Chapter Text
”I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cosmo and Sprout without each other! I can’t even imagine separating them!” A little flower exclaimed.
“I’m glad Sprout has found a friend. He seemed quite lonely before Cosmo came around…” Said the flower’s friend, fidgeting with his hat.
“Yeah… I mean, I can’t even imagine how I’d feel if you weren’t around Astro!”
Astro smiled, a rare sight, but Dandy always managed to make him happy. “Friendship is a wonderful thing.”
The door slid open, revealing sky blue walls and hardwood floors. Rainbows were plastered everywhere, along with posters for upcoming episodes of the show.
It was cluttered. Boxes and crates clustered up in piles, food and candy was scattered across the floor. This was going to be quite a bit of work…
“So… What exactly are we supposed to do?” Connie asked.
“We need to fill up machines. Delilah said unfinished ones would have a red light on top.” Sprout explained. “This may be easier if we split up…”
“Why don’t we make four groups of two?” Astro quietly suggested. He knew they’d need to split up if they wanted to finish this quickly, but he also didn’t want to be alone down here.
“I’ll go with you!” Vee offered, shuffling to stand next to Astro before anyone else could. He just gave her a polite smile.
“Sprout, we should go together.” Cosmo suggested. Sprout smiled and nodded happily.
“Hey Scraps, wanna form a team?” Connie asked, grinning mischievously despite her question being completely innocent. Scraps nodded, not wanting to get stuck with Tisha or Shrimpo.
“I guess I’ll go with Shrimpo and keep an eye on him.” Tisha said, much to her teammates dismay.
“I HATE WHEN PEOPLE KEEP THEIR EYES ON ME!” He shouted. Tisha just rolled her eyes. Of course she’d get stuck with him…
And with that, the groups each wandered off in their own directions.
“Found one!” Cosmo exclaimed, sprinting to the machine. He stared at it for a moment, trying to understand how it worked. The most obvious feature of the machine was the big red valve. Cosmo hesitantly began to spin it while Sprout stood near his side, scanning the area for anything interesting.
Bookshelves lined the walls, but when he pulled a book out and tried to read it, it was nothing but scribbles of random letters. It was… Unsettling. He set the book down. Maybe it was just a placeholder.
Cosmo was struggling to spin the wheel as it was seemingly caught on something. When he finally got it to spin again, the machine made an ugly sound, similar to the ‘incorrect’ buzzer Vee used for her game show.
“Here, let me try!” Sprout suggested when he saw his friend struggling. He was a bit slower, but he was also much more steady with the valve. As he turned it, an ugly black liquid began to fill the machine. Cosmo decided not to question it.
Finally, the machine dinged and the light shined a bright green. “Three, two, one, DING! A perfect complete machine!” Sprout happily gestured to the finished machine.
Cosmo smiled warmly at him. “Good job!” He praised. “Let’s go find some more.”
“Where do you think the machines will be…?” Astro asked, his voice a bit softer than normal.
Vee chuckled to herself. “Why, I think it’ll be rightttttttt…” She quickly turned a corner. “There!” She pointed to the machine. Somehow she’d known exactly where it would be.
A proud smile was painted across her face, though Astro wasn’t all that impressed. “Good job.” He complimented, though it didn’t exactly sound genuine. He could be a bit cranky when he was tired, but she luckily didn’t seem to notice.
“Wanna see another trick?” She asked, pulling her special remote from her pocket.
Astro had to refrain from rolling his singular eye. He appreciated that Vee wanted to impress him, but he really didn’t care for her theatrics. And did she have to talk so damn loud? “Sure. Show me another trick.”
She pointed the remote at the light on the machine and clicked the power button. Black fluid quickly filled up that strange device, and the light flicked to a neon green.
Astro just kind of stood there for a moment. He didn’t know how or why that worked, and he wasn’t going to question it. “Um… Cool.” He replied. Vee grinned victoriously.
“C’mon, let’s do more exploring!”
“Ooo, candy!” Connie quickly snatched the bright yellow candy off the floor. “Mine!” She said, mischievously grinning as she shoved it in her pocket.
“Are you genuinely about to eat candy off of the floor? You don’t know how long that’s been there!” Scraps pointed out.
“Oh come on, I know you’d do the same.” She wasn’t wrong. Scraps had eaten food off the floor several times, she was just a hypocrite.
“Let’s just hurry up on these machines so we can go back up to the lobby.” Scraps insisted. Something about this place was giving her the creeps.
It just wasn’t quite right. It felt so artificial, so fake. Everything seemed placed so strangely. Desks scattered about in random corners, computer screens showing nothing but static. Something about it just felt off.
The two girls made their way into a small room in the corner, but alas, no machines. Scraps exited quickly, continuing her quest.
Scraps turned the corner, scanning the hallway for any machines. No red lights caught her eye, but she was surprised to see a familiar face. “Poppy? What on Earth are you doing down here?!” She called down the hall. But when Poppy turned around, something was clearly wrong.
The girl’s treasured pink bow and dress were stained and torn beyond repair. Her eyes were a bright red, pupils dilated in terror. Her nails, once painted a shiny pink, were now sharpened into black claws. When her eyes locked onto Scraps, she stretched out her arms and ran towards her.
Scraps ran away as quickly as she could, running back into the secluded room she’d been in a minute ago. Connie was still in the room, though she flew up in surprise when her teammate suddenly ran in. “You alright?”
Scraps’ breathing was heavy as her eyes darted around the room. “I… Saw Poppy. Out there.” She explained. Connie raised an eyebrow, waiting for more information. “Sh-She looked so…” Scraps trailed off, clearly terrified.
Connie floated over to her distressed friend. “You saw Poppy? Did you take catnip this morning or something?” Connie joked, trying to lighten the mood. Scraps didn’t laugh.
“I’m being serious.” She said snappily. “Her eyes were red and she started chasing me and…”
Connie just patted her friend on the shoulder. “Hey, come on now. We’re gonna be alright. Let’s just…” Connie paused, trying to think of a plan. “Let’s go back to the elevator and wait. I’m sure the others can handle those silly machines.”
Tisha stared at the rusty valve of the machine, recoiling in disgust. “Uh… How about you get this one Shrimpo?”
“I HATE MACHINES!” He shouted. Tisha groaned in annoyance, taking a cleaning rag out of her pocket. She was going to have to give this thing a nice deep cleaning before she could actually get to work on it.
Shrimpo simply stared and watched her clean the valve. She wondered what he could be thinking about.
It was peaceful for a while until Shrimpo started shouting again. “COSMO! THIS IS OUR MACHINE! GET LOST!”
When she looked up, Cosmo was indeed there. But he wasn’t quite right. His hand was covered in a viscous black fluid, and tears poured rapidly from his reddened eyes. When Shrimpo yelled at him, his eyes widened, afraid at first before shifting into determination.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, the strange version of Cosmo began to sprint at Shrimpo. Shrimpo quickly ran away, trying to escape.
The two ran for quite a while, but Shrimpo’s stamina quickly drained. He was backed into a corner. Cosmo didn’t look angry, he didn’t look malicious. He looked sorrowful if anything, as if he felt guilty for what he was about to do. Notably, Sprout was nowhere to be seen, although the strange Cosmo still wore his iconic friendship bracelet. He raised his hand into the air, preparing to attack when…
Tisha appeared behind him, hitting the back of his head with a broomstick. Cosmo appeared stunned for a moment before chasing Tisha instead, leaving Shrimpo to sit on the ground and catch his breath.
Tisha had a much easier time getting away, and she sighed in relief as she watched Cosmo shake his head and defeatedly wander away.
“You alright?” She asked, lending Shrimpo a hand. He stared at her, still a bit disoriented, before pulling himself up.
“I DIDN’T NEED YOUR HELP! I COULD’VE HAD THAT GUY KNOCKED OUT IN SECONDS!” He yelled angrily, flexing his scrawny shrimp arms.
“Sure you could.” Tisha sarcastically chuckled. “What was up with him anyways?” She asked more seriously.
“I HATE WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME QUESTIONS I DON’T KNOW THE ANSWERS TO!” He stomped his foot on the ground in frustration.
Tisha sighed. “We’ll need to have a serious discussion with him and Sprout when we get to the elevator…” She said unsurely. The creature that had chased them definitely looked like Cosmo… But Cosmo was so sweet! Was he trying to prank them or something? He was never the type to pull pranks…
The two of them wandered back to the machine, quickly finishing it up.
Vee quickly finished the last machine. As soon as the light flicked to green, an alarm started sounding. As she rushed back to the elevator with Astro, a ticking noise could be heard in the distance. Almost as soon as they ran inside, the elevator door slammed shut.
Everyone looked like they had something to say, but Shrimpo was the loudest, so he went first. “COSMO! WHAT THE HELL?!” He screamed.
Cosmo tilted his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT DO I MEAN?! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TRYING TO PULL BACK THERE?!” For someone so tiny, Shrimpo’s voice could project pretty far. Astro covered his ears in annoyance, this was all starting to overwhelm him.
“Woah buddy, calm down.” Vee stepped in. “What’s got you so riled up?”
“COSMO TRIED TO FUCKING KILL ME!” Shrimpo yelled. Vee looked to Tisha for a more detailed answer.
“We saw… Well, it appeared to be Cosmo, though he looked quite strange. He chased Shrimpo around for quite a while before losing interest.” Tisha recalled.
Cosmo looked confused. “But I was with Sprout the whole time! Right Sprout?” Sprout nodded, confirming Cosmo’s alibi.
“WELL THEN WHO DID I SEE?!” Shrimpo shouted, sounding genuinely concerned.
“I-I think- Shrimpo I think I saw something similar.” Scraps finally spoke up, tripping over her words a couple of times. Everyone’s attention turned to her.
“I got separated from Connie for a minute earlier and saw Poppy. But, her eyes were red and she tried to chase me like a zombie!” She explained. Shrimpo and Tisha nodded along.
“THAT’S JUST LIKE WHAT WE SAW! I HATE ZOMBIES!”
Silence engulfed the elevator for a moment as everyone tried to make sense of things. Shrimpo wasn’t a very reliable source, and Scraps could be a bit of a trouble maker, but Tisha? No, Tisha wouldn’t lie about something like this. This was real.
Sprout was about to speak up when the trapdoor began to open. Dandy rose up with candy and gum to sell to his friends. “Hey, I’ve got some goodies to sell!” He advertised, his tone chipper as always, though his face fell when he noticed the tense atmosphere in the elevator. “Everything alright?”
“Shrimpo and Scraps were telling us they saw some sort of zombies…” Sprout explained. “Do you know anything about that?”
Dandy looked at them skeptically. “Zombies? I thought you all knew those weren’t real! Is this a prank or something?” His tone faltered, and he silently hoped nobody had noticed.
Astro approached the shop. “Dandy… As unbelievable as it sounds, I don’t think they’re lying.” He spoke slowly and gently, watching Dandy’s expression contort into one of horror.
“Oh my…” Dandy said. If he had any pearls to clutch he definitely would, but he didn’t usually wear any jewelry. He appeared lost in thought.
“Should we just go back up?” Vee suggested. “That would be the safest choice.”
“Delilah said to get these machines done no matter what!” Sprout said. “Besides, we’re strong! We ought to just get this over with now.”
Scraps butted in as well, “Oh hell no! I’m not going back out there with those things!”
It wasn’t long before they’d all begun arguing about what to do. Everyone except Astro, that is. He just stood by Dandy’s shop, looking tired and defeated.
Seeing the miserable expression on his friend’s face, Dandy clapped loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “I believe Sprout is right. Delilah knows what’s best for us all, and if she said to get these machines done, you need to try to power through.”
Scraps stared at him in disbelief, but she couldn’t argue. When Delilah wasn’t around, he was the boss. They’d have to listen to him.
“I‘ve got bandages and first aid kits. Next time, I’ll bring some of those up. For now, you guys try to power through, okay?”
Everyone agreed, though some seemed more hesitant than others.
“Oh, and one more thing before I go!” Dandy added. “If you want to buy things from me, you’ll need to collect tapes off the ground.” He explained, holding up a couple VHS tapes as an example. “There should be plenty scattered around, so if you find any, bring them to me.”
“HOW DO YOU KNOW THERE WILL BE TAPES EVERYWHERE? AND WHAT DO YOU EVEN NEED THEM FOR?!” Shrimpo asked.
“Delilah told me to bring her as many as I could. I’m not sure what they are, you’ll need to ask her.” Dandy said. “Now, time for me to leave. Good luck!” He said, pulling the lever and beginning to descend. He gave Astro specifically a kind smile and a wave before the trapdoor shut.
It was time for the next floor. Hopefully they’d be lucky.