Chapter Text
Ever since she was young, Sara Covetman-Keen always wanted to open a family-friendly facility just like her mother did years ago. The facility was called Gardenview, a museum and educational center created by Arthur Walton and Sara’s mother, Delilah Keen. The facility was well known for its use for living toons, thanks to Delilah using a substance called ichor, though that was never brought up to the public.
Growing up in Gardenview, she knew her dream was to open her own facility with cartoon characters. That day ended up becoming a reality, when she and her two best friends, Lewis Bright and Oliver Acrimony, won a competition that gave them ownership of an old building that they could use for their facility. Now came the hard part, bringing the toons to life.
Sara was in her office reading her mother’s notes on how ichor is used. Her mother made it look easy, but she knew things could go wrong. Sara’s anxiety over this made her separate from her friends for a while so she could review the process and not get all worked up over it. Sara let out a frustrated yell as she slammed her head on the desk after reading the notes once again and getting anxious over them.
A knock was heard on Sara’s door.
“Lewis, go away!” Sara yelled, muffling.
The door slowly opened, revealing a flower-toon with rainbow-colored petals. “It’s not Lewis.” The toon answered, nervously.
Sara looked up and turned. She was surprised to see it was the mascot of Gardenview, Dandicus Dancifer, aka Dandy. “Oh, Dandy hi.” Sara replied.
“Hey, are you doing okay?” Dandy asked, closing the door as he walked over to the girl.
Sara sighed. “No.”
Dandy frowned as he used her desk to climb up and sat on it. He looked over the notes scattered all over Sara’s desk before looking up at her. “Reading your mom’s notes again?”
“Yeah.” Sara picked up one of the papers to read them again for the umpteenth time. As she read, she put her hand on Dandy’s petals and started to spin them.
Dandy started to look pissed as Sara played with his petals like it was a fidget spinner. “Sara, would you please stop spinning my petals?” He asked.
“Why? I love doing it! It helps me think.” Sara replied with a small smile.
Dandy scoffed and started to poke Sara’s hair bun. “How would you like it if I kept poking at your hair bun then?” He asked, snickering.
“Hey!” Sara laughed, pushing Dandy’s hand away from her hair. Dandy kept on trying to mess with her hair as Sara kept trying to stop him. The flower toon started to laugh as well as the two messed around, causing Sara to fall back on her chair, taking Dandy down with her, which made them laugh more.
The two caught their breaths as they glanced at one another before chuckling. “Feeling better?” Dandy asked.
Sara was still catching her breath, and once she did, she nodded. “Thanks, Dandy.”
“Hey, no need to thank me. It’s my job, keeping you happy.” Dandy answered.
Sara rolled her eyes, but smiled as she and Dandy got up from the floor. Sara picked her chair up and sat back down. She looked at the notes once more before looking down at Dandy, frowning once again. “Dandy, do you think I’m ready to do this?” She asked.
“Of course you're ready!” He beamed. “You’ve known about Ichor and how it works since you were 9.”
“I know that, but what if it goes wrong?” Sara asked. “What if the process is set up correctly and it just fails!”
Dandy climbed back up on the desk and put his hand on top of Sara’s, causing her to look up at him. “Hey, that won’t happen. I’ve seen how the process works. As long as you follow what the notes say, you’ll be fine.” Dandy reassured her.
Sara looked at the notes one more time and looked over at the flower toon. A smile formed on her face once again. “Alright, but to make sure. I might need Mom to come help me with this.” She reminded the flower.
Dandy smiled until the door was open once again. “If you needed help, my lil’gumdrop, you should’ve asked.” A female voice said.
Sara turned and gasped to see her mother, Delilah Keen, outside the door. “Mom!” Sara exclaimed, getting up from the chair and hugging her. Delilah chuckled and hugged her daughter back. “What are you doing here? I thought you went back home?”
“I did, but Lewis called me because he’s worried about you,” Delilah explained. “What’s going on, Sara?”
Sara sighed and explained to her mother about how she’s nervous of doing the whole ichor process for the first time. “I’m scared it could all go wrong.” She said, looking down.
Delilah frowned. She remembered using ichor for the first time, too. She had some failures before Dandy, and the rest of the toons came into existence, but the notes she took should be enough for her daughter to learn the process.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay Sara,” Delilah reassured her daughter. She cupped her daughter’s cheek with her hand. “I know you, you’ve asked me so many questions about ichor, and you’ve been reading my notes, you got this sweetie.”
Sara sighed. “What if it goes wrong?” She asked.
Delilah gave a determined smile. “Then try again. I’ve failed and tried hundreds of times again, and I never gave up. Don’t give up.”
Sara nodded. She took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s do this!” She beamed as a smile formed on her face.
“Alright!” Dandy cheered.
The three left Sara’s office and walked to where Lewis and Oliver were waiting for them. As they walked, Dandy started to think of all the new toons coming to life for the facility. He hadn’t seen a new toon in forever, and while he had Sara and her friends its nice to see more toons being created once again.
Though Dandy wondered if the new toons would like him and his friends, these were toons designed by Lewis and will soon be brought to life by Sara. They could act differently towards them. He shook off his thoughts and forced a smile, “Nothing like a Dandy smile and introduction to make their meeting a good one!” He thought.
“Dandy,” Delilah spoke up. The toon flower snapped out of his thoughts and turned to his creator. “Are you excited to meet the new toons?”
Dandy chuckled. “You bet!” He exclaimed, swinging his arm and giving a thumbs-up. “It would be nice to see some new toons!”
Delilah smiled, “I’m surprised you’re taking this well.”
“Delilah. I’m not the same Dandy I was when Gardenview was around.” He reminded her. “I grew into a new leaf.”
Sara chuckled. “Yeah, right.” She replied.
Dandy pouted as Delilah and Sara laughed. “I’m serious, you two!” He yelled, causing the mother-daughter duo to laugh more.
In the main lobby, the two other founders of Dreamworld, Lewis and Oliver, waited on Delilah and Dandy. The two sent the duo to check up on Sara as she’d been in her office for weeks and not spending time with them.
“You sure this would work?” Oliver asked.
“I hope so, darling,” Lewis replied. “If not, we’ll just have to delay the opening longer to build animatronics.”
“No need,” Sara spoke up.
Oliver and Lewis turned to see Sara, Delilah, and Dandy. The two smiled, seeing their best friend out of her office, and went over to her. “There you are, darling.” Lewis said, holding Sara’s hands. “Are you doing okay?”
Sara nodded. “I’m doing fine.” She replied. “I was nervous.”
“Nervous about what?” Oliver asked.
“About bringing toons to life. It’s the first time doing this, and I wanted to research mom’s notes before getting it right.” Sara explained.
Lewis sighed and gave a small smile. “Darling, you’ve told us how Dandy and the others were brought to life.” He said.
“Y-Yeah,” Oliver spoke up. “Besides, as long as the process doesn’t come with any side effects. You’ll be fine.”
Sara, Dandy, and Delilah’s eyes widened. The flower toon and the older woman slowly turned to Sara, who gave a sheepish smile. “She didn’t tell them. Did she?” Dandy and Delilah thought to themselves.
“Y-Yeah, no side effects,” Sara replied, chuckling nervously.
Lewis and Oliver narrowed their eyes and looked at each other. “She’s hiding something from us.” The two thought to themselves.
“Sara, are you hiding something from us?” Oliver asked.
“No, there’s nothing that I’m hiding,” Sara replied, rather quickly. She got glances from Dandy, her friends, and her mother over her outburst. Realizing how she said it, Sara sighed. “Sorry, I’m still nervous about all this.”
Oliver sighed. “I’m sorry too, Sara.” He replied. “I think I’m nervous about this, too. We’ve never seen how the process works.”
“Well,” Delilah spoke up, giving a smile. “Glad you called me. You finally get to see how it works.”
The group walked to an unused room to do the procedure. Sara made sure the coast was clear as she closed the door. “Okay, what we do here doesn’t leave this room, got it,” Sara advised.
Oliver and Lewis nodded. “But, what about Eric?” Lewis asked. “Doesn’t he deserve to know?”
Sara sighed; she had forgotten about Eric. He wasn’t present due to having some father-daughter time with Carly, and she didn’t want to bother him. “I promise. I’ll tell him when I’m ready.” She reassured him.
Lewis nodded, hoping Sara would keep her promise. From how she’s been acting recently, it worried him and Oliver. Sara never kept secrets from them before, and now it looks like she’s keeping stuff from them.
Sara went over to the drawer and opened it, revealing a bunch of ichor capsules. She grabbed one and handed it to her mother. She gave a smile as nostalgia rushed over her. “It’s been a while since I did this, and now my little girl is about to follow in my footsteps,” Delilah said. “Ready?”
Sara took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready.” She said, determined to start the process. She laid out the drawing of Starlight and grabbed a syringe and needle from the table.
“Alright,” Delilah said, grabbing the capsule of ichor and opening it. The smell of ichor lingered in everyone’s noses. It smelled like ink, but it was stronger. It felt like chloroform being pressed against your nose.
The first step in the process is to mix blood into the ichor. Since ichor is akin to the blood to the toons, human blood needs to be mixed in to make it active. Delilah also discovered tears can be mixed in, but blood has a stronger effect.
Sara was ready to prick her finger on the syringe, but her hand was shaking as she was still nervous about the process going wrong.
“Wait!” Lewis spoke up. Sara and Delilah turned to the young man. “May I use my blood?”
Sara and her mother looked at one another, shocked to see Lewis wanting to step in. “Lewis, are you sure?” Delilah asked.
Lewis nodded in reply. “I’m positive.” He answered.
“Alright.”
Sara walked over to her best friend and looked at him with worry. “I don’t want to hurt you, Lewis.”
“You won’t hurt me, darling.” Lewis reassured her.
Sara gave a small smile. She was surprised to see that Lewis believed in her. “Give me your index finger.”
Lewis nodded and handed his best friend his right index finger. Sara took the needle and slowly pricked Lewis’s finger with it. The boy flinched slightly as Sara removed the needle, and a trickle of blood came from the wound.
Sara took Lewis to her mother and put his finger over the ichor capsule as his blood dripped into it. The ichor bubbled as drop after drop went into the capsule.
“Okay. We’re good.” Delilah said.
Sara nodded as she grabbed a napkin from her pocket and put it over Lewis’s finger to stop the bleeding. “You okay?” She asked.
“I am, darling.” Lewis replied. He walked over to the desk drawer and opened the top to reveal a first aid kit. He grabbed it, took out a bandage, and put it on his finger.
Sara then took the syringe and dipped it in the ichor as it sucked in the substance. She took a deep breath and pressed the bottom of the syringe as ichor splashed through the page before she splashed a bit of it on her finger and drew at what appeared to be a summoning circle around it.
A red glow started to appear as the ichor began to bubble.
“Lewis, I need you for this,” Sara spoke up.
Lewis walked over to Sara. “Okay, what do I do now?” He asked.
“Stand on the opposite side of the table,” Sara stated.
Lewis didn’t question and did what his best friend told him to do. “Okay, now what, darling?” He asked.
Sara put her hand on the table, making the circle glow. “Put your hands on the table. Since I used your blood, you need to help me on this part.”
Lewis nodded and did what his best friend told him to do.
“Now close your eyes and put your heart and soul into Starlight’s creation. How he acts, speaks, something that would make Starlight feel real.”
Lewis and Sara closed their eyes simultaneously as the ichor began to bubble. Dandy held back his excitement and went over to Oliver whispering to him. “This is the best part.”
The ichor bubbled faster as the glow got brighter and brighter until it flashed, pushing Sara and Lewis to the ground. The two caught their breath, exhausted from that power. Delilah, Oliver, and Dandy covered their eyes to protect them from the flash, but once it faded, they slowly opened them.
From the ichor, a star toon appeared. He had a star-shaped face with the right side being blue and the left side being yellow. His right limbs were shades of blue,yellow, and orange. He wore a blue suit with three white stars on the left and a shooting star trail on the bottom right, split colored coattails, and a split colored bowtie at the base of his neck. From his size, he looked to be taller than Dandy by a few inches.
Lewis blinked, seeing his creation come to life. “Is that Starlight?” He asked.
Starlight groaned and slowly opened his eyes. In front of him was Dandy, whose eyes widened in awe, seeing the new toon. “W-What the?” Starlight asked as he rubbed his head.
“It worked! Delilah! Sara! It worked!” Dandy cheered.
Sara was speechless. She created her first toon, and it worked. Like how her mom did many years before. “I did it.” She whispered. A big smile formed on her face as she cheered. “I did it!”
Delilah smiled and hugged her daughter tight. “I knew you could do it!” She cheered. “I’m so proud of you, my lil’ gumdrop!”
Lewis and Oliver were shocked as well, mostly Lewis. His own creation, Starlight, was alive and in the flesh. “Starlight?” Lewis asked.
Starlight looked up at Lewis, and the star toon looked up at him in surprise. “W-Who are you, darling?” He asked.
Sara stopped celebrating as she turned to Starlight, shocked, hearing him speak. Starlight sounded like Lewis when she first met him way back in middle school. “C-Could you say that again?” Sara asked.
“Why?” Starlight asked.
“Y-You sound like…like.”
“Like me,” Lewis stated.
Sara looked at her mom, horrified. “Mom, did I do something wrong?” she trembled.
Delilah chuckled. “Not at all, sweetie, you did everything correctly." She replied. “When a toon is created, the ichor uses the features based on how the creator sees him.”
“So, since Starlight is based on me, he’ll sound like me?” Lewis asked.
“Bingo!” Delilah exclaimed, giving a thumbs up.
Sara sighed, worried that she had messed up. “Sorry about that, Starlight. I’m Sara. I was the one to bring you to life.” She introduced. “This is Lewis, he designed you, Oliver, my mom Delilah, and Dandy, another toon like you.”
Dandy took Starlight’s hand and shook it hard, making the star toon’s body shake as well. “Nice to meet ya Starlight!” He beamed.
“N-Nice to meet you t-too darling!” Starlight stuttered.
Dandy stopped shaking Starlight’s hand and put it by his hips. “I can’t wait for you to meet the others; my good pal Astro would love to meet you!”
“W-Who is Astro?”
“Another toon. He’s moon-based.”
“O-Oh,” Starlight replied. “That sounds cool.”
“Uh, Starlight.” Delilah spoke up. The star toon turned to the older woman. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel okay, so far,” Starlight answered. He then heard a groan and looked to see Sara holding onto the table, trying to catch her balance, while Lewis was ready to pass out. “But I don’t think those two are okay.”
Oliver gasped and ran to his friends, “Lewis! Sara!” He yelled, catching Lewis before he fell on the ground not long after, Sara passed out on the floor, too.
“Sara!” Dandy yelled, running to his human friend.
“W-What’s going on with them?!” Oliver asked, worriedly.
Delilah, who should have no emotion over this, walked to her daughter and picked her up. “They’re gonna be okay, the ichor process drains a lot out of you.” She answered.
Oliver was surprised that Delilah was calm over this. Sure, she did bring Dandy and his friends to life and went through the same thing. He just thought that Delilah would be concerned about her daughter passing out on the floor.
“You sure they’ll be okay?” Starlight asked, looking at the unconscious Lewis.
“They will,” Dandy reassured his new friend. However, he turned to Sara to see her unconscious and a bit of ichor staining her fingers. “I hope.”