Chapter Text
It was another lovely day at Gardenview. Shrimpo wasn’t yelling at anyone (because he was in his room punching things), the toons were gossiping, and Dandy was happily rewatching the show for the millionth time to keep him sane. What could go wrong?
“BOXTEN!!”
Hopefully, nothing more than the kitchen fire.
Sprout sprinted over to the fire now rising from the oven and sprayed the fire extinguisher while Cosmo stood in front of Boxten. It took a few tries before the flame went out completely. When it did, Sprout whipped around to scowl at Boxten.
“What were you thinking?! You could have burned this place to the ground!!” He threw his hands over his head. Boxten shrank back, tears forming in his terrified eyes.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened! One minute, everything was fine, and then suddenly the oven was on fire!” I’m so so so sorry, Sprout, please don’t get mad–”
“WELL, I AM MAD!!”
Boxten covered his face, quietly sobbing. Cosmo put a comforting hand on the music box’s shoulder before glaring at Sprout.
“Sprout! Don’t be so harsh on him, he’s still a beginner after all!”
Sprout sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. “I know, I know, sorry. I’m sorry, Boxten. I shouldn’t have yelled.”
“It’s alright, you were–you were just stressed,” Boxten spoke through strained sobs. He tried to smile at Sprout, but the berry didn’t accept it.
“Don’t do that. You know what? Cosmo, get him a cupcake.”
“But I–” Boxten started.
“CUPCAKE.”
Cosmo searched through the cabinets until he found a white box of pre-made cupcakes of different varieties. He set them down on the table near his friends and opened it up. “Choose whatever you want!”
Boxten’s smile turned into a genuine one, grabbing a vanilla cupcake with white frosting, and eating happily. Sprout sighed once more and sat down. “I really need to work on my anger management…”
“You think?” Cosmo giggled and sat next to him. The cake roll put an arm around his best friend, sliding his hand up and down Sprout’s shoulder comfortingly. Sprout smiled softly at the gesture, but the sweet moment was cut short by a certain angry shrimp.
In the dining room, Shrimpo stomped past the nearby toons, grabbed a bunch of scrambled eggs with his bare hands, and devoured them messily. Tisha, who was sitting with Shelly, gagged at the sight. Shrimpo ignored her and sat down next to his friend, Finn.
“Good evenin’, Shrimpo! Why so crabby? Hehe!” The fishbowl put an elbow to Shrimpo’s arm teasingly. Shrimpo gazed at him with rage.
“I’M NOT A CRAB!! I’M A SHRIMP!!! I HATE CRABS, AND I HATE THAT PUN!!” Shrimpo pointed an angry finger at Finn, who was completely unfazed. In fact, Finn’s grin grew.
“I’m just squiddin'! Hey, what’s an octopus’s favorite month?”
“OCTOBER.”
“GASP!!! You listen to my puns, too! I guess you could say you’ve been schooled!” Finn’s laughter died down when he saw Shrimpo preparing to lunge at him. Finn jumped over the table and out of the way before Shrimpo could grab him, slamming his face into the floor. Shrimpo got back up almost immediately after with a bruise on his face, as if nothing had happened, and ran after Finn. “HOLY CARP!! SOMEONE KELP ME FROM THIS HORRIBLE MONSTER CHASING ME!!” Finn cried out dramatically. He didn’t actually need help – he was much faster and had more stamina than Shrimpo. If anything, he enjoyed times like this. He also loved to see how Shrimpo grinned with malice whenever Finn encouraged his antics, or how Shrimpo couldn’t tell what sarcasm was and believed him when Finn acted scared, boosting his already high ego.
The two aquatic toons sprinted past the people nearby, giggling like crazy. Everyone else was used to their never-ending energy, even at dinner. Shelly smiled as they rushed past, and she turned to her friend, Tisha. “Aren’t they adorable together?”
“‘Adorable’ isn’t the way I’d put it, but if it helps you sleep at night, I’ll let you believe that.” Tisha rolled her eyes. Shelly snickered, putting her elbows on the table and resting her head in her hands.
“Aw, don’t be so pessimistic, Tish’!”
The tissue box raised a brow at her cheerful friend. “You be positive, I’ll be realistic.”
Across the diner, Astro and Vee walked in together.
“Sorry about interrupting your eighth nap of the day, but you need to eat.” Vee crossed her arms while her tail swished in aggravation.
“I can’t stand being awake; it’s been so much worse lately. It feels like something bad is about to happen…” Astro shuddered uncomfortably. This feeling of impending doom has been taunting him more and more for the past week, and it grows stronger with each day. Astro always had this gift of foresight, but it wasn’t exactly useful; it just made him look insane until the bad thing ended up happening. Usually, he tries to ignore it, but this specific situation made his heart hurt with anxiety. Something bad was going to happen, and like every other time, he wasn’t going to find out what it was until it was too late.
Vee’s gaze softened. “Hey, everything will be alright. You always have these worries. Everyone is safe, the runs of the day have been finished. It’s not like any of us are gonna die.”
“Or everyone.” Astro stared into the distance. Vee’s antennae twitched in alert.
“What do you mean–” She started, being cut off, and Finn and Shrimpo ran towards them. The moment Finn noticed Vee, he skidded to a halt, causing Shrimpo to accidentally ram into him, knocking both of them to the floor. Finn looked up at Vee, who looked down at him with fear and disgust.
“That was a close one! Sorry, Vee!”
The TV just scoffed and walked around them with Astro. Once they were far enough, Vee spoke up. “Maybe that was the oh-so terrible thing you’re worried about.”
No, Astro thought. This will be worse. Much, much worse.
All I know is that it will come for us when we least expect it.
-
The silence of the night hung in the air, lulling the toons to sleep. Well, most toons. Astro was awake, even though he needed to be helping his fellow toons with their dreams. It was the first time in his life that he had trouble sleeping, and yet he couldn’t help but feel grateful. This impending doom was close, and he needed to be prepared.
He brainstormed all the awful possibilities; Maybe something would explode, or maybe Dandy would turn Twisted and attack everyone, or the building would collapse. All of those options felt wrong, but what else could happen?
Astro walked out of his room and headed to the elevator, pressing the button that led to the main floor. He needed to talk to Dandy.
Upon entry, the lights in Dandy’s shop were all on, and in front of the counter were Dandy and Dyle discussing something. Astro couldn’t make out the words, but both of them seemed greatly distressed.
He walked over to them quietly, their words slowly becoming comprehensible.
“…close off the elevator, we can’t let anyone use it. We have to make an announcement early in the morning to make sure nobody uses the elevators—“ Dandy paused when he noticed Astro. They both turned to the moon in surprise.
“Astro! You shouldn’t be here!” The rainbow flower frowned anxiously.
“What’s wrong with the elevators? They seem fine to me.” Astro gestured to the three elevators around the tree. Dyle shook his head.
“Not those. The elevator that connects the basement to the Twisted-infested floors. It crashed around an hour ago — we conclude that the elevator just grew faulty with age. But that’s not our concern.” Dyle looked away with a stress in his eyes that Astro had never seen before.
“Well, what is it?”
“…There’s a ladder outside the elevator in case a toon got stuck outside of it, somehow. But that means… that means the Twisteds can climb out.”
Astro felt his heart drop.
“What?! Then what are you doing standing here? You need to make an announcement and inform anyone before they get here!” Astro cried. Dandy put his hands up.
“Hey, that’s what we were going to—“
“NOW, DANDICUS!! Everyone could be in danger!”
“Calm down, Astro! The highest floor they can reach is the basement. We’ve closed off any entry between the basement and this floor, so we shouldn’t be in immediate danger.”
Astro held his hand to his mouth. The Twisteds could be in the basement right now. Roaming, hungry, and violent, ready to strike. “Dandy, tell me every single entry you closed off.”
“Huh? We blocked all the elevators on that floor. Why?”
No. No, no, no no. “THE STAIRCASE!! DID YOU BLOCK THE STAIRCASES?!”
Dandy and Dyle froze in place, which was all Astro needed to see. He bolted over to Dandy’s counter, pressing the big red button under the desk. A loud alarm rang throughout the building, along with all lights flashing red. He heard Dandy shout an order at Dyle before rushing over to the intercom as Dyle sprinted to the train. Dandy turned on the button and held the mic close to his mouth, static ringing over the speakers.
“Attention, all toons! Head to the elevator closest to you and come to the main floor as quickly as possible. Do not stop to grab any belongings. Put any personal grudges aside and make sure everyone on your floor is in the elevator before leaving. Leave no one behind. Once you arrive, do not walk; run to Dyle’s train. He will escort you on board. I repeat—“ As Dandy repeated the warning, Astro ran to Dyle, who was starting up the train.
“What are you doing??”
“Dandicus ordered me to start the train. I’m guessing he wants me to get everyone out of the building.”
“Is there any other option—“
The roar of a Twisted below their floor shook both of them still.
They’re coming, and they’re coming fast.
Astro began to block all the doors on the floor. It probably wasn’t enough to keep them down there, but it was just enough to keep the Twisteds at bay while everyone evacuated. Once Dandy finished his announcement, he waited impatiently for the toons to show up. Eventually, the first batch of toons arrived — Tisha, Cosmo, Rodger, Teagan, and the circus troupe.
Rodger noticed Astro blocking the doors and immediately ran up to the moon to investigate. “Astro, what’s going—“
“RODGER, GET IN THE DAMN TRAIN NOW!!”
The magnifying glass flinched back in shock before nodding and running to the train to join the others.
The second batch of toons arrived minutes after — Gigi, Connie, Flutter, Toodles, Brusha… someone was missing.
Finn.
Astro sprinted to Gigi the moment he noticed the fishbowl was gone. “Gigi, where is Finn?!”
“I don’t know! He didn’t show up at the elevator, and when I checked his room, he wasn’t there!”
“…Alright. Go to the train with the others, immediately.”
Gigi nodded. It felt weird to see her actually listen, but he shrugged it off. Gigi was the last of his concerns.
Next came all the event toons. No sign of Finn with them, either. Then the mains. No Finn. Then the last batch of toons: Scraps, Goob, Glisten, Brightney, Poppy, Boxten, Razzle and Dazzle… there should be eight. Who was the eighth again…?
Shrimpo.
Shrimpo and Finn are missing. Astro knew they liked to go on secret adventures around Gardenview at night, but why tonight, of all nights? Where could they have been now?
A sudden rise in yelling caught Astro’s attention. Upon turning around, Dyle was blocking the way into the train, looking stressed. “Everyone, please! If there are any more toons, the train will stop working completely!”
“BULLSHIT!!” “Let us in!” “Selfish!” Those were the words that arose from the crowd.
A sudden bang on the nearest door hushed all of them.
BANG.
The Twisteds.
BANG.
Astro ducked out of the way as the door went flying off the hinges. A sea of Twisteds charged towards the crowd, who all scattered in different directions. Sprout and Pebble sprinted out of the train; Pebble barked loudly, turning the Twisted’s attention towards them.
All twenty of them.
The tiny dog whined worriedly, but did his best to lead them away from the other toons anyway. Sprout ran over to Astro the moment the Twisteds were out of sight. “ASTRO!! Where are Shrimpo and Finn?”
“I don’t know!! They’re somewhere in the building, but—“
Sprout ran to the broken door to search for them, Astro dropping his blanket to hold him back. “No!! You have to stay here and protect the others!”
The strawberry groaned to himself before nodding and running back to the train. Astro noticed the loss of stamina near Pebble, ran to the pet rock as fast as he could, and refilled his stamina. Pebble barked his gratitude as he continued to distract the Twisteds.
The sound of the train's horn sang through the building, announcing its departure. Astro ran as fast as he could, all four arms reaching out. Shelly held out her arms from the window as well, calling for him. “ASTRO, COME ON!!”
With another roar, the train began to roll forward slowly.
No. I’m not going out like this. I can’t.
Astro lunged forward, grasping Shelly’s hands at the last second. She pulled him up and into the train, where the rest of the mains stared at him anxiously.
All of them except for Sprout.
-
“Shrimpo, what’s going on?!”
“I DON’T KNOW, STOP ASKING ME STUPID SHIT!!”
Shrimpo and Finn panted as they ran from three Twisteds. A million questions infested their mind: What were the Twisteds doing up here? Is this why the alarm was going off? Did the train leave without them? Why did they decide to sneak out? Why couldn’t they have just followed the rules?
As they turned a tight corner, a twisted version of Poppy scowled at them. Finn grabbed Shrimpo and ran around her. They had no destination; all they knew was that they needed a place to hide, and fast.
A familiar burning hit Shrimpo’s lungs as he used up his last bit of stamina and stopped in his tracks. Finn stopped and turned around to pick him up, dodging the jaws of a Twisted before it could bite Shrimpo’s uropod.
“FINN — cough — PUT ME DOWN—“
Finn didn’t waste his breath on replying; he was focused on getting them out of there. Eventually, a staircase upwards revealed itself. Finn wasted no time and ran upstairs, only to be met with the train leaving them.
They left us. We’re going to die here.
He and Shrimpo were suddenly pulled apart by Twisted Goob, who sank his teeth into Shrimpo’s shoulder. The small shrimp screeched in pain, whipping around to scratch the Twisted across his eyes. The moment Goob dropped him, he tried to run to Finn, but was tackled to the ground by Twisted Eclipse. She raised a claw to slash through Shrimpo’s face until the sound of an air horn pierced their ears, and something pushed Eclipse out of the way. Shrimpo didn’t check to see what or who it was, scrambling to Finn’s side, but Finn didn’t move. He was staring at whatever pushed Shrimpo out of the way. Shrimpo followed his gaze, his scowl dropping.
Sprout.
The toon who saved Shrimpo was Sprout.
And now the Twisteds were feasting on his lifeless corpse. They tore into his flesh like it was nothing more than lunch meat, his organs spilling out for everyone to see.
But Finn and Shrimpo were the only ones alive.
Everyone who didn’t make it to the train was dead. Brightney, Toodles, Teagan, Rodger, Brusha, Boxten, Poppy, Flutter — Who was alive?
Finn’s arms wrapped around Shrimpo’s torso and held him bridal-style, running away from the gory scene. He went back the way they came from, past the Twisteds, through the staircases, and into a room with a large fishing pond in the middle. Finn pressed his body against the door to keep the Twisteds from barging in while Shrimpo looked up at him with a fear that neither of them had ever seen before.
“Finn, I’m so sorry—“
“I-It’s alright. We’re gonna be fine. Everything’s gonna be okay.” His voice wavered with uncertainty and raw emotion, like he was trying to convince himself more than Shrimpo, who turned away from him.
Shrimpo searched frantically for an escape route. There had to be a way to get out of Gardenview aside from the train. He looked down at the pond, then at the sewer latch at the bottom.
That’s it.
“Finn, you can breathe underwater, right?”
Finn raised a brow. “Yeah? I don’t think it’s a good time for a swim, tough–”
“No, no, we can escape through the sewer! It should lead to a river outside!” That last bit of information was from a conversation he eavesdropped on a long time ago. He didn’t remember who said it, but he didn’t care. There was still hope.
To Shrimpo’s relief, Finn nodded and suddenly ran for the smaller toon, pushing them both into the water before they could even see which Twisted was chasing them. The sudden freezing change in environment caught him off guard, and he almost forgot to breathe through his gills. Once he adjusted himself, he turned around to look for Finn, who was trying to pull the sewer latch off. Shrimpo quickly swam to his side and ripped the metal off the ground with ease. Finn grabbed his hand and pulled them down into the sewers. The water was incredibly fast, so much so that it nearly ripped them apart, but Finn pulled Shrimpo into his chest and held him tightly as he began to swim with the current. The beating in Shrimpo’s chest and sudden rise of heat throughout his body were hard to ignore, but he just dismissed them as adrenaline. He wrapped his arms around Finn to get a better grip and swished his tail to help Finn swim faster.
Ahead of them was a sharp turn that they were going too fast to turn in time.
One hit and Finn would shatter into a million pieces.
Shrimpo put himself between the corner and Finn, and the sudden force of the concrete wall to his head knocked him out. Finn let out a muffled cry of pain at the hit as all the air left in his lungs was lost in the current. He embraced Shrimpo’s limp body tightly before he could be swept away, hands holding his head to Finn’s chest.
I can’t lose him like this, not after everything we’ve been through. Not without telling him how I feel.
Finn wagged his tail to regain control of the water and continued swimming forward, now with a determination that boosted his stamina, somehow. A soft light reached his eyes. It grew more and more as he swam forward.
We’re going to make it.
With one last push, Finn was thrown outside of the tunnel and into the calmer water of the river. Above him, moonlight peeked through the water. It was so endearing that he nearly didn’t notice Shrimpo floating away. He called Shrimpo’s name, voice muffled by the water as bubbles escaped his mouth, and he grabbed the shrimp’s arm tightly. Finn gasped for air as soon as his head escaped the water. He quickly paddled towards the shore, Shrimpo’s unconscious body still in hand, and emerged from the river. Finn collapsed on his side the moment they were safe, gasping rapidly. His lungs burned, his body hurt, and there was a crack across his left eye.
But they were safe. They made it.
Finn crawled to Shrimpo's side, shaking his friend's arm gently. “Shrimpo, wake up. We’re safe now, we made it out! Everything is gonna be okay!”
No answer.
“Shrimpo…?” Finn shook his arm once more, harder this time. “Shrimpo, buddy, wake up!”
Shrimpo didn’t move.
No. No no no no no–
“SHRIMPO!! You’re not dying now, after all that! Wake up! Please, wake up…” Finn’s cries devolved into quiet sobs. He pulled his friend into his chest once more, wrapping his tail around both of them and holding him like a lifeline. “You can’t. You can’t die. You’re stronger than this.”
He’s gone.
But just when Finn had thought he lost him, Shrimpo broke out into a coughing fit. Happiness spreads throughout the fishbowl’s body, the fins on the sides of his head perking up. He laid Shrimpo down, starting to press on his stomach repeatedly to help get the water out of his lungs. The toon handlers taught them CPR a long time ago, but he hoped he would never actually need it. Now, he was more grateful than anything.
Water and ichor spilled out of Shrimpo’s mouth over and over. The sight made Finn sick to his stomach, but he had to push through. Shrimpo’s gasps for air slowly overcame the coughs, then those died down too. He opened his eyes to see Finn leaning over him with eyes of relief and fear.
“Finn…?” He managed to speak, voice raspy and damaged. Finn hushed him before helping Shrimpo sit up properly.
“Don’t speak, it’ll make the damage worse. Oh, thank god you’re okay!” He pulled the smaller toon into a tight embrace, sobbing happily. The sudden gesture caught Shrimpo off guard, but he wrapped his arms around the Finn’s waist and buried his face in the crook of the other’s neck. They subconsciously wrapped their tails around each other before Finn managed to speak through strangled sobs. “I thought I lost you.”
“Well, you didn’t. I’m still here.” Shrimpo patted Finn’s back softly. He didn’t really know how comfort worked, so he just went off what he saw in the show, and to his luck, it worked. He opened his eyes to look around them; They were in a forest covered in pine trees, a stone bridge towered over the river, and Gardenview was nowhere to be seen. How far did they swim?
The sound of the train’s horn rang in the distance, followed by the engine, and they both turned to look at the bridge. A rainbow train just like the one in Gardenview ran across, a stream of smoke rose from the engine, and faded into the sky.
“Looks like the others made it out,” Finn observed. “I wonder if they can see us from there.”
Shrimpo mumbled an agreement, eyes still on the train. Someone looked at them through a window, waving. They were much too far away for Shrimpo or Finn to tell who it was, but it was still oddly comforting.
“Do you think they’ll come back for us?” Finn asked. Shrimpo shook his head.
“They’ll be more focused on taking care of each other. There are already enough people on that train. I just wonder where they’ll go; there’s no place for us toons outside of Gardenview.”
I hope so. Shrimpo kept that last thought to himself. Neither of them had seen how many toons made it to the train, so he just silently hoped more people survived than he thought. Despite his hatred for everyone else, they were still like family to Shrimpo. The sight of the dead toons from earlier… the sight of Sprout…
Shrimpo shook away the images that flashed through his head. That was all in the past now. What mattered was keeping him and Finn alive.
Once the train faded out of sight, Finn turned to look at Shrimpo with worry. “What now?”