pushed him into the elevator to save him. That was a long time ago, and every time he sees what has happened to Sprout, he tears him up on the inside. For the last 3 days, however? He has been baking with Shrimpo, which, for a while, he didn't think would be fun, let alone have him learn how to bake so many new treats. Now, however, with the hope of Sprout being of sound mind again, he hoped all three could bake with each other, and Ginger too if she's in town for the holidays. By now, he hoped Shrimpo would invite him to see whoever he had gotten to taste test the baked goods they made, but it seems really far off, that is until, "okay, I think you can come to meet them."

To say he was ecstatic when he was told that he would be under cutting it. *Finally, I need to know who Shrimpo has as friends besides me. He always seemed so aggressive before, but that was an act by this now, so I get to find out who found out about the act before me,* the thought to himself as they walked into the elevator with the gingerbread men they had baked. After all, the Christmas toons would be coming back for the first time since before the ichor incident, so they wanted to get everyone in the holiday mood. Eventually they reached Goob's door, and honestly the fact that Goob was one of the people made so much sense to him, after all not only did he REALLY like sweet treats, but he also was generally really good with people, and even told Cosmo that Shrimpo actually liked his food in the elevator when he first found out about his really good baking skill. Shrimpo knocked on the door 3 times. *That was, oddly specific,* he thought to himself as he saw the door opening to reveal a lot more toons than he thought.

There was Astro, Vee, Tisha (how are they in the same room without fighting he didn't know), Goob obviously, and, is that Shelly?! *OH SHIT, OH NO,* he thought to himself when he first saw her, until he noticed something. She was eating one of the muffins he had baked, and she seemed to be enjoying it. *Hold on, don't twisteds normally attack toons on sight, a-and everyone is fine. Is this why Shrimpo had such hope for Sprout?* he asked himself, already knowing the answer as he snapped out of his fear and walked to the center and put the plate with the gingerbread men down on the floor for everyone to take one. He watched as everyone took one and started talking as he found a nice spot to sit down next to Astro and Vee.

He didn't say much at first, but soon, Shelly asked him, "hey Cosmo, what do you want to do tomorrow besides baking?"

"Oh, I was kinda hoping to hang out with someone. Why?" he admitted.

"Because I want all of us to have a sleepover!" she yelled excitedly. Everyone looked at each other before letting out a few chuckles and agreeing to do that. This had actually gotten him to yalk more with the group, and by the end of it, he felt like everyone there was his friend.

Cosmo did notice one thing however, that being that Shelly and Shrimpo seemed to talk between each other more than any other toon and another, even after he swapped with Vee to let her talk more with Astro. He was certain everyone else noticed this, too, and that got him to think about something.

*I wonder how Sprout will be when he gets back.*

...

Rodger went back to where the camera in the cushions was and watched the footage. He had been for a few days now, and while he had noticed quite a few times there was a cut in time like someone was deleting some of the recording, he hadn't figured out why yet. *Okay, anything new tonight?* he asked himself as he watched the footage and noticed that this time, Cosmo had entered Goob's room. *Have they gotten him in on whatever they are doing? That would just leave me as the sole person to not know besides Dandy, and while yeah it is possible Dandy could be who they approach next, I feel like it is more likely they will come to me, which means I just have to wait for it to happen,* he made a big train of thought of. *Then again, mystery waits for no man,* he thought to himself as he put the camera back and walked to his room and took another look at the board and looked at what he knew, and put Cosmo back up there connecting to the toons next to him. Then he had a thought, and that thought put everything together as he finished the board.

Now, it had everyone who had entered Goob's room connected to Shelly.

Chapter Text

Rodger walked down the hall, exchanging pleasantries with every toon he walked by, up until he was stopped by Shrimpo. "HEY, ONE EYE," he shouted at him, making him stop and look at him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"COSMO LOST ONE OF HIS COOKIE CUTTERS AND YOU ARE KNOWN FOR FINDING THINGS, SO FIND IT," he told him.

"Why do you care? I thought you hated his baking," he said.

"BECAUSE HE BAKES PEOPLE STUFF TO HEAL AND MAKES IT SO WE DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH MORE TWISTEDS," he explained in his usual tone.

*Something tells me this isn't the full truth, oh well, I should find it anyway,* he thought. "Fine, but just because Cosmo lost something," he told as he walked off. It wasn't too hard to find, but it did take a bit of work to get to, making him think, *this would be so much easier with two people, wait, did Cosmo help Shrimpo with this? Why?* Those questions were in his mind as he found Cosmo and gave him the cookie cutter, telling him, "here, I found this."

"Oh, thank you, I was kinda hoping to ask you myself, but tell whoever did, thanks," he said. Rodger thought about asking him but decided against it, deciding to instead think things over in his room.

*Why would Shrimpo rush me into finding it? Why was it up on a shelf that wouldn't be too hard to get to with multiple people? If Cosmo helped Shrimpo, then why?* were the questions circling his mind up until he realized something. *Wait, Shrimpo was the the one who lead Cosmo to Goob's room, and that would mean he might be one of the leaders of this, does that mean that this is him trying to slowly open up to me, and he is gonna show me Shelly after he is done?* The more he thought of that option, the more it made sense. *If that is the case, then I should play along until I get to see her and start to ask questions,* he thought as he got up to go to a run he was on this day.

The cycle of Shrimpo stopping Rodger in the morning to get him to go find something that another toon had "lost" repeated for a few days, with eventually him fully dropping his act around him. *Never knew Shrimpo could be this calm,* he thought to himself over what his actual personality.

One day, as predicted, Shrimpo had a duo run with him, and when it was over, he said, "hey, I have something to show you."

"Oh? What is it?" he asked, playing dumb.

"It is a secret, just come with me," he told him, walking to the elevator up to the rooms, which Rodger followed. They talked along the way to and up the elevator, and then they talked on the way to Goob's room.

*Maybe they chose this room because of how friendly Goob is?* he thought to himself as Shrimpo knocked before opening it up. Inside was everyone else minus Dandy, oh and of course Shelly. Faking suprise upon seeing her and Shrimpo closing the door, he asked, "is that Shelly?"

"Yeah, and I am certain you have quite a few questions, and we'd be willing to answer them," Goob said.

"Okay, well, I will start by asking who brought her up here," he started.

"It was me, then Astro found out the following day, then Vee did a few days later, followed by Goob two weeks after, then we showed Tisha with four days later showing Cosmo," Shrimpo explained.

"Okay, next question is if anyone did actually lose anything?" he asked, catching everyone off guard. *Hehe, this idea is perfect, slowly show I knew more about this than they thought to see their reactions.*

"Oh, uhhhh, n-not really, everyone just worked together to hide the things in spots that wouldn't be too hard for you to find, but kinda difficult for you to reach," Cosmo admitted.

"Okay, and I have just one more question. Who hid the camera in the couch cushion?" he asked, basically having everyone but Shelly get an "oh shit, he knew didn't he" face to whichif he had a mouth Rodger would have a grin on it.

"T-that was me, i-it was also how I found out about Shelly," Vee told him.

"Ah, okay, well, that is all my questions about this, really, so I assume we are gonna have to figure out how to show this to Dandy without him freaking out," he guessed.

"Yeah, so do you have any ideas, besides all of us slowly getting closer when he opens the shop?" Astro asked, knowing that he was the one person who Dandy wouldn't be surprised actually trying to talk to him when the shop opened.

"No, but I am pretty certain that'd be the only thing that'd work anyway," he answered. They'd all talk being friendly with each other, but one thing that Rodger had in his mind through the whole time they were talking.

*I can get to see them back to their old selves, right?*

...

Dandy felt his arm reacting violently before he put the new tape in, feeling it slowly calm down with the claws forming slowly disappearing. Eventually, after watching enough tapes for the day, he walked off and saw a monster. The same one that started all of this, the same one who decided that this was the only way to buy supplies for toons to eat and get medical care, which doomed most of his friends to become twisted, the one who twisted Pebble with its bare hands. Seeing the look of regret on its face before he let out a sigh and thought to himself.

*I should really remove that mirror from there.*

Chapter Text

Dandy was not used to the toons actually wanting to speak with him anymore, well besides Astro. When slowly they started to speak with him more and more in the elevator when his shop came up, it was a welcome surprise. What caught him most off guard was Shrimpo. He was pretty infamous for hating everyone and everything, but slowly, it felt like he was lowering an act. "So, Shrimpo, has your "I have everything" always been an act, or did it used to be genuine?" he asked.

"It used to be genuine, but it stopped like a year or two ago," he answered.

"Well, what made you stop?" he questioned.

"I am actually not sure. I guess it was mostly because of pent-up rage from whatever they intended my backstory to be was fully let out," he explained.

"Ah, I understand," he said, "you know, it is good to actually have a conversation with you instead of you just shouting about how much you hate me."

"I bet," he chuckled.

"Say, do you have any tapes, I could really use some, and sorry no, I don't have any items, been having a hard time finding some," he requested.

"Oh, sure," he replied, handing some tapes over before asking, "why do you need tapes in the first place?"

"Oh, it's a secret, one that only Astro knows, so I would rather not have anyone else know, okay?" he explained.

"Oh, but I have a secret too, so I can reveal it to you if you reveal yours to me, and I promise not to tell a soul," he told him.

"Really? You-ugh, I can't believe I am gonna do this, fine, but only because you gave me tapes and have a secret," he answered, annoyed. He motioned for Shrimpo to get closer, before bringing up a TV he had in his shop to make 100% sure that if he got tapes he wouldn't have to worry about showing people this and hurting them. "Give it a few moments," he said as he put a tape in and grabbed the remote with his off hand. *It always starts with my better one,* he thought to himself as they waited for a few moments.

"What is supposed to-OH SHIT," he started before being completely taken off guard by Dandy's arm becoming twisted. With that cue, he turned on the TV and felt his arm slowly return to normal. "Y-you, t-that would explain-I need a second," he stammered out.

"Take all the time you need," he told him. It took Shrimpo a while to calm down and put his thoughts into words, like half an hour.

"So, tell me if I am wrong during any part. You either are twisted or are becoming twisted, and you need to watch tapes to keep yourself from attacking people?" he tried to make sense of this.

"Yeah, well, it is more so the former with a mutated version, but yeah," he answered.

"Okay then, well a promise is a promise, but I know that I am about to show you is not even half as crazy as yours," he told him as they arrived at the main room. They had planned on doing this tomorrow, but Shrimpo quickly texted change in plans to everyone and told them that it is happening today with just him and Shelly with Dandy. He was lucky that he had given him enough tapes to bide him over for until lunch tomorrow.

Eventually, they made it to his room, but Dandy was hesitant. "Is your room cleaner?" he asked.

"Yeah, got Tisha to clean it up," he answered as he opened the door. After walking in, he noticed that there were still holes in the wall (but they were mostly covered by different band posters). He heard the door close behind him, and as he looked around, he noticed something off with the bed.

*There's no way, right?* he thought as he walked up to the bed and touched what he was looking at. In response, it looked up at him, and after seeing who it was, it smiled. "Shelly? How are you-what is going on?" he asked.

"I can explain," Shrimpo said from behind him. Dandy turned to him as he started to explain everything. By the end, he understood all he needed to, so he smiled.

"Well, it is good to have you back, Shelly, but I have a request for you," he looked at her while saying.

"What is it, Dandy?" she inquired.

"Could I get a blood sample, I have been trying to figure out what went wrong with the ichor that caused this, and I feel like a blood sample from a twisted should help me get the answer," he requested.

"Sure, go ahead," she answered. He had taken a first aid kit with him in case someone needed healing along the way, however this scenario let's things go even better as he took out an empty syringe from the kit and lightly jabbed it into her arm, taking a sample and getting up.

"Well, thank you for this, I will start looking into this right away, so see ya latter," he said as he waved and left the room going back to his room and pulling out his lab. While yeah the Christmas toons will arrive tomorrow, this was more important than sleep. After all, he never thought the day would come when he could do this.

*Maybe I can fix everything and make it so that I don't see a monster staring back at me.*

...

Bobette and the others got off the train and walked into the studio. It has been a LOOOOOOONG time since they have been here, and they were all excited to see everyone again. "I can't believe it has been over two years since we were here. It felt like just 4 days ago," Bobette excited said, looking at the others.

"I can't wait to see Cosmo and Sprout again, I want to trade more recipes with them," Ginger calmly claimed.

"Oh boy, I can't wait to give everyone gifts!" Rudie basically shouted.

"Woof," Coal barked.

"Yeah, that's the spirit everyone, now let's all go say hi to everyone," Bobbette said as she walked up to the door and opened it to find, nobody on the other side? *Strange, normally everyone is excited that we are visiting, wonder where everyone is,* she thought to herself as she saw a note on the counter that Ginger picked up.

"Sorry we are not at the door right now. We are all in Goob's room for a meeting. You can come check on us, or you could wait for us to come to you," she read.

"Oh, that won't do, I will go get them," Rudie said before running off to go to get them.

"Should we stop him, or is everything gonna be fine?" Ginger asked.

"Not to worry, I am sure everything is gonna be fine, after all. Here is one of the places where we have nothing to worry about here," Bobbette reassured her. Eventually, Rudie came back, but the look on his face seemed a bit shaken, causing Bobette to run over and ask him, "Rudie? What's wrong, you do not look so good."

"I-I'm fine, everything is fine, but uhhhh, you should probably go see for yourself," he answered. This got the others to be worried, but they started to walk towards the elevator to see what shook him up so much. He followed them, not wanting them to face this alone like he did. They would all try to get answers from him, but he wouldn't answer, which just worried them more. Eventually, they reached Goob's room and opened the door to only see Goob, Dandy, Astro, Vee, Tisha, Rodger, Cosmo, somehow Shrimpo, and is that Shelly? Dear God, what happened to her. They couldn't help but close the door while being shaken.

"W-what happened to Shelly?" Bobette asked.

"I-I don't know, but I am worried about everyone who wasn't there, w-what happened to Sprout mostly," Ginger said.

"Woof..." Coal barked, missing the little guy.

"W-well we gotta ask Dandy at some point, but for now how about we set up the mistletoe, sure no one every goes under it, but it'd be fun to see how the avoid it like always," Bobbette changed the subject, to which everyone agreed to do to get their mind off of this. They worked together to get the mistletoe in the normal spot and hid in the office watching. As per usual, everyone saw it immediately and went around it. Goob used his arms to pull himself just to the left, Astro basically squished himself against the wall to get past, and Dandy simply walked like an inch to the right of it. Everything is going normal, up until Shrimpo and Shelly get to the spot. "Oh, I forgot about her, well everyone be quiet," she whispered to the others as they looked at the mistletoe.

"What is that again?" Shelly inquired, her voice distorted from what it once was.

"Mistletoe, if you go under it, you have to kiss the persona next to you," Shrimpo explained.

"Oh really?" she asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Yeah, why do you find it so hard to-" he started to say before being pushed under it by Shelly. "Shells, why did you-" he tried to say something again, but before he could, she kissed him. This caught him off guard, but he didn't fight back, in fact, he leaned into it.

"Oh my God," Rudie couldn't help but whisper.

"T-there's no way," Ginger blurted out in a whisper.

"Shrimpo, of all toons?" Bobette finished.

When they finished kissing, Shrimpo looked into the office and shouted, "I know you hide in there to see how people avoid this, come out." They realized they have been caught and all stepped out.

"Hey everyone, sorry you didn't have any warnings about me, but if you want answers, Dandy is willing to give them out," Shelly told them.

"Ah, okay, but why did you choose shouty mc-wait, why didn't you shout at her when explaining the mistletoe?" Bobette asked.

"Oh, because some time after your last visit, the anger thing became an act, and I decided why bother hiding it given every other toon knows," he explained.

"Oh, okay, well now I guess we go talk to Dandy?" Ginger tried to go.

"Hold it, remember our deal?" he questioned with a grin on his face.

"Oh, right, if you actually kissed someone under a mistletoe, we agreed to take it down for the month. Well, guess we have to do that," Rudie said as Shelly giggled. Shelly helped them take it down (her new height was really helpful), and they were off to find Dandy.

"Oh, hey, looking for me?" the devil had told from behind the front desk.

"Yeah, you have a lot of explaining to do," Bobbette told him.

"W-where's Sprout, I did not see him at all in Goob's room," Ginger asked.

"What happened to Shelly, I mean sure she is the exact same personality wise, but what happened to her physically," Rudie questioned.

"Woof," Coal barked, wanting to know what happened to Pebble.

"There is a lot to go over, so I will start at the beginning," he said as he explained everything. From them starting to run low on supplies, to him figuring out ichor sold enough for him to buy supplies, to how Boxten was the first to be infected by it, to how the only ones left are them, to how Shrimpo got Shelly back, to how everyone found out about her, and ended with showing them his mutation which he stopped with watching some tapes.

"Oh my Santa," Rudie said.

"T-that's a lot to think about," Ginger blurted out.

"Yeah, but Bobbette, I could use your help with something," Dandy claimed, looking at her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Given how you know quite a bit about medicine given you became a doctor about a year ago, so how about you stay here permanently and help me find a cure, and I will find a doctor's office near here that has a lot of sick patients for you to help, do we have a deal?" Dandy explained as he held out his hand, ready for her to shake it. After thinking for a moment and looking to the others, she made up her mind.

She shook his hand.

Chapter Text

Dandy was excited to show everyone what he has been working on with Bobette. By now a week has passed since her and the other Christmas toons arrived, and because of her help he has been able to get far on this cure, and now he was ready to show it off. He slid the paper under everyone's door and ran back to the main room, already having gotten everything ready to show them all. Slowly but surely, the toons came into the hall, with one of the first being Tisha and the last being Shrimpo and Shelly (who seemed to have just woken up). "You all might be wondering why I called you here, huh?" he said into a microphone.

"Yeah, why did you call us here?" Shrimpo asked, clearly still a bit groggy.

"Well, to put it simply, even since I found out Shelly came back and I got Bobette to help with working on this, I have been working non-stop to get this just right, and now it is getting to the final stages of development," his voiced echoed through the room.

"Oh, what is it?" Goob questioned.

"Glad you asked Goob, now I would like to show you all the new hope for all of us, A CURE FOR THE ICHOR!" he shouted, throwing down a cloth hiding a few syringes and took one. "As you all know, normally ichor is supposed to be harmless to toons, but when it came to light that too much ichor in one spot will become unstable and twisted them, we all had to be much more careful, but now, with this, and the vaccine we can make after some more time, that will no longer be an issue," he explained.

"Why not just make a vaccine first?" Tisha asked.

"Because we need to make sure that a cure will work first, because if we try to make a vaccine and it fails, then it is likely the person who tried it would become a twisted," he stated.

"Okay, but will the vaccine be safe for me giving my unique interaction with liquids," Vee inquired.

"That is something I have been trying to figure out, but I can feel myself getting close to an answer on how to make it safe," he told her.

"What about the physical changes? Will those go away with the cure or not?" Cosmo questioned.

"No, for as good as this cure will be for them, it is likely that any changes caused by the ichor will stay," he explained.

"Okay, so are you gonna show us if it works?" Rodger asked, clearly wanting to know badly.

"Yeah, just wanted to answer questions first," he answered before injecting some of the cure into enough ichor to where it was unstable. Everyone watched as for a while it seemed to be working, but eventually, it stopped and returned to being unstable. Dandy had actually timed this and shouted, "OH WOW, a new record, that means we are 80% done with the cure, right Bobette?"

"Yep, only need to get it up by twelve more seconds for it to be fully complete," she explained.

"Exactly, so as y'all can tell, we are almost done, so go do whatever you wanted to do for the day, and I will call you all for the runs," he stated.

"What about me? You said you were thinking about whether or not to send me on runs again," asked Shelly.

"I have actually decided to not let you go on runs, because while yes you are mentally stable, we don't know what being so close to so much ichor will do, but don't worry, you will be the first toon the cure is tested on when it becomes available," he told her.

"Okay," she said before walking away, with Shrimpo following her. After all of this, Dandy and Bobette got back to work on making the cure work fully, but there is one thought on his mind the whole time.

*I hope Pebble will forgive me*

...

Shelly sat on the roof, looking at all the stars above her. She heard the door behind her open and saw Shrimpo had come up too. She smiled at him and then got back to looking at the stars. "Hey Shells, looking at the stars?" he asked.

"Mhm, wanna join?" she inquired, looking back to him to see him walk over and sit down next to her. They looked up together seeing the vast space above with hundreds of stars in sight. Both sat there in silence for a good while, just enjoying each other's company while watching the stars.

"Hey, Shells, I have a question," he looked at her saying with his heart racing.

"What is it?" she asked, looking at him.

"What are we after the mistletoe thing?" he questioned.

"What do you mean?" she inquired.

"I mean, I don't know if our relationship has changed at all because of that," he answered.

"No, we are still friends," she explained.

"Yeah, friends," he said, looking down. He worked up his confidence and asked, "is that all you want to be?"

She was caught off guard by the question, looking at him after he asked it as she could feel her heart skip a beat. She had a hundred thoughts circle through her mind at that moment, but eventually she found just the right one to say, "no, is that all you want to be?"

He was caught off guard by the answer, but smiled and questioned, "no, so does that mean we are dating?"

"I guess," she answered looking at him. Both of their hearts were beating faster than they ever had before as they got back to watching the stars. Eventually at the end, they did something they have wanted to do for a while now.

They kissed under the moonlight.