Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“How are you feeling today, Shrimpo?”

Shrimpo is sitting on a large wooden chair. His small orange-ish limbs and red shirt contrast against the clearly too large seat. He has his arms crossed against his chest and is looking down at the floor, his white face twisted into an all too common scowl.

“I HATE TODAY!”

The tail on the back of Shrimpo’s head stands up straight as he yells out in frustration, causing Dyle to scowl. He rolls his eyes then leans forward, his clock face burning a hole into Shrimpo's soul. Shrimpo shifts uncomfortably in his chair, continuing to stare at the floor.

“When did you last have a day you didn’t hate, hm?”

“NEVER!”

Dyle rubs his fingers over his eyes. He shakes his head in frustration, causing a quiet jingle to emanate from the chain on his head, then stands up and points to the door.

“Leave, if you’re going to waste my time with this tired routine.”

Shrimpo hops up from his chair and angrily stomps out of the room, fuming all the while. Shrimpo jumps up to grab the doorknob and slams it behind him. As he does, suddenly he's in the room again. Like he never stood up from his chair. He looks up and sees Dyle, his arms and legs crossed, holding an annoyed expression on his face. His hour hand twitches impatiently.

“Shrimpo, you said some very hurtful things to Astro today. Would you like to tell me why?”

Shrimpo’s breathing grows heavier. He looks around, slightly more anxious now. He hops down, and heads for the door.

“I HATE ASTRO AND I HATE YOU!”

He slams the door, and finds himself back in the room once more. He grips the sides of his chair tightly.

“Why am I surprised? All you ever do is say hurtful things.”

He jumps off his chair, running for the door. As soon as he crosses the threshold of the door, he's back in the chair again.

“And for what? What is it that you gain? Nothing. All you want is to hurt those around you.”

“I HATE THIS ROOM! I WANT OUT!”

Shrimpo’s breathing is growing erratic by now. His eyes are wide with fear, frantically darting around the room. He runs for the door, but is back in the chair before he even reaches it. Dyle stands from his seat and begins to walk towards Shrimpo, his hands neatly folded behind his back.

“Thats all you are. The bully. The villain. It’s all you’re good for. It’s why you were made.”

“LET ME OUT!!!”

Shrimpo jumps down, but finds himself back in the chair before he even touches the ground. Beads of ichor are forming in his eyes like tears, all the while his hands and feet begin to ooze and flow. He tries to move, but every time he looks away from Dyle, his head is snapped back straight.

“I don’t know why Dandy even has me do this with you. If it were up to me, I’d just leave you locked away like the seasonals.”

He pushes himself as far back in the chair as he can muster, locking eyes with Dyle. Dyle leans forward, mere inches from Shrimpo’s face. Shrimpo tries to throw a punch, but where his hands once were is now goopy masses of his own lifeblood. Black streams of ichor are pooling on his chin. He goes to scream, but he gags on the thick black substance covering his mouth. He tries to spit it out, but only finds himself choking more and more.

“All you will ever be is you.”

. . . ╰──╮╭──╯ . . .

Shrimpo jolts awake, taking several quick, deep breaths while looking around. He finds himself in his room. The familiar sights of his desk and posters help him to slowly calm down. Shrimpo stands up and walks over to his desk, sitting down and grabbing a pencil. He grips it tightly and begins to scribble frantically on the paper of his journal. He writes and writes and writes, putting all his feelings to the page, but when he looks down… all he’s written is ‘I HATE DREAMS!’

“... I HATE THIS JOURNAL!”

Shrimpo jumps down and walks out into the hallway. He holds his arms out to his sides, angrily walking down to the kitchen. He sees the other toons socializing and eating. He stomps into the kitchen, and all the toons turn to look at him. The room falls silent. He glares at all of them, catching their nervous and apprehensive glances, causing his tail to straighten out. Across the room from him is Dandy, his rainbow petals as unwavering as his smile. Dandy starts to speak up, but is immediately cut off by Shrimpo.

“SHUT UP! I HATE ALL OF YOU! STOP LOOKING AT ME!”

Shrimpo grabs a plate and stomps over to Sprout, who gives him a stack of pancakes without looking his way. Shrimpo looks up at Sprout expectantly.

“... I HATE PANCAKES WITHOUT SYRUP!”

Sprout groans and pours syrup on his pancakes. Shrimpo looks down at the sizzling hot stack, then up at Sprout again.

“I HATE SYRUP!”

Sprout facepalms and slowly slides his hand down his face.

“Shrimpo, you can take it or leave it.”

“I DON’T…”

Shrimpo looks like he's trying to find the right words, but instead just turns to the side and kicks the cabinet as hard as he can, emitting a loud resonating thud that fills the quiet air. He stomps off towards the tv room, his tail still held up straight. As he rounds the corner out of their sight, his tail slowly falls, entering a more relaxed position while he sits cross legged on a bean bag in front of the tv. The other toons all look at each other, murmuring and whispering. However, Finn calls out across the table to Dandy, an air of concern in his voice.

“Dandy, is he okay?”

Dandy just waves his hand dismissively, rolling his eyes with a big smile.

“Oh, you know him. That's just good 'ol… well, that's just Shrimpo!”

Finn turns to his right and leans back in his chair, looking down the hall at Shrimpo, causing some of the water from his fish bowl-head to slosh onto the floor. Shrimpo’s eating alone in front of the tv, hungrily scarfing down his breakfast. Finn’s brow furrows with concern.

“Yeah, but he seems especially… Shrimpo, today, doesn’t he?”

“Oh well. A Shrimpo by any other name is still Shrimpo after all! It's nothing to worry about, Finn!”

Finn lets out a reassured sigh, leaning forward in his chair again with a small smile.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. It's just Shrimpo, after all!”

Finn and Dandy laugh a bit, with others around the table joining in slowly but surely. Shrimpo’s tail stands on end again, their laughter ringing in his ears despite his best efforts to ignore it. He puts his plate down on the carpet, staring at it angrily and crossing his arms. After Finn stops laughing, he looks over at Shrimpo again, and sees his food on the ground.

“Yeah… just Shrimpo…”

After a few seconds of hesitation, Finn grabs what’s left of his breakfast and stands up. A few toons look up at him, including Dandy, who speaks up from the end of the table.

“Finn? Where are you going? Breakfast isn’t over yet, silly!”

“Oh, I’m gonna go sit with Shrimpo!”

Dandy’s smile doesn’t falter but his eyes narrow, getting a bit of an uncomfortable look on his face.

“... Why?”

“Ah y'know, he just… seems like he needs some company today! Don’t worry about me, I’ve dealt with him plenty of times before!”

Dandy is still smiling, but his eyes hold a modicum of unease for Finn’s sake. Finn, however, doesn’t share the same concern, skipping happily towards the TV room. He skips past Shrimpo and sits on the bean bag next to him, with Shrimpo letting out a low growl.

“Hey Shrimpo! These pancakes are pretty fin-tastic, huh?”

“NO! I HATE THEM!”

Finn laughs nervously at Shrimpo’s response.

“Eh… eheheh… but I just saw you eating them…”

“I DON’T CARE! I HATE SYRUP!”

“Oh! Well if that’s all, you can have the rest of mine! I don’t really like syrup either, so mine are nice and dry!”

“...”

Shrimpo crosses his arms tighter, avoiding eye contact with Finn, just staring at his own plate angrily.

“... Did you just lose your appetite?”

Shrimpo seems to relax slightly at Finn’s comment, his tail drooping and his grip on his sides loosening. He looks up at Finn out of the corner of his eye. For just a moment, Finn can see something almost like softness in his eyes before the normal angry expression returns.

“NO! I EAT ALL THE PANCAKES! NO ONE DOES IT BETTER THAN ME!”

Shrimpo grabs his plate and resumes angrily scarfing down his food with a determined look on his face. Finn can’t help but laugh at the outburst from Shrimpo. While his angry expression remains, Shrimpo’s tail remains drooped. Finn picks up his own breakfast and happily eats alongside Shrimpo, rocking back and forth gently while watching reruns of their old shows on the television.

“Say, Shrimpo… Do you like the old episodes, or do you think these new ones we’ve been making are better?”

“Hmph…” 

Shrimpo finishes his food and tosses his plate down unceremoniously.

“I WAS BETTER IN THE OLD EPISODES! I WAS THE BEST BULLY!”

“Ehehehe… Well I loved your performances, bully or not! That's without a trout!”

Shrimpo freezes. He looks up at Finn with a new mix of emotions, something Finn is almost disturbed to see on Shrimpo’s normally static face. He sees the usual anger, but now with a layer of fear and confusion layered underneath. Finn tilts his head, his smile faltering and matching Shrimpo’s confused look. Before Finn can say anything, Shrimpo jumps up and storms off.

“I- You- Shrimpo, wait!”

Shrimpo does a fast 180 to face back towards Finn with his eyes closed. He yells at the top of his lungs as his tail stands up straight once more.

“SHUT UP! I HATE NOT BEING A BULLY! I HATE YOU!”

Finn reaches out his hand, but quickly retracts it as Shrimpo stomps off back to his room. As the door slams, Finn stammers to himself under his breath.

“What… What did I d-do wrong…”

Finn scratches the side of his bowl, puzzled as to what set Shrimpo off. Was it the fish pun? No, couldn’t be… Everyone loves his fish puns. While Finn is lost in thought, a couple other toons come around the corner including Dandy, who runs to Finn’s side.

“Finn! Are you okay? I heard that whole commotion so we came to check on you!”

Dandy kneels down next to Finn with a comforting smile. Behind him, Shelly is standing rubbing her hands together nervously. She’s still wearing her PJs, a handmade red T-Rex onesie.

“What? No, I’m fine Dandy! I’m just worried about Shrimpo. I think I might have hurt his feelings somehow…”

“Pshh, Shrimpo doesn’t get his feelings hurt. Haven’t you met him? He’s a lot of things, but ‘emotional’ isn’t really part of his job description. Well, I guess it kinda is, but- y-you know what I mean…”

Finn leans to the side, looking around Dandy’s bright petals to look at Shrimpo’s door. As he does, Shelly follows suit, looking over with a nervous glance.

“I don’t know… I guess I never paid that much attention before, so he always just looked so angry, but when he looked at me… I saw other stuff. It wasn’t for very long, but it was THERE, and he looked… sad? Confused? I don’t-”

Dandy grabs Finn by the shoulders, getting a little closer to his face, close enough that most of his field of view is taken up by the bright petals and Dandy’s own face.

“Finn, trust me… It’s best not to think about it that much. I’ve known him longer than anyone, so I can tell you now, you’ll only wear yourself out if you try to dig for something that isn’t there. Remember what we said at the table?”

“Yeah… It’s just Shrimpo…”

Finn frowns for a second, but shakes his head to refresh his smile. Dandy recoils slightly to avoid the water, but then pulls Finn in for a hug.

“As long as you’re okay, friend!”

Finn laughs and hugs Dandy back, giggling as his concern washes away. However, while his mind is dragged from the subject, there's another toon whose mind is only getting sucked farther in… Shelly silently walks towards Shrimpo’s room while the other two have their moment. She looks off to her right and sees the other toons talking and laughing like they always do. She gulps and power-walks towards Shrimpo’s door. She cracks it open, and peers inside with one eye.

“Sh-Shrimpo..?”

She can’t see Shrimpo anywhere in his room. She squints, trying to spot the surprisingly elusive shrimp until Shrimpo’s face suddenly appears inches from her own, peering back at her through the crack of the door, causing her to fall backwards in surprise.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

Shelly looks around and sees some other toons looking at her and Shrimpo, including Dandy, who looks like he's about to come and intervene. Shelly scrambles to her feet and brushes off her onesie with her hands. She gently folds her hands behind her back and smiles sweetly at Shrimpo. She puts on her best happy face, but can’t help but stammer a bit. Interacting with Shrimpo is always a bit nervewracking.

“I just, uh… I wanted to say that… I… think you’re a great bully..?”

She’s not really sure how to comfort Shrimpo in the moment, so she just says the first thing that comes to mind. She hadn’t really thought that far ahead, but just instinctively wanted to give him some comforting words. Despite her nerves, it seems to have the intended effect. She can just barely see his tail falling to his back loosely, despite his unchanging intense expression. He slowly closes the door between them, far gentler than his normal slamming. As soon as the door closes, Shelly breathes a sigh of relief. Dandy runs up to her side, looking at Shrimpo’s door, then at Shelly.

“Ah… I guess you didn’t quite get through to him, huh? Hey, it’s okay! No one really does! Don't worry about it!”

Dandy stands on his tippy toes and pats her on the back comfortingly before walking away. However, Shelly doesn’t seem too disappointed. A bit sad, but at least she knows what she said did SOMETHING. She walks away with her hands pointed out at her sides, a bit confused, but satisfied. She happily strides to her room, ready to face the rest of the day. Across the threshold of the door though, Shrimpo is laying in his room staring at the ceiling. His expression is unchanging, yet his thoughts are racing. He takes some deep breaths and shoots up, running over to his desk and grabbing a pencil. He flips to a new page, and scribbles in big, bold letters. ‘I HATE WHEN SHELLY IS NICE TO ME! I HATE SHELLY!’ He sets the pencil down, and picks up the paper, holding it close to his face. He obsessively reads the words over and over, faster and faster. The more he reads it, the more his breathing begins to quicken, culminating in him crumpling the paper, and throwing it at the wall as hard as he can. He folds his arms on the desk and puts his face down, growling in frustration. He tilts his head up slightly, looking at the wall in front of him angrily. He jumps up from his chair, and walks past his door towards his punching bags, and hits the hanging one as hard as he can muster.

. . . ╰──╮╭──╯ . . .

Chapter Text

“How are you feeling today, Shrimpo?”

Shrimpo is sitting on a large wooden chair. His small orange-ish limbs and red shirt contrast against the clearly too large seat. He has his arms crossed against his chest and is looking down at the floor, his white face twisted into an all too common scowl.

“I HATE TODAY!”

The tail on the back of Shrimpo’s head stands up straight as he yells out in frustration, causing Dyle to scowl. He rolls his eyes then leans forward, his clock face burning a hole into Shrimpo's soul. Shrimpo shifts uncomfortably in his chair, continuing to stare at the…what?

“When did you last have a day you didn’t hate, hm?”

“...”

Shrimpo stays quiet, listening, waiting. Dyle rubs his fingers over his eyes. He shakes his head in frustration, causing a quiet jingle to emanate from the chain on his head, then stands up and points to the door. 

“Leave, if you’re going to waste my time with this tired routine.”

Shrimpo goes to get up from the chair, but when he looks up, he sees Shelly. She's peering in from the previously closed door. Shrimpo freezes, staring at her single concerned eye from his chair.

“Sh-Shrimpo..?”

Shrimpo's eyes widened, unable to move his gaze anywhere else. Dyle continues to stare at Shrimpo, waiting for a response, but takes note of his strange reaction. He tilts his head, then looks behind him, seeing Shelly’s dilated pupil darting back and forth between himself and Shrimpo. Shrimpo tries to stand up, but before he can even move, Dyle roughly grabs his face and turns Shrimpo's face towards his own, having suddenly appeared to Shrimpo's right side.

“Shrimpo. You aren't taking this seriously. Pay. Attention.”

Shrimpo squirms, clawing at Dyle’s hand in a desperate bid to free himself. However, it all amounts to nothing. When he grabs Dyle's arm, he feels his fingers begin to fail. The joints in his hands turn to mush, and the harder he grips, the more his hands melt to black goop.

“You are mean. You are hateful. You are the bully. That's all you are.”

Shelly calls out to Shrimpo again, quieter this time.

“Shrimpo…”

Shrimpo puts everything he has into turning his head, trying to look over at Shelly with black tears flowing down his face. However, Dyle only squeezes Shrimpo's chin harder, keeping him locked in place. The ichor flows over Dyle's hand and drips onto the floor. Dyle looks down at the ichor on his hand with a look of disgust.

“See? I'm here trying to show you the REAL you, and how do you return the favor? By expelling this disgusting ichor on my hand. Don't you know how long it's going to take to clean this up?”

Shrimpo uses his entire body to turn against Dyle's hand, causing it to dig into his face, leaking ichor all over the lower half of his head. He manages to turn his head just enough to see Shelly in the doorway out of the corner of his eye, staring at her in desperation.

“She isn't going to help you. Even if she did, you'd just spill this same ichor on her. You don't want that, do you? To sully her the same way you dirtied my hands?”

Shrimpo turns even farther, the bottom half of his jaw turning almost fully to a thick sludge. As he fully turns towards her, Shelly's face has turned from worry, to fear. Fear of him. She closes her eyes, and runs, leaving the door closed behind her. Shrimpo feels all the desperation come to a head as Dyle speaks his final words.

“No one is coming to save you.”

. . . ╰──╮╭──╯ . . .

Shrimpo wakes up, staring up at the ceiling. His hands are folded on his chest, gripping his shirt tightly. His breathing is steady, but deep and sharp. His eyes travel across the ceiling, tracing patterns in the gray ceiling rapidly. After a few moments, he jumps up and runs over to his desk. He hops up, and puts pencil to paper, but stays still. He sits like a statue, unable to put anything down. He grips his pencil harder and harder, causing it to snap in half between his fingers. He stares at the broken pencil between his fingers, then throws it to the floor angrily.

“I HATE THIS STUPID WEAK PENCIL!” 

Shrimpo jumps up and stomps on the pencil before walking out into the hall. The nearby rooms are empty, as the other toons have already finished breakfast. While Shrimpo was napping, the others congregated in the lobby. Shrimpo jogs to the elevator as quickly as he cares to, only to find it closed, with no Dandy around to open it. He huffs, then makes his way to the stairs. Down and down he goes, slowly but surely, through the barren gray stairs until he makes it to the lobby, huffing and puffing. He walks out into view of the other toons, putting his hands on his knees and taking some deep breaths. He looks up to see a few toons staring at him. Finn is sitting next to Astro on the yellow bench. He looks over his shoulder and waves at Shrimpo with a smile, while Astro looks at him with a look of worry and concern plastered across his moon-like face. He looks like he wants to say something, but bites his tongue, choosing to wrap his blanket tighter around himself and continue his conversation with Finn.

“YEAH THATS RIGHT, DON’T LOOK AT ME!”

Shrimpo stomps past them towards the Atrium. He tries to ignore all the toons along the edges of the hallway, but just as he's about to make it past the shops, he hears a voice that makes his tail stand on end.

“Shrimpo. Would you like to explain why you are late to gathering time?”

Shrimpo freezes as Dyle’s voice shoots through his brain, causing a shiver to run down his spine and his mouth to go dry. He refuses to turn back towards Dyle, clenching his fists and speaking through gritted teeth.

“I GO WHEREVER I WANT WHENEVER I WANT!”

“Shrimpo. You are holding everyone back. Be on time next time.”

Shrimpo slowly turns his head to the right, looking at Dyle out of the corner of his eye. He grips the hem of his shirt tightly.

“I DON’T HAVE TO- eep!”

Dyle slams his hand on the desk in front of him, causing Shrimpo to flinch and pull on his shirt.

“Be. On. Time.”

Shrimpo huffs and walks away. He enters the main atrium, letting out a quiet sigh and looking up at the sign with Dandy’s face a few feet in front of him. He narrows his eyes, but Dandy pops up from behind the sign, surprising him a bit.

“Hi Shrimpo! What took you so long?”

“YOU LEFT THE ELEVATOR CLOSED!”

“Hehe, I guess I did…Well, I guess you just gotta be faster next time, Shrimpo!”

Dandy shrugs and disappears behind the sign again. Shrimpo is about to yell at him again, but he notices Shelly in his peripheral vision. She’s turned away from him chatting with Teagan, who is clearly flaunting something, as usual. She flips her white boa over her other shoulder and tilts her head, spilling a few drops of tea onto the floor. Shrimpo rushes over as fast as his little legs can carry him and sits next to Shelly on the yellow bench. He stares down at the floor, his legs swinging freely. Teagan looks around Shelly at Shrimpo, surprised at his forwardness.

“Oh my, look who came out to play!”

Shrimpo growls, annoyed at her comment. However, when he looks up at her to retort, he sees Shelly looking at him softly with a slight smile. He immediately breaks eye contact and looks back down at the floor, gripping the sides of the bench and holding his feet still.

“Oh! H-Hi Shrimpo! Sorry, I didn’t hear you come over… Hey, since you’re here, that means we can begin selection, right?”

Shelly beams at him kindly. Shrimpo sees it from the corner of his eye, but goes straight back to staring ahead.

“Hmph… Curious little man, isn’t he?”

Teagan whispers to Shelly, who responds in turn.

“I guess I never really paid attention to him before. Does he normally do this?”

Teagan chuckles.

“Not at all, dear. Not. At. All…”

Shrimpo starts to stand up and walk away, annoyed at their whispering, but is interrupted by Dandy calling out to the toons as he slides down the trunk of the tree.

“GOOOOOOOD MORNING FRIENDS! WHO’S READY FOR ANOTHER FANTASTIC DAY OF FILMING!”

Shrimpo growls slightly, but all the toons around him cheer. Finn and Astro come running from the lobby, Finn bouncing excitedly as Dandy stands on top of his sign. Shrimpo goes to the opposite side of some nearby boxes, sitting down and waiting for Dandy to finish his spiel.

“I’ve got a GREAT episode planned for today, but first, you all know what time it is! It's time for a basement run!”

Dandy motions for Gigi, who comes running over happily, her hollow head filled with slips of paper.

“Now, who’s going to be the lucky few winners today? Let's find out!”

Gigi pops off her lid and Dandy reaches in, grabbing a slip of paper and unfolding it. He reads it carefully, then strikes a pose as he makes the announcement happily.

“And first up is Brusha! Head over to the left elevator, and the others will join you soon!”

The toons all clap for Brusha, who just flips her hair dismissively as she makes her way to the elevator. As she passes by Shrimpo, who is still sitting by the boxes, she looks down at him, then rolls her eyes, not giving him a second thought. Dandy draws another name.

“Tisha!”

Tisha sheepishly walks through the cheering crowd of toons towards the elevator. Dandy calls out again and again, but Shrimpo drowns it all out, pulling his legs to his chest. Everything fades into the background, until the final name cuts through the fog.

“And last but not least, Finn!”

Finn cheers, jogging through the crowd happily and taking in the admiration with a smile on his face. As he passes Shrimpo, he gives him a thumbs up and a bright smile. Shrimpo, however, doesn’t even look up at him. Finn’s smile fades a bit, but he continues on anyway, regaining his stride. Once all 8 toons are outside the elevator, Dandy runs over, folding his hands neatly behind his back with all the other toons in a crowd behind him.

“Alright, everyone, you know the deal! Collect tapes, extract ichor, and most importantly..?”

He motions towards the 8 chosen toons in front of him with a bow and a hand wave. They all answer back with varying levels of enthusiasm.

“Have fun!”

Dandy swings his arm in front of him and snaps with showmanship.

“Righto! Now then, I’ll check in every couple floors and help out, but for now, best of luck everyone! Keep that Dandy’s World spirit!”

The group waves as they walk into the elevator, and Dandy energetically waves back. Finn looks back at Shrimpo one more time as the door to the elevator closes, but Shrimpo still doesn’t look up at him, just pulling his legs closer to his chest. The elevator door slams shut, and he hears the machinery whirr to life as it descends into the basement. Dandy skips over to the middle elevator and waves for the others to follow. The crowd shuffles forward obediently, talking and laughing as they always do. Shrimpo, however, stays seated. He stares at the floor, refusing to move as everyone walks around him. However, when he hears footsteps, he looks up slowly, expecting to see Dandy but instead… He’s face to face with Shelly. She’s crouched down in front of him, offering him her hand. He looks up at her, then at her hand, then back to her rapidly, his brow unfurrowing as surprise manages to show through on his face.

“C’mon Shrimpo. We’re on the way to the set!”

Shelly pushes her hand forward towards him, causing him to flinch back slightly. However, he continues to stare at her hand and slowly lifts his own. He progresses at a snail's pace, his hand shaking as he lifts it up. His pupils dilate slightly and shake to match his hand, an intense shock and focus on his face. Just as he's about to take her hand, a voice makes his whole body go cold.

“Shrimpo. Hurry up. You’re holding the group back again.”

Dyle walks behind Shelly on his way to the elevator, giving Shrimpo a cold side eye as he does. As he does, Shrimpo’s intensely angry glare returns. His breathing grows intense, and he slaps Shelly’s hand away, causing Shelly to take a sharp breath and retract her hand close to her chest. Shrimpo pulls himself up and stomps off towards the elevator, but not before saying some scathing words.

“YOUR SHELL HEAD IS STUPID. I HATE IT AND I HATE YOU!”

Even while saying it, Shrimpo’s breathing is quick and intense. Shelly holds her hands close to her chest as she walks into the elevator not far behind Shrimpo. They end up on opposite sides, with Shrimpo crossing his arms and facing away from everyone, and Shelly looking down at the ground trying to control her emotions. Dyle puts his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

“I am sorry about him, Shelly. You know how he is.”

Dyle puts his free hand over his mouth and laughs a bit to himself.

“That’s just Shrimpo for you, hm?”

“...”

Shelly doesn’t respond, just glancing over at Shrimpo, who refuses to look in her direction. Dandy stands on a stool, and presses a couple buttons on the panel at the front of the elevator, causing the door to close and the mechanisms to whir to life. 

“Going up!”

Dyle steps away from Shelly, but his place is quickly taken by Teagan, who leans on Shelly’s head and drapes her arms over her shoulders.

“Don’t take it too personally, dear.”

“... I thought I was getting closer…”

Teagan giggles.

“Oh, you are. You may not see it, but I do. I read people like you wouldn’t believe dear. And him? Well, between you and me, I think he's dealing with more than anyone else here…”

Teagan turns Shelly’s head to look at Shrimpo, who yells something along the lines of ‘WE’RE GONNA CRASH’ at Toodles before returning to his brooding in the corner, facing the wall.

“He… has a funny way of showing it, but it is there. You’re certainly making more of an effort than most have. I appreciate that.”

Shelly sniffles, reassured slightly by Teagan's words. However, she has a small moment of recognition before looking up at Teagan.

“If you see something no one else does, then why don’t YOU talk to him?”

Teagan huffs.

“Please, I have enough swirling around in my cup already. That piece of work may just make me overflow.”

She grabs Shelly’s shoulders firmly and turns her around so they end up face to face.

“However, I really do appreciate what you’re trying to do here, Shelly. Keep at it. Just… don’t take it on alone. I won’t always be there to reassure you, dear.”

Shelly sniffles but nods her head, regaining a weak smile.

“There’s the smile I was hoping to see. Get back in that ring, dear. It's not over yet!”

Teagan pushes Shelly off to the side, causing her to bump into a few toons in the crowd before ultimately ending up just a few steps from Shrimpo. She looks over at him, but he seems lost in his own head. Too afraid to interrupt his trance, she simply folds her hands behind her back, looking down at the floor as the sounds of machinery fill her head. She takes a deep breath, then takes a small step to be closer to Shrimpo’s side.

. . . ╰──╮╭──╯ . . .

Chapter Text

“How are you feeling today, Shrimpo?”

Shrimpo is sitting on a large wooden chair. His small orange-ish limbs and red shirt contrast against the- no! Shrimpo jumps from the chair and runs towards the door at the end of the room. Dyle turns, looking over his chair at Shrimpo. 

“You know, even if you make it out, you aren't going anywhere.”

Shrimpo grabs the knob of the tall wooden door, twists and… it opens. He freezes. He spent so long trying to leave that he never considered what might be on the other side of the door. He expected something grand, something life changing, but… it was just a hallway. A plain concrete hallway lined with pumps and old posters for the show… but every single one was covered in ichor, obscuring their faces. Shrimpo takes a few sharp breaths before running down the hall in a random direction, desperately looking for an exit. Even as he runs, he hears Dyle's words in his mind.

“No one is coming to save you.”

He rounds corners as fast as his little legs can carry him, nearly slipping on the cold, wet floor. Just out of the corner of his eye, he spots an open elevator, pulling him in like a month to a flame. The faster he runs, the farther away it seems to get. He hears ticking echoing through the concrete hallways, slowly growing closer. His legs ache, his lungs burn, but he just keeps moving backwards. Just as he's reaching his limit, he gets pulled by his throat onto his back, unable to stand. When he looks down, he sees a thick golden ring wrapped around his neck, slowly getting pulled tighter. He follows the chain from the hoop on the floor, leading directly to Dyle's head, emerging from the dark.

“Watching you struggle is such a pain. Don't you know how much unnecessary stress and grief you cause me by doing this? How much you cause the others?”

Dyle slowly wraps his chain around himself, growing closer to Shrimpo who is clawing at the concrete floor trying to get away.

“And yet your little outbursts continue, trying to pretend to be someone you aren't. Stick to your role. It's the least you can do by this point.”

Dyle is standing in front of Shrimpo now, who is laying on his back, still pulling against the chain. Black tar flows down his cheeks and bubbles up from the ring tightening around his throat. His claws grind against the wet concrete with a painful screech, but to no avail.

“You are given so little, and yet it's more than you deserve.”

Dyle's form begins to grow, claws sprouting from his fingers and-

“Sh-Shrimpo?”

Shelly's voice cuts through the dark, and the world begins to fade…

. . . ╰──╮╭──╯ . . .

“Sh-Shrimpo?”

Shrimpo snaps out of his daydream to Shelly shaking his right shoulder gently, finding himself back in the elevator. He takes a sharp breath in and looks around, his eyes wide with surprise and fear. He turns back towards Shelly and flinches back, retracting away from her hand. He looks her up and down quickly. Shelly retracts her hand slightly, matching his gaze with concern and confusion. He manages to catch himself and takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he reopens them, that look of vulnerability has disappeared as quickly as it appeared, replaced by the classic Shrimpo scowl. He takes a breath in through his nose, puffing out his chest at the same time, then holds his arms out to his side with tight fists and his tail standing on end.

“Don’t touch me! I hate when people touch me! Leave me alone!”

With that, Shrimpo turns and hightails it out of the elevator, speed walking as fast as his little legs can carry him into the well lit red halls. Shelly watches him walk away and nearly disappear around a corner while holding her hand. She grips it tightly as if reacting to a burn. However, just before he's out of sight, her expression changes, a new glimmer of determination in her eyes. She clenches her fists, then calls out to Shrimpo.

“Shrimpo! Wait for me!”

Shrimpo was just rounding the corner when she called out to him. He stops, looking down at the floor contemplating if he actually heard what he heard. He pokes his head around the corner of the hallway and sees Shelly skipping towards him with a big smile on her face. He looks utterly confused, but he doesn’t try to stop it, his tail slowly going limp against his back. He goes to take a step away, but stops. Instead, he stands just around the corner, waiting for her to catch up while staring at the floor in front of him. As she does, she stands next to him, rocking back and forth on her feet with her hands folded behind her hands.She smiles at him sweetly, her eyes closed and head tilted off to the side.

“Thanks for waiting for me Shrimpo! Are you ready to go now?”

Shrimpo continues to stare down at the floor and reaches behind himself to grab his tail. He pulls it over his shoulder, fidgeting with the end of it, before a subtle nod confirms his readiness.

“Perfect! Let's go! By now, Dandy is probably getting ready to reveal the script!”

Shelly walks slowly alongside Shrimpo into the auditorium. As their eyes adjust to the stage lights, they see the recording stage. There's 3 rows of seats on either side of a wide middle aisle, which leads down to a large wooden stage. It’s set up as what appears to be a child's bedroom. Various plushies line the bed; a plush dog, an octopus, and a plushy version of Pebble… or that’s just pebble. It's hard to tell, sometimes. On the bed are Dandy and Toodles. Toodles has her hands on her knees, kicking her legs and rocking her head back and forth with a smile while Dandy talks to her, showing his own smile in turn. Shelly and Shrimpo start to walk down the aisle together, with Shelly scans the front rows, looking for… ah, there she is! She spots Vee, who is looking over her shoulder and waving for Shelly to come join their group. She waves back, and starts to happily prance towards them.

“C’mon, Shrimpo! Let’s-”

She turns around and sees Shrimpo is no longer at her side, instead sitting at the back of the auditorium with his arms crossed. She turns back towards Vee, who is waiting on her expectantly. She looks back at Shrimpo, then tenses her shoulders and gives Vee a bit of an embarrassed smile before making her way back to Shrimpo. She sits next to him, humming happily. Shrimpo looks up at her in surprise before looking back at the floor.

“Hi, Shrimpo! Is it okay if I sit next to you?”

Shrimpo’s eyes scan the floor, darting back and forth while he thinks. He opens his mouth to say something, but chokes on his words, instead just shaking his head yes. For the first time, Shrimpo’s face seems to be turning a slight shade of shrimpy-pink. Shelly puts her hand over her mouth, trying to hide her smile at his reaction. She plays it cool, but internally, she can't believe her eyes. Shrimpo wants my company, AND he's embarrassed? I didn’t even know he could get embarrassed! I wonder why he didn’t say anything? Maybe he-

“Didn’t think you could get away that easily, did you?”

Both Shelly and Shrimpo jump as Vee drapes herself over Shelly’s shoulders with a smile. Shelly takes a sharp breath in, but quickly regains her composure at the sight of her friend.

“Hehehe… Hi Vee!”

Shelly gives Vee a hug, then looks around to see the others crowding around her and Shrimpo. On Shrimpo’s right is the Circus Trio, plus Razzle and Dazzle, all chatting happily. She waves at the group, but only Dazzle seems to notice and wave back. Vee looks over at Shrimpo, who now has an intensely angry and frustrated look on his face with his tail standing on end, though with maybe a slight bit of fear hidden underneath. Vee looks at Shelly with genuine concern.

“Why are you back here with him anyway? Is he like, forcing you to be over here, or..?”

“What, no! No, he just.. This morning, he seemed like he really needed a friend, and no one else was really trying, so…”

“Well yeah. He's a bully! He's not exactly prime friend material, y'know.”

“Well he's not just… I don’t know yet, but…”

She crosses her arms across her chest and looks over at Shrimpo, who is arguing with Yatta about something while the others mostly just ignore him. Her smile fades slightly, replaced with concern.

“... There's just more to him, Vee. He just doesn’t know how to show it. Or hes…”

Vee just shakes her head.

“Hey, I’m not trying to tell you who you can and can’t be around. Just be careful alright? Don’t spend time with him just because you feel like you HAVE to.”

“Yeah, I know…”

“Wanna come by the studio tonight? We could talk it out a little bit. I know Teagan, Tisha, and Yatta will be there too. Call it a girls night!”

Shelly lights up at the invite.

“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t have anything to bring! I guess I could throw something together like-”

Vee wags her finger at Shelly.

“Oh no, you’re not doing anything extra. Just bring yourself. We’ve talked about this, Shells.”

Shelly fidgets with her fingers anxiously, but her smile doesn’t fade.

“Haha… right, right… sorry…”

Vee pats Shelly on the back then walks across the seats to the circus trio. As she passes by Shrimpo, she leans over the seats, just a few inches from his face in an effort to intimidate him.

“If you are so much as unpleasant to her I am going to strangle you with the cord of my microphone…”

Shrimpo stands on his seat and puffs out his chest to challenge Vee in return.

“I don’t care what you have to say, pixel face! I WILL THROW A BRICK AT YOUR HEAD!!!”

Vee just rolls her eyes and moves on, but Shrimpo keeps standing there with his chest puffed out, staring her down angrily. Shelly laughs at his display, motioning for him to sit down.

“Shrimpo, Shrimpo, she didn’t mean that, calm down…”

Shelly looks over at Vee, now hanging around the others. She dominates the conversation, as she normally does, despite the clear friction between herself and the boys of the circus crew. Shrimpo looks over at Shelly, who’s showing a hint of melancholy not there before.

“She just tries to be intimidating. Kind of like you!”

Shrimpo takes a few deep breaths while staring at Shelly before sitting back down, clearly still fuming. She goes to pat Shrimpo on the back comfortingly, but as soon as she makes contact, he nearly jumps out of his shell. He pushes himself as far away from her as he can, startled by the sudden contact. Shelly puts her hands up by her head in surprise.

“S-Sorry, sorry! No, uh, no touching, got it, sorry… I didn’t mean to-”

Shelly prattles on apologetically, hoping to amend for what she immediately assumes in a horrible transgression. Shrimpo looks at her a bit confused. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but he can’t find the words. Just as things are reaching their awkward peak, Dandy cuts it off by bringing all eyes to him in his typical showman fashion. The lights in the room cut, and a single spotlight shines on Dandy.

“GOOOOOOD MORNING, FRIENDS! It’s that time once again, isn’t it! Everyone's favorite time of day, episode time! And I think I have a GREAT one for us today!”

A few toons clap. Vee just rolls her eyes. Dandy starts to walk back and forth across the stage, presenting the script with as much dramatic flair as he can muster, as if this children's show were the peak of Shakespearean drama.

“Our protagonist, the brave Toodles, is trying to find rest in her room, but… gasp- Oh no! She hears a scary scratching sound coming from her closet. She calls out for-”

Dandy is cut off by the sound of microphone feedback followed by Vee beginning to speak into her mic, causing him to cringe at the grating noise… oh, and the mic feedback too. Dandy looks over at Dyle, who is manning the sound system. He simply shrugs in return.

“Oh, Dandicus… Haven’t you already done the ‘monster in the closet’ trope? A few times now, in fact…”

Dyle turns up the volume on the auditorium speakers, drowning out Vee’s own built-in speaker.

“SHE CALLS OUT FOR HEr dad, of course played by the one and only Rodger!”

Dandy motions to Rodger, who is sitting in the front row. He nearly jumps out of his skin, spilling papers marked in red ink everywhere, which he begins hastily cleaning up.

“However, when he goes to investigate these horrible claims… he finds nothing! Nothing but a closet full of clothes and toys just like any other day!”

Dandy tosses the script aside, fully getting into it now. He hops back and forth across the stage, looking toons in the eyes to sell the drama.

“However, just as he disappears from our young heroine’s room… Disaster! A monster! A horrible werewolf, played by Shrimpo of course, bursts from her closet, threatening to tear her to shreds!”

“If you wanted a werewolf for this episode, why didn’t you invite Eclipse?”

Vee chimes in again, much to Dandy’s annoyance.

“BecausesheisaseasonalANYWAYS! Lucky for our young protagonist, a hero appears! Sir Dandy, to the rescue! He stands between Toodles and the horrible monster, swords in hand! He gives one to Lady Toodles, and they slay the monster together, saving her home once and for all!”

Vee interrupts one final time with as much sass as she can muster.

“And why, Sir Dandicus, do you suddenly appear to save the day? Shouldn’t it be Rodger? Heck, even Soulvester would make more sense than-”

Dandy practically yells through the gritted teeth of his smile into his microphone, his pupils getting just a spot of red in the middle.

“BECAUSE IT IS MY-... Our show… Ahem”

Dandy clears his throat awkwardly, trying to dismiss his sudden outburst. A few toons around the room snicker.

“And so, creative liberties must be taken to keep things fresh, no?! Ahahaha…”

Dandy claps, and the lights in the auditorium flicker back on.

“As always, you can find copies of your scripts at the front of the auditorium, with costumes in the back room. Practice and be ready, friends!”

Dandy starts to wrap up his microphone cord and skips offstage, causing other toons to resume their normal chit chat. Shelly thinks to herself.

“Ooooh… So that's why Dandy wanted that costume so small…”

She turns to Shrimpo, smiling supportively.

“Isn’t that fun, Shrimpo? You get to play a monster!”

“I hate playing monsters!”

Shrimpo jumps up from his seat and starts to walk up towards the stage, leaving Shelly utterly confused. Shouldn’t he like playing the bad guy? Before he gets too far, she calls out to Shrimpo.

“Shrimpo! Good luck! I can’t wait to watch you!”

Shrimpo turns back towards her, not scowling for once. Not smiling either… but definitely not angry. For just a second, she swears she can see a bit of red in his face.

. . . ╰──╮╭──╯ . . .