FINALLY MADE IT! Sry it took so long, lots of setbacks. Tw: swears.
You dont have to put on that red light.
Roxanne belongs to @strawberrydorkmilk
Roxanne sat on the desk as she let Krupptoon bandage her scar.
It's only been a few hours since she learned the truth about him and the other...people. Before that, Roxanne was told that they were soulless monsters who have immeasurable bloodlust, while it was indeed true the cartoon was responsible for many deaths and disappearances, Krupptoon sure as hell didn't look threatening when she captured him.
Roxanne reluctantly recalled what happened back in his cell. The scientist expected to see a horrifying vicious black and white creature scratching the walls. But what she saw was a defenseless, desperate, and scared being begging Wormworth to let Melvin (a scientist who worked with Krupptoon) go. Roxanne remembered standing there in shock and remorse as she watched Krupptoon's flesh started dripping and his right eye radiating a bright green. His tears pouring non-stop in both sorrow and pain as the thinner pumps in his back ejected more in, resulting in him letting out fear stricken shrieks that would be interrupted by static or the cartoon furiously coughing blood from time to time. Roxanne shuddered at the memory, it felt like one of her hallucinations, it tore down everything she knew about these people. She then stared at the unconscious Wormworth, the bastard who manipulated her into trying to kill them, the bastard who tried to kill her when she quit. He lied to Roxanne, he lied to all of them. And she remembered how selfless Krupptoon was when he went out of his way to save her (even though she felt like she didn't deserve it). And now here he is, patching her up.
"Um, can you turn your head back please?"
Krupptoon's voice broke Roxanne's thoughts, she did as she was told and he resumed wrapping the bandages. "Ouch..." Roxanne hissed through her teeth from the pain her scar emitted, "this sucks.". She then heard the cartoon chuckle to himself, "consider yourself lucky.". Roxanne raised a brow, clearly confused. Which then turned into shock as she saw Krupptoon's white skin slowly peel off his head, revealing his head injury.
"Got my head smashed against a rock" he implied, "skull shattered to bits, pieces of my brain missing, cant remember much. Yours is just a simple scrape." The pale skin underneath seemed to be as fragile as a wet paper towel, and the blood was brown from the aging. "Uh-...The scratch felt more fatal then- that" Roxanne said, signaling him to cover it up while suppressing the urge to vomit. Krupptoon covered his injury then turned his head and neck at 180 degrees to face the unconscious Wormworth.
"Hmm...his robot hand is filled with thinner," He then turned his head back into its original position, facing Roxanne again. "it probably would have done more damage if you were like us.". Roxanne then froze for a moment ""Like us"?". Krupptoon simply nodded, then stopped bandaging and stepped back with a proud smile, Roxanne was now patched up.
"There we go!" The cartoon exclaimed as he handed a mirror to Roxanne. She looked to see a nicely wrapped bandage covering her scar, and chuckled a bit when she noticed the knots were bows. Roxanne stood up from the desk and gave her friend a thumbs up, "thanks Krupptoon, it looks great.". Krupptoon saluted in return, clearly happy to help, "Now let's get outta here.". He headed towards the door cautiously, then pulling out one of his eyes out of it's socket and holding it out in the hall, turning his arm side to side. Krupptoon then placed the eye back in the socket (blinking a few times so it functions correctly), "All clear."
The two then started walking through the hall, stopping occasionally to hear anything out of the ordinary. The hallway was dark with small puddles of thinner, making it a mine field for Krupptoon. Speaking of him, Roxanne noticed that the cartoon's eyes were dilated in a disturbing manner, she could here music radiating from his body, and his ears twitching whenever he heard a single sound. "You..." Roxanne hesitated for a second, "look tense.".
"I'm not tense." Krupptoon lied quickly, his voice was definitely more deeper and hoarse, and monster-like. Roxanne frowned a bit, "you sound tense.". Krupptoon responded again, this time more stern, "This is my hunting voice, I'm perfectly fine.". This went on for a minute or so, but felt like an hour. Roxanne tried to think for a way to calm him down, seeing Krupptoon like this was strangely sad. It reminded her of his meltdown back in the cell, when he was worried about Melvin.
Come to think of it, when he was Jeremy (a scientist who always wore glasses) he always stayed by Melvin's side. Befriending the MISFARTS quickly and defending them, not to mention the nasty bite he gave Erica when she shot the ginger genius.
Yeah, that incident was the cartoon's downfall, and looking back at it now, Krupptoon's actions could have been a habit of his. His loved ones get hurt, and on instinct he harms whoever's responsible. And the reason is thanatophobia, fear of losing someone. And the current statis of them now is unknown, which explains why he's tense.
Krupptoon's lonely. Roxanne thought, perhaps if we get to know eachother, he'll come down...
"So...Krupptoon, was it?" Roxanne spoke, causing the cartoon to turn to face her, a question mark forming next to him, "um...where are you from?".
"Oh." Krupptoon's face softened, "well, I was born on some farm a while ago, then i moved to piqua and made a horror novelist career. At least that's what I was told.". His eyes went back to their pie-cut shape and the song stopped playing, Roxanne took this as a good sign.
Krupptoon continued "After I died, I lived in a grave for almost a year, then I found sanctuary in a abandoned school in a forest."
"I see," Roxanne thought for a moment, "Um, how did you get eyes to be like that?"
"Well, when I fused, my eyesight was a bit disoriented, especially since one half only has one eye. So having eyes like these help me see better." He seemed to smile now, happy that he's breaking ice, then Roxanne stopped in her tracks, ""fused"?". Krupptoon nodded and the right side of his body revealed his corpse, while the other side showed captoon. "We have to stay attached," ben mumbled, trying his best to be audible. Shile Captoon had no trouble talking, "Otherwise we're both toast.". Roxanne stared at the two-faced man in shock, "wow..." then she circled around them to get a better look. "How did...you guys-"
"Long story short, thunderstorm destroyed my home, so we fused and became Krupptoon." Cap spoke, his face full of regret. Ben nodded and they returned to being the cartoon. Krupptoon briefly winced his eyes shut as he remembered what happened, then shook his head and continued walking. "So what about you? You never told me about how you got here.". Roxanne followed, "Well I was a pretty gifted child (not to brag), and I decided to work here. I was adopted by two men, one who worked at Jerhome Industry, and another who..." she placed a finger on her chin and looked down, trying to remember, "well it doesn't matter, I was Wormworth's apprentice and I would usually talk to him about my problems.". Roxanne then stopped in her tracks when she heard a noise coming from the wall, when she looked at it, she almost screamed.
Eyes, eyes started forming on the wall, looking at her. Krupptoon looked at Roxanne in concern "are you ok?". She didn't answer, just stared at the wall as it stretched out arms reaching to grab her, "N-not again!". Fear stricken Roxanne felt the wall closing in, everything becoming dark. "Nononono..." She curled into a ball and started crying, then felt a hand grab her head. What came next was a violent jolt and she felt herself go slowly insane. Jesus! This is what you see from time to time?! Roxanne heard Krupptoon's voice coming from her head, she looked at him to see that he too, was staring at the wall.
"Y-...you can...?" She then realized the hand that latched itself to her was his, Krupptoon fused himself to her to see what was going on. In short, he could see the hallucination. "Hey wall! Stop it!" The cartoon growled at the wall and the eyes stared at him in bewilderment, "That's right, Im talkin to you! She doesn't need this now. So f@#k off!!!". Roxanne looked at him, then back at the wall, she suddenly didn't feel so scared anymore. She took a step towards the hallucination and stuck up the finger, "Yeah! I'm done with your bullshit! Get outta here!". The eyes and arms suddenly dissolved into the wall, and Krupptoon yanked his hand of Roxanne, the ladder feeling much better.
"Where'd you learn that?"
"Oh, Reelconnect? I was self-taught, you might have noticed your slightly going bananas. Dont worry, it'll pass." Krupptoon responded in pride, it's nice that he helped her. Then he turned to her with concern, "so that's happens alot?". Roxanne's face fell and nodded, "yeah...I also get night terrors, it keeps me up at night and I dont wanna talk about it.", Krupptoon gave her a reassuring look. The moment was cut short when the heard a gunshot, the two quickly turn to see a thinner bullet flying towards them. The cartoon ducked just in time to dodge it, they saw Wormworth at the end of the hall. A thinner gun in his hand and his head cracked, revealing a skull full of wires and microchips. "Your not getting away that easy.".
Krupptoon immediately got in between Roxanne and Wormworth, going into hunter mode and snarled at the enemy. "Wow, protecting someone from a weapon that cant hurt them but can kill you?" Wormworth smirked unamused, "you really are retarded.". Krupptoon gave an offended scoff and took a step forward, eyes becoming vertical, "Oh really! Well you want a suggestion where to shove that weapon? I'm not letting you hurt her!"
"Oh ho ho! Quick with the dirty insults aren't you!" Wormworth laughed, "and so protective. Reminds with of a particular cartoon TWO lil bastards made...". Krupptoon's face faltered as he caught on what the scientist said, and he didn't like where it was going. Wormworth rotated the gun in his hands and grinned, "yes, those two really care about him..." his stare pierced the cartoon's soul, "and he cares alot about them...dont you?".
Krupptoon was shaking now, both in fear and anger, his own eyes (one of them glowing) spelling murder at Wormworth, and his voice sounded more monstrous than ever, "If...you lay...a single finger...I'll-"
"What?" Wormworth knew he was hitting a few nerves, but he needed to break him fully, "your gonna drag me down to your tv and kill me?". Krupptoon's face fell, Wormworth knows. The former's voice cracked, "H-how did-".
"Gonna keep killing me until you've had enough, you gonna cry?" Wormworth continued, "Your gonna cry in regret, knowing you could've stopped me from hurting them?". Krupptoon stepped back, his body starting to melt, "St-stop!-".
Wormworth was now 3 inches away from him, smiling a sinister smile, "Aw, looks like I struck a nerve there, not so tough huh. Well it doesn't matter, I'll capture the rest and rob you of your toonide.". Roxanne stepped forward with a scowl, "Listen to yourself! Your wanting to take something from ACTUAL people who need it! Just so you can fulfill your friend's stupid plan for world domanation!"
Wormworth looked up at her and rolled his eyes, "Please, they dont need it. He does." The scientist pointed at Krupptoon who was on his knees in tears, "this fool is so used to saving these pathetic humans that if things dont go his way, he throws a fit.". Roxanne raised an eyebrow in confusion, "what are you talking about?".
"Dont you see? He and that traitor Melvin are turning people into freaks of nature!" Wormworth gave the cartoon a pitiful and mocking glare as he paused, "...all because he couldn't stand the thought of losing his precious sidekicks again."
"SHUT UP!!!" Krupptoon yanked Wormworth to the ground, he had enough. His now clawed fingers dug into the scientist's legs,"YOU DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT US!!!".
Wormworth grunted in pain, but immediately shot strings of thinner at the cartoon's arm, causing said cartoon to shriek in pain as his toupee grew and shake rapidly. His arm started to dissolve with a loud hiss as he pulled it away, straining as he hoisted himself up. Wormworth did the same and his robot hand began to glow, charging up, then the scientist quickly swung himself into the cartoon. The thinner hand stabbing him directly in the neck. Roxanne gasped in horror, "KRUPPTOON NO!!"
"EE-*static*AAAAA*static*AA-*static*"
That's all he could manage to scream out, as the thinner made it's way to his chest. The hot, stinging, and bitter pain spread. Roxanne grabbed Wormworth by the arm trying desperately to save her friend, "Stop! Your gonna kill him!!". Wormworth gave her a "no shit." look and struggled to push her away, "make me.".
Oh, and make him she did. Finding some nearby shattered pieces of glass, Roxanne snatched them and shoved them into Wormworth's throat, causing him to let go of Krupptoon. The scientist violently choked on the glass as blood gush out of his mouth, but he managed to cough it all out before it could reach his lungs. However when Wormworth tried to scream, no sound would come out, his vocal chords were shredded and he could no longer speak. Krupptoon collapsed on the floor and groaned in pain, breathing heavily, his legs having the stability of cooked spaghetti. Roxanne rushed over to him, "Are you alright?". The cartoon nodded weakly then proceeded to vomit the thinner, "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. This hurts.". He signaled her to lift him up, and, to Roxanne's surprise, he was light as hell. She carefully steadied Krupptoon before letting him go, he was limping a little, but overall okay. "Ack..." He hissed, "Fffffff@#king h#ll...". Roxanne dusted herself off before noticing Wormworth was gone.
BLEEEREEEREEEREEEREEER!!!
Roxanne cursed in her head, the fucker sounded the alarm. Due to his sensitive hearing, Krupptoon screeched in pain at the sound and covered his ringing ears. Soon they heard more footsteps coming their way, the other scientists. "$h%t!" The cartoon exclaimed, he started going into hunter mode when Roxanne stepped in front, "You cant fight in your condition, I'll do it!". Krupptoon (quite literally) dropped his jaw, "Are you nuts!? They'll kill you!". Roxanne gave him a serious look, "Krupptoon, from what I've heard, you care so much about the people close to you, that if you lose them your life has no meaning. Dont you think they feel the same about you?". The cartoon stiffened, knowing that she was right. He couldn't stand losing Melvin, but then Melvin lost him. In elitenati, Krupptoon promised the red head that he would always be there, but then left his best friend when he needed him most so he wouldn't get hurt. Krupptoon felt ashamed, he just wanted his loved ones to be safe, but it wasn't them he was protecting, was it?
Then Roxanne interrupted his thoughts, "so can you please let me handle this so you can return to them?". Krupptoon nodded and handed her a metal bat, Roxanne snatched it out of his hand and got into fighting position.
No I'm not gonna describe the fight scene, cuz I dont have time and I'm lazy, but it was pretty cool.
Suddenly two black arms stretched around the corner, Roxanne thought it was one of he hallucinations until they grabbed two enemies and smashing their heads together. They retracted out of sight as Roxanne when after them, Krupptoon (who had a few of someone's veins in his mouth) noticed this action and followed. "N'other hallucination?" He asked. Roxanne shook her head "2 black arms just appeared, they seemed to have the texture of tar.". The cartoon placed a finger on his chin, "huh, I thought the university was on lockdow-waitdidyousaytar?", his expression changed to curious. Roxanne nodded and Krupptoon let out a gasp of excitement, "She's here?!" His running pace sped up way more. And the brown-haired scientist was now confused of how this made him so elated, then mentally facepalmed.
Of course! Roxanne thought, The Upsidedown Alien! The pitch black creature with gloved hands and glowing blue eyes, who would hang upsidedown to catch people. There was this rumor going around that she and Krupptoon were in a relationship, looks like it was right. "Krupptoon slow down!" Roxanne yelled as she struggled to catch up, noticing the terrain around her was slightly darker, the walls were covered in tar, which spread across the hall. Krupptoon then stopped in his tracks as he saw a giant blob on the ceiling, which grew until it fell off and landed right in front of him. It started twisting and forming until the top peeled off, it was Edith, tears in her eyes as she saw her husband who was thought dead.
"Benny..."
Before Krupptoon could reply, she pulled him in a full embrace, which he returned gratefully, both of their arms wrapping around eachother. "Edith! I missed you so much!" The cartoon said as his own tears form, it's been 4 whole months since he and Melvin went to Elitenati, and not gonna lie, it caused some affection withdrawal for him. They pulled away and Edith gave the cartoon a concerned look, "Melvin was so upset when I found him, what happened?!"
"Our cover was blown, then captured," Krupptoon replied, "And..." his face scrunched up in guilt, "I maaaaayy have said that I can stay if they let him go-"
"YOU TURNED YOURSELF IN?!" Edith exclaimed, "We talked about this, you cant just keep sacrificing yourself for others."
"But they were gonna-"
"That's what the toonide is for! Jesus!". Edith then held Krupptoon's hands, "look, I know it's hard to forgive yourself. But you scared the hell out of Melvin, he misses you.". Meanwhile Roxanne was just watching them, then she decided to get involved. She thought about what Wormworth said, then spoke "I think what Upsi- er, Edith is trying to say is that it works best if you guys fight the bad guys together.". Krupptoon turns to Roxanne and chuckled weakly, "you sound like my sidekicks.", Roxanne noticed a bit of sorrow when he said that, and finally put the pieces together. "Well...I'm sure your sidekicks would want you to still save the day with a good attitude." She said while saluting the cartoon, who was now tearing up at the short speech. Then he blew his nose with a tissue, "Al-alright! Well said! Now with that outta the way, let's get moving!". The two toonbrids started walking when they noticed their brown haired friend wasn't moving, she just stared at the ground. Roxanne was trying to remember something, someone, but who.
"Actually, I think I'll leave. I've have a lot of fighting for one day and I heard there was this circus in town."
Krupptoon cocked his head but shrugged, "M'kay, I think the next exit is over there." He pointed towards another hall, "I came hear with Grace, she'll extort l you out." Edith explained, Roxanne nodded and said her goodbyes. She had alot to think about.
After Roxanne left, Krupptoon looked over at Edith, looking guilty. "Hey E."
"Yes?"
Krupptoon first hesitated, but then spoke again, "Am...I in trouble for leaving Melvin?". Edith turned to her husband (who was twiddling his thumbs nervously) with a stern look and sighed in a annoyed tone, "You should be, you left Melvin (who is kinda our son) out there alone. And when he really needed you.". The cartoon stared at the ground, what he did was the exact opposite of what he wanted. Worse in fact, "Can you tell him I'm sorry? That I never ment to hurt him?" Krupptoon said, looking at her with sorrow-filled eyes and holding his hands together as if to pray he was forgiven. Edith's expression softened, why was it so hard to stay mad at him, "you should tell him that yourself, also..." she placed a hand on the cartoon's shoulder "I'm sorry for being so hard on you, your still adjusting.". Krupptoon smiled and once again gave her a hug, Edith returned it and buried her face in the crook of his neck. She missed Krupptoon's hugs, not just because he's great at it (considering the fact that his cartoon body is more squishy than a normal one), but also because their always full of affection and joy, which is what she needed after today. The cartoon could feel a warm smile form on his wife's face, and took the opportunity to lift her up, carrying her bridal style. Edith let out a small yelp and crossed her arms (though not annoyed in the slightest) as Krupptoon chuckled a bit.
He then looked at her, "does this mean you forgive me?". "A little bit, yes." Edith replied. The Krupptoon gave her a smug look as a lightbulb formed above him, "Enough to...oh I dont know..." he said coyly while slowly pointing at his cheek, "...give me happy-4-month-reuniun smooches?". Edith gave him an amused look before thinking for a moment, then proceeded to pepper his entire face with the request kisses, causing the cartoon to lose his balance. They fell on the floor with a loud thud, Edith maneuvered herself so she could lay beside Krupptoon, who now wore a goofy smile across his now dark grey face. Then she stretched her arms to wrap around him, "I missed you.". Krupptoon quickly came down from his high and turned to Edith, "same."
