Chapter Text
Dream City was a lovely town resting on an island off the coast of Goiky. The island was well-known for its thriving nightlife, beautiful beaches, and great food, an ideal vacation spot for anyone looking for a getaway from their life. But for some, Dream City was their whole life.
And life, unfortunately, meant bills.
Taco groaned as her alarm clock forced her awake. She turned off the beeping machine and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, forcing herself out of bed before the comfort of the mattress pulled her in again. It was a sunny summer day in Dream City, and thankfully, Taco’s day off. She made her way to the bathroom to get ready, pushing back a yawn as she grabbed the hairbrush on her sink and began to fix her bedhead. Taco quietly noticed that her brunet roots were starting to show almost as much as her deep green dye. She’d need a touch-up soon.
Elsewhere in the same building, Tennis Ball awoke not to his alarm, but a nearly maniacal laugh. He jolted out of bed, looking around, but relaxed when he saw Golf Ball come into their bedroom carrying a cardboard box.
“They’re here, TB!” she yelled, smiling so wide that it almost looked painful on her cheeks. “The last parts I needed for my MMR are finally here!”
“Thats great, GB…” Tennis Ball groaned, shuffling back under the covers. “Did you even come to bed last night?”
“Well no, but this was more important! I just needed the radio attachments, you know that even we don’t really carry those since everything that people need fixed tend to use wifi or bluetooth, but the thing is that those often need device permission, whereas mind-reading will pick up thought frequencies through this radio, and I had to set everything up with the device in order to-”
A loud banging on the wall interrupted Golf Ball, and she nearly dropped the box before clinging onto it more tightly. A muffled voice came from the wall.
“ Keep it down in there! Some of us are still trying to sleep! ”
“SHUT UP, BLOCKY!” Golf Ball snapped back, rushing to open the package on her desk. Tennis Ball pulled the covers over his head to block out the argument. This was supposed to be the day he could sleep in .
As more and more of the tenants awoke and began to get ready for the day, something became clearly wrong. Many of them checked their calendars and watches, only to be shocked that indeed, it was the day they thought it was.
Their landlord, Announcer, was one of the more intelligent robotic staff that Dream City was famous for. Despite his more human attitude and appearance, he still stuck to a very tight schedule. The last Saturday of every month, he knocked on every tenant’s door to remind them that rent was due on the first of the following month, starting at the bottom floor at 9 in the morning. Without fail. Some of the tenants had lived in the building for over ten years, and not once had Announcer strayed from his routine.
Until today.
Some of the tenants began to gather in the lobby, not all completely awake and some still in pyjamas, but all clearly confused.
“Uh, morning, Mayor Firey,” Pie greeted her neighbor as she entered the lobby.
“Morning, Pie- and I’ve told you plenty, just call me Firey! We’re neighbors, no need for formality,” Firey laughed, patting the younger woman on the shoulder. “You, uh, haven’t seen Announcer, have you?”
“Nope,” Pie answered, popping the P sound. “I’m just glad he didn’t come knocking again. It was annoying the last two times.”
“Pie, um, I know you’re new here,” Bubble, who was sitting on a nearby armchair, gulped, “but- but I’ve lived here most of my life, and Announcer has n-never failed to remind us of rent this whole time! This isn’t good- wh-where do you think he is…?”
“Bubble is right!” Firey exclaimed. “Shit, where could he have gone? Do you think he left us a note somewhere?”
“Hey, Fireball, let’s check the front desk!” Leafy suggested. “Maybe Announcer just went on an impromptu vacation…?”
“But he’s never even left the island!” Flower scoffed. “He has the same lack of a sense of adventure as Woody.”
“Okay, I’ll go check,” Pie sighed. “Move it or lose it, I guess.”
Pie went behind the front desk, watched closely by her neighbors as she began shuffling through the neatly stacked papers on the desk. The computer was off, and most of the drawers were locked, save for one at the top that contained an organized assortment of supplies in the same dull gray color. Unfortunately, there were no signs of a note.
“Nothing that I can find,” Pie admitted. The room of tenants descended into conversation, theories about where Announcer could have gone, someone even brought up getting the police involved. It was unlike him to just disappear . And who would collect rent if Announcer was gone?
Among the chaos, no one even noticed the front door open until a loud voice rang through the lobby.
“HELL-LO, TENANTS!”
“Huh?” Leafy asked.
“Who’re you?!” yelled Flower.
“I’ve never seen you here before,” Firey said, confused.
“H-have you seen Announcer…?” Bubble stammered.
Two unfamiliar people stood before the group of tenants. The taller one had hair dyed a bright navy blue and bronze skin, and wore a black leather jacket over a T-shirt and jeans. The shorter was pale and blonde, their chubby figure hidden under a light sweater and dark jacket. Both had dark eyes and wore a single earring with a dangling diamond.
“Nice to meet youuu!” the shorter laughed, waving happily.
“My name is Four! And this is X! And we’re the new landlords!” the one who called himself Four insisted. The smile on his face was unsettlingly large and sharp.
Pie glared with suspicion. “New landlords? Announcer never told us anything about that!”
“Well it’s true! He, uh, decided that you were too much work and went for a long, long vacation!” Four giggled, swinging their arms by their sides.
“But don’t you worry! We promise to take super good care of you!” X insisted happily. “Foury, let’s go! I gotta show you the room I set up with the stuff I got from those- uh… paper-fold things?”
“Magazines?”
“Yes!”
“Sure thing, X-ie!” Four giggled. He turned his attention to the tenants once more and waved. “We’ll see you around!”
“Wait, what about rent?!” Leafy asked. Four stared into space for a moment before being nudged by X.
“Huh? Oh! It’s normal! X, let’s go, let’s go!” he laughed, and X grabbed his arm and dragged him into the back, leaving the tenants in the lobby.
“I don’t trust him,” Flower said after a moment of silence.
“What?! They seem perfectly fine to me!” Leafy replied. “I mean… kind of weird, and a bit young to be landlords, but…”
“Why the hell would Announcer just leave?! They’re obviously lying!” Flower insisted. “And did you see the way that Four guy smiled?! He’s creepy! They can’t be normal!”
“Flower, I’m confused too,” Firey said, “but you can’t just insult them, that’s-”
“I’m up! What did I miss?”
Everyone turned to see Blocky coming from the elevator, stretching his arms behind his neck casually.
“We have a new landlord, I guess,” Pie said simply.
“Wait, really?!” Blocky gasped. “This will be perfect! I’ve got to prank them for my channel!”
“What?! That’s your first thought?!”