Chapter Text
Why did they always ignore him?
Why weren’t they paying attention to him?
What did he do to make them ignore him?
These questions floated around in Dandy’s mind as he walked alone through one of the lower levels of Gardenview. He felt he needed to clear his head, though he wasn’t sure if being alone was something he wanted or needed at this point. He had spent pretty much all day being ignored. Sure, he wasn’t able to get the best items for his shop during the ichor runs today, but was that really a reason for everyone to ignore him even when they weren’t on those runs?
He paced around the floor with clenched fists, trying to come up with a reason, any reason, the others would be ignoring him. His jaw began to ache from clenching, and he could feel the ichor rushing through his veins. He hated this. He hated it when they did this to him.
He stopped as his body began to shake, a sign of the transformation starting. Well, if they won’t pay attention to him, they’ll have to pay attention to his twisted form.
He would make them pay.
Astro pulled the blanket tighter over his body as he walked down the hallway. It was first thing in the morning, and he should be sleeping after a long night of commanding dreams, but he couldn’t shake this feeling that something was wrong. He eventually found the rest of the main toons sitting around a table on their floor, which was only shared between them and Cosmo…for some reason. He approached the table, a look of concern on his face.
“…Have any of you seen Dandy this morning?” He asked, feeling as though he was intruding, “I can’t find him, and he wasn’t in our bed all night.”
“Hold up,” Sprout held up a finger at Astro, “Did you just say that you and Dandy share a bed?”
“I-it’s not how you’re probably imagining it. It’s just more convenient, that’s all. It works with our sleep schedules.”
“Right…and me and Cosmo share a bed because we’re two straight guys.”
“Sprout!” Cosmo giggled, trying to be serious but not being very successful.
“I’m just saying.”
“Ah, I needed the laugh this morning. It distracted me from these weird thoughts that I’ve been having for a minute.”
“The. What?”
“The weird thoughts. Y’know…the ones telling me you don’t care about me even though I know it’s not true. Those ones. You guys get those…right?”
“No???”
“Wait…how long have you been having those thoughts, Cosmo?” Astro interrupted, a feeling of dread settling on his shoulders.
“Pretty much since I woke up. Uhm…is that bad?” Cosmo scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
“Uh…I…I think I know where Dandy is now…”
Everyone stared at Astro in anticipation of what he was about to say. This, in turn, only made him more nervous. He didn’t know how the others would react to what he wanted to say, but the pit in his stomach just kept growing the longer he waited. He took a few deep breaths and pulled his blanket tighter to calm himself down before finally speaking once again…
“I…I think Dandy might’ve twisted. I can’t be certain, though. I think I need to ask some of the others if they have been having the same thoughts as Cosmo.”
“Well, if we’re getting the others involved,” Shelly scratched her cheek, “I’ll check on Tisha and see how she’s doing. Maybe we could each take a different toon.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll speak with Teagan. She might also have information about the others…”
“I guess if I have to, I’ll talk to Brightney.” Vee sighed, rolling her eyes.
“You don’t have to, Vee…” Astro claimed.
“Nope, I’m going to go talk to her.”
“I hope you guys don’t mind if I stay with Cosmo. I don’t want him twisting on us.” Sprout pointed behind him towards his best friend as he spoke.
“Aw, c’mon, Sprout, I can come with you to talk to someone if you want. Actually, Gigi and Flutter are usually hanging out together, so we could ask them questions at the same time.” Cosmo nudged the taller toon.
“…I will consider talking to someone.”
“Hehehe.”
“Alright,” Astro popped back into the conversation, “We’ll go talk…and we’ll meet in the kitchen after, right?”
Astro rushed to the kitchen to meet the others. He completely lost track of time when it came to talking with Teagan and the fact the tea made him sleepy afterwards didn’t help. He expected all the other main toons to be done with their own conversations and waiting for him in the kitchen.
As expected, the rest of the toons were in the first-floor kitchen, gathered around one of the tables, obviously discussing whatever results came of their interviews with the other toons. Shelly had seemed to have picked up Pebble at some point, as the rock was securely snuggled in the ammonite’s arms. He cautiously approached the rest of them, hoping they would notice him and speak first.
“Well, it seems like your theory was right, Astro,” Vee told him, sitting atop one of the tables, “I applaud you.”
“You’re not being sarcastic, are you?” He asked, tilting his head slightly.
“No.”
“Yeah, turns out you were right,” Sprout interrupted, “Gigi told me she had been feeling some…weird urges to steal.”
“Brightney reported something similar, but she said it was more linked to tampering with the lighting. I told her to go to Cubic if it got any worse, and that’s where she is now.”
“I can say the same for Tisha. All she did while I was there was clean.” Shelly reported.
“And Teagan reported feeling something similar…” Astro struggled to find the right words as his eyes began to prickle with tears. The reality of their situation was really setting in now…
“Hey, Astro. It’s okay, Buddy. We’ll find Dandy and bring him home, right? You can count on us!”
“It’s not that…It…it’s all my fault,” He started crying after Shelly’s response, “I knew he was twisted. I knew that if we pushed him away too much, he would lose it, and now he’s…he’s…”
Pebble jumped from his position in Shelly’s arms and ran up to Astro, snuggling his face against the moon in order to try and get him to cheer up. Astro held him close, trying to find comfort in the pet rock as his tears rolled off the smooth surface.
“Astro, no, it’s not your fault,” Sprout placed a hand on the moon’s shoulder, “You were just trying to be a good friend by keeping his secret, right? I can totally understand.”
“And like Shelly said, we’ll find him and bring him back. I’m sure the minute he sees all his friends, he’ll be so happy he changes back to his normal form. I might even throw in some cookies to sweeten the deal.” Cosmo chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
“I…I still feel guilty for all this. Like…like I let this happen to him. I know it’s not my fault, but my mind is still searching for ways I could’ve prevented this.” Astro hugged Pebble even closer.
“Ha! I KNEW IT!” Another voice came from the other side of the kitchen. It was Shrimpo, pointing at Astro for no discernible reason.
“Knew what exactly?” Vee folded her arms and tilted her head at the shrimp, humouring him for just a moment.
“HE’S BAD! HE’S BADSTRO!! AND I HATE HIM!!!”
“You done? You feel like a big boy now? Or are you just gonna stand there and continue being a goblin?”
“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!”
“A goblin.”
“I HATE GOBLINS! I HATE TELEVISION!! AND I HATE ALL OF YOU!!!” After that final comment, Shrimpo stormed off, angry as ever.
“Well, you heard it here first, folks. Shrimpo officially hates himself.”
“Vee, Astro’s still upset…” Shelly tugged on one of Vee’s arms to get her attention back.
“Oh right…I should’ve punched him while he was here.”
“VEE!”
“What?” Vee stared at the sobbing Astro for a few minutes before finally thinking about what to say, “Alright, I’m gonna talk to Cubic and Brightney about something, then we’ll start heading down to find Dandy.”
“Didn’t you just talk to Brightney?”
“Yeah, but now I need to talk to her about something else. Look, Cubic’s computer is linked to the intranet, which I am also connected to. If anything happens, they can keep me updated, got it?”
“Wait…are you linked with ALL the computers here?”
“…Yeah, you don’t want to know half the things I’ve seen.”
“Oh…well, when you’re done, we’ll all meet you by the elevator, okay?”
“Yeah, alright, whatever, I’ll try not to be too long. I just want to check with them on something.”
Vee started walking away from the rest of the group. She knew what she was about to do was probably stupid, which is why she didn’t get into any specifics. However, she wanted to get to the bottom of this, even if it would be difficult. Not knowing was something she always hated, and nobody knew the truth about why toons twisted.
Maybe if they looked into it more, they’d all find the answers they needed.
“Oh, hey there, Vee,” Cubic smiled as the television walked into their office, “If you’re looking for Brightney, she’s in one of the cubicles, so I can keep an eye on her.”
“I’m not just here to see Brightney. I need to talk to you and her.” Vee got straight to the point, knowing that there were others waiting for her.
“Oh! Well, if that’s the case, I’ll take you to her right now.”
The fidget cube led Vee into one of the curtained-off cubicles. There they saw Brightney, sitting on the bed, book in hand. Her light bulb had a tinge of red to it, a sign that she could be near twisting.
“Vee!” The lamp grinned, “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”
“Not under the best circumstances, given the state you and the others are in right now,” Vee explained.
“Yes, it’s…unfortunate.”
“And that’s why I need to talk to you and Cubic. I was wondering if you guys could do something for me while I go with the others to get Dandy. We need to get to the bottom of why toons twist.”
“I agree,” Cubic chimed in, “I’ll keep you updated through my computer…if you have access to the intranet down there…”
“I do.”
“Oh, that’s good. Don’t worry about us then. Me, Brightney, and some others will form a team to research and get to the bottom of this.”
“Thanks, I’ll let you know when we find Dandy,” Vee turned to leave, but she stopped to whisper to the nurse, “Make sure Brightney doesn’t twist on me, okay?”
“Of course, that’s what I’m here for. Now, go, go find Dandy and bring him home.”
Vee nodded and left the infirmary, closing the door gently behind her. She walked over to the elevator, being waved to by Shelly, and the group went down into the lower levels, on the hunt for their twisted friend.