Chapter Text
I was left behind somewhere
In a silent world, a fabricated world
If it’s just throwing away a spoiled fruit
I don’t need anybody, because I can handle it myself
June 17, 2002.
A day that, in any other circumstances, could have spelled the end for the Gardenview Educational Center and Museum.
Gardenview was absolutely packed that day. Parents from all around Robloxia had brought their children here. You see, the show ‘Dandy’s World’, which had been running strong since the ‘90s, was becoming more popular than ever. Merchandise was sold out essentially everywhere it was sold. The show’s ratings were so high that the networks competing with the one where ‘Dandy’s World’ was being aired were starting to get desperate, experimenting with all sorts of bold ideas. Some worked, and some didn’t, of course. But the most relevant effect of ‘Dandymania’, as the media called it, to this date, was the influx of people visiting Gardenview. Fans of the show delighted at the chance to meet their favorite characters, children were amazed at the prospect of seeing real-life toons, and parents were just glad their kids were probably going to be learning something from their trip to Gardenview.
However, the place itself had some serious flaws. And those would very nearly put people at risk that day.
It was a rather frantic afternoon. Families, Summer Camps, and other assorted parties had all gone down to Gardenview, and several of the employees were starting to feel overworked. Austin Russo, Astro’s handler, already had to tell 15 different people that cameras were not allowed around Astro, and you could imagine how spent everyone else must have been feeling at that moment. With everyone being tired, it wasn’t shocking that guards started to lower. Nobody seemed to notice as Dandy wandered off into a backroom of the complex. As he made it into a warehouse section of the museum, he found himself standing right in front of one of the many Ichor extractors that seemed to be omnipresent in the complex.
Most were boarded off, taped up, locked, or otherwise tamper-proofed so that nobody except for staff (and occasionally toons, when supervised) could use them. However, for some reason, the ones in the warehouse were not as safely guarded. Maybe it’s because the staff thought that nobody aside from them would even be near them, or maybe they just forgot to secure them. But either way, there Dandy was… Staring the extractor down. He had a craving to fulfil.
You see, ever since he accidentally got himself injured in a little scuffle with another toon, where he accidentally ended up tasting his own ichor… Dandy had wanted more and more. But he didn’t want to injure anyone to get it, because that would be too obvious, and he was sure his handler would go from being cheery to being absolutely furious if he did so. But here… nobody was around to judge him or stop him. All he needed to do was break open the extractor, and those sweet, sweet fluids were all his.
Dandy looked around the warehouse for anything he could use to crack open the extractor. It didn’t take him very long until he found a crowbar lying on the floor, probably left there by mistake by a staff member. Dandy immediately picked it up and then turned towards the extractor. Holding the crowbar in his hands, he ran towards the extractor, before swinging it at the glass container holding the Ichor, causing glass and ichor to spill onto the floor. Dandy dropped the crowbar before allowing himself to be covered with the oil-like fluid. He grinned, his eyes beginning to turn red. Red with-
Suddenly, the ding of an elevator can be heard, as what appeared to be several staff members got off.
“You think they’d have better coffee in the break rooms. This crap tastes like dishwater!” One of the employees complained as he got off, the others following him, laughing. “No, really! It does!” He groaned, tossing his coffee cup in a nearby trash bin. “Anyways… what did they need us to do here again?”
Another employee groaned at that. “God damn it Rick… how could you have forgotten? We’re supposed to grab the decorations for the Meet-And-Greet that’s gonna be taking place next week.” She had a more stern tone of voice, almost as if she had contempt for the employee who asked the question; apparently, his name was Rick. “Oh, lighten up…” was the only response she got from Rick, who looked even more peeved at this point. “I’ll grab the- what the hell? Dandy? What are you doing here?”
The group of employees had stumbled upon what Dandy was doing. They could see the Toon flower lying on the floor, covered in ichor, twitching like a severed frog leg that had just had salt poured on it. Shattered glass coated the floor, and a crowbar lay not too far from where Dandy was. Looking to their left, they could see that an extractor had been broken into. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.
Immediately, the female employee pulled out a walkie-talkie and began to speak into it. “Anna calling management, I’d like to report a Code Fleischer at Warehouse B. Dandy managed to break into one of the Extractors. Over.” A few seconds later, she received a response. “Copy, restrain him until Arthur and Devan come over.” Anna sighed in relief. At least the folks over at management were actually listening this time… “Roger. We will watch over Dandy until they arrive. Anna out.”
After that, the group of employees, five of them in total, ran towards Dandy. Two of them grabbed the Toon, holding him down. Two others watched over Dandy, prepared to take drastic measures if something were to go wrong. As for Anna, she waited for Arthur and Devan to come over, which they did. As soon as Arthur and Devan arrived, the rest of the employees were shooed off as Arthur and Devan dragged Dandy out of the warehouse, taking a door out of the warehouse, and into the museum proper…
Right where kids could see them. Whoops.
After a lot of explaining, several ruined childhoods, and complaints from angry parents, Arthur and Devan managed to drag Dandy back to his room, where they intended to monitor him for the rest of the day. Gardenview’s janitors were paid extra to clean up all of the Ichor that had been spilled on the floor from both Dandy’s little misadventure and the marks that were left by Arthur and Devan as Dandy was dragged across the floor.
Gardenview closed for a week after that incident. The Robloxian Department of Workplace Safety was brought in to inspect the Gardenview premises following a complaint. Luckily, Gardenview was not shut down by this, but the RDWS had deemed that Gardenview had violated several safety laws, leading to it receiving a fine and a very stern warning. Something had to change.
Luckily, Dandy managed to recover from his little… Ichor corruption episode after a few days… But Gardenview’s management wasn’t having it anymore. Devan was given a very stern talking to by both Arthur and Delilah. This was rather odd, as usually, Delilah didn’t care that much about what the toons had gotten themselves up to. But now that Gardenview had gotten fined, and there was the possibility that the government was still breathing down their necks, all of a sudden, she found she had a reason to give a damn.
Something had to change here.
And eventually, it did. After several periods of on-and-off closures… In 2006, Gardenview’s construction teams completed several renovations focused on protecting the safety of both toons and human visitors. All of the Ichor extractors were put inside closed-off rooms that were only accessible via a keycard given to staff members. Alongside that, Arthur had realized that a lot of the technology inside the Gardenview complex was outdated, so additional policies were implemented that allowed for the installation of newer computers, cameras, and the addition of new technological experiences to the museum section of Gardenview.
While ‘Dandymania’ was beginning to fade at this point, it was still strong enough that the Gardenview team was able to raise enough funds for these tech upgrades through a mixture of crowdfunding, merch sales, and ticket revenue.
In 2008, ‘Dandymania’ whimpered out, but that didn’t mean people stopped being interested in ‘Dandy’s World’. Instead of just being a mere fad as some had believed it would be, ‘Dandy’s World’ had become a long-lasting cultural institution. Dandy himself often appeared on floats in Thanksgiving Day parades; that’s how much of a cultural institution the series had become.
Even after everything, Gardenview still managed to keep up with the times, breezing through the 2010s, even with the rise of social media and online gaming competing for the attention spans of the youth. Not even the catastrophic 2020s could stop Gardenview.
Which brings us to now. 2025.
“MAYBE IF YOU STOPPED SPENDING ALL THAT TIME LOOKING AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR, YOU’D FINALLY REALIZE WHY I HATE YOUR GUTS!” A shrimp-tail toon yelled at another toon, this one being a handheld mirror. The shrimp’s ‘victim’ only offered an eye-roll in response. “Haven’t heard that one before, Shrimpo. Maybe next time, come up with something a little more original.” “YEAH? WELL I HATE THAT RESPONSE! I HATE THAT YOU ASSUME I CAN’T COME UP WITH ANYTHING NEW.” Shrimpo looked peeved at the fact that the mirror toon, Glisten, was talking back to him like this. Perhaps, if Shrimpo learned to stop provoking pretty much everyone he saw, he wouldn’t have to deal with everyone else’s comebacks. “Alright then. Hit me with your best shot. I want to hear the worst thing you can say to me.” “YOU’RE UGLY!”
Glisten didn’t even budge upon hearing that. “You just proved my point. You’ve been calling me ugly for decades now. I gave you the opportunity to shatter me, and yet… all you did was spit on me. “And it’s not like you hate me in particular. You very clearly hate everyone. I get it, you hate me because I’m perfect and you’re not. But why everyone else? Just think about it for a second.”
Glisten shook his head, walking back to his room, leaving a very pissed-off Shrimpo in the hallway all alone. “W-WELL I HATE THINKING ABOUT IT. I HATE YOU, I HATE EVERYONE HERE, I HATE EVERYTHING! COME BACK HERE. I’M NOT LETTING YOU HAVE THE LAST WORD. COME BACK! COME BACK! COME BACK!” Shrimpo ran towards Glisten’s room only to be hit by the door, being knocked down to the ground. As if to add insult to injury, the door to Brightney’s room opened, the lamp peeking out at Shrimpo, looking quite peeved. “Hey, Shrimpo, you mind having your little fight with Glisten somewhere else? We were in the middle of book club, and you woke up Razzle, too!” Shrimpo looked up at Brightney, always eager to have the last word.
“WELL, I DON’T CARE! I HATE YOUR STUPID CLUB, I HATE BOOKS, AND RAZZLE CAN SIT ON A TACK!” Shrimpo shouted, seeming not to care about anything Brightney was saying. “Well, could you at least quiet down a little?” “NO!” And with that, Shrimpo planted his face back on the ground for a while. Brightney slammed her door closed in frustration before heading back to her club. “Sorry guys… There was a… little interruption outside. Anyways, let’s get back to reading, shall we?” Astro and Dazzle nodded, opening their books back up, reading them and discussing them too. Razzle, looking a bit groggy, quietly said a few choice words aimed at Shrimpo before going back to sleep. Even a normally cheerful guy like him could get frustrated at the shrimp tail sometimes.
Shrimpo continued to lie on the floor in front of the door to Glisten’s room for several minutes. Whether this was because having a door slammed into him had weakened him or if he was just doing this to seek attention, nobody could be sure. But either way, Shrimpo then got up and headed back to his room, angrily stomping as he did so, before also slamming his door.
Two more toons peeked out of their rooms upon hearing the door to Shrimpo’s room slam shut. One of them, a music box named Boxten, looked towards the other, a bubble girl named Poppy. “You… Think it’s safe to come out now?” “Seems so! Tropical Storm Shrimpo is over, as Finn would say!” The two stepped out, Boxten sighing in relief as he did so. “Yeah… Speaking of Finn… Why couldn’t we have been put on the same floor as him? He’s nice, and even if his puns do get a little tiring, I-I’d rather have that than… Shrimpo.” “Oh, Boxten, I’d like that too… But I’m pretty sure Glisten would have completely lost it by now if Finn were on our floor.” “O-Oh… That’s… fair. I’m gonna go see Goob… I think I might need a hug after what I just heard.” Poppy nodded before heading back to her room. “Alright, you do that, then!”
Boxten made his way to Scraps and Goob's room, knocking on the door to let them know he was there. Scraps would be the one to open the door, greeting Boxten. “Oh! Hey! What brings you here, Boxten?” “I’m looking for your brother, you… uhh… know where he is?” Scraps stepped aside to let Boxten in. “Yeah, he’s here, come on in!” As Boxten walked in, he found Goob lying down on his bed, seemingly taking a nap. His long, lanky arms were already touching the floor at this point. The craft siblings’ room was somewhat cluttered, as to be expected of the pair of Toons that resided there, especially Goob. Goob was known for being a bit clumsy at times, so of course, there would be stuff that ended up on the floor when it should have been somewhere else, or things that were knocked over on shelves. Boxten walked up to Goob, watching as the fluffy craft groggily woke himself up. “Wh… Huh? Boxten?”
“Oh… hey there… Goob! Sorry if I’m… interrupting you. I’m kinda shocked you managed to nap through Shrimpo’s latest… well… Shrimpoism…” Goob got up, attempting to rub his eyes with his claws. “Wait… I did? Huh. So, you need anything?” Boxten sighed, before admitting what he wanted. “A hug, Goob.” Upon hearing this, Goob shot out of his bed and gave Boxten a big hug, almost squeezing him from how tightly he was doing so. “Hnng… T-Thanks… Goob…” Boxten grunted out, his voice somewhat strained. After a minute’s worth of hugging, Goob let go. “You know… I think Shrimpo needs a hug as well! Being angry all the time probably wears him out!” Goob waved to both Scraps and Boxten as he left the room, making his way towards Shrimpo’s room. Scraps and Boxten looked at each other, both cringing. They both knew that Goob was a real kind guy, but… Trying to be nice to Shrimpo was like trying to explain quantum mechanics to a toddler. It was a fool’s errand, and it would actually be surprising if it even slightly went anywhere. And yet, Goob kept trying. It was almost as if Goob saw something in Shrimpo that the other Toons hadn’t noticed yet.
Goob made his way down the frankly rather short hallway towards Shrimpo’s room. In order to be able to fit more toons in the complex while also saving space, the toons’ rooms were divided between multiple floors. Luckily, Goob and Shrimpo happened to both be on the same floor, so it was incredibly easy for the two to interact, as they didn’t have to worry about being separated by stairs or by the elevators. When Goob made it to the door of Shrimpo’s room, he knocked on it several times, before the door was opened by the still-peeved shrimp tail. “YOU. WHAT DO YOU WANT?” Shrimpo angrily demanded that Goob tell him what he was doing here. Luckily, Goob wasn’t one to mince words. “You want a hug, Shrimpo?” Goob raised his arms, ready to give Shrimpo a big ol’ hug, when all of a sudden, Shrimpo shoved him away. “NO. I HATE HUGS! I HATE YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE! SHRIMPO DOESN’T WANT YOUR HUGS!” Suddenly, the door slammed on Goob, but unlike with Glisten slamming his door on Shrimpo, Goob wasn’t hit by the door. Instead, he was just startled by how loudly Shrimpo had slammed that door. Any harder, and he was sure that door would have been broken.
Goob walked away, disappointed, while Shrimpo retreated into the corner of his room to sulk. But then, a strange thought came into Shrimpo’s mind… Maybe he should have let Goob hug him just this once… After all, it seemed like he was the only one who seemed to care even slightly, especially considering the fact that he had spent the entirety of his life pushing everyone else away… Maybe… He could tone things down around Goob… In fact… Shrimpo found himself kinda liking Goob.
No. No no no no. Shrimpo couldn’t do that. Shrimpo was the best; Shrimpo always won. Shrimpo couldn’t love Goob, because love was a weakness! He hated everyone, he hated everything, and he especially hated that he was thinking this way about the fluffy craft. He hated it, he hated it, HE HATED IT! He was just about ready to hit something right now. In fact, he would! Luckily, the floor’s handler, a woman named Kris Shapiro, had granted his request to install a punching bag in his room, so he could have something to hit that wasn’t another toon. Surprisingly, Shrimpo hadn’t broken it yet, considering how often he spent time trashing his room during one of his trademark fits.
Shrimpo stomped over to the punching bag, screaming and grunting as he flailed his arms towards the bag aimlessly. Luckily, his room was soundproofed so that the other toons didn’t have to deal with this every time he wanted to throw a fit over something really petty. It also didn’t help that Shrimpo had the tendency to sound like a dying animal during his little tantrums. Sometimes, those fits reminded the other toons of that video online of that teenager who completely lost it after his mother cancelled his World of Bloxcraft account. God forbid that someone like Connie found out what happened in there, because she’d definitely make like said kid’s brother and record the hell out of that crap.
As for Goob, he made it back to his and his sister’s room, shaking his head in defeat. Scraps sighed at this point. Normally, she was a pretty cheerful girl, but the mere mention of Shrimpo was enough to make her wince in pain. “Let me guess… He said ‘no’?” Scraps asked her brother, who then shook his head again in response. This wouldn’t stop Goob from trying again in the future, though.