#dinoparty

Brusha woke up to a darker place. Her body ached terribly. Ichor stained the ceiling where they fell through. It was so dark.

What happened?! She was knocked out for a moment. She knew that. Brusha sat up. The walls were much like those in the warehouses or in Dyle’s challenge floor. The floor however felt strange, it wasn’t describable.

Where was she?

She heard soft crying from beside her.

Right, Vee fell down with her.

The crumpled television was tightening her cloak around her, softly crying into the fabric. Brusha scoffed and turned away. She didn’t dare look Vee in the face. Vee hoisted herself up a bit.

“... I wasn’t thinking…”

Her voice was very quiet, and even worse sounded far too real. There was no quiet click of her voicebox activating or static mushing up her words when she spoke too quietly. Her voice felt real, genuine, full of such strong emotion. Brusha didn’t want to look back at her, but her eyes flickered back towards her.

Vee still cried red tears. Red tears, more fluid than pixelated, dripped from her face and onto the ground or into her own hands. Vee had always cried red tears, it never gave anyone a scare. Everyone has seen episodes where Vee has cried, or seen her cry face to face. 

It was foreign to see the tears leave her screen. 

It was foreign to see her look at herself with such a look of hopelessness. 

It was foreign to see bright red liquid stain the ground like blood.

Brusha hated it, she hated this whole thing. This entire thing was a mess. She should’ve stayed at the elevator and waited for Dandy. “... I don’t care what your excuse is, you’ve done enough…” she spat, and turned away from the television.

Vee’s breathing sounded wrong, weirdly heavy and grinding.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY! I'M SORRY THAT I’M A TWISTED?! I DIDN’T WANT TO BE A TWISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! I NEVER WANTED THIS AT ALL!!!” She screeched, slamming her clawed hand into the ground, “I DON’T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS FOR ME AND I HATE IT!!! I DON’T WANT TO BE A TWISTED!!! I WANT TO BE NORMAL!! I KNOW I CAN’T AND IT HURTS!!!” Brusha was about to turn around and argue back, but noticed something off.

Was Vee about to twist? Her eyes were completely red, and something was sprouting along her arms when she waved them. Something that looked like feathers.

Brusha recalled some toons’ descriptions of vee’s new twisted form.

“It was horrible! A mess of ichor and feathers!”

“It was hideous! It looked like four animals mashed together with vee lodged into the top!”

“It was terrifying! A towering mix of ichor flesh and robot stuff!”

If she doesn’t act fast, Vee might twist on her, and they’d probably never leave this place. Brusha grabbed Vee’s shoulders and shook her. “HEY!! SNAP OUT OF IT!!! I DON’T NEED YOU TWISTING ON ME!!!” She shouted, trying to get sense into her mind, Vee immediately pushed her away. “DON’T- GET OFF ME!!!” She screamed back. Brusha was pushed back.

Vee was panicking, her claws were digging into the ground, and her breathing was labored.

How do you stop someone from panicking?! Brusha was a bit lost on what to do. She certainly didn’t want to REASSURE Vee after practically dipping her toes into CANNIBALISM. Though, Brusha knew next to nothing about twisteds. She hasn’t bothered asking rodger about it, she’s barely bothered looking into it herself. She just knew the glimpses of them from the twisteds on runs.

… She can’t fully trust Vee, but she needs to prevent her from twisting. Vee’s a lethal twisted, not some ordinary twisted. If she twists, she, and the other dead toons that came down with them, would be doomed.

Right, Vee’s holding a bag holding the other toons from the runs. If she twists they could be put into danger.

If reassuring her is the way to prevent her from twisting, it’ll be what she has to do. The paintbrush would not risk that.

“Hey! HEY!!!” Brusha began, kneeling in front of Vee. “Look at me, come on, breathe. Just breathe for a second. Can you try breathing?” she asked. There were hints of sternness and frustration in her voice, but she tried to maintain her composure to get Vee to calm down. The TV had difficulty slowing her breath. “My chest hurts…” she wheezed out breathlessly. 

Act fast.

“Okay, okay sit up, try and keep your eyes on me.” Brusha tried to get Vee to stop hunching over. Vee obliged, she was shaking, not enough to notice until Brusha adjusted her posture. “... Look, I don’t trust you, I don’t trust you because you’re a lethal and I don't trust you because of the ichor thing. Yet, I don’t need you twisting on me, or just panicking in general.” She snarled, and forced Vee's head to look at her properly. “... I want to get out of here, and I want this to be over.”

Vee shallowly exhaled a bit.

“... All right, all right…” Vee said after a moment. 

Did she actually just prevent vee from twisting?! Brusha didn't think that would actually work!

Though, her body likely began mutating, considering her breathing was still rather shallow, and she seemed weirdly taller than she was before. She needs to keep Vee calm, if she gets agitated like that again, she won’t be so lucky. She’s currently bordering on toon and twisted.

“Where are we, Brusha?” Vee asked after collecting herself.

Shrimpo was walking down the halls, a bit tense from this whole thing, when suddenly a group of toons stopped them.

Yatta, Shelly, and Connie.

“Heya shrimpo! We need your help with something!” asked the ammonite. Shrimpo turned around and crossed their arms. “What is it?” They asked. Connie replied, “I know Astro said ‘soon’ but we just saw Dyle head to the elevators with a set of keys, and we’re curious where he went. So we’re planning a spy mission of sorts.” Shrimpo looked confused, “WHY DO YOU NEED ME?! I’M MX. -99% STEALTH REMEMBER?!” they snapped back. Yatta leaned forward, “Don’t you tell ANYONE YOU HEARD THIS FROM ME but EVERYONE in gardenview thinks you have the BEST HANDWRITING.”

Shrimpo stood there dumbfounded for a minute. “I hate that- is this a joke-?” they asked. Shelly shook her head, “No no we’re serious you have really good handwriting! But anyways, we need you because you’re gonna write down what you hear from the walkie talkie Connie will be holding.” Connie nodded. Yatta exclaimed, “I'M IN ON THIS TOO!!! My girlfriend, Shelly, will write down what she hears from MY walkie talkie!!!” Shrimpo’s eyes widened a bit. They were planning to have two eyewitness accounts of what happened. It was smart. Shelly wrapped up the explanation, “Connie and Yatta will write down what they see as well, and then we’re gonna present this to Rodger to see what exactly Dyle is hiding!” Shrimpo tilted their head, “And if he catches you?” they asked. The three looked at each other and shrugged. “Worth a shot isn’t it?” Connie asked. Shrimpo sighed. “Fine, fine, but I HATE THIS AND I HATE WRITING AND I ALSO HATE SECRET STUFF!!!” they hissed back. Shelly and Yatta cheered while Connie pumped her first.

“I don’t remember seeing anything past the darkness at the bottom of the stairwell. I always assumed it was just the lights turned off.” Vee explained as she shakily sat up. Brusha looked around with her. The ceiling and floor were black, and the softness was more like it was slightly bouncy. As if the floors were lined with rubber. Vee picked up on something quicker than Brusha. “It's ichor. This whole place is lined with ichor!” She noted, tapping the ground with her cane. Brusha restrained from making a sarcastic remark about the ichor.

Brusha’s eyes landed on a phrase on the wall she’s grown all too familiar with.

“FIND ME”

The phrase was messily written in all capital letters. An eerily drawn syringe was painted beneath the phrase. Brusha recalled seeing something like this before. In Delilah’s office on the Easter Public floor. Brusha had seen the phrase before around Gardenview, this is just the first time she’s seen the syringe since the Easter Public Floor.

Brusha had a theory she made when Gardenview first shut down, before the twisteds started roaming the public floors, and when she had a friend by her side.

“Brusha, this is your second to last painting displayed here.” Tisha pointed to one of the paintings close to the entrance of Brusha’s gallery. Brusha walked over. “It is. Wonderful work, isn’t it?” She asked. Tisha nodded. “It is, you’ve always been such an excellent artist Brusha, but…” she replied and looked back at the painting.

 The painting was of a cityscape fading into color splotches with a streetlamp reflecting a beam towards the ground. There was a figure under the ground under the light.

The tissue box delicately pointed to the figure. “Is that Miss Keen?” she asked. Brusha nodded. “It’s symbolic.” She explained. Tisha made a soft “huh” sound before asking, “Why?” The artist further explained, “Miss Keen wasn’t hasty to leave this place like everyone else. I don’t think I even saw her hop on the train. The last place everyone saw her was the elevator.”

Tisha looked at Brusha. “Are you saying she’s still in the facility?” she asked, a bit stunned by the absurdity of the claim. Brusha nodded. “It's a big possibility. Though, I don’t really have much to back it up yet.” she responded. Tisha looked down, and remarked, “Don’t say that around Dandy, he hasn’t been taking the shutdown itself all that well.”

The paintbrush sighed, “I didn’t plan on it, I know he’s not in a good headspace. I think he’d find it interesting, though.” She said. Tisha turned and began to leave. “Just don’t start spreading it like a rumor… It’s a bit insensitive to toons like the main characters. They were the closest to the founders. I know you mean well, but with what's going on, rumors won't help.” 

Brusha was left standing, facing her painting, alone.

“... Vee. Do you see that?” the artist toon asked and pointed towards the message. Vee squinted. “Is it another one of those ‘find me’ messages?” she asked back. Brusha nodded.

They stood in silence for a moment. This was something big. This sort of thing is something huge in her running theory.

Maybe this wasn’t the worst choice she could’ve made.

If she managed to keep Vee calm enough to where she wouldn’t twist, they might just find out who exactly was writing these messages, and who exactly wanted to be found.

“... Vee are you up for a bit more exploring?” she asked bluntly. Vee looked hesitant. “Shouldn’t we find a way out? I need to get back up and revive these-” she paused and then hurriedly pulled off her backpack. She opened it and checked on the capsules. Inside they were cracked. If they fell again they might shatter.

Brusha noticed her unease. “We don’t know how to leave, maybe by wandering this place a bit more, we can find a way.” She offered. Vee looked back, skeptical. However, there's not many other options.

“Fine, fine, just this once. We’ve got to get out of here though.”

“Are you sure this will work, hun?” Shelly asked Yatta through the walkie talkie as Yatta was crawling through the vents. “AB-SOOO-LUTELY!! I’ve snuck ALL around Gardenview and none of you guys even NOTICE!!” She confidently declared. Connie was floating alongside Yatta in the vents. “Trust me, I’m super stealthy when invisible! The only one who notices me is Dandy themself! Or my brother but he doesn’t count. He’s also a ghost.” she stated with more mellow confidence. Shrimpo and Shelly were sitting in Shrimpo’s room with the walkie talkies. They were each holding a notebook. Shrimpo asked roughly, “DO YOU SEE HIM?!” Connie shushed them, “Sh! Don’t yell so loud, Dyle might hear!” Yatta bumped Connie, and whisper-yelled, “SH! GO INVISIBLE!!! SOMEONE’S COMING IN THROUGH THE ELEVATORS TO THIS ROOM!!!”

The elevator was rumbling in the vents as it shifted and moved. Connie faded into a puff of blue smoke and entered the room, shifting her notebook on top of a file cabinet to hide it. Yatta crouched in the vents with her notebook. They both flipped on their walkie talkies as shrimpo and shelly went quiet to listen.

Dyle opened the door to Arthur’s office with a key. It was a fine sized room lined with posters and drawings. Tons of file cabinets lined the room. A CRT sat in the back littered with stickers from the gift shop. Dyle stepped over scattered papers and chairs and headed for a large cabinet close to one of the desks.

The air was cold, weirdly cold.

The pocket watch slightly shivered a bit as he took out another key and the radio. Flicking to a station. “Ma’am, are you sure it’s still here? I’m a bit skeptical that Mr. Walton would leave something like this in a children’s entertainment facility.” he asked.

Suddenly an unfamiliar voice crackled through.

“HE LIKED HUNTING… IT WAS A PASTIME OF HIS… TRUST ME.”

The voice was eerie and haunting. Horrific and raspy. It was unrecognizable and strange. Dyle was not fazed.

“... I trust you ma’am.” he clicked off the radio, and continued opening the cabinet. Inside lay a small gun and a small storage container.  

The mood of the room shifted, with tension. He swore he heard the air vents creak and air whisk in a way to where it sounded like a gasp.

Dyle picked up the gun and threw it over his shoulder, and picked up the storage container and went to walk out. Suddenly the radio crackled again.

“DYLE!!! DYLE DYLE DYLE!!! BAD NEWS!!! THEY’RE GONE!!!” Dandy’s voice screamed out. Dyle nearly dropped the case. And keys. He took out the radio hurriedly. “What- WHAT-?! What do you mean they’re GONE!?” he asked with panic. Dandy replied, “I went to the room you said Brusha and Vee were in and they’re just gone! Not in the stairwells, not in the room!” They sounded just as panicked. “Calm down, I’ll check the footage. Come back to your shop! I’ll find them!” he spoke in a commanding tone. “Okay okay! Please be careful Dyle! I’m worried Vee might’ve twisted!” they remarked. Dyle nodded out of instinct. “I know Dandicus, I’ve already gotten the ichor shot prepared. Remain calm.”

The pocket watch put the radio away and walked out of the office.

Connie, Shelly, Shrimpo, and Yatta met up in the lobby. Shelly spoke up first, “That voice! That voice he spoke to! I couldn’t recognize it! Could any of you???” The toons shook their heads. “It was like… multiple voices overlapping over one another. I couldn’t discern it.” Connie explained. Yatta interrupted, “ARE WE GOING TO SKIP OVER THE FACT DYLE HAS A GUN!?” Shrimpo waved a hand, “It's likely tranquilizers like what he wanted in the FIRST PLACE! WHAT'S MY CONCERN IS WITH VEE!!! DANDY SAID SHE COULD'VE TWISTED!!! BRUSHA AND VEE ARE IN DANGER!!!” Every toon started speaking over one another. Shelly waved her hands. “Guys guys! We can’t keep arguing about details! This is ALL important!!! We should write it all down then present it to Rodger! He’d know what to do!”

The group calmed down a bit. “You’re right, shell-a-bell!” Yatta cheerfully said and nuzzled her head against Shelly's. Connie nodded. “Let's just take all our notes to Rodger now. I’m sure everything with Brusha and Vee will turn out fine.” Shrimpo listened to Connie, and sighed. A wave of uneasiness settled in their chest.

The halls were so dark. Long dark hallways with seemingly no end. Every now and then there were a few crates and scaffolding or a poster completely covered with ichor that you couldn’t tell what episode it was for. Brusha and Vee walked down the hall uneasy. The television kept hovering one of her hands above her chest. Brusha picked up on it. “... whats the matter, i can tell something’s bothering you.” Vee rolled her eyes. “God, a lot of things are bothering me right now, it's just that… I’m feeling strange down here.” she explained.

“You nearly twisted on me, I don’t know what that does to your body but it's probably why.” The artist remarked. Vee hissed, “Not like twisting, not like an emotion really… It’s strange. I almost don’t exactly feel… safe? Myself? I can’t tell but this place isn’t making me feel good.” the television explained, keeping a firm grip on her cane. Brusha couldn’t come up with a response.

Maybe it was the fact that the farther they got the more the “FIND ME” messages sprawled into incomprehensible scribbles. Maybe it was the fact that the floor and ceiling were coated in ichor, and that was triggering something in Vee’s mind. Hell, maybe it was just the fact Vee was basically half twisted, and her body is screaming at her to let her twist completely.

Brusha was snapped out of her thoughts when she spotted a light shining onto something.

“Vee, look there.”

[ part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 ]