Chapter Text
Ichor.
It leaked from the damaged pipes in the ceiling, trailed all across the floor as twisteds wandered aimlessly. It leaked from every deep wound in Sprout’s chest and the large gash nearly split Vee in two. The berry coughed and caught his breath to regain what stamina he could. He sat in the only hidden spot on the blacked out floor, propping Vee up in the corner as he looked out and remembered. The last two machines on the floor were circular precision machines, one standing in a dark corner with no exits and the other sitting in the middle of the floor with no cover. Barely touched in the drawn out death of everyone on the floor. Bobette had twisted her ankle, and Vee’s arm completely malfunctioned after landing on it in a nasty fall down a flight of stairs. It sparked loudly with every pulse of her mechanical heart, draining the energy and stamina from her body upsettingly fast. Sprout didn’t fare better, with a deep cut on his left shoulder that stung and left him unable to distract for a time.
“Spr–out.”
“Stop talking,” He snapped. All he could rely on now was his hearing but every sound that could have been from the giant twisted lurking in the dark was drowned by his racing heart and injuries. All he could see was the last heartbeat out there, Bobette. She wasn’t moving and seemed close to where a machine was, if memory serves. He sighed and pressed his back to the wall, sliding down and coughing up more ichor.
“Take my Vee–Veemote.” A mechanical voice called again. Blue sparks illuminated from her dented chest and stiff arm. With her one good arm, Vee was holding her green remote control out for Sprout. The berry frowned but collected it either way, taking a deep breath before pressing the side button.
“Bobbie, Vee is with me. Come downstairs by the house, Gourdy’s old bedroom.”
Silence rang. Vee turned her head, her screen flickering as it dimmed slowly. She leaned further into the corner to support her head and her antennas twitched.
“Bobette, do you copy?” Sprout said louder into the small microphone. With no reply again, he groaned and stood slowly until a hand grabbed his wrist. Vee dragged along the ground for a moment before Sprout could stop and turn to her. The baker said nothing, watching with squinted eyes as Vee slowly pulled her limp microphone to her face and tapped it.
“Tes–Testing 1 2 3…” Her voice was clearer than before but still cut out at the end. Soulvester stood guard at a half-filled machine Vee was working on minutes ago, nearly unmoving and unphased by the noise on the other side of the map. Gourdy’s bulky and mutated body galloped quickly, following Bobette as her heart rate flashed. He was highlighted in bright green and Sprout’s heart dropped to his stomach. Adrenaline clouded his vision as he wrestled out of Vee’s grip. She crumpled over in a pile of ichor and steel, still calling out as Sprout dropped her remote beside her.
“Spro-Sprout! DON’T LEA-LEAVE ME HERE!” Her legs lost power completely, followed closely by her tail and broken arm. Vee was rendered nearly immobile, her only good arm too weak to drag what was left of her body after her last living friends.
Outside, a shining green box stood next to a machine. Bobette shivered inside, counting down the seconds before she had to run, where she couldn’t remember. Everything was drowned in darkness and fog so thick it was hard to see much past her hands. It collapsed moments later, giving her one moment of clarity before two screams shot down the stairs. “SHIT, BOBETTE RUN!” Sprout shouted as he jumped down the flight with ease, followed closely by an amalgamated Twisted Gourdy. His roots were long, leafy bundles that carried the weeping child just as fast as the Christmas toon could run.
It was only a few steps before Bobette realized she wouldn’t be outrunning Gourdy. His agility was unmatched by any other twisted they faced, and her ankle had been bruised for more than a floor by now; there wasn’t any hope of her escaping on the ground. In a frantic attempt to survive, Bobette grabbed the highest shelf on a nearby storage and dragged herself up to safety. Bowls full of assorted candies rained down in her scramble, leaving a small pile in its wake. Gourdy crashed into the tall storage shelf moments after she crawled high enough to escape him, wailing and stomping in a tantrum. The shelf shook under his weight, causing Bobette to flail around with it.
The gourd slammed his fist down into a shelf, sending his fist clean through it and trapping himself. He screeched so loud the floor nearly shook and Bobette had to claw around for something to hold onto. She screamed just the same, black tears blurring her vision in the commotion. Sharp plant fingers came up and scratched at Bobette’s legs, coating the scene in more runny ichor. As the shelf tilted back and fed the injured toon to Gourdy’s monstrous form, an airhorn blared sharply over it all. The twisted child snapped his head to the aggressive sound and pulled himself back as hard as his arms could muster to catch the taunting strawberry.
Tightly woven plant fibers ripped in protest of the force and ichor leaked from the wound onto the floor, covering the spoiled candy below before his hand was freed and sending the shelf slamming back into place by the wall. Gourdy’s right hand was torn and dripping ichor, but he turned his attention to Sprout in a hurry. “GOURDY!” The toon whipped around without checking if the twisted had heard him in an attempt to get distance. Six clumps of Ichor dashed after him with frightening speed, nearly catching up until Sprout ran into the empty house on the floor. Each corner he turned was a moment too slow as Gourdy cried every time he attempted to lose him.
Without thinking, Sprout turned the same corner once again and used the last of his stamina to dive under the dining room table. His knee hit the ground squarely and he covered his mouth to hide the agonized scream. Gourdy stomped after him, pausing just in front of the table. Sprout held his breath and closed his eyes in hopes of being safe, only breathing out when a chain of footsteps and sobs drifted away into the floor. He coughed on the hardwood floor and held in tears from the pain and exhaustion of the floor. Doom washed over him in overwhelming waves, the realization that he was left here with two dying toons as he himself bled onto the floor, paralyzed him with dread.
Time passed and he recovered quietly, listening to Gourdy’s sniffles and Soulvester’s sword dragging along the wooden floor as they passed. When silence crept around once more, Sprout crawled out slowly and took the longest way around the winding house before finding Vee lying almost exactly where he had left her.
“You didn’t get yourself killed.” She commented flatly. Her voice was muffled by static but didn’t break up as much. Sprout sighed and pulled her back into the corner of the room, sitting against the same wall with a blank stare.
“There’s nothing I can do, Vee.” The computer’s antennas twitched to life at Sprout’s bleak remark. He had always been an optimist, almost to the point of delusion when it came to another toon’s safety. Or his best friend-
“Cosmo isn’t coming back for us.”
“What?!” Vee attempted to shout back. Sprout tugged at his scarf absently as he mumbled to himself.
“You weren’t there; you didn’t see him.” He scratched his neck in a soft panic. “I- He yelled at me. For the first time in decades since I met him, he told me I needed to let him go. He told me he can’t breathe around me anymore, but I can’t breathe without him!” Ichor tears filled his eyes as pain and sobs broke his speech. His infected arm stung violently as more of the black goop grew from the gash in his shoulder. Vee reached and held the shaking berry by his wrist, just above the bracelet he still had on it.
“Sprout. Stop talking and listen.” The crying main turned to face Vee, the whites of his eyes already red and smeared with ichor animalistically. “It was one argument. He cares about you. You two are inseparable no matter what.” Sprout sobbed again and held Vee’s weak hand, ignoring the sharp pain of squeezing the joints no longer covered with padding. He gasped for air and curled into a tight ball to escape his darkening, isolating reality.
“Look at me! Cosmo is coming back for BOTH of us!” Vee pulled the baker with what force she could, and he laid on the floor by Vee’s offline legs, still rambling about Cosmo and the ichor that was killing him slowly.
“We can be pa-”
“ERROR CODE P0562: SUFFICIENT POWER SOURCE NOT FOUND. SHUT DOWN PROCESS BEGINNING IN TWO MINUTES.”
Vee’s face dropped. Her antennas dropped lifelessly as her hand relaxed, her screen dimming and flickering hopelessly. Sprout sat up while clutching his scarf tightly and wiped his eyes. “See what I mean, Vee? You’re going to die, and you’re going to kill me when the ichor gets to you too.”
They stared at each other for a moment, quiet and slow as they both thought. The berry looked defeated, in a way Vee had never seen before in all their lives, not even in the show. She sighed quietly and gave her final words.
“Put me outside. Barricade the entrance if you mus-must. I… don’t-don’t want you to die like this, Sprout. Cosmo will come back-back for you, and I want you to still be brea-breathing when he gets here. This is all I can do-do now. Please. Be stubborn. And tell Astro-tell Astro I left a box of supplies-supplies by the train station-station. He has everything-has everything else you- need-” Her screen flashed a bright green as a distinct hum drowned out her voice. A little picture of Dandy dominated the screen, then the signal cut and Vee’s head slumped forward onto Sprout’s good shoulder.
Sprout was stunned into silence, staring at the lifeless body of his friend as the pain in his shoulder lessened by a hair. He wrapped his arms under her armpits and slowly stood on shaking legs. It felt like too much responsibility was being placed on him once again, left to do the hardest parts of the job on his own. But he wanted to honor Vee’s dying wish: To see him make it out of here alive. Rescues had been successful before; it was how they saved Ginger and Bobette weeks ago when the Christmas floors were still being cleared. A flicker of hope was all he had left, and he could hold on for just a little while. Maybe.
Vee fell to the ground in a heap of ichor, metals, and ripped cloth. She made no reaction as her joints stayed stiffly out of place, dislocated by Twisted Soulvester’s sword and the long fall down the stairs. She could lie there for hours, maybe a day if her mechanical body gave some protection to her vital code. There was no telling what mutations would come out of her, but for now Sprout needed rest. So much had happened in just a few hours, it would wear on anybody. He dragged himself back into the safety of Gourdy’s room. The walls were covered in childish drawings and pleas written in thick ichor. The main barely paid them mind before landing in the corner hidden by the gourd’s bed. It was uncomfortable but gave some protection from the twisteds that might wander by.
Under the bed was a large bowl of assorted candies with no ichor traces or clear signs of bugs eating away at the sugars. It wasn’t much, but it could keep him awake long enough to get his hurting knee back into shape when it was time to run for more food. There was nothing left for him to do but to wait and hope. Hope that Cosmo would remember him down here, hope he would want to see him again, want to breathe the same air as before. A foolish, childish dream only a mind nearing death would cling onto.
But miracles can happen.
People reconnect and heal.
“Right, Cosmo?”