Dandy's World Fanfics

“So, Bassie got sick?” Delilah asked. The Keen-Covetman family was having dinner, and Sara told her mother everything that had happened today.

“Yep.” Sara replied as she put spaghetti on her plate and added some sauce on top. “So, until Bassie is better, we have to run the Easter event.”

“I don’t get it.” Dandy spoke up as he made his plate of spaghetti. “I thought Bassie said she was doing better. Why did she replace showing she can be independent?”

Sara and Dandy sat down at the table as Sara continued talking. “Well, trauma doesn’t go away easily, Mom.” Sara answered as she glared at her mom.

Delilah stopped halfway through eating her spaghetti and looked up at her daughter. “Sweetie, I was one of the founders of Gardenview. I made that decision and can still act on it.”

Sara smirked. “Well, I own the toons now, so should it be me making the decision?” She asked.

Delilah gave her daughter he signature smile, “sweetie, your Uncle Arthur and I gave you and your friends the rights to the toons.” She explained as she took a bite of her spaghetti. Once she swallowed it, she continued, “but as for decisions. I still have the final say.”

Sara knew her mother was going to say that, so it was time to unleash her uno reverse card. “What if I told you I have a compromise?” She revealed.

“I’m listening.”

“Okay, you want Cocoa to be a main. Right?” Sara asked.

“Right?” Delilah confirmed, wondering where her daughter was going with this.

“And I want Bassie to keep her main status. So, we make Cocoa a main, but Bassie keeps her main status. Two Easter mains, baby! HA!” Sara exclaimed, slamming her hand and pointing at her mom. She then smirked and crossed her arms, knowing she had the best idea in the world.

Delilah didn’t react and just ate her spaghetti as her daughter explained her idea. “Sweetie, only one main per seasonal event. Not two.” She replied.

Sara chuckled, knowing that didn’t work. “Alright, then let’s make-”

“I’m not making Bassie part of the main cast with Dandy and the others.” Delilah said, cutting her daughter off and giving her a smirk.

Sara groaned, seeing her mom uno reversed her uno reverse card. “But mom!” She whined.

“Remember, Sara, I still have the rights.” Delilah reminded her.

Sara gave a pout before slamming her head on the table and letting out a groan.

It was nighttime, and the founders, Dandy, Bassie, and Cocoa, brought in Easter decorations for the spring season. It was the first year they were ever doing this, and Bassie and Cocoa were excited. “Alright! We got everything!” Cocoa beamed.

“I’m so excited about doing an Easter Event this year!” Dandy cheered.

“Same!” Bassie cheered. “And I’ll be the one to put up the decorations this year!”

Oliver yawned. “Well, we can set them up tomorrow. Right now, I’m tired.”

“Me too.” Lewis replied, yawning as well.

“That’s alright. I can stay behind and set up the decorations.” Bassie said, grabbing the banner from the box.

Everyone looked at each other. They knew Bassie was learning to be more independent and self-confident, but the group noticed the basket toon started to take her independence too far. “You sure, darling?” Lewis asked. “I mean, we can all work together tomorrow to get everything up.”

Bassie shook her head. “Don’t worry, Lewis, I’ll just get a head start on it and then head home for the night.” She reassured them before letting out a cough. The basket toon started to have a cough a few days ago, and it sounded like it was getting worse.

“That cough you got Bass, is starting to sound worse.” Dandy pointed out.

“It’s just spring allergies, Dandy.” Bassie reminded him, though the cough didn’t sound like it came from allergies. “I’ll be okay.”

“Well, okay.” Dandy replied, still unsure of his friend’s condition.

“Just call us if you need anything.” Cocoa added.

Bassie nodded. “I will, don’t worry.”

The group looked at one another and left the basket toon alone while they grabbed their stuff and left the facility, each saying good night to Bassie. The last two to leave were Sara and Dandy, but before they left, Sara left her key on the table. “In case you want to call it a night, my key is right on the table. Lock up when you’re done.” She reminded Bassie, who was now putting up the banner.

“Got it!” Bassie replied, not looking up at the girl.

Sara and Dandy looked at each other, hoping Bassie was going to be alright. “Well, night Bass.” Dandy said as he closed the door and left with Sara.

Bassie waved goodbye and watched as Sara’s car left the parking lot. Once she was alone, Bassie sighed as she got determined. “Alright! Time to show everyone I’m not dependent. I can do this myself.” She said to herself. Bassie gathered the decorations and started to put them up in places she deemed fit. At times, she felt sleepy and wanted to call it quits to get some sleep, but she shook it off and continued working until sunrise.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

By morning, Eric, Ridley, Cocoa, and Carly came to the Dreamworld Facility. Lewis sent Eric a message about Bassie staying after hours to work on Easter decorations. Eric texted Bassie about needing to come home, but she didn’t reply. The following morning, Cocoa tried to call Bassie, but she didn’t reply, and it worried everyone.

“I hope Bassie is alright.” Cocoa said, gripping her Glazed Fondant Bag.

“I’m sure she is. She’s a hard worker.” Ridley reassured his bunny friend.

“Still,” Carly spoke up as the two toons turned to her. “Bassie would’ve called, letting us know if she was okay.”

Eric went to open the door and was surprised to see it was unlocked. “Uh, she didn’t lock up?” He asked. Eric walked in and looked around to see the Easter decorations up, but some of the decorations looked sloppy due to the tiredness Bassie was going through.

“Wow!” everyone exclaimed, looking at the decorations.

“Bassie really outdid herself.” Cocoa commented.

“Yeah, but some decorations could see better days.” Carly added, looking at one of the banners about to fall.

Eric didn’t see the basket toon and started to worry the worst. “Bassie!” He called out. The basket toon didn’t answer. “Bassie! Where are you?!”

A groan was heard, and coming out from the hallway was Bassie. The basket toon looked weak and groggy, her eyes were bloodshot with bags underneath them, and her face had a tint of red. “Morning, guys, what’s up?” Bassie asked, her voice sounding raspy.

The group looked shocked at Bassie’s condition. “Bassie!” Eric yelled, running to her. He then placed his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Bassie nodded. “I’m fine.” She replied before coughing. She tried to take one step, but Bassie passed out. Before she fell, Eric caught her.

“BASSIE!” Carly, Cocoa, and Ridley yelled as they ran to her.

Eric felt her forehead and saw that Bassie was burning up with a fever. Eric wondered if this was due to Bassie overworking herself or if it was a sign of the cough she got a few days back. “Carly, call Lewis and the others and let them know Bassie is sick!” Eric commanded his daughter.

Carly nodded and grabbed her phone from the bag as she called Lewis.

“What do you want us to do?” Cocoa asked.

“One of you go get a wet towel to put over Bassie’s head.” Eric said.

“On it!” Ridley yelled as he dashed off to the bathrooms to get a wet towel.

Cocoa decided to stay with Eric and Bassie; she frowned seeing her best friend sick. “Bassie, please get better.” She whispered.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Bassie woke up and gasped that she had fallen asleep in the middle of decorating for the Easter event. She looked around and saw she fell asleep inside the closet. Quickly getting up, she tried to leave, but the door was locked.

“Oh no.” Bassie whimpered. She couldn’t be locked in, she couldn’t be! Bassie tried knocking on the door, but no one could hear her as the sounds of kids laughing and having fun drowned out her voice. Bassie started punching the door, in hopes someone, anyone, could let her out. “Let me out! Please, someone let me out!”

The basket toon cried as she felt her body grow, especially her right arm, turning black due to ichor and longer.

“Sara!” Bassie cried. “Ridley! Oliver! Lewis! COCOA!” Her voice got raspier as Bassie turned into her twisted form.

“LET ME OUT!”

Bassie gasped as she awoke. She saw she wasn’t locked up and turning twisted, but in her room, and Eric, Cocoa, and Carly were watching her. Bassie was now out of her usual outfit and was wearing a pink two-piece pajama with the shirt having a white tulip blooming from the grass, and the pants being covered in the same tulips.

Cocoa smiled as she leaned in closer to her friend. “Bassie! You're awake!” She exclaimed.

Eric put his hand over Cocoa to prevent her from getting closer. “Careful, Cocoa, I don’t want Bassie to be overwhelmed and you to be sick.”

Bassie let out a cough, “w-what happened?” She asked, groaning.

“You overworked yourself and passed out.” Carly explained. “Which is why you’re sick with a 103-degree fever, so we brought you home.”

Bassie slowly got up, but felt lightheaded due to her illness. “B-But what about-” She was about to ask about the Easter event, but Eric cut her off.

“Don’t worry about it. Everyone got it under control.” Eric reassured her.

“W-What?” Bassie was confused.

“We’re gonna help run the Easter event until you’re feeling better, Bassie!” Cocoa exclaimed.

Bassie felt her stomach drop as her anxiety peaked. She couldn’t be sick at this time, not when the Easter event was near. The basket toon was breathing heavily, coughing in between, as she felt like throwing up.

Eric took notice of Bassie’s panic attack and put his hand on top of hers. Bassie slowly calmed down as she turned to the man. “Um…guys, let me talk with Bassie for a bit, you wait downstairs until I come down.”

Cocoa and Carly looked at one another and back at Eric. “Okay dad.” Carly said. The two left Bassie’s room, leaving the man and the basket toon alone.

Eric turned to Bassie, seeing her taking deep breaths, which then turned into coughs. “Bassie, breathe nicely and slowly. Okay.” He said, slowly rubbing her hand.

Bassie nodded and did what Eric told her to do. Soon, Bassie started to relax; the anxiety lingered, but it wasn’t bad. She took a few more deep breaths before calming down. Eric gave her a small smile and handed her a cup of water that was sitting by her bedside desk.

“Here, drink some water.” Eric offered.

Bassie grabbed the water from Eric and slowly drank it. She finished the glass and let out a sigh. “Thank you, Eric.” She replied.

Eric gave a small smile. “Anytime.” He said. “Now get some rest, and I’ll get you some soup.”

Bassie sighed and gave a nod as she lay back down. Eric rubbed her head and walked out of Bassie’s room and closed the door, but not all the way. Once Eric was gone, Bassie sighed as she pulled the blanket over her and tried to get some rest.

Downstairs, Carly and Cocoa waited on the couch for Eric to come down and bring up Bassie’s condition. Once they heard footsteps, they looked up and waited for Eric to speak up about Bassie. “So how is she?” Carly asked, being the first one to speak up.

“Sick, though she’s not taking it well since it's time for the Easter event.” Eric explained.

“Well,” Cocoa spoke up. “I know Delilah made me the backup toon to run Easter if anything happened to Bassie, but I’d rather help you take care of Bassie until she’s better.”

Eric smiled, seeing Cocoa wanting to help care for Bassie, then run the Easter event. Despite their past, Cocoa chose loyalty over being a face at a holiday event. He gave a light chuckle and petted the bunny’s head between her ears. “You’re such a loyal rabbit, Cocoa.” He said.

Cocoa giggled in reply. “I just love helping others.”

“That’s good. Later, I’m gonna make some soup for Bassie. You're welcome to help me.” Eric offered.

“Sure!” Cocoa exclaimed, jumping on the couch.

Eric chuckled, and soon his phone started to ring. He took it out of his pocket and saw that it was Lewis calling to check on him. “Hey Lewis!” He said, answering the call. He heard Lewis speak on the other line as Eric listened.  “Bassie is alright, just resting, but I think today we’ll be home to watch her.” Eric paused as Lewis continued to talk. “Cocoa, no, she wants to stay and help care for Bassie.”

Cocoa looked up at Eric once she heard her name, and once he said she wanted to help care for her friend, she nodded quickly as her tail wagged.

“Thanks for understanding, Lewis. I’ll check up on you guys tomorrow. Bye.” Eric said as he hung up the phone.

“What did Lewis want?” Carly asked.

“Just checking on Bassie and how she’s doing.” Eric answered. “He wanted to know if you were coming into Dreamworld to help with the decorating, but I told him you want to help care for Bassie.”

Cocoa nodded quickly in reply. “Yep. I can help out anytime before the event ends.”

Eric smiled. “Lewis and his friends might swing by to check on Bassie.” He mentioned.

“Okay!” Cocoa replied.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Bassie woke up and groaned. She hoped that rest would make her feel better quicker, but she felt dizzy. The basket toon didn’t want to sleep anymore and decided to lie down and turn the TV on. She flipped through channels until she stopped on the cooking channel and put it at the lowest volume. She watched the show for a bit before she heard a soft knock on the door. “Come in.” Bassie said, weakly. The door opened and it was Cocoa, causing Bassie’s eyes to widen as she glared at the rabbit toon. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping Eric bring you soup.” Cocoa replied. She opened the door wider, revealing Eric holding a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Seeing Eric made Bassie relax, but now she felt bad glaring at Cocoa.

Bassie strengthened herself so she could eat her soup. Eric and Cocoa walked over to her as the man handed the basket toon her soup. “Thank you.” She said as she slowly ate her soup. It tasted good, it tasted homemade, then from a can like Delilah made for the toons when they were sick.

“How was it?” Cocoa asked. “I helped Eric make it!”

Bassie stopped eating and stared at the bowl. Her intrusive thoughts wanted her to be disgusted and throw the bowl at Cocoa, but with Eric being here, she had to hold it in. The last time Cocoa helped someone to take care of her, it didn’t end well.

“Don’t worry.” Eric spoke up. “I watched and helped her.”

Bassie felt her intrusive thoughts disappear and relax a bit before continuing to eat her soup. “Do you need anything else?” Cocoa asked.

“I’m fine for now, Cocoa.” Bassie answered.

Cocoa’s tail twitched. “Okay, just let me know if you need anything!” She beamed before leaving the room and headed back downstairs. Once she was gone, Bassie sighed, finally getting some peace and quiet from her fellow toon.

“You shouldn’t worry about Cocoa too much.” Eric spoke up. “She just wants to help you.”

Bassie sighed and continued eating her soup in silence. Once she finished her soup, she put it on the counter and sat there silently.

“Bassie, what’s wrong?” Eric asked.

“Everything.” Bassie whispered. “I thought I could do an entire Easter event by myself, with no help, and I ended up sick!” She raised her voice before letting out a cough. Eric frowned, hearing the toon vent out of her frustrations. “I’ve always tried everything to show I’m not just dependent, that I’m worthy of being a main, but all I do is make Delilah see that I’m not worthy of being a main and I should be replaced!” Tears started to fall on the basket toon’s eyes as she let out a sob.

Eric knew from Sara about Bassie’s predicament back when Gardenview was open. He was furious that Delilah would make that kind of decision and was even more shocked at how many other decisions Delilah made for the toons to where therapy was needed. Though Delilah had remorse for some of her decisions, she believed they were made for the good.

“Maybe Delilah was right, I’m not worthy of being a main.” Bassie whispered as an ichor tear fell from her eyes.

“That’s not true Bassie.” Eric spoke up. “You have the right to be a main character. That’s what you were created for!”

“I know that!” Bassie snapped. “I thought everything was okay, I thought I didn’t have to worry about losing my main status, but why does it hurt?” She coughed.

Eric sighed and put his hand behind Bassie’s back and rubbed it. “Trauma doesn’t just go away quickly. I wish that were the case, but it’s not.” He explained. “Bass, it’s not a crime you're dependent, but you’ve been getting better and better at being independent than you were back then.”

“Yeah, and this year I ended up getting sick. IT’s always when I’m trying to be independent that shit goes wrong.” Bassie cried.

Eric frowned and had to think of something to cheer Bassie up. “You know I was in your place at one time.” He started. Bassie stopped crying and wiped the tears from her eyes. “With my memory loss condition, I was always seen as a burden to my classmates and even to some family members. No one wanted me around except my mom.”

Bassie sniffled. “Well, you're lucky you got friends and even work at Dreamworld.” She sobbed.

Eric nodded. “True. But there were things I wanted to do, but with my condition, no one could trust me.” He explained, looking down. Bassie frowned too. Even though she and Eric were both dubbed dependent, it was for two different reasons. “However, despite my condition. I made friends, became a teacher, and now I’m working with my students to help their dreams come true.”

Bassie gave a small smile, hearing that. “I guess that’s true.” She said as she let out a cough.

Eric pulled Bassie close to her. “You’re strong and special, Bassie. Even if you're dependent, you're not weak, my little tulip.” He said.

Bassie felt her eyes tear up as she let out a sniffle. She told herself she wasn’t going to cry, but the tears threatened to fall out, and she let out a sob. She then went into Eric’s arms and cried. “Thank you, Dad!”

Eric’s eyes widened, but he wasn’t surprised since he was told by Lewis’ mom that he was everyone’s dad. Though he always saw Bassie as another child to him, the same with Cocoa and Ridley.

“Anytime, my little tulip.” Eric said, hugging Bassie back.

Outside of Bassie’s door, Carly and Cocoa watched the scene unfold and smiled seeing Eric help Bassie out. “Carly.” Cocoa whispered.

“Yeah.” Carly whispered back.

“Does that make Bassie part of your family?” Cocoa asked.

Carly nodded. “To be honest, both of you have been family to us.” She confirmed, hugging the rabbit toon tight. Cocoa smiled widely as her tail wagged. She was happy to be part of a family.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Today was Easter, and by then Bassie felt a lot better and was able to help with the Easter event over the past couple of days. To celebrate today, Sara bought an outfit for the basket toon to wear today. The outfit was a blue overall dress with a pocket in the middle, worn over a yellow shirt with green and pink stripes. Her stockings also matched her shirt.

“Wow! You look great Bassie!” Ridley exclaimed, seeing his best friend/sister in her Easter outfit.

Ridley, too, wore an Easter outfit, which was a pair of yellow overalls with splatters of red, blue, and green paint, over a long-sleeved white shirt. His signature top hat was yellow with a sunflower on the side, as well as more splatters of paint.

Bassie giggled. “Thanks, Ridley.”

A knock was heard, and the two toons turned to it. “Come in!” They both said. The door opened, and Eric came in holding something behind his back.

“Hey, you two.” Eric said. He paused to see Bassie and Ridley in their spring outfits. “Wow, you two look great!”

“Thanks!” Ridley and Bassie exclaimed in reply. “I don’t know how Sara got my size, but this outfit is so cute!”

“It’s actually Sara’s old clothes. She got a lot from Arthur when she was a kid, and because they don’t fit her anymore, if they fit us, we can keep it.” Bassie explained.

Ridley looked at his outfit and smiled. “Hey, if it fits. I like it.” He replied.

“Speaking of outfits.” Eric spoke up. “Bassie, I got you a gift for the Easter event.” He revealed the item behind his back, which was a pink and purple spotted box.

Bassie’s eyes widened. She was about to grab the box, but got nervous. She remembered the last time she got her trinket as a gift during Easter, and it ended up causing her many problems and distress.

“You okay, Bassie?” Ridley asked, tilting his head.

“Not really.” Bassie replied, holding on to the basket handles on her head. “Last time I got a gift for Easter, it gave me…problems.”

Eric frowned a bit before giving a small smile. “Well, maybe this gift will change that.” He said, handing the gift box to her.

Bassie looked at the box again and grabbed it from Eric. She scanned the box and didn’t see anything suspicious about it. Though she said the same thing when Cocoa gave her that flower. Slowly, Bassie opened it, and her eyes widened in amazement.

Curious, Ridley wanted to see inside the box, and his eyes too beamed in amazement.

Inside the box was a blue and brown backpack with a B stitched on the top.

Bassie felt like she was ready to cry at this point. Her backpack looked handmade rather than from the store. She grabbed it from the box and put it on her. A smile appeared on her face, seeing it fit right.

“Sara showed me the outfit she gave you, and I decided to add a cute backpack with it.” Eric explained. “I know you like egg hunting and carrying your pressed flower book, so this could help-“ Eric paused, seeing Bassie tear up and run over to hug him.

“Thank you! Thank you so much, Dad!” Bassie cried.

Eric smiled. That was the second time Bassie called him dad. “Anytime, my little Tulip. Anytime.” He said, hugging Bassie back.

Ridley sobbed, which grabbed the attention of the two. The lemur toon used his tail to wipe his eyes, but the tears kept falling.

Eric and Bassie looked at one another and held their arms out for Ridley to join in on the hug. The lemur toon looked surprised.

“Really?” Ridley asked.

Bassie nodded, and not a moment too soon, Ridley hugged the two tightly. Eric and Bassie chuckled, hugging the lemur toon back.

The drive to Dreamworld was only about an hour from Nicholson's place, but for Wiatt it felt like eternity.

Throughout the drive, Wiatt sat there looking through photos of him and Lewis as his father, Owen, drove him to the facility.

Owen was worried for his son. He tried to open his mouth to start a conversation, but quickly closed it, knowing Wiatt wouldn’t respond. He didn’t like the silence and wanted to speak to his son as a way to distract him, but what could he say?

“Dad.” Wiatt spoke up.

Owen felt relieved hearing his son speak first.

“Do you think I’m crazy going over there?” Wiatt asked.

Owen shook his head. “Not at all. You worry about Lewis, and that’s sweet of you, Wiatt.” He replied. Wiatt gave a small smile, knowing he didn’t feel crazy for making his dad drive out there. “I know you two aren’t dating anymore, but glad you guys kept up with each other after all those years.”

“It’s only been 3 years, Dad.” Wiatt pointed out. “But yeah, it does feel like forever.”

Then something came to Owen’s mind. “You know,” He spoke up, “it would be nice to see Delilah again.” Wiatt’s eyes widened as he looked disgusted.

“Dad, no.” Wiatt groaned.

Owen rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Come on, Wiatt. It’s just going to be us catching up.” He reassured his son.

“Yeah, and then you’ll be dating her again.” Wiatt replied.

Before Sara and Wiatt were born, Delilah and Owen met at the arcade the Nicholson family owned. They started as friends and dated before they broke it off.

Owen chuckled. “Son, I promise you. It’s just us catching up. No dating required.”

Wiatt crossed his arms as he groaned. “It better be.”

Owen ruffled his son’s hair, making him groan even more.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Wiatt just listened to his music while he and his dad chatted from time to time. Soon enough, they finally arrived at the Dreamworld facility. Wiatt stepped out of the car, and his eyes widened in surprise at the outside of Dreamworld.

The outside of the building had a colorful sign that said DreamWorld. The building was also painted with every color in the rainbow.

“Wow, Lewis and the others really decorated the place.” Wiatt commented.

Owen got out of the car and looked at the building himself. “If it’s colorful out here, then imagine what it looks like inside?” He asked.

“A death trap maybe.” Wiatt answered.

Owen gave Wiatt a playful shove. “Don’t be mean, Wiatt. Lewis and his friends did an excellent job with the place.”

“Yeah, and Sara is one of his friends, and I don’t trust her.”

Owen chuckled. “Wiatt, I know you see Sara as a friend.”

Wiatt’s eyes widened. “She’s not my friend.”

“You spent time with her, though.” Owen pointed out.

“Yeah, because of Lewis.”

“But to me she’s still your friend, plus you have a lot in common.”

“How so?” Wiatt asked, raising an eyebrow.

Owen thought for a second. “Well, you both care for Lewis.”

Wiatt rolled his eyes and groaned. “That’s obvious, Dad.”

“Okay…” Owen paused, trying to think of what else Sara and his son had in common. “Well…both of you like the Dandy’s World cartoon.”

“Dad!” Wiatt groaned. “Many kids loved that show, and Sara’s mom was the founder of that place.”

Owen tried to think of something else, but nothing came to mind. Wiatt sighed, knowing his dad was wrong and he was right. He didn’t want to say it out loud.

Just then, the door opened, and the toons came out excitedly.

“So does anyone want to order something other than cheese and pepperoni?” Sprout asked, on his phone, writing down a list.

Bassie was about to speak up, but Finn shouted. “Anchovies, please and thank you!” He beamed.

Sprout wrote it down. “Bessie, I saw you open your mouth. What did you want?” He asked.

Bassie smiled and was about to speak, but froze seeing Wiatt. “Uh…Vegitarian, but you may wanna ask the person behind you.”

“What do you mean?” Sprout asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Turn around Sprout.” Cosmo said, sharing Bassie’s expression.

Sprout turned and stared in shock, almost dropping his phone. “Uhh…”

Wiatt gave a small smile and waved at the toons. They haven’t changed a bit since he last saw them.

“Darlings, what’s wrong?”

Wiatt looked up, and his eyes widened at Lewis. His boyfriend changed a little bit in his hairstyle and glasses. Fuck he missed him having big glasses. Lewis was unharmed, and that made Wiatt happy. “Lewis.” He said.

“Wiatt!” Lewis, Oliver, and Sara exclaimed in shock.

“WIATT!” The toons exclaimed, excited to see Wiatt. Some of them ran over and tackled the young man to the ground.

“We missed you so much, Wiatt!” Goob exclaimed, hugging Wiatt tight to where his face was turning purple.

Wiatt started to choke, “G-great! I missed you too!”

Scraps sighed and put a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Goob. Let Wiatt go.” She said. Goob sighed and unraveled his arms, letting Wiatt go, giving the latter a chance to breathe. The second Wiatt’s face turned back to normal, Scraps quickly hugged him. “We missed you so much.”

Wiatt chuckled, rubbing Scraps between her ears. “I’m surprised you guys missed me.” He said. “I figured you guys were close to Sara; you wouldn’t miss me this much.”

“Hey, any friend of Sara is a friend of ours!” Dandy exclaimed.

Sara and Wiatt groaned and rolled their eyes at the same time. “He’s/She’s not my friend!” They yelled at the same time. Their eyes widened as they said the same thing. “Stop copying me!”

Dandy chuckled, seeing the two copy each other. They quickly turned and glared at the flower toon, causing Dandy to gulp and go quiet.

“Wiatt, what are you doing here?” Lewis asked.

“Well, during our call. I got worried when I heard Starlight on the other line, so I begged my dad to drive me here.” Wiatt explained.

Owen waved at Lewis and his friends with a smile. “Hey guys!” He exclaimed.

“Hey, Mr. Nicholson.” Lewis and his friends said at the same time, nervously.

“So, during our call,” Wiatt started, “There was something about Starlight being created.”

Lewis and Oliver started to get nervous, while Sara started to get angry, but tried to keep a smile. She gripped Lewis’ shoulder and hissed into his ear. “Lewis, you’d better tell me you didn’t tell him everything.”

“I-I didn’t darling.” Lewis whispered back.

“Then how-” Sara was cut off when Starlight and Ridley went over to Wiatt.

“So, your Wiatt?!” Ridley exclaimed.

Wiatt looked shocked at the two new toons in front of him. He looked up at Lewis and his friends, glaring at Sara. “What did you do?” He asked.

Sara rolled her eyes in disgust. “Why do you always blame me for everything?” She asked.

“I get bad vibes from you, so…you’re the easiest to blame.” Wiatt replied.

“Uh oh...” Boxten whispered.

“Mewheee. This is gonna be good.” Gigi laughed.

Sara felt her face turn red from anger, ready to punch Wiatt into next week. She laughed and slowly walked over to Wiatt, her hands turning into a fist. “Well, you’re the easiest to have your ass kicked by a girl!” She growled.

Wiatt chuckled. “Oh, I don’t mind kicking your ass bitch!” He yelled.

“Alright!” Owen shouted, pushing the two away from each other. “Knock it off, you two!” Wiatt and Sara growled at one another, knowing that if Owen wasn’t holding them, they would be fighting.

Gigi pouted, wanting to see a fight happen. “Darn, thanks for running it, Mr. Nicholson.”

Owen sighed. “Sorry, but I’m making sure these two won’t kill each other.” He replied.

“But he/she!” Sara and Wiatt yelled, pointing at one another, but were cut off by the glare Owen gave them. The two sighed. “Fine.” Owen smiled and ruffled both their heads, making them groan.

“Now, I’m sure it’s been a long day for all of us. Why don’t we head back home and get some rest?” Owen suggested.

Then Starlight had an idea, “Wait! Wiatt, why don’t you work with us?” Starlight asked.

“What?” Wiatt asked, confused.

“WHAT?!” The founders and the toons yelled, confused or excited as well. They all stared at the star toon, hoping he’d explain more of his idea.

“I mean, do we have any other workers for Dreamworld?” Starlight asked.

The toons realize they were so busy helping Sara and her friends with Dreamworld that they didn’t have any extra help. “Well, you guys, but I was wondering when we’ll have human workers.” Oliver explained.

Owen and Wiatt looked at one another. “Well, I know you helped me out with the arcade, but you said you wanted to take a gap year from college to earn some money.” Owen explained.

“And you can spend time with your boyfriend.” Ridley added, nudging Lewis, causing him to blush.

“Just a friend, darling.” Lewis corrected the lemur toon. “We’re just friends now.”

Wiatt felt hurt from that statement, but didn’t show it. “Y-Yeah.” He replied, looking down. “Look, it’s nice you want to give me a job, but I’m okay with working at the arcade.”

“Aww.” Some of the toons groaned.

“Oh, please, Wiatt!” Goob begged, putting his hands together and pleading with the boy by giving him another big hug.

Wiatt’s face turned blue as he started to choke again. “G-Goob. I can’t breathe.”

“Goob, is it?” Owen spoke up. Goob nodded quickly in reply. “Think you can let my son go, again?”

Goob loosened his grip, but still held onto Wiatt. “Sorry, but you should stay with us, Wiatt. Please.”

Wiatt wanted to deny working at Dreamworld, but he saw a few of the toons pouting. He looked at Lewis and his friends and sighed, “I guess I’ll accept the job.” He said.

The toon’s eyes widened and smiled, “YAY!” The toons cheered loudly.

“Well, looks like we got a new worker.” Oliver said.

“Y-Yeah.” Lewis replied, slightly blushing. Showing his emotions towards Wiatt hadn’t changed.

“Yeah…” Sara added, though she didn’t seem pleased having Wiatt as part of the team.

“This is gonna be great, Wiatt!” Goob cheered. “I need to show you the inside!” The fluffy toon was ready to show Wiatt around when suddenly…

Grumble.

The group’s eyes widened when they heard it and turned towards Wiatt. The latter chuckled, knowing that sound was coming from him. “Guess I was in a rush over here. I forgot to eat.” He said.

Lewis chuckled as well. “Good news, darling, we were just heading over to Eric’s house for some pizza.” He replied. “Want to join us?”

Wiatt smiled. “Sure, I’m down for some pizza!” He exclaimed. He then saw some of the toons giving a huge smile that Wiatt was joining them. “Uh…why are you guys smiling at me like that?”

“No reason.” The toons replied together.

“Okay…”

“If any of the toons want a ride. I can help with that.” Owen said, offering his car.

Hearing the offer, Goob quickly ran to the back seat of Owen’s car. “Come on, sis! Hop in!” Goob exclaimed.

Scraps chuckled. “Okay! I’m coming, Goob.” She then walked over to the car and climbed in.

“Anyone else?” Owen asked. “I got room for two more.”

The toons looked at one another, wondering who would like to go first. Vee sighed and spoke up. “Alright, I volunteer.”

“Doll,” Glisten spoke up. “Do you want me to join you?”

Vee looked over at the mirror and slightly blushed. “S-Sure, why not?” She replied nervously.

Glisten smiled, took Vee’s hand, and went to Owen’s car. As they were getting in, Dandy decided to tease his friend. “You lovebirds have fun now!”

Vee blushed so hard from embarrassment that her screen glitched into an exclamation point. Once her screen came back, she turned to Dandy in anger. The flower toon laughed hard until he felt Vee’s microphone tail smack him on the face. The TV toon smirked as she went inside the car.

Dandy, who now had a red microphone print on his face, glared at his friend. He then heard Sara snicker, and he turned to glare at her, his eyes having a red tint. “S-Sorry. You deserved it.” Sara chuckled.

Dandy groaned as Sara led him to her car, still chuckling.

The group made it to Eric’s house, and the former teacher miscalculated the size of his house and the amount of toons inside. He was already exhausted from handing out pizzas to the toons, and had to get help from his former classmates and his daughter.

“Dad.” Carly spoke up after handing pizza to Toodles and Gourdy. “Next time we invite the toons over, we do it at the facility or Lewis’ house.”

“Of course, my ladybug.” Eric replied.

The toons were enjoying their pizza and soda while they talked with each other.

As Sara got her second slice of pizza, she turned to see Dandy and Vee sitting together, watching the backyard. Earlier the two were bickering and now they're both sitting next to each other without violence. Curious, Sara walked over to the two, but as she got closer, she realized what the two were watching outside.

Outside, Lewis and Wiatt were catching up on things, laughing, drinking soda, and eating pizza as they went. Even though the two did call every month, it felt like forever since they last met face to face.

“Are you two spying on Lewis and Wiatt?” Sara asked.

“Yep!” Dandy and Vee replied at the same time.

“And this is the only time you two aren’t trying to kill one another?”

“Yep!” They replied again.

Sara rolled her eyes and decided to join the two toons and watch Lewis and Wiatt catch up on things. Due to the glass door, no one could hear what Lewis and Wiatt were talking about. “What do you two think they’re talking about?” Sara asked.

Vee shrugged. “Not a clue, but seeing Lewis and Wiatt’s expressions, they’re catching up on things.” She explained.

Sara thought for a second and remembered the phone calls Lewis and Wiatt had every week when he left to help with Dreamworld. They talked about everything that happened during the week, what was there to talk about now that the two were face-to-face again. “Probably so.” Sara replied. “Even though they had lengthy phone calls.”

“Are you guys watching Lewis and Wiatt?” Sprout asked as he and Cosmo brought over their plate of pizza.

“Yep. Nothing interesting like your dates with Cosmo.” Vee replied.

“Hey!” Sprout and Cosmo snapped back. Vee and Sara giggled as the fruit and cake rolled toon sat next to their friends. “So, what have we missed?” 

“Not much.” Dandy replied.

“They’re just talking.” Vee added.

The group continued to watch as Wiatt explained something that happened, and Lewis started to laugh hard. Dandy leaned in, putting him close to the window in hopes he could hear the conversation.

“Hear anything?” Sara asked.

Dandy removed his face from the window. “Only muffles, but I can’t make out what they're saying.” He answered.

“Maybe I can help with that.” The ghost toon, Connie said, appeared behind the flower. Dandy jumped, falling off the couch as the ghost toon chuckled.

“Connie! Could you please not do that?” Dandy asked.

Connie crossed her arms and gave a smug smile. “Sorry, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.” She replied. Quickly, the ghost toon went back to the topic at hand, “but I can go and see what Lewis and Wiatt are talking about.” Connie turned invisible and flew right through the screen door to listen in on the conversation.

Everyone waited patiently for Connie to come back with the news. However, they saw Lewis shiver before Wiatt came by and put his arms around him to warm him up. Lewis blushed, “uh..thank you darling.” He said.

Wiatt smiled. “Anytime.”

The group inside continued to watch as Wiatt and Lewis talk. Connie then came back inside and turned visible again.

“Well, what are they talking about?” Dandy asked.

“Just Wiatt telling stories about what happened in college recently and Lewis sharing stories about Dreamworld.” Connie explained. “Nothing too important.”

“Oooh, are we spying on them?!” Ridley exclaimed. The group turned to the lemur toon, who seemed excited to join in on spying on Wiatt and Lewis. “Can I join?”

Dandy and the toons looked at one another before the flower toon smiled. “Of course, you're welcome to join in on our chaos!”

Ridley’s eyes widened in happiness. He got up on the chair, between Vee and Dandy, to watch Lewis and Wiatt talk. He listened in and smiled. “Looks like Lewis and Wiatt missed each other.” He mentioned before listening to some more of the conversation. The group’s eyes widened towards the lemur toon. “Wiatt is asking Lewis once more if they can date again.”

“Ooooh!” Scraps and Goob exclaimed, joining the group. “Let’s watch lil’ bro!” Scraps exclaimed.

Goob nodded and went up on the couch to watch Lewis and Wiatt.

“How do you know what they're saying?” Sara asked.

Ridley’s ears twitched. “I have great hearing. So, I can hear anything from miles away.” He explained.

Connie chuckled, hearing about the lemur’s ability. “Awesome! You can join Yatta and me when we sneak around the facility.” She explained, smirking.

Hearing her name, Yatta appeared behind Connie. “I heard my name and sneaking around.” She said, squeaking.

Oliver looked at the ghost toon with a deadpan expression. “Connie and Yatta, do you two know a thing about boundaries?” He asked.

“No, we don’t.” Yatta and Connie replied at the same time with a smile.

Oliver looked shocked and turned to Sara. “Sara, how have you not lost your sanity yet?” He asked.

“When you grow up with them. This stuff is normal.” Sara replied. Oliver sighed and rolled his eyes, as to him, this was eavesdropping.

Ridley listened more to the conversation and smiled. “Oooh, it’s gotten interesting.” He sang.

“Oooh spill.” Yatta said, getting excited.

Ridley continued to listen to the conversation, before he heard words he had never heard before. He slowly removed his ears from the glass door with a shocked expression. The ones who were watching looked at the lemur toon, confused. “Uh…Sara, Oliver, could you explain something to me?” He asked.

“Sure, what is it?” Sara asked.

Ridley wanted to open his mouth to say what he wanted to say, but some mysterious force was keeping him from saying it loud and proud. He then whispered to Sara and Oliver what he heard, and they looked horrified at what Ridley just told them. The toons looked confused and turned to the two.

“So, what did he say?” Dandy asked.

Ridley turned to the toons and was ready to open his mouth to say it, but quickly Sara slapped her hand over his mouth. “Dandicus, you do NOT need to know what he told us!” Sara yelled, warning the toons.

Eric, hearing the commotion, came over to the group along with his daughter Carly. “What’s going on?” He asked.

“Ridley told us something very disturbing.” Sara replied.

Carly and Eric looked at one another. “How disturbing is it?” Carly asked.

Oliver decided to whisper to his former teacher what Ridley just told him, and he looked just as shocked as his former students. Oliver nodded to let him know that Ridley did, in fact, say that.

“Okay! Now I’m curious what he said?!” Dandy yelled.

“Same here.” Carly added.

“NO ONE HERE NEEDS TO KNOW!” Eric, Oliver, and Sara yelled. This caused everyone to go to the three adults, asking them what Ridley asked, which made them stressed out.

Outside, Wiatt and Lewis heard the commotion and smirked. Turns out this was all just a prank to stop them from listening in on their conversation. “I think that’s the last time they’ll listen in on us darling.” Lewis said.

In a mansion about half an hour away from Dreamworld, a young man named Wiatt Nicholson stood in front of a corkboard filled with photos and newspaper clippings about Gardenview. He scanned through each of them and looked through his notes in his notebook. Using his pen, he read through a particular news article.

Three Kids Attacked by a Monster in the Woods, One Died.

Wiatt looked at the date and saw that this incident had happened a month before Gardenview’s shutdown. “Hmm.” He thought as he turned the page in his notebook. In his notes, words like Gardenview and Sara were highlighted. Soon, Wiatt was interrupted by his phone ringing. He grabbed it and smiled, seeing it was Lewis. Wiatt answered the phone and put it against his ear. “Hey, Lewis.”

“Hello, darling.” Lewis replied. “How is everything at home?”

“Great, just…” Wiatt trailed off, trying to think of an excuse for what he was doing. “Reading a book.”

Lewis narrowed his eyes. “You're not investigating Gardenview, again, are you?” He asked.

Wiatt chuckled nervously, closing his notebook and placing it on the table. “No! No! I’m not!” He denied.

“Darling…”

Wiatt sighed. “Alright, you caught me.” He admitted.

Lewis gave a light chuckle as he leaned back on his chair. “So, how is your investigation on Gardenview going?” He asked.

“Same as it was our last phone call. I’m still stuck on Gardenview closing. There’s still no reason why it closed.” Wiatt explained, waving his left arm around.

“Darling, I know you love exploring abandoned buildings and trying to figure out the mysteries behind them.” Lewis explained.

“Or discovering the paranormal.” Wiatt added.

Lewis rolled his eyes. “That too, but Sara told us why Gardenview shut down. It wasn’t doing business as it did back in the day, so they had to shut down.”

“Still, you’d think a place that has living toons would have something secretive.”

Lewis felt like he was sweating bullets. Wiatt knew nothing of the ichor operation, and if his boyfriend found out he agreed to help Sara with it, Wiatt would go ballistic.

“Y-You know Sara hates it when you bug her about Gardenview.” Lewis mentioned.

“She does hate me.” Wiatt replied.

“She doesn't hate you, darling.” Lewis reassured him.

If Wiatt and Lewis were face-to-face, he’d be glaring at his boyfriend by now.

“Darling, I know you're glaring on the other end.”

Wiatt groaned. “How did you know?”

“I can sense it, darling.”

Wiatt chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Well, I still stand that Sara hates me and she’s hiding something.”

Lewis sighed, knowing there was nothing to stop Wiatt. Before he could continue talking, a voice interrupted him. “Hey Lewis! Who are you talking to?” Starlight asked.

Wiatt’s eyes widened, hearing the star toon on the other end. “Lewis, who was that?” He asked.

“N-No one, darling!” Lewis lied. He then covered the speaker, “Starlight, I’m on the phone. Could you leave me alone for one minute?”

“Are you talking with Wiatt?” Starlight asked.

Lewis’ eyes widened as he dropped his cellphone. “Lewis? Lewis, what’s going on?” Wiatt asked on the other end.

Lewis didn’t respond and just stared in horror at Starlight. “H-How do you know about Wiatt?” He asked.

Starlight’s eyes widened as he let out a gasp and went to pick up the phone. Lewis tried to grab the phone from the star toon, but he was fast. “Hi, Wiatt! I’m Starlight! Lewis and Sara brought me to life using ic-” Before Starlight could finish what he could say, Lewis finally grabbed the phone and hung up on Wiatt.

Wiatt was frozen in shock as he looked at his phone. He was shocked to hear Lewis and Sara brought a toon to life, and with something that he didn’t quite catch due to the call cutting out. “Dad! I need to go!” He yelled, getting up and packing stuff to see Lewis.

“Lewis! What was that for?!” Starlight yelled, his eyes turning a bit red.

“For two reasons: One, Wiatt doesn’t know about the ichor operation, and two, how do you know about Wiatt?!” Lewis asked, yelling back.

“To answer your second question.” Starlight started, calming down. “I saw photos of him in your office and asked Dandy and the others about him. They said he’s your boyfriend.” He smirked at the man.

Lewis chuckled. “Y-Yeah. I’ve known him since middle school, around the same time I met Sara and Oliver.” He explained.

“Wow!” Starlight marveled in amazement over how long Lewis had known his friends.

Lewis nodded and gave a light chuckle. He grabbed his phone and went to his pictures before handing the phone to Starlight.  “Yeah, we have a lot of history together.”

Starlight grabbed the phone and looked at all the photos of Lewis and Wiatt together. Some featured Oliver, Sara, and a few of the toons together, too. “Wow, so Wiatt knows about the toons too huh?” Starlight pointed out.

“Everyone knows about them.” Lewis mentioned.

“Do they know about me, darling?” Starlight asked.

“Not yet. Once Dreamworld opens, they’ll know about you and Ridley.”

Starlight smiled and looked at the photo of Wiatt hugging and lifting Lewis. The two were laughing and having the time of their life. “When will I get to meet Wiatt?” Starlight asked.

Lewis’ eyes widened. Starlight wasn’t around when he and Wiatt broke up. “Y-You won’t.” He answered.

Starlight’s smile dropped. “W-Why?” He asked.

Lewis took a deep breath. “I broke up with Wiatt.”

“What?!” Starlight asked, horrified.

“YOU WHAT?!”  The toons yelled at the same time, overhearing Lewis’ conversation about breaking up with Wiatt.

“Oh boy.” Lewis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “How much did you guys hear?”

“Everything.” The toons replied. Lewis groaned, moving his fingers to his forehead, rubbing his temples.

Sara quickly ran by and skidded to a halt. She saw the toons surrounding Lewis’ office and was curious at first until they heard them all scream. Knowing it was something bad, she had to run and stop them. “I’m too late aren’t I?” She asked.

“You are darling.” Lewis groaned.

Ridley was confused and looked at the toons. “Uh, who is Wiatt?” He asked.

“Wiatt is a sweet guy!” Shelly exclaimed. “He’s Lewis’ boyfriend,” The ammonite toon turned to Lewis with a frown and crossed her arms, “or well ex-boyfriend.”

Lewis felt uncomfortable with the look Shelly was giving him.

“The only thing was that Wiatt and Sara butted heads from time to time, but she considers him a friend.” Dandy added, smirking at Sara.

Sara let out a laugh, “he’s not my friend. Just someone in the way.” She replied, denying that she and Wiatt were friends.

“So, why did you invite him to your birthday parties and hangouts?” Dandy asked, crossing his arms.

“Because he’s Lewis’ boyfriend and Lewis asks me to invite him.” Sara answered, still denying it.

“But darling, I never asked you to invite him.” Lewis brought up.

Sara’s eyes widened as she got caught. Dandy started laughing hard, and Sara turned to glare at the flower toon, causing him to stop laughing and give a nervous smile. “Sorry.” Dandy apologized.

Lewis gave a light chuckle and rolled his eyes. He then felt a hand tap his leg and turned to see it was the tissue box toon, Tisha getting his attention.

“So, why did you break up with him?” Tisha asked.

Lewis sighed. “Well, I figured I’d be helping with Dreamworld, that dating would be in the way.” He explained.

“In the way!” Scraps growled. Lewis and a few toons flinched, hearing the paper craft toon yell at him like that.

Goob went over to his sister and put his hands on her shoulders. “Sis, calm down.” He whispered. Scraps gave a low growl, warning her little brother that she was upset. Goob squeaked and stepped back from his sister.

“But you love Wiatt! You said you two would be forever, how is love in the way of all this!?” Scraps yelled. Lewis tried to respond to Scraps, but he was cut off when Scraps continued on her rant. “I made these wedding invitations for you and Wiatt!” Scraps showed Lewis the custom wedding invitations she made featuring Lewis and Wiatt’s wedding outfits.

Lewis looked horrified and looked at Sara to explain this. The latter shrugged, not knowing what to tell him, as it was in the toons’ nature to act like this. 

Dandy snickered, seeing his friend’s drawings, until he felt Sara lightly kick him to stop snickering. He turned and glared at his human friend, who gave a look that she didn’t do anything.

“Uh…Scraps, that’s a bit creepy.” Vee pointed out.

Scraps gave a smug smile. “It’s not creepy. Besides, I made a bunch of them, like one with you and your crush, and for Sara and Oliver when they get into relationships again.” She explained.

Vee’s screen glitched as she blushed, hearing Scraps make art of her and her crush.

Even Oliver felt disturbed, and he hasn’t had a crush in forever. He turned to Sara, hoping she could end this conversation before Scraps shared something else that was considered weird.

“Well, I have good news!” Sara announced, breaking the awkwardness. “After we finish up, Eric is inviting us to his house for pizza tonight.” The toons looked at each other and let out a cheer that they’ll be having a pizza party tonight. “Only, after we finish-” Sara was cut off as the toons ran off to do their work. “Tonight.” Sara sighed, but gave a small smile seeing her friends excited, and was glad to give Lewis a break.

Speaking of Lewis, he felt relieved not to be bombarded with questions about Wiatt. “Sara, remember when Mr. Sawyer told you that Dandy and the toons would drive someone to drink?” Lewis asked.

“Yeah?” Sara replied, raising an eyebrow.

Lewis sighed. “Well, I’m about to be that someone.”

Sara rolled her eyes and gave her best friend a light shove. Lewis smirked and lightly shoved his friend back. Sara shoved Lewis back hard, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. The young girl flinched, realizing she had shoved her best friend too hard. 

“You ok?” Sara asked.

“I’ll be fine, darling.” Lewis replied with a groan.

Feeling bad, Sara helped Lewis up and straightened his glasses as they followed the toons out of the office and continued with their work.

Everyone was working hard, helping Sara and her friends with the preparations with Dreamworld. At times, Sara and her friends helped the toons with whatever they needed, from painting the walls to putting up furniture. Things were going smoothly, with the only crazy thing being the Circus Troupe using each other as a ladder to put things up in high places, leaving Oliver worried for the three.

An hour later, Sara went to her office to finish decorating it. She was putting up photos in her office to give it life. She was looking for one more photo to complete her office, as she looked up at the ones she had placed in her office.

The first photo was her and her friends that she took at the beginning of the year, with her putting her arms around them.

The second photo was of her and her mom when Sara was in her senior year of high school.

The third photo was when Sara was 7-years old, wearing flowers on her head, with her Dandy.

The last photo was of Sara, who was 11-years old, with Dandy and Pebble.

There was one last spot in the middle, and Sara didn’t know what photo to add. She then spotted Lewis, Oliver, and Dandy walking by.

“Hey guys!” Sara called out.

The boys stopped and turned towards Sara. “What’s up, darling?” Lewis asked.

“I’m looking for a photo to put up on my wall. I just need one more.” Sara explained, continuing to look through the boxes of photos.

The boys looked at each other and went inside Sara’s office and looked through the photos. Dandy dug through all the photos and smiled, seeing the one he grabbed.

“What about this one?” Dandy asked, showing the trio the photo.

The three looked at it, and Lewis and Oliver smiled, knowing this would be a perfect photo to add to the wall. Sara, on the other hand, was almost in tears seeing the photo. She took it from Dandy and looked at it.

The photo in question was Sara celebrating her 9th birthday, and it was her, her mom, Arthur, the Toon Handlers, and all the toons together.

Sara remembered that day as she begged her mom to gather all the toons, including the holiday toons, for a big special photo. It was the last group photo before Gardenview shut down.

“Its perfect.” Sara said with a smile. She quickly put the photo on the wall right in the middle. “There, my office is now complete!”

Dandy nodded, putting his hands to his hips. “Yep, except for your computer.” He pointed to the box in the corner of the room. Sara’s eyes widened as she realized she had forgotten to set up her computer.

Sara chuckled. “Okay, I’ll put that up…tomorrow, then I’ll be done!” She exclaimed. Dandy groaned as Sara ruffled his petals and looked at her friends. “So, what’s been completed?”

“Well, we got the entrance, Staract, and Racetrack completed.” Oliver replied.

Sara nodded. “Good, what else?” She asked.

“Well, that’s about it, darling.” Lewis said. “The good news is, most of the attractions are near completion, if we’re working at this rate, we should be done a day or two before opening.”

Sara sighed, she was glad things were“It’s a start, plus we still need the toons for the other attractions.”

Oliver then put his hand on Sara’s shoulder. “Sara, remember. Don’t force yourself to bring toons to life.” He reminded her.

“Plus, we promised we will help you.” Lewis added.

Sara gave a small smile. “I know.” She replied.

A knock was heard at the door, causing the Founder Trio and Dandy to turn and see it was the circus troupe. “Um…Sara, Eric called and said he’ll be ordering the pizzas soon.” Looey stated.

“So…can we go now and have pizza?” Yatta asked with a big smile on her face.

The Founder Trio looked at each other, at Dandy, and then each other again with a smirk. “That’s weird because Eric calls us asking what kind of pizzas we want.” Oliver pointed out.

Yatta and Looey looked nervous, but Blot’s expression knew this would happen. “.tuo dnif d’eh uoy dlot I” Blot whispered to them.

“But…” Oliver continued. “If you three are getting hungry, I guess we can head over there now.”

The circus trio looked excited and cheered as they were getting pizza tonight. “I call shotgun!” Yatta exclaimed.

“No fair! You shouted “shotgun" this morning!” Looey called out.

Everyone laughed as they left Sara’s office and went to the lobby. Once they made it to the lobby, they saw a couple of the toons relaxing and waiting for them.

“Alright, I heard we did a lot of work today!” Sara announced. “So, who’s ready for some pizza!?”

“We’re ready!” The toons shouted as each of them ran to the door. Sara chuckled as she and her friends followed them outside. To her surprise, she saw the toons stand frozen in fear.

“Darlings, what’s wrong?” Lewis asked.

“Lewis.”

It was the morning of the start of Spring Break, and Dandy was in the kitchen decorating pancakes with whipped cream, chocolate chips, and cherries to make a funny face. He just got done adding the last cherry nose on the pancake and smiled, “Perfect!” Dandy beamed, clapping his hands together. The toon grabbed the plates and went over to the table where Sara, Oliver, Ben, and Liz were sitting, as well as Pebble on the ground staring at an empty bowl. “Okay! I got some silly face pancakes, ready to go!”

Dandy put the plates in front of the group. Ben and Liz’s eyes widened at how good the pancakes were, and they started to dig in. Pebble barked happily as Dandy put his pancake in his food bowl, and the pet rock quickly gobbled it up. Sara and Oliver got their pancakes and smiled at the sight of them.

“Wow, thanks, Dandy.” Oliver said.

Dandy smiled as he turned to Sara, staring into her pancakes. The flower toon swayed back and forth on his tippy toes, waiting for his best friend to answer. Sara turned to Dandy, who spoke up, “Aren’t you going to thank your bestest friend Dandy for this wonderful, delicious breakfast?” He asked.

Sara gave a light chuckle, “Thank you, Dandy, for this lovely breakfast.”

“Teehee.” Dandy giggled with a big smile. He then sat down next to Sara and went to eat his pancake.

Sara grabbed her fork and started eating. The pancakes were sweet and delicious. While everyone was eating, they heard Delilah’s phone ring, which she quickly picked up. “Hello,” Delilah said. “Oh, hi Eric.”

Sara and Oliver’s eyes widened as they turned to see Delilah talking with their teacher.

“Uh huh.” Delilah nodded as Eric was explaining to the other side of the line. “Hold on. I’ll ask them.” Delilah put her phone on hold and faced her kids at the table. “Kids, Eric is wondering if you guys would like to go camping in a cabin for a couple of days?”

Ben’s eyes lit up. “Camping in a cabin in the woods?” He asked. Delilah nodded in reply. “Yeah! I’m in!” 

Delilah smiled. She was about to respond to Eric, but Dandy spoke up. “What about toons? Can we go?” He asked.

Delilah rolled her eyes and continued to talk to Eric. “Yes, they’re interested and can Dandy and any of the toons come?” She asked. Delilah nodded as Eric gave her the answer. “Great! I’ll let them know! Bye, Eric.” Delilah hung up the phone and turned to the kids. “Three toons can join!”

“Yes!” Dandy cheered, jumping from his seat. “I’m going to call Astro and let him know! He’s been wanting to go camping and stargazing.” The flower toon dashed off from the kitchen to call his best friend.

Sara sighed, pushing out her chair. “I guess I’ll be calling the other toons to see who’d like to go.” She said, heading to her room.

“Well, I can do the dishes and then start packing.” Oliver spoke up.

“Can we at least eat Sara and Dandy’s pancakes first?” Ben asked.

Just then, Dandy dashed right back into the kitchen and grabbed his and Sara’s pancakes before dashing back into his room.

Ben pouted as his twin sister, Liz, giggled. “Looks like you lost your chance.”

Ben groaned in reply.

✿　.　˚　. 　 ˚　✿.

In her room, Sara smiled as she was on the phone with one of the toons. “Great! You’re gonna love it, Bassie! I promise you!” Sara exclaimed. “Alright, see you there!” Sara hung up the phone, went to her closet to grab her backpack, and started to pack the things she needed. Her pajamas, some clothes, her phone charger, and her lucky pocketknife.

Sara’s pocketknife was a gift she got from her mother on her 13th birthday. After the bullying Sara endured in elementary school, Delilah thought it would be best for Sara to protect herself and got her a pink pocketknife.

Sara had thoughts of bringing it to school to protect herself from any new or former bullies, but never did and would leave it at home. However, in the back of her mind, she was told to bring it.

Just in case.

Dandy then came into the room, spooking Sara, causing her to almost drop her pocketknife. “Alright! Astro Novalite is joining us!” Sara gave a small glare at the announcement and quickly put the pocketknife in her bag before Dandy noticed. “So…who did you invite?”

“Bassie and Goob.” Sara answered.

“Sweet!” Dandy exclaimed, but paused, realizing something. “Wait, what about Scraps?”

“I tried to invite her, but Goob wanted to go without her. He wanted to go by himself.” Sara explained.

Dandy was surprised. Usually, Goob liked having his sister around, no matter where they went. “That’s brave of him.” He said.

Sara nodded in reply. “Hey, we’re just spending a few nights in a cabin and going hiking. It’s not like we’re going to be in danger.” She explained.

“And if we do, I can-” Dandy was going to proudly add something, but stopped seeing Sara glare at him. Dandy frowned as his petals dropped. “Right, I know.”

“Sorry, Dandy. It’s not time yet to reveal your twisted forms to the others.” Sara replied, putting a hand to his back.

“Alright.” Dandy sighed.

Sara spun his petals, which made Dandy grumble, but still smile. “Come on, let’s pack.” She said, getting off her bed and walking to Dandy’s room.

Dandy nodded. “Okay!” He exclaimed. The two left Sara’s room and went to Dandy’s room to help him pack.

After an hour and a half of packing, everyone was ready to go, and we were just waiting on Eric to come and pick them up.

“Oliver.” Ben spoke up.

“Yes?” Oliver asked.

“If it’s okay, could I read horror stories?”

“No.”

Ben’s jaw dropped. “Why!” He whined.

“Uh, remember the last time you told us scary stories?” Sara asked. “You gave Toodles and Carly nightmares for a week!”

Ben cleared his throat and smiled proudly. “And it shows that I’m the best at horror stories.”

Oliver and Sara groaned, knowing Ben hadn’t learned his lesson.

A knock was heard, and Sara ran to the door, opening it. Outside, were Astro, Goob, and Bassie with their bags ready to go. Astro and Goob had smiles on their faces, while Bassie looked nervous.

“Morning, Sara! I’m ready for camping!” Goob exclaimed, giving a salute.

Sara chuckled and held her arms out for Goob to hug her. The fluffy craft toon smiled and stretched out his arms to hug Sara tight. She hugged the toon back, snuggling into his fluff. The two let go as Sara looked at the other toons. “Are you three excited?” Sara asked.

Astro nodded. “You bet.” He replied. The moon toon looked over at Bassie, who looked away and rubbed her arm.

“Still uncomfortable being around mom?” Sara asked, giving a small smile. Sara knew how her mother reconsidered Bassie being a main, and how it hurt Bassie’s feelings. While Sara made sure Bassie was included for Easter events, the shutdown of Gardenview prevented Bassie from having another chance of being a main. While Bassie is happy to keep her main status, she still feels uncomfortable being around Delilah.

“Y-Yeah.” Bassie replied in a whisper.

“Hey.” Sara chuckled, playing with the flowers in Bassie’s head. “It’s just my friends, myself, the toons, Mr. Gale, and his daughter. You’ll have fun!”

“Okay.” Bassie replied.

“There are my friends!” Dandy exclaimed as he hugged the three of them tightly. Goob helped with the hug. “This is going to be fun! My friends and I are all going camping!”

“It will be nice to catch up on my reading, and,” Astro paused, taking one of his hands and putting it on top of Dandy's shoulder, “we can stargaze.”

A light blush appeared on Dandy’s face, causing him to chuckle.

“Aww, you guys gonna have a date?” Goob asked, getting in between them.

Astro and Dandy blushed and backed away from one another. “Whoa! Goob! No!” Astro exclaimed. “Just two friends watching the stars.”

“Y-Yeah!” Dandy exclaimed, denying that it was a date.

“Which sounds like a date.” Oliver whispered to Bassie, making her giggle.

The door knocked again, and Sara opened the door to see Lewis, Eric, and Carly. “Hi, darlings!” Lewis exclaimed, waving.

“Lewis!” Sara and Oliver exclaimed. The three high-five each other, excited for their camping trip. However, Oliver noticed that one person was missing.

“Where’s Wiatt?” Oliver asked. Sara frowned, hearing about her best friend’s boyfriend.

“Well, I did ask Wiatt if he wants to join us, but he’s busy helping his dad at the arcade.” Lewis explained.

Sara sighed, knowing it was just her and her friends on this camping trip. No Wiatt means no Lewis, and no them being a cute couple on the trip. “Oh, that sucks. It would’ve been nice to have him.” Sara said, sarcastically.

“Don’t worry. I’ll let him know next time when we hang out, he’s invited.” Lewis replied.

Sara’s eyes widened as she forced a smile on her face. “G-Great.”

Eric took notice of the toons that would be joining them on the trip. “So, you must be the other toons Sara told me about.”

“Yep! I’m Astro Novalite, Dandy’s best friend.” Astro introduced himself. “This is Goob and Bassie, she’s the Easter main.”

Goob waved, giving a goofy smile to his friend’s teacher, while Bassie looked nervous until she laid eyes on Carly.

“Oh yeah, you two haven’t met yet.” Sara spoke up. She cleared her throat and grabbed Bassie’s shoulders, gently pushing her in front of Carly and Eric. “Bassie Bloomington, meet Carly Gale.”

Carly peeked from behind her father and was in awe at how pretty Bassie was. The basket toon looked at the young girl and gulped. Carly walked closer and smiled. “She’s so pretty.” She commented.

Bassie’s eyes widened as she blushed, pulling her handles close to her face to hide her blush. “T-Thank you.” Bassie stuttered.

Carly giggled, thinking that was cute. Sara, her friends, and the toons were surprised to see Carly liking one of the toons. When the young girl first met them, she was terrified and kept her distance from the toons. She’s used to some of them by now, but if they sneak up behind her to say hi, she’ll jump and run off.

As for Bassie, it was rare for kids to like her. When Dandy’s World was still airing

“Well, looks like Bassie’s got a fan.” Dandy chuckled.

“First one in a long time.” Astro added, before he and Dandy chuckled.

“Well, we'd better get going!” Eric exclaimed.

“Alright!” Sara went to her mom and gave her a big hug. “Bye, mom!”

“Bye, sweetie.” Delilah said, hugging her daughter.

Sara let go and went outside. Next to hug Delilah were Oliver and his siblings. “Bye, Miss. Delilah!” Liz exclaimed.

“You guys have fun!” Delilah replied.

Finally were the toons who stood and stared at Delilah. Dandy and Goob held their arms out waiting for their hug. She rolled her eyes with a sigh and held her arms out for them to hug. They give her a big hug before letting go and heading out the door.

“Keep Sara safe.” Delilah mentioned.

“We will.” Astro promised.

“Bye, Delilah!” Dandy exclaimed, before closing the door.

The door quickly opened again. “I’ll make sure they’re safe. Don’t worry.” Eric added, before closing the door.

Delilah sighed, finally able to relax now that her kids are gone. The second she sat on the couch, she heard someone knocking at the door. “Did Oliver forget something again?” She asked herself. Delilah opened the door and was surprised to see Danica, Lewis’s mother. “Danica? What are you doing here?”

“Since our kids are gone for a few days. I figured we can have a few days for us!” Danica explained.

Delilah stood there speechless. She wasn’t the one for hanging out, but since Sara became friends with Lewis, Danica has been wanting to hang out with Delilah, much to the latter’s chagrin. Delilah didn’t hate Danica, but Delilah was an introvert, and Danica was an extrovert.

“Oh, that’s okay, but I just wanted to relax and do my own thing.” Delilah said.

“Come on, Delilah, pack up and let’s have a great time! You need it!” Dancia exclaimed, walking in.

Delilah sighed and closed the door, knowing Danica would come in anyways.

✿　.　˚　. 　 ˚　✿.

The car ride was nice with everyone talking about the trip and wondering what else they’ll be doing other than what was planned. It was a fun car ride, and soon enough, the group made it to where the cabins are located.

“Well, here we are!” Eric announced as he parked the car.

Dandy was the first one to get out of the car and breathe in the fresh air. “Ah, the fresh forest air!” He beamed, stretching.

Next was Bassie, who was admired by nature. “It feels so nice!” She sighed, stretching as well. Her eyes then spotted a common blue violet on the ground, and she quickly went over to it. “Wow! A blue violet. Been wanting to pick one for my flower press collection.”

“Well, be careful picking flowers Bassie.” Eric warned the basket toon. “Some are protected and can’t be picked.”

“I know that,” Bassie replied, “I believe the common blue violets are safe.” She picked one of them and put it on top of her head for safekeeping.

Everyone was finally out of the car and taking in fresh air or stretching after being in the car for over an hour. Astro took notice of Sara, staring into the forest, looking nervous. He and everyone knew why, but they never brought it up, as it had been years since the incident.

Sara had an incident with three of her former bullies where they chased her into the forest, like this one. She barely remembered the incident, though one toon knew the truth, but they thought of being in the forest alone scared Sara to this day.

Astro sent his magic to reassure Sara, who took notice of them. “Are you alright, Sara?” The moon toon asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.” Sara replied with a smile.

Astro gave a small smile, but knew for a fact that Sara was trying to be strong. “Okay, just talk with us if you need to.”

Sara nodded. “I will.”

“Well, let’s head to the cabin.” Eric said, closing the trunk of his car.

Everyone nodded and followed Eric to the cabin. When heading up the stairs to their cabin, a foot appeared from the corner, and Sara tripped on it, landing on her face. “Sara!” Everyone yelled.

“Are you okay, darling?” Lewis asked, holding his hand out to Sara.

Sara groaned as she slowly got up. “I’m fine. I just tripped.” She said, taking Lewis’ hand and getting up.

“Hey! It’s your fault that you didn’t watch where you’re going!”

Sara, Lewis, and Oliver glared and turned to see a girl their age appear in the corner. She had fair skin, dark brown eyes that almost looked black, and pink dyed hair tied into a ponytail with a black scrunchie. She wore a black jacket over a pink shirt with a silver skull in the middle, jeans that had rips and holes on them, and Converse shoes that have sharpie marks on them.

“Jenna.” Sara and her friends growled.

Jenna Trapp had been Sara and her friends’ since middle school. She was once Oliver’s best friend, but he eventually cut her out of his life to befriend Sara and her friends. This angered Jenna, and she did everything she could to make Sara miserable.

“What are you doing here?” Oliver asked.

“I’m on vacation with my boyfriend.” Jenna replied. “It’s nice to be away from my parents, and I was hoping to be away from you losers.”

Sara and her friends deepen their glare. “I thought you would be spending break in juvie.” Dandy commented. Astro, Goob, and Bassie giggled at the lead toon’s comment.

Jenna glared. “I see you brought the weirdos along for the trip.”

“Hey!” Sara snapped, getting up in her bully’s face. “Don’t you dare insult them!”

Eric came between the two girls and kept them back before they could fight. “Alright, girls, stop it!” Hey yelled.

Sara and Jenna glared at each other before the latter smirked and walked off. “Whatever, I’m not fighting someone who is a complete and utter loser, who lives with wakko toons and a crazy mom, who stole my best friend.”

This set Sara off; she was ready to tackle Jenna to the ground, but everyone except Bassie, Carly, Ben, and Liz held her back. “Sara! Darling! Calm down!” Lewis yelled.

“That’s all she wants, to get a reaction from you!” Oliver added.

“What she needs is for me to kick her in the ass!” Sara yelled, struggling out of everyone’s grip, but everyone held her back tightly.

“Yeah, Sara! Kick her butt!” Ben yelled.

“NOT HELPING!” Everyone yelled.

✿　.　˚　. 　 ˚　✿.

After 15 minutes, Sara calmed down, and the group was able to enter the cabin. “Here it is, guys!” Eric announced, opening the door.

“Whoa!” Everyone exclaimed, looking at the cabin.

The cabin looked warm and cozy with two big beds and a couch. There was a fireplace, and right by the beds was the bathroom, which had a hot tub inside.

“I call dibs on the hot tub!” Dandy announced, raising his hand.

“Same here!” Ben and Liz shouted at the same time.

The group laughed as they walked in. The first thing Sara and her friends did was collapse on the bed. They sighed in relief as the bed was soft and warm. “We call this bed.” They said at the same time.

Soon they felt the toons and Oliver’s twin siblings climb up on the bed too. Though Sara and her friends felt uncomfortable with how many people were on the bed with them. “Yep! We fit!” Goob exclaimed.

Lewis sighed. “Darlings, we can’t all fit here!” He complained, trying to make room for him and his friends.

“Sure, we can!” Dandy argued as he and the toons tried to make room.

“Or here’s a better solution.” Eric spoke up as he went to the couch. He removed the cushions and a bed came out. “Tada! Now the toons have a place to sleep!”

The toons took notice and got off Sara and her friends’ bed and into the couch bed. Sara, her friends, and Oliver’s siblings sighed as they finally had room to sleep in.

“Dad! Think we can go hiking after we unpack?” Carly asked.

Eric thought about it. With the long drive and Sara’s encounter with her bully, it felt like it was too late to go on a hike. “Tomorrow, ladybug. Why don’t we rest and relax today?” Eric suggested.

Carly sighed. “Alright.”

Bassie opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but quickly closed it. Eric took notice and went to the basket toon. “Were you going to say something, Bassie?” He asked.

The basket toon squeaked, seeing she was caught, and got nervous. “Uh…yeah, but it’s stupid.” She replied, turning away.

“Well, share with everyone. It can’t be stupid.” Eric encouraged her.

Bassie was nervous about speaking what she wanted to say, but seeing how Eric encouraged her to speak, she gave a small smile to share her idea. “Well, I just thought if we can’t go hiking, then flower picking.”

Eric thought about it and saw there were flowers not far from the campsite that led into the forest. “Well, if you want to go flower picking, then that’s okay.” He said.

Bassie’s eyes lit up with joy, and she quickly ran to hug the teacher. “Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She beamed repeatedly.

Eric gave a light chuckle and hugged the toon back. “Anytime. Just don’t go far into the-” He was cut off when he heard the door close, and the toons ran out. “Forest.” Eric sighed and looked at Sara. “How do you not lose your mind over them?”

Sara shrugged. “I grew up with them. I’m used to it.” She replied, causing everyone to laugh.

Outside, Bassie and Dandy were looking for rare flowers with Astro and Goob watching them. “Ahah!” Bassie exclaimed. “A Rue Anémonne! It looks so beautiful in person!”

Dandy looked closer at it. “This one is pink. The one in my flower book is white.” He pointed out.

“These flowers can come in pink or white, Dandy.” Bassie pointed out. “You’re the flower toon, I thought you shared my knowledge?”

Dandy chuckled. “Hey, you’re the flower expert main. Not me.”

Goob then saw a Spring Azure Butterfly and went after it when the other three toons were distracted. The butterfly landed on his head, and he giggled. “Aww, hi, little one.” Goob said, carefully petting the butterfly. The bug got off his head and fluttered around, making the craft toon giggle. The butterfly flew off to the forest, and Goob chased after it. “Hey! Wait, little buddy!” Goob laughed, going deeper into the forest to chase after a butterfly.

In the distance, Jenna saw him go into the forest, and with a smirk, she followed him.

As the main trio was picking flowers while laughing at Dandy’s flower pun, Astro noticed that Goob sounded quiet. “Goob, are you okay? You seem…” He paused when he saw the fluffy craft toon wasn’t around. “Goob! Where did you go?!” The moon toon looked around a bit more before turning to his two friends. “Hey, you two, do you know where Goob is?”

Bassie and Dandy looked at the moon toon in shock before looking around to see that Goob was gone. “Goob’s gone?!” They both shouted.

“W-Where did he go?!” Bassie asked.

“I-I don’t know!” Astro answered. “We have to find him before he gets hurt!” Dandy and Bassie nodded, ready to head into the forest.

“Who got hurt?” Sara asked, coming outside to check on the toons. 

The main trio froze in fear, hearing their human friend speak up. They weren’t sure how to tell Sara that Goob was missing, knowing well that, being Delilah’s daughter, she does get everything from her. 

“Uh…Bassie.” Dandy spoke up, lightly pushing her towards Sara. “You can tell her, right?”

The basket toon got nervous and went to Dandy, slightly pushing him towards Sara. “You two are best friends, why don’t you tell her?”

Dandy sweated nervously and pushed Astro closer to Sara. “Astro, buddy, you might want to tell her.”

Astro’s eyes widened and he shook his head, not wanting to tell her. “Tell me what?” Sara asked.

“Um…Goob is gone.” Astro uttered with unease.

Sara’s eyes widened in horror. “HE’S WHAT?!” She screamed. The toons flinched, knowing they expected this from Delilah’s daughter. Sara’s yell was so loud that Sara’s friends, her teacher, and his daughter came outside. “W-Where did he go?!”

“Darling, what’s wrong?” Lewis asked.

“Goob went off somewhere!”

“WHAT?!” Everyone yelled.

“W-Where did he go?” Eric asked.

“W-We don’t know!” Astro yelled. “We were just looking at flowers, and poof, he was gone!”

Everyone looked around the area, hoping Goob didn’t go too far. Sara was scared, since her bully was staying at one of these cabins; she knew Jenna had something to do with it. “I’ll go find him!” Sara suggested grabbing her backpack.

Not wanting to see his student go missing, too, Eric put his hand on Sara’s shoulder. “Sara, it’s too dangerous. Let us help you.” He said.

Despite wanting to find Goob by herself and deal with Jenna, she knew Eric wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Alright,” Sara replied, “Oliver, you, Ben, Liz, and Carly stay behind in case Goob comes back.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Ben and Liz exclaimed, giving a salute.

“Mr. Gale, you go with Dandy and Bassie, while Lewis and Astro will be another group.” Sara commanded.

“What about you, darling?” Lewis asked.

“I’ll be fine by myself, no worries.” Sara reassured him.

Lewis, Eric, and Oliver looked at one another, wondering if it was a smart idea for Sara to go by herself. Sensing their worry, Dandy decided to speak up. “You sure? I can go with you.”

Sara gave a smile. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

“Alright.” Dandy replied. “We meet back at the cabins in an hour. If we can’t find him, Eric, Astro, Bassie, and I will find them.”

“Got it.” Everyone replied.

“Alright, darlings, let’s go!” Lewis commanded. Everyone nodded, and the two search parties left the cabin and went into the woods to find Goob. Sara split off from the group, and once she was alone, she took off her backpack and pulled out her pocket knife, revealing it. Her expression glared, reflecting on the blade.

Meanwhile, Goob was laughing, still chasing the butterfly. He stopped realizing he had traveled too far into the forest, and was lost. “Uh…guess the butterfly brought me all the way here.” He said to himself, laughing. The fluffy toon looked around the forest, wondering how to get back to the campsite. “Okay, where do I go from here?”

The forest looked all the same, and with it starting to get dark, it felt like a maze. Goob didn’t know where to go from here, and he didn’t pay attention to any landmarks like Scraps told him to do. “Hmm…maybe if I go North, then that should lead me to camp!” He exclaimed.

A laugh was heard, sending a chill through Goob’s spine. He turned to see Jenna step out from behind the tree. “Man, how dumb can you be?” Jenna asked. Goob gulped as the bully girl walked closer to him. “If you want, I can take you back.”

Goob whimpered and stepped back away from the bully. He tried to run, but due to his long arms, Jenna stepped on his hand, causing Goob to scream in pain and fall to the ground. Jenna hovered over him, and Goob quickly backed up until he hit a tree. “P-Please don’t hurt me.” He whimpered.

Jenna chuckled, and soon she kicked Goob in the stomach, making him yelp. Ichor trickled through his mouth, surprising the bully. “Huh. Black blood?” She whispered. Goob gasped, knowing his ichor was dripping through his mouth. He tried to wipe it off, but Jenna grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly to prevent him from doing so. “Why is your blood black?”

Goob didn’t answer. He just whimpered as the evil girl gripped his hand tighter. “Let me go! Let me go!” He cried.

“Then tell me, why is your blood black!?” Jenna snapped.

“N-No! HELP ME!” Goob yelled.

SMACK

Jenna slapped Goob hard across the face, causing him to freeze in shock and horror.

“Shut it, you piece of shit.” Jenna growled. “If you’re not gonna tell me. Then I’ll find out myself.” Jenna turned her hands into a fist and was gonna punch Goob as many times as he spilled.

The fluffy toon sniffled, tears falling into his face. He wished Scraps were here, he wished someone, anyone, was here to save him. He closed his eyes, forcing the tears to fall, bracing for the hit.

SRNG!

Jenna stopped what she was doing as she looked down to see that she was stabbed in her lower abdomen. She saw blood leaking through her clothes and put her hand over it to stop the bleeding, but the blood started to stain her hand.

She looked up to see who stabbed her and saw it was Sara holding her pocket knife, staring at Jenna with a blank stare.

“You…” Jenna paused before slapping Sara hard on the face and screamed. “YOU BITCH!”

Sara didn’t flinch and slowly faced Jenna with a blank expression on her face. Her eyes have a pink tint to them.

“Y-YOU FUCKING STABBED ME!” Jenna continued to scream. “ARE YOU REALLY THAT INSANE?!”

Sara didn’t respond, just deepened her glare.

“YOU KNOW ONCE WE…” Jenna paused to cough up some blood. “We…get back from break. I’ll let everyone know you’re nothing but a freak! You’ll be in jail, you’ll lose your friends, and I’ll be around to ‘take care of’ your stupid toons! And you won’t stop-HURK!”

Sara slashed Jenna’s throat in one swipe.

Goob gasped in shock.

Jenna toppled back and forth before falling to the ground, blood spilling into the dirt.

Sara wiped some of the blood from her face before twirling her pocketknife around, closing it, and putting it in her pocket. She sighed and walked over to Goob, holding her hand out. “Goob, are you okay?” She asked, smiling as if nothing happened.

Goob blinked and looked at Jenna’s body before looking up at his human friend. Goob sniffled and wrapped his arms around her and cried. Sara wrapped her arms around the fluffy toon and soothed his back. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay your safe. She won’t hurt you anymore.” Sara whispered. The two sat there as Sara comforted the toon. Once Goob relaxed, Sara turned around and lifted Goob on her back, then went over to Jenna’s corpse and picked it up. She walked towards a river, threw Jenna’s body there, and headed back to the cabin.

✿　.　˚　. 　 ˚　✿.

Sara and Goob walked back into the cabin and saw Oliver, his siblings, and Carly were sleeping. “Good, they're asleep.” Sara whispered, sighing in relief. She slowly closed the door to the cabin and took Goob to the bathroom to clean up.

The first thing Sara did was remove her bloody clothes and put on her pajamas. Then she went to the sink to clean the blood off her pocketknife.

“S-Sara?” Goob asked. 

“Yeah, Goob.” Sara replied, turning to the fluffy toon.

“D-Do we tell them what happened?”

Sara was silent for a bit and thought. Sure, everyone hated Jenna and wished she were gone, but the second she tells them she killed her, it could leave conflicting thoughts. “No, if anything, just tell them Jenna hurt you, but she left when I found you.”

Goob wasn’t sure; he hated lying, but he didn’t want to see his friend get in trouble. “W-Well…” He started, but before he could answer, a groan was heard.

Sara quickly turned the water off and carefully cleaned the pocket knife. She peeked from the bathroom and saw Ben waking up. The young boy rubbed his eyes before laying them on Goob. 

“GOOB!” Ben yelled. A big smile appeared on his face as he got up from bed, waking everyone else up and hugging the fluffy craft toon. “You’re okay! You’re okay!”

Goob gave a light chuckle and hugged the young boy back. “Yeah, I’m okay, lil’ buddy.” He replied.

“Goob!” Liz exclaimed, hugging Goob as well. The toon laughed and hugged the young girl, making him feel better.

Oliver smiled, seeing that Goob was alright, and turned to Sara. “How is he?” He asked.

“A bit bruised up, but he’ll be fine.” Sara replied. She grabbed another towel and turned the sink on again to get the towel wet. Once it was, Sara wrung out the excess water and went to clean the dirt off of Goob’s fluffy fur.

Moments later, Eric, Lewis, Dandy, and the toons came back and saw that Goob was safe. They were relieved Sara found him first, but the question remained…what happened?

“Darling, what happened? Are you ok?” Lewis asked, walking towards the toon.

“I’m fine.” Goob replied. “Sara saved me.”

Everyone turned to Sara in surprise. The latter nodded, “I found him in the first hurt, but he’s okay.” She explained. Though she kept her eye on Goob, hoping he didn’t tell the truth about what happened.

Astro took notice and turned to Goob. “What happened, Goob?” He asked.

Before Goob could speak, he looked at Sara, who turned away from him. Even though he saw what happened, he had to keep his promise. “Well, I chased a butterfly into the forest.” Goob started. “Then Jenna scared me, and I fell.” It hurt for Goob to lie, but he couldn’t just outright say what happened.

Oliver’s eyes widened. “W-Wait!” He interrupted. “Jenna was in the forest?!”

Goob nodded. “She didn’t…” He paused, as the recent memory of her hurting him haunted his mind. “Hurt me. Just scared me, and I fell.”

“I’m guessing Sara found you and brought you here?” Eric guessed.

Goob nodded again. “Yep!” He replied.

“I couldn’t find Jenna. She must have run off after scaring Goob.” Sara explained, keeping up with the lie.

During Sara’s explanation, Astro took notice of the pocket knife on the bathroom counter. He had to squint, and his eyes widened sawing a bit of blood on the knife. Astro couldn’t react otherwise, it would cause even more questions than answers. He didn’t want to believe it, but despite Jenna being a horrible person, she didn’t have to die.

“Well,” Dandy spoke up, his eyes gaining a red glint. “If we see her again, she’s going to regret it.”

“Oh..y-yeah.” Sara replied nervously.

“The second I see her I’m gonna-”

“Dandy, stop!” Eric cut the flower toon off. He then let out a sigh. All Eric wanted was a fun trip with his daughter, students, and their friends, but this ended up happening. “I know Jenna has been a problem to you guys all these years, but we shouldn’t be angry at her.”

Everyone looked down, knowing the teacher was right. Sara was the most guilty because she ended Jenna’s life short. “Well, she did bully me a lot.” Sara whispered. “Its hard to be angry with her.” Dandy and Bassie frowned and went over to the girl, giving her comfort.

“She was mean to all of us.” Oliver pointed out. “But, I agree with Eric. We’re just stooping to her level if we harm her.”

The guilt started to eat Sara alive, but she pushed it back, knowing Goob was hurt. “You’re right,” she said.

Sara was inside her office, and opened up another Ichor capsule, and got the procedure ready. On her desk was a drawing of a green lemur toon with four arms with the name Ridley written on the top. She sighed and looked back at her door before looking at the picture of the toon. “For Dreamworld,” Sara whispered. She then started the ichor process to bring the next toon to life.

After bringing Starlight to life, Sara felt more confident in bringing the rest of the toons to life. The process was easy, and she didn’t feel nervous. Just as she was about to do the next step, using a bit of her blood to mix into the ichor, Sara heard the door open and saw Dandy’s petals sticking out.

“Sara?” Dandy asked, opening the door slowly.

Sara looked up and saw Dandy looking worried. “Dandy, what are you doing here?” She asked.

“Lewis was worried about you and asked me to check up on you.” Dandy explained.

Sara sighed. “If you’re trying to stop me from bringing toons to life, then you’re wrong.” She replied.

“I’m not.” Dandy replied, coming inside the office and closing the door gently. “I never stopped your mom, so why would I stop you?”

“True.” Sara realized. She wasn’t born when Delilah was using ichor to bring the toons to life, but she heard the stories from her Uncle Arthur and the other toons about Delilah’s journey using ichor. “Still, what brings you here?”

“I’m just making sure you’re okay. I don’t want you passing out, and no one is there to help you.” Dandy explained.

Sara smiled. “Well, I’m glad you worry about me, Dandy, but I’ve got a toon to create.”

Dandy rolled his eyes and sat up on Sara’s desk. “You sound like your mother.”

“I am her daughter.” Sara replied. The two laughed as Sara continued the process to bring the next toon to life. Dandy watched as Sara did the process, and remembered the early days of Gardenview, where Delilah would bring his friends to life. It felt nostalgic to think about where he got lost in his thoughts while Sara worked on the final process of the experiment.

“Ugh.” A voice groaned. “W-Where am…I” the toon opened his eyes and looked around the room before his eyes landed on Sara and Dandy.

“He’s awake!” Dandy exclaimed with a smile.

Sara sighed in relief, seeing the toon alive. From her appearance, a few strands of hair were sticking from her bun, and ichor stained her fingers. “Hello there, Ridley.” She said, with a smile.

Ridley blinked and looked at his hands, seeing that he was alive. “I-I’m alive?” He asked himself.

“You are.” Sara confirmed.

Ridley was a neon green lemur toon with rainbow colored eyes and four arms. He wore a small green top hat, a ruffled collar, a green outfit with baggy pants splattered with paint, and a multicolored tail.

Ridley looked at himself before laughing. “I’m alive!” He cheered. “I’m alive!” Ridley started jumping around, which surprised Sara and Dandy as they never imagined the toon to be as hyperactive as Yatta. Ridley stopped jumping around and stopped in his place, “Wait, who are you two?”

“I’m Sara. I brought you to life.” Sara answered.

“And I’m Dandicus Dancifer, or Dandy as I’m usually called.” Dandy answered, trying to look cool and presentable for the new toon.

“Sara? Dandy?” Ridley asked, the names sounding familiar. He gasped as his eyes sparkled like stars. “As in, Lewis’ friend Sara?”

Sara’s eyes widened. “How does he know that?” She asked herself. “Y-Yeah, how do you-”

Ridley cut her off. “Know!?” He finished. “Sara, I know a lot of things!” He laughed.

Sara and Dandy gulped, looking at Ridley in fear. “Oh god he’s just as unhinged as Yatta.” They thought at the same time.

Ridley then gasped and went over to Dandy. “So you're Dandy! Wow!” He beamed, putting his hands to his face. “You're…short.”

Dandy grumbled, his eyes having a tint of red. “I…know that.” He said in a low growl.

Sara chuckled, hearing Dandy getting teased for being short. “He is short.” 

Dandy growled and turned to Sara. “I may be short, but I’m older than you!” He yelled.

“Are you sure about that, darling?” Starlight asked.

Sandy growled at his new best friend.

Sara started to laugh, but groaned when she felt a headache coming on due to the ichor process. “Ugh.”

“Sara?” Dandy asked, calming down due to worry for his friend.

Ridley paused and turned to Sara, seeing her holding on to her head in pain. “Uh, you okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine,” Sara replied weakly. She felt her knees shake. “Why now? Why now!?” She thought to herself.

Ridley walked over to Sara. “You don’t look okay. Do you want me to get help?” He asked.

Sara tried to answer him, but the second she opened her mouth, she blacked out.

“SARA!”

Sara groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, only seeing splotches of rainbow, blue, and green. “Is she okay?” A voice asked.

“Look! She’s slowly opening her eyes!” Another voice exclaimed, pointing out that Sara was waking up.

Sara closed her eyes once more and opened them to see her vision clear, and she saw Starlight, Dandy, and Ridley hovering over her. Dandy gasped and hugged Sara tightly, seeing she was okay. “Sara! You’re okay!” He exclaimed.

“W-What happened?” Sara asked, trying to remember what happened.

“You brought Ridley to life and passed out for over 3 hours.” Sara turned to see it was Oliver who spoke. He stood by the doorway with his arms crossed, looking disappointed. Sara was about to ask, but Oliver spoke up and slowly walked over to her. “What were you thinking, Sara?”

“I just wanted another toon.” Sara admitted. “The deadline is drawing near, and-” Sara explained, slowly getting up and holding Dandy in her arms, before being cut off by Oliver.

“And what?!” Oliver yelled, causing Sara to step back, letting out a squeak. “Trying to get yourself killed!”

Sara didn’t know how to respond to her best friend and looked down in shame. Dandy frowned and patted his friend’s arm. “Oliver,” he said, turning to the tall boy. “Don’t go hard on her.”

“Dandy, I have to! You always say you consider Sara as family, and I’m part of that family!” Oliver replied.

Dandy sighed. He knew Oliver wasn’t wrong. When Oliver’s parents abandoned him and his siblings, Delilah made the choice to take them in. It surprised Dandy that Delilah was kind enough to do that, even though she didn’t sound like that kind of person.

“I understand, Oliver,” Sara said in a low voice.

Oliver sighed, “I’m not angry, I just worry as any family member would.” He explained. “However, this whole ichor thing sounds dangerous. I don’t know how Delilah dealt with this, but if it was anything like what Sara is going through, then…then…” Oliver paused, not daring to say it.

“Oliver,” Sara spoke up. The taller boy looked over at his friend. “I understand why you’re worried about me, but I know what I’m doing.”

“You say that, but how do I know nothing bad would happen to you?” Oliver asked.

“My mom has done this a bunch of times,” Sara answered.

Dandy nodded, confirming Sara’s story. “She’s done this about a hundred times, and all she got was headaches, illness, and passing out on her desk.” He explained.

Sara frowned at the flower toon while Oliver, Starlight, and Ridley looked horrified. She pulled on Dandy’s yellow petal tight and growled, “Not helping Dandy.”

“Ow! Ow!” Dandy exclaimed. “Sara, the petals! The petals!” He tried to pull Sara’s hand away from his petals. However, Sara had a strong yet careful grip on his petals.

Oliver frowned, knowing he’s getting nowhere to stop Sara. “Did she have help?” He asked.

Sara and Dandy stopped their mini fight and looked at one another. “Uhhh…” They both said at the same time, knowing well Delilah didn’t.

“Not that I know of.” Dandy answered.

Oliver sighed. “Then, let me help you.”

Sara and Dandy looked at the taller boy in shock. “What?” They both asked.

“If you’re set on doing this. Then I want to help.” Oliver stated.

Sara smiled. “Thanks, Oliver.”

Oliver smiled back in reply. A sniffle was heard, and the three turned to Ridley, crying and using a tissue to wipe his eyes. “So beautiful.” He cried as he blew his nose hard; a honk was heard.

Starlight glanced at the two founders and Dandy, before Ridley pulled Starlight into a huge hug. “Gah!” Starlight gasped. “D-Darling! C-Can’t breathe!”

Oliver, Sara, and Dandy chuckled seeing Ridley being a hugger. “I know Goob is gonna love him.” Dandy mentioned.

Ridley, still hugging Starlight, looked at Dandy. “Wait, there are more new friends?!” He asked. Starlight’s face turned purple from how tightly Ridley was hugging him.

Dandy nodded as he got out of Sara’s grasp. “Oh yeah, there’s a ton of us!” He exclaimed.

Ridley gasped, putting his four hands to his face, laughing in joy as he dropped Starlight in the process. The star toon was finally able to breathe.

“Finally!” Starlight gasped.

“You must let me meet them!” Ridley begged, grabbing Dandy’s hands.

Dandy nodded. “Of course, just follow-ME!” Dandy screamed as Ridley dragged Dandy out of the room before he could finish what he said.

Lewis was walking into the room and stepped back, shocked seeing Ridley drag Dandy out of the room. He looked at Sara, Oliver, and Starlight in shock. “Uh…was that…” He trailed off.

Sara and Oliver nodded at the same time.

Lewis looked back at where the two toons went off to and back at his friends. “Did you bring them to life, darling?” He asked.

“Yep.” Sara replied, popping the p.

Lewis sighed. “Next time ask me to help you.”

“Don’t worry about that, darling.” Starlight replied. “Oliver said he’ll be helping too.”

Lewis’ eyes widened and turned to Oliver, who nodded in reply. Lewis sighed, “Well, I suppose then I should help too.” 

Sara looked at Lewis, shocked. “Why are you shocked, darling?” Starlight asked, looking up at Sara. “You should know that you and Lewis brought me to life.”

“True.” Sara groaned. She then took a deep breath and looked determined. “Alright, next toon we bring to life it will be the three of us! I promise!”

Lewis smiled while Oliver looked a bit nervous. “Not right now, right?” Oliver asked.

Sara chuckled as she shook her head. “Nah, I’ll give it a few more days.”

CRASH!

BANG!

“Wait, Astro, let me see your four arms!” Ridley yelled.

“No! Dandy, help!” Astro yelled.

The founder trio stared at what they heard and slowly looked at one another. “Want to give it a week?” Sara asked 

“Yep!” Lewis and Oliver replied.

“Should we help Astro?” Starlight asked.

“Yep!” The Founder Trio replied.

The following morning, Sara, Lewis, and Oliver made it back to Dreamworld to work on more development of the facility. Before they started, Sara had some news she wanted to share with the Gardenview toons.

The toons were waiting in the conference room for Sara and her friends to share the news. They were filled with anxiety and excitement over what was going to be shared.

Dandy was seated at the front, excited for Sara to share the news. One of the toons, a TV toon wearing a lime green bowtie, Vee, was curious about the flower toon’s excited behavior. “Why are you excited?” She asked.

“Because I know what the big news is, and you don’t.” Dandy proudly said, pointing at himself before pointing at Vee, strumming her antenna in the process.

Vee growled. She and Dandy were “friends,” but she never saw him as her best friend. More of a nuisance. “Fling my antenna again, and I’ll pluck a petal from your stupid little head.”

Dandy chuckled. “You're welcome to try.” He teased, flinging Vee’s antenna again.

Vee stood up from her chair, ready to pluck Dandy’s petals, before she felt a hand grab her and made her sit down. The TV toon saw it was her friend, a beige ammonite toon wearing a brown brace skirt over a light brown sleeves shirt, Shelly, who stopped her.

“Vee, relax. You know Dandy loves messing with you.” Shelly reminded her friend.

Vee glared and crossed her arms. Shelly sighed in relief, glad she prevented another fight between Dandy and Vee.

Shelly felt someone tap her shoulder and turned to see a strawberry toon wearing a pink and white scarf named  Sprout. “Shells, do you know why Sara called us in for?” He asked.

“Not sure,” Shelly answered, giving a shrug.

Outside the conference room, Starlight overheard all the Gardenview toons talking and waiting for his debut. The star toon was so nervous that he needed to think of a way to make his introduction.

“Alright, I’ll just burst through the door and shout Hello, my Gardenview darlings!” He exclaimed, but stopped, realizing that it sounded bad. “No, too much. Hm…” Starlight started to think of a different introduction. “Oh, wait, maybe I can be shy and nervous about it like…” Starlight paused as he pretended to look shy and nervous. “Um…hi, I’m Starlight, nice to meet everyone.”

“What are you doing, darling?” Lewis asked, interrupting Starlight.

Starlight jumped to see Lewis, Oliver, and Sara. “Oh! Hi Lewis.” He gasped, seeing he was caught. “I was just practicing on how I should introduce myself to the toons. Should I be shy and nervous or be full of energy?”

Lewis and his friends chuckled. “You like following tropes, huh?” Lewis asked. Starlight shook his head excitedly. “Well, how do you feel right now?”

“Nervous, but excited.” Starlight answered. “I mean, I’m meeting other toons for crying out loud!”

“Don’t worry, Star.” Sara started. “I’ve grown up with these toons, they’ll like you the second they see you.” She smiled, pointing at herself.

“UGH! I HATE WAITING!” A voice yelled inside. Sara’s expression changed from happy to deadpan in a second.

Starlight flinched at whoever yelled inside. “Uh…who was that?” He asked, nervously.

“Shrimpo.” Lewis and his friends answered in a monotone voice.

Sara sighed, seeing that the toons were getting anxious over her announcement. “Alright, I guess I’ll tell them now.” She said. Starlight smiled, and Sara walked inside the room. The toons took notice and went quiet as they smiled at the woman. “Hey guys, sorry for the wait.”

“Hey, Sara!” The toons exclaimed, saying hi to their human friend.

Vee used her microphone tail and tapped the mic to see if it was working. Once it was, the TV toon spoke through the mic. “Well, I heard from a certain someone,” Vee paused to glare at Dandy, who gave an innocent smile. “You have some news for us.”

Sara nodded. “I sure have.” She replied. “So, I know it’s been years since mom brought a toon to life, but that’s changing as I, with the help of Lewis, brought a toon to life!”

Many of the toons looked surprised, while some weren’t, as Sara was Delilah’s daughter.

“Wait.” A toon spoke up, as everyone turned to him. The toon was a craft toon with a square head and long flexible arms, with one hand being blue and one being red. “A new toon is coming?”

“Yes, Goob. He’s outside the door, and he’s excited to meet you!” Sara exclaimed.

The group turned to the door as it slowly opened. Starlight peered through the door and saw the toons smile upon seeing him. Starlight gulped and looked up at Lewis. “It’s okay, Starlight. I’m right behind you.” Lewis reassured the toon.

Starlight gave a small smile and walked inside. He walked towards Sara and stood by her side. “Everyone, meet Starlight.” Sara introduced the toons.

Starlight lightly chuckled, “Hello there, darlings.” He said, giving a small wave.

“Hey, Astro.” Sprout spoke up, budding the moon toon. “Looks like you finally got a star buddy.”

Astro chuckled nervously, not sure how to feel about it.

“So, your Astro.” Starlight spoke up, pointing at the moon toon. 

“Mhm.” Astro replied with a nod. He stood up from his seat and walked over to Starlight. “Hi there, I’m Astro Novalite.” Right in front of Starlight was a sparkling blue star. It amazed the star toon as he looked over at the moon toon. “It’s my way of shaking hands.”

Starlight nodded and held the star in his hand. It glowed brightly before fading away. The two toons looked at each other and chuckled.

Dandy jumped out of his seat and went over to put his arm around Astro, surprising the latter. “You and Star are gonna get along just fine.” He beamed.

“I think we already are darling,” Starlight replied.

Sara smiled, seeing she was right. Lewis and Oliver went to stand next to her before Sara shared the next bit of news. “Alright, for today, while you all are introducing yourselves to the new toon, you also get to help us set up for Dreamworld!”

The toons cheered in celebration. “Finally!” A piñata toon, Yatta, exclaimed. “The Circus Troupe and I were thinking of adding some circus flair to the facility.”

The Founder Trio chuckled, seeing that everyone was ready to help out with Dreamworld.

There wasn't much on the agenda, just getting the speakers and the furniture all sorted out. While many of the toons were setting up, a few of the toons stood with Starlight to ask him questions. One or two of the toons, conjoined twins named Razzle and Dazzle, were the most excited to meet Starlight, well, Razzle more than Dazzle.

“So, is it true you like theater?” Razzle asked.

“Indeed, I do, darling!” Starlight answered.

Razzle was ecstatic. “Hear that, Dazzle, we got ourselves an acting buddy!” He beamed.

“Or a rival,” Dazzle mumbled.

Starlight heard what Dazzle said, and put his hand on Razzle, or Dazzle’s shoulder. “Nah, I don’t see acting as competition.” He reassured the toon. Dazzle gave a small smile in reply.

Soon, Starlight felt someone put his arms around him and turned to see it was the mirror toon, Glisten. “So darling,” he spoke up. “Since you're into show biz, I’m sure you heard of the perfect me!”

“Uh…do I know you?” Starlight asked, confused.

“Gliss,” Vee spoke up, pulling Glisten away. “Starlight has only been alive for a few days. He doesn’t know anyone yet.”

“I know.” Glisten replied. “But if he hasn’t met me yet, he has now.”

Vee rolled her eyes over her friend’s behavior.

Sara and Lewis paused with their work and smiled at the toons in the distance. “They seem to be getting along quite nicely, darling,” Lewis said.

“They sure are.” Sara added.

The two then heard Goob grunting as he dragged one of the speakers to hang it up. “Goob! Need help there, darling!” Lewis called out.

“No thanks! I got it!” Goob called out, continuing to drag the speaker.

Sara looked around to see which toon could help the fluffy craft toon and spotted Astro helping Shelly put chairs in the party room.

“Astro!” Sara called out.

The moon toon jumped a bit, hearing his name called out. He looked around and saw it was Sara, pointing over to Goob, ready to carry the speaker and hang it up on the corner ceiling. Astro nodded and used his magic to help Goob carry the speaker and hook it up.

“Alright, I got the speakers up!” Goob exclaimed, giving Oliver and Lewis a thumbs-up.

Astro smiled and stopped his magic before going back to what he was doing.

“Well then, let’s test them out,” Oliver said. He took out his phone and went to play the music he created for the facility playlist.

My Little Soda Pop

You’re all I can think of

Every drop I drink up

You're my soda pop

My little soda-

Oliver’s eyes widened, hearing what was being played, and he quickly paused it. He gave a nervous chuckle as he turned to his friends, who smirked and chuckled. “T-That was Liz’s playlist. Don’t know how it got there.” He lied. “Ah, here's the playlist.” Oliver clicked play on the correct playlist as it started to play dance party music.

Goob started to bop his head to the music. “This is nice!” He exclaimed.

“Thanks, a friend of mine helped us with the music.” Oliver replied. “Although I’m willing to play some of my music if needed.”

“Like your Internet meme playlist!” Dandy exclaimed.

“Hey, that’s private!” Oliver snapped, causing everyone to laugh. Suddenly, a knock was heard at the door, pausing everyone’s laughter.

Sara turned to the door and saw a deliveryman. She smiled, knowing what that was, and ran to the door, opening it.

“Hi, are you one of the founders of Dreamworld?” The delivery man asked.

Sara nodded. “Yes, I’m Sara Covetman-Keen.”

“Sign here.” The delivery man said, handing Sara a signature board. She quickly signed her name and handed it back to the deliveryman. The man then went to the truck and brought out a bunch of packages on a cart, which made Sara’s smile widen. The delivery man made two more trips, bringing in package after package, before leaving.

“Yes! It’s here!” Sara cheered.

The toons peered through the room and went over to Sara, curious at what she ordered. “What did you order, Sara?” Scraps asked.

“The uniforms for the facility.” Sara answered as she cut it open with a pocketknife. She opened the box, and the toons’ eyes sparkled at the colorful uniforms.

The magnifying glass, toon, Rodger looked at the uniforms closely before turning to the human. “Why is each uniform a different color?” He asked.

“Well, since the facility has a different attraction. Lewis, Oliver, and I figured it's best to have a different uniform to tell which attraction they work for.” Sara explained.

“Oh, like how Gardenview was.” Astro pointed out.

“Exactly!”

The toons looked at the uniforms, but saw they were human-sized. Curiously, Goob asked Sara a question. “Sara, you said we can help out at Dreamworld, right?” He asked. Sara nodded. “So where are our uniforms?”

The toons started to ask Sara about that too, and she gave a sigh. “Sorry, guys, they couldn’t make uniforms in your size.”

“Aww.” The toons sighed.

Sara then smiled and grabbed another box, opening it to reveal the uniforms for the toons. “Just kidding, I got them right here!” She revealed.

The toons smiled widely as Sara put the box down on the ground, and the toons looked at the uniforms for Dreamworld. There were seven different colored uniforms, each representing a different area of the facility.

“Look at all the uniforms!” A cake roll toon, Cosmo exclaimed.

“Sara, do you know which area of the facility were working in?” Shelly asked, looking up at the human.

“Well, I figured since I’ve told you what Dreamworld has to offer, I’m letting you guys pick where you want to work.” Sara replied.

The second she said that, the toons gave a wide smile and started to dig through the box for their uniforms. A fishbow toon, Finn, pulled out a blue uniform. “Is this the Seaventure uniform?” He asked.

Sara nodded. “Sure is.”

“Yes!” Finn cheered. “I’ve been Whale-ing for this forever.”

Sara chuckled at the pun as Finn went off to put on his uniform. Glisten groaned at the pun as he looked through the box for his uniform. He looked through the box until he found a turquoise uniform with an orange collar and a yellow star in the front. “Uh…is this the Staract uniform?” He asked.

“Yep.” Sara replied. “And before you ask, no I’m not customising it to your perfection.”

Glisten glared and walked off with the uniform over his shoulder. Sara gave a light chuckle until she felt a uniform get thrown into her face. She removed the uniform and saw Shrimpo digging through the uniform box to find one that suited him.

“UGH! Nothing here fits my personality!” Shrimpo yelled.

Sara sighed and rolled her eyes. “What kind of uniform are you looking for, Shrimpo?” She asked.

“Something that I won’t hate.” Shrimpo replied.

“Which is almost everything,” Sara grumbled as she went through the box. She took her time looking through the box of uniforms, which made Shrimpo impatient. “Aha! Here’s one!” Sara pulled the uniform from the box and threw it at Shrimpo’s face.

Shrimpo growled as he removed the uniform from his face and looked at it. The Racetrack uniform was yellow with orange zigzag and sun patterns. “Hmm…I guess I’ll take it.” He said.

“Aww.” Finn spoke up, coming in and wearing the Seaventure uniform. He went over to Shrimpo and put his arm around him. “I thought you would work with me, guppy.” He gave a pout as Shrimpo growled, seeing his friend putting his arm around him.

“Why would I work in a pool area where kids would treat me like a beach ball?” Shrimpo asked, growling.

Finn thought for a while, and Shrimpo was displeased knowing he would be taking a while to think. “Hmm…because you would have a whale of a time?” Finn guessed.

Sara, Lewis, Oliver, and a few toons chuckled over Finn’s pun, while Glisten and a few other toons groaned. Shrimpo sighed before removing Finn’s arm around him and walking off.

“Shrimpo! Wait up, my beta friend!” Finn called out, chasing after his friend.

Sara rolled her eyes, but was glad it ended with less Shrimpo screaming “I hate this” or “I hate that”. She turned to the other toons who had already picked out their uniforms.

“Sara! What is the uniform for Rollerink?” Yatta asked.

Sara looked for the uniform and saw it on the ground. The Rollerink uniform was pink with neon green and yellow lightning bolts. “Here you go!” She yelled, throwing the uniform to the piñata toon who caught it.

Yatta smiled, seeing the uniform, and hugged it tight.

“You know I’m surprised you and the Circus Trope want to do something different.” Oliver spoke up as he walked towards them. “But you three would love Trampoland! Why the change?”

“Well, Trampoland sounds fun, but…” Looey turned to Blot to complete the sentence.

“.tnereffid gnihtemos yrt ot tnaw eW” Blot finished.

Yatta nodded, “since Carly has been teaching me and Gigi rollerskating, I want to show off my tricks and skills to the kids!” She exclaimed.

Oliver smiled and patted Yatta on the head. “What areas were you two thinking of working at?”

Looey and Blot looked at one another before looking at the box. The balloon toon then noticed a red uniform at the bottom of the box.

It was a strawberry red uniform with green and pink stripes and circles.

“What is this attraction for?” Looey asked.

“Well, I have a secret I’ve been keeping from you toons,” Sara said. The toons turned to Sara, hearing she had news. Sara then faced the main toons, who were gathered with Starlight. “Astro, Sprout, and Shelly. This involves you three.”

The three toons looked at one another before looking at the woman. “What’s the surprise?” Shelly asked.

“Remember your old areas back in Gardenview?”

The toons nodded. “How could I forget my area?” Sprout spoke up, reminiscing about his floor. “You loved my picnic area!”

Sara chuckled, remembering having picnics with her mom, Arthur, and the toons in Sprout’s picnic area. “Well, I plan on bringing back your areas, but with a Dreamworld twist.”

The three toons gasped in excitement. “What kind of twists?” Sprout asked.

Sara turned to Astro, “Astro, your area would be called Moonground, an indoor playground.” Sara revealed.

Astro gave a small smile, hearing that his area is a playground. As if Dreamworld wasn’t a big enough playground already. “Cool, but how does a playground fit with me?” He asked.

“Well, if the younger kids don’t want to be overwhelmed with the bigger attractions, they can play there.” Oliver explained.

“Not only that, but we also added a small rest area as well.” Lewis added.

Astro's smile widened. “Perfect.”

Sara then turned to Shelly. “Shelly,” Sara started as the ammonite toon looked up. “Your area is called the Sandsite, a big sandbox where kids can dig up fake dinosaur bones and treasures."

Shelly gasped as her eyes sparkled like stars. “Do they get to keep them like back in Gardenview?” She asked.

Sara nodded. “Yep, or they can trade it for something else.”

“Sweet!” Shelly cheered, giggling in excitement.

Sara chuckled and turned to Sprout. “And Sprout.” She started as the strawberry toon turned to face her. “Your area would be called Sweet Shack, a place where kids can bake treats and a built-in bakery.”

“Does that mean I’ll be using an oven again?” Sprout asked.

Sara nodded. “With extra help!” She added.

“Awesome!” Sprout cheered.

Looey, still holding the uniform, smiled, deciding he would help out with Sprout at Sweet Shack.

Hearing about Sprout having his own area, Cosmo dropped the Madhouse uniform and went to pick up a Sweet Shack uniform.

Vee smiled, hearing her friends got their own attractions, and turned to Sara and her friends. “So, what about me?” Vee asked.

Sara and her friends looked at each other before looking at the TV toon. “How do we tell her?” Oliver asked.

Vee frowned. “I don’t have my own area here, do I?” She asked.

“You do!” Sara exclaimed, reassuring her. “It’s just…”

“Since you were a game show host, having another theater would be a bit much, so you and Starlight are sharing Staract.” Lewis explained.

Vee’s expression dropped to absolute shock as Starlight’s eyes widened, sparkling with joy. Dandy snickered, seeing his frenemy getting a roommate or showmate. Vee heard the flower toon snicker as she slowly turned to him with a glare. Starlight then went over to Vee and gave her a huge hug.

“Oh, darling!” Starlight exclaimed. “This is going to be fun!”

“Yeah…” Vee trailed off. “Fun.”

Lewis kneeled and put his hand on Vee’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we have a schedule planned to keep it even.” He reassured her.

“And to top it off,” Glisten spoke, putting his hand on Vee’s other shoulder, while showing the Staract uniform in front of her face. “I’ll work alongside you.”

“Great.” Vee said sarcastically. 

Seconds later, the door to the facility opened, and everyone turned, smiling to see who it was. It was an older man in his 30s with his daughter in her early teens. “Seems like everyone is having fun today!” He exclaimed.

“Morning, Eric!” Lewis beamed.

“Morning, guys! How are you all today?” Eric asked.

“Doing good, just getting the toons their uniforms for the facility.” Sara replied. She then turned to her teacher’s daughter, “Carly, how are you doing this morning?”

Carly shrugged. “Fine” she replied, “listen, are Yatta and Toodles available? I was going to take them to the skate park to practice their skating skills.”

Starlight was confused seeing the two other people and hearing about a skate park, got excited. “Oooh! Can I join, darling?” He asked.

Carly let out a scream and hid behind her dad’s back, shivering. Slowly, she peeked from her dad to see Starlight. “Sara, is this another room?” She asked.

Sara chuckled. “Yep, meet Starlight.” She introduced the star toon to Carly.

“Nice to meet ya, darling!” Starlight exclaimed, holding his hand out. Carly kept her distance, making Starlight worried. “Hey, don’t worry. I don’t bite.”

“It’s not your fault Starlight,” Eric said, “Carly isn’t into things coming to life. Give her time, and she’ll get used to ya.”

Starlight nodded, understanding. Still, he felt bad scaring her. “I apologize for scaring you, Carly.”

“It’s fine,” Carly replied. “So, Yatta, Toodles, ready to go?”

The two toons looked at one another and smiled before looking at Sara. “Miss Sara, could we please go?” Toodles asked.

Sara thought about it for a second and smiled. “Alright, you two can take a break to have fun.”

“Yay!” Toodles cheered.

Yatta smiled and grabbed Toodles’ hand. “Vamonos Toodles!” She exclaimed. The piñata toon grabbed Carly’s hand, and they were out the door. “Later!”

The adults chuckled, seeing the three go off to have fun. “So, other than the toon’s uniforms, what else has been going on?” Eric asked, calming down.

“We got the speakers up so music can be played.” Goob answered.

“And we got the Staract stage curtain up and ready to go!” Razzle added.

“That’s about it.” Dazzle mumbled.

Eric nodded. “Well, that’s good.” He said. “How about an hour of work and then a break?”

Everyone smiled. “Sounds good to me!” Lewis exclaimed.

Sara nodded. In her mind, she knew that with the facility almost done, only one new toon was created. She was hoping today she could bring the next toon to life, but needed an excuse to slip back into her office and get to work.

Lewis saw his best friend lost in her thoughts and snapped her fingers right in front of her, causing Sara to jump. “W-What Lewis?!” Sara yelped.

Lewis jumped back a bit. “Sorry, but you were spacing out.” He said.

“Oh, sorry.” Sara replied.

“You okay?”

Sara nodded. “Yeah. I forgot I had some paperwork in my office that I needed to work on. You, Eric, and Oliver, stay with the toons while I do my thing.”

“Oh, okay then.” Lewis said. He knew Sara was making excuses to go out and do something stupid. “I’ll call you in an hour for lunch.”

“Okay. Thanks, Lewis.” Sara said, walking to her office. She turned around once more with a smile and continued to walk.

Once Sara was gone, Lewis turned to Dandy. “Dandy, darling,” Lewis said. 

Dandy turned to the young man. “Yeah.” He replied.

Sara groaned as she slowly woke up. Her head was pounding like she had been in the head with something hard. She rubbed her eyes and saw she wasn’t in the facility, but in her room. “I’m home?” She asked herself. She even saw she was no longer in her regular outfit, but her black nightgown with blue stars.

Sara tried to remember everything, and slowly it started to come back to her. The ichor process, Starlight coming to life, and then feeling dizzy with Lewis before passing out. Realizing Lewis also passed out, she wanted to know if he was okay. Sara got out of bed, but felt dizzy the second she stood up and went to lie back down.

Sara heard snoring and turned to her right to see Dandy asleep and wearing her old pink pajamas with a flower pattern on them. She smiled and petted the toon, which made him hum and smile in his sleep. Sara then heard the door open and saw her mom peeking in, holding a tray with a cup of hot chocolate.

“Hey, Sara. How are you feeling?” Delilah asked, whispering.

Sara slowly sat up. “I’m doing fine. Just dizzy.”

Delilah gave a light chuckle, closing the door gently. “Yeah, that’s what the Ichor process does to you.” She answered, walking over to her daughter and sitting down by her bed. She then placed the hot chocolate on top of her dresser. “Usually I drink coffee after this, but I know you love hot chocolate.”

Sara smiled as she sat up, grabbed the cup, and slowly drank. “Ah,” She sighed, after drinking the warm, sweet drink.

“Better?” Delilah asked.

“Yeah,” Sara answered. “What happened when I passed out?”

“Well,” Delilah started. “I took you and Lewis home. Lewis is asleep in the guest room. Oliver followed me home. He was worried about you two and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Sara sighed, drinking more of her hot chocolate. “That’s nice of him.”

Delilah smiled and nodded before turning to Dandy. “As for Dandy, he was worried about you and never left your side.”

“Like always.” Sara sighed. Delilah gave a light chuckle as she pushed a stray hair from her daughter's face. Once Sara finished her hot chocolate, she handed the cup back to her mother. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Delilah replied. Sara smiled. She still felt tired and wanted to sleep a bit more. Delilah frowned as she tried to ask her daughter a serious question before she fell asleep. “Sara, I need to ask, why didn’t you tell them the truth?”

Sara sighed as she slowly got up. She knew what her mother was asking about. Guess her rest would be put on hold until later. “I plan to tell them, just not yet.” She answered.

“Let me guess.” Delilah started, giving her signature smile. “You want them to see it for themselves?”

“Well, that, plus it’s hard to explain to them. Oliver is going to panic, and Lewis would complain that bringing toons to life was a bad idea.” Sara explained. “If I tell them when it happens, then it would save them the shock.”

Then it clicked in Delilah’s mind about her daughter’s behavior over the past couple of weeks. “Is that why you were locked up in your offices for weeks?”

“Yeah,” Sara replied with a nod. “I was hoping there was something in your notes that won’t make any of the toons go twisted, but nothing.”

Delilah sighed. “I tried finding a cure, too.” She admitted. “However, any tests I did on the toons only hurt them or made them twisted, horrifyingly.”

Sara frowned, remembering the test her mother put the toons through in hopes to block the twisted process. The twisteds were an evil form of the toons that happens when the toons feel negative emotions or get hurt to the point ichor starts bleeding out of them. Sara was never scared seeing the toons as twisteds, but in Dandy’s case, he was scared he’d hurt Sara in that form, despite her telling him he won’t hurt her.

Dandy groaned and rubbed his eyes as he sat up and looked around. He rubbed his eyes and saw Sara awake. He smiled as he crawled over to her and collapsed on her lap.

Sara gave a light chuckle as she petted the flower toon. Dandy slowly looked up and gave a small smile. “How are you feeling?” He asked, tiredly.

“Feeling better,” Sara answered. Dandy gave a small sigh and continued to rest on his friend’s lap. Sara chuckled and sighed. “Come on, we need to check up on Lewis and Starlight.”

“Let me sleep longer.” Dandy groaned.

Sara sighed and got up, causing Dandy to fall on the floor. He glared at his friend and growled. “Come on, we’ll rest up once we check on Lewis.” She said.

Dandy groaned. “Fine.” He got up and followed Sara to the guest room.

✿　.　˚　. 　 ˚　✿.

In the guest room, Lewis was still asleep as Starlight watched over him. He couldn’t sleep at all, worried for his creator. Starlight sighed, “I hope you’ll wake up soon, darling.” Starlight heard the door open and turned to see a pet rock toon with clover marking on his cheeks, pushing the door open. The pet rock toon tilted his head in confusion, seeing the new toon. Starlight was nervous, wondering how this toon would react to seeing him. “Uh…hello there, darling.”

The pet rock toon let out a bark before running to the star toon and sniffling him. Starlight was nervous before the rock toon was done, let out a happy bark, and leaped onto Starlight, causing him to scream and fall to the ground. The rock-dog toon started to lick Starlight’s face, causing him to laugh.

“S-Stop, that tickles.” Starlight laughed.

“I see you met Pebble,” Dandy spoke up.

Pebble and Starlight looked up, and Pebble barked seeing his owner and ran over to him. Dandy caught Pebble as he jumped into his arms and started licking him, causing the flower toon to laugh.

“I’m guessing Pebble is your pet?” Starlight asked, getting up.

Dandy nodded. “Yep, my pride and joy.” He replied, holding Pebble close.

Sara walked closer to Starlight. “How are you feeling, Starlight?” She asked.

“I’m…okay,” Starlight answered, turning away as he rubbed his arm. He then turned to Lewis, who was still asleep.

Sara and Dandy frowned, seeing Lewis hadn’t woken up yet. “Lewis hasn’t awakened yet, huh?” Dandy asked.

Starlight shook his head in reply. Pebble whimpered, worried for his friend. Sara petted the pet rock to comfort him. “Oh, Pebs, I know. I’m worried for Lewis, too.” She said.

Pebble wiggled out of Dandy’s arms and ran over to the bed. He jumped up on the bed and sniffed Lewis before licking the young man’s cheek. Lewis groaned and turned away, which made Sara, Dandy, and Starlight relieved that Lewis was okay. Pebble barked happily and kept on licking Lewis, which started to wake the young man up.

Lewis groaned as he got up. Pebble barked happily and jumped up and down in joy. “Pebble, darling. What did I say about licking me?” He asked, tiredly. 

Pebble barked and nuzzled Lewis’ chest. The latter chuckled and petted Pebble’s head. He then turned to see Sara and the two toons giving a small smile. “Hey, Lewis,” Sara said, walking over to the bed. “How are you feeling?”

Lewis groaned and rubbed his head. He saw everything was blurry thanks to not having his glasses and turned to see it was on top of the bedside drawer. Lewis put on his glasses before answering, “It feels like I just got through a migraine.”

“Do you want coffee or hot chocolate?” Dandy asked. Lewis looked at the flower toon in confusion. “That’s what Delilah and Sara drank after this.”

Lewis didn’t feel like drinking any coffee in the state he was in. Hot chocolate wouldn’t be too bad, but thinking about it made his body hurt even more. “I just need a cup of cold water.”

“Water?” Dandy asked. Lewis nodded. “Alright. I’ll be right back.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Starlight asked.

“Sure,” Dandy replied with a small smile. Starlight smiled back and followed the flower toon out the door. Pebble barked, wanting to join too, and jumped off the bed and followed the toons out of the room.

Dandy led Starlight to the kitchen, and as they walked, the star toon took notice of the photos in the hallway. Some showed Sara when she was a little girl with her mom, some showed her with the toons, but one photo in particular showed Sara, Dandy, and a bunch of toons inside a building with a large tree in the middle.

“Is that Dreamworld darling?” Starlight asked.

“No, that’s Gardenview. It was a children’s education center and museum run by Delilah and a man named Arthur.” Dandy explained. “It’s the place my friends and I were born.”

“Wow,” Starlight whispered in amazement. “I wish I could’ve seen it.”

“You would’ve loved it!” Dandy replied, before frowning and turning away. As much as he was excited to be in the spotlight again in a brand new facility, the thought of Gardenview’s shutdown still hurt. Sure, Dandy talked about it with Sara and a therapist, but deep down, the loss still stung.

Starlight took notice of Dandy’s behavior and put his hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright, darling?” He asked.

“Y-Yeah.” Dandy replied. “Just reminiscing.” The flower toon heard whimpering and looked down to see Pebble feeling worried for him. Dandy chuckled, quickly putting a smile on his face as he picked up his pet rock and held him close. 

Pebble barked and started to lick Dandy’s cheek, causing him to laugh.

Starlight looked concerned, seeing Dandy switch from sad to happy in the blink of an eye. “Um…okay, if you want to talk, let me know, alright?”

Dandy nodded. “And if you have any questions, let me know, okay?” He replied, winking.

Starlight chuckled nervously. “Okay.”

The toons made it to the kitchen, where Dandy grabbed a chair and dragged it to the cupboard to use as a stepping stool. He got up on the chair and opened the cupboard to grab a glass. Dandy closed the cupboard, got off the chair, and dragged it to the sink to pour water into the cup.

Once the cup was filled, Dandy turned off the sink and jumped off the chair. “Alright, let’s head back.” He said.

Starlight nodded while Pebble jumped with a bark as they headed back to Lewis and Sara.

✿　.　˚　. 　 ˚　✿.

While Dandy, Pebble, and Starlight went to get water, Sara and Lewis were having a conversation about what happened while he was knocked out. “So, you were knocked out, too, huh?” Lewis asked.

“Yeah, Mom and Oliver brought us here.” Sara said.

Lewis nodded. “I didn’t realize how easily drained your body gets.”

“Mom told me ahead of time about this, but,” Sara paused, holding her head. “Going through it is a bitch.”

Lewis chuckled. “Couldn’t, agree more darling.”

Sara chuckled as well, but felt a ping of pain on her head. “Okay, not laughing for a while.” She groaned.

“Don’t push yourself, Sara. Let’s take it easy, and then tomorrow we’ll head back to work on the facility.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Sara agreed.

The two friends heard the door open and saw Dandy, Starlight, and Pebble come in. “Here’s your water, Lewis.” Dandy said as he handed the cup of water to his human friend.

“Thank you, darling.” Lewis said, taking the cup. He took a sip of the water before letting out a sigh and putting the cup down on top of the drawer.

“Feeling better?” Starlight asked.

Lewis slowly nodded. “A little.” He replied. “How long does it take for the pain to wear off?”

“From what my Uncle Arthur told me, the longest my mom had that kind of migraine was 2 days.” Sara explained.

While Sara wasn’t born during that time, Arthur, the other founder of Gardenview, explained how her mother brought to life four toons in one month with no breaks in between, causing her to be weak for days.

“Dang, I’m glad she didn’t have you around that time.” Lewis pointed out.

Sara chuckled. “Yeah, I’m surprised too.”

Lewis chuckled as well, “So, since working on Dreamworld is out of the question today, think we can chill and watch movies like old times?” He asked. Sara looked surprised, as Lewis was so focused on building Dreamworld these last few months. “I mean, we haven’t hung out since building Dreamworld, and you’re focusing on the ichor operation. I think we need this break.”

Sara smiled. “Sure.”

The rest of the day, Lewis, Sara, Dandy, Pebble, and Starlight were in the living room watching movies. Lewis and Sara smiled, seeing Dandy and Starlight laughing together at the funniest parts of the movie.

Delilah watched the group from a distance and smiled before retreating to her room and taking notes in her notebook.

Later, the group had dinner, which was spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner, Lewis was getting ready to go home and get some rest before working more on Dreamworld tomorrow. “Lewis, ready to go?” Delilah asked, poking her head in the guest room door.

“Yeah,” Lewis replied, as he buttoned up his sweater vest. “Thank you for bringing me here last night and taking me home.”

“Anytime, Lewis. I should be thanking you and Oliver for sticking with my daughter.” Delilah replied.

Lewis smiled and was ready to leave with Delilah, only to feel someone grabbing on to his hand. He turned to see Starlight looking nervous, like he wanted to ask him something.

“Are you alright, darling?” Lewis asked.

“I…uh…” Starlight said nervously. “Is it alright if I go home with you?”

Lewis looked surprised. “Um…sure if Delilah is okay with it.” He replied.

Starlight turned to Delilah, who was surprised as well, but gave a smile. “Of course I’m okay with it.”

Starlight and Lewis smiled as the two walked out the door. “Bye, Sara! See you tomorrow!” Lewis yelled.

Sara and Dandy were in the kitchen cleaning the dishes when they heard Lewis yell bye to them. “Bye, Lewis!” Sara yelled.

Lewis, Delilah, and Starlight left the house and went to the car as Delilah drove the two back to Lewis’ house. The drive back to Lewis’ house was quiet, except for Starlight getting curious at all the different sights they passed by. Starlight then saw Delilah drive through a neighborhood surrounded by a forest.

“Is this where you live, Lewis?” Starlight asked.

Lewis nodded. “Indeed, darling.” He answered. “We’re almost there.” Starlight smiled as Delilah parked the car, then Lewis and Starlight got out. “Thank you for driving us home, Delilah.”

“No problem.” Delilah replied. “Rest well, Lewis.”

“You too.”

Delilah smiled and drove off as Lewis and Starlight walked over to the house. “Well, here we are.” Lewis started as he used his key to unlock the door. He opened the door and turned on the lights, causing Starlight’s eyes to sparkle at the sight of his house.

The inside of Lewis’ house looked cozy with posters of musicals and pictures of Lewis with his family and friends.

Starlight was curious and started to run around the house, looking at everything Lewis had to offer. The latter smiled, seeing the toon be curious about everything. “Lewis! What’s this?!” Starlight called out.

Lewis walked over to where the toon was, and saw he was in his bedroom. His bedroom consisted of light blue walls with more musical posters, as well as some art of Starlight before he came to life. He had a bed which had a blue checkered blanket with patched pillowcases, and a desk that had his computer, notebooks, and two picture frames. One picture had him and his friends as well as another boy, and one was him and his mother.

Lewis saw Starlight looking at the pictures of him and chuckled. “Those are drawings of you.” Lewis said.

Starlight looked amazed at all the art featuring him. “Did you draw them, darling?” He asked.

“Some I did, some friends and other artists online drew for me.” Lewis answered.

“Wow!” Starlight exclaimed, amazed. Lewis gave a slight chuckle. The star toon then took notice of the photos on Lewis’ desk and grabbed one to look at. “Lewis, who is this with your friends?”

Lewis walked over to Starlight and gave a small smile to the young boy. “That’s Wiatt.” He answered.

Starlight’s eyes widened, almost like he heard that name before. “As in your boyfriend, Wiatt?” He asked.

Lewis looked horrified as Starlight knew Wiatt. The star toon never met him physically, so how did Starlight know him? “Uh, darling, how do you know Wiatt?”

“Well, I’ve heard of the stories you told him about me.” Starlight answered.

Lewis didn’t answer; all he did was stare at Starlight in fear and shock. Just what was this ichor process that Sara and her mother kept quiet about? He thought to himself.

Starlight took notice of the young man’s expression and frowned. “Did I say something wrong?” He asked, worriedly.

This snapped Lewis out of his thoughts. “N-No, you didn’t, darling. I was just shocked. That’s all.” He reassured Starlight.

“Oh. Okay.” Starlight replied, giving a small smile.

Lewis chuckled and rubbed Starlight between his star points, making the star toon smile. Lewis decided to hold off on the whole ichor thing for now, and just sleep it off. He can always ask Sara or her mom next time. 

“Come on, let’s get some sleep.” Lewis said, letting out a yawn.

Starlight started to yawn too as he rubbed his eyes. Lewis went to his closet and grabbed his pajamas, which were a grey t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants, before retreating to the bathroom to change.

Once he was changed, Lewis paused to see Starlight in his bed, asleep. Lewis gave a small smile, pulled the blanket closer to Starlight, and shut off the lamp. He decided to sleep in the guest room tonight, so Starlight can sleep better. 

“Night, Star.” Lewis whispered before closing the door.

Sara walked out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth and passed by her mom’s room. She stopped and looked inside, giving a small smile to see her mom was asleep at her desk, again. “Oh Mom.” Sara whispered with a chuckle, walking inside Delilah’s room. Sara grabbed the blanket from her mom’s bed and put it over her back before kissing her on the cheek. “Good night mom. I love you.”

Sara then walked out of her mom’s room and continued walking over to her room, but paused again as she passed by Dandy’s room. There she saw the flower toon in bed, looking sad as he pets Pebble, who was asleep.

“Dandy.” Sara spoke up. Dandy’s petals twitched as he looked up at Sara. “You okay, bud?”

“Yeah.” Dandy replied, giving a small smile.

Sara frowned and walked closer to Dandy. She could sense the flower toon was feeling down. “You know,” She spoke up as she climbed up on Dandy’s bed and sat with him. “I can sense when you’re feeling down.”

Dandy sighed, he knew Sara could sense what was wrong with him. The two did grow up together. “I guess I’m just thinking about Gardenview again.” He replied.

Sara started to play with Dandy’s petals. “You still miss that place, huh?” She asked.

“I do.” Dandy answered. “I know it’s been years, but I still miss it.” Dandy’s eyes started to tear up. Sara frowned and pulled Dandy closer to her. “I mean, Dreamworld sounds fun, but what if it doesn’t feel the same. From the kids, to the new toons, to just about everything!” The flower toon started to cry.

Sara frowned and hugged Dandy close as he cried. The flower toon only cried for a few minutes before calming down. Once he was calm, Sara spoke up, “You know, I miss Gardenview too.” She admitted.

Dandy’s eyes widened, “You do?” He sniffled.

Sara nodded. She then turned to the drawer by Dandy’s bed that contained a photo of him, Sara when she was younger, and all the toons together smiling and laughing. 

She frowned seeing that photo. Sure, she and Dandy didn’t lose touch with the other toons, and made new memories along the way, all of them missed the memories they had at Gardenview. 

“I do love the memories we made, and I’m gonna be happy for the new memories we make at Dreamworld.” Sara explained, smiling, but that smile quickly turned into a frown. “But, I do miss how fun Gardenview was, and I hope Dreamworld would bring back that fun that we had back then.”

Dandy smiled, “I hope so too.” He replied. “From what you’ve told me, it’s gonna feel like Gardenview without the learning, and more focusing on the fun and making friends.”

Sara chuckled and hugged Dandy tight. “Now, get some sleep. You’re going to need it.” She said.

Dandy chuckled, “Okay. Okay.”

Sara got out of Dandy’s bed and tucked him before turning his petals around. Dandy grumbled, which made Sara laugh as she walked over to the light switch.  “Good night, Dandy.”

“Night Sara.”