Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sprout remembered the moment he lost his best friend vividly.

Sprout and Cosmo—his best friend in the "whole wide facility", as Cosmo liked to say—had been tasked with extracting the mysterious substance known as “ichor” from the floors below the Gardernview Center. Usually, a group of eight Toons would go down together, and return when they had completed enough machines. The only problem with the task were the Twisteds.

Twisteds were Toons that were corrupted by the ichor. They were animalistic beasts that attacked on sight. At first, the Twisteds were only corrupted “clones” of Toons, which most of the regular Toons didn’t even know had existed. Then, one had attacked a Toon by the name of Flutter, and the Toons realized that they could become Twisteds with a scratch of a claw.

Sprout had been tasked with going down several times. No one wanted to do it, but everyone knew it had to be done.

Each Toon stepped out of the elevator nervously, and looked side to side in fear of what might have been lurking in the darkness. The floor itself was one Sprout had seen many times before, but that couldn’t stop the feeling of dread he had about the place.

“No matter how many times we do this, it’s always scary…” Cosmo whispered.

“It’ll be fine, Cos. Whatever’s roaming around in here, we can take them,” Sprout smiled reassuringly.

Cosmo looked up and tried to match his smile. “You might be able to. You know you’re way stronger than me. Taller, too. But… I’ll try to stay brave.”

The two continued to walk around the floor. They had completed a machine together without seeing any Twisteds, so Sprout was feeling confident in himself. After a few seconds of extracting on another machine, Cosmo tugged on his pink and white scarf with force.

“Cos, I’m trying to concentrate here,” Sprout muttered.

“Sprout, look behind you…”

Sprout sighed and paused his extracting. “What?” he asked as he turned around.

The first thing he noticed was the Twisted’s eyes. Its scleras were a vivid red with pitch black irises. They seemed to glow in the dimly lit floor, like lanterns in a foggy street.

The next thing he noticed was its dark gray wings, which had previously been such a pretty cyan, had turned black. The ends of Flutter’s antennas had become sharper as well.

Sprout also noticed the fact that Flutter had begun to rapidly fly towards the duo.

“Run!” Sprout yelled, grabbing Cosmo by the wrist. Cosmo blinked for just a moment before quickly following.

Just as they were about to hide from the Twisted, an alarm rang through the floor, signaling all four machines had been completed. Sprout knew they only had a short window of time, so he continued to run in the direction of the exit.

Six seconds left.

As the giant elevator became visible once Sprout ran around a bookshelf, he looked behind him and stopped.

Five seconds left.

Cosmo was running as fast as he could, but his fatigue was obvious, and in no time, Twisted Flutter was behind him.

Three seconds left.

Sprout reached out his arms, intending to grab Cosmo, when two hands grabbed him from behind and pulled him towards the elevator.

Two seconds left.

Sprout tried to wrestle out of Goob’s grasp, but he was helpless as he watched the elevator doors close just as Flutter caught up.

The elevator shook a bit and then continued to descend.

Once Goob let him go, Sprout fell to his knees. Tears had already begun to fall from his eyes, but he didn’t make a single sound. It was as though he couldn’t comprehend the idea of Cosmo being gone in such a sudden manner.

After a few more seconds of silence and pitying looks from the other Toons, a hatch behind them opened, and out popped Dandy and his small store.

“Hello everyone! I’ve got some goodies for…” The flower quieted as he noticed Sprout crying and the lack of Cosmo in the elevator. He sheepishly smiled and nodded in understanding.

“I’ll, uh, come back later,” he muttered quietly as he flicked a lever next to him.

Sprout barely noticed.

That night, the strawberry didn’t go to dinner.

Usually, he and Cosmo would help cook up things for the other Toons to eat. Since the facility was only inhabited by Toons, they all had come up with a system of living that relied on everyone doing their part.

A few whispers were heard outside his maroon door. One said, “He lost his best friend, Poppy. I don’t blame him for staying in his room,” and the two voices walked away.

Sprout lied on his bed, unmoving. He stared at the red ceiling above him without uttering a word. All his tears had dried out, and all he could think about was the fact that Cosmo was truly and absolutely gone.

After a few seconds, he glanced at the baking counter that sat near his bed alongside the wall.

Sprout had dozens of memories of him and Cosmo baking together there—sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. A bowl and a few spoons sat on one of the countertops, reminding him of the cake the duo were going to make after they came back from the floors.

A cake that would never be made.

The thought of Cosmo once again brought Sprout to reality. Never would he be able to read, bake, talk, or do anything else with his friend again.

As the night went on, and all the Toons went back to their rooms, Sprout kept thinking about Cosmo.

Only when it was around midnight, eyes drenched in tears again, did the strawberry sleep.

Chapter Text

“Sprout? You okay?” Scraps asked. Her usually bright and curious eyes were clouded with worry.

Sprout didn’t meet her eye contact, and instead continued leaning on the elevator wall. “I’m fine.”

“...Okay. Well, you can always talk to me about anything!” she assured. With one last glance, she walked towards the six Toons grouped near the center of the elevator.

It had been two weeks since Cosmo had been attacked by Twisted Flutter, and every day, Sprout felt like the hole in his heart grew bigger and bigger. He would wake up, expecting his friend to be just outside his door waiting for him, and then remember what had happened.

A few other Toons had tried to comfort him about it, but he pushed them all away. This was something he needed to get through by himself, and although he wouldn’t admit it, he was scared of getting attached to someone and them turning into a Twisted soon after.

Although Sprout was constantly tired, he wouldn’t let himself sleep on his tasks. He went on floor expeditions, made food for other Toons, and even helped Tisha clean up the place a little. The work gave him something else to think about.

The sound of the doors opening snapped Sprout out of his thoughts. The elevator had descended to floor five, and the group were almost done with their machine quota. Each Toon filed out and quickly began searching for machines that were scattered across the floors. Sprout wasn’t the best at filling the machines, but he was pretty fast, and was good at distracting the Twisteds from chasing slower Toons.

Just as he was walking around, Sprout heard a faint sound up ahead. He hid behind a brown crate in the corner of the hallway and peeked from behind.

A red-eyed Twisted of someone he couldn’t tell was wandering away from him. Once the Twisted was gone, Sprout made the motion of leaving his hiding spot. However, another Twisted walking near made him stop in his tracks.

Cosmo.

Obviously, Sprout could tell that Cosmo was a Twisted. The red glowing eye made it obvious.

But before he knew it, Sprout stepped out of his hiding spot and right into the Twisted’s line of sight. “Cosmo, is that you? Do you remember me?” he frantically asked. “Can you understand me?”

Cosmo made no sign of understanding, and instead began running towards Sprout. Or, rather, walking quickly, since he was quite slow. Although there was a chance that this Cosmo was a Twisted clone, there was something in his eyes that felt different.

A part of Sprout told him he was imagining things, but the rest of him wanted to try. It was his one chance of saving his friend, he reasoned.

As he dodged Cosmo’s attempt at attacking with his ichor-covered right hand, Sprout kept trying to reach him. “Cos, do you remember being a Toon? Do you remember the times we baked together?”

Again, the words didn’t affect his friend in the slightest. After a few more seconds of evading claws, Sprout had enough. His first strategy wasn’t working, so he decided to do something else.

In one swift movement, Sprout grabbed his pink and white scarf from his neck and wrapped it around Cosmo’s arms, immobilizing him. The black ichor bled through the scarf a bit, but Cosmo didn’t seem like he was trying too hard to escape. He ragdolled immediately.

Sprout held his friend like he was holding a football and ran to the other machines, making sure not to alert any other Twisteds. Once the elevator’s alarm reverberated across the floor, he ran as fast as he could towards it.

The other Toons all gasped at what he was holding once the doors shut behind him. Cosmo didn’t say a word.

“Sprout! What are you doing?!” Poppy exclaimed. “You can’t bring a Twisted up!”

“I know you miss Cosmo, but Twisteds can’t go back to being Toons,” Brightney said. She approached Sprout with her arms outstretched, but he stepped away.

“Well, have you ever tried? Maybe Twisteds can come back,” Sprout retorted. The other Toons all looked at each other. No one had ever tried, because the Twisteds were so vicious and feral that it was hard to capture them.

Everyone’s gaze drifted to Cosmo. His eyes were darting around the room, and his hands twitched every now and then.

A certain blue ghost looked at the others in the elevator with an expression of pity. She sighed and said, “Sprout’s right. We’ve never really, you know, tried. Maybe those weird clones can’t be saved, but maybe the infected ones can."

Sprout was surprised by her defending him, but he quickly remembered that Connie was very close friends with Flutter before she became a Twisted. "Yeah, see?"

“I think we should give it a shot. What could go wrong?” Razzle smiled.

“Many things…” Dazzle, Razzle’s conjoined twin, muttered.

Sprout knew that the odds of bringing back his friend were low, but it was his only chance at saving Cosmo. He had to try.

Chapter Text

Shelly had been combing through her bookshelves when the strawberry approached her. He had said that there was something relating to Cosmo he needed help with. Shelly, always being delighted to help out a friend—and secretly elated that Sprout had remembered her, since she felt like barely anyone did those days—agreed.

“Sprout… Is that who I think it is?”

“Yeah. I found him on a floor yesterday.”

Cosmo was sitting on one of the benches in Sprout's floor. He was tied up with one of Sprout’s long scarves, and a few ichor-covered bandages sat next to him, as though there was an attempt to wipe away the ichor that flowed endlessly from the wound on his head.

Shelly knew that the Twisted was detained, but she still took a step backwards out of instinct. “Are you sure he won’t attack us?”

Sprout sat next to Cosmo without fear. “I noticed something about Cos recently. He’s always been, well, not that strong—always would rather heal than harm. And I think that trait somehow stayed, despite the twisting.”

“...Huh.” Shelly had been on a couple of floor expeditions in the past, and she had noticed that some Twisteds still kept the same traits as their Toon counterparts, even if they still wanted to attack Toons. “So you think that Cosmo won’t hurt anyone?”

“Like this, he will if he can. But if the trait of being less belligerent than others stayed, what’s not to say we can’t bring back other traits?” Sprout looked at Shelly with hope and stubbornness in his eyes.

The ammonite shell knew that it was probably impossible, but she couldn’t refuse the quixotic idea of bringing back Twisteds. “If we can cure Cosmo, that might mean there’s a chance that others can be cured too! You can count on me to help!”

The two first tried cleaning up the ichor that covered Cosmo’s left eye and hand. Shelly held up his arm, and Sprout wiped away the strangely thick and black liquid. Their efforts were soon proven futile when the ichor kept replacing what was wiped away.

Shelly glanced at Cosmo as she picked up the dirty paper towels. He hadn’t said a word the entire time she was there, and his eyes seemed to stare at nothing.

At first, she had thought that the Twisted acted just like any other—animalistic and hostile. But when Sprout came close to him, Cosmo looked calmer. His eyes would relax ever-so-slightly, and he would lower his claws in an almost trusting manner. The differences were minute, and might not have even mattered, but they gave Shelly hope nonetheless.

“Do you have a plan to bring your friend back?” Shelly asked after a moment of silence.

Sprout paused for a few seconds and nodded. “I think I’m gonna try to bring him around the Gardenview center to jog his memory. Maybe if he sees his room and a few other Toons, he’ll remember more.”

“If he… When he does heal, and goes to the basement floors, will the other Twisteds attack him? Or will they see him as one of their own?” The idea of a healed Twisted was interesting, but theories of its behavior were best left to people like Brightney—Brightney was one of the smartest Toons Shelly knew.

“We’ll know when he heals.” Sprout hugged his legs closer.

Shelly nervously tapped the microphone she had borrowed from Vee. She had to break the news to everyone in the center—the news that she and Sprout had broken the “don’t bring Twisteds up” rule, and the fact that they were attempting something that no one else had.

Taking a deep breath, she quickly glanced at the strawberry, who was holding two thumbs up behind the large Gardenview tree. His hand was gripped tightly around Cosmo’s.

Almost every Toon in the lobby was looking at her. Most had confused expressions, but some had grimaces on their faces, since they had been in the elevator with Sprout when he found Cosmo. Shrimpo looked as mad as he usually did.

“Hi everyone!” Shelly began. “Sorry to interrupt your dinners, but I have an important announcement to make! You might have heard it from some of the others, but a Twisted was brought up to the Toon Rooms, and--” Before she could continue, whispers immediately began running across the room. Expressions of worry began spreading just as fast.

“Don’t worry! Sorry, I should have specified. A Twisted was brought up on purpose to try and see if turning one back into a Toon was possible. Everyone here knows the dangers of doing so, but if one can be saved then… What’s not to say others can?”

Someone in the corner raised their hand. “And how are you going to do that?” Glisten asked.

“Well…” Shelly began to explain the plan Sprout had told her earlier. She was relieved to see the tiny bits of hope in the eyes of the more optimistic Toons.

Chapter Text

Brightney stared at the Twisted in front of her with a suspicious expression. “So, you really think he can be saved?”

“The chances are low, but I think it’s possible,” Sprout smiled. Ever since he had found his friend two days prior, he had been smiling a lot more.

“I guess so. Scraps, what do you think?” Brightney asked, turning to her left.

Scraps, the energetic cat-like Toon, shrugged. “I dunno. But, like I always say, the best way to find out is to try!”

“You’ve literally never said that.”

“Well now I do, Sprout!”

A few ideas on what to do floated around her head before Brightney snapped her fingers and turned towards the other two. “First, we should get Cosmo talking again. That would be a huge step towards bringing him back.”

Scraps raised her hand. “What if we get those alphabet letter blocks Dandy has in his store, and try to get Cosmo to use them to talk?”

“Brilliant idea! Come on Sprout, let’s go talk to Dandy,” Brightney cheerfully said.

Scraps ran up to Dandy's lobby shop first. "Dandy! Dandy, we need your alphabet blocks for a really cool project, and I swear I’ll return them this time!" she exclaimed quickly.

Dandy looked at the duo behind her curiously. “Uhm, alright! But it’ll cost you.”

“Uh... Here!” she said as she pulled out a few VHS tapes from her dress pockets. She had clearly forgotten to take them out from her last run with a few others.

Scraps promptly gave them to Dandy, who in return, gave her the alphabet blocks that were on his shelf as decoration.

“Why do you even need those tapes?” Sprout asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, why do you need those blocks?”

“Touché.”

Brightney turned to leave. “Come on, you two. Thanks, Dandy.”

“No problem, friend!” Dandy replied merrily as he waved goodbye.

Brightney laid out all of the blocks in front of Cosmo and gently untied his left hand. The trio stepped backwards and waited patiently for any sort of reaction.

Still having those strangely lifeless eyes, Cosmo looked at one of the blocks and picked it up. He turned it around in his hand as though he was examining it.

“Come on, Cos. Try and spell something with them... Like my name,” Sprout quietly pushed.

Brightney knew as well as he did that the outcome of the experiment would make-or-break their whole plan. If the Twisted couldn’t communicate with Toons, the chance of saving him would become very low.

After a few agonizingly long seconds, he put down a block near the others. Then, Cosmo picked up another block and set it down. He repeated the process for a few of the blocks, and then looked up at Sprout expectantly.

The block sides that were facing Brightney spelt out “FGQPSM”—gibberish.

The air was tense.

“Sorry, Sprout,” Scraps muttered. “Maybe we can try again tomorrow.”

But Sprout wasn’t listening. He walked closer to Cosmo and looked at the blocks facing the Twisted. He gasped.

Brightney walked over and crouched down to see the side facing the two. Once she read what Cosmo had written, she gasped as well.

The blocks had several different sides, and although the ones facing her read gibberish, the ones facing Cosmo read one simple word in capitalized colorful letters.

“SPROUT.”

Brightney couldn’t believe it. Cosmo remembered Sprout’s name, even as a Twisted.

“Does this mean we can heal him?” Scraps asked, confused.

“It isn’t guaranteed that we can, but it’s a huge step,” Sprout responded. His eyes shone brighter than Brightney’s lamp as he picked up Cosmo and hugged him tightly.

“Careful! He’s still a Twisted!”

Yet, even though he was, Brightney could have sworn she saw Cosmo smile the tiniest bit.

Chapter Text

Up above the ceiling glass, there lied stars.

Stars, up above, shining bright, shining in the night.

Black, then white, then black again. Dripping darkness that consumed and devoured.

Lost hearts, broken brains, lost love.

What is a love? Who was love?

A name, which can only be called once, “till death do you part?”

A god's blood, running through veins.

What happened? Where was he?

Questions disappeared just as quickly as they came. They floated away like a balloon, up up up into the sky!

A facility abandoned by all, a room just for him, arms colored red holding a brown hand, how strange. Frosting turning rotten at the sight of blood.

Step, step, stepping away from the starting point. When will the journey end? When will the light arrive?

Hallways passed and ran around like fairies holding up their bouquets and whispering merrily. Traveling through the world, oh how fun! Yet, stuck again as you are?

Little creatures dancing dancing, holding up bags of flour. Down, down, down the bowl it went!

Sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, buttermilk… Whip, whip, add, add, mix, mix, then burn! Pull out the pan, and a roll cake is there! The frosting is made of crushed up white hearts.

“Enjoy, I made it just for you! I hope it’s not too dry, and I hope it’s not too sweet!” Words said again and again. “Take a bite out of my heart, it’s fine.”

Looking up, the cake saw a baker, tall as a windmill on the ocean. The cake reached up and met a hand, a red hand, a yellow hand.

Yellow. Yellow and orange and white. Black eyes and yellow lids, and brown liquid—not as gooey as the darkness, though.

The cake once again looked up for guidance, and the baker only smiled that smile that was nice, wouldn’t one agree? A twisted heart, a Twisted’s heart, walking on ice.

Yet when the poor, poor pastry looked into the strawberry’s eyes, he felt different. The little creature’s cake of hearts ceased their making!

And suddenly, all felt right again.

“Oh, Sprout, there you are. You’re late,” Teagan called out. She turned around to look at the duo and raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, Teagan. I thought that maybe one of your tea parties would help Cosmo relax a bit," Sprout apologized.

Teagan sighed and smiled. “You’re always welcome to come, you know.” She finished pouring tea into a quaint little cup and handed it to Sprout. “Green tea, just how you like it.”

Sprout sat down on one of the four chairs surrounding a table and motioned for Cosmo to sit on the one closer to him.

“Shrimpo, your tea is done,” Teagan smiled as she stepped towards Shrimpo, who was sitting on Sprout’s left with—as always—an angry expression.

“I HATE WAITING,” he exclaimed angrily.

“I know, but perfect tea takes time.” She set down the cup—oolong tea, by the smell of it—in front of the shrimp and sat down across from Sprout. “And you hate imperfect tea more, right?”

“...I DO HATE IMPERFECT TEA TOO!” Teagan and Shrimpo had the strangest relationship, since Teagan was apparently the only thing Shrimpo didn’t absolutely hate. It confused the Toons, but since Shrimpo acted a bit more tolerable near the tea cup, they didn’t care much.

Cosmo stared at the cup of white tea in front of him. Ever since he had become a Twisted, he never felt the need to eat or drink. He wondered if it was due to the fact that ichor was a powerful energy source, as well as blood.

Wrapping his brown fingers around the handle, Cosmo brought the cup to his mouth and drank a sip. The delicate sweetness of the tea reminded him of how nice sweets tasted.

Cosmo, in his confused daze, felt the need to say something, anything. But as he tried, it felt like there was ichor in his throat that prevented any words escaping—though, with a second thought, he realized there was.

Despite his failure, Teagan looked at him proudly. “I’ve never seen a Twisted be able to drink something, much less try to speak. He really is different.”

“I HATE TWISTEDS!” Shrimpo exclaimed rudely.

“We all do, dear,” the teacup replied, patting him on the head and giving the angry shrimp as close to a kiss on the forehead as she could. “Except for this one.”

Chapter Text

Goob merrily walked through the halls of the Toon Rooms. The day had been great so far, though Goob found most days to be great. He was a very optimistic Toon.

Up ahead, he saw his sister Scraps, who was sitting on one of the blue couches and talking to a few others. When she noticed him, she waved excitedly.

“Goob! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“Don’t be silly, sis. You saw me yesterday!”

“Oh yeah!” Scraps’ eyes drifted towards his left hand. “Why do you have Cosmo with you?”

Earlier that day, Sprout had to go for an extraction run, so Goob volunteered to watch his Twisted friend. Sprout—albeit begrudgingly—let him. He wondered if the strawberry was still mad about when he grabbed him before the elevator doors closed.

Usually, Goob used his long arms to hug others, but when he saw that the elevator was about to close, he instinctively grabbed Sprout. He didn’t want to leave Cosmo on purpose. It was just automatic.

“I volunteered to watch him,” Goob answered. “See, he has claws like us now!”

“Careful, Goob,” a voice behind Scraps warned. Teagan stepped closer with a concerned look. “Those claws look more dangerous than yours.”

Cosmo’s eyes darted around, looking at seemingly nothing. Whenever he wasn’t with Sprout, he acted more aloof and in a daze. His claws did look incredibly sharp, even if they were made of ichor. That was probably why one of Sprout’s scarves was wrapped around his brachiums and torso.

“Sprout said that he was trying to get Cosmo to talk, right? Do you think that’s even possible?” Scraps asked.

Teagan shrugged. “Three days ago, I saw him attempt to speak. Even if he cannot, I believe there’s some part of Cosmo that wants to.”

Goob looked at Scraps with an optimistic expression. “What if, while Sprout is away, we try and get him to talk? It can’t be that hard!”

“Good idea, bro! And we can get that one Toon to help too!” Scraps paused. “What was her name…?”

Goob tilted his head in confusion. “Huh? Who?”

“The uhm… She looks like a cinnamon bun? She told everyone about Cosmo?”

“...Shelly?”

Scraps nodded. “Yeah! Her! Come on, let’s go find her!”

Shelly looked surprised to see Scraps pull up behind her, though Goob found most Toons looked surprised when a cat-like Toon jumpscared them from behind. She also looked surprised to see Goob run after Scraps with a confused Cosmo behind him. “Oh, hey you three! Do you need anything?”

“Sprout left Cosmo to us,” Goob explained. “So we wanted to surprise him by getting Cosmo to talk again, and we wanted your help!” He looked behind him and saw that his arms were stretched, and that Cosmo had begun to wander around again while holding Goob’s hand, so he slowly retracted them. It was a skill he was created with, but he sometimes wouldn’t notice his hands dragging behind him.

“You wanted my help?” In an instant, Shelly brightened. “Of course I’ll help! What do you want me to do?”

In actuality, Goob had not thought that far.

Scraps spoke up first. “I can go look around for stuff to help, and you two can come up with a plan together.” With a nod from Shelly, she quickly ran away, eager to help out.

After a few seconds, Shelly sat down on the brown wooden floor and leaned back on the blue wall behind her. She looked at Cosmo with a mixed expression. “What do you think they feel?”

“Huh?” Goob sat down next to her.

“Well, they chase Toons around, so you’d think they would all be bloodthirsty, but… he doesn’t look angry. He looks confused. Like this is unfamiliar territory for him.”

Goob looked at the Twisted again. He could see what Shelly meant. “I think he looks kinda sad. Like it would take more than a hug to fix him.”

“...Hey, Goob? Have you ever seen the Twisted version of yourself?”

To her clear surprise, he nodded. “Yeah! I was walking around in a floor once, looking for machines, when I saw him—or it, I guess. It looked just like me, but its eyes were red, its fur was spikier and less fluffy, and it looked like it was really sad.” Goob gestured to his eyes and tufts of fur. “But the worst part was that it was using hugs for evil! Hugs! Who could do such a thing?!”

Shelly smiled at Goobs reaction, as though evil hugs weren’t one of the worst things in the world. “I saw the Twisted version of myself once.”

“Really?” Every Toon knew that, for some reason, Main Toons had rarer and stronger Twisted counterparts. Goob wasn’t sure that anyone had seen the Astro, Dandy, Pebble, or Shelly counterpart.

“Yeah. I was on a quick run with Astro when I saw it on the sixth floor. At first, I heard this really weird growling sound, exactly like how scientists thought the Tyrannosaurus Rex sounded 70-ish million years ago. Then, I passed a corner and saw it.” Her eyebrows knitted together as she took a deep breath in worry. “Its eyes were wide and animalistic, its teeth were razor sharp, and its legs were covered in ichor—and similar to a tyrannosaur as well. When it saw me, it roared and began chasing me until I hid. Even once I was out of its line of sight, its growls echoed across the floor.”

“Wow. That sounds way scarier than what I saw.” Seeing her distress, Goob reached over and wrapped his long arms around her in a hug. “But it’s not like that was actually you, Shelly! You’re one of the kindest and smartest Toons I know, and you wouldn’t attack other Toons like that!”

Shelly smiled gratefully and nodded. “Thanks, Goob. That… really means a lot to me. Come on, let’s get Cosmo talking again.”

Chapter Text

Shelly was racking her brain for ideas when Scraps came back from her exploring endeavors.

“I found some stuff that might help!” she exclaimed, dropping an array of miscellaneous items on the ground. The items ranged from individual chocolate bars to tangled jumper cables, to even a small mountain of alphabet blocks. Scraps then sat down on the floor next to Goob, looking satisfied.

“...Okay. Scraps, you said Cosmo was able to spell out a word with those blocks a week ago, right?”

“Yeah, six days ago. And he was able to spell out Sprout’s name!”

Shelly nodded in understanding. She motioned for Goob to pull Cosmo towards them and picked up a few blocks. She set them down again to read “COSM0” in capitalized letters. “Alright, Cosmo. Can you try and say your name?”

Goob gently guided the Twisted to look at the blocks with his palm. “Is that a zero as the second O?”

“I forgot to bring duplicates,” Scraps chuckled.

Cosmo looked at the blocks with an unreadable expression for a few long seconds. His eyes darted from the beginning of the word to the end repeatedly, as though trying to read it over and over again.

“Cos-mo,” Goob said, slowly enunciating the two syllables. “C’mon, you can say it.”

Cosmo opened his mouth to mouth the words, but no sound actually came out. He opened his mouth again and immediately doubled over as he began coughing black ichor onto the clean carpeted floor. With bated breath, the three Toons continued to watch him.

Once he stopped coughing, he took a shuddering breath in, briefly revealing the newly sharpened teeth he had.

“C…”

“He’s doing it!” Goob whispered to Shelly. He grabbed Shelly and Scrap’s hands in excitement.

Cosmo tried to copy the way that they had previously made the “C” sound, opening and closing his mouth over and over. “C… C… Cos…” His voice was strangely distorted and raspy, like he hadn’t spoken in years. “Cosm…”

“Cos-mo,” Scraps repeated. Cosmo looked up at her and blinked.

“...Cosmo,” he repeated. A light shone in his eyes, like he recognized the name.

Scraps looked at the other two with wide eyes. “He did it. He did it!”

“He did!” Goob smiled. His strong grip tightened around Shelly’s hand, but quickly loosened again as he noticed her wince. “Oops...”

“Can you say our names?” she asked the Twisted, rubbing her palm.

Cosmo stood in silence for a moment, his claws twitching.

After a few seconds of silence, Scraps motioned to herself. “I’m Scraps. That’s Goob,” she pointed to her brother and Shelly, “And that’s Shelly.”

“G…” Cosmo coughed a bit more. “Goo-Goob… and Shell-lee…” He pronounced Shelly wrong—elongating the “lly” part—but she didn’t mind.

“Can you say ‘Sprout?’” Scraps excitedly asked.

“...Sprout. Spr-out. Sprout!” Cosmo shouted. His mouth curled into a slight smile.

“We should go show Sprout this. He’ll be so excited!” Goob cheered.

Ever since Shelly had heard that Goob was the one who pulled Sprout into the elevator without Cosmo, the craft had been trying to redeem himself to the strawberry. Shelly thought it was pretty sweet of him to try so hard.

“Sure!” Scraps agreed.

Shelly quickly ran through the lobby, trying to catch up to the fast and energetic craft siblings bounding ahead. She noticed Sprout walking out of one of the three giant elevators in the lobby and turning left to see Scraps slam into him.

“Scraps? What are you doing here?” Sprout asked as he stood up from almost being knocked down. There were a few scratches on him that were covered in bandages.

“We got Cosmo to talk,” Shelly answered for her. Sprout looked at her with a surprised look as well, like he hadn’t noticed she was even there.

Shelly got that a lot.

“Really…?” He looked at Cosmo, who’s ichor-covered hand was still safely holding Goob’s.

The two’s eyes locked together, and it was obvious that Sprout missed his friend. And as Cosmo looked up at him, a glint of longing shone in his black eyes.

“...Sprout?”

Cosmo barely had time to say anything more before he was hugged by Sprout.

“Oh, I missed you, Cos,” he whispered, happy tears already gathering in his eyes.

Chapter Text

Being a Twisted was, of course, a very, very strange experience.

Unseen miseries and wretchedness were constantly mobile, and blurring those of whom they’d forgotten.

Things were very confusing, and the difference between friend and foe was hard to find.

Gentle, swaying stones and pillars spread across the world—was he lost? Repeat, repeat, between moss and words lied the truth! A map once had, lost, ripped and burned nevermore.

The strangely built Gardenview Educational Center and Museum was confusing to navigate, especially when Cosmo would accidentally bump his head on a bookshelf, or be tripped by a fake mossy tree root. He used to know the place like the back of his hand, but things had become fuzzy for him.

Past, present, future, all together now! Shadows bounced and swung their plastic swords to the pastry creatures, mass producing sprinkles of pain to the brain.

Headaches were a common issue for him as well, especially when he tried to look through his memories, or recognize a Toon in front of him. Everything looked like blurry, indistinguishable figures in his eyes.

A light stood out amidst the stars, brandishing quixotic dreams like raindrops splattering on grass. The baker of dreams, of heaven and peace.

There was one Toon that Cosmo could easily recognize, however. Sprout—his best friend. It was much easier to relax when he was near.

“Can you hear me?”

A voice broke Cosmo out of his muddled, disorganized thoughts. He looked for the source of the sound and noticed Sprout in front of him.

Repeat, repeat, a dance of life! A step to the left, a step to the right. One, two, three, four. Five, ten, four, thirteen. Countdown to the reckoning! Mimicking the ones in front of the stage, deciphering a riddle, what for? What for?

Sprout had been trying to teach Cosmo to talk again; at least, that was what Cosmo thought he was doing. Sometimes, words the strawberry said were confusing and hard to repeat, but he tried his best. Some words, like names, were easy enough.

“Who’s this?” Sprout asked. He lifted up a poster of a magnifying glass Toon who had one singular black eye.

“R… R…” The name was at the tip of his tongue! Letters bounced out of reach of a grasp. It was hopeless to find it, was it not? Alas, a vision granted the truth! “Uh… Rod… Rodger.”

Sprout smiled at him. “You’re doing so…” He said a few words Cosmo didn’t recognize. “I’m sure you’ll be able to talk by yourself in no time.” He laid the poster onto the pink plastic table next to them.

“...Sprout?” A timid voice speaking from behind the two made Cosmo jump a bit.

Astro, the resident moon-themed Main Character Toon, stepped into the small Toon Room kitchen with a worried expression. “Are you having any luck with your friend?”

Sprout nodded. “Yeah, I am.” He pointed to a pile of posters right next to him. “I’ve been showing him pictures of the Toons to jog his memory. He remembers most of the names.”

“Really?” Astro sat down next to Sprout silently. He was a very quiet Toon, and it was easy to forget he was in the room until he spoke up with his usual soft and tired voice.

Cosmo looked up at him. He went through the list of names he still could remember. “A... Astro?” The two hadn’t talked much before, but they were still on decent terms.

“I’ve never heard of a Twisted that could speak, much less remember names.” Speaking, a small taste of melancholy. Hey, hey, everyone knows not to ask the yellow clouds up above your fate, right? Dreams and skies and blue melodies wrapped around a date unseen.

There was a hint to Astro’s voice that suggested he had heard of a Twisted speaking before, but Cosmo could have been imagining things.

“Cosmo.”

“...Hm?”

“His name is Cosmo. Not ‘a Twisted.’”

“I was just… Sorry.” Astro frowned and quickly changed the subject. “Apart from names, what else can he say?”

Sprout looked back at Cosmo. “Well, only names for now. It’s only been five days since he was able to speak again.” He paused. “Can you say anything else, Cos?”

“Anything else” was a big thing to ask. Listening and understanding conversations was leagues easier than speaking them.

“Maybe narrow it down a bit,” Astro suggested timidly.

“Hmm…” Sprout snapped his fingers. “Can you say ‘My name is Cosmo?’ That’s a simple start.”

“M…” The words bounced around in his head. He tried to recall the conversations and words he had been overhearing since he came up to the top floors in hopes it would help. “My… name is… eurgh…” A few seconds passed. “My name… i-is Cosmo… and…” Cosmo wasn’t sure what to say next.

“See, Astro?” Sprout said. “We’re doing just fine."

“...Okay. I’ll see you later, then. Maybe.” Astro quietly turned the corner and left.

“Where… Where did Astro go?”

Sprout raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Huh?”

It was taking all the rollcake’s strength and concentration to find the words to speak. “Where did… uhh… Where did he walk to?”

“Probably to his room.” A smile crept on Sprout’s face as the conversation went on.

“...Room?”

“Where he sleeps.”

Cosmo looked down. “Ro-om. Sle-ep. As… Astro.” He pointed to the strawberry with his free hand. “Sprout.”

Behold, a light from above! Angels of sugar descending from above, giving a taste of the sweetness of literature. Let us rejoice at the abilities of one from above!

Slowly, the blurriness lessened. As Cosmo repeated more of the words he knew, his surroundings made the tiniest bit more sense.

“...Sprout? What happened to me?”

Chapter Text

“What do you remember?” Sprout asked.

Reaching into the muddy swamp that was his memory, Cosmo tried to find when he had become whatever he was now. “There was… a butterfly.”

“Flutter. Or, well, Twisted Flutter. We were about to get to the elevator when…” Sprout's eyes darkened at the memory. “She caught up to you. Before I could catch you, Goob grabbed me and pulled me into the elevator right when the doors closed. And I didn’t see you for two weeks after that.”

Wafting through memories, a knife cut through! Visions ran and giggled around, sneaking stabs at his heart. Then, he was transported into the memory itself.

Red eyes had seen him.

A heartbeat was beating.

The world slowed down once the doors had closed.

Stamina was running out.

There was no way around.

Flutter had caught up to him and ripped him apart and ripped him apart and ripped him apart and ripped him apart.

The world around him distorted and danced! Cadmium colors wafted and snuck behind him. What was he doing, saying—nothing much. Who is that figure that sat in front of him? Seeds of agony embedded in hearts, always wanting more. Asking why, asking how, expecting a response? Dirtied rotten light and pure beautiful mold—and a light, light, light flavor of a pastry.

Cosmo’s teeth chomped down on something sweet and light. It was skillfully covered in frosting, and the vanilla flavor was delicious. It was one of the best cupcakes he had ever tasted.

After the world stopped spinning, he realized Sprout had shoved a cupcake into his mouth to push him out of his memory.

Cosmo took a few deep breaths and noticed there was a scratch on Sprout’s arm. It wasn’t anything lethal, but it looked painful.

Noticing he had noticed, Sprout stood up and smiled. “I’m okay, really. I shouldn’t have pushed you to remember such a bad memory.” He looked towards the hallway. “I’m going to go get a bandage. Stay here, alright?”

Cosmo took another bite of the cupcake—it really was delicious—as he watched Sprout walk away.

By the time Cosmo realized Sprout had told him to stay put, he was already in the silver elevator.

The elevator was the only way to and from the floors underneath, which were usually filled with Twisteds of all kinds. The main reason they didn’t just enter the elevator with the Toons was because of the harsh fluorescent lights inside of it.

Those lights still hurt Cosmo’s eyes, but they weren’t as bad as before, now that he was getting used to the higher floors.

The elevator immediately began descending to floor one. Usually, Toons only used it to extract ichor into the machines that littered the floors, or get to the Toon Rooms or lobby, but since Cosmo’s sense of direction was horrid at the moment, he had found himself there.

The doors opened to a dimly lit hall that led to a few stairs. He stepped out and climbed them.

The raised platform had a large stack of crates in the middle—most probably to hide behind. Two sets of stairs were on Cosmo’s left and right that descended into two small hallways. There were small rooms at the end of each hallway. A few filled machines could be seen through the windows.

Since there was no ichor quota to complete, the elevator doors stayed open, as if assuming the user was just visiting. Just as Cosmo began to wonder when and where he had learned that, a voice from one of the rooms called out.

“Hello…? Anyone out there?” The voice sounded uncannily familiar. “D-Did I hear the elevator?”

Cosmo wandered towards the sound of the voice. He passed an unfamiliar green and purple Twisted that stared at him for a moment, but then continued walking.

The voice had come from the far right room, so Cosmo descended the stairs and came face-to-face with whoever it was.

“Cosmo…? Oh, thank goodness you’re here! I was worried I’d be alone.” The Twisted’s mirror face had shattered halfway, so he only had one visible eye. Light pink makeup was smudged under it, and his torso looked ripped open; the only thing keeping it together were several strands of ichor. His wrists were tied with light pink ribbons as though he had tried to stop the ichor from spreading past his hands. His usually golden mirror frame had dulled.

“...Glisten?” A memory made Cosmo remember a conversation he had overheard the day before—eight Toons went into the elevator, seven Toons came out.

Glisten looked relieved. “You can talk too?”

“Sort of… It’s hard to, uh, say much.”

“That’s okay. I’m just glad there’s someone else to talk to.” Cosmo never talked much with the mirror, but he remembered Glisten being a very self-assured, charismatic Toon that always bragged about his “perfectness.” The Glisten he remembered would never have let himself be seen with smudged makeup in public.

Cosmo sat down on the floor, mimicking the way Sprout had sat whenever he tried to get him to speak. “What… happened?”

Glisten sat down next to him. “I… can’t remember much. There was an alarm that rang throughout the floor, and I was going to do my reflection trick and teleport near the elevator, but then I was hit by something. Th-The only thing I remember after ‘dying’ was waking up here.”

“If… If you can talk, then… Why don’t you go up to the others?” Cosmo asked.

“Once the elevator closes, you have to be inside it to move around floors. I couldn’t open it from outside,” Glisten answered. He seemed like he genuinely wanted to go back up. The old Glisten wouldn’t have wanted people to see his mirror face in that shattered state.

Cosmo looked down. “The elevator is… is open now. You can come with me.”

Glisten’s eye widened. “Really? And… you won’t leave me when we get up there, right?” He said a few more words Cosmo didn’t understand.

Cosmo nodded and outstretched his hand. Glisten gladly took it.

Chapter Text

Rodger raised his eyebrow. “You’ve been busy, Glisten.”

A few minutes before, the Toons in the facility had gathered around the middle silver elevator in the lobby. No one had organized a run prior, so everyone was curious as to who boarded it.

Suddenly, Sprout ran up to the small crowd with wide eyes, panting and out of breath. “Has… Has anyone seen Cosmo?” He had a bandage on his arm, as though he had been cut by something—or someone.

The elevator doors abruptly opened right after he had regained his breath. Two figures stepped out and into the concerned and worried crowd.

Cosmo pointed towards the Twisted behind him. “I… I found someone.” Those who hadn’t heard him speak before turned towards Sprout for explanation.

Sprout rushed over and put his hands on Cosmo’s shoulders. “Are you okay? Do you have any scratches?” He never showed as much concern for others than he did for his best friend, but Rodger couldn’t blame him. The two were the bestest of friends—even if he wished Sprout was more open to interviews.

Rodger looked over at Glisten with a concerned look.

Glisten’s appearance wasn’t the only thing that had changed. His eye darted around nervously, his hand was tightly clutching Cosmo’s, and he was crouched down timidly—so unlike his usually proper posture, confident look, and assurance in himself. “You’ve been busy.”

Glisten looked up at him. “Rodger…? Is that really you…?”

“Come on, let’s get you to your room,” the magnifying glass said. He gently grabbed Glisten’s elbow and started walking towards the elevator to get to the Toon Rooms.

Rodger sat Glisten down onto his pink bed. Then, he immediately pulled the mirror in for a hug.

“Rodger, what are you…?”

It had been five days since Glisten had been attacked and left behind, and Rodger finally understood why Sprout had been so keen to heal his friend. Losing Glisten felt worse than being scratched by a Twisted.

Rodger let go of the hug, a few tears in his eye. “Am I not allowed to miss my dearest friend?”

“I’m glad you’re here too,” Glisten admitted with what Rodger assumed was an internal smile.

“So, if I may ask…” A glint shimmered in Rodger's eye—the one that appeared whenever he was about to indulge in a long-awaited interview. “How can you talk? How was it like to twist? Was it painful, or awaited? Do you feel belligerent, or peaceful? Can you see in the dark?”

Glisten's eyebrow furrowed. “One question at a time, please...”

Rodger cleared his throat. “Right, right. Firstly, how are you able to articulate well? It took Cosmo quite a while for him to be able to say a single word, and even now, it’s still difficult for him.”

“I… I don’t know. I guess I never fully became a Twisted?” The interviewee clearly didn’t know much more than Rodger about his own condition.

“I see. And, do you feel any need to attack Toons?”

“Uhm, no.”

“No thirst for violence?”

“No, I don’t—"

“No need to—"

“Rodger.” Glisten looked at his friend, worried. “I don’t… w-want to hurt anyone.”

"...Okay. I understand. And… how did it feel to ‘twist,’ if I may ask?"

Glisten looked up in thought. "It was… It was horrible. At first, I thought I had died. There was only darkness for what felt like forever. But then, I was grabbed from that void forcibly, and I woke up… like this." He gestured to his light red sclera, his shattered mirror, and his ichor-covered hands.

"And what was it like in the basement floors with the other Twisted clones? Did they attack you?" Rodger pushed.

"No. No, they didn't. S-Some looked at me weirdly, but most of them just continued wandering around. It was like I was one of them." He paused. "I… guess I am one of them, now. Just... half."

Rodger wished he had a notebook to write it all down. “Hm. Interesting. Well, I still have many questions, but I’m sure they can wait just a bit longer. I can leave you to rest, if you’d like.”

Glisten quickly shook his head. “Please… don't leave me alone.”

Rodger blinked. “‘Leave alone'? Why would... Oh."

Just as the detective began to piece together why Glisten wasn’t attacking anyone, he got a great idea.

Chapter Text

Rodger suddenly stood up. “I just remembered that I, er, promised Toodles I’d help her find her lost plushie. Farewell, cousin.”

“You’re… leaving me?”

Suddenly, Glisten felt very dizzy. The world around him spinned and distorted, and the walls seemed to breathe.

“Yes, I have to go now,” Rodger nodded. He stepped into the hall and turned left.

Then the world exploded! Clouds of tapestries scattered in all directions, there was no hope, yes or no? There’s no way he’d let the light escape again, right? He just couldn’t take it anymore!

A step or two forward, towards salvation! Towards the light! Towards the relief from the unbearable unbearable pain! All he needed to do was reach it, right? The world slowed as when running forward.

It wasn’t a want—it was a need!

It wasn’t a thought—it was a plea!

Shattering glass fell to the ground in a hypnotic rhythm. Slowly but surely, the mirror was succumbing to the darkness! Run, run, forward, forever, never.

And then Glisten tripped and fell face-first onto the floor.

“So that’s your requirement to completely ‘twist,’ so to speak. Interesting.” Rodger leaned down and looked at Glisten, who slowly sat up and rubbed his head.

“Wh- What just happened…?”

“I told you I was leaving, then turned around to see that you had entered an ‘enraged’ and more hostile state, and jumped forward to attack me.” He sat down next to him. “Apologies for lying to you, but, well, now we know.”

Glisten blinked. “Know what?” He was still attempting to recover from whatever happened to him.

“If you’re left alone for too long by yourself, or threatened by the thought of being left alone, your sclera turns a deeper shade of red, your mirror face shatters a little more, and you become belligerent,” Rodger explained.

“Oh.” The truth was that Glisten already knew that—or, at least, subconsciously. He knew that if he were to be left alone again, something terrible would happen. He simply didn’t know what exactly would happen to him.

Now they both knew.

“But you needn’t worry.” Rodger laid his hand on Glisten’s. “I won’t let you twist like that. We can get through this.”

“You… really think so?” A ray of hope began to illuminate his heart—sweet, quixotic hope.

Glisten followed Rodger through the main hallway of the Toon Rooms. The magnifying glass had said how he was going to help Poppy search for something she lost, so he was going to leave Glisten with a few others. Glisten didn’t mind, as long as someone stayed with him.

At the end of the hall, there was a small nook area with two comfortable couches and a few tables. There, three Toons were sitting on the ground and talking with each other.

“Hey, Rodger!” Brightney waved. She had a large brown book in her lap, which she closed once she stood up to greet the two. “Oh, hey Glisten!” She didn’t look too surprised at his condition, as news traveled fast in Gardenview.

Behind her, Astro snapped up to attention. “Glisten…?” Astro usually received news last, since he spent most of his time napping in quiet areas.

“What… What’s going on?” Glisten asked Rodger.

“The book club volunteered to watch you for a while,” he answered.

Glisten vaguely recalled a conversation he had with Brightney about her little club. She had invited him to it, but he had never shown up. It was surprising to see that Brightney volunteered to watch him, even if he was always so rude to her in the past. At least, rude from what he remembered.

“It’s nice to see you,” Dazzle muttered. He glanced at his twin Razzle, who was fast asleep and not paying attention.

Once Rodger walked away, Glisten and Brightney sat down. “Thank you for staying with me,” he muttered.

“No problem! Rodger already filled us in on everything. Astro, why don’t you tell him all about our club?” Glisten didn’t know how to feel about the entire center knowing that he could snap at any moment. Then again, it would lower the chances of being accidentally left alone.

“Alright.” The mirror kept forgetting Astro was there, due to his quietness and high stealth. “Every week, we pick a book from the ones we find all around the center, and we read it by ourselves. Then, when we all meet again, we discuss the ones we chose. Since there aren’t many copies of books here, we each read a different one.”

“It’s nice sometimes to just sit down and talk about literature,” Dazzle added. Usually, he had a negative outlook on everything, but discussing works of writing always cheered him up a bit. “Do you like reading, Glisten?”

“...Not particularly.” In truth, he didn’t care much for books. Sitting down for long periods of time and staring at small words wasn’t very interesting to him. He never saw himself as much of a writer either. A Toon would have to be crazy to be able to sit down for hours on end, and write letters on blank paper in order to describe a singular picture.

“That probably means that you just haven’t found the right book yet. That’s what this little club is all about!” Brightney smiled. She gestured to the book in her own hand. “I felt like rereading something factual, so I grabbed this book on electricity. Did you know that the specific speed of light is 186,000 miles per hour?”

“Oh, I remember that fact,” Astro noted. For some odd reason, he kept glancing at Glisten with a mixed expression on his face.

The rest of the meeting went as expected. The three members all shared what they had been reading, and if they enjoyed it or not. Even though he didn’t like literature, Glisten did in fact enjoy the meeting. It distracted him from his problems, even if only momentarily.

Chapter Text

Sprout stretched his arms out and put his hands on his hips. “Alright, Cos. You ready to bake?”

Cosmo looked up at him. “As ready as I’ll ever be…” he muttered. Since Cosmo’s ability to speak fluently had improved tremendously, Sprout decided that day would be the perfect time to show him how to bake again.

“First, grab all the ingredients. There should be lots around the kitchen. We need eggs, butter, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, flour, and baking soda. Oh, and chocolate!”

Cosmo walked towards the large refrigerator. In order for the goods not to expire, they were usually kept in a powerful refrigerator. They had a limited supply, after all.

Sprout would have spent time wondering why there were so many supplies for all sorts of things around the center, like for tea and baking, but there were other things to worry about. Those kinds of theories were best left to Toons like Rodger.

After all the ingredients were put on the countertop, including a large bowl and a stand mixer, the two got to work.

First, they measured everything using the kitchen’s measuring cup. Cosmo tried to pour the right amount of sugar into the cup, but accidentally poured too much. Sprout assured him it was okay, and poured the excess back into the bag of sugar.

Then, the two worked together to mix the bowl using the stand mixer. Sprout used to have all kinds of trouble with it, but after lots—lots—of practice, he became decent at using it.

Sprout put in the preheating amount into the oven. “I told you it’d be easy.”

“I… I guess you’re right. Thanks,” Cosmo smiled. His old personality was slowly coming back bit by bit. It made the strawberry so happy to see him recover.

“I’ll go find our taste-tester. You can handle putting the cookies into the oven, right?”

Cosmo nodded. He already had an oven mitt on his ichor-covered hand to prevent any of the black substance getting into the cookies.

Sprout found the taste-tester sitting next to her brother in the lobby. “Hey Scraps, the cookies are almost done. You ready to try one?”

Scraps stood up excitedly. “Yeah, I am! See you later, bro!”

“See you!” Goob waved. It was cute to see the two siblings never too far from one another.

Thankfully, Sprout did not come back to a kitchen on fire. The cookies were safely in the oven, and ready to be taken out in a few minutes.

“Sorry, they might come out a bit burnt…” Cosmo muttered. “I don’t know if I set the time right.”

“It’s okay!” Sprout assured. The roll cake smiled back.

Scraps walked over to Cosmo. “Hey! How’ve you been?” She looked at the cookies in excitement.

“I’ve been, uhm, better than before,” he said.

Cosmo’s personality and fluency weren’t the only things that had changed; his appearance had changed as well. His sclera, which used to be a vivid red, just like any other Twisted, had slowly shifted to a pale red over time. Whenever Sprout tried to get him to remember more of the past, or Cosmo got too overstimulated, his sclera would briefly darken, and he’d become slightly more hostile. The glob of ichor on top of his head had also begun to flow less, so Cosmo’s right eye was fully visible.

After taking the cookies out of the oven, and adding a few chocolate bar chunks as a chocolate chip replacement, they were finally ready.

“They smell so good!” Scraps complimented. She had sat down on one of the green tall stools in front of the table and was staring at the treats with hungry eyes.

“Enjoy!” Cosmo said with a nervous smile. He looked proud of what he was able to do. “I, uhm, hope it’s not too dry, and I hope it’s not too sweet.” He paused for a brief moment, but then shook his head and took off his baking mittens.

Scraps didn’t hesitate. She grabbed one of the cookies with her claws and shoved it in her mouth. “Fish ish sho good—an hof!”

“It just came out of the oven, of course it’s hot.” Sprout rolled his eyes and grinned. He, after a few secords, realized that he hadn’t had that much fun since before Cosmo turned into a Twisted.

Sprout's best friend really did make a big impact on his life.

Hearing two sets of footsteps behind her, Scraps turned around and waved. “Asfro! ‘Listen!” She quickly finished swallowing. “Want some cookies?”

Astro stepped closer and looked curiously at the tray. “Those look really nice, Sprout.”

“It was the hard work of both of us,” Sprout clarified. He had a particular distaste for Astro—and the rest of the Main Toons, except for maybe Shelly—that he didn’t know the reason for. There was just something about the moon-themed Toon that he hated.

“Want one?” Cosmo offered. He didn’t share Sprout’s aversion.

“Uhm, sure.” Instead of reaching an arm out and grabbing a cookie, like anyone else, Astro summoned his cyan telekinetic sparkles out of his hat and picked a cookie up. For some reason, he never showed his arms, and would prefer to use those two small star-like objects to do things.

It wasn’t like he didn’t have arms. Two silhouettes of arms were visibly holding his blue robe-blanket together. He just never used them.

Astro took a bite out of the chocolate cookie. He paused, looked down, looked forward again, nodded in satisfaction, and looked to his left. “Glisten, do you want some?”

Glisten shook his head. “N-No thanks.”

“Thanks for letting me taste-test, guys!” Scraps grinned. As she stood up, her tail swished to her left and accidentally hit Glisten’s leg. “Oops, sorry!”

But Glisten didn’t respond. Instead, he kept staring at nothing with his eye wide, as though lost in a flashback. He only snapped out of it when Astro nudged him a few times.

“...Glisten? Are you okay?”

“...What?” Glisten blinked and looked at the others, who were looking at him, concerned. “I’m… I’m fine. I just, hm, remembered w-which Twisted ‘killed’ me.”

“Which one?” Sprout asked.

The mirror glanced at Scraps’ tail. “A... T-Twisted Scraps.”

Chapter Text

Astro looked back and forth between Glisten and Scraps. He saw the genuine pain in both of their eyes, the morbid curiosity in Sprout’s eyes, and the look of familiarity in Cosmo’s eyes, as though he had been through the same thing.

Never being the type of Toon to stay when arguments occurred, Astro quickly walked away. None of the others noticed his leave, thankfully.

It wasn’t like Astro didn’t care for the Toons. Quite the opposite; he knew that there was another way to help them, one that only he could accomplish.

It was an idea that he could no longer ignore. An idea that, if it worked, could help any future Twisted heal much faster.

Dandy was, as per usual, organizing his wares in his shop on the lobby floor. He held an array of items in his arms that he was carefully sorting into small wooden boxes.

“...Dandy? Can we talk?”

Hearing Astro’s timid voice, the flower turned around. His expression, which was momentarily of surprise, quickly cheered up. “Oh, Astro! What, uhm, what do you want to talk about?” He sat down cross-legged on a large crate. “Wanna buy anything?”

“No.” Astro braced himself. Talking with Dandy was always unpredictable, despite their long friendship. “Have you heard about Glisten and Cosmo? That they’ve come back?”

“Huh? Yes, I’ve heard about them!” Dandy answered. His tone, although bright, felt strangely aloof.

“...And? What do you think about the idea of a Twisted healing?” Astro pushed. There was a topic he needed to reach—the one he had been avoiding.

Dandy glanced away for a moment. “Well, it would certainly help our friends down below! But I’m not so sure they should be trusted so easily. I mean, they’re still Twisteds, after all!”

“You won’t help them?”

“Whatever do you mean, Astro?” His smile lowered the tiniest amount. “There’s not exactly anything I can do to help!”

“Dandy.” Astro lowered his voice in an attempt to sound more serious. He wasn’t really the most threatening Toon out there, so the effect was lost. “We both know you’re the only one that can truly help them.”

“I really don’t know what you mean! I’m just a shopkeeper, and—"

“I’ll tell your secret.”

Dandy’s eyebrows furrowed. “What secret?”

Astro sighed and took a step forward. He didn’t want to use his blackmail, but if the flower kept his stubborness, he didn’t have a choice. “You’re not a Toon. You were never a Toon.”

In what felt like an instant, Dandy’s demeanor changed. His smile became much more strained, his hand’s grip on the box he was sitting on tightened, and his eyes narrowed even more. “And how did you find that out? How long have you known?” Even his voice was more menacing.

“Vee told me everything she saw. And I’ve known since… since Cosmo came back.” When Vee told him what she knew, Astro didn’t believe it at first. But once he saw real, painfully obvious fear in her green eyes, he had no choice but to believe it.

“You’d believe that robot more than me?” Dandy put a hand on his chest as though he was hurt, but his eyes were still as annoyed as before. If he looked closely, Astro could see the tiniest speck of red in his eyes.

Red pupils. Just like a Twisted.

“Maybe if you showed up more, I’d believe you. You… you’ve always been so mysterious—never telling us Toons anything. And…” He tried to meet Dandy’s eyes. “I’m not angry that you aren’t a Toon. I just don’t get why you never told me.”

The response, albeit the truth, clearly wasn’t the response that Dandy was expecting. His eyes widened the smallest bit. “You’re not?”

“Like I said, you’ve always felt so removed from the others. I barely even see you anymore, so realizing what you really are wasn’t as much of a surprise as I thought it would be. And the reason I never told anyone else about it is because, well, we used to be so close. I know you more than any other Toon, and I…” Astro had never spoken so quickly and nervously. “I know that you being that would never change the way I feel about you but I still will tell the others that secret because I know you’d be the only one able to help Glisten and Cosmo more than I or anyone else ever could and I really don’t want to but if I have to, I will.”

Dandy was silent and unsmiling for a few seconds. His voice only held confusion as he said, “You really do care about everyone here, in your own quiet way.” He closed his eyes for a moment, and his pupils returned to the same black color as before. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

“Y-You will?” Astro couldn’t believe his argument worked.

“I don’t see how I can refuse after all that.” This time, he had a smaller, more genuine smile as he hopped off what he was sitting on. “I’ve never seen you push me to do something so hard before. Besides, I have something to show you.”

Astro watched as Dandy went through a room behind him. After a second or two, he walked out of the room beside his shop from the back door.

Astro followed as the flower walked towards one of the giant elevators. “Where are we going?”

“To my room, of course!” Dandy replied cheerfully, his voice returning to his cheerful tone. “I’m going to show you what’s on all those tapes!”

Chapter Text

“Toodles? Rodger wants to talk to you,” Vee announced as she entered the familiar territory that was Glisten’s room.

Glisten was sitting down on the floor next to Toodles, who was busy doodling with markers on scattered papers. Hearing Vee’s robotic voice, she snapped up to attention and pouted. “But I’m drawing right now! Here, look!” She lifted the paper she was holding, which held a poorly made drawing of stick figures.

“Do you want to make him worried again?” Vee asked in a rhetorical manner. Rodger and Toodles always had a father-daughter relationship, and the magnifying glass cared immensely for her when no one was able to. Vee didn't like hearing him go on and on about how worried he was for the 8-ball.

“No…” Toodles sighed and put down the paper. She then quickly skipped out of the room to find Rodger.

Vee leaned on the doorframe and glanced at Glisten. He was looking at her with an unreadable expression. It was a bit disconcerting.

“I always knew you’d twist before me, you know,” Vee joked.

“Oh…” Glisten muttered. Before he “died” on a floor, the two were close frenemies. They argued and threw insults at each other, but still helped each other out when they were in trouble. “Are you… going to stay?”

“What? If you want me to, I guess.” The television didn’t have a clue on what to say to the Twisted. His entire personality had changed; he was no longer the sassy and self-assured mirror he was before.

“T-Thanks.” Glisten stood up, walked over to his bed, and sat down. He then, surprisingly, motioned for Vee to sit with him.

Vee awkwardly sat down on his right. The twisting process often made Toons taller than before—a side effect of the magical and mysterious properties of ichor—so Glisten was now considerably taller than her. Vee told herself she didn’t mind it.

Remembering his strange need to have someone near him at all times, Vee opened up a few windows on her television screen face. Lately, she had been trying to write a description of every Twisted she encountered. Although there were many she hadn’t yet, she had at least one for each category.

Vee quickly opened up the one for Twisted Glisten. Seeing as it was empty, she wrote, “This Twisted has had his sturdy ego completely shattered, and is halfway being overcome by ichor. His fear and loneliness should be treated by being by his side. It is not advised to leave him to succumb to his affliction.” After a few moments, she added “When alone for too long, or threatened by the idea of such, he will enter an enraged state where his speed increases to the likes of Twisted Pebble.”

“...What are you doing?”

“Editing your page in my list of Twisted descriptions.” Vee closed the window so she could see Glisten, who was looking at her weirdly. “I’m updating yours to include how to calm you down so you don’t attack anyone.”

Glisten looked down. “I’m surprised… You don’t seem scared of me. S-Sorry for making you stay here…”

“You’re acting like you don’t want me to stay here,” Vee remarked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, that’s not what I meant!” He grabbed her hand with his own ichor-covered hands. “Please, don’t leave me alone… It hurts…”

A growing concern for the mirror prompted Vee to ask, “What hurts?”

Glisten’s eye met hers. His sclera had turned the slightest bit more red; from #189BCC to #FF94A4. “I try to calm myself down—I really do—but when there’s no one around, I start feeling more… ‘twisted.’ It’s this unbearable pain that hurts to fight against. I-I only feel better when others are around. And when I’m alone for too long… it gets to a point where I don’t know if I can even take it anymore.”

Vee quickly replaced the “is halfway being overcome by ichor” part of her writing to “is on the verge of being overcome by ichor.” His condition was much worse than she had first thought.

“Glisten. You are one of my favorite contestants, and one of my closest friends.” Vee was never the best at comforting, but there was a first time for everything. “And Twisted or not, I’m not going to let you get hurt so easily.” Vee looked out the room and into the Toon Room hallway. It was beginning to get dark, and according to her internal clock, it was quite late. “If you want, I can spend the night here to keep you company.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?” He paused and smiled—or appeared to, due to the lack of a visible mouth. “Thank you, Vee… I wouldn’t have expected something like that from you. Or any of the Mains.”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Vee asked, half insulted.

Glisten closed his eye momentarily to yawn. “Well… None of us see you much, and you’re always in your ‘gameshow host’ mentality, so it’s hard to approach you. Astro’s nice, but he never stays long, and is always napping somewhere. S-Sprout is rude to everyone who isn’t Cosmo, Shelly always leaves a conversation before anyone can talk to her, and Dandy just asks for tapes all the time.”

Vee grimaced at Dandy being in the “Mains” list according to Glisten. But the television had to forgive him; it wasn’t like he knew the flower’s secret. “I suppose I haven’t been acting the best towards my contestants.”

As the hallway and the room darkened from the setting sun, and Vee’s screen, which emitted a faint green glow, became the main light source, Glisten started to blink drowsily. He leaned towards his right, and onto the side of her rectangular head. In an instant, he was asleep.

Vee smiled. “Good night, Glisten,” she whispered. In such a tired state, and with his eye closed, he looked a bit more like his old self.

And, as Vee put a hand on his cheek and grabbed the blanket to pull it over him, she realized that she missed their banters more than she thought she could.

Chapter Text

Astro followed Dandy towards the left elevator. The flower was a bit faster than him, so when Astro finally caught up, Dandy was already pressing the last button on the elevator.

“What are you talking about? Isn’t your room in your shop?” Astro asked.

The elevator’s doors quickly shut, and the duo began descending downwards. “I have a room for myself, like you Mains,” Dandy answered. “I just don’t use it to sleep.”

As the elevator hummed with machinery, Astro thought about how his room, which took up an entire floor, was the largest room. But if Dandy, who was the face of every bit of merchandise scattered around, had his own room, he reasoned it would most likely be massive.

After a few more seconds, the doors opened to reveal a long and dark hallway. Dandy stepped out and motioned for Astro to follow.

There were many steel doors the two passed. Some were wide open, like the door that was there was ripped off its hinges. Some had strange marks near the bottom, as if something had repeatedly slammed into them. Astro had the impression that this was far from a normal floor.

Finally, Dandy stopped. Astro almost bumped into him due to how dark it was. “Here it is!” he announced. Dandy then slowly opened the door in front of him, which had several broken bolts and locks littering the floor in front of it.

The first thing Astro noticed was that the room was very small in width—half the size of a Main’s room—but very tall, at least four times his height. He couldn’t see where the dark gray walls turned into a ceiling.

The second thing he noticed was the fact that it was very barren. There was a small cot bed in the far left corner, two episode posters with Pebble on them on the left wall, and a small television in the far right corner. Looking closer, there were piles of tapes lining the right wall, all in neat piles.

“What do you think?” Dandy asked. Although the room was very dark, he had no problem walking towards the white cot and sitting on it.

“It’s, uhm, lovely,” Astro coughed. He glanced at the large piles of tapes again.

Dandy smiled sadly. “You don’t have to lie.”

“Why is your room so…” Astro tried to come up with a word that didn’t sound rude. “So, uhm, different from the others?”

“You said it yourself, Astro. I’m not a Toon.” Dandy pointed towards the right wall.

High above them, there were lofty windows that stretched along the wall’s width. Through the windows, Astro could see what looked like a gray control panel, a few chairs behind them, and a wooden door to exit. It looked like an observatory for scientists.

Astro glanced at Dandy with newfound understanding. It wasn’t that the flower had turned into a half-Twisted, like how Glisten did.

Dandy had never been a Toon in the first place.

“It’s… confusing, I know,” he shrugged. The flower didn’t look too happy to be in the room either. “But it’ll make sense when I show you the tapes.” He stood up and walked towards one of the piles. After a bit of searching, he found one and walked over to the television.

Astro walked closer to see Dandy put a VHS tape into the VCR under the television. For the briefest moment, he caught a glimpse of the label on the tape.

“L-001 Log 1.”

As the recording began to play, Dandy sat down and motioned for Astro to sit down with him.

The recording started with a man sitting in a decently lit room. After a few moments, Astro realized the man was a Toon Handler—specifically, Dandy and Pebble’s handler.

“Is this thing on?” The man cleared his throat and smiled at the camera. “Hello, my name is Devan Reed, and this is log one of hopefully many. I’m the handler of M-001 and L-001.”

Astro didn’t know what the “L” stood for, but when he looked at Dandy for guidance, he saw a pained expression on his face. It seemed like Dandy had some bad history with Devan.

“I’m recording these logs for, well, future me,” Devan chuckled. He gave off the impression of a kind person due to his casual mannerisms. “I can get pretty forgetful sometimes, so instead of keeping piles and piles of paper notes, I can just show clips of this to the other handlers.”

Astro tried to recall his own handler, whose name was Austin Russo, if Astro remembered right. The handler was about as shy as him, and never explicitly forbade him from wandering off. Astro's attention was brought back when Devan began speaking again.

“As of right now, I’ve introduced myself to L-001, and situated it with its new room in the center. M-001 is being held somewhere else for safety reasons, and I think the Mains are being put somewhere until their rooms are finished building. After that—" The recording was cut off as Dandy reached forward and removed the tape to put in another one.

Astro blinked. “I know Pebble is M-001, but who’s L-001?”

“Me,” Dandy answered with a low tone. With the glow of the television static, Astro could see that his expression was grief-stricken. “I’m the only one.” He set another tape inside the VCR.

Again, Devan was in the recording, wearing his gray Toon Handler outfit. On his right sat a woman with straight brown hair, a white coat, and mint-blue colored gloves. Astro recognized the woman with a shiver down his spine.

“Log, er, five, I think,” Devan said to the camera. “I’m joined with one of the founders, and my boss, Delilah Keen.”

“No need to introduce me,” Delilah smiled. Despite her soft and light voice, Astro couldn’t help but feel nervous, even if it was only a recording. “Only the other handlers are seeing this, right?”

“Well, yes, but it sounds cooler and more professional if I introduce you,” Devan joked.

Delilah chuckled and nodded. “Alright, this is your log, anyway. Take it away.”

Devan nodded and turned back towards the camera. “Well, in the third log, I explained how I found L-001 and M-002 interacting, and how surprising it was to see the Lethal being friendly with a Main. Since then, we’ve begun to permit L-001 to see other Toons, and the results have been interesting. So far, it has been friendly with them, especially M-001 and 002.”

“I’ve even found the two playing a simple game of Tic-Tac-Toe,” Delilah added.

“Another interesting thing to note is that we’ve recently discovered another quality of ichor. It seems that it helps with the regeneration of body parts—at least, for the Twisteds. A couple of the scientists including me decided to test if limbs could be reattached using only ichor. And it looked like we were correct!”

“And which Twisted did you test that theory on, and how?” Delilah asked.

Devan nodded. “Right. The Twisted we tested it on was L-001. Dandy.”

Chapter Text

Astro looked over at Dandy with his eye wide.

“What we did,” Devan continued to say in the recording, “is I gave L-001 a concentrated shot of ichor into its bloodstream—or ‘ichorstream,’ I guess—and waited for it to ‘twist.’ After it did, some of the other scientists bound it using strong steel ropes. Then, we carefully removed its arm from its shoulder, waited a few minutes, covered the arm with that concentrated ichor from before, and reattached it. And, surprisingly, the arm was able to be moved again.”

Delilah frowned and looked at him. “Are the scientists alright?”

“Yeah, no one got hurt. Well, the experiment did, but its limb was attached again, so in the end, it didn’t matter,” Devan shrugged. He spoke about the flower like he was a lab rat with no emotion at all.

Dandy could perfectly recall what his handler was talking about. He could still remember how much those steel ropes had burned when his skin rubbed against them, and how horrifying it was to witness his own arm being ripped from his shoulder. No matter how cleanly the regeneration made the wound, his arm had still been ripped apart.

Even now, as Dandy sat in front of the tape he had rewatched so many times, he could remember that the worst part of it all was that he was never seen as a living being. He was only an experiment to them.

“Hmm… What else to talk about for the log…” Devan looked at Delilah for a hint, but she only shook her head and motioned for him to continue.

As Devan continued to talk about a few other experiments he witnessed in the most casual manner, as if talking about the weather, Dandy felt a cloth-covered hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Astro asked.

With a few blinks, Dandy realized he had started to shed a few tears. He quickly tried to wipe away his tears with his hands. “I-I’m alright.”

“Why... are you showing me these?” Astro began to wipe away Dandy’s tears with his light indigo blanket. “I’m glad you’re being honest, but… why?”

“Because…” Because he didn’t want to lose the one Toon that treated him like he had his own feelings. Because Astro had told him that he would never hate him for what he was. Because Dandy was a coward that couldn’t bear the stress of everything he remembered. “Well… it would be unfair for you to only know what Vee told you! She doesn’t know the... the full story, after all!”

“What else did they do to you?”

Dandy reached into his memories. Thankfully, a lot of them were blurry. “There were… more experiments with regeneration. Most of the time, though, they were trying to see just how many shots of ichor I could take, and then seeing how much ichor they could extract from my Twisted form.”

“Oh.” Astro’s expression became much more concerned than before. It was an expression Dandy had never seen directed towards him. The idea of someone being worried about him was nice. “Why… why did he call you a Lethal?”

Dandy tensed. “You know how there are four categories of Twisteds: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Mains?”

“Uhm, yes,” Astro answered.

“And that it determines how strong a Toon’s Twisted counterpart is?”

“...Yes?”

Dandy glanced at the smallest pile of tapes. Each label started with L-001. “There’s five, Astro. The fifth is Lethal. Most Twisteds need at least two good hits on a Toon to kill them. Lethals need only one strike.”

Astro looked at the television, and then looked at the small and dreary room around them. Puzzle pieces of understanding lit up in his eyes.

“You don’t look too worried.”

The moon-themed Toon smiled sheepishly. “If I’m understanding these logs right, and you’ve been a Lethal since we’ve met, that would mean that you could have killed me, or any of us, years ago. But you haven’t, and I don’t think you’re planning to, so why should I be worried?”

Such words of trust had never been spoken to him. “Even after everything you’ve seen?”

“Even after everything I’ve seen,” Astro assured.

Dandy sat in silence for a moment. “A-At first, the handlers didn’t even let me see Pebble because they were worried I’d attack my own dog. When I was finally able to talk to other Toons, it would only be for a few moments at a time. And… the reason I never told you, or anyone else, was because I didn’t want you all to see me like that. Like *just* a Twisted.”

“Oh, Dandy…” Astro’s eye softened. “I would never see you as ‘just a Twisted.’ What happened in this room doesn’t matter anymore—what matters is how you move on from it. And if you want, you can stay in my room tonight. Just so you don’t have to sleep behind your shop.”

Dandy looked at his friend with tired, comfort-deprived eyes. He had been waiting for someone to say that it didn’t matter his whole life, even if he never realized. “...Can I really?”

Astro nodded and stood up. “Of course. It’s big anyway.”

Chapter Text

The walk to Astro’s room was spent asking questions. Dandy told Astro about how his tape collection was split into three piles: logs about him, logs about the Mains, and recordings of old episodes. Since the labels on the tapes had long worn off, Dandy had to watch each one manually to sort them, which was the main reason why Astro rarely saw him.

“So you have the recorded logs of every Main, including me?” Astro asked. The two had just gotten into the elevator.

“I do! The amounts vary, since some handlers made more tapes than others. I found lots of yours, you know!” Dandy cheerfully answered. He felt a lot better once he was out of his old room, like a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“You do? What sort of things do they talk about?”

Dandy turned to face Astro and smiled. “Development processes, mostly. How the Main is interacting with others, how much they listen to the Handlers, stuff like that. Accidents, too!”

The elevator doors opened with an all-too familiar ring. A barely lit room stretched in front of them. “Accidents?” Astro asked as the two stepped out.

“Yeah! If a Toon ends up having something different about them, like, say, having four arms.” The flower winked mischievously and continued walking out onto the floor.

Astro stopped in his tracks. “...Four arms?”

When Dandy first found one of the M-002 logs, he was surprised to hear that Astro, being the third Toon ever created, had a strange mutation. He wasn’t too surprised to hear that the Handlers didn’t mind it, since he was familiar with their carelessness about differences between the Toons. “It was the first thing they mentioned in the tape.”

“Oh. And… you didn’t tell anyone?” Astro blinked a few times and kept walking with Dandy. The Toon most probably thought he could get away with keeping his secret forever.

Then again, so did the half-Twisted.

“You kept my secret, so of course I’d keep yours, friend! Even if I think mine is a, uhm, bit more worrying.”

“Thank you…” Astro visibly relaxed. “My, uhm, my bed is this way.” He walked away, clearly not wanting to continue the subject.

“Your room really is big!” Dandy complimented as he hopped onto Astro’s large bed. “Very space-y.” He chuckled at his own pun.

The floor around the two had sky blue walls that were soft to the eyes, with small patterns of darker blue stars scattered on them. The elevators looked slightly more blue under the dim lights, and a large moon design decorated some of the pillars. Curved hallways lead to smaller pockets of rooms, which were mostly storage for empty black crates. Some rooms had small exhibits of telescopes and other equipment to look at the sky, despite the fact that the floor was deep underground. Dangling from the very dark blue ceiling were glow-in-the-dark blue stars the size of Dandy’s head.

Posters featuring Astro were also decorations for some of the walls. One was a poster for the episode “Stage Fright", another was a poster for the episode “Argumentative Woes", and a third was simply a poster depicting Astro surrounded by purple clouds with the caption “Dream Big with Astro". The episode titles made Dandy feel a bit nostalgic for the show they were all based on.

Astro’s room made him feel a bit melancholic as well. Although the floor was the largest, the other Mains also had enormous rooms to call their own, with each one decorated to suit the Toon’s theme; whether that was space, fossils, baking, or gameshows.

And then there was Dandy’s room.

A dimly lit and gray space with nothing but a cot, a television, tapes, and windows to study the monstrous experiment that lived there.

“What are you thinking about?”

Dandy turned to look at his friend. “I was just thinking about how this is the place you always scurry off to when you nap. And I can certainly see why!”

“It’s a nice room. I usually have the best dreams here,” Astro softly smiled.

“How’s it like to dream?” Dandy asked curiously.

Surprisingly, out of everything the two had ever said to each other, that was one of the questions that arose a strong reaction. “You’ve never had a dream before?”

“No…? I usually stay up for days at a time, but when I do sleep, it’s just a deep unconsciousness,” Dandy said. It was normal for Twisteds to not sleep or eat, given their abundance of ichor, so it was expected that he would only sleep sometimes. From what he had heard, it was the same with Cosmo and Glisten.

Astro quickly shook his head. “Dreams are some of the best things about sleeping, Dandy.” His small cyan telekinetic stars slid out of his nightcap and grabbed the bed’s dark blue blanket, quickly pulling it over Dandy. “I can help you dream.”

“Astro, I don’t think there’s a way for me to dream! You don’t have to…” The surprisingly passionate look in his eye made Dandy quiet down.

For some odd reason, the moon-themed Toon was created with the ability to manipulate other’s dreams—to an extent. If a Toon wanted a dream about an adventure in the sky, or something quiet and calm, they would ask Astro for help.

Astro sat down next to Dandy. He looked at his blanket that was still wrapped around his arms, paused for a moment in thought, and smiled sadly as he took it off. “I… guess there’s no point in keeping this on.”

Just as the handler’s log had described, Astro had a dark blue sleeveless shirt that covered his torso, two light cyan legs, and two pairs of light cyan arms. Two hands were clasped together on his lap in worry, and his two upper hands held the blanket that had just concealed them.

Dandy blinked. In all honesty, he was expecting something much more grand. Strange markings on the arms, different sized arms, odd-looking hands—something unique. Perhaps his own secrets made his view on what was a “good” secret different.

The odd feeling must have shown on his face, because Astro looked away. “I know it’s weird, and none of the other Toons have four arms, and—"

“It’s not weird,” the flower said.

“...Huh?”

Dandy shrugged. “Rodger has one eye, Goob has strange stretchy arms, Scraps has a tail, Vee is a robot, Toodles is a kid, Pebble acts like a dog, and I’m a Lethal! Having four arms isn’t such a strange thought compared to those.”

Astro looked as though his brain had short-circuited. “Oh.” He slowly looked down at his arms and blinked. “I-I guess you’re right.” A small smile began to spread on his face. “Thank you.”

“Of course, friend!” Dandy grinned. He watched as Astro lifted up the bed’s blanket and inched closer. “Something wrong?”

“N-No,” Astro muttered. He seemed oddly shy and embarrassed at the close proximity of the two. “Good night. Sweet dreams.”

Chapter Text

Astro woke up feeling refreshed. Good nights of sleep were always enjoyable, and as he sat up and rubbed his eye, he tried to remember what he had dreamed about.

Before he could remember fully, he realized his beloved blanket wasn’t on him, and quickly grabbed it from next to him out of habit. Then, Astro remembered that Dandy already knew his secret, so it didn’t matter anymore.

The Main blinked. In the darkness of the room, he could barely see a thing, but he felt like he was sitting on something fleshy.

Astro closed his eyes and concentrated until a light blue glow began to emit from him. Some Toons were created with the ability to glow in dark places, like Connie or Brightney. Due to the darkness of his room, and his space theme, he was one of them.

As the light slowly grew to a size just enough to see, Astro looked down and saw that he was sitting on something very light beige, cylindrical, and half his size. He looked to his left, and saw that the object ended in a round stump with three spikes—one red, one orange, and one yellow.

Very confused, and still quite sleepy, Astro look behind him. His eye slowly widened as he took in what he saw.

The first thing Astro noticed was that the Twisted was very large in height. Its eyes and mouth were closed, but he could imagine the piercing red eyes and giant fangs it held.

The second thing Astro noticed were its hands. Instead of spikes, which was what he initially thought they were, he realized that they were sharp and dangerous claws. They looked deserving of the Lethal title.

As Astro gradually became more awake and afraid, he tried to crawl off the bed and step onto the floor. The elevator wasn’t too far, and Astro believed he could make it without waking the Twisted up. He stepped carefully and slowly.

After a few seconds, he heard the loud creak of the floor underneath his feet.

And then, after a few moments, he heard a booming footstep. And then another.

Before Astro knew it, he was running as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn’t know if the Twisted was chasing him, but his lungs heaved as the elevator slowly entered his field of vision. He only realized it was the unrepaired elevator once he was right in front of it.

Astro slowly turned around.

The Twisted was at least ten meters away from him. It wasn’t giant—it was massive. Its eyes had vivid red scleras and small red pupils. Its mouth was wide open in a smile, which revealed dangerous fangs. Everything other than its forearms and head were covered in ichor.

Frozen in pure terror, Astro watched as it slowly stepped closer and closer to him. Every step it took seemed to shake the furniture around it.

In only a few seconds, the Twisted was right in front of the Toon. Half of its head looked like it disappeared in the darkness that wasn’t illuminated by Astro’s light, but its eyes still locked onto him.

Astro closed his eye, bracing for impact. His life did not flash before him; instead, all he could think about was how this was the way his life was going to end.

It was a bit symbolic. Being killed on the floor he had spent so much of his time hiding in, because that was what he had been doing his whole life—hiding.

Hiding from others, hiding from his responsibilities. Hiding from his closest friend.

As the seconds ticked by, the silence of the floor only grew. A few pipes rattled with age. Something somewhere fell to the ground with a soft thud.

Astro slowly opened his eye again and looked upwards.

The Twisted was standing in front of him, simply looking at him. Its mouth had closed, and its black eyes, reflecting the blue glow emanating from him, stared with an expression he couldn’t decipher.

The only thing Astro could hear was his own shaky, quick breaths. His legs gradually began to have feeling in them again, though they still shook in fear.

Astro nervously stepped to his right. The Twisted’s eyes followed him as he took another step. Then another. Then another.

Once he was far enough away, its eyes still on him, he turned towards where the real elevator was and ran. He ran like his life depended on it, he ran like hundreds of Twisteds were behind him, he ran like his stamina wasn’t depleting faster than he could count.

Exhausted and out of breath, Astro practically fell into the elevator. He scrambled for the Lobby button, and once it was pressed and the doors closed, collapsed onto the ground and finally breathed.

Astro took a moment to recollect his thoughts. He knew that the Twisted was Dandy, but he didn’t know that his friend could twist at any moment—especially not in his sleep.

One question bugged him as the elevator ascended. The fact that Dandy hadn’t attacked Astro was puzzling to him. According to Sprout, Cosmo once tried to attack the strawberry as though he didn’t recognize him. Even Glisten, who could already speak once he showed up on the top floors, still tried to attack Rodger once.

Dandy had simply stood there. He hadn’t lifted a claw.

The elevator doors opened, and the second after Astro stood up, his legs immediately buckled under him. The effects of his running had finally kicked in once he was safe, and before he knew it, his eyes were closing against his will.

The last thing Astro saw before falling asleep was a light green figure running towards him with a worried look on her pixelated face.

Chapter Text

Poppy clasped her hands together, jolting the two infront of her awake. “Alright Glisten, if you wanna act the part, you gotta look the part!”

“What part?” Glisten asked with a confused expression on his face.

“Weren’t you listening to me?” Poppy sighed and put her hands on her hips. “You can’t heal up if you still look like a Twisted!”

“Then what are you gonna do about it?” Gigi asked. She leaned on the sky magenta walls of Glisten’s room and glanced at the wooden bedside table next to to her, which held a box of chocolates that Gigi would have liked to “borrow.”

Poppy walked over to the dark brown closet in the corner of the room. She, with a bit of trouble, opened the doors and rummaged around until she found a long, light pink ribbon. “Here, put it on!” she suggested as she threw the ribbon at Glisten. It didn’t throw far, as ribbons are notoriously weightless.

Glisten walked toward the ribbon on the floor and picked it up. “You want me to put it on?”

“Yeah! You just don’t look the same without your bow on!” Poppy most probably didn’t mean for the comment to sound rude, but she usually had trouble telling if what she said sounded offensive. She wasn't the best at reading the room, but her exitable personality always made others smile regardless.

“What Poppy meant to say is that you used to always have your signature bow on, and maybe putting it on will make you feel more like yourself,” Gigi explained.

Glisten looked down and nodded. “I… guess it’s worth a shot.”

It only took a mere moment for him to tie the ribbon into a neat bow on his back, as his hands moved in sheer muscle memory. The ribbon covered up his ripped-apart torso at the expense of a smaller bow. From behind, he looked the same as before—if one ignored his increase in height, and the way his skin's color became ever-so-slightly faded.

“Do you feel any different?” Poppy asked.

“Uhm…” He looked up at her with his eye softened. “Y-Yeah, I do. It feels... familiar.”

Gigi looked at Poppy. “What’s your next idea?”

Poppy blinked and sheepishly smiled. “That was… kinda it. But I know someone who can help!” She then motioned for the two to follow her and ran out of the room.

“Now, one of the most important things about baking is measuring the ingredients. If you add too little sugar, the cake comes out unsweet. If you add too much, the cake becomes inedible.”

“That sounds, uhm, difficult…” Boxten muttered with his eyebrows furrowed in worry.

Cosmo smiled and turned towards the ingredients on the table in front of them. “Don’t worry, it sounds harder than it is. If you pour too much in a measuring cup, you can always scoop some back into the bag.”

“Hi, Boxten!” Poppy quickly skidded to a halt in front of the kitchen counters and grinned.

Boxten turned towards Poppy and waved timidly—a stark contrast to her bubbly personality. “H-Hi, Poppy…”

Gigi walked behind the counter with Glisten following and looked at the ingredients before her. “What’cha making?” she asked Cosmo.

“A vanilla cake base for the Holiday Toons. They should be coming around soon.”

“Oh, it’s that time of year again? Wow, the year went by fast.”

Cosmo nodded. “And I’m teaching Boxten how to bake at the same time. So, uh, what did you need?”

“Poppy dragged us here to, uh…” Gigi wasn't sure what the bubble had in mind.

Glisten stepped forward and crossed his arms on his chest. “I think she wanted to ask you tips on how to help… me."

Cosmo glanced at the pink bow on the mirror’s back. “I don’t think I can help as much as you think I can. Call it a hunch, but I think each Twisted will ‘rehabilitate’ differently—like how I don’t have any troubles being alone for a while. Also, you came up here still half a Toon, so…”

Gigi remembered being in the crowd when Cosmo walked out of the elevator with Glisten behind him. She heard again and again about how the two slowly began to heal more and more.

In a way, she felt jealous of the two Twisteds. The moment healing was a possibility, everyone’s attention went to them. It seemed like everyone was helping.

Slowly, everyone forgot about one of the first Toons to twist.

Flutter.

The first friend the gachapon ever made was her. Flutter couldn’t speak, but the two managed to have the best conversations. Flutter didn’t have arms, but Gigi helped her write the most beautiful stories in her diary.

Flutter was her best friend. And when Gigi first heard that her friend had turned into an animalistic, violent Twisted, she cried the night after.

Of course she cried. She cried and cried until her eyes were dry, and then cried even more because Flutter was gone.

After a week or so, the other Toons said to themselves how Gigi had “recovered from her grief so quickly.” They said how she had “gone right back to her cheerful, mischievous self.”

The other Toons didn’t notice how her collection of items increased its growth. They didn’t hear the quiet weeps that echoed from her room, or the late-night talking, as though Flutter was still next to her.

No one noticed, because Gigi didn’t want them to notice.

Everyone noticed Sprout’s grief, because he subconsciously wanted them to notice. So, they cared more for him, and left her to deal by herself.

“Gigi…? You okay?”

Gigi turned towards Cosmo. Poppy, Boxten, and Glisten had left, most probably to come up with some sort of plan. “You were killed by Flutter, weren’t you?”

The question made his eyes widen for the slightest moment. “...Yeah. I don’t like thinking about it much, though.”

“Then can she be brought back, just like you were?” The desperation in her tone was obvious.

“I-I don’t know. She was really fast, so catching her would be really difficult. And she looked way more, well, murderous.”

“But can she?!” Gigi clasped Cosmo’s shoulders with her sleeves. Tears were already welling up in her wide eyes. “She can, right?!”

Gigi already knew the answer to her question, but seeing Cosmo shrug made her heart shatter. Her knees buckled under her as she let go of his shoulders.

Cosmo sat down on her right. He placed his left hand on hers, and opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

“I-I wasn’t even there to say goodbye. I should have told her to stay up here.” Gigi began to chuckle to herself. She wasn’t sure why. Nothing at that moment was funny.

“Don’t blame yourself, there’s nothing that can change what happened,” Cosmo muttered. He watched as she slowly stood up, wiped her tears with her blue sleeves, and smiled shakily as she walked away.

Gigi needed to distract herself somehow. Anything would do.

Anything to keep herself from thinking about Flutter.

Chapter Text

Astro woke up feeling refreshed. Good nights of sleep were always enjoyable, and as he sat up and rubbed his eye, he tried to remember what he had dreamed about.

Before he could remember fully, he realized his beloved blanket wasn’t on him, and quickly grabbed it from next to him out of habit. He put it on, and then looked at the room around him.

The unfamiliar room had a plethora of televisions sitting on black shelves that lined the walls, though they looked more decorative than usable. The walls themselves were a dark forest green, the floor was a dark chocolate brown littered with wires of all kinds, and the ceiling had neon green LED lights in the edges. 

To Astro’s right, a familiar green Toon sat in a black chair with her screen turned off and her arms crossed. A cable was connected to the side of her head, and her screen occasionally flashed green words that said “CHARGING” in bolded letters.

“Vee…?”

Vee’s screen flickered for a second. After a few seconds, her face appeared on it. She reached to her right, unplugged the cable, and stood up with a relieved expression. “Astro, you’re awake!”

“Uhm, how long have I been sleeping?” Astro asked.

“Seventeen hours, twenty minutes, and thirty seconds—much longer than your usual thirteen hours of shut-eye. It is now the 22nd of November,” Vee promptly responded. “But, regardless, what happened to you?”

A wave of recent memories washed over Astro. “...Vee? How, uhm, how exactly did you find out Dandy’s secret?”

Vee stiffened. “...Why do you ask?”

“I-I saw him. As a Twisted.” Astro decided to leave out the part where he comforted the flower and ended up spending the night with him.

Vee’s robotic voice held a hint of nervousness. “It’s a long story. One that I wish I could erase from my memory.” Her green eyes looked to the side. “Are you sure you want to hear about it?”

“Yes. I’m sure of it.”

“...Alright.” Her screen changed to a loading bar with the caption “RETRIEVING MEMORY.” The loading bar disappeared as Vee sat down on her chair again.

“It happened about two months ago. Flutter had approached me about how she had accidentally left her diary on a floor and needed to go retrieve it. She told me how she didn’t exactly want to go alone, and how it wouldn’t take too long. So, we both boarded the elevator and headed to the seventh floor.” Vee paused. Her voice quieted. “The kitchen floor was in a blackout. My microphone wasn’t working, so I couldn’t tell who else was on the floor. We split up to find the diary, and after a few minutes, I found it.”

Astro looked up to see that Vee’s face looked more scared than he had ever seen her look before. Her fists were clenched. “Then I-I started hearing this horrible music. It was a music box version of what I believe was ‘Clair de Lune’ by composer Claude Debussy. It echoed across the floor, and as I turned a corner, I saw Flutter in front of… it . She tried to fly away, but that Twisted raised its arm and…” Vee sighed. “She was dead in a singular strike. Then, it locked eyes on me, and started chasing me. The only thing that got me into the elevator on time was my screen’s light. I could barely have seen where I was going otherwise.”

“Dandy… killed Flutter?” He had thought that Flutter was killed by some random quick Twisted, not his best friend. “Was it by accident?”

“It wasn’t an accident, Astro.” Vee’s tone lowered. “Because we hadn’t bought from his store in weeks. And after a few minutes of the elevator traveling back to the higher floors, Dandy’s little shop popped out of the hatch. And he looked me in the eyes with that smile of his.” A small “PLAY RECORDING” button popped up on her screen, and after a second, a camera recording began to play.

In not-so-great quality, Dandy looked at the camera—Vee—and said, “Let’s not make that happen again, shall we?”

“He killed Flutter… because she didn’t buy from him?”

“Listen, I don’t know why he wants those stupid tapes, but he’s willing to kill to keep us from watching them.” Vee looked at Astro dead in the eyes. “Don’t forget that.”

Astro looked down. He knew Dandy wasn’t the most lawful, but he was still surprised. He looked up again as Vee sat down next to him.

“To be honest, I feel more fear towards him than hatred—and that’s certainly saying something,” she admitted. “I just hope you never see those red eyes again.”

Astro nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

It had been three days since anyone had last seen Dandy. He hadn’t been showing up to his shop, and that left many Toons worried. The flower wasn’t necessarily loved by the others, but his elevator shop was an important source of medical resources during runs.

There was one place no one had checked. One room, to be exact.

Astro stepped out of the elevator with a sense of dread. The last time he had been in the long and dark hallway, he was with Dandy. 

A sound could be heard from a distance. It was faint, but it was the unmistakable sound of a music box playing the exact song Vee described.

Alone, Astro wandered the hallway until he came across the source of the music. He warily stepped inside.

Chapter Text

Of course Astro would run.

Of course he’d want nothing to do with a Lethal.

Of course he’d think the flower was a monster.

Dandy shouldn’t have trusted him. He shouldn’t have been so vulnerable and truthful with Astro. He shouldn’t have stayed the night.

Dandy knew he was different from the others. That fact was embedded into his very soul. Its words were stabbed into his heart like a knife.

But even though he understood it as much as he knew his own name, it still hurt to see Astro take one look at him and run like his life depended on it.

In a way, it did.

Dandy was a Lethal, after all. One strike from those rainbow-colored claws could kill any Toon, no matter if they were on death’s doorstep or perfectly healthy.

There was a bit of hope in his heart, though—hope that Astro would have somehow been the first Toon to forgive everything he’s done and everything he was.

It was a foolish hope. A stupid, inane, immature hope.

Dandy looked down at the multicolored music box in front of him. It was playing his favorite song—the only song from the outside world he knew by heart. Sometimes, when he was feeling stressed, he would wind the box and simply lie down next to it.

A day could have passed without seeing any other Toon around. A month could have passed. It was hard to tell when there were no windows, nor a proper sleep schedule to tell when days passed.

Dandy’s room was as bleak as ever. The cold floor and gray walls offered no comfort, and the cot was barely holding up.

Occasionally, Twisteds would wander into the room. They would briefly glance around, and then walk out. They never reacted to him being there, since in their eyes, he was one of them.

A sudden ding echoed across the floor. There was only one Toon that knew to descend all the way down. 

Maybe Astro was there to act like he hadn’t ran. To act like Dandy was worth being around.

After a long moment, Astro walked into the room. He looked side to side, and when his eyes found Dandy’s, he frowned.

“What do you want?” Dandy’s voice dripped with venom.

Astro walked closer, then stopped in his tracks as he saw the vivid red pupils in Dandy’s black irises. “I-I’m sorry for running.”

“You’re not,” Dandy stated. He narrowed his eyes at Astro, who decided to sit next to him. “You would have ran either way.”

“No, I wouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have ran away like that.”

“You should have,” Dandy muttered. He brought his knees to his chest.

The two sat in an awkward silence for a moment. Astro turned towards the music box. “You killed Flutter, didn’t you?”

The question didn’t exactly surprise the flower. Vee would have told him eventually. “I did.”

“Was it really because she didn’t give you tapes?”

“Astro, I can’t let anyone else find out about me. I need those tapes,” Dandy hissed. He stared directly into Astro’s eyes and waved his hand as he spoke to accentuate his feelings.

Astro flinched as Dandy moved his hand towards him. His eye widened the second after. “I-I didn’t—"

“You did.” Dandy stood up and looked down at Astro. “You told me you would never be scared of me no matter what you saw, and what did you do the morning after? You ran! You ran from me like I was going to kill you! Stop trying to act so caring to me. Just… Just call me a monster and be done with it!” He hated how his voice cracked. He hated how emotional tears were gathering in his eyes.

The space-themed Toon stood up as well. “I don’t think you’re a monster. I just wanted to—"

“You’re lying! You know exactly what I am, exactly what I’ve done, and—"

“I do, and I don’t care!”

Dandy blinked. It was the first time he had ever heard Astro yell.

Astro sighed and looked Dandy in the eyes. “Do I think you should have turned Flutter into a Twisted? Of course not. Should I have run from you? Also no, but seeing your closest friend as a giant Twisted would be a surprise to anyone. Will whatever has happened in the past change the way I feel about you? Never, because I know you more than any other Toon. You’re not ‘evil,’ and—"

“You think I’m your closest friend?”

Astro unwrapped his blanket from himself, and hesitantly laid his upper left hand on Dandy’s right cheek. “I always have.”

Dandy felt the contrast between the cold room around him and the gentle warmth of Astro’s hand. His eyes and voice softened. “Why do you really keep trying to see the good in me? I’m a Lethal who isn’t afraid to kill to keep a secret, and I only do things if they benefit me in the end. I don’t think that’ll ever change.”

“Because… because it’s you. I know there’s good in you, even if you’ve convinced yourself there’s none.” Astro began to gently caress Dandy’s mint-colored cheek with his thumb. He seemed to stare at the still-red pupils, not in fear, but simple curiosity.

“Oh,” was all the flower said in response. He couldn’t fathom what Astro was saying.

For the first time in his life, he was being shown pity by someone who cared. It felt better than he’d like to admit.

“The others miss you too, you know. There can’t really be a Dandy’s World without the star of the show,” Astro smiled. He covered his arms up with his blanket again. Dandy already missed his touch. “Besides, you still have to uphold our deal.”

Dandy closed his eyes, opened them again, and tried to smile as well. He could tell his pupils had returned to their usual black color. “I was hoping you’d forgotten about that already. But I’ll go on one condition.”

“What’s the condition?” 

“Could we… try to spend more time with each other? Like old days.”

Astro nodded. “Of course.”

Dandy couldn’t believe how happy those two words made him.

Suddenly, the room didn’t feel as cold.

Chapter Text

Glisten wandered the center’s halls like a translucent ghost.

It was the middle of the night, and not a soul could be seen awake. Most Toons were sleeping comfortably in their beds, exhausted from the day before.

Earlier, the mirror had been with Poppy and Boxten, but as the two Toons ran around the place, Glisten ended up getting lost, and having to spend the rest of the day with Shrimpo of all people. It was torture, but he was just thankful to be near someone.

As night neared, and Shrimpo inevitably went to sleep, Glisten was forced to go to his room as well. Finding that sleep was near impossible, he decided to walk around to try to find someone—anyone.

The only sound he heard was his own footsteps echoing through the halls. It reminded him of his time in the floors below, when it was just him and mindless Twisteds around him.

Glisten had already begun to feel the symptoms of being left alone. His vision seemed to distort around him, and he would occasionally jump at a shadow that wasn’t there before. A strange pressure was gradually building in his chest, one that felt like it could rip him apart. It was the only physical pain Glisten had felt since he died.

Three words echoed in his mind as his pace slowly increased: “I need someone.” He could even feel his mirror face about to crack.

A new thought entered his mind. It was simple, concise, and drowned out all other thoughts in his head.

“If I just let go, I won’t feel this pain anymore, right?”

The thought was horribly alluring.

Glisten’s walk broke into a run. He would find someone, no matter what he had to do to find them.

Tears made of ichor slowly gathered in his eye. The pain was nearing unbearable. 

A hand grabbed his wrist from behind. “Glisten?”

Glisten turned around. His vision was still quite blurry, but he could tell this figure was a Twisted. There wasn’t any urge to stay with them, as Twisteds didn’t usually offer the same kind of comfort Toons did.

The figure wrapped their hands around Glisten’s. One hand felt normal, the other felt much larger. Whoever they were, the mirror still felt calmed by their presence, and his vision and sanity slowly returned. “...Cosmo? Is that you?”

Cosmo let go of Glisten’s hand and sighed in relief. “I saw you run past me, so I followed and saw your sclera was red. Are you okay?”

“I-I—" Glisten took a moment to calm himself down. “I was looking for people who were still awake, and I couldn’t find any, so I kept wandering and… I’m sorry.”

“Do you want to stay with me for a while? I couldn’t sleep either, so I was down here baking,” Cosmo offered.

“Yes, please,” Glisten stuttered.

Cosmo nodded in understanding, and continued to grab ingredient bags from dusty green cabinets. Glisten only just noticed he was in a kitchen.

Cosmo then paused and turned around to look at Glisten. “Did you repair it?”

“Repair what?”

“Your face. There’s less cracks.”

Glisten brought his hand towards his face. “There’s less cracks?”

“Mhm. As if it… regenerated.” It was an oddly specific word to use, but as he traced the cracks with his finger, Glisten realized Cosmo was right.

“So… I’m healing?”

Cosmo sat down on the white ground and motioned for Glisten to sit next to him. The motion reminded Glisten of when the two first saw each other after his death. “You’re doing much better than before.”

Glisten didn’t think so. He still needed to be near people at all times, and even though the Toons never said anything about it, he knew that they were worried that he would hurt someone. “How has it been for you?” he asked.

Cosmo glanced upwards in thought. “My baking skills aren’t as good as before, but I’m getting better. Sometimes I forget the word I want to use, and I end up just stuttering. And… Sometimes it’s hard for me to tell who I’m speaking to. When I get stressed out, everything becomes blurry, and I can’t recognize who’s near me—but it's been happening less and less, which is good.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Glisten muttered. After a few seconds, he felt a hand on his right shoulder.

“You’ll get better, Glisten. Trust me.” There was a feeling of comfort in Cosmo’s black eyes.

No wonder the aloof and sometimes pushy Sprout cared for the pastry; the two were the exact opposite, yet their strengths matched the other’s weakness.

For the rest of the night, the two Twisteds talked. They talked about their lives, the other Toons, how their recovery was going, and Glisten even learned a few baking tips. 

Glisten had thought that normality was impossible after what he had been through, but as morning approached, he realized that he felt genuine peace for a while.

And, although he didn’t notice, the gap of shattered glass had lessened.

Chapter Text

Vee looked at the two people in front of her and shook her head. “No. No way. I’m not doing this.”

“If she’s not, I’m not,” Dandy said. His usual toothy smile was gone; in its place was an annoyed scowl.

Astro turned to Vee. “Come on, you both know you can’t hate each other forever,” he pleaded.

“Yes we can,” both Vee and Dandy reasoned at the same time. They made eye contact for a moment, but then quickly looked away from one another.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Astro, but there’s a 0.01% chance that I’m apologizing for anything.” Vee crossed her arms stubbornly. “There’s nothing to apologize for, anyway.”

Dandy rolled his eyes. “Right, because you’re so innocent yourself.”

“At least I’ve never murdered anyone.”

“I am not a murderer—"

Astro stepped between the two to prevent any physical fighting. “You both need to calm down. I think there are several things that need to be apologized for. Vee, you go first.”

“The most I did was not buy from Dandy’s dumb shop for a while. I’m not apologizing for that.”

“...Okay, we can talk about that later,” Astro muttered. “Dandy, you apologize.”

“For what?”

Vee scoffed. "There's plenty to apologize for. Killing Flutter, demanding tapes from us, stealing my spotlight for years..."

“It’s not my fault your gameshow didn’t have more screen time,” Dandy shrugged. “For being a Main, you were never that good at getting the audience’s attention. I mean, you had to have full scenes to yourself just to get any fans."

“Dandy, that wasn’t very nice of you,” Astro tried to mediate. He was ignored.

Vee stepped forward and narrowed her pixelated green eyes. “I am an amazing gameshow host, thank you.”

“Maybe, if you weren’t oh-so-busy with your, might I remind you, discontinued show!”

“Busy? You’re one to talk. Even when this place was full of kids, you spent most of your time cooped up in your room. What, were you too fragile to come out? Or was a Lethal Twisted monster too dangerous for any contact?” Vee taunted.

The string of words seemed to set something off in Dandy. He stepped forward with narrowed eyes and a tight-lipped smile. His red pupils became clearly visible in his black irises. "Say that again. I dare you."

"Oh? Did you get angry at being called a dangerous, bellicose, feral, Lethal, Twisted, monster?" Vee made sure to increase her voice's speaker volume at the list of words.

"Vee! Dandy isn't a monster, and you both have things to apologize for. So either you apologize, or leave my room," Astro stated.

"I don't care about apologizing. Dandy killed Flutter right in front of me, and I'm not forgiving a murderer. Or do you want me to show you my footage again?"

Astro had to grab Dandy's shoulders to prevent the flower from stepping even closer. "You recorded me?!"

Vee would have facepalmed if her screen wasn't so delicate. "I record everything I see. That's how I make my memories."

“Then why didn’t you just tell everyone?” Dandy asked. The tone of his voice, albeit hostile, seemed actually curious.

Vee searched for a good answer. The truth was that she didn't hate Dandy. Yes, she didn’t like how he always stole the spotlight from her, but she was mostly scared of him.

The memory of that wide smile and those red and black murderous eyes haunted her. Although she had no nightmares, nor dreams, she still found herself suddenly waking up from her resting mode with the image in her head. She was scared of the Twisted, and she knew it.

Scared that she would end up like Flutter if she pushed too far.

A mindless Twisted without memory of who her friends were.

Vee looked away. She didn’t want to admit how frightened the flower made her. “You’d just kill me if you knew I told someone, wouldn’t you?”

The answer left Dandy surprisingly quiet. He looked like he was trying to come up with a response that wasn’t a simple “yes.” After a few seconds, he muttered, “You don’t know anything about me.”

“Then explain,” Astro pushed, still holding his shoulders. “Explain why you did what you did. Tell her what you told me.”

“Yes, Dandy, enlighten me,” Vee teased.

“Fine. You want to know so badly why I killed Flutter?” Dandy tried to wrestle out of Astro’s grip, but as a Toon, he was quite weak. His hands were visibly shaking. “I killed her because I can’t ever let any of the others know what I am. I knew she found an important tape, and I knew she was about to tell everyone what she discovered, so I went through the Staff Only doors to the floor and killed her. I was going to kill you too, but you got to the elevator before I could. Is that what you wanted to hear?!"

"Then why didn't you kill me right after?" The question escaped Vee's speakers before she could even realize she asked. It was a question she had been wondering since she told Astro about what she had learned. "I'm the easiest Main to kill off."

 "Because I knew that you'd keep quiet to the rest of the Toons. Also..." His eyes softened solemnly as he looked away. "It's not like I liked killing. Even if Toons turn into Twisteds when they die, I still didn't like what was necessary."

 "Even if you hated it, you still could have talked with Flutter. You could have explained everything to her, and convinced her to not tell anyone. You could have done anything else, but you chose murder. You chose cold-blooded murder." Vee could think of at least ten different ways Dandy could have handled the situation.

 "Do you actually think she wouldn't go off and tell everyone else?"

Vee ran the calculations in her head. What she found certainly eliminated a few possibilities she had come up with. "Fine. Maybe you couldn't have reasoned with her. Why didn't you just let her tell everyone? What's so bad about having people know what you are?"

 Because I'm scared, Vee!" Dandy suddenly snapped. "I'm scared of being looked at like a monster! l'm scared of being ignored like l'm nothing! I'm scared of the possibility that one day, every single Toon in the center will hate me for what I am!" He took a deep breath, and his expression became more pained than angry. "I can't go back to being seen as just a Twisted. I can't go back to being locked up again."

 "...I don't understand. You want those tapes because you're... scared of being seen as what you are?" Since Vee was mostly a machine, and a trivia gameshow host at heart, she had access to a built-in calculator that worked perfectly. She had thousands of pages of information readily available in her mind, and she knew much more about the world than any of the Toons.

None of the calculators, articles, or facts she knew explained what Dandy was saying.

Vee hated the feeling of not knowing something.

"It's pathetic to you, isn't it? Something like me being scared of, well, being feared? What sort of insult are you going to call me now?" Dandy asked.

"...You're right."

"What?!" both Dandy and Astro exclaimed.

Vee looked down. "I was wrong to assume I knew everything about you. You're your own person, and thinking you're just a Twisted is wrong. That's the only apology you're getting out of me, though."

Astro was the first one to speak up. "You're... apologizing?"

"What? Is that really so astonishing?"

"No..." he muttered. "I've just... never heard you say sorry for anything before."

Dandy glanced at Astro. The two looked each other in the eyes for a long moment, as though they were having a conversation, until Dandy looked back at Vee. "Then... Then I'm sorry too. You always dedicated so much time to your episode segments--more than I ever have. And, well, thank you. For keeping my secret for that long."

The three of them stood in an awkward silence. Vee couldn't have imagined she'd hear a genuine apology from one of the Toons she disliked most.

Vee knew it would take a long time to forgive the Lethal. But the chance of her death being by his hands was lowered, and that's all she needed.

Chapter Text

Glisten turned the capsule around in his hands. The liquid ichor inside quietly sloshed as it moved.

Ichor was a strange substance. Most times, it was in a liquid form, like when it was in a capsule, or dripping from a Twisted’s hands. Sometimes, it was gooey, like the glob of ichor that sat on Cosmo’s head. Occasionally, however, it was solid. A coat of ichor covered the beige mirror frame that had been revealed when Glisten’s mirror shattered. It never dripped when he lowered his head.

Scattered around the lower floors were ichor capsules. Each one was filled with ichor from a different Twisted—at least, that was what the Toons theorized.

The label “Glisten” was written on the gray tape ribbon that circled the capsule. It was clear that ichor collected from a Twisted Glisten clone was inside.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Glisten asked nervously. Two mint-green colored hands took the capsule from him.

“Don’t worry, friend! I’ve done this countless times before!” Dandy assured. He smiled his trademark toothy grin.

Rodger stood behind him. The magnifying glass had most probably come with to make sure Glisten wasn’t hurt. “Could I inquire as to why that is?”

“Trade secret, Rodger!”

Rodger didn’t look impressed.

“So, D-Dandy… How exactly will that capsule fix my face?” Glisten stuttered.

Earlier that morning, Dandy—with Astro trailing behind—had approached Glisten with a solution to his broken mirror face. Glisten was hesitant, but decided to follow.

Ever since he had become half-Twisted, Glisten had avoided the flower as much as he could.

Usually, he was able to identify which Toon was speaking to him quickly. His vision felt only a bit worse than before. However, Dandy was different. He seemed to glow—literally. Every detail about his appearance looked sharper, which contrasted the strange fog around other Toons’ appearances.

Glisten recalled the bit of time he spent on the lower floors. Other Twisteds would wander around the floor he was on, and strangely enough, he could identify them just fine. It was the same with Cosmo—he looked so much clearer than the Toons around him.

It was almost like Dandy was a Twisted. But Glisten reasoned that the thought couldn’t possibly be true, so he wondered if Dandy seemed so different because he was the “main” Main character. The franchise was called Dandy’s World for a reason.

Still, the fact unnerved him.

“You see, Twisteds—unlike Toons—can actually use ichor to heal themselves! It usually happens automatically on death with a severe injury, like what happened to your torso,” Dandy answered. He gestured to the injury that was covered by the mirror’s pink ribbon. “But I think using this capsule’s ichor would help that process.”

“And you don’t feel any pain in your torso, correct?” Rodger added.

Glisten shook his head. “So… are you going to just pour that ichor on my face…?”

“Pretty much!” Dandy nodded.

Once Glisten was lying down on the gray floor of his room, and his ribbon was off, the two Toons got to work. Rodger carefully opened the capsule and handed it to Dandy, who then proceeded to hold the capsule over the Twisted’s face.

Cold black ichor dripped onto the cracks of Glisten’s face, and he instinctively closed his eye. 

After a few moments of waiting, the dripping stopped. He heard a gasp, followed by an “Extraordinary!” from Rodger.

“Can I open my eye now?” Glisten asked. He wasn’t sure whether to be worried or not.

“Not yet. The ichor needs to dry a bit more,” Dandy’s voice replied. Glisten heard the sounds of another capsule opening, and before long, felt ichor dripping onto his ripped-apart torso.

“Alright, Glisten,” Rodger’s voice said once he was finished. “Could you try to push your torso together?”

“Okay.” Glisten put his hands on the floor and pushed himself forward. He felt the two halves of his torso collide, and the strangely gooey ichor in-between. “Did it work?”

“See for yourself!” Dandy suggested.

The mirror slowly opened his eye and sat up. A thin and jagged black line snaked around his torso, but other than that, his torso looked the exact same as before. He couldn’t believe it had worked.

Warily and slowly, he stood up and turned towards his large mirror on his wooden desk.

Glisten gasped.

There, standing in the mirror, was the old Glisten.

The one in the large poster on his wall, the one posing in the polaroid pictures taped to the wooden frame.

“I’m… me,” he muttered to himself. 

There were a few key differences between the Glisten in the mirror and the Glisten in the pictures. There was still an, albeit much smaller, triangular crack above his left eye. His makeup was nonexistent. His sclera was still a very light red, and vivid red pupils still shone in his eyes. 

But he had two eyes and a mouth again.

Rodger sighed from behind him. “I won’t ask how you knew what the capsules could do—for now . Only because you helped.”

Dandy smiled mysteriously. “Thank you!”

“Hm.” Rodger walked towards Glisten and put a hand on his shoulder. “If you’d like, I could let you rest for a moment.” He clearly knew what he was suggesting.

Glisten expected a rush of nausea or hostility to overtake him, but no such feeling appeared. He turned around to look at the magnifying glass and smiled genuinely. “Maybe… stay outside the doorway for a bit?”

“Of course.”

Chapter Text

The nightmare always started the same exact way.

Boxten wandered around the empty floor. The only things he could hear was the rattling of decaying pipes somewhere in the darkness. He looked around nervously, knowing there could be danger at any turn.

After a few moments, he found a machine. A glowing red light above the cylindrical object signaled its incompleteness.

As there was no one nearby, Boxten knew he had to do the machine himself—though he couldn’t remember why he was there, or how he got to the lower floor. His hands shook nervously as he approached the red handle.

Halfway through the extraction process, Boxten felt a shiver up his spine. He let go of the handle, halting the process momentarily, and looked behind him.

“H-Hello? Is anyone there?” Boxten called out. There was no response.

Just as he was about to continue extracting, a set of eyes blinked at him from the darkness. Faintly, Boxten knew who those eyes belonged to, though his rationality felt muddled in a way. 

The owner of the eyes stepped out from the darkness. Its mouth was curled in a wide smile, revealing many thin and sharp fangs. Its feet to its calves were stained with ichor, and as it got closer, its irises locked onto Boxten.

The most notable thing about the Twisted was that the purple lid on its head was wide open. Two long arms made out of purely ichor slowly pulled themselves out of the open box.

Boxten stared at the Twisted version of himself. Its eyes heavily contrasted his usually sheepish expression. They were so empty, yet so, so bloodthirsty.

Twisted Boxten stepped towards him. Then, its speed picked up. It only took a moment for it to begin its chase.

The halls seemed to stretch on forever as Boxten ran from the clone. His breath came in short gasps as he tried to escape. 

Even though he was running as fast as he could, the Twisted caught up to him almost immediately. It reached out with its purple hands and grabbed Boxten’s shoulders, causing him to fall backwards and into its grasp.

Boxten watched as the two ichor arms tore open his lid. They reached inside and began ripping out the parts and pieces that played the music in his head.

“Stop!” Boxten tried to beg. He could feel cold and gooey ichor being poured into his head. He tried to free himself from the grasp, but the Twisted was too strong.

Slowly, the world around him blurred and distorted. His energy depleted, and all Boxten could do was let the ichor consume him.

Boxten woke up with a start. He immediately reached towards his lid and felt the rim with his hands. Once he assured himself it was completely closed, he sighed in relief.

For the past few weeks before, that same nightmare had replayed again and again when he slept. Sometimes, in some variations, he would manage to escape for a while, but eventually be caught by his Twisted self. Sometimes, other Toons were with him, but they were caught as well. Each one ended with death.

A sudden knock on his room’s door made him flinch. “Uhm, come in!” he called out.

The door—which was really a dark brown wooden board he found and added to his door frame—slowly creaked open. Ichor-covered fingers grasped at the edges, attempting to open it. A sense of deja-vu went down Boxten’s spine and he closed his eyes in fear.

“Boxten? What happened?”

Boxten opened his left eye. “Oh, it's just you, Glisten.”

The mirror moved the board back in place. His blush was wiped clean from his face for the night, and his everyday pink bow was replaced with a soft lavender ribbon that wrapped around his torso. His eyes—which he now had two of—didn’t look very tired, despite the lateness of the hour.

“Did you have another of your nightmares again?” he asked.

Boxten was surprised. The last time he had held a conversation with him, Glisten was a nervous, stuttering mess. “Yeah… Sorry.”

Glisten sat down next to Boxten on his bed. “You’ve been having those nightmares much more frequently than before, right?”

“How could you tell?” Boxten asked.

“Your sleep talking. I’ve been hearing it every single night.”

“...Oh.” The thought of his somniloquy causing too much noise made Boxten worried. He didn’t want to be a nuisance.

Glisten raised an eyebrow. “Are you alright? I’m worried about you.”

Boxten blinked. He had never heard of Glisten worrying about someone else. Most times, he outwardly seemed to only care about himself. “I… I don’t know. I’ve tried to ask Astro for help with the nightmares, but… I don’t think he likes me that much. Lately, I’ve been wondering if it's on purpose.”

“I don’t think Astro would give nightmares on purpose. He doesn’t seem like the type of Toon to do that,” Glisten reasoned. “Maybe it’s just too strong for his powers?”

“Maybe.” Boxten still had a feeling the Main hated him. He lifted his blankets to cover his mouth and looked away.

Glisten stood up and motioned towards the door. “Maybe a little walk will clear your head.”

“...Okay.”

Boxten repeatedly glanced at Glisten during their walk. He wasn’t sure just how healed the Twisted was—if Glisten could be classified as a Twisted anymore. 

Once the duo reached the small kitchen on the Toon Rooms floor, Glisten turned towards Boxten. “You’ve been staring at me since we left your room.”

“S-Sorry… I just, uhm…” Boxten looked back up at the significantly taller mirror. “You’ve been acting way nicer to me than you used to, and I’m sort of wondering if you… hate me?”

Glisten put his hands on his hips and sighed. “I don’t hate you, Boxten. I never have. I’ve just been, well, trying to act a bit more like my old Toon self.” He looked away. “It’s not working, is it?”

“I like this new you.” Boxten quickly turned away, embarrassed. “I-I mean, you’ve always been yourself, and—"

“You do?”

Boxten paused at the interruption. There was a strange tone in Glisten’s voice—one of curiosity and a hint of worry, as if that dependant, affection-starved Twisted was still inside him. “...Glisten, the old you would never have come to check up on me. Even if you did, you would probably go back to your room soon after for some ‘beauty sleep.’ You’ve been way nicer to everyone lately—I even heard that you've been chuckling at Finn’s jokes.”

Glisten frowned. For a second, Boxten thought he would say something rude.

Then, he closed his eyes and nodded. “You’re right. I don’t think I’ve ever truly appreciated the Toons around me. Becoming a Twisted was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, but it taught me a few things.”

“Oh.” The purple music box didn’t know what to say to that. “If... If I told you what my nightmare was about, would you laugh?”

Glisten approached the green cabinets and opened one. He pulled out a glass and approached the white fridge next to the cabinets. “I promise I won’t.”

Boxten then began to retell his nightmare, and the recurring themes that appeared in the past ones. He had never told anyone else about them.

“I think I know why you have those nightmares,” Glisten finally said after a few moments of silence. He handed the glass, which was now filled with water, to Boxten. “Your Twisted’s rarity is Common, right?”

Boxten nodded, albeit confused. “Yeah, C-002.”

“That means you see that version of yourself a lot when doing runs, right?”

“...Yeah?”

Glisten crossed his arms over his chest. “Of course you’d have nightmares after seeing a Twisted you so often. Astro’s pretty powerful, but if you keep thinking about it, even he won’t be able to push those nightmares away. Especially if you keep reminding yourself that you’re scared of becoming that.”

The words were admittedly perceptive. “I think you’re right. I-I’m scared of one day becoming that thing. I’m scared of ending up as a mindless, vicious Twisted that only wants to attack. I don’t ever want to hurt my friends.” He suddenly remembered who he was talking to. “Uhm… Not that you’re mindless at all! Or- Or do you not like being referred to as a Twisted? Oh, I’m rambling again, aren’t I? S-Sorry, I—"

“Boxten?”

“...Yes?”

“How about this: if you ever become a Twisted, I’ll march right down to the lower floors, find you, and bring you back. Okay?”

“Okay.” The thought was comforting. “T-Thanks…”

“No problem.”

Chapter Text

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The clock was being loud again. It always was. Though, it was the only thing that was loud. Everything else was so, so muffled.

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.

A pipe right above Ginger had started to leak half a year ago. One drop of water hit Ginger’s forehead every other second.

At that moment, she was drenched in water. The puddle around her combined with the water soaking her could have been several gallons.

Ginger had been sitting underneath that pipe for almost a year, after all.

A paper calendar sat on her lap. It was set to the month of November. Every single one of the days was crossed out except for the 30th.

Slowly, Ginger moved her hand towards the empty box. She crossed it out with a black pen that was almost out of ink.

Ginger leaned her head against the red wall behind her and closed her eyes.

“333 days done. One more to go,” Ginger whispered to herself. Her voice was hoarse from waiting day after day without speaking. She reminded herself that she had to practice using her voice before she went up to the higher floors.

Ginger looked over at the puddle of water beneath her and took in her disheveled appearance. Her delicate icing makeup was smudged, and her pupil was a dull and dark gray.

One more day.

24 more hours.

Then she could see her friends again.

Ginger’s hand trembled as she flipped the calender's page to December. She crossed out the first day of the month.

Knees quivering and knocking against each other, she stood up and immediately fell down.

“Oww…” Ginger muttered to herself as she brought her knees to her chest. After a few seconds, she tried to stand up again. That time, she grasped at the wooden window frame near her with her tan hands to balance herself.

Every muscle in her body ached. She had been sitting down for eleven months straight, so it should have been predicted, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

Ginger practiced walking around in a circle for a few minutes. She soon could walk without having to lean on an object, though she still fell frequently. 

After stretching her arms and moving them around, she then practiced using her voice. It was hard, but after a while, her soft-spoken voice returned.

“Alright,” she said to herself. “Time to go meet the others.”

Three Toons stood outside of the elevator that Ginger could spot. The one with the ornament shaped head spotted her first.

“Ginger!” Bobette waved. “You’re late!” She rolled down her fluffy Christmas sweater’s sleeves.

“Sorry about that,” Ginger apologized once she was in front of the group. “I had a bit of trouble walking out.”

A Toon with a bright red nose and two striped red and white antlers approached her. “It’s okay! Everything’s alright when Christmas is here!”

“Rudie, it’s not even Christmas yet,” Bobette sighed.

Rudie pouted and looked away with his eyes shut in defiance. “Yes it is!”

A large black boulder bumped into Ginger’s legs. It looked up at her with puppy-dog eyes.

Ginger bent her knees and put her hands on them to get eye level with the pet rock. “Oh, I missed you too, Coal.”

“Well,” Bobette began. “We’ve got everyone. Should we go up?”

Rudie nodded excitedly. “Can’t wait to give out Christmas gifts to everyone!”

The four Holiday Toons stepped into the light of the elevator.

Ginger breathed in the fresh air of the higher floors. She took in the natural light that came in through the high ceiling glass, and the occasional falling leaves from the large tree in the center of the lobby.

“You go find your cousin. We can tell the Toons we’re back,” Bobette whispered from behind.

Ginger nodded. “Thanks. I mean it.” She turned towards the long hallway of the lobby and began her search.

Ginger found her cousin’s friend in the kitchen of the Toon Rooms. She tapped his shoulder and smiled. “Hey, Sprout.”

The strawberry turned around with a surprised look. “Oh, hey Ginger. I thought you’d be coming later.”

“Oh, well, I missed this place too much. Do you know where Cosmo is?” she asked.

Sprout looked up in thought. “I think he’s in the lower floor kitchen. The one that was cleared of Twisteds. Let me lead you there.” He stepped away from the cabinets and motioned for Ginger to follow.

After a minute or so of traveling, Ginger spotted her cousin Cosmo behind a counter. She could see his recognizable roll-shaped head peeking up.

“Cosmo!” Ginger shouted. “I’m back!” Her walking speed increased as she got closer to him, but then she paused.

A Twisted with sharp teeth, blood-red pupils, and a glob of ichor on its head turned around. It locked eyes with the cookie and stepped forward.

Ginger slowly turned towards Sprout, who looked unsurprised. “S-S-Sprout? What is a T-Twisted doing here?!”

“Well, a lot of stuff happened while you weren’t here,” he shrugged, not fazed by the scene. “But, basically—"

Ginger backed away from the approaching Twisted. With a loud yelp, she tripped and fell backwards. “S-Stay away!” she cried.

The Twisted, who was barely a meter away from her, raised its claws towards her. It looked like it was about to strike, but Sprout wasn’t doing anything.

As she crawled backwards, she bumped into the wall behind her. Ginger was cornered. She let out a high-pitched scream and closed her eye.

The Twisted opened its mouth, tilted its head, and asked, “You okay?”

Ginger couldn’t help it. She fainted.

Chapter Text

Rudie skipped through the Toon Room hallway. The moment he had entered the higher floors again, he searched for other Toons. At that moment, he had only greeted about half of the others so far.

In front of Glisten’s door were two Toons—Tisha and Rodger. They seemed to be having an important conversation, but turned around when they heard Rudie’s hooves dashing towards them.

“Hey, guys!” Rudie greeted. He slid to a stop in front of the two Toons and smiled.

“Oh, good afternoon, Rudie. Have the other Holiday Toons arrived?” Rodger asked.

“Yup! Just in time for the holidays!”

“Well, that’s good,” Tisha said cheerfully.

Just as Rudie was about to ask why they were standing in front of Glisten’s room, the wooden board “door” swung open violently. A familiar beige mirror stepped out.

Rodger looked down at the stopwatch in his right hand, which Rudie had just noticed. “You beat your record by a minute. Congratulations are in order, I believe.”

Glisten sighed and crossed his arms on his chest. He looked fatigued and out of breath, as though he had just finished some sort of strenuous exercise. His pink blush was running down his cheeks. “Can we take a break?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, thank goo—”

“For five minutes.”

“You have to practice,” Tisha tutted. “There won’t be any improvement if you don’t.”

“I know, but…”

Rudie cleared his throat loudly to get the attention of the three Toons in front of him. “Uhm, Glisten? What happened to your face?”

Glisten turned towards the reindeer. “Oh, Rudie! I didn’t notice you.” His voice sounded different—less sassy, almost. “What about my face?”

“It’s cracked!” Rudie pointed out. Tisha and Rodger shared a glance.

Tisha spoke up first. “There’s been some, uh, things that have happened.”

Rudie squinted his eyes at the beige mirror Toon. There was a triangular crack above Glisten’s left eye, and his fingertips were a darker shade of yellow than the rest of his body, like a fresh coat of yellow painted over black. His sclera looked almost pink. “Oh, are you sick or something?”

“...Not exactly.” Glisten grimaced, like the topic was something he didn’t want to discuss.

“...Huh?”

“He died by a Twisted, became one, was brought up to the higher floors, and was rehabilitated,” Rodger curtly said.

“That’s a bit brief,” Tisha commented.

Rudie tilted his head in confusion. “But Twisteds can’t be brought back. Everyone knows that!”

“Five minutes have passed,” Rodger suddenly announced. “Get back in there, Glisten.”

“W-Wait! It hasn’t even been two minutes! I think I still—”

Tisha grabbed his shoulders and pushed him into his room. “This is good for you!”

Glisten grabbed the doorframe like a cat that was being forced to have a bath. Even though Tisha was one of the most physically strong Toons in the center due to her constant running around and cleaning, he was putting up a good fight. Soon enough, Tisha won, and she immediately closed the door on his face.

Rodger turned back towards Rudie. “Let me fully catch you up. On the 12th of November, Glisten was attacked by a Twisted Scraps and killed. On November 17th, he was found by Cosmo as a half-Twisted, which meant he could still communicate. He was then brought up to these higher floors, and we discovered that if he was left alone for far too long, he would ‘enrage,’ causing him to twist even further. Then, exactly ten days later, we were able to repair his face, since before that, the crack was wider. Now, despite all that had happened, he is just as much of a Toon as any of us.”

A serious look crossed Tisha’s face. “Please don’t treat him as anything but a fellow Toon. He’s different from before, but he’s still the same Glisten we all know. And he’s been through a lot.”

“...Wow.” Rudie didn’t know what to say. The idea of it all was so strange, but Rudie knew when to take things more seriously. “Well, I’m glad to know he got better! It’s almost like a Christmas miracle!”

The two Toons sighed in either relief or disappointment.

“So why are you two locking him in his room?” he asked.

“Remember when Rodger said that he would twist way more if he was left alone for too long? Well, he’s been trying to increase his tolerance—with some hesitation,” Tisha answered.

“Oh, cool! Well, I’m going to go find the others! Merry Christmas!” Rudie shouted before he dashed off.

Chapter Text

Ginger slowly opened her eyes.

After a few seconds of stirring, she sat up and was greeted by two red and black eyes looking at her closely.

Before she could make a sound, the Twisted grabbed her shoulders. “You alright? Y-You just fainted in front of me, and I wasn’t sure what to do! You didn’t seem, like, dehydrated or anything!”

“...Huh?” was all she could mutter.

Sprout, who Ginger just noticed was there, moved his chair closer. “Cos, I don’t think dehydration was the issue.”

The Twisted turned its head to its left. “Then why else would she faint?”

Sprout glanced at Ginger’s trembling hands and quivering lower lip. “I don’t know how to say this any nicer—you look like a Twisted to her.”

Ginger slowly raised her hand. “W-What’s going on? How are you… talking?” Her voice was shaky.

The Twisted quickly took its hands off her. “Ginger, it’s me, Cosmo.”

“B-But you’re a Twisted! You can’t be my cousin!” Ginger argued. The last time she saw him, her dearest cousin didn’t have sharp teeth, long ichor claws, or red pupils.

Sprout, in his usual overprotective manner, got up from his chair and stood between the two. “I don’t care how he looks to you, this is Cosmo. Yes, he’s a Twisted, but he’s still my best friend.”

Behind him, the Twisted smiled. “Aww, you really mean that?”

Sprout turned around and grinned widely. “Of course!”

Ginger tried to make sense of what the two were saying. The Twisted didn’t seem to be attacking, and it sounded and acted just like Cosmo. “If… If this is actually Cosmo, then does that mean he died?”

The Twisted's eyebrow furrowed slightly. “...Yeah. But then Sprout saved me!”

 “...Okay. And you won’t, you know... hurt me, right?”

“Why would I?” he asked.

Ginger sighed. “Nevermind.” With such a clueless response, there was no doubt in her mind that the Twisted was her cousin. Only Cosmo the pastry would ask such a question.

Still, she didn’t blame herself for freaking out. 

Thankfully, the two resident bakers hadn’t exhausted all of the multicolored icing the center had yet.

Using her fashion expertise in color theory, Ginger planned out how she would decorate the baked goods in front of her. Cosmo and Sprout were great bakers, but they weren’t too good at decorating things nicely and carefully.

“I tried adding a bit more milk to these this time; just enough to make them less dry, hopefully,” Cosmo explained. He stood next to Ginger with baking supplies spread out in front of him. His right hand was, thankfully, covered with a mitten. 

Ginger took a small bite out of the cake to taste it. Its flavor was delicate and slightly minty, which contrasted its bare exterior. “I’m sure the other Toons will love it,” she complimented.

“I really missed hanging out with you like this,” Cosmo said after a few seconds. He looked at her with a bittersweet smile. “But I get it, with you being a Holiday Toon and all.”

Ginger’s eye widened. “You do?”

“Yeah. I just hope you don’t have too much fun wherever you go during the rest of the year,” he teased.

“...Right. Yeah.”

Cosmo’s smile dropped. “You okay?”

The cookie tried to compose herself. “Of course. I’ve just missed you too.”

Ignoring the way Cosmo looked at her with a worried expression, Ginger gingerly gingered the ginger on the undecorated cake. The decorating skills she used helped distract her mind.

After a while, the cakes were fully decorated. Since they had a few hints of a mint flavor, Ginger decided to run with a peppermint theme, utilizing the red and white icing to her advantage.

Many Toons had heard that the pastries Cosmo and Sprout had been baking were finally done, so a large crowd was already waiting in the Toon Room’s kitchen when she arrived. A few Toons appeared to be missing, however.

Ginger approached the closest Toon to her, Finn. His fishbowl head was, as always, filled with a mysterious blue liquid that no one thought was drinkable. “Finn?”

Finn turned around. “Oh, hey Ginger! Can I kelp you?”

“Do you know where everyone else is?” she asked.

“Well, Boxten, Scraps, Poppy, Goob, Vee, Tisha, Toodles, and I think Shelly had to go on an elevator run. I’m shore they’ll be back soon!”

As if on cue, Ginger heard the distant sound of the elevator opening.

From the corner of the room, Bobette approahed her. “I can go tell them the pastries are done," she offered.

“Oh, thank you,” Ginger smiled. The ornament waved and walked away.

Before the Toons could take part in the consumption of the pastries, a high-pitched scream was heard from the direction of where the elevator was.

It sounded like Bobette.

Ginger and a few others rushed towards where the scream was. When she turned the corner, and saw what Bobette had screamed at, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Only two Toons stood in front of the elevator. One had black ichor dripping out of a large gash on her leg, and an injury on her forehead of what appeared to be a bite mark, like large fangs had sunken their teeth into her. She was heavily limping on the other Toon, who held a first-aid kit tightly in his right hand.

The hurt Toon slowly opened her mouth to speak, and immediately began coughing ichor on the floor. The other Toon held her from falling and looked at the crowd with an unreadable expression.

“Goob and Boxten are dead,” he said.

Chapter Text

“‘Because it’s you. I know there’s good in you, even if you’ve convinced yourself there’s none.’”

Those sixteen words meant the world to Dandy. The idea of someone seeing any amount of good in him was far-fetched, but somehow true.

Ever since Astro and him had that talk, the two had begun to hang out with each other more and more. Sometimes, Astro would help Dandy with moving his shop supplies. Sometimes, Dandy helped Astro with his high number of dream requests from the other Toons.

On the night of the 29th of November, Dandy had invited Astro to rewatch a few of the old episodes that starred the two. It wasn’t intended to be anything special from him.

However, around the three-minute mark of the first scene, Astro had leaned his head on Dandy’s shoulder, and soon enough, had fallen asleep right on his blue petal.

Dandy hadn’t wanted to wake him up, but before he could have moved an inch, Astro wrapped his four arms around his torso and leaned in closer. It had seemed like he was in a deep dream and didn’t realize what he was doing.

During those five minutes of being hugged like a pillow, the flower realized something.

The way Astro talked in his soft-spoken voice, the way he was true to his word no matter what, the way he always asked the Toons how their dreams went, the way he was so nervous about his arms, yet still had an open mind about everything else; Dandy noticed it all.

There were flaws in him, as there were flaws in everyone, but Dandy didn’t care about them.

Dandy was in love with Astro.

The adoration may have begun when Astro said he’d never judge Dandy for being what he was. It may have even begun years ago, when the two first met.

“Dandy? Hello?”

Love was something the flower had never experienced. He thought he was fully incapable of love, and that no one would ever bother to get so close to a Lethal like him.

“Uh, I’d like to buy something.”

But then someone had. Astro had.

“Is he ignoring us?”

And Dandy was so happy he did.

“Dandy!”

Dandy snapped to attention. “Huh?”

Eight Toons stood in front of his store in the elevator. The one who had yelled something was Poppy, who was holding a plastic bag filled with an assortment of items. “Can I buy something?” she asked.

“Right, yes, of course!” Dandy looked at the three items on display in front of him. There was a singular can of Pop , a chocolate bar, and a valve for sale.

Poppy pointed to the can. “One of these!”

Behind her, Toodles pointed to the chocolate bar. “That, please!”

“The can is two tapes, and the chocolate is one!” Dandy stated.

“I think I found some earlier…” Poppy muttered to herself. She fished through a large plastic bag, which each Toon had to carry every time they went on an extraction run. It wasn’t like they had an invisible inventory that could fit any item, regardless of weight.

After a few seconds, she dropped two VHS tapes onto the counter and grabbed the can. Toodles promptly dropped a singular tape onto the counter and grabbed the chocolate. 

“Pleasure doing business!” Dandy said cheerfully as he scooped up the tapes and put them inside of a crate behind him. He tried not to think about what he was thinking about earlier.

A green television approached the shop with a raised eyebrow. “And for the valve?”

“Forty.”

Vee sighed. “It’s not like tapes just show up whenever we finish a machine, you know. And there’s a limited amount of tapes in this place too. Why not lower the prices?”

“Sorry, but these prices are absolute! Besides, these valves can instantly fill up a machine with ichor, so I think that’s worth the price!” Dandy shrugged. He simply couldn’t see himself lowering any prices if it meant less tapes were in his hands.

“Each floor has a maximum of 30 tapes scattered around it. There are eight of us. That means that each floor, if distributed evenly, gives each Toon 3.75 tapes at a time—or just three, since 3.75 of a tape isn’t possible. And since we’ve only been through three floors, we all have around nine tapes,” Vee explained factually. “So, you selling a valve on this floor is, according to calculations, bad for business.”

Dandy made a gesture like he was trying to wave the question away. “Don’t you have that remote of yours? It does about the same thing, right?”

“It only works once a floor. Valves can be put on any sort of machine,” she stated.

“Well, if you don’t want to buy anything, I guess I’ll just leave!” Dandy dramatically pouted.

The two maintained intense eye contact for a few seconds until Dandy looked away with a stifled chuckle. “Well, looks like it’s time for me to go! Good luck, friends!” He pulled the lever on his right, and watched as his shop descended beneath the elevator. He didn’t notice the strange looks the other Toons gave Vee.

As Dandy grabbed the crate filled with tapes and dumped it on the floor, he cursed himself under his breath at his performance.

“Get it together, me! You’re supposed to be a shopkeeper, not an embarrassed mess!” he said to himself, knowing that there wasn’t much he could do about those thoughts he kept having. Just the thought of Astro made his face begin to heat up.

Dandy sighed hopelessly. The only thing he could do, he reasoned to himself, was to continue to sort the tapes he had managed to get from the Toons.

As there were several different empty rooms on the floor Dandy’s room was on, many of them served as his personal storage. He had to keep his valuable merchandise somewhere. 

The room he was standing in was filled with the cheaper things he sold. Although he didn’t like listening to her, Vee’s advice was right. He picked up two stopwatches and a yellow candy to sell.

Dandy knew something was wrong the moment his shop popped out of the hatch in the elevator.

The usually energetic Scraps had a scared look in her eyes as she watched the shop show up. There was a large gash in her right leg, and what looked like bite marks on her forehead.

The other Toons around her didn’t look great, either. Poppy had a bandage wrapped around her arm, Vee’s microphone cable looked tangled, Tisha’s dress had a tear in it, the ammonite fossil—Dandy forgot her name—had dirt all over her legs, and Toodles was clutching Scraps’ hand nervously.

But something was missing.

Dandy counted the group. There were only six Toons. “Where are Boxten and Goob?”

Tisha spoke up first. “They… They were caught. We couldn’t save them.”

Dandy’s eyebrows furrowed. “By which Twisted?”

“...Pebble.”

“What?”

Pebble was Dandy’s dog. Last time he checked, Pebble was safely in the higher floors, so it must have been a clone.

Poppy shuddered. “It was so big and fast—faster than anything we’ve seen before!”

Vee nodded in agreement. “I measured it. Twenty five on the speed index—faster than I can run. And its attention span was four full seconds, which is second only to–” She paused. “Only to the Holiday Toons.”

Dandy glanced at Scraps again. She didn’t seem to be paying attention to the conversation; she was acting like how Sprout acted when he lost Cosmo. She was in no condition to continue the run.

Dandy wondered what he would do if Astro turned into a Twisted. He could simply waltz down into the lower floors and find him, since the other Twisteds wouldn’t attack him.

But Scraps couldn’t do that. The Twisteds would kill her.

Dandy then started wondering what he would do if he was only a Toon as well. He wondered how he would feel if he knew there was absolutely nothing he could do to save Astro. 

With a push of a button, the door to his right opened, and he stepped out of it. He walked up to Scraps and grabbed her other hand to pull her to her feet. “I’ll take her to her room to rest. You all can continue the run.”

A few seconds of silence passed as Dandy realized every Toon in the elevator was staring at him. “...What is it?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Dandy,” the fossil began. Her name had to have started with an S, but the rest of the word eluded him. “But we’ve just, uhm, never seen you take someone out of a pre-planned run…”

“It’s not like she can extract ichor with these injuries, so why bother stopping the whole run for one Toon?” Dandy was admittedly confused. He couldn’t fathom why a medically-induced break from a run was such a strange idea. He could simply make her do an extra long extraction run once she got over her grief.

Vee looked towards the others. “Let’s just get this over with. I don’t want to be down here any longer than I have to, and I can tell Scraps isn’t in the right condition to do so, either.”

Ignoring the looks he got, Dandy walked back to his shop and pulled the red lever, effectively sending the small platform back towards his room.

Scraps coughed. “D-Dandy? Where… am I?”

“The elevator is just up ahead,” he responded, dodging the question.

The two had been walking through the lowest floor’s halls for quite a while. The elevator was in sight, but Dandy had to slow his walking pace for Scraps to comfortably lean on him. 

Dandy wondered when he had started to care about other Toon’s comfort.

“They’re… dead, aren’t they?” Her voice shook in worry. She opened her mouth to say something else, then closed it again. Her tears had dried, but her expression showed she still had a well of tears that could run down her cheeks, if she willed herself to.

“They are,” he said. “And you will too, if you don’t focus on getting to your room and treating your injuries.”

Scraps nodded. It was clear she was desperately trying not to think about anything that happened. “O-Okay. And why are you helping me?”

That question again. It began to bother the flower.

“Do you think you can turn a handle with wounds like that? Of course not.” Dandy’s eyes met hers. “You know your brother wouldn’t want you to push yourself until you bleed out.”

Scraps had no response for him.

Chapter Text

“So, you understand the plan, right?”

“Of course I do. You don’t have to worry about anything!”

“Yeah, right. Except for the hordes of vicious Twisteds, and the fact that we might not even find them, and–”

“Gigi, you’re being paranoid. We’re going to be fine.”

Gigi sighed. “You might. But you know my stamina is, like, really bad...”

“But you have something you normally don’t.” Glisten gestured to himself and grinned. “Me.”

“If you say so.” Gigi rolled her eyes and smiled. She knew the mirror only said that to make her feel better. She had already noticed the way he nervously tapped his foot on the floor; he was scared as well.

Glisten glanced at the scarves he was carrying. His tone lowered as he said, “I haven’t been down here since I died.”

Gigi had to stop herself from saying anything insulting. His grasping for sympathy from her was much too obvious. “It’s not like we’re doing an extraction run. We’re just here for Boxten and Goob, remember?”

“I remember, yes. Can’t blame me for reminiscing,” Glisten shrugged.

As the elevator door opened to the first floor, the mirror turned towards Gigi. “I’m surprised you came with me. I didn’t know you cared about the two of them like that.”

“They’re my friends too, you know. I don’t want to leave them down there.”

The elevator stayed open as the two stepped out. Their very hastily-made plan was to visit every floor until they found either the real Boxten, or the real Goob.

By the fifth floor, they had found two Twisted Boxten clones, but no real Boxtens.

“Where did they even go?” Gigi complained. “It’s only been a day!” She stretched out her arms and let her oversized sleeves hang from her hands. 

Glisten wasn’t listening. He was too busy staring at the elevator buttons. “What’s on the last floor?”

“Eh?” She turned to look at him and lowered her arms

“There are 65 buttons on here. I’ve barely seen 15 floors. What’s on the 65th floor?” he asked.

Gigi approached the buttons. “I dunno. I mean, there are more Twisteds in the lower floors, right? That one must have a ton!”

“It’s probably in a constant blackout too. I don’t think I’ll be exploring that floor anytime soon. Don’t want to dirty my bows,” he dramatically sighed.

Finally, at floor nine, the duo found a different scene waiting for them.

“Look!” Gigi whispered from behind a long brown crate. She pointed to a Twisted Boxten that was walking the other way. 

The Twisted had a bandana around its neck that was stained with ichor from a flowing gash on its neck, like its head had been chopped clean off—or bitten off.

Glisten gave one of the scarves he held to Gigi. “I’ll restrain the ichor arms, you restrain the regular arms.”

The gachapon nodded. “Got it.” Both of them stepped from their hiding spot and into Boxten’s line of sight.

“Hey! Over here!” she shouted, waving her arms while jumping up and down. 

Boxten’s eyes locked onto her as he turned around, and he immediately began running toward her. Just as he was about to reach out with his ichor arms and attack her, Glisten ran behind him and slammed the purple lid shut, while quickly tying a scarf around his head.

While Boxten clawed at the restraints, Gigi prepared the scarf in her own hands. She grabbed Boxten’s hands and, much less neatly than Glisten, wrapped a scarf around them. For good measure, she motioned for Glisten to wrap a scarf around Boxten’s eyes.

Once the Twisted was unable to hurt them, the two sighed in relief.

“So, what now?” Glisten asked once he caught his breath. “Do we go up, or do we keep looking for Goob?”

“Let’s go back up,” Gigi said.

Gigi collapsed onto her bed the moment it was in her sight. She grabbed her pillow and rested her head on it.

When Glisten and Gigi came back up to the Toon Rooms, none of the others were surprised that they brought Boxten. By the time they brought the Twisted to his room, he had surprisingly fallen half-asleep while still being tied up. Poppy volunteered to watch him.

Gigi flipped herself over to the other side of her bed and held her pillow closer to her chest. A part of her wished she had seen Flutter in her expedition, but she knew it was hopeless.

On her bedside table was a small VHS tape she had snagged from Dandy’s shop weeks before. She sincerely hoped it was a movie for her to watch to distract herself from her failed mission. 

Grabbing it, Gigi immediately began looking at the cover for any hint on what the tape was about.

“...Huh? What’s an ‘L-001’ log?”

Chapter Text

Poppy was, admittedly, not the best at taking care of Twisteds.

Taking care of animals, as she thought, is all about knowing what they like and don’t like, what they can and can’t eat, and how not to have them die in the first week. So, she reasoned it must be the same for taking care of an animalistic Toon. 

Twisteds, as she later found out, didn’t eat or sleep, and possibly couldn’t die. Everyone knew Toons became Twisteds after death, but no one knew what Twisteds became after death.

Poppy certainly tried to help Boxten eat. She tried to hold her meal in front of him and ask him if he wanted it. Boxten only looked down at the food, and then looked up at her with a slow blink. His mouth remained a wide smile.

Around the first night of taking care of him, Poppy awoke one midnight to see the Twisted staring at her from a corner with the same expression of fully opened eyes, and a wide smile ear-to-ear—if he had them. She expected for him to simply fall asleep like a Toon, but he hadn’t looked the least bit tired.

Poppy stared at the wall of her room in front of her, snapping herself out of her own thoughts. She turned around and sighed. “I wish you could just tell me what to do. You’ve always been the smart one.”

There was no response from the music box, whose wrists and lid were still tied.

“Now that I think about it,” Poppy said with her pointer finger raised to her chin. “You… kinda look like a mess right now. There’s, like, ichor about to fall into your eyes. Maybe I could try to clean it up? Yeah, I can do that!” She immediately ran out of her room and towards the nearest bathroom without warning.

Once she acquired the wipes she needed, she ran back towards her room just as fast as she left.

Poppy managed to get Boxten to sit down crossed-legged in front of her. His eyes kept darting from her large pink bow to her yellow and pink socks.

“Okay, first, I’m gonna wipe off the gooey ichor on your forehead,” she announced. The Twisted probably couldn’t understand her, but she decided to not think too much about it.

Poppy reached her hands towards the bottom edges of his cube-shaped head. Her light cyan fingers traced where the edges turned into corners, and after a few seconds, rested her palms on them. “You’re covered in dust, too!”

Boxten glanced at her soft touch and shifted his head’s weight onto her hands. Poppy told herself that he must have gotten tired from all his sitting, as that was the only logical conclusion for her.

The bubble reached towards the paper towels next to her and grabbed a few. She brought the towels towards his forehead and began to wipe the ichor away.

“I never liked the feel of this stuff. It’s so… gooey!” she muttered.  

As she wiped downwards, Boxten closed his eyes to prevent anything from getting in them. His wide smile faltered slightly as well.

Although the ichor was decently easy to clean, there was a specific spot right above his right eye that just wasn’t going away, like the substance was actively persisting against the towels.

Poppy grabbed another towel with her right hand, tilted Boxten’s head upwards with her left hand, and leaned in so that her face was barely a few centimeters away from his. “Hold on, there’s a spot right here!”

As she rubbed the spot, she didn’t notice how Boxten’s eyes softened at the repeated movement, She also didn’t notice how he gazed at her hands curiously.

After another minute or so of wiping, Poppy finally managed to completely clear the rim and around it of ichor. If she ignored his teeth, eyes, restraints, and slightly desaturated color, Boxten looked the same as before.

“Does that feel better?” she asked. Not expecting any sort of response, she stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Hmm, what next?”

Poppy’s eyes slowly trailed towards his bandana. The blue and tattered accessory barely hid the injury on his neck. She then decided to step behind Boxten and sit down, reaching towards the bandana and slowly untying it to see the injury better.

“You put cold things on wounds to make them magically heal, right? I think that’s how it works,” Poppy wondered out loud.

After a minute of pressing an icy bottle of Pop around the injury, Poppy leaned forward and met Boxten’s eyes.  She slowly began to untie the striped scarf around his branchiums. “You know, I was extracting from a machine when you died. Or, well, you’re not dead . Not anymore, which is kinda cool! Anyway, I remember I was turning the handle when all of a sudden, I heard what sounded like growling. Then, a loud splashy sound. Next thing I knew, I heard a bunch of yelling, and when I finished the machine, the elevator opened.”

Boxten only looked at her with a neutral expression. His mouth was closed.

“It’s hard to see you as a Twisted, to be honest. I’ve always seen you as one of my best friends, and it’s hard to see you as anything else.” Once she finished untying the restraint, Poppy grabbed his hands in hers and smiled widely. “So I decided to keep seeing you as my friend!”

At the time, her only reason of removing the restraint was that it couldn’t have been comfortable. Not a lot of thought went into the simple move.

Poppy squeezed his palm gently and softened her smile at him.

Boxten looked down at their intertwined hands and squeezed gently back.

Chapter Text

Razzle blinked at the group in front of him in confusion. “I thought it was only going to be us watching the movie?”

“Well, it originally was going to be just us,” Glisten, who was standing to his right, explained. “But what’s the fun in that?”

Four Toons stood in front of them, ready to watch the movie—Vee, Brightney, Scraps, and surprisingly, Dandy. Razzle had no idea how Glisten accomplished such a feat.

“So what movie are we watching?” Brightney asked him. She sat down on the left gray couch and looked over at the television in front of the group.

“A movie called Electric Dreams . It’s a tad old, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad,” Glisten answered.

Razzle looked at the others. Dandy and Vee were engaged in an intense conversation, and Scraps was sitting on the other gray couch, seemingly not paying much attention. There were white bandages wrapped around her forehead and her ankle.

The group, albeit a bit random, made Razzle optimistic that their movie-watching experience would be fun.

Dazzle, on the other hand—quite literally—didn’t like it. He worried that they would talk through the whole thing. He generally preferred smaller groups when viewing films. His brother Razzle had insisted, however.

Glisten walked towards the television in front of the group and cleared his throat for attention. “Okay, everyone! The movie will start in a moment, so all of you better quiet down.” He grabbed the remote that lay next to the television and started the movie.

By the time the radio scene was midway done, only half of the Toons were crying.

Both Razzle and Dazzle had tears streaming down their cheeks. Razzle thought that Edgar choosing to play a song one last time was so romantic, and Dazzle thought that the existential topics brought up by the movie were hopelessly heart-breaking. 

Before either of them could say a word about their current emotional state, they heard tissues being taken rapidly out of a tissue box next to them.

“Glisten, are you crying too?” Brightney teased. She sat on Glisten’s left.

“N-No, not at all!” The mirror retorted as he dabbed his eyes with the soft tissue. Unsurprisingly, instead of salty water coming out of his eyes, black liquid ichor poured onto the tissues; a residual symptom of his time as a Twisted.

Since she sat on the carpeted floor in front of him, Dazzle had noticed that throughout the movie, Scraps had slowly begun to react more with the group rather than simply watch. He was glad that she was trying to be more social again.

“H-He found out what love is, a-and so Miles and Madeline, h-h-he…!” Razzle sobbed. Glisten passed the tissue box to him, which he gladly accepted.

Out of the twin masks’ sight, they heard a more robotic voice loudly whisper, “ You’re crying too?”

Every single Toon craned their necks to see the beads of teardrops that had gathered in Dandy’s eyes. The glow of the movie’s screen only caused them to sparkle more.

Meeting everyone’s eyes, he quickly began to blink away the tears. “It’s an objectively sad movie!”

Brightney turned to Vee. “Isn’t the genre called a, hmm, a romantic comedy?”

“Sci-fi romantic comedy, yes,” Vee answered. Although her screen was turned off to keep the room dark, Razzle could tell that she wanted to show every page of information she could find to every Toon there.

“Sorry I have a heart !” Dandy huffed, turning his head away. As the tissue box was passed to him, the flower hesitantly grabbed it.

“T-There’s enough tissues for everyone!” Razzle pointed out.

“There’s no shame in crying,” Dazzle calmly said.

Dandy pushed the tissue box back towards the others. “It was one tear!”

“Just get on with the movie,” Glisten said with a wave of his hand. “I can’t hear the song!”

“Weren’t you just sobbing a few moments ago?” Scraps quietly asked.

An embarrassed expression appeared on Glisten’s face as the other Toons laughed, though none of it was in mean-spirits.

Chapter Text

Once the movie was over, the other Toons headed to their individual rooms. They chatted about who their favorite characters were, and if Madeline should have gotten with Miles, Edgar, or both.

As each of the doors closed, and the familiar lull of the night slowly covered the quiet hallway, only two figures remained in front of the couches.

Vee turned towards Dandy. Her green pixelated face switched on and showed an unreadable expression. “What did you think about the movie?”

“It was good,” he shrugged.

“Good enough to cry over?”

Dandy rolled his eyes. “Okay, Allied Mastertelevision. You can’t just let that go, huh?”

Vee smiled a grin that quickly turned sour. “And what do you think about the idea of a machine being able to love?”

Dandy looked up at the television with a knowing expression. All his petals looked green from her screen’s light. “Is this about Brightney?”

“No, why would you assume that?” Vee quickly asked.

“I can tell you’re overheating from here,” he teased.

Vee internally cursed her heating units. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Dandy looked up in thought. “If said machine has sentience, then I don’t see why not. Love is just a feeling, really—if you can feel emotions in general, then you can feel love.”

“Even if you can’t feel touch?”

“Sure.”

Vee looked forward again, silent.

After a few seconds of silence, Dandy asked, “And what do you think about what Edgar did? When he was learning about the world, he was so curious and eager to learn all there is to know. When he learned about his feelings for Madeline, he was so excited to feel what love is. But, when he realized Miles was in his way, he became angry and aggressive. Miles hated Edgar so much that he tried to sneak out and avoid him—and, of course, the computer found out and almost killed Miles. He was toying with him. Even if Edgar had good intentions, he still did many bad things. Is he still deserving of love?”

Vee paused. “Is this about you?”

Dandy shook his head. “No, it’s about the character Edgar from Electric Dreams. ”

“Well if this is about Edgar, then you know that the conflict was resolved by the end of the movie. Miles forgave him, and Edgar realized that the couple would be happier without him,” Vee answered factually.

“But what if he didn’t ?” Dandy pushed.

Vee looked at the flower, whose tone became one of slight desperation. “Oh?”

“Well,” he began. “What if Edgar killed Miles? What if he had to keep it secret from every single person he knew? What if Madeline found out? Would she hate him? What if he had done worse things before?”

“I don’t think such a small computer could do all that. But, hypothetically, in an alternate universe, Madeline wouldn’t be able to forgive him. She would… She would think that he had committed first-degree murder, and she would think that if she angered him, she would be the next victim. I don’t think any other person who knew Miles would forgive Edgar either. But that’s not what happened, is it? Those events would never happen in the movie.”

Dandy said nothing for a few seconds. Then, he looked Vee in the eyes. “Lately, I’ve been feeling an emotion that I’ve just… never felt before. Like an awareness of everything negative I’ve ever done.”

After a quick search, Vee found what he was describing. “Guilt. Defined as a ‘self conscious emotion characterized by a painful appraisal of having done something that is wrong.’ Congratulations, you have a moral compass.”

“I’ve had one,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “I’ve just… never thought about it much.”

Vee nodded in understanding. “I’m surprised you think about it in the first place. I’d think you were too busy thinking about Astro.”

Dandy coughed in surprise and turned to look at her with an expression of shock. “H–”

“Dandy, your infatuation over him is obvious,” Vee sighed.

“...Oh.” He nervously clasped his hands together. “You’re not mad?”

The television shook her head. Her first reaction when she found out wasn’t anger; it was utter surprise. “No. It’s not like I could ever stop you.” She paused in thought. “You’ve been acting differently because of it, too.”

“I have?” Dandy asked.

“Half a year ago, you would have never considered accepting the invite to watch a movie with others; you would only be seen at your shops, really. If liking Astro is what’s causing this change, you can marry him for all I care,” she remarked. After a few seconds of silence passed, she asked, “I’d bet double points that you thought about it before.”

“...No.”

Vee stayed silent for a moment. In need of a subject change, she took a few steps forward and then looked behind her. “So… What’s with the song?”

Dandy took a few steps as well. “What song?”

“‘Clair de Lune,’” she answered, continuing to walk.

“Oh, right.” A shadow crossed his face for less than a second, but he quickly shook his head and followed Vee. “There are music boxes scattered around the lower floors that play it. I don’t know why they’re there, but it’s the first song I ever heard. I sometimes wind them when I’m busy.”

It took all of Vee’s self-control to stop herself from asking “Busy what? Murdering?” or something similar. She reminded herself that she ought to be nicer to all the Toons, not just him. “And do you carry a music box around whenever you want to listen to music?”

“There aren't many ways to listen to music here,” he shrugged.

“...Dandy.”

“Yes?”

“I have access to the internet.”

“And?”

The glowing light of the approaching elevator interior overpowered the dim green glow from Vee’s screen as the two walked inside.  “Dandy, I can play whatever song released before this place shut down.”

A look of realization and slight embarrassment quickly appeared on the flower’s face. “You’d play the song for me?”

“All you have to do is ask—just not too often,” Vee said, as though she herself didn’t have a habit of not asking for help. She opened up a music player on her screen and typed in the code for the song: 1838457617.

The soft sounds of a music box began to play from her speakers. Its velvety tone made barely a whisper of an echo as the doors closed. Once the elevator began to emit its low hum of machinery, the song quickly blended with it.

The music wrapped the two in silence, with not a word being spoken. Interrupting the concert felt unruly to them.

Vee glanced at Dandy. He had a neutral expression, yet she could tell there were millions of thoughts racing through his head; colorful petals couldn’t mask that.

Clair de Lune translated to moonlight in French—very symbolic.

The first time Vee had heard the song, she was running for her life.

The second time, she told herself she would never listen to the wretched thing ever again.

And yet, there she was, listening.

Finally, the elevator stopped at her room. She shut off the music and walked out of the elevator.

“...Vee?”

The television turned around. “Yeah?”

Dandy intertwined his fingers in nervousness. “Could I ask you to play that again sometime?”

“Sure.” Before Vee walked off, she smiled. “And, Dandy?”

“Yeah?”

“I like you better when you’re not acting like a children’s show mascot. The real you is way more tolerable.”

Just as the doors shut, Vee caught a glimpse of a slight, genuine smile on Dandy’s face.

Chapter Text

Astro looked at the sheet of paper in front of him with a sigh. He skimmed through the list of dream requests from the other Toons and paused when he arrived at a certain name.

“Cosmo? And Glisten as well?” he whispered to himself. “I wonder what their dreams will be like.”

Laying the sheet of paper on his bedside table, he covered himself with his bed’s blankets and closed his eyes.

There was work to be done for the night, and it was best for him to do it quickly.

More than thirty large stars sparkled in front of Astro, each one representing a different Toon. Some were a desaturated cyan, which meant that the dreamer wasn’t in a deep enough state for Astro to enter. Some shone bright like a diamond, which meant the dreamer was fully engaged in a dream. A few were pure white, which meant that they were fully awake.

“So Cosmo, Glisten, Poppy, Connie, and Coal want specific dreams tonight…” he muttered. His upper right hand reached towards the closest star in front of him—Cosmo’s star. Briefly, he wondered if Cosmo’s dreaming mind would be the same as when he gave Dandy a dream.

Cupping the star in his four hands, Astro closed his eye and waited to enter the dream.

When he opened his eye again, he found that a green kitchen had formed around him. There were marble countertops that lined the perimeters, and the walls had posters with several familiar faces on them. The words on the posters kept shifting and changing, as a common trait of dreams was that small details were hard to keep track of.

Up ahead, in the farther corners of the room, Cosmo could be seen flattening dough with a rolling pin while humming to himself.

Astro approached the corner with an amused expression. “Baking, even in dreams?” he asked.

Cosmo looked up and waved. “Oh, hey Astro!”

The space-themed Toon’s smile faltered. “You can see me?”

“Am I… not supposed to be able to?” Cosmo put the rolling pin down on the table and took off the mitten on his right hand. 

“Usually, Toons in their own dreams aren’t able to.”

“...Oh.”

Astro glanced at Cosmo’s claws. “It must have something to do with you having more concentrated ichor in your system than others.” Before the pastry could say something, he added, “Don’t worry, it makes my job easier. I can just ask you what you want to dream about instead of having to guess.”

“What I want to dream about? Uhm…” An embarrassed and awkward expression appeared on Cosmo’s face. He fidgeted with his hands behind his back. “W-Well…”

“Are you alright?” Astro asked.

Cosmo’s eyes widened and he nodded quickly. “Could you make dreams about certain people?”

“I think so, if I know them. Who are you thinking?”

A few seconds of silence passed before Cosmo looked down and muttered, “...Sprout.”

Astro quickly understood what he was asking. “Oh, your boyfriend? I can do that.”

Cosmo immediately straightened up. “Huh?”

“You two are together, right?” Astro asked, clearly confused.

“N-N-No, we’re just friends!” Cosmo frantically explained. He looked a bit saddened by the mention of them being just friends.

“But you two are always near each other. Don’t you both have matching bracelets, matching outfits, and matching jobs in the Center?”

“Yes, but…” Cosmo walked away from the counters and turned to face Astro. “We’ve always been just that. And I was happy with it. But, lately, I’ve been wishing that we were somehow even closer. I mean, he literally saved my life! He rescued me from the lower floors, even though everyone told him it was impossible. But I have no idea if he wants to be closer, or if he wants things to stay the same.”

“I understand.”

“...You do?”

Astro nodded. “I think you should admit your feelings. Prolonging it would just make you feel worse. And if he ends up rejecting you—which I doubt will happen—then it wasn’t meant to be. You’re a good person, Cosmo, and I’m sure you’ll find the right person for you; whether that is Sprout, or someone else entirely.”

Cosmo had an expression of thought for a moment until he smiled. “You’re right. I should confess and just get it over with.” He paused for two seconds. “Thanks for the talk, I… think I needed to hear that. You’re pretty good at giving advice.”

“Do you still want that dream about Sprout, then?” Astro asked.

“No. I think I should just sleep so I can have a clear head tomorrow.”

“Alright. Good night.”

Astro was once again in front of the cyan stars. He thought about what he told Cosmo, and how familiar the problem seemed to him.

It made sense—Astro was in love as well.

The exact time it started was unclear, but the Main had recently realized his crush on a certain flower.

However, Dandy was figuratively leagues away from Astro. He was, when the Gardenview Educational Center and Museum was still up and running, the face of everything. He was so good at being in front of a giant crowd, while Astro was too shy to be in a photo.

Dandy was like the sun; he was social and inviting, and he would always smile through the toughest of times.

Astro was like the moon; all his light and fame felt stolen, and sometimes he felt like people only liked him when he was asleep.

Despite all his secrets, Dandy still ran his shop day after day. Astro couldn’t even handle taking off his blanket in public.

Astro shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to focus on his oneirokinesis.

Below the cyan stars were three smaller ones that were pitch black. One had darkened around the middle of September, and the other two had darkened on the first of December. 

Some other stars were outliers, too. Cosmo’s star had been pitch black at one point, but it slowly grew brighter and brighter until it shone just as brightly as the rest of the stars.

Dandy’s star had always been different. It would occasionally switch from a pure white to a color as dark as the night sky. The night Astro gave Dandy a dream, he watched as the star turned black right after. At the time, he didn’t pay it much attention.

Glisten’s star had gone from cyan to only white at one point. As Twisteds never slept, Astro had begun to take more naps than usual to monitor the star in case it ever turned black. Sometimes it did.

Vee did have a star—she was a Toon as well as a machine, after all—but it was too dim for Astro to manipulate.

Tisha’s star was rarely colored or dim, due to her late-night cleaning habits.

Astro once again looked at the black stars. He crouched down and put his hands on his knees to look at them.

Before he knew it, he entered Boxten’s dreams.

Chapter Text

Astro landed in pure darkness. A deep void stretched on and on around him, and the ground felt like walking on an all-too-familiar black substance.

“I can’t be too surprised,” Astro muttered to himself. “Boxten might not even be asleep, though I don’t exactly know how I got here if that’s true…”

Just as he said that, he noticed a purple figure to his left that was a bit far from him. Curiosity won over Astro, and he quickly walked over to the figure.

Boxten was, surprisingly, sleeping with his back to the floor. His mouth was agape as he quietly snored, and his fingers occasionally twitched. After a few seconds of stirring, his eyes groggily opened. There was no hostility in him as Boxten looked at Astro.

“Are you alright?” Astro asked, sitting cross-legged next to Boxten.

No response came out of the music box. All he did was sit up and stare with a frown.

Two cyan sparkly stars slid out of Astro’s nightcap. “I don’t know if I can help you from the outside, but at least I know you’re in here.” The stars floated towards Boxten’s hands. “I guess being a Twisted is sort of like being asleep.”

Just as the stars came in contact with Boxten’s fingertips, the void distorted. Faint colors flashed repeatedly on the walls of the place, and the texture of the ground became slightly more solid.

Really, what was solid, in this perdition of a world? Guilt and sorrow can’t dry tears! Nightmares can’t cease reality’s whims! 

Eyes and lips and frowns and hands and hands and hands and hands and hands and hands and hands and hands.

Cries and screams and sighs and growls and growls and growls and growls and growls and growls and growls.

As something overcome, one must try to attack!

Enemy? Perish? Fire and sight? Oh sure, why not?!

There’s a theory of the world that passes while he stood still; a load of crap, right?

It’s so fun! It’s heaven! A paradise of pain and suffering, only for him! Can’t they see, why can’t they see? Oh, ashi kara—atama e—hibiite; hibiite saaaa! Urusai, bakari no-

Astro quickly let go of Boxten’s hands. He hadn’t realized that he was holding his breath, and he exhaled shakily.

Boxten looked at the Toon’s sudden reaction with a tilt of his head. He shifted his left arm so that his elbow was resting on his left knee and his square head’s rim was resting on his palm. A silent chuckle escaped him, like Boxten was amused by how frightened Astro was of his perspective.

“Is that really how Twisteds see the world?” Astro whispered. His eyebrow furrowed in worry. “That’s horrible !”

Boxten only shrugged his shoulders.

Astro slid the sparkles back under his sleeping cap hesitantly. “No wonder Twisteds try to attack Toons.” For a brief moment, he wondered if that was how any of the Twisteds above the lower floors saw the world. Their vision would be much better, he knew, but he wondered if they still had lingering feelings of confusion.

The chances of Boxten remembering the dream the two were in were low. Astro decided that then was the perfect time to practice revealing his own secret. 

Slowly, he removed his blanket from his shoulders.

The music box’s eyes traced the silhouette of his shoulders to the tips of his fingers. No amount of surprise was contained in his red pupils.

Astro hesitantly laid his lower two hands on Boxten’s. Their fingers laced together like two separate oceans meeting in between. 

Boxten looked down with an unreadable expression. He squeezed the blue palms without too much force.

“We’re all trying to bring you back. They’re not trying to hurt you,” Astro calmly whispered. He slowly let go and stood up. “I’ll be back soon—if you want me to.”

As he began to leave the dream, Astro caught the smallest nod from the Twisted.

The rest of the night went on without any troubles. The Toons who wanted dreams received them, though the process of giving Coal a dream was a bit harder than expected, as the mind of a rock was slightly different than the mind of a person.

The final Toon that requested a dream was Glisten. As he had never requested one before, Astro wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

The floor that materialized around Astro was very familiar, as it was the first lower floor that the Twisteds liked to roam. He quickly found Glisten standing on the center platform.

Once he heard Astro's footsteps behind him, he turned around. “Oh? What are you doing here?”

“You requested a dream, right?” Astro asked. 

“I did. And I would have done so sooner if I knew you’d come personally to greet me. Or was it just a surprise for me?” Glisten put a hand on his hip and pretended to flip his non-existent hair with a grin.

“Er… Not exactly. Toons usually can’t see me in their dreams, but Twisteds can—apparently,” he muttered.

Glisten’s smile fell. “Oh.”

Astro quickly changed the subject. “Why do you think your dream started here?” 

“I don’t know. You’re the dream expert.” Glisten looked away, clearly hesitant to meet Astro’s eye.

“You can tell me.”

The mirror sighed. “Well, I have a theory. This… was where I hung out while I was trapped down here. I just spent my time wandering around, waiting for the elevator.”

Astro nodded in understanding. He recently understood the tip of the iceberg of what a Twisted felt like, after all. “But that’s just a theory. This isn’t a part of you anymore.”

“But it is. You said it yourself; Toons can’t normally see you. And I can’t teleport anymore. Plus, there’s these pupils,” Glisten rebutted. His voice held a tone of pity for himself.

“...I can’t help you with your ability loss, or being able to see me here. But, I can help you with your pupils,” Astro assured.

Glisten’s arm fell from his hip. “Y-You can?”

Astro motioned for Glisten to sit down on one of the multicolored plastic chairs a meter away. “Close your eyes and calm yourself. Count to four and then exhale for eight. Think about peace and serenity.”

After a few seconds of sitting, Glisten cracked his right eye open. “Did it work?”

“You didn’t count patiently,” Astro said.

Glisten sighed and closed his eyes again.

After the full amount of time that was suggested passed, he fully opened his eyes. “This is a dream, though. Wouldn’t things be different in real life?”

“Dreams are rooted in reality. The only thing that prevents dreams from becoming reality is the logic inside of them—or lack thereof. But sometimes, reality has its own illogical things that can happen, so what’s not to say that dreams do come true?” Astro explained. He enjoyed talking about the realm of dreams more than almost anything else.

“I think that might be one of the longest things I’ve heard you say,” Glisten smiled. “You should talk more in real life too.”

“I-I’ve been trying to.” Astro took a seat in front of the mirror. “It’s a bit hard sometimes, but I think I’ve been staying awake more often.”

The mirror nodded. “So, did you learn this little strategy from Dandy?”

“...What?”

“Well, Dandy’s a Twisted too, right?”

Astro took quite a while to respond. “How did you get to that conclusion?” he asked cautiously.

Glisten twirled his hand as he spoke. “You know how Twisteds don’t attack each other, but immediately start chasing Toons? That’s because Twisteds can recognize other Twisteds, so they aren’t seen as a threat. Lately, I’ve been noticing that, at least to me, Dandy looks more ‘clear’ than other Toons. That, and how we’ve never seen him go on any runs.”

Astro fidgeted with his hands under his blanket. He never liked lying. “Yes, you’re right. Could you not tell anyone about this?”

“ I won’t. But Gigi was the one who gave me the idea in the first place, so…” 

“Gigi did? What do you mean?” Astro asked.

A concerned look appeared on Glisten’s face. “You seriously didn’t know? Gigi’s been telling everyone Dandy’s a Lethal Twisted—whatever that is.”

Chapter Text

From the moment Dandy and his little shop popped out of the elevator hatch, he knew something was wrong.

For one thing, none of the Toons were even glancing at his merchandise. They took one look at what he was selling and lined up in front of the elevator door, waiting for it to descend. Not a word was spoken.

For another, they all had worried expressions. Dandy understood that the run they were going on was to save Goob, and not to extract like normal, but that didn’t excuse the tension in the elevator.

Keeping his cheerful demeanor, Dandy said, “So no items? That’s okay, I’ll be back soon!” He grabbed the red lever next to him and pulled it.

By the time ten floors had passed, not a single Toon had bought anything.

The lack of tapes wasn’t the issue—Gigi’s bag was practically overflowing with gray VHS tapes. There was no clear reason why they hadn’t bought anything.

Dandy was beginning to get worried. The moment he had shown up, all conversation amongst the searchers halted almost immediately. They looked at him strangely.

“What is happening…?” he muttered to himself, once again pulling the lever next to him empty handed.

Before the hatch closed, Dandy heard Gigi’s voice insultingly whisper, “ Lethal.”

Dandy paced the bottom floor’s hallways with his hands clasped behind his back. “They know I’m a Twisted,” he said to himself. “ That’s why they haven’t been buying anything! They want me to get angry to prove their suspicions!”

There were two clear options presented to him at the moment.

One option was to pretend that he had never heard the snide comment. However, the group would most probably not buy from him for any future runs.

The other option was to kill them all.

Realistically, Dandy couldn’t. One of the group members would most probably get away and tell everyone else what they saw.

But maybe that would be a good thing. Everyone would know not to keep the tapes to themselves.

The idea could be accomplished so easily, too. All Dandy would have to do is visit a floor right before the group did, twist, and then pick them off one by one. Killing them wouldn’t be hard for him, as the Toons in the group were picked based on their ability to search, not run.

A single hit would be all he needed. A small scratch of his claws, and the Toon would be on death’s doorstep. And if more than one survived, he could just wait for them on the next floor. 

Dandy would barely need to try.

Slowly, he made his way back towards his shop. The group should have just arrived at floor eleven, so he could wait on the next floor.

Then, three faces rang through his mind.

The first face was Vee’s. If she found out that Dandy killed again, she would hate him for the rest of her life, effectively erasing any chance of friendship with the television.

The second face was Astro’s. Quiet, introverted Astro, who believed Dandy could change his ways, even though he knew every secret. Astro would run from the flower again. He would most probably hate Dandy for even considering murder.

The final face was Flutter’s. Her life had ended all because she found out something she shouldn’t have. Dandy had seen the horrified face she made right before his claws ripped through her, and he still saw it in the back of his mind.

One Toon’s death already caused a weight on his shoulders.

There were eight Toons in the group that knew his secret—all of whom could actually scream.

Dandy stopped dead in his tracks. He brought his mint-colored hands—the same ones used to end Flutter’s life—to his face and looked at them.

“I can’t do this,” he whispered to himself. “I can’t kill again. And I even considered it, too. I’m a horrible person, aren’t I? How would… How would Astro ever love me if he knew I barely considered reason? How would Astro ever love me if he knew how little I thought of the Toons he cares for?”

Dandy decided to wait it out. Every even floor, his shop would pop up like normal, and despite his better-than-average stock, no one bought anything. Dandy’s smile never wavered.

When the flower’s shop met the Toons on floor twenty, he finally saw a different sight.

Finn, Poppy, Scraps, and Sprout were restraining a familiar beige fluffy craft. Finn held his left hand, Poppy held his right hand, Sprout was tying a scarf tighter around his legs, and Scraps’ arms were wrapped around his torso tightly. 

Next to them, Gigi, Shrimpo, Bobette, and Connie were restraining another Twisted. Its face wasn’t visible from where Dandy was standing.

“Tie faster, Sprout!” Scraps said through gritted teeth. Her brother was trying to wiggle his way out of the Toons’ grasps, but once Sprout finished tying the scarf, Goob ragdolled.

Poppy stood up and sighed, still holding Goob’s left hand. “That took forever ! How come he was wandering on such a low floor? I’ve never been past the tenth!”

Finn stood up as well. “The reason can’t be too ‘clampicated!’” 

“It’s okay, lil’ bro. We’re here now,” Scraps whispered. She rubbed her cheek against Goob’s fur, but he made no reaction.

On the other side of the elevator, Shrimpo was holding onto the Twisted’s leg as it flailed wildly, trying to kick him off.

“I HATE BEING–” He was interrupted from finishing his sentence by Connie, who pulled him off the leg with seemingly more concern for the Twisted.

Bobette, who was still blocking the Twisted’s face from Dandy’s angle, put her hands on her hips. “I can’t believe we actually did it! I would have never believed these two were on the same floor!”

“I still don’t get why we needed my spare scarves for this,” Sprout complained. His neck was bare—a rare sight for any Toon.

“You have, like, twenty. You can spare a few getting stained by ichor,” Connie rolled her eyes. “Bobette, can you grab her wings?”

Dandy blinked in confusion.

There was only two Toons who had wings, one of which was an Easter Toon that only showed up in the springtime.

“Alright!” Bobette said. She walked towards the Twisted’s left and helped Connie restrain the black wings.

“...Flutter?”

Poppy turned towards Dandy. “We found her on the same floor as Goob. Pretty lucky, huh?” A few of the Toons shot her a look.

Dandy smiled. “That’s very lucky! Are you all going back up?”

Everyone except for Shrimpo nodded.

Dandy pulled the lever for his shop to descend with his wide, toothy, iconic smile.

The smile fell the moment the hatch doors closed.

Flutter was brought back, and soon enough, she would show everyone which Twisted killed her.

Chapter Text

Vee leaned on the wooden bench she was sitting on. “So? How has taking care of Boxten been?” she asked, amused.

To her right, Glisten sat with his legs crossed. His right hand was tightly holding Boxten’s, who didn’t seem like he was paying attention to their conversation, as he was staring at a singular point in the distance. “A bit strange, but I’m managing it perfectly!”

“He just walked away.”

Glisten quickly looked to his right to see that Boxten was still there. He turned around again with a roll of his eyes, which notably had black pupils. “Haha, very funny.”

“I have impeccable humor, thank-you-very-much,” Vee grinned. If she had a tongue, she would blow a raspberry. Since she didn’t, she settled for more humor.

“If only I could say the same for your looks,” Glisten teased.

Vee put her hand on her chest and made an exaggerated shocked expression on her screen. “I can’t believe you would say that to me.”

Before the mirror could make another teasing comment, the middle lobby elevator opened behind them. The three looked at the group curiously.

Eight Toons and two Twisteds stepped out of the elevator looking exausted. The Toons had successfully restrained the Twisteds and were slowly walking them towards their respective rooms.

Vee approached Sprout with a raised eyebrow. “You actually did it, Seedly?”

Sprout frowned. “Don’t call me that.”

“Alright, Seedly.”

“Version One.”

“Oh, we’re going there, now?”

“Shut up,” he tersely said. In need of a subject change, he asked, “Have you two seen Cosmo?”

“How should we know where your boyfriend is?” Glisten asked, walking closer and bringing his fist to his face to examine his non-existent nails. Behind him, Poppy was leading Boxten away from the group cheerfully.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Sprout quickly responded. His own fists were clenched, though not in a gesture of sass.

“You sure act like it,” Vee grinned.

Sprout only frowned and walked over to the other Toons. Before Vee could follow, she spotted the closest Twisted to her—apart from Glisten and Cosmo, the latter happily chatting with the strawberry.

The Twisted didn’t look too different from her Toon counterpart. Apart from her wings and murderous eyes and antenna, she looked about the same.

“You okay?”

Vee snapped out of her daze. “...I’m fine.”

“You were on the same run as her when she died, right?” Glisten quietly asked with a worried expression.

“I’m fine,” she repeated. “I wasn’t the one who died.” Despite her best attempts at making her tone neutral, the mirror beside her kept his expression. She couldn’t just admit what she had seen that day.

Vee walked away from him and towards Sprout and Cosmo. “And what are–”

The sentence was interrupted by Cosmo, who was staring in front of him with wide eyes. He was clutching his own hands shakily while staring at Flutter.

“Cos? You okay?” Sprout asked, his eyebrow furrowed with worry.

The pastry made no response. His sclera became, according to Vee’s color sensors, 5% darker.

Beads of ichor tears welled in his eyes. He was clearly stuck in some sort of traumatic flashback.

The 5% quickly rose to 9%.

Sprout grabbed Cosmo’s shoulder and shook him repeatedly in hopes of snapping him out of his stunned daze. Cosmo barely reacted.

“What’s going on?” Glisten asked from behind Vee. He looked at Cosmo’s expression, then at Flutter in front of them, then at Cosmo again, then at Flutter again, until his eyes widened in understanding. “Ohh.”

“What a keen observation. Now, how do we snap him out of this?” Sprout asked with haste.

Glisten looked at Cosmo with a specific kind of pity: the kind where it’s clear that he had gone through the same thing. He crouched to get eye-level with Cosmo.

“Cosmo, look at me,” the mirror ordered with an unusual lack of sass. “You’re not on a lower floor right now. You’re in the lobby, completely safe and unharmed. Flutter is restrained and unable to hurt you. Focus on the room around you and listen to my voice. Again, there is nothing here that wants to hurt you in any way.”

Slowly, the pastry met Glisten’s eyes and nodded. His hands stopped shaking.

A slightly jealous expression appeared on Sprout’s face, but he shook his head and stepped in front of Cosmo and crouched. “Can you hear us?”

“...Yeah…” he muttered. His voice sounded quiet and nervous.

“How are you feeling?”

Cosmo felt his tears with his hands and flinched when he saw the tears. “I… I don’t know.”

“Do you wanna go back to your room to rest a bit?” Sprout asked. As per usual, his caring side only appeared to his best friend.

“After a victim of trauma has successfully calmed themselves down from a flashback, they should be near loved ones for a while until they feel better,” Vee informed, reading off of a window on her screen. “The others can worry about Flutter.”

The pastry took a deep breath and nodded.

Glisten stood up with a relieved look. “You really have information for everything, huh?” His usual sass was back.

“Where do you think I got the trivia questions from?” she asked rhetorically.

“Do you have a page on how amazing I am?” he joked. “Because that would take days to read from how long the article must be.”

“Keep dreaming, Glisten,” she said.

Vee looked away from the group and towards the right elevator. The group that had brought the two Twisteds to their rooms had left a bit ago. She wondered how strange the thought of there being five Twisteds in the upper floors was.

Then Vee froze.

Flutter had been brought back to be rehabilitated.

Vee quickly ran towards the elevator. She had to tell Astro what happened.

Chapter Text

Vee, expectantly, found Astro sleeping on his bed with his indigo blanket wrapped around his arms tightly. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

Turning her speaker volume to its maximum capacity, she yelled, “Wake up!”

Astro opened his eyes and tumbled out of his bed immediately. He stood up—without the use of his arms, which was admittedly impressive to her—and grabbed his sleeping cap with his telekinetic stars. “W-What’s going on?”

“Have you been sleeping this entire time?” Vee asked, turning her speaker down.

“Yes? I was monitoring the stars–”

Vee pushed him in the direction of where the elevator was. “Flutter’s back and everyone knows Dandy’s secret.”

“Flutter’s back?” he echoed dumbfoundedly.

“Yeah, and now we’re going to go find Dandy before the news finds him first.”

Astro turned towards Vee and stopped walking. “Why would it be bad that he knows about it? It’s his secret that’s being revealed.”

“Because you know exactly how he feels about his secrets being discovered by Toons he doesn’t trust,” she said with a serious expression on her digital face.

“You think he would try to hurt them?” Astro asked quietly.

Vee sighed. “I’m not saying he will, but… I don’t know what he’ll do.”

The two found Dandy in his shop organising the plushies he had as decoration. Each one was upright and sitting on the gray shelves neately.

“Have you heard the news?” Astro asked once he stopped in front of the shop’s window.

Dandy turned around. “What news?”

“...The news of Flutter being back?”

“I know she is. I saw her tied up when I was trying to sell some things,” he answered with a calm expression and a neutral tone.

The Mains looked at each other, and then looked back at Dandy. Vee stepped forward. “And… What did you do about it?”

“I didn’t do anything.” The flower raised an eyebrow. “What are you assuming?”

Astro shook his head quickly. “We aren’t assuming anything. We just wanted to check if you’re okay, and ask what you’re going to do.”

Dandy turned around so that his face wasn’t visible from their angle. His voice quieted as he muttered, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“You know you have to tell them what you did. You have to take responsibility,” Vee pushed.

“And you have to do it before… before the others find out for themselves,” Astro chimed in.

Dandy said nothing for a few moments. He then turned around with the most worried and pained expression Vee had ever seen on him. “I know I do. I just don’t know if I can. There’s a part of me that still thinks I can keep it a secret.”

Vee understood what he was implying. “Every single day you keep it hidden, the chance of the other Toons hating you increases.”

“If…” Astro tried to smile comfortingly. “Even if every single Toon in this facility hates you after you admit your secrets, we’ll still hang out with you. Right, Vee?”

“I can assure you that I will,” she nodded.

Dandy’s eyes widened at their gesture of affection. “T-Thank you.” A small smile spread on his face. “For everything.”

Every single Toon in Gardenview—apart from Flutter, Goob, and Yatta—were gathered in front of the lobby elevators. They were all chatting with each other because, just a few minutes before, they had heard that Dandy was going to tell them all something very important.

Vee and Astro were standing near the back of the crowd. They heard many of the Toons theorize that Dandy was going to tell them whether or not he was a Twisted.

According to their eavesdropping, Gigi had found a log from one of the handlers that spoke of the flower being both a Twisted and a special rarity called a Lethal. Never being that good of a liar, she ended up telling everyone about what she had found.

The talking immediately quieted down once Dandy stepped in front of the crowd from behind the Gardenview Tree. He stopped before the steps descended so that he looked taller than usual—though, even with the elevated platform, he barely passed Sprout’s height.

“Hello everyone! Thank you all for showing up to this meeting I called! I’d like to address the recent gossip about me—specifically, the gossip about me being a Twisted!” Dandy’s smile fell slightly. “The rumors are… half -true.”

Before the crowd could begin to speculate, he continued to talk. “By half-true, I mean that I’m not a Twisted—at least, not in the traditional sense. I have the ability to, er, ‘twist’ on command, but apart from that, I’m as much of a Toon as you all are.”

“And what about the whole ‘Lethal’ thing?” a voice asked from inside the crowd. Connie floated towards the front and placed her hands on her hips. “What does that mean?”

“Right. The Lethal thing.” Vee could tell Dandy was trying his hardest not to grimace. “It means that… Well, it means that, while in a Twisted form, a Lethal can essentially kill a Toon with one hit, instead of how other Twisteds need at least two to completely kill a Toon—hence the word choice. I’m the only one in this category.” He was treating the confession like a bandage: ripping it off in one go.

Even more chatter erupted in the crowd. The realization that, as a Twisted, Dandy could kill them with one strike was alarming to them.

“Do we step in?” Astro whispered.

“No,” Vee responded. “He needs to get through this on his own.”

Another Toon stepped forward. He held a pen and a small notebook in his hands. “You said you could twist on command. What exactly does that entail?” Rodger asked.

“I’d rather not talk about that part,” Dandy said curtly, recognizing the magnifying glass’ plan.

“Then, is the reason why you kept us from the tapes you use as currency relate to this?”

“That’s true.” The crowd quieted again to hear him speak. “Although most of the tapes are old recordings of episodes, some are detailed logs about me. And I really couldn’t have those falling into the wrong hands—or sleeves .”

Everyone turned to look at Gigi. With everyone’s eyes on her, she asked, “What’s the point of keeping all this a secret, then?”

“Would you all believe me?” he asked. There wasn’t much response.

A third Toon stepped in front of the crowd once Rodger retreated. “So you’ve been a half-Twisted this entire time? And you never once thought to tell us?”

“I just said the reasoning–”

Sprout’s eyebrows furrowed in anger. His tone caused Dandy to take a step back. “That doesn’t explain anything. We’ve all been casually risking our lives for this stupid operation that you run! And this entire time, we’ve had one of those crazy bloodthirsty Twisted monsters among us! What kind of irony is that?!” 

“...You think Twisteds are monsters?”

From behind, Cosmo looked up at Sprout with sad eyes. His voice was barely audible, but everyone heard it.

Sprout turned around and realized what he had said. “No, that’s not what I meant–”

“Then what did you mean?” another voice, Glisten’s, butted in. “What did you mean by bloodthirsty monsters?” Behind him, Poppy shook her head and leaned closer to Boxten, who didn’t look like he cared.

“I, well, I didn’t mean you guys!” he stuttered. 

Cosmo shook his head. “I… think you did.” Clearly overwhelmed by the crowd, he pushed through it and walked towards the nearest elevator. 

“Cos, wait!” As the elevator doors closed, Sprout ran towards the elevator near it, determined to get to his friend.

Chapter Text

“Come on, Cos! Just let me explain!” Sprout exclaimed, knocking on the wooden board. 

A voice from inside Cosmo’s room yelled, “Go away!”

Sprout had been standing outside the room for what felt like hours, but was really only two minutes. After not helping Cosmo with his flashback and then spitting out insults right in front of him, Sprout felt like he had to make it up to him somehow. 

“I just want to talk to you!”

“There’s n-nothing to be said!” The small stutter in the pastry’s words sounded like choked-back tears.

Sprout sighed. He didn’t want to argue with his best friend, especially when he believed the situation was entirely his fault. He tried to push the wooden board open, but found that something from the other side was blocking him.

Cosmo was holding the door closed. The simple action made Sprout’s heart feel like it shattered.

The strawberry, determined to see Cosmo, kept pushing until the board began to slide open. He couldn’t let something as small as an argument ruin their friendship.

The board eventually fell to the ground, revealing the interior of the room and a startled Cosmo inside it.

Cosmo had indeed been crying. Ichor tears ran down his cheeks like they did when he was first rescued, and his sharp fangs were gritted, like he was holding back sobs. His fingers twitched in worry.

“I d-don’t want to talk to you!” Cosmo yelled.

“I know you’re angry at me right now, but I wasn’t talking about you! I was talking about–”

“About who?! Because from what I heard, you still see me as a monster!”

Sprout shook his head. “Come on, we’ve had arguments before, and I’ve told you before that I would never see you as a monster!”

Cosmo backed away and accusedly pointed. “Even when I hurt you?!”

“...Huh?”

As Cosmo looked down, his tears splattered onto the floor like raindrops. His voice quieted as he whispered, “When you first saw me down there, I tried to hurt you. I saw you as some kind of target—that much I remember. A-And you saved me. You saved me and helped me speak again. And now, I… I know for sure that you see Twisteds as monsters. So why did you save me?”

A few seconds passed without a verbal response. Sprout thought hard about his response, but couldn’t find a way to sugarcoat it. “Because I’m selfish.”

Cosmo wiped a few tears off his face with his claws and looked him in the eyes. “What?”

“When I saw you in that daze, I didn’t know what to do. Seeing you was great, but you weren’t yourself! And at that moment, I realized just how much I can’t live life without you. I realized that I’d rather be the one in that spot than you, if it meant you could retain your sanity.” Sprout was never the type of Toon to admit his feelings in a long speech. No matter how much his old handler tried to persuade him, Sprout always preferred to be alone.

That was until Cosmo came along.

“It doesn’t matter to me that you have claws, or fangs, or anything like that. You’re different from those clones because you’re you. The kindest and sweetest Toon I know, who would give up a piece of himself for others in a heartbeat. I don’t ever want to make you feel like you’re less than others.”

Cosmo looked stunned. His tears stopped running for just a moment and remained on his cheeks, like time itself had slowed down for the two. “I don’t know how you do it. Every time I feel angry or sad, you say a few things, and suddenly it feels like nothing bad has ever happened.”

A small and hopeful smile grew on Sprout’s face. “Everyone appreciates you in some way, and if they don’t, they don’t know what appreciation is.” 

“...I’m sorry for getting angry,” Cosmo muttered.

“Don’t be. It was my fault that I didn’t realize what I was saying.”

The two turned towards the open door in front of them. Sprout weighed the options in his head until he finally decided to ask, “What do you think about me, then?”

The pastry smiled. “I think that I’m glad that you were the one to rescue me. We’ve been spending much more time together than before, if that’s even possible.” He took a deep breath, looked Sprout directly in his eyes, and asked, “Sprout, will you be my boyfriend?”

Sprout looked back at Cosmo. “What?”

“I want to be more than best friends. I want to be deeply, truly yours. I want to be there for you like you’ve been there for me.” Immediately, his voice began to quiet with each word. “I-I mean, if you… want me to… you don’t… have to accept…”

Sprout crossed his arms with a feigned annoyed expression. “What are you talking about? Of course I wanna be your boyfriend. You mean the world to me. Didn’t you just hear my giant speech about all my feelings?”

Cosmo’s eyes widened. He brought his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes, like he was expecting to wake up suddenly. When he didn’t, he looked back up at Sprout and smiled.

“Woah, woah, woah. I didn’t think you had it in you, rollcake.”

A light cyan ghost appeared from behind Cosmo with a puff of smoke. She had a mischievous smile that screamed “I was here the whole time.”

Sprout flinched at her sudden appearance. “Connie?! What are you doing here?!”

“I followed you two up here a bit ago. Congrats on the new partner, by the way,” she chuckled.

“Y-Y-You were watching?” If Toons could blush, Cosmo’s face would be entirely red. He covered his cheeks with his hands in embarrassment.

Connie nodded. “I thought you two would confess, like, five years ago. Are you guys going to go on your honeymoon now?”

“Honeymoons are for married couples, idiot,” Sprout said with a real annoyed tone. “Is everyone still in the lobby?”

“Nope. Dandy’s going on trial.”

Cosmo stepped in front of Connie. “He’s going on what?”

The ghost’s smile faltered into a frown. “He’s going on trial for killing a Toon.”

“...Hold on. Are you saying that flower killed someone before? Who? Everyone who’s died has been killed by a rogue Twisted,” Sprout asked.

“Not everyone.” She floated towards the hallway and turned around. “Dandy killed Flutter, so now we’re trying to figure out a punishment.”

Chapter Text

Brightney had never been a judge for a criminal trial before. She had never entered a courtroom, either.

Yet, despite that, she found herself standing in front of the Toon Rooms hallway with a high stool in front of her.

As there was no actual courtroom in the center, the Toons decided to use the hallway, since it was long enough to hold all of them. They brought plastic chairs and tables from the kitchen for seating arrangements.

Sitting on Brightney’s left was Rodger, who volunteered to act as the defense. He was busy wiping his glass—no doubt to Glisten’s request.

Contrary, sitting on Brightney’s right was Gigi, who volunteered to act as the prosecution. The gachapon had always been friends with Flutter, so no Toon was surprised about her decision.

Dandy was seated a few meters in front of the three of them. He had a confused expression on his face, as though he couldn’t have predicted he would find himself in a make-shift courtroom.

The jury, which was a row of seats near the left wall, was made up of every other Toon that was present. According to Rodger, Shrimpo was excused from jury duty because he had to take care of Goob. Brightney had a suspicion that he was only excused so they didn’t need to hear his yelling.

Brightney raised her voice’s volume to address the hallway. She had only read a few texts about how courts worked, so she mainly relied on ad-libbing. “Attention everyone! The trial of Dandicus Dancifer versus the Gardenview residents has begun!” She turned to look at the accused. “Mr. Dancifer has been accused of the murder of Flutter the Butterfly. May the prosecution rise to explain the situation?”

Gigi stood up with a confident look. “On September 17th of this year, Flutter and Vee went to the lower floors to look for Flutter’s diary. When the two reached floor seven, Vee saw Twisted  Dandy kill Flutter purposely. He ran after Vee, trying to kill her too. She got away, though.”

The mention of the crime he had committed made Dandy look away, though his clearly guilty reaction didn’t matter. The discussion was about what his punishment would be, not if he had done what he admitted to doing.

Brightney nodded. “Thank you, prosecution. May the defense please rise to give another explanation?” She internally smiled at how cool she thought she sounded at the moment.

“On the morning of September 17th of this year, Flutter went to Vee to ask her help on finding her diary, and to admit her suspicions that the accused wasn’t exactly who he insisted he was. Flutter mentioned that she hadn’t bought from his elevator store in weeks—keep that in mind, jury. The two searched through several floors until they reached the seventh floor, where they are met with a Twisted version of the accused, though it is apparent that it is not simply a clone. Vee witnesses him kill Flutter without the use of a clear weapon and runs towards the elevator,” Rodger explained.

“Thank you, defense. The prosecution may now select a Toon from the jury to act as the witness testimony.”

Gigi pointed at Vee, who was sitting in the front row. “Vee!”

Vee didn’t look surprised about her being selected as a witness as she walked over and took the seat on the table next to Dandy’s. “Isn’t the jury supposed to be completely neutral? Wouldn’t having a witness in the jury contradict that?”

Brightney smiled at the statement. Vee was always so factual about things. “We don’t have enough Toons for an audience, either.”

“First of all…” Gigi interrupted. She began pacing back and forth in front of the jury. “Vee, are you 100% sure it was Dandy who killed Flutter?”

“I’m sure,” Vee answered. 

“And are you sure it was on purpose? How could you tell?”

The television made no change to her screen’s expression, but Brightney felt like she sounded nervous. “I’m sure it was on purpose. The floor was in a blackout, which made getting away harder.”

Gigi raised an eyebrow. “Anything else?”

“...Yes. After I got into the elevator again, Dandy showed up with his shop and said a statement that implied that it was on purpose.”

“Right. And tell us… What did he say exactly?”

Vee briefly glanced at Dandy before looking back at Gigi. “He… he said, ‘Let’s not make that happen again, shall we?’”

A few gasps were heard from the Toons in the jury. Dandy fidgeted with his hands with an expression of shame on his face.

Gigi looked at those who gasped with her arms crossed. “Dandy killed Flutter on purpose and said he might do it again. That’s all there is to it.”

“Gigi the Gachapon, you may return to your seat. The defense may now, uhm… interview the witness as well,” Brightney said. 

Rodger stood up and adjusted his jabot as he walked over to Vee. He put his hands behind his back and leaned forward to look eye-to-screen with her. “You had mentioned that Dandy had made that comment right after your encounter. Has he made any similar comment since?”

“No.”

“So one could assume that there was only one target specifically in mind that morning? And you can confirm that Flutter had indeed discovered Dandy’s secret?” he asked.

Vee nodded.

Rodger turned towards the jury. “There was only one target, and only one victim. As Vee stated, Dandy had not made any more attempts of murder afterwards. There is no need to anymore, since the secret he was trying to keep has just been revealed, no?” He paused for dramatic effect before looking back at Brightney. “So there is no reason for any more crimes to be committed in the future—at least, by Dandy.”

Gigi slammed her sleeves on the table in front of her. “Objection! How can you be so sure that he won’t kill again for another reason?!”

“Because I have reason to believe that this is not a matter of if he would not; it is a matter that he cannot.”

Chapter Text

Rodger let the jury’s confusion and curiosity linger in the air for just a moment longer than he should have. Revealing a case’s findings was part of the satisfaction of being a detective to him—though he couldn't say he didn't love every other part of it.

The magnifying glass walked in front of Brightney. “Judge, is it perhaps possible for me to have the accused be interviewed? I mean, er, asked simple questions. This is most indubitably not an interview.”

Brightney nodded, but she raised an eyebrow at his mention of interviews. “Go ahead. I believe that’s something that can be done.”

“Right.” He walked over to where Dandy sat nervously. “Previous to her death, how long had you known that Flutter knew about your well-kept secret?”

“I found out only a few minutes before,” Dandy answered. His voice held suspicion, but since Rodger was his defense, there was cautious trust in it too.

Rodger was a bit thrown off by the flower’s tone, as he had never heard him speak in such a serious manner. “So it was a rash decision made in the moment? There was no further planning apart from following the two into the lower floors?”

“There wasn’t any planning, no.”

“I see, I see… And apart from that, have you had any more... violent thoughts, or ideas about any further murder?”

Dandy opened his mouth to say something, but then briefly broke his eye contact with Rodger. “Yes. I have.”

Rodger carefully observed the reactions of the jury. Even Vee looked surprised. “Of who? When?”

“Earlier this morning.” Dandy looked up at Rodger again. “When I realized that the search group was avoiding me because they knew my secret.”

A few gasps came from the jury. Even Gigi looked a bit disconcerted.

Rodger raised a hand to silence the crowd. “But you did not act upon those thoughts. Why is that?”

“Because…” he began.

“Take your time.”

Dandy took a few seconds to think. “Because I don’t think any sane person could handle eight deaths weighing on their consciousness—not even me.” He glanced at the jury briefly. “And because I made a few promises recently.”

Rodger hated vague answers, but he did not pry. That action would take much too long for such a strange case. He faced the judge and crossed his arms on his chest. “I rest my case.”

“Actually,” Vee began to say, “the prosecution re-examines the witness called, and once that is finished, they are supposed to rest their case, which means that no more witnesses can be called up from the Government. Only then can the defense call up their own witness and evidence, as well as decide if the defendant can testify. Not testifying can be seen as further proof of guilt, but in this case, it wouldn’t mean much. Once all examinations and evidence is presented, the prosecution and defense can initiate closing arguments, which is when they talk directly to the judge. Then—”

“Thank you, Vee,” Brightney interrupted. “But let’s keep this simple, or we’ll be here all day, alright?”

Vee quickly nodded and speed-walked to where the jury was with an embarrassed expression. Rodger made sure to note that reaction down in his mind.

“Does the defense want to call up a witness?”

“I do,” Rodger nodded. “I’d like to call up Astro.”

The jury parted to let the surprised Main through. He sat down where Vee had just been sitting and looked over to his right. He seemed like he was about to wave, but then thought better of it.

“Astro Novalite has been called up as a witness. The defense may now begin the examination—again,” Brightney announced.

Rodger turned towards Astro and put on his interviewer voice, leaning closer. “Firstly, what is your relationship with the defendant?”

“W-We’re friends,” Astro muttered. The stares of everyone in the hallway clearly unnerved him. 

“And for how long have you known about the cause of Flutter's death?"

“Since…” He fidgeted with his hands under his blanket. “Since, uhm, the middle of November.”

Rodger nodded. He suspected as much. “How long have you known that Dandy is a half-Twisted?”

“Not very long either,” Astro answered. “Only since the beginning of November…”

“And no harm befell you?”

“...What?”

The magnifying glass gestured to the jury. “It was said that the defendant’s motive was that the victim found out something private. You have just stated that you had discovered the same thing. However, I presume that no attempts on your life were made?”

Astro quickly shook his head. “O-Of course not.”

“No threats, either?”

“None.”

Rodger once again turned towards Brightney. “This further proves that the murder was, and will be, a singular act. Also, if I may…” He looked over at Gigi for a moment. “It is a topic this case has been avoiding, but I must bring it up. Flutter isn’t quite dead—she’s a Twisted. So is it still murder if the victim can rehabilitate?”

“Of course it is!” Gigi exclaimed with a wave of her sleeve-covered hand. “He still killed someone! She was dead for a bit, right?!”

“I see where you both are coming from," Brightney looked at the defense and the prosecution in turn, "but although the crime resulted in the victim being ‘revived', there was, of course, intent. So maybe it’s better for the case to be classified as attempted murder?”

“...Could I say something?” a faint voice asked.

Brightney nodded. “Yes?”

Astro stood up from his seat and took a nervous deep breath. “I don’t deny that Dandy is guilty. This whole case started because he admitted it himself. But… I don’t think he deserves a strong punishment, because I believe in him.” The Main paused briefly to glance at the defendant with a small smile. “Every single Toon in this hallway has secrets. Every single Toon in this hallway has done bad things before. I’m not accusing anyone in particular of attempted murder, but I don’t think this case deserves an entire courtroom. Dandy is my closest friend, so I think I know him best. And I know that he’s a good person, Toon or not. He’s not perfect, obviously—none of us are. But I’m sure he knows what he did was wrong, and I’m sure he won’t do it again.” There was pure confidence in Astro’s voice, as though he had no doubt in his mind that what he was saying was true.

“Do you mean that?” Rodger asked. “Would you vouch whole-heartedly that this case will never arise again?”

Astro nodded. “I do.”

Surprised faces were scattered around the room, for none of them had ever heard him speak with such confidence. Even Dandy himself looked surprised.

The jury whispered to themselves about their opinions. The majority seemed to agree that Dandy had learned his lesson, and that his punishment should be lenient. Some added that they would not be able to give a harsh punishment anyway, since there was no prison in the center.

Slowly, they came to a decision for the punishment, whatever it may be, to be merciful and lenient. Almost every Toon agreed with the statement.

Almost. There was one Toon who didn’t.

Chapter Text

Gigi couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The Toons were pardoning a murderer all because they thought he learned his lesson.

“Wait just a second!” she yelled, standing up and walking in front of the jury. “You’re telling me that this whole thing is gonna be excused for no reason?”

“There are reasons,” Rodger calmly stated. “There isn’t much punishment we can give in this place, regardless.”

“But this is about murder!” she tried to reason. Her eyes were wide with disbelief and confusion. “You can’t just not give a punishment!”

The jury looked at each other with indifference. They seemed fully ready to pardon him.

“Sorry, Gigi. I know you had fun with the persecution role,” Brightney said with a shrug. “But we’re deciding to lighten the punishment.” Rodger nodded in turn.

“...What?”

Gigi was reminded of when Flutter first died. Since she had pretended that she was completely fine, she had gotten a taste of how cruel the Toons could be to each other.

“What the hell is wrong with you people?!”

Everyone, once again, turned their heads to look at Gigi, whose fists were clenched in anger.

“This isn’t some video game!” she continued to yell. “This is a matter of life and death, and dismissing this stuff is like saying to her face that Flutter’s life isn’t valuable! Are we seriously going to not give any punishment?!”

Brightney stepped away from her table and approached Gigi with her arms outstretched like a mother calming down a tantrum. “I get what you’re saying. It’s okay to be angry about this; I know you care a lot about Flutter. But she’s not dead, so we can still bring her back. And you can get over this too, right? You healed from your grief so quickly before!”

Gigi stood still for a while. Then, she slowly began laughing. At first, her chuckles were barely a whisper, but they quickly grew in volume as small beads of tears threatened to fall from her eyes. “Are you serious? Do… Do you actually think I ‘got over’ my grief? As in, my grief about my closest friend dying a horrible death? You think I just got over it? Are you joking?!”

“What do you mean? You seemed pretty cheerful after a while,” Brightney asked. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“...Cheerful?” Gigi’s laughter stopped. “You thought I was cheerful? Like I had no concerns in the world? Is that really what you think of me?”

Connie left the crowd and floated towards the two. She, too, had motherly energy. “Hey, hey, she didn’t mean that. We know you’ve gone through a lot, we just… thought you got a bit better.”

“Right. Because I can just magically get better after my friend dies! Because that just makes so much sense! Right, I should just get better and accept that Flutter’s alive! It’s totally not like, you know, she can’t even remember her own name or who her friends are! It’s totally not like she’s been stuck in a fate maybe worse than death since the middle of September!” Gigi lifted her hands up and faked a wide smile. “That’s not the case at all!”

Rodger stepped in again, pushing in front of Brightney. “We aren’t dismissing your concerns or your grief. We are simply stating that Flutter has the ability to get better, which would not be the case if she was dead, so the punishment should be much lighter.”

“Oh, I see, I see! So it doesn’t matter what she’s been through, it only matters if she’ll get better!” Gigi nodded sarcastically. “That makes so much sense!”

“No, that’s not–”

“And because of that,” she continued, “we should totally completely pardon whoever murdered her ‘cause she’s not dead! That’s so interesting!”

Even Astro decided to come closer to try to sooth her concerns. “We aren’t trying to pardon a murderer. We haven’t even come to a conclusion yet. So–”

“So what?” Her eyes drifted over to Dandy, who was just sitting there with an innocent look on his face, as though he couldn’t have imagined that his actions had consequences.

Gigi hated the star of the show. She hated how everything had been his fault and his fault only. She walked up to him and slammed her sleeves on his table. “Are you even listening?! Or do you not even care about how much you’ve ruined things here?!”

Dandy didn’t look fazed. He looked more bored to Gigi, though her anger had clouded her judgement. “I’m listening.”

“And? What do you think about all these Toons being so ready to let you go so easily, even though everything here is your fault?!”

“I don’t think you care what I think,” he said.

Gigi gritted her teeth. A part of her was glad that he was being rational instead of just trying to comfort her, but her anger caused that thought to wither away. She barely noticed that every Toon was staring at her. “You’re a cruel monster. I hope you know that, ‘cause every bad thing that’s happened here since this place closed down is because of you.”

“I know,” Dandy replied neutrally. He rested his head on his hands. “The first part is true, at least. But there’s a lot you don’t understand.”

“I think I understand plenty. That tape I found held everything I needed to know about you and your secrets,” Gigi hissed.

The mention of the tape made the flower raise an eyebrow. “What was on the log?”

A memory flashed through Gigi’s mind. “It wasn’t a log; it was a recording.”

“And what did it record?”

“You.”

Dandy blinked. “How would a recording of me prove that I’m a Lethal?”

Gigi shook her head. “It was a recording of your Twisted form. And I think you know exactly which tape I’m talking about.”

After a few seconds of realization, Dandy’s eyes widened. “I thought I hid that one.”

“You didn’t. And now I know exactly how monstrous you really are.” Her voice raised in volume slightly. “I should have realized it even before this place closed down, but I chose to trust you. That was the worst mistake any of us ever made.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Gigi turned towards the jury. “You all want to ignore me and defend a murderer? Fine! I don’t care!” She stomped off, heading for the elevator so she could cry in her room. She already felt the hot tears begin to run down her face.

Chapter Text

Once she was sure all the other Toons had gone to their separate rooms, Teagan knocked on the room farthest from the elevator. “Shrimpo? Are you in there?”

“I HATE KNOCKING!” a voice promptly yelled from inside.

“Alright, I’m coming in,” Teagan announced. Once she stepped inside, she was greeted by the familiar mess of Shrimpo’s room. Her eyes trailed from the holes in the walls to the shrimp himself, who was sitting on his bed with his arms crossed. Right next to him was Goob, who was still tied up with scarves. Somehow, he had managed to fall asleep crying.

“How is taking care of him?” Teagan asked, deciding to sit on the edge of the bed.

Shrimpo tilted his head up in annoyance. “I HATE BABYSITTING!”

“Well, it was still nice of you to do it,” she smiled.

The teacup wasn’t sure when she had begun to befriend the angry shrimp. He had always yelled angry at every Toon, including her. Then, as she listened to his rants and belittling of others, she realized he wasn’t as one-sided as his first impression made him seem. His yelling always made sense contextually, and if it didn’t, that meant that there was another meaning behind them. Over time, she got used to his language.

Shrimpo stomped as loud as he could and jabbed his pointer finger at her. “AND I HATE BEING LEFT OUT, TOO!”

Teagan sighed. “Long or short version? There was much that went on.”

“I HATE LISTENING!”

“Alright, I’ll keep it short. Dandy was found guilty of both being a Twisted and killing Flutter. He seemed like he learned his lesson, though, so everyone was agreeing on a small punishment when…” Teagan paused. “Well, Gigi started talking about how Dandy should get a worse punishment because of the crime he committed. When everyone didn’t agree with her, she stomped off and left. It was strangely out-of-character, but I can’t blame her.”

Shrimpo put his arms on his hips angrily. Every action he did was in an angry and belligerent manner, as if he had no space for quiet. “NOT SURPRISED. I HATE DANDY!”

“Did you have suspicions about him before the trial?” Teagan asked.

“YES! HE’S WEIRD AND I HATE HIM!” Shrimpo scoffed.

Teagan nodded. One of the main things she knew about Shrimpo was that he was very good at remembering details. The idea of him being the first to be suspicious of Dandy’s secrets—though not exactly right—wasn't too surprising for her.

After a few seconds of silence, she looked over at Goob with a worried expression. “It must be horrifying to experience what he’s feeling. Being trapped in this state..."

“I DON’T CARE! I HATE GOOB TOO!” Shrimpo yelled.

Teagan bristled. “Could you set aside your hatred for one moment? He’s in pain.”

Shrimpo shook his head and gritted his teeth. “I REFUSE! I HATED TYING HIM UP! ACTUALLY, I STILL DO!”

Teagan sighed. Even though she could understand his words, she sometimes could not decipher his brain. Her will to believe in the benefit-of-the-doubt wasn't as strong as she'd hoped. “He wasn’t trying to hurt you. He’s lost and confused, and the least you can do is have some sympathy until he’s able to banter with you.”

“NO! SHRIMPO DOES NOT HAVE SYMPATHY! I HATE SYMPATHIZING!” Shrimpo kept yelling. In a fit of unbridled rage, he grabbed the red airhorn on the bedside table behind him and threw it at Teagan.

Teagan instinctively closed her eyes. She expected the airhorn to sail through the air and hit her on the head, splashing some of the tea inside it onto the ground.

But nothing hit her.

Instead, the airhorn sailed half the distance it needed to, and then fell to the ground with a soft thud. It didn’t make its iconic horn sound, either.

Teagan’s first thought was that Shrimpo had purposely weakened the throw so she wouldn’t get hurt by it. She was about to smile and say something kind when her eyes met his.

Shrimpo looked like he had done something strenuous. His chest rose and fell with each shuddering breath, he was leaning forward like he had just thrown a large weight, and his orange fists were clenched tightly. He was acting like throwing the airhorn caused half of his avaliable stamina to deplete.

Teagan raised a hand to her mouth in quiet realization. “Shrimpo? Are you… actually quite weak?”

“WHAT?! NO! I HATE BEING CHALLENGED!” he yelled, though he was clearly out of breath despite his words.

“Really?” Teagan reached down to pick up the airhorn and easily tossed it over to him. “Then throw this at me with full force. Everything you have.”

“...FINE!” Shrimpo clenched the object in his right hand as tightly as he could. He tilted his arm back and threw it like a baseball.

The airhorn hit Teagan’s face like a child playfully throwing a stuffed animal.

“Oh? Well, I suppose I’ve never actually seen you fight someone. How intriguing,” she muttered. "Is this why you're so keen on not going into runs?"

From the moment Shrimpo was introduced to the Gardenview cast, he was hated. The Toons, when first created, all acted a bit flat, as their personalities were simple and pre-made. However, their personalities were supposed to grow much more complex as they experienced more and more.

Teagan remembered when Shrimpo was introduced as the antagonist of the show. The others all expected him to grow less hateful over time, but he never did. Even Goob stopped trying to give him hugs after a while.

The show had more than a few fighting scenes where Shrimpo’s strength and brutality was shown in full force. Since the show was based on their reality, the Toons had simply accepted his strength as fact. She wondered if his weakness would’ve been discovered sooner had the others actually cared about him.

“SHUT UP! I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING, AND I HATE IT! STOP THINKING IT RIGHT NOW!” Shrimpo ordered loudly.

“Why not?” she asked.

“BECAUSE I SAID SO! I HATE IT WHEN TOONS THINK THEY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!”

Teagan sighed, sitting down on the bed again. “I have known you since you were introduced to Gardenview. I think I would be one of the ones to know you best.”

“WELL YOU DON’T! YOU DON’T KNOW ME BEST! NO ONE DOES BUT SHRIMPO!” Shrimpo gestured to himself with his thumb to accentuate his point.

“You are right about that.” Teagan looked closely at the three punching bags near the door. “Do you have those because you want to get stronger?”

“SHUT. UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! I’M NOT LISTENING TO YOU!” He took a step forward and jerked his pointer finger at her. “I’M STRONG BECAUSE I’M SHRIMPO!”

Teagan reached forward to cup his cheeks in her hands. “It’s alright to not be strong.”

The shrimp tensed at her touch and quickly pushed her away. “STOP! I HATE YOU!” 

“...Do you really?”

“WHAT?”

Teagan gestured to herself. “Do you truly and absolutely hate me with all of your soul?”

Shrimpo scoffed at the question. “I HATE EVERYTHING! INCLUDING YOU!”

“I see.” She narrowed her eyes for a brief moment. “Then I suppose I should just leave, hm?”

Chapter Text

Shrimpo had never liked company.

Every action the other Toons made irritated him to no end. He found no satisfaction in the "nice" things they did as, to him, everything was a nuisance.

Shrimpo never exactly kept those feelings secret. He made sure to let everyone know how much he hated all of them—usually, several times a day.

Teagan was the exact opposite. She cared for the other Toons and made sure to remember their favorite flavors in her tea parties, she always had a spotless appearance, and she never lost her composure. She was the definition of pristine beauty.

The strangest thing about the teacup was that she cared for Shrimpo just as much as she cared for the others.

It was puzzling to him. So puzzling, in fact, that Shrimpo had no idea why he reached out to grab Teagan’s hand.

“WAIT!”

Teagan turned around with a knowing smile. “Hm?”

Shrimpo quickly let go of her hand with a flinch. He pulled his own hand towards his chest and gritted his teeth. “I HATE ADMITTING THINGS, BUT I HATE LIARS EVEN MORE! I WAS LYING—WHICH I HATE!”

“So you admit that you don’t really hate me?” she asked with a patient smile. She had always been so patient to him.

“I HATE BEING DOUBTED!”

“Then I will take that as a yes.” Teagan crouched down to get eye-to-eye with him. “So, do you yell at everyone to convince them that you’re strong?”

Shrimpo put his hands on his hips again. “NO! MAYBE! I LIKE YELLING! STOP ASKING!”

“Well, you don’t have to lie to me, then,” she said. “Because I think you’re strong.”

A few seconds of silence passed. “...WHAT?”

Teagan patted him on the head a few times. “You don’t have to be physically strong to be considered strong in other areas. Your non-physical endurance is much better than most of the Toons we know.”

Shrimpo grinned proudly. He took great pride in his stubbornness. “I KNOW! I’M AWESOME!”

“But, just like anyone else, you have faults too. Faults that you can’t yell your way out of. So do I.”

Shrimpo pointed at Teagan with a frown. “I HATE LIARS!” he yelled.

Teagan looked surprised for a few seconds before a soft smile appeared on her face. “Aww... You truly meant that?”

It took a long moment for him to realize what he said. When he did, he quickly covered his mouth with widened eyes. “I-I MEANT THE FIRST PART! STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!”

“Oh, you did mean that!” she teased. “Have I finally uncovered your softer side?”

“NO! STOP IT! YOU DIDN’T!” Shrimpo’s words did nothing to stop his face from feeling hot with embarrassment.

Embarrassment, and another feeling. A feeling that felt different from hatred. It was very unfamiliar to him.

Teagan stood up gracefully. “Would you like to go and find the others? That court case took so long that we missed lunch!”

Shrimpo looked away. “I HATE BEING HUNGRY!”

Once Teagan left to find where everyone was, Shrimpo headed towards the kitchen in the Toon Room hallway.

Dishes were piled in the marble sink, which meant everyone had lunch without him—as per usual. There was a small stool that sat near the edge of the countertops, so Shrimpo grabbed it and set it on the floor. He found one of the cookbooks Cosmo owned in a cabinet and grabbed it.

As he was flipping through the pages, he scanned the ingredients of each meal. “I HATE SQUID, I HATE ONION, I HATE PEPPERS…” Finally, he came across a recipe for a shrimp paella. Since he wasn’t picky about eating the food he was based on, he set the recipe book on the countertop and looked at the ingredients.

Squid, clam broth, and paprika were in the list, so he mentally crossed them out. The kitchen didn’t have such ingredients, and he hated them anyway.

The recipe took forty minutes to finish. Some parts were ignored due to the center’s ingredient restraints, and some parts were ignored because Shrimpo simply hated following directions. The aspects about cooking he hated least was that he had more freedom than if he baked—and the fact that it didn’t take much speed or stamina.

Eventually, the recipe came out just as he intended. Since Shrimpo forgot to turn on the kitchen’s ventilation, the smell of paella rice and cooked shrimp wafted through the air. The pan he used to cook the meal still had quite a lot left inside, so he decided to refrigerate it for future meals.

Just as he was about to sit down on one of the plastic chairs and eat, two Toons stepped inside of the kitchen.

“What’s that smell?” Cosmo asked curiously. He took a few steps towards the pan.

“Smells like seafood,” Sprout muttered. Once his eyes met Shrimpo’s, he frowned.

Shrimpo got out of his seat and jutted the fork in his hand threateningly, though he knew he wouldn’t use it. “GET OUT! I’M TRYING TO EAT! I HATE BEING INTERRUPTED!”

“This is a public kitchen.” Sprout crossed his arms on his chest and rolled his eyes.

Cosmo blinked. “Uhm, Shrimpo? Did you cook that?” He pointed at the pan with his clawed hand.

“I HATE BEING QUESTIONED!” Shrimpo said in response.

Sprout walked towards the pan and reached for the handle. “Then I guess you won’t mind if we eat some.”

Before the strawberry could come closer, Shrimpo grabbed it and held it close to his chest like a child. “THIS IS MY FOOD! GET YOUR OWN!”

“So you did make it!” Cosmo smiled. “That looks pretty good.”

“SHUT UP! I HATE BEING…” Shrimpo knew he liked being complimented. “I HATE BEING, UH, NOT LISTENED TO!”

“Mhm, sure,” Sprout said. “Come on, Cos–” He paused momentarily. “B-Boy…friend…”

Cosmo smiled widely. “Y-Yeah!”

Shrimpo watched as the two walked away. He wasn’t surprised to hear the nickname, but he didn’t care much about meddling in their relationship. He sat down in his chair again and prepared to eat.

Chapter Text

Boxten sat between two other Twisteds: Goob the craft, and Flutter the butterfly. Their faces were easy to recognize, though Boxten couldn’t say the same about the three figures that sat in front of him; not the room around him, either.

“So is that really your only punishment?” one seated figure asked. She had a feminine voice, and the blob of hues that swam around her looked like a red and blue color palette.

“If the task of rehabilitating Twisteds was so easy, then why haven’t you done it yet?” another figure retorted. Boxten could easily tell that the one who spoke was Dandy the flower. He was certainly not a Twisted in a traditional sense, but he couldn’t be anything else.

“Guys! Stop fighting!” A cyan figure scooted closer to Boxten and wrapped her arms around him. Although she was not a Twisted—frankly, Boxten wasn’t sure what he was, either—Poppy looked very recognizable as well. The bubble had been spending almost all her time with him since he became the way he was. “We’re here to help these guys!”

Boxten looked down at the arms that held him close. He did not feel a sense of danger at being restrained; he felt a feeling more similar to comfort. It was an enjoyable feeling.

Dandy briefly glanced at the three Twisteds. “First, we need to find out how aware they are of their surroundings.”

“We?” The red figure scoffed. “This is your punishment. I’m only here to make sure you don’t make Flutter’s condition even worse. We both saw what happened when she saw you for the first time again.”

“What happened?” Poppy asked.

“The moment Flutter saw him, she started freaking out. That’s why she has a blindfold on. I can’t really blame her for freaking out at the sight of the guy who killed her, though.”

The three of them exchanged a few more banters that Boxten didn’t understand. While they were fighting, he looked over at Goob curiously.

Ichor tears continuously fell out of Goob’s eyes. His hands were completely restrained, and his knees were close to his chest. He briefly glanced around the room before looking down again.

Boxten scooted slightly closer and poked the craft’s fluffy chest with his right hand’s finger. The fur was incredibly soft.

Suddenly, Poppy tapped him on the shoulder. “It’s rude to poke people, Boxten!” She gently grabbed his hand and pulled it towards him.

Boxten looked at her warm touch and nodded briefly. Nodding was a sign of saying “yes”—at least, he thought it was.

Poppy turned towards Goob. “Can you nod your head too?”

Goob made no response.

After a few seconds, the slightly ajar door behind the group opened, and a small gray thing ran into the room. It ran in circles around them before jumping into Dandy’s lap.

Before the gray thing could do anything, the red figure made a shushing sound that it understood. “Dandy, get your dog away from them.”

Again, Poppy asked, "Why?"

Dandy stood up with the gray thing in his arms. “Come on Pebble, let’s go for a walk.” He walked out of the room with a neutral expression.

Boxten could have sworn he saw the gray thing before.

The thing was supposed to be bigger, though. Louder, too.

Right? Was he imagining things?

One moment, Boxten was in the unidentifiable room.

The next moment, he was in another room—one he could recognize.

Poppy sat him down on one of the Toon Room kitchen’s plastic chairs and sat next to him. Her hands were still tightly wrapped around his.

Behind her, Cosmo and another tall figure were strangely close to each other. Their arms were intertwined as they rolled dough on the countertop, and they kept glancing at each other and smiling. It sort of reminded Boxten of him and Poppy.

“Come on, you have to eat something!” Poppy suddenly exclaimed, dragging his attention towards her. She held a flat and circular object in her left hand, and her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. Again, strange.

Boxten looked at the object with his mouth completely closed, as it looked inedible. He wasn’t sure what the bubble meant by “eating,” so he made no move to approach the object.

“I don’t think that’s going to work,” Cosmo said, walking towards the two. His right hand was covered by a mitten.

The coverage was a shame. Cosmo’s hand reminded Boxten of the ichor hands that resided in his own box-shaped head—the hands that were both separate and part of him, the hands that couldn’t do much due to the restraint on his lid.

Poppy snapped her fingers like she had an idea. She brought the object to her mouth and sunk her teeth into it so she could hold it without the use of her hands. She then leaned closer and poked Boxten’s own mouth with the object expectantly.

Despite their closeness, Boxten felt no sudden urge to attack. He, surprisingly, saw her as no threat at all.

Boxten leaned forward and took a bite out of the object, mimicking Poppy’s movements. It tasted sweet, very unlike ichor, which was one of the only things he could truly recognize. Thankfully, he was able to remember how to swallow food.

“Wow. That actually worked,” Cosmo said in disbelief.

Poppy looked at the pastry and grinned. She was still extremely close to Boxten. “We just have this… connection, you know?”

“I think it’s more due to the fact that you’ve been hanging out with him so much,” he replied, passing another circular object to her. “You should try one too.”

Before she could bring the object to her mouth, Boxten swiped the treat from her hand and took a bite of it. As the taste flooded his mouth, he realized what it was: a chocolate cookie.

“Hey!” Poppy put her hands on her hips. “That was for me!”

Boxten took another small bite.

Cosmo, ever the mediator, offered another cookie to Poppy from the tray that the tall figure had taken out of the oven not long ago. “You can get another–”

“No way, that was my cookie!” she argued, though there was a smile on her face that suggested that she wasn’t as angry as she seemed.

Leaning a millimeter closer, Poppy quickly pressed her smile against his. Her soft “lips” grazed his own for the smallest moment before she pulled away with the cookie in her mouth successfully.

The feeling of her touch still lingered seconds after she pulled away, but the mental image of how close she was stuck in Boxten’s mind.

Faintly, in the back of his head, he remembered a wish he had.

The wish was about the exact scenario he had just found himself in, yet that wish was asked months before.

Apparently, all Boxten needed to do to kiss Poppy was die.

Chapter Text

When Astro first saw Twisted Dandy on his bed, he was horrified. He knew never wanted to see that thing again.

Astro's opinion quickly changed for the better.

A large green petal interrupted his train of thought by covering up his eye from above. He quickly pushed the petal off of him and said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to zone out. I was just thinking about a few things," as he turned around to face the flower behind him.

Two unblinking eyes stared at him from the looming darkness. They watched him like a hawk tracking its prey: observant of every little movement. Their red scleras contrasted the black of the darkness sharply and ethereally, like they simply didn’t belong in that world.

Astro’s own eyes traced the outline of the Twisted in front of him, attempting to force his subtle glow to give him more sight. Eventually, he spotted the silhouette of familiar arms.

The tip of Dandy’s arms had peculiar stubs instead of hands that very vaguely resembled paws. On those stubs were the six multicolored claws that could do damage Astro didn't want to think about, so he turned to look at the wrists.

Wrapped around Dandy's forearms were film ribbons that one could find inside a VHS tape—though those were much smaller. The ribbons circled with two spirals like snakes choking a rat. More ribbons wrapped around his torso as if they were chains binding him. 

Astro stood up and stepped towards the right arm. “Could I remove these? They, uhm, look uncomfortable.” He looked up for approval.

Dandy paused for a few seconds before slightly nodding his head. He outstretched his arm for ease of access.

As Astro tugged at the ribbons, he thought about the flower’s Twisted form. Although he could not speak in it, he could still understand English and think properly. Despite the Twisted's appearance, his mind was fully aware of his surroundings. Despite the claws and fangs and ichor, he was still Dandy. He was still Astro’s best friend and recent object of affection.

With a few strong tugs, the ribbons were unwrapped and fell to the ground softly. “There, that should be better," Astro smiled.

Next to where the ribbons had just been, there was a singular enlarged tape that was lodged into Dandy’s flesh violently. It was clear to Astro that the wound itself was old, though he had no idea where the tape came from, as Dandy didn’t have such an injury in his Toon form.

Astro grabbed the VHS tape with all four of his hands and pulled. After a few seconds, it dislodged from the arm and caused him to take a few steps backwards from the force. 

Dandy did not flinch, or make any other sign that he felt pain. He only looked down at Astro with the same wide-eyed expression he had before.

“There’s another tape on your other arm,” Astro pointed out. He set the tape down and walked in front of Dandy shyly. He clasped his hands together shyly. “I could take that one out too—if you want me to, of course. I can't imagine it's not uncomfy."

Dandy was still for a brief, quiet moment. Then, he lifted his right hand and careened it towards Astro’s head, claws pointed straight at his skull.

Astro found that he made no move to escape, nor did he flinch involuntarily. He fully trusted the Lethal with all of his soul.

The claws stopped about half a meter away from him. After a second, they slowly lowered and began caressing the top of his head. The sharp ends were safely pointed away.

Astro’s face immediately began to heat up. The action felt intimate and romantic to him, though he knew that he was imagining it as such. After a few more seconds of silence passed, the repeated caressing caused his sleeping cap to fall off his head.

“Oh, hold on–”

Before Astro could grab the cap, Dandy picked it up with two of his claws and held it above Astro’s head teasingly.

The Main tried to look annoyed, but a smile still spread across his face. “Come on, give that back,” he sighed, reaching towards the cap. Every time he jumped to grab it, Dandy lifted the sleeping cap just out of his reach.

Astro crossed his upper arms on his chest and put his lower hands on his hips. He concentrated, and his two cyan stars flew out of the cap and brought it back onto his head. “If you want a sleeping cap, all you have to do is ask!"

Another thing Astro enjoyed about spending time with the Lethal was that he had a chance to speak his own mind. Usually, he would be overshadowed in conversations by louder Toons, and he would end up walking away without a word. However, as he looked up at his closest friend with a smile, he realized that it felt nice to be the one talking—though, of course, he missed his voice.

“I’m…” Astro looked down and fidgeted with his hands. “I’m, uhm, really glad you agreed to this. I know the confession was hard to do with so many Toons looking, but I’m glad you did. Oh, I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record.”

A yellow claw lifted his chin up gently, causing the two of them to look each other in the eyes. Astro took in every detail he saw that reminded him of Dandy the flower—the mint blush, the rainbow petals, and the bright eyes that Astro could just get lost in. He found himself gripping the claw with his hands as he whispered, "Dandy...?"

The two stayed silent for what felt like forever. They stared deeply into each other’s eyes, trying to decipher the secrets held within them.

Astro wished that he knew how Dandy felt. He wished he knew if his love could be returned, because he so desperately wanted to confess. But there was always the nagging doubt that Dandy didn’t love him back. It echoed and echoed each time Astro dared to step closer.

Yet, as Astro laid his head on the claw, and Dandy leaned even closer, he didn’t hear any doubts. He knew it was the right time to confess.

“I...” Astro began. “I need to tell you something. Something very important. I… I’ve come to realize that I’ve fallen in–”

The sound of the metal door opening caused the two to turn towards the entrance of the room. There, three figures were barely visible due to the low light: Connie, who looked very disturbed by the sight before her, Cosmo, who was illuminated by the blue glow coming from Connie, and Tisha, who was holding up cleaning supplies in a basket.

Connie stared at Dandy with her mouth agape in pure shock. After a few seconds, she cleared her throat and turned towards the others. “You, uh… You seein’ this, guys?” she whispered loudly.

Cosmo didn’t look too scared. He turned towards Dandy and Astro and waved shyly, clearly having talked with half-Twisteds before.

“W-What are you two doing here?” Astro asked nervously. He decided to take the interruption as a sign that he should wait more time before confessing.

“We were supposed to be dropping off some stuff,” Cosmo answered. “But then we… followed. Sorry.”

With an unceremonious twirl, Connie turned around. “Nope, not sticking around here!” she exclaimed. A puff of blue smoke emanated from her as she became invisible to Astro’s naked eye.

Astro watched Dandy’s eyes closely. He looked at the spot Connie had just been in, and then looked at the door, which was close to the group. He was watching something.

"What are you-" Astro didn't get to finish his sentence, because the cyan ghost quickly reappeared in front of the door.

“...Did you just... see me while I was invisible?" she quietly asked.

Chapter Text

No Toon had ever seen Connie so mortified before. 

The ghost’s eyes were wide open, and her eyebrows were slightly furrowed in fear. Being able to become invisible with a single thought was one of her greatest assets, so Astro could understand why she felt so spooked.

Before Connie could say anything else, another voice exclaimed, “Dandy, what is all this?!”

The outraged voice belonged to Tisha. She stepped in front of the Twisted, dropped her basket on the floor, and put her hands on her hips angrily. “Ichor splattered on the ground, tapes in nonsensical piles—do you have any decency?! Rooms need to be cleaned repeatedly, even if you’re the only one using them!”

The three Toons shared a glance with Dandy, confused.

Tisha raised a hand to her forehead and shook her head. “Alright, once you’re done with… this… you’re going to clean every inch of these rooms!” With a huff of annoyance, she walked out and towards the elevator, apparently not curious as to what was happening prior.

“Tisha will be Tisha...” Cosmo muttered with a smile. 

Connie clearly didn’t share the same sentiment. “I think we all have bigger things to worry about.” She turned around and stared straight at Astro.

Astro froze as he remembered he wasn’t wearing his blanket. His four arms were completely visible, and even highlighted by his blue glow. He shut his eye, waiting for rude and surprised comments.

"Okay, well, I think I'm gonna go," Connie sighed. Cosmo nodded in agreement.

Astro opened his eye. “Uhm... are you not… surprised about my arms?”

The two looked at each other and shrugged as though they had just noticed it.

For a few moments, the room settled into an awkward silence—if an awkward silence was possible with such a quartet. Then, Connie crossed her arms on her chest and faced the door.

“Right, I’m gonna actually leave now,” she announced. With one last look to see if Dandy would block her path, she quickly floated out of the room.

Before following, Cosmo brought his hands to his chest nervously and looked up at Dandy with sweet eyes. "Oh, also, Glisten and I were going to hang out near the library with a few others after I go on a run, and we were wondering if you’d want to come.”

With widened and curious eyes—that held less distrust than before—he nodded.

The pastry’s eyes lit up with joy. “A-Alright! See you then!” He walked out of the room happily.

Astro was still busy processing the fact that his four arms weren’t as much of an insecurity as he thought they were. All his life, he had worried that others would judge him for his arms, but it was evident that they didn’t care.

“You were right,” he muttered, looking up at his flower-themed friend. “They didn’t care. They didn’t care at all.”

Dandy’s eyes softened affectionately. He folded his arms under his green petal and rested his head on them so that he was almost eye-level with Astro. 

“I guess I should have listened to you from the beginning,” Astro continued with a slight grin.

Dandy closed his eyes and silently chuckled at the comment, though it was clear that he expected the Toons to not care. After a second, he opened his eyes and pointed a claw towards the corner of the room.

Astro turned around to find a previously untouched music box sitting far behind him, pristine and familiar. He quickly walked over to it and bent down to wind it.

The soft and melodic sounds of notes being played echoed throughout the room. The box was so small, yet its music stretched far and wide.

“May…”

Dandy tilted his head curiously at the beginning of the question.

“May I, uhm…” Astro held the box closer and walked over as he extended his upper right arm. “May I have this dance?” He closed his eye nervously. 

After a few seconds, Astro felt one of Dandy’s claws slip into his hand, like a lover about to pull someone into a waltz.

Astro had never danced in his life. He had seen a bit of how it was done in movies, but as there wasn’t much music that played in Gardenview, he never had time to practice.

Despite that, however, he found himself tapping and swaying to the pretty notes of “Clair de Lune.” He knew his excuse for a waltz was horrid, but at the time, he was enjoying himself. 

Dandy was patient with his trips and fumbles. He followed Astro’s lead in their dance, and made sure no sharp edges of claws did any harm to him. He slowed his hand when Astro slowed, and quickened when Astro quickened. 

Though their dance was messy and quite silly-looking—Dandy wasn’t even dancing—Astro felt closer to the Lethal than ever before.

At one point, during the middle of the song, Astro felt so ecstatic that a laugh bubbled out of him. It was loud, emotional, and caused tears in his eye—actions he didn’t usually do.

The laugh lasted for quite a while, as Astro couldn’t stop himself until every breath was out of his lungs. He had never laughed in such a joyous way, and he knew who caused it.

Still feeling ecstatic, Astro pulled the claw closer and pressed his smile against its smooth surface. Once he pulled away, his face heated up as he realized how embarrassed he was. “S-Sorry, I–”

Dandy didn’t look annoyed; he looked pleasantly surprised. His cat-like smile widened as he softly rubbed Astro’s cheek with his red claw.

When the long loop began to come to an end, the Main waltzed forward and planted a soft kiss right between the flower's eyes. The kiss was just long enough for Astro to feel both their faces heat up.

Astro spent the night feeling more loved than he ever had before.

Chapter Text

“Come on, it’s been forever since you’ve had a makeover!”

“That’s because I really don’t ne–”

Glisten sat down on the beanbag in the corner of his room with his legs crossed. He faced his most recent client in need of a costume change: Dandy.

“Christmas is only, like, fifteen days away. Don’t tell me you’re going to celebrate in your plain old outfit! Or, well, lack thereof,” he continued. “And I already came up with the most stunning design ever!”

“When did you have the time to?” Dandy asked, clearly put off by the excitement.

The mirror scoffed and stood up. “You think I haven’t thought of an outfit for every Toon here? When this place was still up-and-running, I would have killed for a chance to give the star of the show a makeover, you know!” Before Dandy could escape, Glisten pulled a chair behind him and sat him down. “This will only take a minute!” He grabbed a red paint can from his desk and shook it.

Accepting his fate, Dandy sighed and asked, “Can you at least tell me what you’re planning to do?”

“Well, Christmas is all about red and green themes, so I was thinking of just slightly coloring your cool-colored petals green, and your warm-colored petals red. If I get my hands on multicolored ribbons, I can do something concerning vines!” Glisten explained cheerfully.

“That doesn’t sound too bad–”

“Also, you’re getting clothes that I designed.”

“Oh.”

Glisten prepared to spray the paint that was specifically made for Toon skin. “Close your eyes!”

Reluctantly, he did, and Glisten got to work.

First, Glisten gently held the orange petal and sprayed closely so that a thumb-sized drop of paint fell on it. Then, he grabbed the large plastic gloves on his desk, walked back over, and spread the paint thinly, which gave the petal the slightest tint of red. He repeated the process for the yellow petal, and switched to a green can for the blue and purple petals. After a moment of indecision, he decided to spray the tops of the petals with the opposite color for a touch of pizazz.

Once the process was over, Glisten stepped back and clapped his hands. “And… Perfect!” He resisted the urge to make a we have to go bald joke.

Dandy opened his eyes and looked at Glisten’s face to see his own reflection. “Were the colored tips necessary?”

“What a silly question; of course they were! Now, I need to do your face. That mint blush is so last decade,” he answered. “I’m thinking your left cheek gets colored a light red, and there’s a fade between the two colors between your eyes.” Not waiting for a proper response, he got to work.

Once Glisten finished the blush recoloring, he stepped back with a more serious look on his face. “...Dandy? Do you remember when, during that weird trial, Gigi mentioned a tape she found?”

Dandy’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “...Yes?”

“What was on it?”

A few seconds of silence passed. Then, the flower waved his hand to dismiss the question. His voice became more positive and cheerful. “It really wasn’t much at all! Honestly, it was just a more descriptive log, and–”

Glisten shook his head. He wasn't buying it. “Every Toon in this place knows all your secrets already. You don’t have to keep pretending you don't have any.”

The comment made Dandy’s smile falter. He looked away and put his hand back down, though remained silent.

“...You know,” Glisten began. He sat down on the pink carpet and looked Dandy in the eyes. “Every day, I used to spend my time trying to convince everyone that I was perfect. I’d see other’s spotlight as something that I wanted myself.”

“Everyone knows that,” Dandy interrupted. “Your sass is what made you a popular character.”

“Everyone knew that part, yes. But what they didn’t know was that I would spend hours of my precious time making sure every detail about myself was perfect. Every time I saw a tiny flaw, I would berate myself about it for the rest of the day. Every time I saw someone do something better than me, I’d wonder how they did it so naturally. I pushed away those I cared about just to maintain my ‘flawless’ exterior. The only Toon I trusted enough to tell my issues to was Rodger, and even he didn’t get the full story—though, I think he figured out most of it himself. I’d feel bad about my issues, and then stop myself from shedding a tear because I knew others have gone through worse.

“But that all changed when I died and then came up as a Twisted. It took me a while to notice it, but one day, I realized that even though every Toon had seen me as a broken, insecure, shattered mess, they still cared. Even though I was acting the exact opposite of how I usually did, they still cared, because that’s what friends do. Companionship and friendship was something I didn’t understand the importance of back then, but that is what our show taught most, after all.” Glisten smiled slightly. “I’m not stupid. I know you’ve been going through a similar thing—haven’t you?”

Dandy looked surprised that the mirror would share such a personal thing with him. He put his hands on his lap and asked, “Do you know why the Twisted clones are here in the first place?”

Glisten shook his head, though he was relieved by the break in silence. “Not really. I know it had something to do with this place being powered by ichor.”

“Twisteds are, to put it simply, Toons that have too much ichor in their systems,” Dandy began. His tone was similar to when he was talking with Gigi during the trial. “When the staff that used to work here found that out, they realized that they could use that fact to produce more ichor. They made clones of all the Toons without their intelligence, and turned them into Twisteds. The first Toons they did that with was the Mains, which is why Main Twisteds are so much more dangerous than others. As more Toons became introduced, and more clones were created, they dialed back the ichor amount inside of both.

“When I was first created, I was a mix of too much potent ichor since, at the time, they hadn’t realized that Twisteds and Toons should be separate. They didn’t really care about the dangers of doing so, and let me be. Then, after a while, the scientist group wanted to see if I could twist clones myself.” Dandy began to fidget with his hands. “The log Gigi found was a recording of me doing just that. Without any context, she probably thinks I created all the Twisteds myself.”

Glisten nodded in understanding. “Makes sense. But you should tell her the truth; it’ll make her hate you less.”

“...Maybe,” the Lethal said. “But… Finish the outfit first. I’m actually curious.”

“Will do,” Glisten grinned.

Chapter Text

To Bobette’s left, Vee, Glisten, and Cosmo stood waiting in front of the elevator doors. To her right, Yatta, Dandy, Rodger, and Pebble discussed something between themselves—Pebble barked for response. They were coming up with strategies on how to do a proper extraction run with such a strange group.

The mention of Dandy being in the same elevator as her made Bobette smile internally, for as long as she could remember, she had admired him.

When she had first met him for their debut episode together, she couldn’t help but be ecstatic about it. Even years later, she would constantly tried to copy his traits in every subject; she had a pet rock like him, a cheerful and quite altruistic surface personality like him, her design was more chubby than the rest of the cast like him, and she had begun to trade costume accessories for her themed ornaments scattered around Gardenview.

When she found out he was a Lethal, she wasn’t fazed. Being optimistic, she simply decided that it was a fact that didn’t matter to her goal.

Bobette wasn’t in love with Dandy, though. She never felt a trace of romance—or even care—for the flower.

“I can’t wait to find all the candy scattered around!” Yatta exclaimed happily. She pronounced her words with exaggerated loudness.

Rodger tutted. “This is an extraction run, Yatta. Keep that in mind.” He turned towards Dandy. “You too.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dandy said, blinking innocently. His new outfit consisted of his old red Christmas sweater, along with his left arm and leg being colored a lighter red. Small leaves were rolled and stuck in the gaps between his petals, further emphasizing his plant theme. “If anyone here is interested in something other than the machines, it would be you!”

“Come on, guys!” Bobette mediated. “If we keep bickering, we won’t be able to do this! We–”

”I’m a bit nervous,” Cosmo muttered, completely interrupting Bobette. She frowned for a moment, but then turned to face him. “Usually, Sprout is here with me…”

“Do the Twisteds still chase you?” Vee asked curiously.

The pastry nodded. “Sadly, yeah.”

Bobette looked at Dandy, who decided to hold Pebble in his arms as the elevator descended. “So… What made you decide to join a run this time?”

“I was forced to,” he replied curtly.

“What he actually means,” Glisten interrupted quickly, “is that he was persuaded to join, as there’s no point in keeping him from the runs.” He shot Dandy a look that seemed to say “act like you want to be here.”

The elevator doors soon opened, and a few of the Toons filed out. Before the flower could find a machine, Bobette said, “I can show you the ropes of the runs!” Granted, she only wanted to know how he acted during them.

Before he could respond, she took his hand and began explaining the role of extractors.

Bobette pointed at an empty machine on the second floor. It was nestled between a C-shaped ring of bookshelves in front of an open space. “Why don’t you try that one?”

“Hopefully extracting isn’t too hard for you,” Vee teased. She had insisted on supervising, to Bobette’s dismay.

Dandy rolled his eyes, though he didn’t seem offended. “What, you think I’ve never finished a machine before?”

Vee approached a machine that was nestled a meter away from the first. “How about we see whoever can finish one first?”

After a while of waiting, both machines were completed at the same exact time, as if they both had the same extraction speed.

Vee turned around with an annoyed look on her face. “I was a fraction of a second faster.”

Dandy shook his head. “Bobette, who completed the machine faster?”

Bobette tensed nervously. “I think it was just a tie. You both are great at extracting!” Before she could say anything else, the elevator alarm sounded through the floor. The ornament was eternally grateful for the distraction.

The third and fourth floor was more of the same. The Toons were surprised to see that the Twisteds completely ignored Dandy, just as he had predicted. They simply walked past him in favor of other targets.

As Bobette waited for the elevator to descend to the fifth floor, she wondered out loud, “It’s weird that there haven’t been any tapes scattered around.”

“Maybe because Dandy has been taking them all,” Glisten commented. He gestured to the bag the accused held, which was overflowing with VHS tapes. Bobette made a mental note to herself that collecting items was important to his personality.

“If I can’t run my shop, then how else am I going to get more tapes?” Dandy asked with a slight shrug.

“Maybe you could take a small intermission from the collection?” Rodger suggested.

Cosmo took a glance at Rodger’s own bag. “Yours is filled with capsules.”

The magnifying glass held his bag to his chest like a caring father. “This is for my very important research! Speaking of which… Dandy, you must have capsules of your own, yes? Could you, perchance, possibly spare a few to an old soul like mine?”

“No.”

“I might be willing to offer a few tapes as payment.”

“...I’ll consider it.”

“Guys! Stop trying to bargain!” Yatta yelled, pushing the two apart with her ribbons. “We are extracting, not selling!” Pebble barked in agreement.

“We can do that stuff later when…” Bobette wasn’t able to finish her sentence, as when the elevator landed on the fifth floor, she began to hear a sound.

Loud footsteps could be heard from outside the elevator. With each step, a small clop echoed, as though the person was wearing boots.

Each Toon—except for Rodger, who was holding his bag excitedly—in the elevator’s expressions became one of nervousness. They knew what was outside the doors.

“Is that a Main?” Dandy asked in confusion.

Bobette nodded. “Yeah… Twisted Bobette.”

Chapter Text

The elevator doors quickly opened to reveal a Christmas-themed floor. The furniture and walls were various shades of red and green, and soft instrumental music played from unseen speakers.

Vee stepped out of the elevator and turned to face the group. “Alright, everyone. Remember not to pick up any items scattered around, which includes candy,” she looked at Yatta, “and tapes,” she looked at Dandy, “at all. Alright?”

“Twisted Bobette can hear, like, everything !” Yatta explained to the flower. “ Except for machines being completed. And picking up capsules. And talking. And–”

“I know that,” he interrupted. “It was detailed in one of Bobette’s logs.”

“I have logs?” Bobette asked him. At the mention of her Twisted counterpart, she grimaced.

Rodger stepped out and looked at the ornament. “You’re a Main, yes? I’d assume that every Main has a log.”

“R-Right, yeah!” she nodded.

Glisten walked over to Vee and tried to keep a confident countenance to his peers. “We’ve seen Mains before, right? This is the last floor we have to do anyway, so why not try? I’m sure we can all do this perfectly.”

“I think he’s right,” Cosmo added. He clutched his bag, which had a few useful bandages inside.

In agreement, all eight Toons stepped outside and began searching for machines.

“So… How are you liking your new look?” Glisten asked, leaning beside a machine with his arms crossed.

Dandy glanced at him. “I think you enjoyed making it more than I did.” He quickly returned to the machine he was working on.

“ Maybe . But I still feel like there’s something missing. Like, it needs a bit more red, you know?”

“No, I don’t.” During the run, Dandy’s tone had gotten more and more serious, and more himself. The others were a bit surprised by his demeanor change, but Glisten found that he preferred it over the sanitized version. 

“Wait… I have an idea.” He raised his pointer finger in thought. “ More paint. Full makeover. I’ve done it to Rodger, and I think it’ll fit you very well! And…”

The flower stepped back from the machine as the red light above it turned green. “That’s not necessary–”

“And maybe some stuff with the arms? Oh, it will probably be itchy, but then again, I’m sure that–”

“ Glisten. Don’t ignore me.”

“Soon after, we can…” After listing a few more suggestions, Glisten suddenly stood up and pointed forward. “ There it is!”

“...Huh?”

Glisten gestured to his own eyes. “Your pupils are the best finishing touch!”

Slowly, Dandy raised a hand to his face, as though he hadn’t realized he had gotten so angry. “Couldn’t you have just asked me?”

“Well… It’s funny angering you,” Glisten teased. “Besides, I didn’t know you hated makeovers that much!” He exaggerated a pout.

Dandy rolled his eyes, but his pupils were still red, which meant that he took the mirror’s advice.

After looking closer at the machine, Dandy set aside his bag and reached behind it. There, he grabbed an object and pulled it out.

The moment he did, the two heard footsteps heading towards them.

“D-Did you forget who’s on this floor?!” Glisten hissed, his expression suddenly fearful. 

“I–”

Glisten ducked behind a table a meter away. “Come on!” At the end of the corridor they stood in, he spotted Rodger and Cosmo walking their way. He stood up and motioned for them to leave, but they were too far away to notice.

Just as he hid again, a tall figure rounded the far corner on the opposite side and came closer. 

As Twisted Bobette passed the table Glisten was hiding behind, its eyes locked onto Dandy. It walked towards him and stopped just in front of him. 

Dandy didn’t look in its direction. He put the object—a VHS tape—inside his bag calmly.

Before he could make a move, the Twisted Bobette raised its right hand and swung her claws.

Dandy fell to the ground with a thud, his bag sliding away from his grasp. Black ichor began to leak from the large gashes on his back, which ripped his sweater into ribbons. He tried to stand up, but the Twisted Bobette clawed at his back again.

Without thinking, Glisten stood up and waved his arms. “Hey, Bobette! Over here!” he yelled.

The Twisted turned around at the sound. Its eyes locked onto Glisten, and its open-mouthed grin widened as it charged forward and ran towards him.

Glisten immediately began to run in the opposite direction. He asked himself why he did what he had did—he knew he could be hurt by the Twisteds, unlike the Lethal.

While weaving through tables and crates that were scattered around the floor, he kept the Twisted on his trail. He knew he wasn’t fast enough to keep it at bay, but he couldn’t let the Toons get hurt.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered what would happen if he died for a second time. He wasn’t sure whether he would die permanently, or if he would twist again.

There was a chance that he would be stranded in the lower floors again. He would be completely alone.

The vague fear of being alone caused him to run faster. He was breathing heavily, but as he rounded the corner and ran into an open area, he  suddenly felt the opposite way.

Every scrap of fatigue he had disappeared, like a weight had been lifted. At that moment, Glisten felt like he could run quickly for days on end.

Looking behind him, he realized that the Twisted Bobette was slowly getting further and further away. He waved his arms again to get her attention, and ran around a decorated Christmas tree, just out of her grasp.

The act was called “distracting,” and it was a tactic that helped runs greatly. Glisten had never distracted the Twisteds before, because he wasn’t the greatest at running.

As he distracted, he realized that when he died, he had traded his teleportation ability for speed.

A thought formed in his mind as he ran. He wondered if his speed, which was supposed to be for chasing Toons, could finally help the ones he cared about.

Chapter Text

Shelly stood outside the dark blue door nervously.

When the extraction team had finally come back from their run, she had been sitting near the Gardenview tree with Sprout. The moment he had seen his boyfriend looking exhausted, he took Cosmo’s hand and guided him towards the kitchen—no doubt to relax a bit with some baking.

The rest of the Toons sitting in the lobby cared more about the surprising sight before them; Dandy was unconscious and leaning on Bobette and Rodger. A gash was visible on his back as the group sat down on one of the benches.

Shelly walked over to Yatta. “What happened?” she had asked with a worried expression.

Yatta had been in rough shape as well. She had a cut on her left arm, and her tails were all tangled together. “Twisted Bobette hurt him! Oh, it was super scary!”

Eventually, Dandy was brought to Astro’s quarters to rest—though the reason Astro’s room was chosen out of all the other rooms didn’t make sense to her. Regardless, the space-themed Main told Shelly to take a bag filled with capsules to Dandy the next day.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

Again, she knocked.

No reply was said.

Shelly put her left hand on the door and twisted the doorknob slightly, which caused the door to loudly creak open. Startled by the noise, she warily stepped inside. “Dandy? You awake?”

Lying on Astro’s bed was Dandy. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was clearly more staggered than usual. White bandages were wrapped around his torso, and a towel was placed underneath him to prevent ichor from staining the bedsheets. Faint dark circles were visible under his eyes, and he looked paler than before. Shelly chalked it up to blood loss—or “ichor loss”, as she called it.

A few seconds after she said his name, he groggily opened his eyes. “...Huh?”

Shelly walked over to the bed and sat down in front of him. “Hey, it’s me, Shelly. Are you doing alright?”

Dandy sat up and shrugged. “I’ve been better.” He clearly had; his voice was much more quiet and serious than usual.

“Twisted Mains are usually harder to avoid than regular Twisteds,” Shelly said. “Injuries happen to the best of us.”

“It wasn’t that the Twisted was a Main;  it was because it's a Holiday Twisted. They’ve always reacted weirdly to me,” he replied.

Shelly scooted a bit closer. “It sounds like you’re blaming yourself.”

“I’m not–”

“Come on, Dandy, I’ve known you my whole life. I think I can tell when a fellow Main is feeling down,” she said sweetly.

Dandy opened his mouth to say something, but what came out instead was, “I’m not a Main, though.”

“That doesn’t really matter to me. Well, it doesn’t matter to any of us.” She shrugged and smiled. “You’re still a part of Gardenview.”

Moments of silence passed as the flower looked at her with a confused expression. He then clutched the blue bedsheets tighter in his hands and asked, “Why do you think that?”

Shelly expected the hostility. “To be honest… I think it’s ‘cause I’ve always been jealous of you. You’ve always been in the spotlight, and you’ve always been so memorable to everyone you meet. Even now, you’ve adapted into things super quickly.” Her smile slowly became more sympathetic. “But, lately, I’ve been realizing that even the star of the show has problems. Every Toon in here has issues they deal with, and… Well, don't you think these lies have gotten us into enough trouble? Oh, and I came to bring you some things!”

“What things?”

Shelly dug through the bag she brought. “I was told to bring some of these capsules—I don’t know why, though.” She handed one over.

“Thanks,” he muttered, most probably still conflicted about his own feelings. He carefully opened the capsule and poured the contents on his injured back.

Shelly watched in awe as the ichor began to cling to the injury rather than drip onto the bed. It spread up to the shoulderblades like water on paper, and then slowly retreated through the bandages and inside the wound. Dandy then removed the bandages and showed a wound that had disappeared without a trace.

“What was that?” the fossil asked in astonishment. 

“Something Toons can’t do.” He shrugged as though the action was the most casual thing in the world.

Shelly smiled. “You surprise me every day. Maybe being surprised should be added to my list of hobbies,” she joked. 

“List of hobbies?”

“Lately, I’ve been trying to experiment with different hobbies,” she explained. “I mean, dinosaurs can’t be my only gimmick!”

“What kind of hobbies are you trying?” Dandy asked, sitting up straighter to pay attention.

A part of Shelly felt incredibly surprised at the sudden attention. Another part wished to relish in it.

“Well, I can just show you!” Shelly laid her bag on the bed and pulled out a red sweater. She turned it around to reveal that the back had been stitched together so that it looked as good as new. “Tisha’s been teaching me sewing, so I thought I’d fix it! Honestly, Glisten suggested it; he looked like was mourning the thing.” She handed the sweater to Dandy.

“Oh. Thanks.” He grazed the stitch lines with his pointer finger. “I think Glisten wants me to wear this more than I do.”

Shelly laughed cheerfully. “That’s part of his charm, right? I’ve also been thinking about learning some baking skills from Cosmo—maybe when Boxten joins them again. Oh, and Yatta’s been trying to get me to do acrobatics, but honestly, I think that’s a bit too dangerous for me. Teagan also has been teaching me how to make tea, but–” She paused. “Oh, I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

A small smile danced at the edges of Dandy’s mouth. “I’m listening.”

“Y-you are?” She quickly stood up and stepped towards the door. “Well, I can tell you all about it when you’ve rested up!”

“...Shelly?”

Shelly turned around. “Yeah?”

“If you want another hobby, I can show you some gardening stuff,” he offered.

“That’d be… really nice!” she smiled as she walked out and closed the door.

Chapter Text

Gigi’s room was an utter mess.

Piles of miscellaneous things she had collected throughout the years were scattered on the floor and collected in scattered piles. Her collection could simply be described as the word stuff to onlookers.

For as long as she could remember, her room had looked like that. Her kleptomaniac tendencies were the main reason for it all, as Tisha had long given up with the room.

Yet, as Gigi lied in her bed in a starfish position, she noticed that the pile had stopped growing for quite a while.

A knock on her door made her slowly sit up. “Go away, Connie!” she tried to yell. Her voice felt hoarse from crying by herself.

“It’s not Connie,” the other voice responded.

Gigi frowned. “Then go away, Dandy !”

Despite her words, the door opened to reveal the flower she hated most. He stepped inside her bedroom, surveyed the clutter with a distasteful expression, and looked at Gigi. “You haven’t been outside in days.”

“I’m fine,” she hissed, grabbing her pillow and turning around. She couldn’t bear to look at his face.

“You look like you’ve been crying,” Dandy pointed out.

“What’s it to you?”

After a few seconds of thinking, he sighed. “The tape you saw was wrong. I didn’t create the Twisteds, nor have I ever wanted to.”

Gigi scoffed loudly. “Except for Flutter.”

Dandy tensed. “I don’t know how to make it up to you. I’ve been punished, I’ve been serving that punishment, and I regret my actions. What more do you want?”

“What I want? It doesn’t matter what I want!” she yelled, her pent-up aggression quickly distorting her words. “I couldn’t care less about how you could make it up to me! It’s Flutter who you should be apologizing to—oh, wait, you can’t, because she can’t even understand me!” Hot tears began to resurface in her eyes again as her volume lowered. “I… I have to tie her legs together, or else she’ll try to attack people!”

The small bed creaked as Dandy sat next to her. She still refused to look at him as he asked, in a low and uncharacteristic tone, “Do you think I wanted that? Do you think I wanted to be a Lethal?”

“Doesn’t matter,” she muttered. “I hate you and your rarity.”

Heavy silence fell onto the room like a blanket. Gigi snuck a glance at Dandy to see if he had left.

Glisten had redone his makeup and colored his petals again. His Christmas sweater was back, and he looked the same as before, except for one detail.

Gigi stared at the red pupils in Dandy’s eyes. His frown was tight-lipped, and his hands shook in his lap. He was utterly, undeniably, clearly furious with her.

“My rarity doesn’t have anything to do with this,” he assured, voice even lower than before. “What I am doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

The gachapon looked away again. “I can’t believe your handler let you get away with being like this.”

“You think they didn’t intend for me to be a Lethal in the first place?”

“...What?”

In that same low tone, Dandy continued. “I was created differently from day one. Instead of fixing me, they kept me like this. They wanted something with one foot in both doors, just to get more ichor. Do you think I like being so different? Do you think I like being a Twisted?” With only stunned silence as an answer, he added, “I don’t care if you think I’m a monster for the rest of my life. I just don’t want you thinking I wanted any of this.”

Eventually, Gigi sat up and laid her pillow on her bed as she turned to look eye-to-eye with him. She tried to have an unreadable expression, though her watery eyes gave her emotions away.

Dandy audibly sighed and calmed his tone. “Everyone’s been worried about you. You’ve barely been out of your room, and when you are, you’re irritable. Flutter has been healing alongside Boxten and Goob safely, and I think she needs a Gigi who’s determined to help her, not a Gigi who cries in her room all day.”

“I don’t–” Gigi paused. She had been crying in her room more than she’d like to admit. “Okay. Fine. I get what you’re saying. Just… Stop pretending you care about me,” she scoffed.

“Why are you so adamant about saying I don’t?”

“Because I’m just the kleptomaniac, happy-go-lucky gachapon, right? I’m just a side character. You’ve never cared about a side character before.”

It was apparently Dandy’s turn to be hesitant with his truth. “You’re right. I used to act like I never cared about anything but my own greed. But things have changed , and you need to accept that—if not for me, then for the Toons in this place who depend on you.”

Gigi definitely didn’t want to listen to anything more, but he was right. She knew she needed to get out of her room someday. “I guess if you didn’t care, I’d already be a Twisted, huh?”

Dandy didn’t have a response to her question. Instead, he stood up and looked over at the door. “Glisten invited the other Twisteds to hang out at the library. He said plus-ones were allowed too. Maybe you could get some tips from the others for taking care of Flutter?”

“...Okay,” she replied.

Chapter Text

The library was usually a calming and quiet place that not many Toons went in. Sprout had only visited on the rare occasion he had needed more diverse recipies, so he wasn’t sure why Glisten had chosen such a spot. However, once he saw the small group inside, he realized why.

Pillows lined the floor between two bookshelves. A small blanket was tied to the tops of the shelves, so the group had a small “ceiling” that made the area look just like a slumber party. Eight Toons sat in a circle and talked amongst themselves, though Sprout was surprised to not see the red gachapon there.

“Where’s Gigi?” he asked, sitting down in what he assumed was his designated spot—right next to Cosmo. 

“She left just a bit ago. I think Connie wanted to talk to her, but yeah, she was here,” Cosmo answered, scooting over a bit to make room. His right hand was in a strange spot, hovering above his lap, as it was clear that he didn’t want to stain the pillows or his new outfit.

Evidently, the Glisten-doing-everyone’s-makeup virus had affected him as well. He wore a white T-shirt with a white glove on his left hand, and an orange apron with a white star in the center. His striped waistline tights were in shades of orange, and Glisten had even put a few orange sprinkles on the glob of ichor on his head.

“That outfit looks really good on you.”

Cosmo was immediately flustered. “Thanks, love,” he whispered. Every time Cosmo called Sprout his love, the strawberry got equally flustered.

A loud voice from one of the Toons asked teasingly, “Don’t you two lovebirds want to share with the class?”

Sprout looked over at Glisten and rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to be in everyone’s business.”

“I know,” Glisten replied, batting his eyes. “But I want to!”

On the other side of the circle, Scraps and Poppy had finally finished some sort of small argument—or, rather, they both had agreed to disagree. Scraps went back to reading something to her brother, and Poppy went back to talking with Boxten. It was a little peaceful for a while, and Sprout got the feeling that he knew why Brightney loved the place so much.

Peace was, to his dismay, a rarity in Gardenview.

“Hey, Dandy,” Glisten began. “Aren’t you dating Astro?”

Dandy, who was sitting beside Cosmo, jumped a bit at the accusation. He looked over at Glisten and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Well, a little birdie told me that you two were caught cuddling a week or so ago,” the mirror teased with a smirk on his face. He crossed his legs and added, “I haven’t seen Astro for the past three days, either. Must’ve been too embarrassed to see his lover after being caught in the act!”

“No way!” Poppy, forgetting her one-sided conversation with Boxten, grabbed Dandy’s left shoulder and shook him repeatedly. “You’re dating Astro? Why haven’t you announced it yet? Oh, is this what they call love being in the air?”

Dandy gently pushed her away and shook his head. “I’m not dating anyone! Astro’s a friend. ”

“What I saw three days ago could counter that,” Cosmo commented briefly. He then animatedly covered his mouth with his left hand.

Glisten walked over to Cosmo, grabbed him by the shoulders, and brought their faces closer. With wide, serious eyes and a low tone, he said, “Cosmo. Tell me everything .”

Dandy pushed the two apart and glared at the two with a strained smile. “He didn’t see anything, right ?”

“Are you trying to intimidate him?” Sprout asked, stepping in and glaring back at Dandy.

“Break it up, you two!” Scraps quickly stood up and pushed the four back into where they were sitting before. “We shouldn’t be arguing about someone’s personal love life!”

“There isn’t any evidence, either,” Dandy agreed.

“Defended him in court, has been a childhood friend since forever, is constantly hanging out with him… But who’s counting?” Glisten coughed. “And the secret thing Cosmo mentioned.”

With everyone’s eyes on him, the pastry looked more nervous than ever. “I… I don’t like dropping people’s secrets like that…” With another look from Glisten, he took a deep breath and exclaimed, all in one go, “Dandy and Astro were hanging out in Dandy’s room and they looked like they were really close together not in the metaphorical way in like the physical way and uhm I think Astro spent the night like together or something I don’t really know I think they looked like they were gonna kiss!”

Glisten’s jaw dropped. “That’s literally romantic!”

“How would it be metaphorically romantic?” Sprout muttered. He felt like Cosmo had omitted a few details, as the aforementioned flower gave him a grateful look. The others hadn't noticed.

Poppy looked at the group with a confused look. “What’s romantic about kissing?”

“It’s romantic when you do it on the lips,” Scraps explained. “Like… It’s like a thing reserved for lovers. Though it isn’t usually romantic when it’s on the cheek, I think.”

“But I’ve kissed Boxten on the mouth before, and we aren’t dating?”

Glisten quickly slid over to the bubble, keen on hearing about another juicy story. “You what ?!”

Poppy nodded. “Yeah!” As an example, she carefully intertwined fingers with Boxten and kissed him on his mouth with an audible “mwah!” from her. When she pulled away, Boxten looked flustered, but it was clear that he had felt her kisses before.

“Love is in the air!” Glisten exclaimed in surprise with a clap of his hands. “You don’t just kiss someone and keep it platonic—at least, I haven’t heard of that!”

“Huh. Then…” Poppy looked back at Boxten. “Boxten, wanna date?”

The music box looked very surprised. He seemed to think about it for a moment before giving the closest thing to a nod he apparently could.

“Then I guess we’re dating now!” she grinned.

Sprout looked to his left to see Dandy had gotten up and was trying to sneak away silently, though he was stopped in his tracks by Glisten grabbing his shoulders and teasing, “Now where are you going?”

Dandy scoffed and turned around. “I’m trying to leave, because I want no part in this!”

Before Glisten could rally everyone into convincing the flower to confess, the doors to the library opened loudly, and a very irritated Tisha grabbed Dandy by his sweater’s collar. “You’re coming with me,” she growled.

“...Huh?” was all he could say before he dragged out of the library against his will.

Silence echoed in the room once the doors closed as everyone quietly prayed for Dandy’s safety. An angry Tisha was something none of them wanted to face.

The first spoken sound was a “...What?” from Boxten, followed by a happy squeal from Poppy.

Chapter Text

“What are you- Ow!”

Tisha had dragged Dandy all the way to the open elevator, where she had dropped him angrily in front of the button panel and put her hands on her hips. “What do you think I’m angry about?” she asked.

Dandy stood up and adjusted his collar. “I don’t know?”

“Your room,” she began. “I told you to clean it up ages ago, and what have you done about it? Nothing. You have done nothing to clean up all that dust and ichor and…” She shook her hands as though the thought disgusted her to no end. “So I’m going to drag you down there and show you how to actually clean!”

“It’s only been three days, though. That’s not enough time to–”

“That’s more than enough time!” she interrupted. “In three days, I could clean up half of Gigi’s room!”

Once the lowest button was pressed, the elevator began its slow descent towards the final floor. The two sat in an uncomfortable silence the entire time, with Tisha glaring at Dandy with her rage-fulled stare.

After what felt like hours, the ride stopped, and the gray doors opened to reveal the familiar hallway.

Tisha stepped out and huffed. “Are you coming out, or what? Don’t make me drag you again!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he sighed, raising his hands in the air and exiting the elevator.

The tissue box kept her annoyed countenance the entire time they were walking. Dandy was glad he escaped the embarrassment of the library, but he wondered if what he was brought into was much better. He had heard about Tisha’s wrath at unclean things, and had never wanted to find out first-hand how bad it really was.

Soon enough, the two stood in front of the only perfectly-intact door in the hallway. Tisha gently kicked away the broken locks and turned to face Dandy. “You must clean up repeatedly in the future, okay?”

“I will,” he muttered, opening the door without much issue.

The room that laid itself before him was not the room he remembered.

Multicolored fairy lights lined the walls several meters below the tall ceiling, shining brightly and lighting up the room with a light it had never seen before. Below them, a long bookshelf was placed against the left wall, and at a glance, a large majority of the titles were about gardening. Next to the bookshelf, against the far wall, five plushies of the Mains sat on a small cot that was covered in fluffy blankets. 

A brown table was against the far wall in front of Dandy. On top were miscellaneous pieces of merchandise that were him-themed and piles of paper that were sorted into specific categories. Episode posters starring Dandy were taped above the table, just underneath the fairy lights. Some of the posters were the ones that featured him as a mascot—there was one that held the visitor rules of Gardenview—but one was a poster with Pebble on it just above a gray dog bed on the floor. 

The right wall was the most interesting part of the room, as it was lined with rows of flowering blooms and vibrant greenery that caused the entire room to smell sweet. The flowers were arranged in color order, which was a silent nod to the rainbow theme of the building.

Dandy stepped inside the room and basked in the smell of flowers. “Did you do this?”

“ I did.”

A space-themed Main with a crescent moon for a face stepped into the light of the room. His usual blanket was nowhere to be seen. “I’ve been working on this for the past three days,” he continued.

Dandy turned around, shocked. “You did all of this… for me?”

Tisha, who was no longer frowning, stepped out of the room and placed her hands behind her back. “I’ll let you two talk,” she grinned, quickly walking away.

Dandy reached forward and cupped Astro’s face in his hands. “You look like you haven’t slept in days .”

Astro glanced at his touch. Dark circles were visible under his eyes, though they added a bit of charm to his appearance. “I didn’t want it to take too long.”

“But you need to take care of yourself!” the flower argued. Lowering his voice, he asked, “And you did all of this… for me?”

“Of course I did. You deserve a you-themed room, just like any Main does.”

The sentence reminded Dandy of the talk he had with Shelly. Even though he was very different from the norm, most Toons still saw him as one of them. It was so confusing.

Astro laid his upper hands on Dandy’s wrists with a worried expression. “Do you not like it?”

“No, no, no, of course I like it! It’s just… Well…”

“Well, what?”

Dandy took a deep breath. He wanted to be honest with his crush. “I’ve dreamed of a room like this since I was created. This is probably the greatest gift anyone’s ever given me.”

After a few seconds, Astro brushed his hands aside with a small smile. “There’s more, by the way.”

“Th-There’s more?”

Grabbing Dandy’s right hand, Astro walked him out of the room and towards the steel door that was just beside it.

The Main’s grasp reminded the flower of the scene three days prior, when they listened to the music box together. It was a memory he’d cherish for the rest of his life.

Astro gestured to the door in front of them as he let go. “Step inside,” he smiled.

“Okay…” he said.

Dandy slowly opened the door.

“...Astro?”

Chapter Text

Cosmo had never been jealous of Sprout for being a Main Character.

The attention and responsibilities of being such a central character to Gardenview was too much for a simple pastry like him. Although he saw Sprout less, he wouldn’t trade his Side Character status for anything.

A knock on the door to Cosmo’s room snapped him out of his thoughts. “I’m coming!” he yelled as he quickly walked over to the door and opened it.

A fatigued strawberry stood outside. He was breathing heavily, and leaning on the doorframe like he had just ran a marathon. The moment their eyes locked together, he smiled and let out a, “Hey, Cos…”

Cosmo opened the door wider to let Sprout inside. “What happened?”

“Funny story, actually.” Sprout sat on the nearest chair and stretched his arms. “A Twisted ‘me’ has decided to take up residence in my room, along with a few others. I’m kind of locked out.”

“And you needed a place to sleep?” 

“Yep.”

The pastry was amused, but he understood the struggle. “You can stay here for the night, even if my room isn’t as big as yours.” He sat down next to Sprout and leaned the side of his head against his shoulder, as awkward as it looked.

“Thanks, Cos. Er, boyfriend.” Lovey-dovey nicknames came easily to Cosmo, but not so much to him. Neither minded, though. “Oh, I brought you a little gift.”

“What is it?” Cosmo asked.

Sprout dug inside his scarf like it was a pocket and pulled out a bracelet. It had a large silver charm that looked like a cut-in-half biscuit and a pattern of brown squares and colorful star charms that followed suit.

“You… remade my old bracelet?”

The accessory was part of a pair that Cosmo had lost years prior, though he was sure it used to look smaller. Sprout had a matching one with strawberry charms instead, but he had lost his as well.

“I didn’t just remake it.” The strawberry grabbed the palm of Cosmo’s ichor-covered right hand, held the bracelet closer, and slipped it onto his wrist. “I made it bigger.”

Cosmo stared at the bracelet that he could faintly feel it around his wrist. Somehow he knew it fit perfectly. The act, although simple, spoke in volumes. “You remade it to fit my right hand?”

“Just because you have claws doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the things you used to.” Sprout held the hand and gently caressed the back with his thumb. “And I thought that, since we’re dating now, I should give you more gifts from time to time.”

“Oh, love, you don’t have to do that–”

“But what if I want to?” Sprout teased, lifting up the hand and pretending to kiss it.

Cosmo let a small chuckle escape him, as he had always been jealous of Sprout’s stubbornness. “I guess I can’t say no, huh?”

As the afternoon went on, the two ended up deciding to sleep together. Cosmo told himself it was because of the issue with the Twisteds and not the fact that he felt very comfortable with his head lying on Sprout’s chest. He told himself it definitely wasn’t that.

“I just can’t believe it.”

“...Huh?”

Sprout looked down at Cosmo with a knowing look. “Were you listening?”

Cosmo sheepishly smiled. He tried to look up to see the strawberry’s expression, but his position didn’t allow him to move much. “Could you repeat what you said?”

“Well,” Sprout continued, wrapping his arms around Cosmo affectionately, “I was saying that I can’t believe so many things have changed in such a short amount of time. I mean, I didn’t think there’d be much going on after this place shut down, but…”

“I get what you’re saying, love. Just a few months ago, I was the same as any other Twisted clone of me,” he agreed.

With a lack of hair to ruffle affectionately, Sprout decided to delicately trace the orange icing on Cosmo’s head with his left pointer finger. After a few seconds of hesitation, he decided to trace the outline of the ichor as well. “You were never the same as a clone. And you never will be.”

Cosmo chuckled at that. He loved his boyfriend’s sweet honesty more than anything. “You know what I meant. With more Twisteds being healed, it’s almost like a club. A club of rehabilitated Twisteds.”

“Uhh.. I guess? A bit of a harsh price to get in though.” Sprout waited for a sign that the joke was taken well before lowering his voice to a whisper. “You’ve… been really brave about her.”

“Her?”

“Flutter,” he continued, momentarily pausing his tracing. “I know how hard it is to force yourself to be around her. Even if Gigi wants to act like she did nothing wrong, you were still hurt. Ugh, I wish I could give that gachapon a piece of my mind and–”

Cosmo quickly shook his head at the remark. “It wasn’t Flutter’s fault. She was just as confused and scared as I used to be. I can’t blame her for… you know. Be kind to her.”

“...Sorry, Cos.” Sprout pressed a kiss on the icing as a reminder of affection. Cosmo almost fainted at the feeling. “I care about you. I know I’m not exactly, well, perfect boyfriend material about that kind of thing.”

“Sprout.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I–”

“I love you, Sprout.”

“...I love you too, Cosmo.”

“See?” he teased. “Was that so hard?”

The only response was a blanket pulled over the two and a few more kisses.

As the two fell asleep, Cosmo stared at his bedside table. He, once again, began to think about the perks of dating Sprout in general.

In the cabinet was a singular tape of an old episode starring Sprout. It was only the third episode of the show, and it held the scene where the two first met. The rest of the episode was solely about them, as were many more episodes to come.

Episode three of Dandy’s World was, by far, Cosmo’s favorite.

Chapter Text

The room Astro led Dandy to was much darker and larger than the one from before.

A large beige lamp in the far-right corner sitting on an empty brown crate was the only source of light that wasn’t from Astro’s soft glow. From its light, a giant black mattress covered the rest of the floor space. The surface of the mattress was strangely shiny, like it was made of waterproof material.

Alongside the left wall, a dark gray TV was sitting on another crate, carefully hooked up to the wall. The rest of the left wall was home to stacks of Dandy’s tape collection. The right wall was entirely covered by a giant bookshelf filled to the brim with books.

Before Dandy could say a word about the room, a large gray rock sped out of the darkness and into his arms, sniffing the sweater fabric to make sure his owner was the real deal. Once Pebble decided he was, the energetic rock stuck out a tiny pink tongue and began licking his fingers.

“He really wanted to help out,” Astro smiled, stepping in front of Dandy. He pet Pebble a few times with his upper right hand before gesturing to the room around them. “Do you like it?”

“I don’t really get it,” Dandy admitted, holding Pebble a bit closer. “Why did you decorate two rooms?”

Astro walked over to the flat mattress and sat cross-legged on it. “Try and feel the mattress. I think you’ll get it.”

“...Okay?” Although suspicious, Dandy trusted Astro with all of his heart. He walked over and placed a hand on the fabric, which he could instantly tell was, in fact, waterproof. 

Suddenly, Dandy came to a realization.

The room’s decor was all up against the wall, leaving the middle wide open, save for the mattress. The lighting was much too low for the average Toon to see.

“You…” Dandy let Pebble down and sat on the mattress. “You really did it?”

Astro grabbed Dandy’s hands and leaned in close until their faces were mere inches away. “I told you that you deserve a proper room, didn’t I? That applies to all of you.”

“Well…” Suddenly, Dandy felt shy. He wanted to show that he cared just as much as his crush did, but there was only really one way he could.

Overcome by gratitude, he began to say, “Astro… I need to tell you something important. I’m in lo–”

“Hold on.” Astro quickly let go of his hands and stood up. “How about you tell me when I’m not running on an hour of sleep, okay?”

Dandy immediately felt his confidence shrink. “Oh, right, of course! I can tell you later, then! No problem!”

With a long yawn, Astro walked out of the room and towards the elevator, his footsteps slowly becoming quieter the more he walked.

Pebble, sensing his feelings, rubbed his face against Dandy’s legs affectionately.

Dandy picked up his first ever friend with a sigh. “He’s great, isn’t he?”

“Bark!”

“He’s always so quiet… It just makes you wonder what he’s thinking about. I mean, I couldn’t have guessed he’d decorate a room just for that, huh?”

At the mention of that, Pebble began to emit a low growl. After he realized Dandy meant himself, he quickly jumped out of his grasp to sit on the floor.

Dandy chuckled and shook his head. “I didn’t mean right now. I’m surprised you even remember protocol.” Looking back at the mattress, he muttered, “Though it wouldn’t hurt to try it out.”

Just as he said that, a knock on the door echoed throughout the room. It was then followed by a very loud “You in there?!”

Dandy froze. “...Yes?”

As a response, the door began to be slowly pushed open by an all-too-familiar gachapon. She quickly walked inside and brushed her sleeves together to brush off any dirt. “...Hi.”

“Gigi,” Dandy began, his voice filled with wariness. “What are you doing in my room?” 

“Astro told me where it is. I think he was too tired to ask why,” she responded with a shrug. After a few awkward seconds, she narrowed her eyes. “I, uh, think you know what I’m here for.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

With a long sigh, Gigi opened up the lid on her head, rummaged around, and eventually tossed a gray tape over to Dandy, who caught it like it was a precious jewel. “I came to say sorry.”

Dandy was quite surprised, but he patted the spot on the mattress next to him and sat down. He knew he was in for a bit of a long talk.

Gigi hesitantly sat down next to him. She looked away from his eyes as she said, “Well, I came to say sorry about… not believing you. It’s kinda obvious to everyone else that you’ve been trying to help Flutter the best you can, and I’ll admit it, I made a mistake in not realizing that. So… yeah.”

Dandy raised an eyebrow. “Did someone push you to come and apologize?”

“No!” Gigi considered her statement for a second. “Well, I had a talk with Scraps about her brother. I asked how she could remain so calm despite his twisting, and she said it was because she knew that he’d end up alright. It was kind of amazing, you know? She’s always been super perseverant, I guess, so that kind of inspired me. Uh, she also had a big theory she wanted me to ask you too.”

Dandy couldn’t have guessed that she’d take his advice—if threatening could be called advice—to heart. “A theory? About what?”

“You Twisteds.” She brought a sleeve up to her mouth. “Er, half-Twisteds. Scraps basically said that it was taking Goob and Flutter way longer to get better than the others because of their rarity. Since there’s more ‘twisted ichor’ or something, it’s harder for them to respond to the outside world. She also said if a Main twists, it’ll probably take way longer to get better than a Side Character. What do you think of that?”

“That… makes sense.” Dandy had actually deduced the theory long before, but he decided not to say anything. “So, she thinks the closer a Toon is to Main status, the harder it is?”

Gigi looked at him with a confused expression, like he wasn’t getting something very obvious. “What?”

“...Am I wrong?”

“No, no, it’s just…” The gachapon blinked exaggeratedly. “It’s how close they are to your rarity, dude. It took years for you to come to your senses. You’re a rehabilitated Twisted too.”

Chapter Text

Despite their five-hour anniversary of being together, Poppy hadn’t said much about her new relationship. Granted, she had acted the same with Boxten, even when he twisted. He loved her for that.

The two lovers were sitting on Poppy’s pink bed, simply chatting. Boxten’s newfound ability to speak—albeit mediocre compared to others—gave their conversations much more substance. Poppy was creative and optimistic, but there was a limit to what she could say before she ran out of topics by herself.

“Are they gonna make you go on a run?” she asked, deciding to sit cross-legged and lean closer to him.

Boxten searched through his foggy vocabulary for the answer. Like pieces falling into a puzzle, he managed to create the very long sentence, “May… Maybe?”

A worried look appeared on Poppy’s face. “But what if you get hurt again?” she asked with uncharacteristic worry. “I don’t like seeing you hurt.”

“I…” The words existed, but they were too eluding for him. Instead of speaking, Boxten decided to wrap his hands around hers and lean against her head. He hoped the affectionate message got through.

After a few seconds, Poppy shook her head  and grinned without a trace of fear. “Yeah, you’re right! After all, I’m gonna protect you this time, so you don’t have to worry one bit!”

“I…”

The words were right there. They surely existed in the void between imagination and reality, between consciousness and slumber.

“I… I lo…”

There it was.

“I love you,” Boxten muttered. His voice felt like a shirt that didn’t fit quite right. It was unnatural and different from before, but it was his duty to use it to express how he felt.

The bubble looked a bit surprised at the outburst. “Aww, I love you too! That’s what you say when you date someone, right? Oh, I can’t believe I can say that now!” 

Boxten could see that beneath her happy-go-lucky attitude lied genuine care. Genuine love, even. Just a week before, he couldn’t see it at all. “Are you… tired?” He didn’t like the slight rasp in his voice.

“Huh?” Poppy thought for a moment. “Yeah, I am pretty tired. Wanna stay here for the night?”

Boxten nodded. For some reason, he felt afraid of being alone in his room at night. The word “nightmares” popped up in his head, but he quickly dismissed it. He had always dreamt in pure void for as long as he lived. At least, that was what he thought.

Grinning, Poppy lifted up her pillow and lightly smacked Boxten with it. 

Silence filled Gardenview during the night. Toons were expected to retreat into their rooms and fall fast asleep, and Poppy was no different, even with her soda addiction.

Every time she breathed out, her chest rose and fell. Every time something exciting happened in her dreams, her hand twitched a little. Occasionally, she would unconsciously move a little closer to Boxten, who sat right next to her.

During one of her stirs, she had accidentally nudged his head’s restraints. The scarf loosened and, with a bit of help from Boxten himself, fell into his hands easily.

Boxten slowly opened the lid to his music box-like head. Ichor strands on the lid broke and fell like slime, forming two hands that slowly reached out and stretched as if they were sentient. As his eyes landed on Poppy, the hands began to inch closer and closer under his command. 

Carefully, Boxten grabbed her large pink bow and set it on the bedside table next to him, as he couldn’t have imagined that it was a comfortable accessory to sleep in. Gracing her cheeks with his ichor palms for just for a moment, he put the hands back and closed his lid. Not a muscle in his body wanted to hurt her.

The Twisted turned to face Poppy and lied down on the bed next to her. He grabbed the blanket that covered their legs and made sure she was comfortable. With one last movement, he pulled her closer into a sleepy hug so she wouldn’t fall off the bed. Poppy somewhat sensed the movement as she slept and burrowed her head in his chest comfortably.

With that, Boxten could rest easy.

Chapter Text

“One of the Main Characters of Dandy's World. This Twisted makes up for his slower speed by summoning deadly tendrils from the ground that strike at nearby Toons. Do not let this Twisted trap you down there!”

Vee stared at her open document, trying to will herself to fix up her descriptions. She had never interacted with Twisted Sprouts for long, so she wasn’t very sure of what to add that sounded informative, assertive, and mysterious at the same time.

A red hand waved in front of her camera impatiently. “Vee? Hellooo? Are you with us?”

Vee exited the tab and brought back her green expression, which she changed to one of displeasure. “Hi,” she said.

Bobette jumped a bit at her attitude, but quickly regained her usual cheer. “Were you listening to what I was saying?” she asked, gesturing to the other Toons in the dimly lit room.

“...Yes.”

To Vee’s right, an annoyed Toon brushed her stained bristles away from her eyes with her hand. “I thought Glisten was the only Toon who cared about gossip like this? It’s not any of our business.”

“This is something that concerns all of us, too! It’s important that we do something about it, or else it’ll never come to fruition,” Bobette huffed, crossing her arms and frowning exagerratedly.

Brightney, who sat beside Brusha, reluctantly nodded. “I kinda get what you mean, though I still think messing with drama isn’t our forte. Won’t they just… come together naturally?”

“No way!” Bobette exclaimed. “In the nicest way possible, nothing can stop their obliviousness.”

“Uhm…”

Everyone quickly turned to look at the Toon to Brightney’s left.

“Why am I here?” Dandy asked, tugging on his shirt collar absentmindedly.

Bobette blinked, clearly confused. “I told you already. We’re here to get you and Astro together.”

“Together? But we hang out all the time–” Dandy was cut off by Brusha swatting away his sentence with her paintbrush like a fly.

“Together romantically,” she explained, scrunching up her face in concentration as she continued her painting. From the glance Vee got of the small sketchbook, it looked like an abstract one.

As Dandy’s face shifted from confusion to surprise, Vee opened up her document again. She snuck a glance at Brightney for, according to her, no reason at all. 

Looking through her Twisted descriptions—while making sure what she was looking at wasn’t visible to the others—she eventually found the entry for Twisted Dandy. It was completely empty.

Vee hadn’t been sure of what to put since she encountered him. For every Twisted she saw, she wrote a short description on their mechanics and how to survive them. She definitely knew how the Lethal worked; that wasn’t an issue.

Months ago, there was a single entry written. It was concise and full of anger. “The star of the show. The one who runs the Ichor operation. It's all his fault.” Vee had deleted it when she found out Dandy regretted his actions, as she didn’t think it was fair to him to have such an opinionated statement amongst the other descriptions. Then, she realized she had never thought much about fairness before. It was a change in her mind that was subtle, yet there all the same.

On one hand, a cold description didn’t fit a Twisted with sentience. On the other, she didn’t want to leave it blank, as she only left blank entries for Twisteds she had barely, or never, encountered, like a Twisted Dyle. She wasn’t sure there was one. 

After a few seconds of thinking, she finally had an idea. She would write an opinionated, yet descriptive, entry.

“This Twisted makes up for his lack of speed by having a high attention span. Despite his deadly abilities, he has full awareness of what he’s doing, separating him from other Twisteds. If you see him, tell him I said hi.”

Vee frowned. It was far too long for her taste, but she decided that it was fine for the moment.

The moment she exited her file, a red lamp entered her camera. “Vee? Are you free later?” the lamp asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Vee quickly blurted out.

Brightney chuckled, as though she was amused by her embarrassment. “What do you think of the plan Bobette came up with?”

Vee blinked. “It’s good.” She had no idea what plan the ornament conjured.

“I’m surprised you’d agree to something like that, Vee,” Brusha commented from behind her. “You don’t strike me as a cooking type.”

“I’m never opposed to people learning new hobbies!” Bobette grinned, walking over to Dandy and putting her hands on her hips in triumph. Dandy looked almost defeated, like he was forced to admit his love for Astro in front of all the girls. Vee had a feeling her guess was right.

“...Wait. Cooking?”

Chapter Text

Flutter didn’t actually mind being a Twisted. In fact, she thought she was perfectly fine.

The landscape around her was unfamiliar. There was this weird tree right in the center of a bunch of, what, elevators? What a silly thought. In front of the tree, there was a sign with a flower on it.

Flutter hated flowers.

But she also hated dwelling on things, so she quickly turned around. What’s the point in thinking about the past, huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? She couldn’t remember. She didn’t care. She never stopped moving right along!

The sky above was totally dark, just how she liked it. Big bright lights hurt her eyes, so she much preferred darkness. In front of her was no one. It was totally empty. Weird. Not weird for Flutter, though. She was chill with it.

The butterfly decided to fly around in search of what was going on. She flew past things she couldn’t recognize, like faces on posters or faces on plushies. They probably weren’t important.

Without stopping, she went ahead and into maybe a door? Maybe she flew for a bit more. Regardless, she soon found herself in a totally different place.

A hallway. With doors. Weird. She kept flying until she saw a figure in the distance.

The figure was, well, Flutter didn’t know. She couldn’t tell. She wasn’t able to tell for so long that she had begun to be able to tell who the figure was.

The figure was a Toon with rainbow petals and mint blush. The figure was a Twisted with slightly desaturated pointy petals and mint blush. The figure was a friend who had helped her in the past. The figure was an enemy who did something to her, but she wasn’t sure what. The figure was good. The figure was bad. The figure was something in between all of what she thought before.

Flutter didn’t like how her brain began to ache.

The figure turned around and jumped a bit at the sight of her. She didn’t feel like trying to attack the figure—not that she felt safe. Maybe it was the same as her. She knew that wasn’t true. It said something she could barely make out.

“Ls! Uofggvi! R wrwm'g, fs, hvv blf xlnv fk.” Small pause. “Ziv blf lpzb? Blf wlm'g ollp hl tllw.” It sounded like an insult.

Flutter gave it a nasty look and turned around. She didn’t care about whatever it was saying.

Something happened the next day. Or maybe it was the next decade. No, it was the next day. She could tell because it was so, so bright. Ew.

A figure was standing in front of her. A different one. It said as much gibberish as the last one.

“R'n hgroo ivzoob dliirvw zylfg blf... Yfg R gsrmp R'oo gifhg rm Hxizkh' gsvlib. Blf'oo yv lpzb, R kilnrhv.”

Another figure came over. “Trtr? Sld'h hsv wlrmt?”

“Hsv... R'n dliirvw, Zhgil. Yfg R gsrmp hsv'oo yv lpzb.”

“Gszg'h gsv hkrirg.” More useless words. It didn’t make sense. 

Flutter did want to learn what they were saying. She wasn’t a bad person, she wasn’t.

What was she talking about?! She didn’t want to face what she was hiding from! Silly her.

No. She wouldn’t deal. She had to move. She had to move. She had to move. She was still that one time, and she couldn’t let it happen again. She had to move. She could do things when she moved. 

Like getting rid of roll cakes banging on elevators. Easy target! Boom boom pow, like a video game!

Flutter wasn’t a bad person. Everyone said so.

The feeling of ichor splattering on her as the thing went down was satisfying for something like her!

Everyone always pitied her for her lack of voice. She tried to tell them she didn’t mind it.

It was so loud that when it finally went quiet, she almost sighed in relief!

Even when she twisted into something belligerent, they still pitied her. She had never been very good with words.

Perspective was a horrible, horrible thing.

Flutter found herself crying in her room. Black tears of pure ichor fell from her wide eyes onto her thighs and dripped down onto the floor as she hunched over, wings closed and droopy. 

The reason for her sadness eluded her. She wasn’t sure why she felt so uncomfortable in that moment, since no one was around her. Her confusion gave her a sense of detachment from the world—after all, no matter how much she wondered why she was sad, she still was crying.

Eventually, she formulated some sort of answer in her mind. She had always hated being misunderstood by others, even if the Toons felt like they got her whole picture. She had always been seen as the mute butterfly, even if she wanted the world to know about her adventurous personality. Maybe she was jealous of the Toons that garnered sympathy with a single tear. Maybe she wanted less pity from those who saw her as innocent.

Flutter knew the real answer was some mixed up, confused version of her two truths. She considered trying to find it by talking with her peers, but she quickly dismissed that idea. She barely knew the question she wanted to ask. They wouldn’t understand her anyway; she barely understood herself. It was a sort of hell of her own making, even if others had gone through worse.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. One half of her wanted to open the door and invite whoever it was to listen to her. The other half wanted nothing to do with anyone. Neither side won.

The door creaked open as the figure from before walked in. She looked at the Twisted not with pity, but with the type of empathy that only a true friend would have.

Without a word, it sat next to her. It did not try to welcome her with open arms. It did not shun her. It simply sat and looked forward. Eventually, it spoke.

“Rg'h lpzb ru blf wlm'g ivxltmrav nv. Li... fmwvihgzmw nv,” it said with a nervous chuckle. “R pmld gsrh rh z yrg lu z urihg uli ylgs lu fh. R nvzm, dv'ev yvvm gsilfts hl nfxs gltvgsvi, yfg mlgsrmt orpv gsrh. Dv xzm hgroo wl rg gslfts, 'xzfhv blf'iv mlg zolmv—mlg orpv blf xzm'g wl hgfuu lm blfi ldm.”

Flutter still had no idea what it was saying. Despite that, her tears began to fall even more without trying. She leaned her head on the figure’s shoulder as she tried not to flood the room with her emotions.

“Don’t… well… remember… see…” A few words slipped through her shield. She wanted to keep believing that the gibberish was against her righteousness, but she knew it wasn’t.

Flutter closed her eyes and kept listening to Gigi’s rambling about their past memories together instead of forcing her own belief on herself. She thought about the Toons she recently spoke to, and wondered if she should apologize. Cosmo definitely deserved an apology from her, and Sprout would surely want one too—the thought made her chuckle internally. She could also pester Dandy, but not in a mean way. She didn’t really blame him; she had always struggled with her problems, and twisting only helped her. She still missed her cyan wings, though.

Flutter didn’t mind being a Twisted as long as she had people who understood her.

“...Do you remember when we found that really sparkly hat? You were so excited that…” was the last few words she heard before falling asleep, right next to Gigi.

Chapter Text

The Gardenview lobby was very quiet in the evenings. With most of the Toons in their respective rooms, no one had a good reason to come to the lobby. The only sounds that could be heard were the distant hums of faraway trains on the railway.

The faraway train was the exact reason why Finn was waiting so late. He rubbed his glass-like arms for warmth against the winter chill. Shrimpo had been complaining to him about how cold a few of the areas had gotten, and he had to agree with his hatred on that front.

Eventually, a multicolored train approached the entryway and slowed to a stop with a loud noise. After a few shuffling noises from inside, a Toon stepped out and brushed some dirt off of his immaculate outfit. He looked around as he walked into the lobby.

Finn immediately ran over to the Toon with a wide toothy grin on his face, skidding to a halt a meter away. “Dyle! You’re fin-ally back! There’s so much I have to tell you!”

“Did something happen?” As per usual, the clock had a tone of seriousness that opposed Finn’s cheerful attitude, though Finn didn’t mind it at all. “Where’s Sprout? I need to speak with him regarding supplies.”

“A lot has happened; you’d need to sea it to believe it!”

The statement clearly piqued Dyle’s curiosity. “Like what?” he asked, sitting down on the nearby bench.

Finn sat down next to him, making sure to keep his personal space in mind. He respected the clock’s boundaries, as he never minded sharing his ocean puns from afar. “Well, you’ve been gone for a whale. A lot of Toons have, uh, twisted.”

“...Who?”

“Flutter, Boxten, Goob, Cosmo, and Glisten.”

Dyle frowned. “Five in just three months? I thought the extraction runs only went down five floors.”

“They do!” Finn confirmed. “But… you know. It’s hard to tide from the…” He took a moment to contemplate if he should make the joke. “Anyway, they’re back and completely fine! You sea, it all started when Cosmo twisted. Sprout had found out that you can rehabilitate a Twisted by making shore to stay close to them and help them re-learn how to talk! Goob and Flutter aren’t that good at talking yet… But their healing is honestly sand-sational!”

“So these Toons became Twisteds, and then managed to become Toons by… rehabilitation?” Dyle looked disturbed by the idea. “What else happened?”

The fishbowl tried to figure out the best—and most punny—way to describe everything he had seen. “Whale, Cosmo and Sprout got together, and so did Boxten and Poppy. Em-ocean-al, huh? The Christmas Toons are here too and… Uhm…” He briefly glanced at Dyle with a strange expression. “Dandy said he’s, like, a Lethal.”

After a few seconds of having a confused expression, Dyle’s mouth formed a perfect O shape. “He told you?”

“He told everyone!” Finn raised an eyebrow. “Lemme guess: you knew?” 

“Well, of course I knew.” It made sense to Finn as, since Dyle was in charge of handling supplies, he would know most about what the Toons needed. “Why would I not know my fellow Twisteds?”

Finn blinked. “Huh?”

“Huh?”

“What… What do you mean ‘fellow Twisteds’?” There was a bit of a tremble in his voice that he tried to swallow with an audible gulp.

A nervous smile awkwardly snaked across Dyle’s face, like he couldn’t fathom what he was hearing and had to force himself to laugh it off. “Finn, I’m a Lethal. I’ve told you that before.”

Finn couldn’t find any mention of it in his very vivid memory. “Are you seal-rious? When was that?”

“Well…” Dyle crossed his legs and waved the specifics of his answer away with his hand. “I’ve made it quite clear. I’ve told you my last name, I said things about it when… you… weren’t paying attention.” He paused. “On second thought, perhaps I haven’t made it abundantly clear. But Dandicus must have said something about sharing his abilities with another?”

Finn shook his head. “He said he was the only one.”

“But that can’t be,” he muttered. “I told him as well!”

“Did you tell him the same way you… uh… told me?”

An awkward silence settled between the two. Neither was sure of what to think about the other.

Eventually, Dyle coughed into his elbow conspicuously and uncasually. “Does that change how you, or other Toons, will see me? I’ve never seen my abilities as something to be shunned.”

Finn kicked his legs in thought. “Hmm… Well, you’re a pretty so-fish-ticated guy; I don’t think you’d hurt a Toon on purpose. So no, you won’t be shunned for shore.”

“...Finn? Why did Dandy tell you in the first place? We all know he has never exactly been one for vulnerability.”

“Well,” the fishbowl began, deciding to momentarily pause his puns, “remember when I said that Flutter twisted?”

It took a few seconds for the question to settle in. Once it did, Dyle’s eyes widened, and he sat a bit straighter. “Did…”

“Yeah. He did.”

Dyle immediately stood up. “I must speak with him.” He set his gaze on the far elevators and began to walk towards them.

Finn sprang up from his seat and animatedly cupped his mouth with his hands. “Wait! It reel-y isn’t what you’re thinking! Come back!”

Dyle turned around with the most disconcerted expression he had ever seen on him. Venetian red pupils shone in his eyes. “Do you not realize the importance and urgency of this?! Twisting isn’t such a casual topic!”

Finn had no response.

Chapter Text

Sadly, Dyle was unable to talk with his fellow Lethal, as the flower was nowhere to be found. He searched throughout the entire center, but by the time the sun began to rise, he had grown fatigued. Although his ability allowed him to not sleep for several nights on end, Dyle still grew bored.

Defeated, he wandered over to the kitchen floor, where he encountered a very strange view.

A clearly Twisted Cosmo was rummaging around the space with several Toons behind him. The Cosmo poked his head out of the cabinet and shook his head. “No flour. Sorry guys.”

“How are we supposed to bake without flour?” asked Glisten, who was standing behind the Twisted. With a second glance, Dyle realized he had a crack above his left eye and a large white apron.

Next to him, Sprout frowned impatiently. “This is an issue… Oh! Dyle! Perfect timing; did you bring more supplies?”

“Er, yes, I left them in your room. Why is–”

Sprout clapped his hands and smiled. “Great! I’ll go get them.” He then briskly walked over to the nearest elevator. Dyle took the momentary pause of silence to speak up.

“Do any of you know where Dandicus has gone?” he asked.

A television-themed Toon wearing a white apron answered his question. “I’d like to know the same thing. He should be down here helping us.”

“But this is a favor!” Bobette, who was leaning on the green cabinets, stiffened. “Like… Like a Christmas gift! Vee, you volunteered!"

“It’s not a gift if you have to do it yourself…” Glisten sourly muttered. He didn’t look too excited about cooking.

The Cosmo turned to Dyle and smiled. “Did you want to help out with cooking?” he asked politely, almost like the real Cosmo.

Dyle quickly realized that Finn was being truthful about what had happened. As he had many personal experiences with Twisteds becoming Toons, he found himself not as surprised as he ought to have been. “What exactly are you cooking?”

“Well, Christmas is in exactly a week. I want to make food that can be served at the celebration and frozen for much later,” the pastry answered. He gestured over at a pile of white aprons on a nearby wooden stool. “We can’t make all that food with only six people.”

Bobette tilted her head in confusion. “There’s only five people helping, though?” As soon as she said that, bright blue smoke began to engulf her from behind, causing her to start coughing into her rolled-up sleeves.

The sixth cook rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. “Way to exclude the invisible one, huh?” she asked sarcastically.

Dyle quickly looked away from Connie. He had never liked the ghost’s snooping, especially when it came to his own business. “I don’t exactly mind cooking, but–”

“Oh, thank you, Dyle!” Cosmo smiled. “Here, grab an apron!"

Unsurprisingly, Dyle ended up being roped into the job of mixing the dough, as he had barely any knowledge about cooking. He, also unsurprisingly, had to be paired up with Connie.

As he was rolling up his dark blue sleeves and begrudgingly putting on his apron, the ghost looked at the bowl in confusion. “Cosmo usually only asks me to help because I can reach the tall stuff.”

“The two bakers seem very understaffed. They do have to make enough dinner for every single Toon here,” Dyle responded, deciding if he should roll up his flared rainbow pants.

Connie looked at his outfit and chuckled. “Imagine having to roll up your pants,” she joked, gesturing to her ghostly tail. She had never seemed insecure about her lack of legs, which was a trait Dyle had to commend—he had grown used to his own golden chain as well. “The joys of being– Wait, no, that’s something Glisten would say.”

“Well, I can’t say I don’t relate,” he added, turning on the stand mixer.

“...To not having legs?”

Dyle paused. “Nevermind that. Could you tell me what exactly happened while I was gone? Someone filled me in on the ‘deaths’, but I’m still very surprised about the sudden romance in the air. Also…” He lowered his voice. “Did Dandicus really twist Flutter?”

Connie reached over and held the bowl as it was being mixed, watching the piles of baking ingredients slowly become yellow dough. “Yeah. He admitted it himself. Apparently, Flutter found out some stuff she shouldn’t have.”

“How did the others react?”

“Well…” Connie thought for a moment about what she should say—a rare move for her. “A lot of things have changed. Dandy felt genuine guilt about the whole thing, and most of the Toons forgave him—for good reason. The guys who twisted changed too, like, Glisten is so much more fun to be around.” She gestured to the mirror, who was trying to help Bobette with figuring out the buttons on the oven. When he tapped something that started the oven by mistake, he quickly shut it off and then laughed at his blunder with her.

Dyle stared at the scene in confused awe. He then turned back to Connie and asked, “And you? Have you changed as well?”

“Probably. Seeing Gigi feel so heartbroken and angry at Flutter’s death changes a girl.” She tugged on her apron and smiled. “A lot of the changes have been good, though.”

Before Dyle could respond, Sprout appeared from behind them and frowned with his arms crossed. “Connie, less talking.”

“Ughhhh… Yes, Sprout,” she groaned, exaggeratedly tilting her head backwards. “I better get extra on Christmas for this.”

“Maybe I can just say your Christmas gift is the joy of baking,” Sprout teased, letting a small smile creep into his stern expression.

Connie animatedly gasped. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“If you keep procrastinating, I might,” he tutted, walking away to help Glisten, whose loose bow began to catch on fire.

With the utter chaos that was happening behind him, Dyle approached Bobette and asked, “Christmas is being celebrated this year? Isn’t that a waste of supplies?”

“Of course not!” she grinned, grabbing the fire extinguisher and drenching Glisten with the foam without breaking eye contact. “Christmas is a very special tradition here in Gardenview!”

“And… When is it, again?”

“In a few days!"

"...Lovely."

Chapter Text

The 25th of December was the most important day of the year for Ginger. Every year, she took that day as her time to shine, to forget about where she had to go after December ended. The lighting, the decorations, the food—she loved it all. 

The Gardenview tree had green and red ornaments hung from its sweet-smelling leaves, and faux snow covered the usually green top. Ginger thanked the thick glass and the insulated walls for the warmth she could feel, as snow began to pile on the rooftop.

Toons quickly poured into the lobby from the decorated elevators and gawked at the beautiful scenery. Many of them had received a festive outfit, courtesy of Glisten. Even Shrimpo wore a red Santa hat on his head and yelled at those asking where he got it.

Ginger quickly found her cousin in the crowd and waved him over, gesturing at the tray of cookies she was holding.

“I’m so glad all our of baking paid off,” Cosmo grinned, opting for a chocolate-chip cookie. His black claws sunk into the soft dough of the middle part as he took a bite. “These came out really well!”

“I’ll hand out these extras, then help you get dinner in order, alright?” Ginger suggested.

Cosmo nodded. “All of the food should be almost ready. You can relax for a bit and talk to everyone,” he said as he walked towards the left elevator, being careful not to bump into anyone in the dense crowd.

Once he left, Ginger decided to walk over to a small group of Toons near the large Gardenview sign. She jutted out her tray and asked, “Anyone want some? Fresh out of the oven…!”

“Can’t believe there was extra dough,” grinned Connie, who took a cookie immediately. She was not wearing her usual hat and shirt; instead, she wore dark red mittens with white fluff, a dark red sleeveless blouse with a white ribbon, and her hair was dyed red as well. Even her blue skin was painted pink. 

“Was baking fun?” Poppy asked. She was also dressed for the occasion, with both her bow and dress changed into dark blue ones littered with light polka-dots. Beside her was her boyfriend, who looked nervous at the sheer number of Toons walking around. His hands tightly clamped around Poppy’s as his eyes darted around—both of which noticeably had much lighter scleras. 

Connie tapped her chin in thought. “Well, Glisten got lit on fire, so that was cool.”

Behind her, Rodger shook his head at her comment. “I doubt you would act so casual if your clothes touched the stove.” The only difference with his appearance was that his skin was painted red, which Ginger thought was a bit odd. He grabbed a cookie and muttered, “I’d rather be solving the numerous mysteries in this place.”

“Come on, Rodger. I think you should be enjoying yourself! It’s a party, after all,” Ginger smiled.

With a begrudging sigh, Rodger nodded. “I… suppose you’re right. Maybe I should let myself relax, just for tonight.”

“...Uhm, Ginger?” Boxten began. His voice was slow and unsteady, but much clearer than before. “When is… uh… dinner?” He looked proud of his sentence.

“Well, it’s only one in the afternoon. Dinner should be at seven,” she answered, averting her eyes from the two hands peaking out of his light purple lid.

With only one cookie left on her tray, Ginger decided to approach the two craft siblings near the cardboard cutout of Sprout in front of the left elevator. Although Scraps was dressed in pastel colors, her brother had on his regular lack of an outfit.

“Uhm, Scraps? Do you want a cookie?” Ginger hesitantly asked, becoming more concerned by second due to the paper craft’s doleful expression.

Scraps snapped up to attention at her question. She seemed like she had been lost in thought as she said “Oh, yeah, sure,” grabbing a cookie and eating it quickly.

Ginger frowned. “Did you skip lunch or something?”

“You guessed it,” she admitted with a sheepish grin. “Bobette made me work overtime with the decorations!”

“Ahh, I see…” The ornament’s love of Christmas cheer was a well-known fact in Gardenview, as her determination to make every Christmas better than the last was only overshadowed by Rudie’s obsession with them. “And… How is your brother?”

Goob didn’t have any major changes in his appearance that Ginger noticed, compared to Cosmo and Boxten. His claws were still razor-sharp, his fur was only slightly softer and cleaner than before, and his scleras only looked the slightest bit lighter, though still too dark for Ginger’s comfort. His hands were untied and he seemed like he had no desire to attack as well.

Despite his lack of differences, the question brought a bigger smile to Scraps’ face than before. “He’s doing better. I know it isn’t obvious, but the fact that he can even come to this party is a miracle.”

“I wasn’t doubting his recovery,” Ginger stated. “We all know that it’s been tough for him, and… If he, or you, needs some extra help, we’re all right here!” She gestured to the tree behind her. “We’re opening presents soon.”

“Oh, it’s time already?” Scraps lightly shook Goob awake and walked towards where most of the Toons began to congregate. Goob followed with a nervous, yet aware, expression. Ginger realized the paper craft was right.

Putting her tray down on a spare crate, Ginger straightened her red shirt and prepared to start her second favorite Christmas tradition: gift giving.

Chapter Text

“Oh, Dazzle! Aren’t you excited for the gift giving?” Razzle exclaimed happily. He looked over at his twin brother and raised a white hand, expecting a high five in return.

Dazzle frowned. He looked at the hand with an expression of discomfiture and replied, “Are you sure we have to do it this year?”

“Of course we do! We prepared really good gifts this year, and it’d be a waste not to give them out!” Seeing Dazzle’s hesitation, Razzle lowered his hand and gave a comforting smile. “Don’t you wanna see what the others got for us?”

“...Okay. But afterwards, could we go to the library for some peace and quiet?”

“Sure!”

While the two were speaking, the rest of the Toons assembled into a messy circle around the Gardenview tree. They all whispered excitedly about the assortment of wrapped presents stacked against its brown trunk, and the few presents a couple of Toons were holding.

Eventually, Rodger stood up and announced, as tradition, “I would like to go first. Brightney,” he gestured to the lamp sitting a few meters away, “during one of my excursions to the lower floors, I encountered a heap of books that I am certain you haven’t read yet.” He walked over to the tree and tried to pick up a large wrapped box, but as it was too heavy for him, he decided to just drag it over to her. “I do hope you enjoy them—they seem right up your alley!”

Brightney laid a hand on her chest and took the books gratefully. “Thank you, Rodger! Now, I have a non-physical gift for... Blot!” She walked over to the ink-covered Toon sitting beside Razzle and Dazzle and put her hands on her hips. “You’re aware of my book club, right?”

Razzle couldn’t tell what Blot said, but Dazzle heard something along the lines of, “Yeah, I know of it. What about it…?” Blot was sitting on the concrete brown edge of the area; there was an unspoken rule about Blot not being allowed on the grass.

“Well… With careful consideration, I’d like to personally invite you to it. I know you’ve been getting into literature lately,” she declared. “And, I’m sure you’ll be careful around the books.”

Blot’s eye widened. “Seriously? I thought it was super exclusive,” Dazzle thought he said.

“Meetings are every week!” she informed as she walked back to where she was sitting.

Dazzle leaned over and whispered, “I think you’ll like it… It’s nice and quiet.”

Blot nodded and stood up. He began a small speech in his strange language, but after a moment, shrugged and passed a present over to Glisten before sitting down again.

“A gift? For me? Oh, Blot, you simply shouldn’t have!” Glisten exclaimed, though he clearly had been wanting one. He opened the box and lifted up what was inside with a gasp.

At first, it looked like a pile of semi-solid ink. However, as he turned it around, it became evident that it was a “Blot Jr” shaped like him—Razzle wondered if it was called a Glisten Jr, despite it being more akin to a modeled sculpture. The mirror looked very happy about the gift, even though the ink was dirtying his hands. Dazzle smiled a bit at the sight’s symbolism.

Every Toon looked at Glisten expectantly for a few seconds. Once he put the sculpture back into the box, he chuckled nervously and declared, “Well, in the past few days, I was designing and making outfits for several Toons in a row. That counts as gifts!”

“Sure, man, whatever you say!” Connie sarcastically agreed, having to shout a bit as he was on the other side of the tree.

With the chain of gift giving broken, Pebble took that moment to leap out of his owner’s lap and ran over to a small wrapped gift with a bark. He then turned 180° and raced over to Coal, dropping the gift in front of her and sitting down expectantly.

“Oh, let me get that!” Bobette offered, leaning against Coal to unwrap the present, which turned out to be a plush bone wrapped in red and green ribbon.

Pebble barked and bonked his forehead on the plush, clearly motioning for Coal to take it. Once the larger dog did, he raced back over to his waiting owner’s lap.

“Aww…!” Bobette exclaimed. “That was so sweet of him, wasn’t it, Coal?”

“Woof,” Coal barked in response. She pressed her rhinarium against a small white present sitting on the grass and pushed it over to a very surprised Toodles just a few meters away.

Toodles looked at the gift and put her hands to her mouth to exaggerate her surprise. “For me?” It was clear she had been very excited to receive a gift for a while, as her surprise quickly melted into a smile.

Coal bounced up and down in a motion of nodding, pushing the present closer.

“Okay, okay!” With a large grin, Toodles tore open the wrapping paper and opened the lid to find a small plush dog with white spots all over it. She gasped and squealed, “My plush! Coal, you found him!” She threw her arms around the pet rock in a hug.

Rodger, sitting beside her, looked at the scene with a happy expression. “Didn’t you say you had a gift for one of the Toons you made yourself?”

Toodles paused her hugging and nodded as Coal nonchalantly walked back to her owner. “Yeah, I do! But… He didn’t show up!”

A few confused looks spread through the crowd as Rodger thought about who didn’t show up. “...Did you make a gift for Dyle?”

“Mhm…” She gestured at a small crudely wrapped envelope near the tree. “That’s mine!”

“Don’t worry about it, Toodles. You can give it to him at dinner,” Brightney assured. The moment the lamp said that, the middle elevator opened loudly and a Toon walked out.

Dyle, with his robe untied and frazzled, and—most notably—red pupils and sharpened fangs, stepped out of the elevator with an angry expression and pointed directly at Dandy. “We. Need. To. Talk.”

Chapter Text

Toodles prided herself on her deductive skills. As she had learned all she knew from the best—and only—detective in Gardenview, she felt like she was the best qualified candidate to solve the scene unfolding in front of her.

It was apparent to everyone in the lobby that Dyle was angry, but by looks alone, Toodles couldn’t tell what he was thinking. She decided to listen to what he was saying to decipher it, as she was in full detective mode the moment the first words were said.

Dandy stood up from where he was sitting and furrowed his eyebrows. “What is it–” He stopped himself from saying another word once he noticed Dyle’s pupils. Eventually, he coughed up a, “How are you…”

“I really can’t believe you, Dandicus,” the clock began. “I am gone for three months, and when I come back, I see all of this? What have you been doing?”

The shock quickly faded from Dandy’s expression as he grew angry at the vague accusations. “What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m saying.”

“I don’t–”

Toodles stepped between the two and jutted her arms out, pushing the two away from each other. “Stop fighting!” she yelled.

Rodger quickly walked over and put on his fatherly tone of voice. “Toodles, this isn’t something you should–”

“No, Rodger!” she grinned, putting her black hands on her hips. “I can figure this out myself! Now, what exactly is–”

“I appreciate your love of solving cases, but now is not the time!” the magnifying glass scolded. He nervously glanced at the two, as if his worry for Toodles getting hurt outweighed his need for curiosity.

Toodles frowned. She looked at her guardian and exclaimed, “But you never let me help in any of your cases! I can do this one!”

“...Maybe next time.”

“But…!”

Despite her joyous attitude moments prior, tears began to threaten to fall from her wide eyes. She loved Rodger dearly—she always saw him as the father she never had—but she hated that he never let her put her skills to good use. He had promised to let her in on his next case; a case that felt like it would never come.

Sniffling, her heart broken at what she felt like was the final straw, she ran to the elevator and slammed the button for the Toon Rooms.

The walls of Toodles’ room was covered in drawings she had drew years prior. Most were about the Toons she saw as friends, and some were portraits of a few human children that visited long ago. Her favorite was the one where she had drawn her Halloween-themed friend, and in return, she got a portrait back. The two never had the best drawing skills, but they had fun together.

Toodles wasn’t sure of what to do after she had dramatically ran out of the lobby. She didn’t understand her emotions well, but she knew that she was angry, and that was all she needed to know.

Eventually, she heard a knock on her door. She felt conflicted about if she should let the Toon comfort her, or if she should stay put. She wanted both.

“...Toodles? May I come in?”

Toodles said nothing.

After a few seconds of silence, Rodger let himself inside. His eye softened as he said, “Those two didn’t seem like they wanted a spectator in their argument.”

“You never let me do any cases!” Toodles glowered. “I wanna help!”

“I know you do, it’s just dangerous–” He paused and sighed. “I have been neglecting your requests, yes. I see that you have a knack for mystery, but I… I am a selfish person. I didn’t wish for you to get hurt during my more risky endeavors, but perhaps that was a mistake on my part.”

The billard ball shook her head. “I-I know I’m ready for one! I’ve been practicing!” She balled her fists.

Rodger nodded. “I think… I think I may have a case I need your help with.”

“...Really?”

“Yes, really. You see,” he began, “as a Christmas gift, Dandicus himself gave me a small paper note. On it, he wrote ‘December 27, noon sharp. I’ll answer any questions’. Oh, I almost shed a tear!”

Toodles sat on her bed and kicked her legs up. “What’ll I do?”

“Your deductive reasoning is superb, but a good detective must take concise notes. You need to practice that, and an interview is the best time to!”

“Did Mr. Dyle get my present?” she sniffled, a small smile on her face.

A small crinkle of Rodger’s eye mimicked a smile as well. “He loved your drawing. It was very kind of you to be so considerate.”

“...Can I go on a floor run with you yet?”

Rodger chuckled. “No.”