Chapter Text
Alright. Nothing too messed up about this situation, surely. You’re just a girl stuck in the body of a cartoon moon boy in a potentially monster filled giant underground complex.
I hate mascot horror.
Okay, that’s a lie, I love it, but this still sucks.
My real dilemma here is that I have no idea how exactly I’m supposed to… leave. In the games going down the floors was always a one way trip. The only way out was quitting out or death, even if the elevator chatter implied the Toons did in fact have a way back.
I assume that was just the consequence of the game being in alpha. Maybe there eventually would be some kind of explanation for why exactly they go down and how they can go back up but considering I’m currently… well, in the universe knowledge of a game that’s only like 10% finished won’t help me at all.
Strangely, I feel pretty calm. A little jittery from imaginary overly sugar’d soda, but my mind is… clear. Relaxed. A little too relaxed, honestly. If I don’t keep moving I think I might be tempted to doze off again.
I think my theory that I have to somehow not enter that dream space to properly get well rested has some merit. Either that or I didn’t get any sleep at all when I passed out.
Either way, with my blanket tucked around me (gosh it’s comfortable), I set out to explore. I don’t actually know if there’s any hazards around here. It’s a miracle nothing attacked me while I was sleeping, though I won’t call myself lucky considering I’m still here.
My footsteps are completely silent. I don’t know if it’s just these cozy socks or Astro is just this light. Or sleep magic. Either way, I’m glad for it. Hopefully that Stealth stat is more useful in real application, because I don’t want to find out if hiding behind a waist high table or empty shelf is enough to make any monsters forget I’m there.
“Coast is clear…” I mumble, peeking around the next corner. “This looks like one of the earlier floor layouts… I can’t really tell if it’s accurate or not from this perspective…. It definitely looks scarier when it’s not filtered through Roblox graphics though…”
I don’t like it here. I don’t know if I like it being dead quiet, since if there was noise it’d mean I wasn’t alone on this floor.
I hug my blanket around me closer as I keep walking. Every door I’ve tried is shut tight. Staff only, it says. Don’t I count as Staff? I mean, the Toons are literally the lifeblood of this place. Ridiculous.
I don’t quite have the size or upper body strength to force the doors open either.
“Hey, those are computers…!” I smile, running across the room towards a smaller split off room. Inside are 3 desks with some colorful, cozy looking chairs and on each desk is some real vintage looking hardware. “Oh, wow… this is the first time I’ve ever seen a classic box like this outside of, like, elementary school… I guess the setting is supposed to be the early oughts, right? All the episode posters were for the 90s or turn of the millenium I think…”
I wonder if they still work. Or if there’d actually be anything I could get out of them. These look like they’re more for kids to play on than for any office work.
As fun as it’d be to see what kind of edutainment games these are probably loaded with, I can’t see them being useful even if they weren’t running on hardware nearly my age. My real age, not… however old I’m supposed to be now.
I rub my eyes and leave the room, only to freeze when I look at what’s on the opposite wall.
Some kind of large machine, a glass tube with a metal base, a bright red valve connected to it. There’s a tube going up into the ceiling.
“An ichor extractor…” I gulp. “So this is during the game events after all… so much for hoping I was just unlucky enough to wake up after closing hours…”
Messing with these things is definitely a last resort. What I’m more interested in finding is…
“An elevator! Yes!” This part of the floor looked vaguely familiar. Rounding the far corner showed me exactly what I wanted to see, the huge elevators that are probably the most iconic part of the game this place came from.
Gigantic doors that looked a bit newer than everything else here. Maybe they were retrofitted for the operation? They’re a lot bigger and more imposing in first person, though. Given this place was meant to host big groups of kids and families coming and going I imagine they were made to have huge occupancy limits. My shorter stature probably helps, too.
“Button, button… come on, how can there not be a way to actually call it here?” I mumble quietly, looking at every wall near the huge metal structures that look more like security gates than elevator doors. “This can’t have been how the elevators worked normally, right? Unless they were operated from somewhere else…”
Given all the people that would be expected to move between floors, I guess maybe it’d make sense if they ran on some kind of schedule instead of letting people manually call them up and down wherever they want.
Bad news for me.
“Okay… this is just one elevator. Maybe there’s another normal one. Or an open staff door.”
I keep walking, though I pause when I see something on one of the shelves I’d just about passed by. My instincts of color recognition made it immediately stand out even when everything is in first person and realistic.
The small light blues of a pack of bandages!
I run over and eagerly grab it. “Dand-Aids, huh? Obvious pun, but… if these are as rare and useful as they are in-game, I should keep them.” I whisper to myself, then open my blanket to look around my outfit for pockets.
Nothing, obviously. I frown. Technically I have plenty of spare hands, but it’d be annoying to just carry this the whole time. How do the Toons in-game carry all the Tapes and items they collect? Or is that just another game-ism?
Wait. Cartoons.
It can’t actually…
Oh, who am I kidding? I’m literally a dream invading magic moon boy. And some of the Toons have idle animations where they just magically pull out props from nowhere, so...
I take a deep breath, then just… shove the bandaid pack behind me like I were pocketing it even though I don’t have pockets.
The pack disappears from my hand, and I don’t hear anything fall on the floor. I reach behind me and try to do the opposite of what I just did, and feel the box in my hand again, pulling it back out and in front of me. “...Okay, having an inventory is kind of cool.” I giggle.
I put the bandages away and keep walking ahead. I should keep an eye out for more loot, if this is how it’s going to be.
Ugh, I hate this silence. This place is terrifying all on my own. I remember one time in elementary school I stayed back late and the eery silence in the halls felt kind of like this. This is a whole lot worse, though. Instead of rumors about school being haunted I know for a fact there are things that want to tear me apart down here.
“Would it kill them to make stairs…” I whisper, spotting another of those ichor machines through a glass window separating a larger looking space. If I’m remembering the layout of this floor, the other elevator would be around those corners there…
And just like I thought, here’s the elevator! Surprisingly it isn’t covered in tape like how one of the two elevators on every floor is always broken. Another game-ism not transferred over?
Unfortunately there’s still no buttons.
I groan, resting my forehead against the wall. “Okay…” I whisper, taking a few deep breaths.
I’m already feeling tired again. I hum as I straighten myself out and glance towards where I last saw a machine.
Am I really going to do this?
I glance at the unmoving metal doors of the elevator. I take a deep breath.
I’m really going to do this.
My hum continues as I walk down the carpeted floor. I’m being quiet, but I can’t stand the silence anymore, and my voice is nice to listen to.
“Alright… how do I do this… I just have to turn it, right...?” I look up at the huge black tube going into the ceiling, then inside the glass tube itself. It seems like there’s a seal at the bottom. Would the ichor go down somewhere once it’s finished extracting?
Questions only Dandy would have the answer to.
Taking a deep breath I grip the valve with all four of my hands and start cranking, the old metal creaking as its forced to move, making a very unpleasant squeak that makes me look around nervously. I hadn’t spotted any Twisteds at all even though I must’ve explored most of the floor by now, but making noise would still be a bad thing.
Nothing happens, aside from drops of a thick black substance dropping from the tube into the bottom of the container.
This is ichor. It… looks a lot more unpleasant in real life. It’s like tar or black paint but… wrong, somehow. My skin feels weirdly fuzzy just looking at it. Is my Toon body having some kind of… reaction to it?
Focus, hon, focus.
“I can handle this… I can do this… just make sure this moon doesn’t miss… Find myself away from this place, get myself to my safe space…” I sing to myself as I keep turning, and now the ichor is really coming down, a smooth fall that starts filling the container more and more. It shouldn’t take a minute, I think. I’m glad I’m not having any kind of centipede dilemma with my extra hands. Honestly, I haven’t been experiencing any kind of body dysmorphia at all. Is that because of whatever made me a Toon, or because I’m just sort of disassociating from everything? Not sure. I do feel pretty calm, though.
Suddenly I hear a click, and the valve in my hand begins to vibrate. I blink, looking down at it, the shaking getting more and more intense, enough that my grip is starting to slip.
Oh crap-
I grip the valve harder, trying to keep it steady, but the way it’s rattling is making my palms hurt. Is it coming loose? Just when it feels like the thing’s about to pop off entirely I push it in forcefully and turn it the other way, trying to turn it back into place.
A big glob of ichor drops down into the current pool. Was it clogged?
At least the machine isn’t shaking anymore. Strange. Was that… the equivalent of a skill check? Not very stable pieces of machinery, that’s for sure.
I rub my forehead with my blanket and continue turning, now wary of more of that happening. Luckily, a ding rings out from the machine just as I suddenly find the valve unable to turn anymore. Looking up I see the light is green now.
“Phew… there. That wasn’t so bad…”
Rattle, rattle
I flinch, hearing… something above me. I look upwards, squinting through the bright lights of this place. Is that the machinery of these extractor things, or…
Rattle, rattle
Something is moving in the ceiling. Vents.
I don’t move, instead following the direction of the noise with my eyes. There, I see it. A vent cover.
I barely have time to process my thoughts before a loud SLAM fills the Floor and the vent comes off its hinges entirely. I flinch and cover my nonexistent ears when I hear the metal grate crash on the floor.
A head of desaturated yellow topped by blackened pointy ears comes out from the new opening in the ceiling first, followed by darkened, dirty blues and more of both colors, all supported by 4 black spindly looking wire-like limbs that were currently climbing along the ceiling.
“HeheHEHEHEHEehehehe…!~”
I shudder. That voice feels… corroded. It’s like static in my hearing. Filtered through white noise, coming from inside me instead of from the actual source.
Twisted Yatta.
I back away slowly, swallowing nervously, rounding the corner and bringing a hand to my chest as I exhale.
Suddenly I miss the silence.
“She didn’t see me…” I whisper to myself, risking a peek around the corner. I watch as Yatta skitters her way down the wall, one of the shelves shaking as she leaps off of it, landing on the extra for limbs her tails have become like some kind of bug. “...Okay… she definitely doesn’t do that in the game…”
I go back around the wall and take a deep breath. God I really hope that 5 star stealth means something because this has turned into a whole other situation now.
The elevator isn’t open yet. It needs more ichor, I bet. And now I have to deal with a zombie pinata.
Swell.
I take the long way around towards the first machine I saw. I make sure to look all over for any sign of the monster acrobat. Ceiling included, because she can just do that apparently.
I start turning the valve with all the strength my four arms can allow. I only slow down when the old valve creaks from the strain, scared of making any noise.
“HehehEHHEHEHEHE!~”
I flinch, squeaking and darting my head around. There, I see Yatta approaching. I glance around, then spot that computer room from before, running for it and hiding behind one of the big wooden crates tucked in the corner.
“This is a lot more stressful than normal soloing.” I exhale, rubbing my eyes. “Those machines are too loud. Even without failing skill checks. She’s going to patrol this whole area looking for me…”
Running around the whole floor doing whatever machine I can find and then running away when I think she’s getting close just sounds like a good way to make my already tired self truly exhausted. I look around… then see the computers.
I have an idea. Maybe.
I peek through the doorway, spotting Yatta’s back, then sneak my way over to the desks. “Please work… the lights and everything else are still running…”
I find the power button on one of the computers and press it. To my relief I hear it whirring quietly to life. It takes like an entire painstaking minute to reach any kind of login screen (apparently the OS is called BlushyBOS), and its already defaulted to a guest account. Thank goodness. I’d have no idea what the password would be (and using this keyboard with my silly mitt hands is very unpleasant).
I’m greeted by a generic wallpaper and various icons on the desktop. Lots of stuff I don’t recognize. A math helper program. Paint. Minesweeper, solitaire… Gigi’s Pinball Blast? Astro’s Dreamy Adventures?
Oh, the irony.
I click on the game. It boots up to a cute yet very dated title screen. Turns out I was right, they do have edutainment games on here. Didn’t expect it to be more Dandy merch, but I guess with how much else they’ve invested in here it’s not really surprising they would’ve gotten some games made.
Shame I won’t really get a chance to play it myself. I click on New Game and a 2D animated cutscene starts playing. I immediately crank the volume up to 100 and dash out of the opposite door before I even start hearing “my” voice, through old speakers and compression, start talking about how lately he’s been having trouble keeping track of everyone’s dreams and asking if YOU could help him.
“Aa?”
I hear Yatta start scrambling towards the computer room and round the corner at the same time she comes in.
I wait there for a moment, steadying my breath, and despite all my logic and reason I decide to peek around the corner to see what happened.
Yatta’s just… standing there, having hopped onto the chair, dripping black on the desk as she stares into the monitor in wonder.
“Aa… Aa…?”
I blink, then shake my head, walking away.
“Have fun with that, Yatta… maybe you’ll learn something...”
Luckily, the computer and the background music is so loud that it masks the sound of the machine as I finish cranking it. I even complete another 2 “skill checks”, which did make it fill up faster, so I guess that part was accurate.
DING
The machine finishes, and I suddenly hear a deep whirring noise that seems to echo through the whole floor.
It sounds… familiar.
Ding… dong~
“The elevator!!” I shout in realization, running for the closest door I remember, hoping for everything that it’s the right one.
It isn’t. This one’s still shut tight.
“Oh no.”
“AaaAA?!”
“Oh no.” I grit my teeth.
Panic mode.
The second elevator is on the whole other side of the floor.
With no other option I start sprinting as much as my cute little socks can allow, though I’m already panting within seconds.
I have… no energy left. Not just stamina, but in general.
“HahhaAHAHAHAHA!~”
I do the dumb thing of turning around.
And see a corrupted pinata barreling towards me like a wild animal.
Okay, maybe I have a bit of energy left. Please.
I turn the corner with such speed that the carpet underneath me slips. I catch myself on my hands when I nearly fall over and scramble the remaining distance to the beautifully open big familiar elevator.
I fall on my knees, feeling a twinge of pain as they collide with the square tiling underneath, but quickly pick myself back up to look around for any kind of buttons to close the stupid door.
But it turns out I don’t need to, because the door comes sliding down nearly the second I came through.
“Hah… hahah… I-I… I made it… ‘m alive…” I giggle, delirious. My legs feel like jelly underneath me.
“Yeah, you did make it! Good work!” A cute, high pitched voice congratulates me, and I feel a well of pride before I remember that I’m alone. I turn around as I see the floor the back of the elevator open up in a trap door, a platform rising upwards as I see a familiar rainbow of petals come from the darkness. “Now, you can tell me... Who was dumb enough to come down alone. Without telling anyone, including m-”
Dandy’s face, which was set in what I could only imagine was his idea of a disappointed, scolding look, softens into a look of shock and confusion, his flat mouth turning into a small ‘o’ as he stares at me.
“...Astro?”