Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sound of the train whistle blowing loudly was enough to pull you from the depths of your thoughts and move your gaze away from the passing landscape just outside the train window.

You stare in silence at the empty train car you occupy and blink away the distant glazed look in your eyes. Instead, you replace it with a slightly worried expression as you let out a slow sigh of uncertainty.

Your eyes glance over to the backpack and large suitcase sitting next to you in the empty train booth, being hefty reminders about your choice to go through with your decision.

You find yourself digging into your pocket and pulling out the piece of paper that encouraged you to take this journey in the first place. Big bold letters at the top of the paper stating “You’re hired!” looked back at you as you read the summary of the letter for what felt like the 3rd time during your train ride.

“Thank you so much for your interest in joining the happy family here at Gardenview Educational Center and Museum! We have reviewed your resume and work history thoroughly and have decided that you are the perfect candidate for the position you have applied for!

At your earliest convenience, please arrive at Gardenview Park on the provided date and time to take the last train to the Gardenview Center after closing to get settled in at your on-site location. Please note, we will provide utilities, food, a uniform, work-related gear, and a personal room for you to get settled in. It is up to you to bring your own hygiene supplies, clothing, and other forms of personal attire to your station.

Upon arriving, you will be meeting with the owners to verify any concerns with payment, insurance, or responsibilities and scheduling.

Welcome to the Gardenview Family! - Arthur Walton”

It was your acceptance letter to the job you applied for. 

Apparently, it was for some “defender” position…which seemed to be just a fancy name for a nocturnal on-site nightguard position…or…at least you think so? The description on the job posting just simply stated that you would have nightly patrol duties, needed prior experience involving guarding or security positions, help out coworkers, and that it would be an on-site job and would require you to move onto the location grounds.

Honestly, it was pretty easy for you to fill all of the criteria. You could do a nocturnal schedule, have more than enough experience to be a simple nightguard, and you were looking for a place to escape to for a little while as the dust settled on the family drama that had erupted in your personal life. 

Gardenview Park didn’t seem like a bad place to work, after all.

The rocking of the train car steadies your nerves and you place your hiring letter back into your pocket. Looking back out the window and seeing a few buildings pass by as the train continued on its journey to your final destination.

Some of the buildings were simple in structure and others were merely playgrounds for children and picnic areas for families to hang out in while being outside. Gardenview Park was a pretty large location, as most places needed to be reached primarily by train–the same train you happen to be riding in–with the land on the inside of the brick wall outlining the border of the large property being mostly gardens, activity zones, attraction buildings, and sports areas for families and children.

The sun was currently setting and the sky was painted a brilliant orange. Sun rays peek through the tinted clouds to provide a golden sheen to the nature and structures you passed by. Giving them an aura of golden light and darkened silhouettes as the sun sank further and further down to the distant horizon.

However, when the train passed by some shadowy areas, you could see your reflection looking back at you.

Revealing your half-scarred face to yourself in your reflection. 

You blink in response, taking in your appearance before the sunlight comes back and purges the image from the window. Seeing such an image would be harrowing, if not shameful, for others to witness…but you have learned to grow used to such a face.

You always tend to forget that half of your face is scarred from your time serving in the military from an assault on your battalion that happened years ago when you were on tour during the war. Your wounds and scars always seem to be a bitter reminder of your past and what you have gone through in your younger years.

Learning to live with such a burden took time and endurance, as you weren’t always treated the same as others because of it. 

It was even harder for you to make friends because it made you seem more unapproachable or intimidating to others. In fact, you were considered lucky enough to still have your eye to see out of and the remains of your mangled ear to hear with. At least you can still show your emotions and move your face without any issues or paralysis. 

You have grown used to it, and those that were willing to push past your appearance were some of the kindest people you have ever met. Still you prefer to avoid interactions with the public if you could help it. Which is why you tend to gravitate towards more nocturnal positions.

It’s not all bad…it’s all the small things, really.

However, that didn’t stop you from having some rather rough interactions with people because of your appearance. It’s amazing to think that you would become such a hardy individual after enduring so much pain in your young life.

Such memories dampen your mood as they slowly come back to you like bothersome ghosts.

Your old war friends…your injuries…your decline mentally…financial hardship…homelessness…and your slow and painful rebound to getting back to a “normal” life through therapy and a determined supportive friend. 

Despite your scarred face and body, your lingering woes from the past, and your past hardships…you’re still alive. That’s what counts.

You shake off the thoughts of the past and your previous military service, silently hoping that your appearance won’t startle your new boss too badly. Maybe it was a good thing that you work nights and after closing…wouldn’t want any paying patrons to see a face like yours.

Then, the train lets out another loud whistle. Catching your attention as the view outside suddenly disappears and the lights in the train car are the only things left to illuminate the surroundings.You figured that you must be getting close to your final stop.

Just as the thought enters your mind, the automated cheery voice of the train intercom springs to life.

“Last Stop: Gardenview Educational Center and Museum! We hope you had a wonderful ride and got to see the sights that Gardenview has to offer! We hope to see you again! Have a nice day!”

You let out a grunt and stand up, stretching out your limbs, and grabbing your backpack from the empty spot in the booth next to you. You sling the backpack over one of your shoulders, grab the handle of your large suitcase, and grip the holding bars that line the train car to keep yourself stable as the train slowly comes to a stop.

You slowly move up to the front, letting out a tired exhale as you wait for the train doors to open.

Guess it’s time to meet your new boss and see your new workplace.

–

The moment you step off the train and onto the platform, you are greeted by multiple entrances lined with old-style turnstiles, similar to ones you would find at a carnival or city subway station.

The train lets out one last whistle as you turn your gaze to the train behind you. The doors slam shut and it begins to push forward into the dark tunnels, leaving you there on the train platform by yourself as it vanishes from sight. Guess there’s no going back now.

You then pass through the turnstiles and into a foyer area with some stairs, wooden floors, an entrance to an elevator off to the left, and an entryway lined with numerous shops with awnings selling various pieces of Gardenview merchandise.

There were even a couple of rooms and entryways off in the distance that go to different parts of the building. The multitude of entryways had signs over them with labels like “Information Desk”, “Employee Break Area”--and the one you had the most interest in– the “Security Station”.

It internally made you wonder if that’s where you’ll be staying, but the door was closed and the lights were off, so you don’t think the owner was in there waiting for you as of right now. Maybe they will be somewhere where you can see them clearly…maybe the further you walk into the building you may find them sitting down somewhere?

So…you pushed on past the shops and window stores to go deeper into the building.

The further you walked into Gardenview, the more visible a large tree became that served as the centerpiece of the foyer. It even had a grassy area with flowers all littered about at the base and glass windows in the ceiling to allow the golden light of the setting sun to filter through the roof. 

It was quite beautiful to see.

But that wasn’t the only thing you’ve taken notice of, as there was an older man with dark skin and a rainbow-dye shirt standing not too far from the welcome sign that was placed in the middle of the foyer. He seemed to be waiting for someone as he was checking his watch…maybe that was Arthur Walton?

You reached into your pocket and fished out the hiring letter before approaching the man waiting in the center. Your approach didn’t go unnoticed as he slowly turned around to face you. He didn’t seem to react to your scarred face like you were expecting, as his body or expression showed no sign of recoil or cringing…a nice start, you suppose.

“Are you Arthur Walton?” You question in curiosity and hold up the hiring paper. “I am here for the on-site ‘defender’ position.” You finish.

The older man takes a moment to process the question, grabbing the hiring letter from your outstretched hand, and reading it silently before he suddenly smiles at you.

“So! You’re the new employee I was expecting tonight!” He exclaims in a warm corporate tone. “I have been waiting eagerly to meet you. I am Arthur Walton, owner of Gardenview Park!” He exclaims and reaches out for a handshake, in which you return with your free hand.

“Pleasure to meet you! May I have your name as well?” Arthur questions. In which, you introduce yourself to him and he nods along. “I see. Your name matches the applicant that I approved for hiring.” He then smiles, pockets the hiring letter, and gives you a ‘follow me’ gesture. “Follow me to my office! We will finish your onboarding so you can start your job tonight.” He finishes, beginning to walk away.

You follow close behind and the owner leads you through the halls of the open area that makes up the foyer. Numerous benches, bushes, shops, and entry ways for activities line the foyer as you follow Arthur.

At first, the walk to the office was silent –until Arthur decided to stir up some small talk.

“So! May I ask why you decided to join Gardenview?” He questions, looking over his shoulder as he walks. You seem caught off guard for a second before thinking about it.

“Well, I guess it was a decent opportunity that I felt I could perform excellently at. Given my history.” You answer, to which he makes a noise of affirmation. “Ah. Your veteran status?” He replies as you nod.

“I can see that. With your…face and all.” Arthur comments, trying to make sure his tone was soft enough to hopefully not offend you. You just brush off the comment. 

“You don’t have to be worried about offending me because of my face, Mr. Arthur. I’ve been called worse things because of it.” You let out a huff as Arthur lets out a hum of disappointment.

“It’s a shame how people treat others based on their appearances.” He responds sadly, to which you let out a light chuckle in response. “On the bright side, I get to tell them I’m a veteran just to see them backpedal to save their own skin.” You laugh, to which Arthur laughs along with you in response.

Then Arthur takes a turn and both of you walk into a little alcove to a door with a sign on it that says “Staff Only” with a strange little cartoon character on the sign.

“Here we are.” Arthur says as he opens the door, revealing numerous offices behind the door.

“This is the office area, where most of my workers tend to Gardenview behind the scenes. Follow me, my office is right over here…oh! I almost forgot! Delilah is also here to meet you. She is my closest coworker and the co-owner of Gardenview.” Arthur explains as you hum in affirmation and both of you walk past the numerous cubicles and towards a large office.

He opened the door and welcomed you inside.

The office itself was pretty much as standard as it can get. A big wooden desk with an engraved plaque, chairs, carpet floors, certain precious items on a shelf, some generic paintings, and a potted plant or two in the corners. But it also revealed that there was another person waiting inside. 

This time, it was a woman with pale skin, brown long hair, a white turtleneck coat, and rainbow-dye pants. While Arthur seemed warm and friendly to a degree, Delilah seemed more reserved and aloof. 

However, something about this newcomer–Delilah–just made something deep in the back of your mind stir with wariness as you stared at her.

“There you are, Delilah! This is our new employee who will be working at Gardenview Park during the night.” Arthur smiles at her, to which she finally seems to get out of her thoughts and pay attention to what was going on around her.

“Oh. Hello.” She greets with less enthusiasm than Arthur. “I’m Delilah Keen, Co-Owner of Gardenview Park.” She introduces herself and gives you a smile that was…unsettling.

You couldn’t understand why, as you just met her, but something about Delilah was making your intuition surge in warning. Something you have learned to pay attention to as it has saved your life numerous times in certain situations. However, there was nothing overtly threatening about the co-owner. She looked just as normal as Arthur…just…with an oppressive aura. 

She didn’t even react to your scarred face either, like Arthur.

You crush down the feeling of distant dread and instead smile and introduce yourself to Delilah.

She doesn’t say anything else except gives you a wider, and equally as menacing, grin in return. The atmosphere almost felt thick as you stared at Delilah–and her at you. Your hollow smile and her wolfish one stay stagnant between you both for a tense period of time.

That is, until Arthur clears his throat to cut the tension between you both, making you break eye contact to focus on him.

Arthur then gestures to the empty chairs in front of his desk with a wave of his hand.

“Come! Have a seat and we’ll discuss your pay, insurance, and anything else you feel the need to ask!” Arthur speaks up as you shake off the previous suffocating staredown with Delilah and just decide to focus on what you need to get done with Arthur.

You both then sit down and begin to get to work sorting out your onboarding.

Most of the evening was spent working with Arthur on providing your information for relevant work-related specifics. You had to provide your banking information, get set up for insurance, learn how to file your taxes through their system, process your veteran status, what the entirety of your duties here at Gardenview Park would entail, as well as how things were done here.

By the time you both were finished signing paperwork, getting your account set up, and working out any other needed information for your position–night had fallen and you were close to experiencing your first shift.

Arthur stretches and pops his neck with a grunt.

“Well, that settles it! You’re officially onboarded and we will be processing your information throughout this week. Welcome to Gardenview officially!” Arthur smiles and you both exchange a handshake as you smile in return. “Nice to be welcomed here.” You say with a grin.

Arthur then nods before furthering the conversation.

“Well, before you start your official first night, I would like you to meet the cast you will be working with! Are you familiar with the toons of Gardenview?” Arthur asked, which causes you to look at him confused.

Toons? Like the ones that Gardenview owns?

On the surface, toons themselves were advertised in a lot of posters, signs, and even in the merchandise that is prominent around the premises. You even recall seeing Gardenview advertisements on the TV a couple of times throughout the year. Even Gardenview had a cartoon centered around one character called “Dandy” that was a big hit with children…after all, the show was for kids.

As a consequence of that, you unsurprisingly have little knowledge about the toons.

But can you blame someone in their 30’s for not knowing much about a show for kids?

“You mean like the cartoon characters? I can’t say I know too much about them. I know they are from a children's cartoon show. If I recall correctly…I think it was called “Dandy’s World”...but I don’t know much about them other than that.” You admitted.

Arthur seems to understand and smiles warmly. “Well, here at Gardenview, the toons themselves live here on the premises. So you will be able to meet them in person!” He explains, despite your lingering confusion. “I will arrange a quick meeting with them before your shift tonight. Feel free to go to the security station and get dressed for your shift, as your uniform should be there waiting for you. I will pick you up shortly to guide you to the meeting room.” Arthur says as he holds out your new badge and the keys for your new living space.

You simply nod, take the items he was offering you, and stand up with the intention to leave and head there immediately.

You grab your things and slowly leave the office, trying to stoically avoid the gaze of Delilah as you leave. You had no idea why she was even still there…she never said a word throughout your meeting with Arthur. Not that it matters much, you’re just relieved to get away from her.

You head back the way you came and depart from the office area. You remember passing by an area in the foyer area that read “Security Station” and you decide that it was probably the best place to look for your homestead.

You pass by the vaguely familiar areas and shops in the foyer entrance, only taking a moment to pause when you are passing by a pretty peculiar thing that you failed to catch on your first pass through the central area.

A large metal wall with caution tape around the base.

You silently wonder why there would be a large metal ‘wall’ near the center of the foyer. Maybe it was an area under construction? Maybe it was just an oddly out of place wall? It did look like it could move…and strangely enough, you were getting a similar feeling tickling your intuition from this wall of metal like you did from Delilah.

Something was off about it…but you can’t place what.

Regardless, you continue on to the Security Station. You just needed to take this one step at a time, you just got here after all. Some mysteries can wait.

You continue your walk to your new destination.

–

You opened the door that led to the security station and you were surprised to find that it was something more than just a security room filled with monitors, a couple of lockers, and a bunkbed like you were expecting.

In fact, it was quite a large living area–about similar in size to a moderate apartment.

The door opened up into the den area, which had a decently sized sofa, cozy rug, coffee table, and a TV cabinet for entertainment. On the left side of the den area, it blended off into a kitchen with typical kitchen appliances–like a stove, a fridge, and a sink with a place to wash and dry your dishes. 

To the front of the security station, there were the windows that allowed you to see out into the foyer, as well as a few bulky computers sitting on some desks in a nook next to the door. It was most likely the security monitoring section for the cameras set up around Gardenview, but they seemed to either be shut off or discontinued, as the computers had no power.

To the right of the den area seemed to be a pair of three doors and upon opening them, you discover one to be the bathroom and two to be the bedrooms.

Internally, it made you curious as to why there were two bedrooms, let alone both of them being right next to each other. However, you just figured that this job probably would have multiple people to do certain tasks. Like one would patrol and one would watch the monitors in the office. But judging by the amount of dust on the furnishings in the second bedroom and the lack of power going to the computers, the secondary position may have been discontinued. How strange.

Regardless, you decided to offload your backpack first before anything else.

The bathroom was your first stop. You flick on the light, let go of your large suitcase, and swung your backpack around to begin depositing all of your hygiene items into the bathroom. 

The bathroom itself was spacious and came with a tub-shower head combo and multicolored-themed shower curtain, two countertops, a toilet, a large mirror, and some cabinets to store your products in.

You drop off all the items you had in your backpack. Which consisted of your toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, soap, razor, and anything else you brought with you to help you settle in.

Once that was done, you dragged your large suitcase into the bedroom and let out a sigh. It was too late to get all of your clothes out and organized, so you would probably do it before your next shift tomorrow.

A brief look around the moderately-sized bedroom gave you a typical idea of what went where.

There was the queen-sized bed sitting pressed up against the far wall, a night stand, a wooden closet off to the side, a wooden dresser with another smaller TV sitting on it at the foot of your bed, some generic decorations, an analog clock hanging on the wall, and a ceiling fan to help circulate any stagnant air.

It wasn’t grand or anything, but it was definitely more roomier and furnished than what you were originally expecting when you were arriving here. You could even say that it was cozy.

However, something else caught your eye.

Sitting there on your bed was a black uniform with a hat placed neatly on top of the pile, as well as a lineup of gear and a belt laying on the bed. This must be the uniform that Arthur mentioned before you left his office. Curiously, you pick up the uniform to inspect it.

The black shirt was shown to have your name sewn into the identification area on the front, long sleeves with cuffs, a high-rise collar, multicolored buttons, and the sleeves had thin rainbows running down the sides on the outside.

Turning it over revealed the back of the uniform had a large circle with multicolored petals around it and a white shield in the center. The outside of said circle had the engraved words of “TOON DEFENDER” in white bold lettering.

The pants weren’t overly different, but they were black, long, and had thin rainbows running down the outside of the legs. Probably in an attempt to mirror the sleeves on the uniform.

The hat was similar in style to what you would find on a local law enforcement officer. It appeared to be solid black with a shiny rim, rainbow trim, and the defender shield placed in the front as the emblem.

It didn’t even look that bad for a ‘defender’ uniform.

You wasted no time in getting ready, as the clock that hung in the bedroom let you know that it was getting close for you to go to your meeting and that Arthur would be swinging by any moment.

It was probably only going to be an hour, as your job starts at 10PM and it was 7:30 PM currently. You had to make sure you were on time to not upset either of your bosses.

So you slipped out of your clothes, freshened up, and slipped on the uniform as quickly as you could.

You check yourself out in the mirror that was hanging on your wall, standing proudly in your uniform. You can safely say that it fits you like a glove! Dressed in the black uniform, hat placed firmly upon your head, your gear strapped to your belt, and your shoes shined to a pristine glow…you looked good.

It still didn’t do anything about your scarred face, though…but it just made you look more intimidating, so you couldn’t complain. You were used to it and your coworkers will just have to get used to it as well.

You just hoped that the toons wouldn’t mind…or wouldn’t cry at seeing you. That would be a disaster of a first impression meeting.

Then, you suddenly hear a knock at the door to the security station.

“Hello? Are you ready? The toons are looking forward to meeting you now!” The familiar voice of Arthur rings out from the other side and you hurry over to open the door.

Arthur takes a look at you in your uniform and beams brightly. “Well! Would you look at that! I was hoping that the size would fit you, but I didn’t think it would fit you so well!” He smiles.

You return the smile as you leave the security station, closing the door behind you, and locking it with the keys you were provided with.

“Yeah…I didn’t expect it to fit like this either…doesn’t look too bad on me.” You mused, chuckling as Arthur nodded. “I think you’ll make a great first impression! Follow me! The toons are looking forward to meeting you in the projection room!” He states, walking away as you follow him closely.

“I sure hope I will leave a good impression…” You find yourself muttering to reassure yourself as you couldn’t help but wonder…

What will the Toons think of their new ‘defender’?

Chapter Text

Arthur leads you down through the hallways of Gardenview until you both get to a large pair of double doors and he swings them open. Stretching his arms out in a ‘ta-dah’ fashion while walking into the room.

“Here we are!” he announces as you follow him inside and take a good look around the new room.

The room itself appeared to be a large movie hangout area of some sort. 

The room was populated with beanbags, carpets, tables and chairs of various sizes, and multiple episodic posters featuring the toons in various situations and escapades from the cartoon. The room was split into two halves, with one side being flat and level and the other side being elevated by the use of a few stairs.

The elevated side of the room leads up to a large projector displaying a title card with “Toon Meeting at 8PM” written on it in black bold letters on the projector screen just behind it. There was also a privacy visor on one side of the stairs for some odd reason.

You also took notice of the amount of chairs that happened to be organized in the center of the room. There were about 26 in total. Which was…quite a lot. 

Similarly, there were three chairs sitting on the elevated side of the room, which you silently deduced was for the two owners and for yourself. This was a meeting about the Toons getting to know the new coworker after all.

Suddenly, Arthur speaks up–bringing you out of your thoughts.

"I will let you know beforehand that there is one Toon who will not be able to make it to the meeting to properly meet you, as he is busying keeping the trains of Gardenview operating. But I am sure you will meet him at some point during your stay!" Arthur beams at you as you listen to his explanation.

Huh...that would mean that there are 27 Toons in total...that is...quite a crowd.

Then again, this is Gardenview ...it would make sense that they would have quite a large cast. Yet, as you look back at Arthur, he seemed to be contemplating speaking again. In which, he goes ahead and asks you whatever was on his mind after a brief moment of silence.

“May I make a request?” He suddenly asks, causes you to blink and slowly nod in response before he continues.

“If it’s not too much trouble, can you stand over there behind the privacy screen at the foot of the stairs until we can get the meeting started? We like to surprise our Toons when they meet new people...it makes it a bit fun for them! We’ll call you up when we’re ready to introduce you.” Arthur explains, still smiling at you.

You shrug in response and nod in agreement. “Sure, no problem.”

Arthur is delighted by your response and smiles wider. “Thank you! I’ll head outside to see if Delilah has all the Toons gathered up and ready to enter the room to start the meeting. I’ll be right back!” He finishes as he turns away and strides across the room to the other pair of doors on the opposite side of the room.

You watched as Arthur peeks out the doors before slipping out entirely, disappearing from view.

Then, you walked over to the privacy screen and stood behind it.

For a moment, you were alone with your thoughts and by yourself. 

The room was primarily empty and with only the sound of the projector clicking and looping through the single slide that was displaying on the projector screen being the only audio you could make out.

For a second, you felt like you could breathe out a sigh of relief after all that has happened to you.

You honestly didn’t expect to land the job with Gardenview and be invited out shortly after two interviews over the phone with Arthur. From your memory, you could remember that he almost seemed excited that you were still interested in the position and was more than ready to see you in person.

Respectfully, he almost sounded desperate . 

You couldn’t blame the guy. From what he told you over the phone, they were struggling to keep the position filled as other potential candidates or previous employees seemed to quit after just a week or two at the establishment. Many of them quit by leaving a note or would even leave without saying anything.

So...how did YOU stumble across this position?

You were pretty much just putting out applications after family drama had erupted in your personal life, and you were looking to get away from it for a little while to calm your anxieties about the situation. Which is how you discovered the ‘defender’ position at Gardenview.

The situation apparently involved your great grandfather’s family inheritance and how the ownership to his estate had apparently fallen into your hands after the death of his only son, your grandfather who died in a car crash a few weeks before he passed from old age, and there was a lot of in-fighting for the ownership of his grand estate while your great grandfather was on his deathbed. However, things only got messier when the other potential inheritors were discovered to not even be family by exposed adultery and DNA testing, which only worsened the situation and caused your family to begin crumbling apart.

This resulted in the family imploding, multiple fights to occur, and messy divorces to erupt in the aftermath. You weren’t spared from the fallout either.

You remember getting the letter in the mail stating about your inheritance of the estate and the shouting matches that happened after the rest of the family discovered that your great grandfather changed his will at the last moment before he passed. You didn’t even know why he picked you out of everyone else to inherit the estate, but apparently in his will, he wrote that you were the only heir “worth a damn” and left it at that.

The family broke apart after you were legally signed over as the sole beneficiary and your mother, aunts, uncles, and even your cousins became estranged from you afterwards. It didn’t bother you much to have them all out of your life, and your father was already dead, so you didn’t have to worry about any of them anymore.

Why would you feel bad for the people that sent you off to the military the moment you turned 18 and sent you into the hell-on-earth that was the war?

On top of all that, the moment you came back from said war and struggled with keeping yourself as sane as you could, and when you even tried to prevent yourself from becoming homeless, they didn’t help you at all. Even when you DID eventually became homeless from your struggles, they didn’t even bat an eye at your situation nor did they offer to help assist you. Not even comforting words.

They allowed their own child to struggle and suffer all on their own. So much for being family .

At least you got the last laugh by being the only person that your great grandfather cared about.

The only downside was that the estate was large…but it was far too much for a single person to look after by themselves, and like hell you were inviting any of your family members to live with you. So, you began to consider just selling the place.

Oh, but that placed a whole new thorn in your side.

Estate Realtors.

Annoying badgering salesmen of all backgrounds and companies constantly trying to get you to undersell to their bank or their company, just to resell it at an inflated price. The phone calls never seem to stop and they always try to wear you down enough to sell at their low prices.

The irritation you feel boiling in your blood by the amount of phone calls you get from them would be enough for you to crush a landline phone in your hand alone.

So…you took the job at Gardenview, left the estate to a trusted caretaker and friend, and took the trip to visit Gardenview…and here you are.

A new employee at Gardenview with no family, friends, and trying to hide away from their personal problems for a little while and make some money on the side. What a life you live.

Then, the sudden sound of the doors at the opposite end of the room being flung open startles you from your brooding thoughts and two unknown voices ring out.

“Arf! Arf!”

“Woah! Slow down, Pebbles! I can’t keep up with you! Hehe!”

You subtly peek from around the privacy divider to watch as Arthur leads some strange short creatures of various designs into the room…and they looked just like the ones from the show. They must be the toons that Arthur mentioned. However, you didn’t think he was being serious when he said you would meet them in person .

Real living and breathing cartoon characters…how…peculiar.

“Everyone, please take your seats and the meeting will begin.” Arthur announces.

Your eyes scan over the toons as they come in and begin taking their assigned seats. They all seemed to come in various designs and body types, as not one toon was the same as the other.

They all continued to enter the room by following each other in a single line.

The first toon that catches your eye seems to be a…dog…or something that behaves like a dog?

It was small, gray, fast, and had big bulging eyes. The “dog” was currently being pursued by a very familiar character, one that you’ve seen advertised everywhere and was the primary star of the show. 

What was his name…wasn’t it Dandy? Yeah. Dandy .

“Settle down, Pebs!” Dandy could be heard saying as the dog ran around barking in excitement through the legs of the numerous chairs in the center of the room as Dandy took his spot in one of the chairs at the front.

He was closely followed by 4 more characters. A strange television-looking robotic toon with a green coloration and a microphone tail, a beige shell-headed toon with a brown dress, a tall strawberry-headed toon with a scarf and apron on, and a timid moon-themed toon that was wrapped up in a blue blanket and wearing a sleeping cap.

Each one took their spots at the front where there were six chairs sitting farther up than the rest.

The other toons sorted themselves amongst the numerous rows of chairs as you took them in visually. Some toons looked fluffy, one was a butterfly, some looked like they were made of glass or paper, one was a literal shrimp, another was a fancy mirror, and one you could see was some form of music box? You could even see a lamp, a teacup, an 8-ball, a paintbrush, some kind of balloon animal, a monochrome mime, and a pinata mingling amongst the crowd.

Yet, despite their varieties in appearances, most of the Toons only came up to below your waist in height. With a few exceptions being those who seemed to be smaller, like the dog thing in the front row, or slightly taller, like the strawberry-headed toon that was also sitting in the front row. 

How strange for them to be so small…you honestly expected them to be around human-height, but I guess that would be a little too scary for children, huh?

Pretty soon, the room was filled with chatter from all toons curiously chatting with one another. If you focused, you could hear snippets of their conversations.

“I hope they aren’t mean…”

“I wonder what they look like!”

“Why is Arthur making a big deal about this? It’s just another employee.”

“I hope they aren’t FISHy!”

“NO MORE PUNS IN MY PRESENCE, FINN!”

“Calm down, Glisten. Toodles, sit right here and don’t kick your feet please.”

“Okay, Rodger!”

“I HATE MEETINGS!”

“Gotcha, Pebs! Sit!”

“Bork, arf!”

Yeesh! There were a lot of opinions about this meeting from the crowd. Then again, there were 26 of them, so some toons may not be as friendly as others. It’s a mixed crowd…and you were already starting to feel nervous as you slink back behind the privacy visor and take a slow deep breath.

You were never good with crowds or larger groups of people after coming back from the war…let alone getting on stages or being the center of attention. You honestly preferred if you just worked from behind the scenes and out of sight.

However, your nervousness about the meeting is only amplified when Arthur and Delilah step onto the stage, with Delilah throwing a brief subtle glance in your direction and giving you another one of those eerie smiles of hers much to your chagrin, so you avoided eye contact with her yet again by just giving her a quick nod and looking towards Arthur instead.

Then, Arthur calls the Toons to attention.

“Hello! Thank you all for coming to this meeting! I would like to start off saying that I have heard your complaints, your concerns, and your hopes about getting a new defender. I have taken exceptional care this time into selecting a perfect candidate that has a background to suit your needs.” Arthur announces. “This candidate has a background in defense, so I have a feeling they will be unlike any other defender we have hired! Wouldn’t you say so, Delilah?”

Delilah seems to take a moment to stare at the crowd from her spot on the stage before nodding in agreement. “I would say so, Arthur. They have quite a colorful history and background that would be perfect for this job.” She says, flicking her gaze to you for a second before refocusing on the crowd of toons.

A subtle rumble of murmurs come up in the crowd of toons as they process the information.

“And how exactly will this defender be any different from the previous ones?” The green TV toon in the front speaks up in a disinterested tone. “We were told the same thing about how the previous defenders were good and one flaked out within three days!”

There was a quiet murmur of agreement from the crowd.

“Settle down!” Arthur says firmly before continuing when silence reigns again. “Yes, I understand how your late shifts have been tough and how some toons have been getting hurt without any help from reliable defenders at night. We are doing our best to mitigate those hazards and issues.”

A brief moment of silence falls over the crowd.

“So…are you sure this defender is someone reliable this time?” The TV Toon continues with her badgering, to which Arthur can only sigh lightly and nod in response.

“I can assure you, Vee. This time is different, I promise! Our new recruit is something special, I can feel it! In fact, you can ask them that when they come up here on stage!” Arthur smiles as he clears his throat and the toons seem to become suddenly interested after he makes that comment. That could mean only one thing…

Oh boy… here it comes .

You steel your nerves, neutralize your expression, and prepare for the crowd’s judgement.

“I would like you all to give a nice warm welcome to our new defender! Defender, you may come up on stage now!” Arthur finally announces as you turn, leave the shelter the privacy screen offered, and begin to walk up to the elevated part of the room.

You keep your gaze forward in the direction where you were walking before reaching your assigned seat and turning to face toward the crowd.

At first, the crowd seemed neutral until you turned. The moment the scarred half of your face was revealed, most of the crowd's eyes grew wide, a few faces cringed, and the rest of their faces became shocked. You stand there in silence and give the crowd of toons a slight bow.

“Hello.” You say stoically to break the silence and you introduce yourself. “I’m the new defender Arthur has hired. Pleasure to meet you all here tonight.” You say with a stiff tone as you sit down on the chair in the middle of the three on the elevated half of the room.

The silence was deafening.

You could hear your own anxious heartbeat ringing in your ears as you look forward with a neutral expression and soft eyes, completely masking your nervousness.

Then, the quiet murmurs began to filter out through the crowd. You could hear little snippets of conversation as the toons all looked amongst each other and let out mutterings between themselves, some which your ears could pick up on.

“They look so scary…”

“Oh my…poor dear.”

“Yeesh, did they get in an accident?”

“I guess Arthur wasn’t kidding around when he said he found someone who could do the job…”

“What do you think they did for a living to look like that??”

“They need a lot of makeup to cover that up…”

“Glisten!”

“What?! It’s true!”

“. . .?!”

“I dunno Flutters…maybe an accident?”

You simply sit there and pretend you can’t hear their chattering. You are no stranger to hurtful comments, so you only sit there with your neutral expression and wait for something else to happen.

Arthur then clears his throat, quieting the crowd temporarily.

“Well then! I’m glad the reception is…lukewarm, at least!” You mentally roll your eyes at his optimism. This atmosphere was as frigid as a butcher’s meat locker. “You are all free to ask them questions, you know! Just as long as we are all civil and you ask them appropriate questions!” Arthur encourages as he takes his seat to your right and Delilah follows his lead by sitting down in the chair to your left.

A moment of uncertainty passes before the green TV toon–-Vee, was it?--speaks up again.

“So…uh…can I ask what experience you have in being a defender that makes you different?” She asks nervously, twiddling her microphone wire in her hand.

“I’m a combat specialist. Ex-Military.” You explain simply.

That seemed to increase the amount of chattering throughout the crowd.

Then a toon with a magnifying glass for a head and a single eye in the middle of it raises his hand to get your attention. You look in their direction to encourage them to speak.

“How intriguing! How experienced are you as a combat specialist?” The toon questions, their single inquisitive eye looking at you in interest as you ponder the question for a moment.

“I started my service when I turned 18 and have been in the service for many years. Though, I have long since been medically discharged…I suppose you can take an educated guess as to why.” You explain, gesturing to your scarred face.

The crowd of toons seem to gain an understanding as they realize where you may have gotten such an injury now.

Then a small youthful voice echoes out from the crowd.

“So what happened to your face??” The smaller toon with an 8-ball for a head next to the magnifying glass toon speaks up, startling all the toons around her, including the magnifying glass one.

“ Toodles! ” A chorus of voices ring out in response to the small toon's question.

The young toon suddenly covers her mouth and mutters out an “oops” as the toon next to her places one of his hands on his hip and wags a finger at her.

“Toodles, that was very rude!” He sternly says to the smaller toon, making her sulk a little and say an apology quietly.

You interrupt his scolding by shaking your head and waving off the question. 

“It’s fine…uh…” You look at the toon who was scolding the younger one, in which he realizes that you wanted his name. “Rodger.” He replies with a slight bow.

“It’s fine, Rodger. I didn’t mind the question.” You clarify.

“Honestly, being asked in general about what happened to my face is probably the nicest thing someone has ever said about it. I’ve gotten quite a large amount of negative nicknames over the years from others because of it. It’s fine, though. I have thick skin and I don't really go out in public as much as I used to anyways.” You chuckle lightly, but it seems your lighthearted explanation about your past experiences seemed to go over like a lead balloon.

Most of the toons were now just giving you sympathetic looks in response.

“I’m used to it. Really!” You quickly say. “It’s just a part of my life now and I just have to deal with it.” You finish.

“Does it hurt, though??” A red gachapon-like toon speaks up as she raises her sleeve-covered hand into the air. You shake your head in response to the question.

“No. It doesn’t.” You reply, your fingers tracing over the scar tissue. “It hasn’t hurt for years ever since it was first inflicted. Most of it is just scar tissue at this point. I’m lucky that I didn’t lose my eye, ear, or facial movement from the incident.” You explain in detail, touching the parts on your face when you speak about them.

“The incident just torched the upper layer of my skin really badly…it even goes down my neck somewhat.” You explain and pull down your shirt collar. Revealing that the scars did indeed go down a fair length of your neck too. “See?”

You could hear the red gachapon let out a quiet “cooooool” after you let go of your black collar.

“Why not try to cover it up, though??” Came a response from the mirror-looking toon, who just seemed baffled by the fact that you aren’t making any attempts to hide your old wounds. “I’m sure some makeup will help with covering it!” The toon suggests.

You shake your head in slow defiance to their idea.

“No. I don’t want to hide this part of myself.” You sternly state. Much to the mirror toon’s growing confusion. You just let out a heavy sigh in response.

“Look…it’s something I have to live with and if others don’t want to be around me because of it, then I probably don’t want those types of people in my life.” You reply with a glance to the side before you focus your gaze back at the mirror toon.

“I personally feel that if you're going to be around me–you’re gonna have to get used to it like I had to.” Brief memories of people you’ve met in your life telling you to get plastic surgery, buy a mask, or just cover it with makeup so you would be ‘acceptable’ to them come to the front of your mind. The memories alone made you want to spit at those people in defiance.

“I refuse to pretend to be someone I’m not and hide what is a part of me. If you are going to be around me, then you will accept all of me, even my glaring imperfections.” You state firmly, seeing that a few of the toons seem to nod in agreement to your commentary.

Despite the mirror still seemingly being baffled by your personal choice to refuse “fixing” your face, he doesn’t say anything else in response to your remarks.

After that, it seemed your response had encouraged the other toons to speak up. Each one asking questions of their own, with some toons staying quiet and not saying much at all.

“Do you like hugs??”

“Do you like to cook or bake?”

“Do you like to read by any chance?”

“Do you like any reading genres? (Razzle don’t ask them that…)”

“Do you like FINNtastic puns?!”

“UGH!”

“Mwhehehe!”

“...?”

“I hope you have time for an interview sometime after this!”

“I also hope you keep your security office nice and tidy during your stay!”

The amount of conversation and questions that filled the room was a blissful relief to the suffocating cold atmosphere that had dominated the meeting earlier. It seemed that when you were being open about yourself and told them a little bit about your experiences, they seemed to become determined to make you feel welcome here at Gardenview…which was rather kind of them.

You spent most of your time during the meeting answering their curious questions to the best of your abilities and tried to be as lighthearted as you could. Most of the questions you were asked were mundane in nature–like what were your favorite foods, movies, music, and other various questions of similar nature.

Some toons even began to try to talk over each other to ask you more questions, which just made you chuckle in response.

You cast a glance over towards the owners sitting at your side and you could even see Arthur lighten up after the conversation became lively and warmer than before, as he gave you an equally warm grin when you looked over at him. Delilah…was much more neutral, but did seem to have mellowed out her grin from before. A good sign, you suppose.

Maybe you did leave a good impression after all…still, you had a job to get up and go do.

The alarm on your watch began to chirp as you glanced down at it and realized that the hour had already passed and your shift was due to start any moment. You looked back to Arthur and subtly pointed at your watch, making him realize that the meeting was close to over.

He suddenly stands up and waves his hands to get the attention of the toons.

“Well now! I’m so happy to see you all interacting with the new defender in a positive manner! Thank you for making the new employee feel welcome here at Gardenview and for attending this meeting! Unfortunately, the time for questions has come to an end, as they have to begin their shift now.” Arthur explains and you stand up from your chair.

The toons let out a sad chorus of ‘awws’ and you couldn’t help but chortle lowly in response.

“Hey. It’s not like I’m going anywhere. You’ll probably find me patrolling somewhere in the building during the night, and you can always swing by the Security Station to visit me in person after hours.” You say to end the meeting on a high note. “But, duty calls. I gotta get started on my shift. I will be seeing you toons later on.” You finish.

Then you give them another final bow and you start to turn and walk towards the double doors that Arthur led you through earlier.

“I look forward to working with you all! See you later!” You say over your shoulder to the toons before walking out the double doors and leaving the meeting altogether.

You could hear Arthur talking to the toons about any further questions as you leave the projection room behind before you walk towards the Security Station and to the time clock that was just outside the entrance.

The moment the clock rolled over to 10PM , you scan your badge and the machine lets out a beep. Meaning that you were clocked in and you were now at work.

It is officially your first night shift at work in the Gardenview Center.

You let out a sigh, take off your flashlight, turn it on, and begin to walk your patrol route.

Throughout the first few minutes of your shift, which consisted of checking bathrooms, stairwells, and any other place for any intruders with your flashlight–you begin to think about the meeting with the toons.

On one hand, you think you did an okay job on your introduction. On the other hand, you feel as though you said too much about your personal life. Hopefully the toons wouldn’t be shy because of your history in the military.

Still, some toons seemed to be shy or disinterested and didn’t say much. The main cast in the front row barely asked any questions…and the main character, Dandy, seemed to have stared into your soul the entire time.

You shake your head and let out a huff as you continue to walk your rounds around the building.

Maybe they just needed more time to get to know you. You are still a stranger, after all.

You can worry about that after your shift…and probably after you unpack the rest of your things in the Security Station too.

Still…you find yourself wondering what it means to be a “defender”.

Surely it can’t just be a glorified night guard position with a unique name. Some things that were said during the meeting allude to it being more than that.

Arthur did mention that some toons were getting hurt during the night and that they wanted some form of protection from…something. You have yet to find out what just yet.

However, that’s a problem for you in the future.

Tonight, you’re gonna take things one step at a time and continue your patrol just like normal.

So for the remainder of your shift, you did your rounds and attended to your duties. 

You made sure entrances were locked, rooms were clear of any intruders, store fronts were closed, windows were secure, and you did various other forms of patrolling and security checks.

This continued throughout the remainder of the night.

Eventually, the moment you finally knew when your shift was over was when the sun began to break the horizon and the Gardenview windows began to illuminate with sunlight.

Signaling the end of your first shift at Gardenview.

Chapter Text

After your shift was concluded and the clock rang at 6AM , you had punched out of your night shift via the time clock next to the door and walked into the Security Station with an exhausted sigh.

You slip off your hat and toss it onto the medium dining table in the kitchen area and you search the kitchen cabinets for a cup to drink some water from the facet in the kitchen.

Your first shift was a success and nothing was out of place in Gardenview during your first night.

Nobody was hiding in the bathrooms, all doors were locked, and all barriers were down and secured like they were supposed to be. It was honestly pretty easy to check around and do your job effectively.

You let out a long sigh as you get finished chugging a cup full of cold tap water. Taking a moment to breathe and get your thoughts in order.

So, your first night was done and that left you with some free time to get some things in order before your next shift.

Firstly, you want to get your clothes in order and stored in the proper places and OUT of your large suitcase, so that you can have a plethora of outfits to change into after you get off shift to relax in. So, you figured that would be the perfect place to start finishing unpacking into your new temporary home.

You set your cup down on the drying rack and walk past your living area towards the bedroom, walking inside, and seeing your large suitcase still sitting there waiting to be opened and organized.

With a grapple and a heave, you lift it up off the floor, place it onto your bed, and begin to go through it.

You organize your clothes by type and fold them appropriately so that they can be ready to go into their proper storage areas. Namely sleepwear, casual clothes, everyday clothes, underwear, and seasonal outfits were all laid out and organized into neat piles.

You picked out the locations to begin organizing and got to work.

Clothes went into the closets, into the dressers, and onto hangers for ease of access purposes. It took roughly 30 minutes to organize everything, but eventually you stored all of your outfits away in their proper places.

After clothes, you fished out a couple of other things from your suitcase’s bottom layer and from smaller zipper compartments along the sides and front. Namely your portable CD Player Radio, your empty thick writing journal, pulling out your Walkman and headphones, as well as your small CD carrying case with all your favorite musicians inside of it.

You were thankful you remembered to grab these little bundles of joy before you left your great grandfather’s estate, as you couldn’t imagine spending months away from your favorite songs and your own radio! 

The journal was mostly just something for you to keep track of your days or any significant happenings in your life. A habit you had picked up on throughout your years of serving in the military…old habits tend to die hard, after all. You toss it onto the bed for later use that night.

Then you set your Walkman and headphones on your bedside table, along with your small CD carrying case, and you picked up the CD Radio and carried it into the kitchen. Placing it onto the spacious countertop and plugging it into the wall socket to test it out.

Almost immediately, the radio came to life with your favorite radio station playing a classic song.
Just how you left it when you originally packed it. The songs that filtered in through the radio livened up the Security Station atmosphere with music, bringing a small smile to your tired face.

Which brings you to your next concern, food.

You open the cabinets, fridge, and pantry that were all in the kitchen area. Only finding mostly kitchen-based utilities–like pots, pans, cutting boards, bowls, and other similar utensils. On one hand, you’re disappointed, but on the other hand, it made sense. Nobody was in the Security Station for some time. It wouldn't make sense to leave food to rot in a fridge or pantry if nobody was here to eat it.

Sadly, you wouldn’t be able to cook anything just yet, as you have yet to fill out a food order form for Arthur to approve of and have your goods delivered to the station. You couldn’t really leave the premises to go pick up your own food, as it’s mostly catered to your station through Gardenview’s own restaurants and supply chains.

On the bright side, you didn’t have to pay for groceries!

In fact, the food forms were currently sitting on the counter in a neat organized pile, just waiting to be filled and dropped off at the nearby office mail deposit box. You would probably fill it out after getting a shower…as it took a while to get here and all the walking has made your legs sore.

You may be physically fit from your time in the military, and you still carry on your exercise regime that was drilled into your head during your time attending boot camp, but soreness would never go away, no matter how strong an individual became.

Some warm water would always fix your aching muscles…

Yeah…a shower sounded good right about now.

So, you fished out a pair of sleepwear from your dresser to slip into once you got cleaned up and headed over to the bathroom for a nice long shower. You gathered your needed supplies, placed everything into the bathroom, turned on the tap, closed the door, and stripped out of your uniform.

The moment the hot water ran down your body and skin, you let out a sigh of relief.

This station was already beginning to feel like a home.

–

Your shower was long, refreshing, and very much needed. You already felt better after the warm water had worked over your sore muscles, easing your aches and helping you relax.

After you had gotten out and dried off, you dressed in your comfortable pair of long-sleeved sleepwear and pants that hung loosely off your frame with an elastic cord tied around your waist.

The first thing you did after getting out of the shower was to toss your uniform into the washer that was toward the back of the station, so that you could have a fresh outfit for your shift later on that night. You are definitely going to need more than one uniform…you’ll have to leave a letter for Arthur asking for spares in the office box.

After that was done, you took a moment to pick up a food request form from the pile laying on the kitchen counter, and slowly filled it out with certain goods you would need from the suppliers. You also took the time to write out a letter to Arthur about your uniform situation. 

Once that was done, you walked outside the station with your house shoes on to take the letters to the nearby office deposit box.

You weren't concerned about startling any guests, as Gardenview wouldn’t be opened for another 40 minutes. You had plenty of time to drop the letters off and return to your station without anyone seeing you.

After walking back inside, you closed the window blinds and mentally decided that it would probably be a good time to go to bed so that you would be well rested for your shift tonight.

You let out a sigh of relief as you were already starting to feel drowsy when you walked back into the kitchen, turned off the radio, and stretched out long enough to pop your bones and crack your back. 

You let out a yawn in exhaustion as you could feel your desire to sleep catching up to you…however, your plans for going to bed were about to be delayed by an unexpected visitor.

Knock! Knock!

Your eyes widened out of shock and you looked towards the door. Out of curiosity, you tilt your head to the side slightly and silently wonder who could be at your door at this hour.

You approach the door and open it, looking around and not seeing anybody…well…not seeing anybody at first . 

You were mostly expecting someone tall like Arthur–or even Delilah–to be outside wanting to talk to you…instead you looked around for a moment in confusion until a voice clearing their throat from below finally drew your gaze downwards.

There you found a familiar face staring up at you from below.

There he was…multicolored flower petals and all…

It’s Dandy.

To say you were caught off guard would be an understatement, as this toon didn’t really ask you anything when you were doing your little Q&A at the meeting a few hours ago. Instead, he was perfectly content in staring you down and not asking you anything throughout the entire meeting.

Now he suddenly appears at your station door? What gives?

“Heya, friend!” He says with a rather optimistic attitude as he suddenly pushes past you, despite your startled expression and your instinctive jerk away from the door at his bold entry. 

You let out a couple of disgruntled mutterings about him coming inside before you said anything, but he just seemingly ignores your irritated grumblings. Instead, he turns to face you after walking inside, rocking on the balls of his feet as he does so.

“So! You’re the new ‘defender’ Arthur got just for us toons, huh?” Dandy says, a little sharpness edging his tone when the word ‘defender’ comes out of his mouth. Which honestly caught you off guard.

“You did put on quite a show for the others, didn’t ya? What a nice introduction! Better than the others we interviewed! You have my applause!” He continues, his smile getting less and less genuine as he claps his hands together slowly.

You mentally balk at his sudden passive aggression, which leaves you confused at what you may have done to upset him. Dandy was known for being friendly, right? But the more you look at his expression, the more you doubt such claims.

For some reason, you have a lurking feeling that Dandy isn’t here for a friendly visit.

“I…suppose so.” You cautiously say. “May I ask…why the sudden visit to the Security Station, Dandy? Do you have a question for me…or?” You find yourself asking and Dandy seems to brush away your concern as he just gives you an artificial laugh in response.

“Oh, I just wanted to pay a visit to the new employee on the block! Can’t a toon drop by to say an in-person hello?” He smiles, which was still fake like his tone. You find yourself squinting at him.

“While I am not against visitations, you had more than enough time to introduce yourself during the meeting last night…but you seemed content in just sitting in silence and staring at me.” You arch your brow. “Why didn’t you say your ‘hellos’ then, if I may ask?”

Dandy’s smile twitches a few times before you continue the conversation.

“Dandy…no offense, but I have a feeling you’re not here for a simple visit. I can tell that something is wrong just by observing your stiff smile and tone…what gives?” You say, crossing your arms as you look down at the toon that stared up at you.

Almost immediately, the facade was dropped and Dandy began to frown up at you with squinted accusatory eyes.

Huh. Guess you were right. He was putting up a front.

“So.” He states flatly. “You aren’t an oblivious idiot. That’s nice to know.” He says, his tone no longer bouncy and jovial. Instead, it was low…and possibly threatening. “Maybe you’ll be able to understand what I’m going to tell you, then.”

You immediately put your guard up as Dandy shakes his head, gives you a smile that reminds you of a certain co-owner , and he locks his eyes onto yours while holding his arms out to the sides in a lackluster manner.

“Listen, ‘defender’. We’ve seen plenty of you come and go through our turnstiles, and for the most part, you are all the same .” He states venomously, dropping his arms to his sides and resuming his glare into your eyes as he begins to lightly pace around the room in front of you.

You watch him cautiously and you can only surmise that he’s talking about the previous defenders before you. The ones that have apparently flaked out or quit after a certain point in their career…usually a week or two apart from what you remember. How peculiar.

“You ‘defenders’ come in looking for an easy job and you stay for maybe a week or two before you get to the truly hard stuff . After that, it’s just a note saying they quit and we never see them again. I've never seen such a sad bunch of cowards .” He spits hatefully.

“I don’t even know why they call you ‘defenders’! You don’t defend anything! You turn tail and run the moment things get tough!” Dandy hisses. “I don’t know why Arthur still bothers with hiring ‘defenders’ like you . I see nothing but cowards every time he does! Every single time Arthur brings in someone new, they fail to protect their charges and toons STILL get hurt! We would be just fine doing the tasks on our own! The toons would just need my help and wouldn’t need anybody else!” Dandy glares up at you, huffing from his scolding.

This was…quite unexpected. Dandy seemed so friendly at the meeting…and now he’s turned into a ranting angry toon that is expelling all of his frustrations with past employees on you at once.

Picking apart his words, you seem to grasp that apparently Arthur is hiring defenders because toons are getting hurt…but even with defenders, some toons still get hurt. They were also apparently ‘cowards’ that flaked out on the toons via letters or notes…and Dandy seems to be holding a grudge against your position in Gardenview because of that.

How silly of you to think that the shrimp toon during the meeting was the only one capable of hating things.

You let out a light sigh in response to Dandy’s rant.

“I can assure you that I am–” Dandy cuts you off. “That’s what they always say until they go down the elevator .” Dandy hisses. This makes you fall silent and you can only become befuddled from his accusation.

Elevator? What elevator? The one next to the main entrance?

What is Dandy talking about??

“It doesn’t matter your background, history, experiences…whatever. They don’t matter.” He says stubbornly as you just give him a confused look in return as he continues.

“The moment the toon defenders have to go down the elevator to do their job as a true defender, they always come back shaken, afraid, cowardly, and wanting to quit.” Dandy grumbles before you shake your head and give the toon a confused look. 

“Dandy, what are you talking about??”

“Oh? So you don’t know. I guess the owners have stopped talking about the elevator in their job descriptions.” Dandy muses, crossing his own arms while keeping his fixated gaze on you. “You know Arthur and Delilah aren’t being fully honest to you about the full extent of your position, right?”

Now that seems to get your attention and you internally mulled over what Dandy just told you.

You don’t remember recalling anything about an elevator being in the job description. Let alone that you would be accompanying any toons, or just toons in general as the description of the job simply said that you would be “helping coworkers”, on some form of elevator to do…something?

Apparently, whatever that ‘something’ is happens to be pretty dangerous or terrifying. 

Frightening enough to scare away all the previous defenders before you arrived, at least.

Your uncertainty and confusion seems to break through your neutral facade as Dandy gives you a smug smile.

“Yeah. There’s something they’re not telling you about that you will eventually have to do to…you know… fulfill the duties of your position .” Dandy digs at you, making you squint at him. “Something that’s very dangerous, you know.”

Oh. Was this little rainbow flower trying to frighten you? You could almost crack a smile at his attempt, but you restrain yourself to not make this situation go any more sour than it has.

“Dandy.” Your deadpan voice seems to grab his undivided attention and wipe the smile off his face.

“Look at my face.” You gesture to the scars on your face and neck. “Does this look like someone who has handled harrowing deadly situations before? I brushed shoulders with death and lived. These injuries didn’t kill me–what makes you think whatever is down this supposed ‘elevator’ can?” You say, voice laced with cool confidence.

Dandy stares at you, before squinting in a threatening manner.

“Those injuries are minor in comparison to what can be inflicted upon you from the monsters down there.” He gives you a dry laugh. “Those things down in the depths of Gardenview? They’ll eat you alive. ” He giggles at you menacingly. “Bit by bit…with red glowing eyes and sharp serrated teeth.”

You look at Dandy with an unamused expression.

Is this Toon being serious?

Was he just simply trying to frighten you with his tales about red-eyed sharp-toothed monsters under Gardenview? It made you silently wonder why he was telling you all this nonsense. Maybe he was just testing your bravery? Trying to shake you up or make you look like a coward? 

You let out a huff in defiance.

“Dandy, are you just trying to frighten me?” You find yourself saying, your expression neutral but with a raised eyebrow. “Are you just testing me to see if I am a coward like you claim those other defenders were?” He stays silent.

“Because your tales about monsters are not going to work on me.” You state firmly.

Dandy doesn’t say anything in retaliation. 

In fact, he averts his gaze to the side instead and he takes on an expression that looks frustrated. His hands were shaking slightly, one of his eyes was twitching slightly, and you could almost swear that there was a red glint in the depths of his pupils.

Then he takes a slow and deep breath, as if to calm his nerves. Dandy takes a moment to think and then looks up at you with a disingenuous smile once again.

“Fine. Be that way.” He says spitefully. “You’ll just have to learn the hard way.”

You stare at him in silence for a moment before speaking up.

“Dandy. I don’t understand why you hate defenders so much, but I can tell you this at least.” You start, looking into his glinting ominous eyes. “If I can’t prove it to you through words, then I will prove myself through actions.” You finish, your gaze staring him down in an unwavering promise.

Dandy doesn’t react.

He merely shakes his head before suddenly walking around you, as you shift to move yourself out of his way, and he reaches up and opens the door to the security office, albeit with a little bit of struggling on his part because of his height.

However, he pauses before he leaves the office–-turning around to face you in the doorway.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He states, narrowing his eyes. “If you are as brave as you say you are, let's see what happens after you’re here a week and they begin to ask you to go down the elevator.” He continues.

This time, you remain silent.

“If you leave afterwards, it won’t surprise me. Just let me tell you this. If you decide to stay until then… that I warned you. ” Dandy finishes, ominously looking at you with that faint red glint in his eyes before he walks out the door and closes it shut behind himself firmly.

You stand there in your living area, completely baffled by what had just transpired between you and Dandy.

What was his problem?

For a moment, your mind reflects on what Dandy told you about the depths of Gardenview.

That what was down there would apparently be capable of ‘eating you alive’ with ‘red eyes and serrated teeth’ . That had to be just a story he was using to try and scare you, right? You aren’t a child and you’re not so easily shaken by such stories.

Dandy had to have been just trying to scare you.

It seemed very out of character for such a friendly-looking toon to do so…but you never know how real toons can react or what type of personalities they will have. Maybe he’s like one of those movie stars that is sweet on camera but very mean off camera.

Who knows?

You’ll worry about Dandy later. For now, you need to get some sleep.

You decided to shake the unusual visit off and you let out a large yawn.

You lock the door to the station, walk to your bedroom, turn off the lights, lift up the sheets, slip inside them, and get comfortable in your bed with a pleased sigh. 

You then turned on the lamp that was placed on your nightstand, grabbed your Journal that was still laying on the bed, and began to make your first notes inside of it about your experiences from today.

You mentally hum as you write–

“Today was a great first day. I had arrived at Gardenview Educational Center and Museum for my hiring position by train and met both of my bosses, Arthur Walton and Delilah Keen.

I will be honest in this journal, Arthur is quite a warm and friendly boss…and Delilah is…quite unsettling for a boss. 

I don’t understand it, but everytime she seems to focus her smile or gaze on me, I tend to get nervous or intimidated. Surprising given my personal history…very few things can shake me up nowadays. However, I have a bad feeling about her…despite her supposed normalcy. I will be avoiding her whenever I can, as my intuition never lies. I’ll only talk to her if I absolutely have to or if Arthur is not available.

On the other hand, I got to meet my “coworkers”. Turns out, the cartoon characters happened to be real living beings called ‘toons’. They are capable of speech, each one has their own unique personalities and appearances, and I had to meet all of them at once during a meeting.

I will be honest, I don’t think it started off that great. Most of the toons were put off by my old war scars and I can’t blame them. However, it seemed that once questions started coming out and I would answer them earnestly, they gained enough courage to ask more and more questions. It went from a frigid reception to a lukewarm one. At least it ended on a high note.

I also experienced my first night shift and all went well. I have nothing much to say about my duties, but after my shift was over–I had a surprise visit from Dandy of all toons.

He wasn’t really here for a friendly visit either. Dandy was less than thrilled that my presence was here at Gardenview for some unexplained reason. But I can only surmise that it’s because of the previous ‘defenders’ that had abandoned or quit the job before my arrival.

Dandy seems to be the type to hold grudges, apparently.

However, Dandy would ramble on during his visit about how an elevator and “red eyed monsters with sharp teeth” that lurked in Gardenview’s depths were the cause of most previous defenders quitting or leaving Gardenview altogether.

I wasn’t scared of his tales and he just seemed to become frustrated with my skepticism. Dandy just told me that he ‘warned me’ and to wait until my bosses ask me to accompany the toons in this ‘elevator’ after a week of working here. Then, he just…left. I find his behavior to be strange and off-putting, but I will remain determined to keep this job.

Only time will tell if Dandy is telling the truth about these ‘monsters’ he is ‘warning’ me about.

Tomorrow is another day and I will be putting in more effort.

If Dandy is trying to tell me something, and is being stubborn about my ability to handle it, then I will just have to prove myself to him through actions rather than words. As he seems to be very resistant to any form of verbal reassurance.

Hilariously enough, even that is easier said than done. I will see if I can make any progress.

End of Entry –”

You leave a couple of keynotes at the end of your entry, as well as a couple of doodles on the entry page featuring your uniform and Dandy before placing your journal comfortably on the nightstand with its pen settled deep within the binder.

You then turn off the lamp on the nightstand and shift around a bit to get comfortable in your bed.

You close your eyes and just tune into the sound of the ceiling fan spinning, the soft sound of your ticking analog clock, and the numerous voices that are beginning to fill the halls just outside the station.

You guessed that Gardenview was finally open and those were visitors, workers, and children coming into the building for a fun day at Gardenview Park…which made sense you suppose.

You let out a relieved sigh.

Thank goodness you don’t have to deal with the public for this job.

Instead, you snuggle deeper down into your covers and allow your drowsy state to slowly lull you into a soft sleep.

Tomorrow was another day.

You just wondered if what Dandy told you was true…or was he just telling you lies just to frighten you?

Only time will tell.

Chapter Text

A few days have passed since your arrival at Gardenview Educational Center and Museum as a new ‘defender’.

Despite the short time you have worked here, you have already found yourself settling into a routine for your coming night shifts. 

You would get up, get freshened up, eat a small thing for ‘breakfast’, clock in for your shift, do your duties, clock out, get a shower, have some ‘dinner’, and go to bed. Only to get up and repeat it all over again.

It did get mundane from time to time, but not all nights were the same routine again and again.

On some nights, you’ll see some toons out and about wandering the complex after dark, but staying near the central room with the tree for some odd reason. Regardless, your patrol route didn’t require you to pass through the central area, so you thought nothing of it.

However, whenever you happen to be passing by a toon or two, some who seem to be good friends with one another, you just simply give them a smile and wave. Yet, you don’t stop to chat or talk to them. You mostly just keep on walking to get to the next locations for your job.

Admittedly, you do want to talk to the Toons every now and then, but your mind always seems to pull you away from interacting with them. Maybe it’s the fact that you can still see how nervous some toons get when you’re around. You just give them a nod and smile, but you don’t stop walking to your next destination.

It gives them the peace of mind to know that you’re just passing through and that you mean them no harm.

However, on some nights, you do feel rather lonely while walking through the building on your nightly patrols.

Especially during the lull period of time between 1AM and 6AM , when everyone else is asleep except you. You don’t ever recall seeing a toon after those times and there were no other night-based personnel in the building other than yourself.

So, you tend to have the building to yourself for a few hours every night.

Still…the emptiness you feel swelling in your heart on those nights becomes strong and bothersome enough for you to be forced to take a moment and stare out some windows to calm yourself down. 

You may be a warrior to a certain extent, but loneliness is something you became very familiar with while you were out there on your own. One doesn’t understand how cruel the world can be when you have to face it all by yourself.

In fact, hearing some Toons having fun with others in the afterhours was something you’ve found yourself growing envious of. 

It’s not even to the extent of the Toons either. You find yourself even coveting things other people tend to have. The sound of families laughing, children cheering, or friends hanging out just beyond the security station walls almost makes you feel isolated from others in a way.

Just knowing that other people always have safe places to run back to, someone to lean on when they’re weak, friends to share food and drinks with, and parents that love them unconditionally…it makes you feel like there is always something missing in your life.

Something that’s been missing for a long time.

Maybe it’s friendship? Companionship? Love? Honestly…it’s hard to tell.

How can you tell what you specifically need when there is so much that has been missing in your life?

Your mind wanders into the past and the family you grew up with. 

You never really did like your father and your mother slowly became like him over time. By the time you were a teenager, your parents were about as familiar with you as a passing stranger. The only family member you recall ever being close to was your great grandfather, who your parents dumped you on to get some relief from parenthood most of the time.

It wasn’t all bad, as you even got to know your cousins and uncle at the time. You all got along fine and played so many games together while you were all at your great grandfather’s estate. You eventually found yourself looking forward to going out to the estate more after you regularly played with your cousins and uncle.

As a result of that, you formed a closer bond to your great grandfather than to your own parents.

You had more memories about hanging out at his estate than you can recall with your own parents on special occasions. When you were with them–holidays were always a nightmare, birthdays were always forgotten, and you tended to do things by yourself most of the time. Then you became a teenager and everything became worse.

Admittedly, you acted up on numerous occasions and caused a lot of problems for your parents at that age. But the moment you turned 18 is basically when they made a unanimous decision to send you off to the military, even when you didn’t want to go.

You knew how hellish the war was at the time, everyone knew! Yet, they still sent you to war with cold expressions and empty eyes. A part of you refuses to believe it, but the more pessimistic side of yourself keeps telling you that your parents sent you off because they didn’t want you to come back home at all.

That part of yourself whispers to you that they wanted you to die out there.

The way they treated you after you came back from the war just seemed to cement those whispers into stone. 

They didn’t help you when you were struggling with your disorders or episodes. They didn’t even help you when you lost everything and were on the streets struggling to get a job, being shunned for your face or homeless status, and living out of your car with barely any money to live off of.

For a while, your existence was merely survival…both at war and at home.

It’s amazing how you managed to survive all of that…and there was only one way you did.

All because one friend heard about your predicament and came to pull you out of the gutters that threatened to wash you off the face of this planet for good. They gave you a place to sleep that was safe, a bathroom to clean yourself up in, and support to help you find a job.

In all honesty…you probably wouldn’t be here without their help.

You don’t want to think about those dark times and those thoughts that plagued your mind back then. You were lucky enough to have such a great friend come to your aid and help support you for a time until you could get back on your feet again.

Maybe…that’s what you’re missing and why you feel so envious of others. 

Maybe you just want someone to lift you up into their arms, the same way you’ve lifted others into yours.

It’s been a while since you two have talked…you should call them at some point.

Then, you find yourself suddenly breathing again.

You come back to the present time–your mind clearing from the fog caused by your thoughts as you return to reality. Brief confusion sweeps over you before you realize that you had slipped away mentally while on patrol. You take a brief look around at your surroundings to gain your bearings once again.

You were staring out the windows of Gardenview again. 

This time, you seemed to have been reminiscing about your past connections instead of just mulling about unimportant things to pass the time.

You find yourself staring at your reflection for a moment.

Only when you blinked did you realize your eyes were moist and clouding over from contained tears. In which, you quickly wipe at your eyes in a subtle fashion to get rid of the evidence before you let out a huff in annoyance.

Crying on the job? Really?

Thank goodness nobody was around to witness that.

You shake your head and try to remember what encouraged such a train of thought. 

If you remember, you had witnessed more toons hanging out by the central tree before you officially began your rounds about an hour ago at 10PM .

You could remember hearing them chat about things that happened during the day, the numerous amounts of laughter, and how it was accompanied by the sound of opening soda pops. It seemed that the toons you passed were having a conversation about various things and were sharing them over drinks. It was no surprise where these feelings of yearning came from.

You stand there in front of the windows for a few more seconds before letting out a defeated sigh and turning away from them to continue your route for the night.

You need to just deal with these emotions. Maybe someday you’ll find someone who will care for you like that, but today is not that day. Just bury yourself in your work and ignore everything else.

So, you began your route once again…

Not realizing that you were being followed by a very familiar toon.

–

Your route continued like normal for about an hour.

You checked everywhere like you would usually do. Bathrooms, front of stores, exits, doorways, stairwells, and any other places that needed to be locked up at night. It wasn’t long until going up and down flights of stairs, tugging on doors, and jostling secured shop barriers did you finally get a little winded.

You eventually came out to an alcove that served as a main mall-like area in Gardenview. It was wide open, with benches and fountains in the center and shops of various types lining the area.

Seeing an opportunity to take a break, you holster your flashlight, and sit down on a bench near the large fountain in the shopping area of Gardenview and decide to take in the empty and desolate environment that surrounded your resting spot.

It was so strange to see such a wide area that is usually filled with people during the day populated by nothing but darkened corners and shuttered stores. 

It reminds you of those old places that eventually shut down and become abandoned from all forms of life…if you recall– the term was known as being “liminal”?

Regardless, it was just eerie to a certain degree. Even if this was your 4th night here, walking around such a large place at night still held some of its ominous aura. 

In fact, the more you listened, the more you could hear the inner workings of the building echo around yourself. Your ears picked up the humming of the air conditioner vents in the walls, the faint hums of the lights hanging above, the sloshing of the water in the fountain basin behind you, and the faint sound of wind blowing through the establishment.

However, the more your ears tuned into the environment…the more you realized that there was something misplaced amongst the ambience.

Tap…tap…tap…

You close your eyes and focus your hearing on the strange sound even more.

Tap…tap…tap…

Were those… footsteps?

The sound almost sounded unmistakably like footsteps. They were barely audible and hard to keep track of amongst the other sounds in the room…but they were there. You couldn’t really tell where they were coming from, but you try to listen in as you open your eyes and look over your shoulder in the direction you think they were coming from.

Then for a moment…everything went silent.

The footsteps disappeared and your eyes couldn’t see anything that could be used as an explanation on what you just heard in your surroundings. It was just an empty space behind you with closed stores and vacant walkways.

Your ears tried to hear that strange source of noise again…but nothing came. It was just gone, like it wasn’t even there in the first place. You let out a brief hum of uncertainty and confusion.

You could’ve sworn you heard footsteps coming from somewhere.

However, the moment you accepted that you wouldn’t be finding the source of the auditory anomaly, you turned around and came face-to-face with two large eyes and a smile.

“Hello!!” A squeaky feminine voice rings out from said pair of large eyes and grinning mouth.

“ AH! ” You shout out in surprise and throw yourself back against the bench you were sitting on, one of your hands immediately gripping onto the bench to steady yourself while the other hand grips your shirt to keep your heart from beating out of your ribcage.

“Oops! Sorry!!” The small toon hurriedly says, her facial expression quickly turning over to a worried one. “I didn’t mean to scare you!”

You could feel the adrenaline that was just shot into your bloodstream slowly begin to dissipate as you finally processed who was in front of you. It was just a toon. A toon…that you are vaguely familiar with? You’ve seen them before…but where, exactly?

Your memory doesn’t fail you as you remembered almost instantly that this was the same toon that had asked you about what happened to your face.

What was her name again?

“Oh…” You take a brief gasp to refill the air that was scared right out of your lungs.”It’s alright…uh…I’m sorry, but I seem to have forgotten your name.” You say hesitantly when you got your ability to breathe properly back.

The toon in front of you didn’t even seem bothered that you forgot her name in the slightest.

“I’m Toodles!” The toon introduces herself and giggles in response.

You just blink for a second before your mind catches up to what she said and you suddenly remember. “Oh! That’s right...” You hum in thought, giving the toon in front of you a quick glance over.

This toon appeared to be smaller than the other toons, seemed to have a higher-pitched voice, and looked more youthful in appearance than the other toons…logically speaking, this toon may actually be pretty young in comparison to the others you’ve seen.

She had a charcoal colored 8-ball for a head, a white sleeveless dress with a greyish hood, and…no shoes?? Did toons just walk around barefoot all the time? 

You shake the mental question off and decide that it doesn’t matter. 

If cartoon characters could be alive in the real world, then they can be free to walk around with no– wait a second …now that you think about it, was that magnifying glass toon–Rodger, if you remember correctly–wearing any pants or…you know what? You don’t wanna think about it.

“Toodles, what are you doing here? Isn’t it late for you? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for bed?” You can’t help but ask as the toon in front of you rocks on her feet, shaking her head in response.

“Nu-uh! I am in the middle of doing an investigation!” She beams. You could only look at her in befuddlement. “An investigation? On what?”

“On you!”

You blink in surprise at the answer she gives you.

“On me??” You parrot and point at yourself with one of your hands. In which, she nods earnestly. “Yeah! I was following you around for quite a while and you didn’t even notice! Heehee!” She admits, seemingly taking pride in her actions by puffing out her chest and grinning widely.

Still, your confusion persists.

“But…why? Did I do something wrong or suspicious that the toons wanted to see if I was doing something bad?” You question, and despite your rather confused expression on the outside, you grow internally worried that maybe the toons felt that you were being suspicious at night and wanted to see if you were up to anything by sending another toon to spy on you.

The last thing you needed was for your charges to believe that you were up to no good during the night.

Toodles quickly picks up on your worries and shakes her head from side to side. Holding out her arms in front of herself and shaking them as well. “Oh! No no no! I took it upon myself to follow you! I swear!” She explains in a hurry.

Then she changes her posture, she hides her hands behind her back and one of her feet begins to kick invisible rocks around as she almost looks shameful.

“Honestly, I was just following you around because I wanted to talk to you…but I was a little too scared of you at first. ” You found that reasoning to be understandable from her perspective. “This also wasn’t my first time trying to approach you to talk to you either…” She admits.

“But! The more I heard from the toons about how nice you were while doing your rounds and patrols–I felt like I could finally gain the courage to talk to you for once!” Toodles says, her posture and expression changing to something more determined than shy.

Huh? The toons think you’re…nice? 

Surely all the polite smiling and waving can’t be doing that much legwork, right? Maybe they were just trying to make you feel like you were welcomed…it’s a nice thought.

“Oh…I never knew that they felt I was nice. I usually just get up and go to work…and smile and wave whenever I see them out and about.” You say in a neutral tone. Toodles simply nods in confirmation while she beams at you.

“They always say that you seem too busy to come talk to them, so they just leave you alone so you can work on your routes. After hearing that from them, I began trying to work up the courage to actually speak to you…and here I am!” She poses in a ‘ta-dah’ fashion.

You can’t help but let a slight smile crack through your facade and you find yourself laughing slowly. “That you are, Toodles. You know, you can sit down on the bench. There’s more than enough space for us both.” You offer, to which she nods.

She manages to get on the bench to your left side and sit down comfortably.

For a moment, silence reigned and the only source of auditory stimulation was from the water fountain behind the bench.

“You know…” Toodles suddenly speaks up, breaking the silence, and making you focus your gaze on her. “You never really did answer my question from the meeting.”  She continues.

“Question about…?”

“About what happened to your face.” She looks at you with a curious gaze. “You said you didn’t mind answering that question, remember?”

Oh…that’s right. You never really did answer that question she asked you before she was interrupted by Rodger for being ‘rude’.

You think about it for a moment, laying back against the bench as you do so. 

You don’t think that any of the toons actually realize how severe wars can be…let alone a young toon like Toodles. How can you explain this to her in a lighter way than you simply admitting that you and your battalion were…

The memories of those days seem to come back and claw at the recesses of your mind. 

You didn’t lie that you don’t mind people asking what happened…but admittedly, you never gave them a straight answer either. You don’t like opening up that Pandora's box of bad memories if you can help it…it took so many therapy sessions with a professional to get those horrible dreams under control.

“I got in a bad fight.” You say simply. “I was in a fight with some enemies and they managed to get the drop on me and my friends and cover me with fire.”

This was a polite way to say you and your battalion were caught in an airstrike during an infantry mission. You could still hear the bombs falling…the explosions that followed…the ringing in your ears…and the feeling of your face and clothes burning.

“Oh no! Were your friends hurt too??” Toodles asks while looking at you with a sad expression.

The question itself made your heart sting. You don’t have the heart to tell Toodles that most of your battalion was blown to pieces in the bombing. In fact, out of the 12 people in your battalion, only 3 of you came back alive from that fight…yourself included.

“Defender? What’s wrong?” You blink slowly as you look over to Toodles. “You look very sad all of the sudden…”

Only then did you realize your facade had slipped away to a furrowed brow and sorrowful frown. You slowly mask your sadness and just let out a sigh in response, rubbing your neck with a hand as you try to think of a different way for you to explain to Toodles about their…departure.

“Well…” You start. “We all got hurt. But…we all managed to get back home, at least.” You mutter in a melancholy tone.

‘Coming home in a body bag technically counts as coming back, right?’ You mentally bemoan as Toodles goes back to giving you her innocent grin.

“That’s good! Everyone got home safe and sound!” She laughs childishly. “Do you still talk to them or see them anymore?” You shake your head.

“Not…really. Most of them moved really far away…like… reeeeally far away.” You explain, your tone still slightly distant and lackluster. Toodles suddenly looked sad all of the sudden in response to your answer.

“Aww…do you at least give them a call sometime?”

‘I could…but I doubt anyone would answer, Toodles.’ You mentally comment, still shaking your head in response.

“I lost their numbers over time. So I don’t know how I would be able to call them.” Toodles seemed even more defeated. “Awww…well, I hope they’re happy wherever they are!”

“Yeah…I hope so too, Toodles.” You say, your voice lingering on a sorrowful tone.

“. . .Do you miss them?”

“. . .Yeah. Sometimes.”

Both of you stayed silent for a time. The mood from your conversation hanging in the air like a dreary stormcloud. You felt the lingering pains of the past aching in your mind…but you can’t think of that anymore.

It wasn’t your fault. It was beyond your control. You have to move on.

Breathe.

You take a deep breath and look over to Toodles once again, as she sits there on the bench next to you kicking her feet as she has a rather sad look on her face. It just didn’t sit right with you. 

You need to try and do something to make this conversation less disheartening…kids like cool things, right?

Well…maybe showing some more obscure scars will help curb the tone of this atmosphere.

“Hey.” Toodles is startled slightly from you speaking up suddenly, but she looks over to you with a curious gaze. “Did you know that my face isn’t the only battle scar I got?” You say, giving her a smile as her face lights up.

“You have more?!” You nod. “Yeah. Wanna see the ones on my arm?” Toodles eagerly nods in response as her eyes watch you roll up one of your uniform’s sleeves.

Revealing to the young toon some old bullet wounds that you got from a different fight…ones you acquired from being razed by an enemy machine gun while getting supplies from an airdrop. You remember that event well…it was probably your first taste of being injured while in the war.

The eyes of Toodles lit up in awe as you rolled your arm around, showing how the scars mirror each other on both sides.

“That is so cool!! They look like stars!! This one even has a tail like a shooting star!” Toodles squeals in excitement as she admires your old wounds and you can only laugh in amusement. You don’t really have the heart to tell her that the ‘shooting star’ was really just a bullet scar with a surgical incision next to it.

“These came from a different fight. I…uh…got knocked down a hill during a tussle and some rocks got embedded into my skin, forming these patterns naturally.” You lie, to which Toodles ate up the explanation with a ‘coooool’.

“What about you?” Toodles gives you a confused look in response to your question. “Do you have any marks or scars?” You elaborate.

Toodles takes a moment to look around on her body before her eyes cross, focusing on the number eight on her forehead.

“I have this!” She offers, pointing at said number eight. “It’s my birthmark!” She says proudly.

“Really? I never would have known! Never seen it before.” You jest, which makes Toodles puff out her cheeks and pout at you, making you laugh heartily in response. “I’m kidding, Toodles. I noticed it.”

“Hmph!” She huffs, pouting and looking away from you. You just roll your eyes lightly in response.

Then you stand up off the bench and give yourself a large stretch. You felt that you may have taken both your breaks by sitting here and chatting with Toodles the whole time. You look over your shoulder at Toodles, who seems to have turned back around to face you again.

You thought that she was still going to chat with you about certain things…

However, her expression seemed drowsy and she let out a big yawn, making you realize how late it was for you both. You take a quick look at your watch and find it to be past midnight.

“Toodles, it’s getting late. You need to head to bed.” You order, much to her resistance as she gets up off the bench while rubbing one of her eyes. “Nu-uh…I wanna talk to you more!” She whines.

You think for a moment.

“I have an idea. I will escort you back to the elevator at the main entrance so you can safely get to your room…and we can talk on the way back about anything you want.” You offer.

She seems to consider it before letting out another yawn.

“Alright…” She relents.

You then wave at her to follow you and begin to guide her back to the elevator so she could get to sleep at a decent hour.

–

The conversations you both shared were pretty mundane in comparison to the heavy topics that she wanted to know earlier on in the night.

You two pretty much started out talking about your experiences in the battlefield to what your favorite flavor of ice cream was in the span of around another half-hour. At least ice cream was an easy topic to discuss in comparison to your past.

The conversations changed regularly as you both discussed things you liked and things you didn’t like. It was quite a noticeable change from just doing your patrols in silence.

Toodles seemed to be getting sleepier and sleepier as you both walked down the halls together to get to the elevator at the main entrance, where you knew the toon's bedrooms happened to be.

You even passed through the main central area where the tree was, and also where that large ominous wall of metal still stood, but Toodles paid it no mind…so neither did you.

Instead, you walked her down the corridor towards where the turnstiles were, seeing the elevator off to the right.

“There it is. You’re almost there, Toodles. Just a little bit more, okay?” You say to the small toon as she merely nods drowsily.

Pretty soon you both were standing in front of the elevator and she let out another small yawn as she wiped the sleep from her eyes with the back of one of her hands.

“Thank you for helping me get back…” She says in a tired manner as she begins to make her way over to the elevator, to which you nod in understanding. “No problem, Toodles. Have a good night.” You respond, fully expecting her to go down the elevator and be done with the night.

However, she stops and turns away from the elevator to look at you again.

“Hey, Fendy?”

The nickname itself caught you off guard for a moment and it took you a moment to realize that she was addressing you. I…guess that’s her new nickname for you now? ‘Fendy’.

You don’t really understand why you got the nickname so quickly. But maybe Toons just…don’t like using your name for some reason–even when it’s embroidered on your shirt for all to see.

“Yes, Toodles?”

“Please don’t tell Rodger I snuck out! He will make me go to bed earlier if he knows I stayed up this late tonight!” She exclaims as she looks at you worriedly. You only chuckle in response before nodding in agreement. “I won’t tell Rodger.”

But she doesn’t just take your word for it and leave.

She suddenly bounces over to you, stares up at you from below, and holds out her small hand with a pinky sticking out.

Is she…?

“Do you pinkie promise?”

She is.

She is making you pinkie promise to not tell Rodger.

You can only sigh in fake exasperation as you bend down and unfurl your own pinkie, wrapping it around hers, and shaking it up and down.

“I pinkie promise.” You agree to the childish way of keeping a promise, much to Toodle’s delight, as you both let go of each other and she begins to head back to the elevator.

Toodles then presses the button to the elevator as you equip your flashlight again and check your watch that showed it was close to 1AM . Yep. Toodles was late getting to bed. Hopefully she won’t be too tired tomorrow from this little ‘investigation’ stunt she pulled.

“Hey, Fendy?”

You look up from your watch to see her standing next to the elevator, as if she was pondering what to say next. “Yes, Toodles?” You reply, just as the elevator dinged and the two doors opened.

“I…” She starts. “After tonight, I won’t listen to what anyone says about you looking scary or looking mean!” She states suddenly, making your neutral facade slip away in favor of surprise.

“You may look like you're big, scary, and mean…but you’re not! You're really nice and strong! If…if you have the time, can I walk with you on your patrols and talk with you some more?” She admits, getting onto the elevator and looking at you with hopeful eyes.

You can’t help but smile back at her.

“Just as long as you can get to bed at a reasonable hour, Toodles. I’ll have more stories to tell you when we meet again.” You grin warmly, to which Toodles suddenly beams at you in return and lets out a series of excited giggles in response.

“YES!!! I’ll see you tomorrow then, Fendy!! Goodnight!!” She shouts and waves at you as the elevator doors close while you wave back at her until she is out of sight.

You just stand there for a moment, a smile still lingering on your face as you try to shake it off…but you find yourself unable to. It was almost like her jovial attitude had infected you somehow.

You chuckle.

“Toodles, huh?” You say to yourself as you begin to kickstart your patrol back up from where you left off.

You find yourself laughing to nobody in particular as you begin to move out of the area and shake your head in slight disbelief at what just happened tonight.

“What a good kid.”

You continue to smile widely at the parting comment that Toodles made about you being nice and it gives you a warm feeling of hope deep inside of yourself.

It was a nice feeling.

Regardless, you continue on your patrol for the rest of the night. 

Albeit, feeling less lonely and hollow than you did before.

Chapter Text

Over the next few nights, your routine had undergone a slight change. 

After meeting Toodles, you find yourself no longer doing your patrols primarily by yourself anymore. 

Every night since then, you and her have taken brisk walks together and simply chatted about anything that came to your minds.

You tended to focus less on the negatives of your past and instead began to tell Toodles where you have traveled to while abroad. You told her about the large world just outside of Gardenview and all the cities and countries you passed through while on tour.

Toodles listened adamantly to your tales and experiences with gusto. She is always asking questions and showing a deep curiosity in whatever you talk about, throwing in her own two cents whenever the conversation becomes animated between you both. You even told her about a few souvenirs you managed to acquire while on your deployment and how you hoped you would be able to show her one day.

In return, Toodles would tell you about her own adventures with Rodger. Rodger apparently was an important figure in her life, as she looked up to him a lot and was even determined to become a detective just like him when she became old enough.

She tells you about the mysteries she helped Rodger solve, which included the cause of a massive blackout. If you recall, there is a poster somewhere that featured both Rodger and Toodles on it with the words “Light’s Out” written on it. Maybe those experiences were things that actually happened to the Toons?

Regardless, you tell Toodles that it was pretty brave of her to help Rodger out with his mysteries, in which she soaked up the praise like a dry sponge and just giggled madly in return.

Toodles made the nightly walks about the complex much less lonely as she always told you how her day went. Whether or not it was a good or bad day, you always enjoyed listening to the small toon ramble on about her adventures and what the others got up to that day.

The only time you two had to part ways was when midnight came to end the fun and you would have to escort Toodles back to the elevator and bid her goodnight before resuming your rounds.

Day after day, you and Toodles would continue this until the fateful day came that you had managed to stay a full week at Gardenview.

At first, you figured that your shift would begin like normal. You got ready, had your ‘breakfast’, loaded up your typical gear, and began to head on out to clock in.

However, the moment you opened the door, something white and fluttering on the outside of the door caught your attention. Immediately looking at the source of the movement, you realize that it was a letter addressed to you.

You squint your eyes to read what was on the letter, discovering that it was from Arthur.

“Dear Toon Defender, we are happy to say that you have managed to pass clearance and that we have determined that you are ready for the rest of your tasks as a defender! Please meet us in my office for a debriefing about what these deepening responsibilities entail, also note that these increased responsibilities are NOT optional. - Arthur Walton”

You take a moment to look puzzled before a feeling of subtle dread settles in the pit of your stomach.

Despite your argument with Dandy some time ago, and the fact that you hadn’t seen the hide nor petals of said main character since then, you do remember what he said to you during all of that ranting.

Dandy told you that once a week clicked off, that you would be given the “rest of your duties as a defender” by the owners. Which would mean that something was bound to happen soon after this…judging by all the times the previous defenders before you quit…which was usually two weeks in.

You find yourself growing nervous.

A part of yourself wonders silently if Dandy really is trying to warn you beforehand…but you still doubt his claims, such as his talks about “monsters” under Gardenview. But if he was right about this…what else could he possibly be right about?

You stand there for a moment in silence, rereading the sign again to cement your understanding of it before shaking your head and resuming your routine of closing the door, locking it, and going to clock in for the start of your shift.

You could worry about the meeting later on. You had a lot of time to think until then since it was just 10PM .

Maybe your buzzing mind would settle down by then.

Thankfully, it would seem you have a lot of time to think by yourself tonight, as Toodles told you that she would have to sleep in early tonight because Rodger caught her coming back to bed late the previous night. 

As hilarious as it was for Rodger to still catch her in the act despite you keeping your promise, it might have been a blessing in disguise. Because tonight you didn’t really feel up for numerous irrelevant chats, as your mind was currently preoccupied with the meeting coming up soon with the owners.

You find yourself doing your routine primarily on autopilot throughout the entirety of the night. Your mind is buzzing with what could possibly be waiting for you at 6AM and what your added responsibilities would be. As well as what Dandy had told you before.

The night passed by slowly and with every passing hour–the closer your meeting with the bosses became, and the more your anxiety seemed to grow and eat away at your insides.

Regardless of your anxiety, you stomached the fear and bottled it up deep inside of yourself–like you typically do with your emotions, and bit the metaphorical bullet. This meeting would inevitably pass and you would have to get ready for what comes after.

This is something you can’t run away from or hide from forever, so you might as well get it out of the way. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as you are making it out to be…

Eventually, the signs of your shift coming to an end arrive by the windows becoming slowly illuminated with the golden glow of the summer sun as it just peeks over the horizon just outside of Gardenview.

You find yourself walking back to the Security Station and looking at the note on the door with a firm expression, the anxiety still nipping at the depths of your stomach from deep within you, yet you simply punch out a little before 6AM and begin to head towards Arthur’s office.

You might as well get this over with…the sooner the meeting is done–the sooner you’ll be able to adjust to your new duties and lifestyle.

With heavy steps, you walk past the numerous shops towards a familiar door that was labeled with the same “staff only” poster with a toon on it.

You open it, walk inside the office area, and begin to head towards the familiar office that you finished your onboarding in. As you approach it, you could hear voices talking to each other on the inside. You gulp. For a moment, you pause and take a deep breath to settle your nerves before giving the door a simple rhythm of knocks.

Upon hearing the voice of Arthur saying “come in”, you open the door to reveal the same typical office you were in before, except this time there was only one chair in front of his desk instead of two, and both Delilah and Arthur were sitting behind his desk. They seemed to be in the middle of discussing something before you entered, as both looked toward you expectantly.

“I see you got my note.” Arthur smiled at you, to which you nodded as you entered, closing the door to the office behind you as you did so. “It’s kinda hard to miss it on the front door of the station.” You say while joking lightly and taking a seat automatically in the single chair as both bosses turned to face you.

“So…may I ask what the extent of my new duties are?” You question, looking between both Arthur and Delilah. Arthur clears his throat.

“Well…before we disclose that, we need you to sign a couple of things.” He admits, making you stare at him in confusion. “Uhh…like what?”

Upon being questioned, Delilah suddenly tosses something on top of the desk in front of you that was sitting in her lap…and it looked like a couple of papers. You pick them up one by one, sift through them a little bit, and the moment you read the first page–you suddenly balk.

“You want me to sign an NDA??” You say in a shocked tone.

“I know it might look bad, but this is just a precaution!” Arthur explains. “A precaution for what?” You inquire in a moment of bewilderment, still reading through the papers in front of you.

“As you know, you’ll be taking on more responsibilities as a toon defender. As part of your duties, you’ll be going into certain areas of Gardenview that are unavailable to the public. These areas are locations where we tend to store machinery, props, information, and… prototypes. ” Arthur continues to explain, his eyes flicking over to Delilah for a moment before returning to you.

“To prevent any leaks for future Gardenview episodes, theft of patented technology, and to protect ourselves in the event of stolen confidential documents–we have our workers sign NDA’s to discourage discussion about such private matters outside of Gardenview.” Arthur continues.

You take a moment of silence to read over the papers…but it wasn’t just the papers that were sending you mixed signals, as Arthur’s explanation also seemed to rub you the wrong way. His spill of information didn’t really sound organic in nature–like if he was just telling you why they do the things they do.

His spill sounded almost automatic…almost… rehearsed in a way.

On one hand, you try to reason that he probably just got used to saying this over and over again because of all the defenders he had hired previously. It would make sense that someone would eventually come to memorize a message down to the letter after a while, and you couldn’t blame a business for trying to keep their trade secrets…well…secret.

Still…there was something odd about this entire situation…you just couldn’t put your finger on it just yet.

However, if you didn’t sign the paper…you would probably lose your job. Which you can’t really risk right now. So, you were pretty much between a rock and a hard place with no grease to give you any room to wiggle out of it.

You’ve read the NDA documents again and again to just give you a moment of clarity. It was filled with typical corporate jargon about signing over rights to discuss confidential information, how you waive your rights to litigation, how they can prosecute you in the court of law for damages or stolen property, and other outlines for how things would go if you discussed anything outside of Gardenview that could damage the company or impact their image in any way.

You simply let out a sigh of defeat.

Silently, you reach for the pen on Arthur’s desk and sign the pages to their full extent, your name, initials, and all. With that, you hand the papers back over to Arthur, who seemed satisfied with your compliance.

“Excellent! Now we can move on to your new routine!” He beams, all while pushing the pile of papers together and handing them over to Delilah. You give him a confused glance in return. “New routine?” you find yourself asking.

“Yes. Your routine from this past week since you started was to allow you to get accustomed to Gardenview and settle in comfortably, as well as to see if you were dedicated to the job and work life. Most of what you were doing is just partial to your duties as a defender. After today, you’ll be working closer with the Toons and assisting them with their nightly duties.” Arthur explains.

“The toons need help when they go down into the lower parts of Gardenview. Your job is to look after them and care for them while they fulfill their assignments and to make sure they come back in one piece.” Arthur continues.

You give a raised eyebrow in response.

“What do you mean ‘make sure they come back in one piece’?? What could possibly be in the lower parts of Gardenview that are capable of rendering toons harm??” You ask in an incredulous manner. Your bosses merely pass a glance towards each other and look back at you before Arthur continues.

“It’s mostly just machinery and moving parts. There is something else down there that will need to be dealt with….” He states vaguely. “But I’m sure you’ll be just fine!”

That did not instill confidence in you at all…

Dandy was right…these two aren’t being honest about something. You can see it now in Arthur’s nervous gaze and Delilah’s shifty eye movements…and the fact that they just had you sign an NDA before admitting to that.

Nothing was making sense and you were far from an idiot.

You don’t send so-called ‘defenders’ down into the depths of Gardenview to help with simple machinery. That would be a mechanic's job–not a defender’s job. A defender is known as someone who protects people or property from hostile enemies that wish to do it harm.

The naming of your position and the duties you were expected to fulfill just didn’t make sense. Why be called a defender if you’re just going with the Toons to make sure they can work on machines properly?

Something isn’t right here…

Then, the voice of Dandy’s thinly-veiled threats rings throughout the recesses of your mind as you remember what he told you back when he visited the station a few days ago.

“Those things down in the depths of Gardenview? They’ll eat you alive.” You hear his voice and menacing laughter echo in your memory. “Bit by bit…with red glowing eyes and sharp serrated teeth.” The memory sends a subtle shiver down your spine.

If he was right about the change in duties a week in…what if he is right about that too?

You instead clear your mind of the blossoming uncertainty you were beginning to feel and instead shift your gaze between your bosses before slowly nodding.

Right now, you just need to keep your thoughts to yourself to avoid raising any suspicion.

“Okay then.” Was all you could say in response to the vague description that Arthur provided you with. In which, Arthur seemed to smile that you were receptive to the changes.

“Excellent! We will be notifying the Toons of the changes and you will be given a new schedule to work around after today. From now on, you don’t have to worry about patrolling the entirety of the building. Just look after the important places of interest from now on.” Arthur directs, moving some papers around on his desk as Delilah watches before he continues.

“You will start meeting the Toons around the central area where the tree is at 11PM . From then on, you will accompany them down the elevator located at the central hub location to assist them on their nightly routines.” Arthur states, pulling out a blank notepad and writing your new schedule and times onto the sheet.

You almost freeze in place the moment you heard what Arthur told you.

The elevator…?

Didn’t…didn’t Dandy mention that as well when you and him had that argument? That all defenders eventually left because they went down the elevator and came back frightened out of their minds by whatever was down there?

It was strange…because all the time you have spent walking through the central area, you never really noticed an elevator in that part of the building before. You couldn’t recall anything looking like an elevator when you passed through there multiple times. How could it have been there the whole time??

Your confusion was masked well on the outside, but uncertainty was now devouring your guts like a starved animal. It was like everything Dandy had said was coming true bit by bit.

Then again…you could probably make a hypothesis about how he could predict these outcomes with such flawless accuracy. 

Dandy must’ve witnessed this over and over again during all those previous defenders coming and going from Gardenview. It might’ve just been a pattern he had taken notice of and his faith in defenders grew less and less at each failure. This must’ve occurred so often, that he can now pinpoint every moment of the process and even predict when defenders would leave.

Once again, his previous comment echoed in your mind and you find yourself growing internally anxious. If all of this is something Dandy could predict…then…the likeness that his claims could be true…are higher than you could’ve ever predicted.

That means…

However, you are pulled from your thoughts by Arthur calling your name, making you jolt out of your mind and sending you back into the present.

“Huh?!” You say, blinking in surprise as you look at the piece of paper that Arthur was offering out to you from behind his desk.

“Are you alright? You seemed to have spaced out there for a second…” Arthur asked, his voice laced with concern. You just nod in response and take the paper from his outstretched hand.

“Yeah, I…uh…just got lost in thought. Worried about doing a good job is all.” You lie through your teeth. Arthur seems to let out a hum in understanding. “Don’t worry about it too much! You’ll do great!” He states.

You just nod.

“So, is that everything I need to know from this meeting?” You politely ask, looking between the both of them.

“I believe so.” Arthur continues with a hum. “Tonight, you’ll be doing just a light patrol before meeting with the Toons you’ll be working with tonight. They’ll be waiting for you in the central hub area next to the tree. You have your paper with your new times in your hand, so it’ll take a day or two for you to get accustomed to your new schedule.” He finishes.

However, for the first time during the meeting, Delilah speaks up.

“Just don’t forget. You signed an NDA. Whatever you see down there is confidential.” She says, her gaze like ice and her lukewarm smile was tight and agitated. “Nothing about what you witness down there is allowed to be shared with anything or anyone outside of Gardenview.”

You could feel your throat clench as Delilah pierces you with a fixed gaze. You couldn’t help yourself…you just felt paralyzed under her leery stare…which you struggled to get used to. It was suffocating to endure as you forced yourself to nod in agreement.

“Yes, ma’am.” Was all you could force yourself to say.

The tension in the air became thick between you both once again as you two stared one another down. Her cold eyes piercing in your nervous ones with unrelenting tenacity. Arthur–being your savior once again–clears his throat to break through the tense atmosphere once more.

“Well! I feel that this meeting went well!” Arthur exclaims, clapping his hands together.

Arthur then stands up and you quickly do the same. Delilah was slower to follow suit, but eventually gets up and stands at Arthur’s side.

“I hope to see your performance with the Toons improve with these new responsibilities! Some have even stated that they’ve been looking forward to working with you!” Arthur joyfully announces, making you quirk a brow at his exclamation.

The Toons were looking forward to working with you? How peculiar.

For the most part, the only Toons you officially met were from the meeting. The only Toon you have managed to talk to on a regular basis was Toodles, and that was purely because she sought you out. You had to be honest–you probably weren’t being as social as you should be with them.

Maybe you’ll get to know more Toons after spending time working with them on this new schedule.

“I look forward to assisting them as well.” You find yourself saying before nodding to your bosses. “I suppose I will see you two again, eventually.” In which, Arthur nods.

“We will be doing routine checkups every now and then! But for now, you need to go get some rest so you can be ready for tonight!” Arthur orders before he waves at you in farewell. “Take care now!”

You wave to both of them as you leave.

The moment the office door closed behind yourself, you let out a relieved sigh. You were finally free of that meeting and away from your bosses. Not that you hate them…well…not that you hate Arthur –Delilah was a far more intimidating boss than him by a long shot–but sometimes you feel like their presence just looms over you when you’re in their offices.

But in a similar fashion to a stuck band aid, you ripped it off and were finally free from the discomfort of the meeting. Now you can relax…for the most part.

Instead, you look towards the paper in your hand and read out the times that you would be joining the toons for their nightly duties. It seemed your start time was the same, being 10PM , but your patrol was just a single hour long…and you had shorter hours.

You would start your shift like usual at 10PM , do a patrol until 11PM , and then you are supposed to go to the central area and meet up with the Toons afterward.

The rest of your time slots just seem to be filled with “help the toons with their nightly duties” and to patrol the rest of the night until 6AM . The time slots for the Toons seemed to be concluded at either 1AM or 2AM . This was definitely going to be one bumpy schedule to get used to.

In fact, you could feel a lingering sense of drowsiness begin to creep up on you as you let out a large yawn in response.

It’s probably best for you to get back to your station–since you need to get ready to head to bed anyway…and you would rather get there before Gardenview opens. You really don’t want crowds of people to come in and see you out and about.

So, you take the paper and slowly begin to make your way back towards your station.

–

You had already completed your bedtime routine of getting a quick shower, eating some ‘dinner’, and getting ready for bed.

Currently, you sit in your bed with the sheets covering your legs as you write feverishly in the pages of your journal sitting in your lap. Pen scrawling away on the paper as you write out your experiences for the day under the light of the lamp sitting on your nightstand.

Your mind was buzzing with words as you wrote them out on the papers of your journal one by one. Your eyes focused and lips pursed in thought as you did so.

“Today, something interesting happened.

I usually begin my routine like I normally do over the past few days. I get dressed, eat breakfast, and begin my usual patrol route that I have been doing for the last few days. Usually, I also meet up with Toodles to discuss various things on our nightly walks together. I have gotten to a point where I look forward to my nightly walks with her, as I find it comforting to a point that she cares enough to listen to my ramblings on various topics. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.

However, on this particular day, I found a note hanging on the outside of my station door from my boss–Arthur Walton–telling me to attend a meeting with them in the morning after my shift. I found this rather peculiar, because I just happened to complete my first week of being here at Gardenview.

This also happened to be the same period of time that most previous defender employees decided to quit working here at Gardenview altogether…as previously commented on by a certain main character of a certain cartoon show who came to visit me in the station some time ago. In an eerie turn of events, what Dandy told me about what would come to pass….actually happened.

As soon as I completed a full week of work here at Gardenview, the owners demanded a meeting with me, and now they want me to extend my duties into helping the Toons during the night. Something else also deeply unsettled me as I discussed my new schedule with the owners—the infamous elevator finally came up in our conversation. I was honestly caught off guard from the topic suddenly appearing. Dandy himself also mentioned the elevator and how defenders go down it and come back up terrified enough to quit from what they encounter in the depths.

That wasn’t even the most suspicious part of the meeting. 

The moment I had sat down, and before we discussed anything regarding the change to my position, the owners had me sign an NDA. Now, I can understand how employees working behind the scenes of certain things can cause problems if one of them happened to be loose-lipped and caused some business-related leaks to happen through gossip. However, I felt that it was mostly because the owners feel the need to hide something and not just to protect their own business secrets or precious information.

I had thought about this before while sitting in the office with my bosses, but defenders aren’t just named ‘defenders’ because it sounds cool. Defenders are called that because they protect things. If it was mostly machines giving the Toons trouble, they would employ mechanics, NOT defenders. The owners tried to sell me on the idea that it was just machines that I needed to help the Toons with, but despite me being verbally ignorant, I remain suspicious of them in the safety of my mind.

Toons don’t come to harm just by machines alone. Even when I asked, Arthur Walton seemed keen on dodging my questions about if there was anything else I should be concerned about while helping the Toons. He just told me that “I would probably be fine”, which does not fill me with any form of confidence. I won’t lie, Dandy was right about a couple of things. Namely the elevator and how the owners began to give me more responsibilities that weren’t optional after a week of employment, just as he forewarned me.

My worries continue to grow and I wonder if what Dandy told me about the “monsters” lurking in the depths of Gardenview would come true as well. Despite my rationality telling me that monsters don’t exist and are merely ideas to frighten children…I have to realize that I used to think that Toons were just fictional characters that were used to teach children morals and entertain them as well.

If a Toon can be just as alive as I am…what if the monsters I see in my worst nightmares can become real as well?

I feel that I may get my answer to this harrowing fear tonight.

I will write a followup entry should anything come from this.

End of Entry –”

You let out a sigh as you finish writing out the keynotes for your entry and doodle a couple pieces of art on the page featuring the entry, notably a doodle of Toodles on one side of the page and a doodle of the NDA paper you were handed by Delilah on the other.

You reread your entry and let out a worried sigh as you close the book, set it on the nightstand, and turn your lamp off before snuggling down into the sheets.

Despite you being comfortable in your bed, the lingering dread you feel wouldn’t go away. You find yourself staring at the ceiling fan in anticipation for what is to come that night.

You would be working with the Toons and finally you were going to see where this ‘elevator’ is that happens to be rather infamous amongst the Toons and previous defenders alike.

On the bright side, maybe you’ll finally get some answers and discover why your bosses–and Dandy included–seem to be dodging a lot of questions and being secretive about some things.

You force your eyes closed and shift to get comfortable in your bed. Despite the muffled noises from the numerous families and children just outside the security station walls, you find yourself feeling utterly alone in your worries.

Still, you try to force yourself to sleep and to get some rest for your shift tonight.

However, it proved to be difficult for you to fall asleep.

As you were persistently haunted by a very vivid image in your mind that seemed to loom over you as you slowly fell into a restless and dreamless sleep.

A disturbing vision of a growing all-consuming darkness…

And bright red eyes with sharp serrated teeth within it.

Chapter Text

The next night, you slowly rose from your bed and let out a groan from how stiff your joints were.

As you sit in the bed for a few moments to steadily wake up from your night of rest, you look around your room to gain your bearings before slipping out of the sheets and standing up with a wince as your back and knees pop in protest.

This was probably the first time since you’ve worked here that you didn’t get a good night’s sleep. You were probably tossing and turning all night from some forgotten nightmare, judging by how messy your sheets were from being kicked and tossed all over the place.

Regardless, today was another day…

You slip on your house shoes and begin to move around the station with the intention to begin your day just like normal.

You check the clock in the living room as you pass by and find out that you’re up earlier than normal, most likely due to your restless tossing and turning during the night. On the bright side, it would give you plenty of time to get ready for your new schedule for working with the Toons tonight.

You make yourself a pot of coffee, fix yourself a simple omelet for ‘breakfast’, and decide to sit down on the couch to enjoy some television for a few minutes.

However, it was by this time that you realized that the television in the living room…only had a few channels…and all those channels featured Gardenview products or the cartoon itself.

You click the remote again and again in frustration as the channels merely flicked between static, but ultimately kept showing commercials for Gardenview products, stuffed toys, attractions, and multiple episodes of the cartoon playing at once.

You let out a defeated sigh and toss the remote off to the side as the cartoon’s theme began to play and the title card flashed onto the screen.

You might as well just hurry up and eat while passively observing the show…at least it will serve as something to entertain you. Even if it’s awful, it can just be some white noise to keep you from having to delve into your thoughts in silence.

While eating your omelet, you watched the show.

Surprisingly, the show was…a little entertaining. It wasn’t something to write home about, but for what it’s worth--it’s a decent show for kids that featured some interesting concepts from time to time. You even got to see some characters you haven’t even met in person yet.

You silently realized how strange such a thought was.

That will always never sit quite right with you. 

Being able to see these characters on the screen talk, chatter, and move as simple drawings…but knowing that somewhere in this building—a living and breathing version of the character exists in the same dimension as you do.

Then, you suddenly have a revelation that you never even considered until now.

How did the Toons come to life anyway??

You stop munching on the omelet in your mouth for a moment as your movements come to a halt.

You didn’t think about it much at first, as you just brushed it off as another strange quirk of working here…but now you’re analyzing what you have been working around for a week and…is this even something you can consider being ‘normal’?

How did such an obvious question fly under your radar for so long?

Toons don’t exist outside of things like shows, movies, or even stories. How did Gardenview manage to create LIVING creatures to the liking of their designed characters from this cartoon?

The show was tuned out completely from your senses as you stared at the TV in deep thought. Watching the characters move, talk, and perform their feats while you stared in silence.

Despite you trying to find a rational reason for their existence…you find yourself coming up with nothing.

The only strawman argument that you can think of to at least TRY to explain their existence is that the show was based off the Toons themselves. But that still didn’t make any sense. They aren’t just some random species that crawled out of a cave.

You could only come up with one explanation that sounded similar to some unhinged conspiracy theory that some crazy person would make up on some wacky late night radio show.

They were made by Gardenview…FOR Gardenview.

You blink and your senses come back as the video on the television showed two characters baking something, yet you weren’t paying that much attention as your mind began to buzz with unasked questions with no logical answers.

Things don’t just come into existence from nothing.

What could possibly be responsible for giving cartoon characters the ability to be brought to life?

You knew how you were born and created—from a natural result of biology. Man meets woman, they fall in love, and they have offspring, which is typically expected from such an interaction.

Toons…didn’t have that variation of natural order. For crying out loud, most of them were inanimate objects that had eyes and feelings! Most didn’t even wear full outfits--just partial clothes or barely anything at all!

It begs the question that if two Toons got together, what would they even produce? Would Toon children carry the genes of both parents like humans do? Do they even have genes?? Would a starfish toon and a sponge toon make a clam toon instead?!

Which was weird to think about, you weren’t going to lie.

You didn’t even want to think about anything else that designates one Toon as being male and another being female, that would just be too much for your poor mental state to handle. The amount of psychic damage you would receive from thinking about that alone would probably send you back to therapy.

Regardless, your point still stands.

Toons didn’t really look like they reproduce like humans do…so…where DO they come from?

You finish your omelet in silence…and then you turn the TV off. You shake your head as you get up and head over to the kitchen to clean and drop off your plate.

It's too early to have these thoughts. You just needed to accept that Toons just…existed. It didn’t matter how they got here or where they came from in the grand scheme of things. Let alone how their own brand of biology worked.

Toons are Toons and Humans are Humans. Just leave it at that.

You take a quick look at the clock on the living room wall, seeing your shift was about to start.

You then went into your bedroom to get dressed into your defender uniform to prepare for your first night helping the Toons.

Hopefully nothing too strange will happen tonight…

--

The moment you heard the clock chime at 11PM , you began to make your way towards the tree in the central area.

As you drew closer to your destination, you could already hear a chorus of chatter coming from the central hub area as you began to approach it after doing your required hour-based patrol at the start of your shift.

Looking at the tree that stood out against the surrounding Gardenview landscape, you could see a variety of Toons all milling about in the grassy area underneath. Seemingly talking to one another…or having a heated discussion, seeing at how loud they were talking to each other.

There appeared to be a few new Toons in the mix, along with a few familiar faces you already met previously.

Rodger and Toodles were amongst the group of Toons loitering about the center, both seemingly having an animated discussion with another familiar Toon—of whom you never got their name. But you remembered their appearance at least. It’s the red gachapon one that is wearing a sky-blue oversized sweater that had a yellow star design in the center. 

Another Toon you vaguely recognized was standing…sitting(?) next to the red gachapon one, which appeared to be the butterfly Toon from the meeting some time ago. Both seemingly in heavy conversation with both Rodger and Toodles.

There were also two more Toons standing amongst the small group that you don’t recognize that well. You can barely recall if you ever saw them at the meeting, but they were probably there.

One of the new Toons was a bright blue with a shiny gloss covering her body. The Toon could be seen wearing a pink dress, wearing yellow and pink stockings, and her head was decorated with a large pink bow with a yellow clasp in the middle. Strangely enough…her face looked familiar to you. A vague memory of you passing through the food court in the Gardenview halls brings you a fleeting memory of the soda machines that would be sitting in the guest areas.

The other Toon was colored a vibrant purple with a patterned square head. Their head also appeared to have a large metallic wind-up key sticking out of the back of it in a similar fashion to an old-style music box. The top of their head seemed to be a dark purple and matched the color of their chest, which was bare in typical Toon fashion. The Toon also seemed to be wearing some pants, which were blue in color, and they also seemed to be wearing a bandana around their neck with similar coloration.

Your approach didn’t go unnoticed, as Toodles was the quickest one to notice you approaching from a fair distance away. 

She suddenly waves at you, making you smile slightly at her and wave back in return. Her excitement seems to cause a few of the Toons some confusion before they finally turn around and see you approaching.

The Toons were surprisingly lax about you walking up to them, with the exception being the purple music box toon, as they seemed to shy away from you slightly and hold onto the bottom of their head with both hands in a nervous fashion.

“Hiya, Fendy!” Toodles grins at you as she scampers away from Rodger’s side to approach you at the edge of the elevated garden area. You couldn’t help but laugh lightly and nod at her in greeting. “Hey kid.” You reply.

Rodger was soon approaching you as well, his hands held in front of his chest in an orderly fashion as he stood next to Toodles on the edge of the garden plot. You smile politely at the Toon and nod in his direction.

“Hello again, Rodger.” Rodger bows at you slightly in return. “Likewise, Defender.” He states, his voice smooth and deep. 

Then you look towards the other Toons and offer them a humble nod too. “Hello to the rest of you all as well.” You smile, which seems to make the new Toons wave or smile in response and approach you as well, all gathering to the edge of the garden plot to get a better view of you.

“I see some new faces I haven’t met before.” You say, looking towards the bright blue and purple toons specifically. Incidentally making the purple one shrink down a little in response. You hope your scarred appearance wasn’t making them nervous…hopefully they were just shy.

“Oh?” Rodger says, looking at the other Toons in response. “You haven’t met anyone else?” He asks, curiously looking back at you with a bewildered look in his eye. You shake your head in response. “I... uh…”

Well…what was your excuse?

You never did approach the Toons you saw out and about during the nighttime hours for one reason or another. You just tend to stay away and keep your head buried in your duties. It’s a…bad habit you picked up on in previous workplaces. Previous experiences with coworkers have probably taught you to be quite…unsocial.

“I guess I’ve just been so busy this past week that I tend to forget to say hello to anyone.” You lie. “I apologize if I may have come off aloof to any of you because of my diligence.” You apologize, giving them an exasperated sigh as you rub your neck.

Rodger merely hums in understanding.

“It’s quite alright. I find myself also getting lost in my work from time to time as well, it’s understandable.” He emphasizes. Toodles then suddenly speaks up as she rocks back and forth on her feet next to him.

“He does it a little TOO much if you ask me!” Rodger’s gaze goes flat in response.

“But yeah! Fendy gets lost in thought a lot just like Rodger does! They didn’t even notice that I was following them for a while during my investigation! Hehehe!” Toodles continues while giggling, making Rodger look at her in an incredulous manner.

“ Toodles .” He starts, his voice firm as he looks at her. “What do you mean by that?” Toodles almost seems to realize her error as her eyes grow large in realization.

Toodles looks to the side with wide guilty eyes.

“Uh… nothing! ” She hurriedly states, avoiding eye contact and looking everywhere else but towards Rodger next to her.

You can only laugh softly as you witnessed the kid completely tell on herself in front of her idol. On the bright side, you kept your pinkie promise to Toodles. On the other hand, you should probably teach the kid the meaning behind the phrase ‘loose lips, sink ships’ as the other toons laugh in response.

Rodger lets out a long and defeated sigh.

“We’ll talk about this later, Toodles.” He states as he clears his throat. “But now that we’re all here, why don’t you all introduce yourselves to the new defender?” Rodger inquires, looking over at the other Toons next to him and Toodles.

“Like, yeah!” The red gachapon speaks up, waving one of her covered sleeves in the air as she gives you a rather lazy smile in greeting. “My name is Gigi, and I have the best collection of cool stuff and souvenirs outta all these toons!” She states proudly.

Gigi then gestures with her other sleeved hand to the butterfly toon next to her. “And this is Flutters! She doesn’t speak, but she’s very nice! I help her write in her diary sometimes because she doesn’t have the arms to do so.” Gigi explains.

You smile in response to their introduction. “It’s nice to officially meet you Gigi and Flutters.” You reply. Both of the Toons merely just give you their own respective smiles as Gigi drops her arms to her sides once more.

Then, the shiny blue Toon speaks up while also giving you a rather energetic wave.

“HELLO!” Her loud greeting makes you jump a little as she gives you a bright smile. “My name is Poppy! I’m so happy that I can finally get to meet you! Lots of Toons have been talking about their encounters with you! Especially Toodles! Like when she talks about all the nights you two meet up and talk--”

“ Poppy!!! ”

Poppy is suddenly cut off from her rambling by Toodles as the smaller toon glares at her, and Rodger merely crosses his arms in disapproval while giving Toodles a firm glare from behind her. Poppy just silently covers her mouth in realization.

Oof. Double whammy for poor Toodles.

“Oops…I forgot that was supposed to be a secret…” Poppy shamefully admits as Toodles puffs out her cheeks in a firm pout and places her hands on her hips.

“We are definitely having a conversation about your nightly ‘investigations’ later on, Toodles.” Rodger speaks up from behind Toodles, making the young toon hang her head and nod slowly.

Then, his gaze lands on Poppy instead. “Feel free to continue, Poppy.” He urges.

“I…er, right! Well…other than that little hiccup , a lot of toons have been talking about you and it’s nice to meet you after all this time! Feel free to say hello to me anytime you see me!” Poppy beams, to which you return the gesture with a slight smile of your own.

However, the purple Toon standing next to Poppy remained quiet.

Maybe you should initiate the conversation instead? Maybe that will take the responsibility of speaking up off of the Toon and make them more comfortable…? You don;t know until you try.

“What about you?” The purple toon jumps, and their eyes look up meekly into yours. “Can you tell me your name too?” You ask the Toon gently.

A moment of silence passes before Poppy gently nudges the toon with her elbow. Making the toon grunt in response before they finally speak up.

“U-Uh…my name is Boxten.” He says softly. “I’m friends with Poppy and…I-I kind of find you a little scary, I guess?” He finishes and looks off to the side to avoid your gaze.

Well…at least Boxten is honest.

“What? Scary?? No way! They’re cool! Just look at all the scars they have!” Gigi argues, pointing towards your face. “I would look so cool if I had scars like that on my face!”

“Yeah!!” Toodles suddenly shouts. “I would be so scary if I had scars like that too!” She proudly says, only for Gigi to blow an unimpressed raspberry her way.

“Pffth. You? Scary? Nah. You’re too small.” Toodles takes offense to this and turns to challenge Gigi by puffing up her chest. “Hey! I can be scary!”

“Nu-uh!” Gigi replies while wagging one of her sleeve covered arms at Toodles in response. 

“Ya-huh! Watch this! Pebbles has taught me a thing or two!” Toodles exclaims, much to everyone’s confusion. The name itself rang a distant bell in the depths of your mind…Pebbles…

Wasn’t that the name of the strange dog-like thing from the meeting or–

Suddenly, Toodles gets on all fours. Which  pretty much renders every Toon in the area speechless in both a mixture of astonishment and amusement. Then, she starts growling.

Gigi is not impressed.

“That’s not scary!” Gigi shouts. “That’s just being cringe! ”

“Bark bark!” Toodles snarls while squatting and staring at Gigi with a pair of wild eyes. 

“Stop that! You’re being weird–TOODLES!” Gigi then screams as Toodles charges her like a deformed ape. 

Both of them break away from the group as Gigi runs around the tree with Toodles hot on her heels. While chasing Gigi like a rabid monkey, Toodles makes incomprehensible gurgling noises and sputters.

None of the other Toons moved or reacted, despite your worries. 

Does this…happen a lot? It probably does. 

Seeing as Rodger was pinching the bridge of his non-existent nose and saying that “she has been hanging out with Pebbles too much”, Poppy and Boxten just watched on the sideline while laughing and smiling with amusement, and Flutters also seemed to be laughing–despite no noises coming from her at all.

Seeing everyone in front of you just having fun, while you were present as well, just seemed to stir up something deep within yourself. You feel your chest filling up with pressure and your facial facade cracks under your sudden confusion in response to what was happening to you.

Then, you feel your cheeks pulling back and your eyes crinkling with visible mirth.

Were you… enjoying this?

You couldn’t even stop the process, as the pressure in your chest became stronger, moved up your throat, and your mouth seemed to open slightly automatically in response. 

Then out of your mouth came sound.

For a moment, you didn’t feel like you had to stay silent for once in your life. The sound flew freely from your jaws like it was natural.

You were laughing .

You laughed and you laughed hard . Trying to get a grip multiple times and failing. 

For once…you felt relieved to finally let out some pressure from the bottle you had stuffed your most tender emotions into so long ago.

But eventually, the laughter slowly dissipates and you find yourself gasping for breath at the end of it. You manage to calm yourself down and you finally take notice that most of the Toons had gathered around the edge of the garden plot to watch you at some point.

Each Toon was wearing a large smile or looking happy to some extent. Even Boxten seemed to be giving you a smile from his spot a few inches away from the others, even if it was laced with his usual nervousness.

How…long were you laughing? When did they all approach you?? Did they…see all of that?

Then you suddenly find yourself feeling…shy.

You haven’t lost your composure like that in so long. You honestly can’t remember the last time you laughed to an extent like that. It made you feel…vulnerable. Like you were exposing something so weak and tender about yourself to others.

You can’t lie…it felt nice.

You cough into your fist and look away from the onlookers–trying in vain to regain whatever control you once had of the situation, if you even had any to begin with, and you clear your throat.

“Sorry.” You say, albeit in a tone softer than your usual voice.

“Don’t apologize! That looked like the most fun you have ever had since coming here!” Poppy exclaims. “It’s an improvement!!” She finishes, giving you two thumbs up. The other Toons seemed to nod in agreement with her statement.

You just smile slightly, your neutral facade back in its place and a faint looming headache pulsing in the back of your mind from the laughing episode.

Everyone takes a moment to soak up the afterglow from the fun that had just happened, but you then decide to take a look at your watch only to see it was getting late. You needed to help the Toons get their tasks done as soon as possible.

“I think it’s time we all get down to business before it gets any later.” You state, pointing at your watch. “We do have some tasks to do before 2AM .”

Suddenly, it was like the atmosphere changed and all the Toons began to look nervously at one another. Rodger seemed to finally get a moment of peace to think before nodding in agreement.

“I agree.” He states. “In fact, it’s what we were talking about before you arrived, Defender.” Rodger then looks towards the other Toons who seem to be looking between eachother.

“So…is everyone ready to work together tonight?” You ask, looking amongst them all. However, Rodger speaks up. “Oh, we are not going down there all at once! We take turns every few nights by going in smaller groups.” Rodger explains.

You give a look of light surprise as the Toons all nod in unison.

“Yeah…” Poppy suddenly speaks, rubbing her neck while Boxten only seemed to grow more nervous. “It’s our turn tonight.” She continues, gesturing between herself and Boxten.

“And it will be Connie, Flutters, and my turn the night after tomorrow.” Gigi speaks up. Then Rodger and Toodles nod along in agreement. “And Toodles, Glisten, and I will go down two nights after that.” Rodger explains, looking towards you now.

You seemed to slowly understand how their routine seems to go as you nod along. So…that’s probably why you have been seeing groups of the Toons in the foyer every few nights over the past week. They were taking turns going down into the depths of Gardenview. But it must be a harrowing process to undergo.

Judging by how each Toon seemed to be worried or even…afraid.

Admittedly, even you were a little nervous about going down into the depths tonight.

But you couldn’t show that type of weakness around your charges. You are their defender and you’re supposed to protect the Toons from anything that can do them harm. Be it from a machine or…otherwise.

With you standing beside them, nothing will be allowed to touch them.

It’s your purpose after all.

“Hey.” You find yourself saying, making the Toons look towards your direction. “It’s going to be alright. As long as I’m around, whatever it is that you are all afraid of won’t even have the chance to get close enough to hurt you.” You announce with a stoic expression.

The Toons look between each other for reassurance and you continue.

“The previous defenders before me may have failed you all…but I solemnly swear…” Your gaze hardens towards nobody in particular as you finish your statement. “I will show you all what I am capable of and how I survived long enough to experience getting these scars while in the military.”

With your firmer reassurance, and possibly also from your intimidating stance and promise, the Toons seem to become a little more confident.

“Well…” Rodger speaks up, looking toward Poppy. “I guess you can open the elevator now.”

The memory of the elevator seems to snap you back out of reality for a moment before you look around in a confused manner. What elevator?? There’s nothing here except for that large metal wall…

Wait a minute.

As if to answer your lingering doubts, Poppy had gotten off of the central garden platform and walked over to the large metal door in question. She then pries open a hidden wall panel that was tucked off to the side and flips an unseen lever.

Then suddenly, the large metal “wall” begins to move.

The large sheet of metal turned out to be a large industrious elevator . 

Fit with a steel door, metal barriers, cold tile flooring, industrial lighting, and large gears just outside of the safety area.

How did you miss seeing this during your nightly patrols?! All the times you passed through here, it was just closed? You either had the best timing or the worst timing–depending on how you look at it.

The elevator finishes opening with a hiss and a subtle ‘ding-ding’ echoing out from the intercom within. Poppy then steps away from the opening to stand just in front of it, Boxten then joins her shortly afterward.

“I guess it’s time…” Poppy nervously says as Boxten nods in agreement. “Y-Yeah…the faster we get it over with…the better…” Boxten softly agrees, his hands holding onto the bottom of his head anxiously.

Then both Toons turn to look at you expectantly and you immediately know what they wanted you to do. It was time to get on the elevator and head down to fulfill your duties…and finally face whatever is down there waiting for you all.

You take a deep breath and begin to head over to the elevator.

“Good luck to you all! Make it your priority to get back in one piece as soon as possible!” Rodger advises while standing and waving as the others did the same. “Be safe, Fendy!! Good luck!!” Toodles shouts out as you walk past the two Toons you would be accompanying down in the depths.

“I will, Toodles.” You say with an unwavering voice as Poppy and Boxten get into the elevator with you. “We will be back soon.” You say, turning around and staring outside at the others who remained standing in the garden plot. Feeling a bit touched that they all seemed worried about you all.

Poppy then presses a button on the right side of the elevator…and the massive steel shutter for the elevator slams closed, trapping you all on the inside.

Afterwards, you feel the world shift and your descent in the depths of Gardenview begins.

The same place that had broken so many defenders before you…

Yet, despite the constant mysteries, shadiness, and tales you have heard about the depths…you found yourself becoming more and more worried about the Toons that were now under your care as you looked between Boxten and Poppy who stood just to the side of you.

 What if they DO get hurt? What if you don’t do a good job at protecting them…? What if you fail them despite your promises? Would they ever trust you again if you don’t succeed?

Would they die like…

. . .

No.

You would not fall into despair nor into a mental spiral of worry. Fear was the enemy of courage after all, and you had more control here in Gardenview than you did with…them…on the battlefield so many years ago.

Despite how much you refused to fully realize it…you were a fighter. 

Even if you never wanted to be one…your life was always filled with struggles big and small, and you never had much control over any of it. You pushed through everything–no matter how unconquerable something seemed or how steep the challenge was. No matter what, you lived…and you will keep on living.

You are a Toon Defender and this is your purpose. 

The Toons need protection and you are more than willing to give it to them. 

It was the least you could do in return for them being as welcoming and kind to someone like yourself. 

Even if you just started working here a week ago and you only know a few of the Toons around here…they are slowly becoming the best thing that has ever happened to you. You would look after them.You internally promise that nothing will happen to the two Toons currently in your care.

Your gaze sharpened into icy steel and your dormant soldier spirit is reawakened with a fiery hot determination as your descent into the depths continues.

Whatever happens the moment this elevator door opens…

You will be prepared for whatever dwells down here waiting for you.

Chapter Text

The elevator lets out a groan while it descends. 

But eventually, the descent slows and it takes a second or two for it to slowly come to a stop on the floor that Poppy had selected.

You had taken up a protective position in front of your Toon charge,with Poppy on one side and Boxten on the other. Each of them looked a little nervous–with the exception being yourself. Your expression was stiff with a stoic determination as the elevator came to a complete stop.

Then, the large steel door in front of you all suddenly lets out a loud click.

You brace yourself as the door to the elevator swings upward and it lets out a typical ‘ding ding’ audio cue in response to the arrival of the chosen floor.

You step outside the elevator first, surveying the area for any possible lurking dangers as the Toons slowly creep out of the elevator behind you. Also taking a moment to look around to see if there was anything or anyone lurking around just outside the elevator.

Then, the elevator door slams shut behind you all with a bang–causing you to nearly jump out of your skin.

You turn to look at the elevator in shock. You blinked in confusion as you looked around for any levers off to the sides to see if you would be able to open it from this side…in which you found none.

“Uh…was that supposed to close on us or…?” You find yourself asking the Toons, as they look up at you and towards the elevator in response. “Oh…yeah. The elevator has to remain closed for safety precautions…and it will only open back up if the machines that we are supposed to refill are completed.” Poppy explains.

She then points to the top of the elevator door, revealing multiple lights at the top. 

You counted a total of four lights–which glowed with an ominous red color.

“You see those lights?” You nod in confirmation. “Those lights will turn green whenever a machine is completed. Once all of them are finished, it will pop the lock and the elevator will open once again…” You let out a sigh of relief. 

“But only for a limited amount of time.” Poppy finishes.

You balk at the Toon with a look of bewilderment.

“There’s a timer on the elevator?! Why??” You find yourself asking as Poppy and Boxten just give you shrugs in response. “We don’t know…most Toons just think it’s a safety feature…” Boxten quietly explains.

You find yourself looking at the elevator in confusion before a thought comes to your mind.

“What happens when it closes?” You inquire, in which the Toons let out a hum. “Well, it won’t open again until the machines need to be refilled once more. At least, that’s the theory that Rodger has come up with that seems the most logical.” Poppy explains, giving you another shrug.

You take her explanation with a nod before another, and a far more harrowing thought, enters your mind in regards to the elevator.

“. . .What happens if it closes and you get stuck down here?” Poppy and Boxten share a worried glance towards each other. “Well…you get left behind and…we don’t really know what else happens after that. You may disappear or…worse.” Poppy states before shuddering at the thought of being left behind down here.

“Thank goodness nobody has ever been left behind…” Boxten comments, speaking quietly to nobody in particular.

You just simply find yourself pondering about what you’ve just learned.

What a strange way of going about things down here in the depths. The process wasn’t sensible to a certain extent, so you try to relay the information into your head once again.

You have to take an elevator down into the depths and the same elevator you rely on has a complex locking mechanism that only opens when the required tasks are completed…AND it can leave you behind in the depths for whatever else dwells down here to do with you as they please.

You can suddenly understand why the Toons are so frightful when they do have to come down here…it’s like they’re forced to do these tasks and put their lives on the line for…whatever precarious reason.

You find yourself looking away from the elevator and towards the location at which you found yourselves in.

Which was equally as ominous in nature as the elevator was.

The floor you all had stopped on appeared to be some type of activity zone for young children. You think ‘young children’ because of all the hip-height furniture that was strewn about the place. Far too small for any adults like you to be comfortable using, that’s for sure.

Amongst the array of children's furniture were beanbags, old sofas, scattered old drawings, shelves filled with forgotten toys, aged posters, a few bulky computers sitting on desks in open cubicles, and a couple of TVs. The walls were a faded color with a rainbow stripe painted on the wall that has long since lost its vibrant colors, and some dusty glass panes separated some of the rooms. Judging by the dust covering everything, this place has been abandoned for some time.

At least these floors were still capable of having power, as you can see a few appliances still having some source of power with blinking red lights. Such as VHS players, TVs, Computer towers, and you can even see the old surveillance cameras on the ceiling still blinking with their red recording lights. If any of them work it would be another thing entirely. Just like the computer in your security office being disconnected despite being powered–most of these devices were probably just powered and nothing else. Which just added to the overall eerie vibe that these lower floors gave off.

This place was decrepit and it was surprising to you that such a floor existed under gardenview at all. It was a shocking contrast to what lies just above on the surface. 

It was like this place underneath was abandoned and the surface was the only area that guests were allowed nowadays. It would make sense to a degree, since the surface was probably the largest floor out of everything here and it would have the most shops and attractions in comparison.

Still…seeing all of this down here just left behind to rot didn’t instill a good feeling inside of yourself.

You also took notice of a creeping darkness one could see in the distance that shrouded the far rooms like a haze and there was a potent scent of iron tainting the air. It was quite peculiar, seeing as the fog was seeping out from the floor below…and it rose high enough into the air to linger on your tongue and in your nose like a foul tasting smoke.

A memory of a rule that soldier survivalists shared with their troops appears in the forefront of your mind in response to the atmosphere–if someplace was abandoned so quickly that the previous owners didn’t even have the time to take their supplies with them, then something went very very wrong and you need to leave the area as quickly as you can.

Your intuition was going into overdrive as you eyed the distant rooms and observed the distant dark haze that hung in the rooms like some form of cursed fog. You felt a familiar feeling that made your skin prickle in response…

You felt like you were being watched .

This place…there was something obviously very wrong with it.

All of you needed to get outta here as soon as possible.

“Let's hurry and get these tasks done. The sooner we get out of here, the better.” You say to the toons sternly, who both nodded in agreement. “Yeah! This place gives me the creeps!” Poppy admits as she picks a direction and you both follow her lead further into the floor.

“Keep an eye out for a red-looking light! It will help us find a machine!” Poppy continues as you all walk together in a tight troop. “I’ll try my best…” Boxten responds quietly while you hum in acknowledgement.

However, you keep your gaze focused on your surroundings.

Your eyes trail over the distant rooms with careful steady precision and attentiveness as the feeling of being stalked didn’t go away. You could still feel the goosebumps crawling around your body in response to an unseen pair of eyes watching you from some undetected hiding place.

You would keep vigilant while the Toons did their business.

The moment the small troop turns the corner, Poppy lets out a gasp.

“There’s one!” She excitedly says while pointing in a direction just ahead. “Let’s get over there and get you to work on it, Boxten!” She exclaims and then she quickly grabs Boxten by the hand and pulls him along–making him let out a surprised squeak as his walking pace had to pick up somewhat to match hers.

You quickly follow right behind them and keep looking around for any dangers as you all go across the room to reach the machine that was nestled in a far corner.

Upon reaching the machine, you take in the appearance of it. 

You could see a bright red valve on the lower part of the strange vat-like container that was in between the two parts of the machine. There were a couple of ‘staff only’ stickers placed about the machine, which was rather strange.Yet, the top part of the machine was the most peculiar, as it had a bright red light on the front of it and a pipe coming down from the ceiling going into it.

Like it was intended to have something poured into it…but what?

To bolster your confusion even more, the moment Boxten began to work on the machine, the fluid that came out of the pipe was unlike anything you've ever seen before. It was an inky black fluid with a strange amount of thick viscosity to it.

Your curiosity about it only grew as Boxten continued to work on the machine and turn the valve to slowly fill the machine up with the strange substance.

“What is that?? ” You find yourself asking, looking at the black fluid with a mixture of curiosity and slight disgust.

“Oh, that?” Poppy replies, pointing to the black liquid inside. “That’s ichor.” She answers passively, much to your confusion and interest. “Ichor…?” You mutter curiously while observing it flow into the glass vessel of the machine.

“It’s…complicated.” Poppy mumbles. “It’s like…a liquid that kinda has similar properties to us Toons? Like…” Poppy seemed to be at a loss in her attempt at explaining the fluid. “You know…I never really thought too much about ichor before. We’ve just been told to extract it with these machines and that we drip a similar fluid when we get hurt.” Poppy gives you a curious gaze as she rubs her chin with her hand in thought.

“I don’t know much about it either…” Boxten grunts out as he continues to turn the valve. “But maybe Rodger knows? He’s been looking into this stuff for some time. M-Maybe you can ask him about it when we get back?” He offers as you think about it a little more.

In your mind, you take mental notes. Poppy mentioned that they don’t really know too much about ichor…just that they’re told to extract it…and that they bleed it? Is ichor… Toon blood?? The thought makes you feel rather uneasy at the idea that these machines harvest the Toon equivalent of blood.

Suddenly, Boxten lets out a strained huff as the machine gets filled to the brim with ichor and the valve can’t turn anymore. Then the light at the top of the machine turns green, signalling that this machine was finished being refilled.

You also swore that the moment the machine’s light had turned green, you heard a distant click from the direction of the elevator. 

So…that’s how these things work.

“T-That’s one down…we gotta find the last three and then we can leave…” Boxten sighs in relief as Poppy smiles. “That was a great extraction, Boxten! Good job!” She encourages with two thumbs up and Boxten just gives her a small smile in return.

You, however, continue to look at the strange fluid with curiosity as the Toons begin to head out to look for another machine. You find this substance odd…and not even the Toons themselves know why they are extracting this fluid. Where does a black liquid like this even come from? Why are they even extracting it…and for who? 

Your eyes squint at the fluid within the container in suspicion.

Whatever this stuff is…it just wasn’t natural.

“Defender!” You find yourself being called out of your thoughts, as you quickly turn to see Boxten and Poppy looking back at you from a fair distance away. “Are you coming or not??”

You look at the machine for a second before turning away to return to your charges. “Yeah, sorry. I got lost in thought.” You apologized, hurrying over to their side before you all began to move on together.

Poppy lets out a few light giggles. “Toodles is right! You space out a lot like Rodger does!” You can only let out an overly exaggerated sigh and give the two toons a slight smile in response.

Still, you find yourself giving slight stares over your shoulder as the machine with a green light slowly moves out of sight.

You would probably ask Rodger about whatever ichor is supposed to be later.

Maybe then you’ll learn more about it from him after all of this is said and done.

For now, you walk with Poppy and Boxten to the next potential area to try and find the last machines you all need to work on.

–

It took a bit of wandering, but eventually your group managed to find another machine tucked away in some cubicle area. 

Boxten had gotten to work on it and Poppy was looking around a few corners nearby to see if she could spot any more machines that were lingering around just out of sight. You stood protectively in the space between them both, while staying slightly closer to Boxten.

The further your group ventured into the floor, the stronger the scent of iron and the thicker the dark mist became. It was like you were all standing in some early morning haze at this point and you would wrinkle your nose every time you took a deep breath from the smell.

However, you were on high alert.

Earlier on, just before your team found this machine in the cubicle, you could’ve sworn that you saw something moving around where the couches are located some ways away. It was hard to make out in the shadows, but you definitely think you saw something wandering around back there.

Your eyes scan the distance diligently and you kept a close eye on both of your charges as they continued their duties. You promised them that nothing would happen to them, and you intend on keeping that promise.

Poppy eventually comes back to rejoin the group while giving you both a smile.

“I found a machine not too far away and I think the last one is in that room over there.” She reports, pointing in the two directions where she discovered the machines.

You nod at her. “Excellent job, Poppy. Just stay close, okay? I have a bad feeling that something is around here.” You warn, to which she nods urgently and goes to stand next to Boxten as he finishes the machine.

Your eyes scan the surroundings once again. 

Watching…waiting…and then your ears begin to pick up on something despite the sound of the machine gurgling next to you. 

You suddenly focus your ears into listening harder and harder, yet it was proving difficult to focus on the auditory anomaly because of the creaking machine not too far from you, then the machine Boxten was working on let out a beep and the light turned green.

“Another one done…” Boxten says softly, as Poppy gives him a bright smile in return. “Awesome! The other machines are over there and they are fairly close to each other! One of us can work on each of them and we can be out of here–” You cut Poppy off.

“ Shh. ” You find yourself hissing at them, causing both Poppy and Boxten to look at you in surprise.

But upon seeing your focused gaze and the way your head slowly turns from left to right like you were listening for something, they suddenly find themselves huddling closer to each other and ducking behind you for protection as you scan the surroundings.

For a moment, you figured that your paranoia may have just gotten the best of you…

But then you hear it clearly echoing out from the silence.

Footsteps.

“Footsteps.” You whisper to the Toons. “Hide!” You order, to which Poppy and Boxten both sprint over to a pile of stacked boxes and crates nearby that were just plentiful enough to hide them from view.

You, however, did not hide.

You were going to face whatever came out into the open head on.

You stand in the middle of the room as your Toon charges looked on from their safe spot some ways away, as the footsteps only grew louder and louder. You merely stood there waiting for the entity to reveal themselves.

Then out of the hallway nearby…a looming figure emerged…

And it looked like… Boxten?!

Your eyes widened in confusion as the hidden adversary was shown to be eerily similar to one of your Toon charges that you were sworn to protect…except they looked like a demented version of themselves.

This “Boxten” had a mostly similar appearance to their Toon counterpart, except its feet are covered in ichor that left wet footprints as it walked and its head was unlatched while dripping with more of that mysterious ichor fluid. You also noticed that there were two large arms sticking out of its head that ended with sharpened claws on each hand and they appeared to be made out of ichor.

However, the most striking thing you noticed about this “Boxten” was that instead of having a normal face like your charge, it was sporting… glowing red eyes and a smile filled with sharp serrated teeth.

Dandy didn’t lie to you. There were monsters down here.

You found yourself unnerved by the entity–however, you steel your nerves as those bright red eyes lock onto your form standing in the middle of the room.

Its rounded black pupils constrict in response to seeing you and it lets out a guttural hiss in response. The key on the back of its head begins to spin rapidly and the ichor hands open their clenching grips…

Then, it charges.

You could feel your instincts fly into action as this monster runs at you in a full sprint. You quickly jump to the side to evade the swiping claws as they try to grab your body with a lunge. In response to its approach, you spin on your heel and deliver a swift kick to the entity’s midsection.

It skids away a few feet from yourself and it struggles with standing for a moment. It spits out a cough of ichor in response to the blow, its mouth now dripping with the stuff, but it regains its composure and it is quickly running after you once again. Hissing and letting out guttural growls as it does so. 

You use yourself as bait to lure the creature back to you and away from your charge’s hiding spot, where they watch you take on this thing in fear, as you attempt to dodge it again when it lunges for you.

However, this time changes its angle and it catches a leg–causing you to trip. 

You fall on your knees and your eyes go wide as this thing JUMPS on you. You recover just as quickly and stand up, your own hands grappling with the monster’s midsection as the head-hands attempt to swipe at your face and the normal Boxten arms attempt to strangle you.

You both grapple and struggle for control as you throw yourself around the room, knocking things over and creating a commotion. The weight of the entity was similar to that of a small child and it was enough to throw off your balance. You let out various cusses and grunts as it attempts to get enough leverage to either hurt you or kill you.

You can hear the ripping of your uniform as the claws from the ichor-covered claws try to tear through the fabric to get at your skin just beneath. The damn beast even tries to BITE you! Thankfully, your hands hold it just far enough away that those sharp teeth can’t bury themselves into the flesh of your neck.

Then, it slashes your cheek and you suddenly see red.

You feel either adrenaline or anger completely overthrow your senses and you grip the monster’s torso with both of your hands with the strength of a vice.

“ GET– ” You growl as you tear it off of your body. “ --OFF! ” You shout angrily as you hold onto its writhing body with a white-knuckle grip, rear back your arms as far as they could go, and throw it across the room with exceptional force.

The monster is hurled across the room from the force of your throw, landing into a cubicle and sending the computer, files, papers, and the divider crashing down onto the floor in a mess of chaos.

You gasp for breath as your uniform, and some of your exposed neck, had scratches and tears on them. Despite the stinging sensation, the only place you seemed to be bleeding from was the scratch across your cheek. You look towards the Toons and you find them still hiding and watching with either awe or fear as you gesture in the directions of the remaining machines with your hand.

They seem to get your wordless mess and you can see them whispering to one another urgently before both of them sneak around to get to the machines.

You focus back on your adversary, seeing that it wasn’t done. 

It crawled out of the place where you threw it with mounting aggression. Its eyes are like pinpricks now as it snarls at you in anger and begins to work on getting out of the pile of fallen office debris to attack you again.

You felt around your person, looking for anything that you could use to defend yourself with the time you had before its next assault on you, but you only felt your flashlight, keyring, and your card carrier. That’s fine, you were a resourceful person.

During the war, sometimes you would find yourself in certain situations where you didn’t have ammunition, a knife, or anything else that counted as a “weapon”. But during conflicts where anything could go wrong, sometimes you have to get creative to stay alive.

A clever soldier can make a weapon out of anything. A gun with no ammunition, barbed wire, alcohol bottles and lighters, tire irons, glass shards, and even old metal tins. A soldier can even use the environment to their advantage if they were smart about it. Doesn’t even have to be something complicated like a river or a cliff. It could be something as simple as a rock or even a stick.

The monster begins to charge you again and you reach over to the nearby children’s table to pick up one of the small chairs with both of your hands.

And this was going to be your stick.

You see the monster try to skid to a halt to try and turn around or dodge. But it was too slow. 

You lift the chair high above your head and bring it down onto “Boxten”, shattering it into smaller wooden parts as you do so. The monster falls to the floor in response to the force of the assault and it lets out a couple of shrill shrieks as it writhes in pain on its stomach from being hit.

You didn’t stop there.

You pick up whatever was left of the chair’s legs, pin the entity down under your knees, and you begin bludgeoning it with the legs of the broken chair. 

You wear an enraged face as you strike it again and again, not wanting to stop until it ceases moving, ichor splattering your face as you do so. The monster struggles under you, letting out shrill cries as you bash it again repeatedly in the head. Wooden shards are sent flying all around and they mix with ichor from “Boxten” as you commit fully to this act of violence.

Once the weapon in your hand was reduced to nothing but splinters, you finally got up off of “Boxten” and kicked it onto its back to look at your handy work. 

The monster was leaking black fluid from its mouth in rivers and one of its eyes is covered in ichor from your attacks. It appeared to be missing teeth and parts of the body were blackened with ichor from your assault. Most importantly, it seemed that those grasping head-hands were out of commission for good as it’s head seemed to be decently caved in.

You watch it with a merciless gaze, as if you were daring it to move again.

It didn’t appear to be moving anymore.

You take a moment to catch your breath and drop the broken chair pieces to the ground. 

You gasp harshly as your heart races in your chest and you wipe at some of the ichor splatters on your face with the back of your hand–mixing it with your blood from the scratch on your cheek as you did so. Only making it a smeared mess of ichor and blood across your skin in the process.

You take another moment to look at “Boxten” and then you sneer at the monster below you.

Suddenly, you hear a scream.

You immediately turn towards the sound, completely on full alert, as you see Poppy run through the hallway. She immediately spots your form and waves at you for assistance.

“Defender!! Help me! Twisted!! ” She cries out in fear as another ichor-dripping entity comes running around the corner in hot pursuit…and it looks just like her too?! What is going on!?

This time, the entity looked like Poppy. It was nearly identical in appearance, except the bow on its head was torn and dripping with ichor. The feet are covered in ichor, just like “Boxten” is, and it has the same red eyes and sharp teeth that the other monster had.

Immediately, you jump into action and charge the entity that was chasing Poppy.

You gained a lot of speed from sprinting over to assist, that the “Poppy” in question didn’t have time to even process that you were approaching, and that you had reeled your foot back in preparation to make it an astronaut. 

You deliver a swift strike with your kick to the monster’s midsection and send it flying off into a nearby adjacent room. There was the sound of it impacting a desk in the room shortly after. Items of various sizes and materials could be heard falling to the ground and devices breaking or shattering as the chaos rang out from within. You would like to think that it was taken care of from the sound it made when it impacted the desk, but you knew that wouldn’t be the last you would see of it.

You look towards Poppy who seemed both stunned and terrified.

“Where’s Boxten!?” You urgently say and it takes Poppy a moment to gather her bearings before she responds. “He’s working on a machine nearby! I was working on a machine too until that twisted found me!” She explains.

Twisteds? Is that what these monsters are called?

It didn’t matter at the moment, you can always ask questions later, you can already see the “Poppy” recovering from the kick and beginning to return to the place where you two are, albeit slowly. 

You need to get these Toons back to safety unless more of these monsters decide to show up!

“Hurry! Go and finish those machines, we have got to get out of here!” You order, to which Poppy nods and sprints off to go complete the machine she was working on when she was chased away.

You stand there, waiting for your new adversary to enter the fight once again.

You make sure that the “Poppy” sees you and she immediately gives chase. Even though this one had less reach than the “Boxten” from earlier, you didn’t underestimate it. One wrong move and it can knock you down just like the other one did.

You dodge the swipes from the monster and lead it back into the main area where you fought “Boxten” earlier. You both circle one another in the room as you give her a menacing glare and she returns the aggression by hissing at you and showing off her sharp teeth.

You heard a machine let out a ‘ding’ somewhere off in the nearby area, meaning that Boxten was probably finished with his task and all that was left was for Poppy to finish hers. As long as you kept this “Poppy” busy, you all would be able to get out of here just fine.

Despite your advantages on these “twisteds”, they still had sharp teeth and claws to contend with. You had size and strength on your side, but that could be a detriment in certain scenarios. But you still felt confident enough to take on this lone monster…

However, what you didn’t expect to be was jumped on from behind.

Your eyes suddenly grow wide with surprise as you feel a weight crash into your back and you stumble. Your confusion was evident as you turned to see where “Boxten” was earlier, finding just a black pool of ichor where it was before. 

How was this damn twisted not fucking DEAD?!

You could already feel a familiar pair of claws grasping your back and tearing at your uniform. You start to thrash about as “Boxten” latches onto your uniform, letting out aggressive gurgling hisses as he tries to scale your back to get to your vulnerable neck once again.

You also try to keep an eye on “Poppy” as she gets bold enough to start making lunges at you and to get even closer to you as “Boxten” rips into your uniform for grip and tries to climb up your back.

You were now dealing with two enemies at once.

You let out pained grunts through gritted teeth as the claws scratch your back through your uniform, “Poppy” makes lunges at you to throw off your balance, and you desperately try to get “Boxten”off of your back. You try to violently shake “Boxten” off of your back as you sprint and hop away from “Poppy” while she gives chase.

You feel exhaustion wearing on you as you struggle to think clearly with so much going on around yourself.

This situation could not possibly get any worse, right?!

However, your worst fear is suddenly brought into existence as you suddenly hear another ‘ding’ go off in the distance and you hear a loud buzzer go off, along with the sound of moving metal.

The elevator!

You suddenly hear Poppy yelling out for you. “ Defender!! The machines are all done! Run! Get to the elevator!!” You hear her shout out from somewhere nearby.

You remember where the elevator was, but you just needed to get these monsters off of you so you could run away! You look around for a way to get “Boxten” off your back and you come up with an idea.

You can hit a monster… with another monster!

You struggle a bit in reaching around your back, but luck was on your side tonight, as you managed to grab a leg on “Boxten” with a steel grip. Fueled by adrenaline and stress, you pull the entity off your back with as much of your strength as you could, despite it leaving rips and scratches in your uniform in its desperate attempt to stay on your back. 

Using most of your arm strength, you swing “Boxten” over your head, and slam it down onto the “Poppy” in front of you. Both entities collapse in a heap from the sheer impact and you waste no time in bolting from the fight.

You enter a full sprint as you flee and rush to get to the elevator.

However, on the way to the elevator, you take notice of something rather peculiar laying on the ground on the way back to the elevator. It looked to be a…capsule of some kind? 

You didn’t have the time to think about it–as you simply scoop it up in one of your hands as you pass by and you keep running. You round a few corners as you can hear footsteps following you somewhere from behind–you have to get out of here before they manage to jump on you again!

As you round the final corner, the elevator came into view. 

Both Poppy and Boxten were pacing around within it with faces full of worry and fear. Once they see you, they begin to chant out “hurry” and “come on” while jumping or waving to try and encourage you to get on faster.

You pant desperately as you force your legs to go faster. You then perform a large leap once you get close enough and you successfully get into the elevator. 

You hit the back wall with some force during your stop…but you made it . 

You turn around and look out of the elevator to see both of the monsters trying to make their way to the elevator, but before they even get close–the large steel door slams shut on them. Locking them out and giving you all a safe refuge.

Then came the overwhelming relief from everyone as Poppy hurriedly pressed the button to take everyone back to the surface.

It was relieving to feel the elevator heave and for all of you to hear the sound of the gears carrying you all back to the surface of Gardenview. You had enough of exploring the depths for one night…and you think your Toon charges would agree to that statement as well.

You desperately try to regain your breath as both of the Toons look over at you in shock. 

In all honesty, you probably didn’t look the best at the moment. Given that you had quite a few rips in your uniform, some of your own blood was probably leaking through the scratches on your neck and face, and you had splatters of ichor all over your face and clothes.

Despite all of your minimal injuries, you seem not as shaken as most other people would be.

“Wow, Defender. You actually…did a great job.” Poppy says, giving you a look of awe. You can only laugh lightly in response. “Well, what can I say? I… hah …was born a fighter.” You say simply.

Then, you look at the strange capsule in your hand.

Poppy and Boxten seem to notice and both gasp. “You got a capsule!?” Poppy exclaims, pointing at the item in question. You just shrugged and held it up to your eye level, watching some of the familiar black liquid flow around inside of it.

“I saw it while I was running back to the elevator. I didn’t know what it was, so I just…snatched it.” You explain, rocking the capsule back and forth in your hand. 

You also took notice of the film reel lining the middle of the capsule…it seems to depict a character of some sort? Upon closer inspection, you could see faint shapes on the film and you think you can make out a character in the white and grey strip. The silhouette on the film looks like…Boxten?

“How peculiar…” You whisper to yourself.

Then, the real Boxten speaks up next to you.

“You know…Rodger is looking for things like those. Maybe you can…give it to him and see what he says?” Boxten offers, to which you give the shy Toon a thankful smile. “Thank you, Boxten. If he’s still in the hub area, I’ll give it to him.”

Poppy looks between you both before she speaks up.

“You know, you are handling this better than I expected.” She admits. “You’ve kinda just accepted that there’s copies of us…”

You look at Poppy with a firm flat look.

“Oh, I definitely want an explanation on how there are TWO of you when we get back into the foyer.” You state, letting out another exhausted breath as the Toons merely laugh lightly at your response.

Yet, you couldn’t help but smile at them in return.

You all made it back safe and sound, and that’s all that matters.

Still, you hope that you will finally get some more answers about what is going on around here. What is ichor? What are twisteds? How did they come to exist and why do they dwell in the depths? Why is everything down there abandoned?

Maybe talking to Rodger will help give you some insight about what is going on around here…and you feel that he will be willing to talk to you if you give him this capsule in return.

You give him stuff like this and he gives you information in return.

Yeah.

You can work with this.

You hold the capsule close to yourself as you look at your watch and find that you all managed to get your tasks done before 2AM. You were all coming back early.

You give a small smile as you look up at nothing in particular, as you were just hoping Rodger was still waiting for you all to return to the foyer.

The elevator continues its journey upwards, concluding your first dive into the depths of Gardenview.

Chapter Text

The industrial elevator groans as it slowly comes to a stop when the surface level finally arrives.

You, Poppy, and Boxten all let out a blissful sigh of relief as the door opens to reveal the familiar foyer with the tree in the center…and much to your surprise–Rodger and Toodles were sitting on the bench in front of the elevator, as if they were waiting for you all to return.

Upon seeing the elevator door open–the two Toons focus on your returning group and both of them smile in relief that you all came back okay.

“Fendy!” Toodles shouts and beams, as she hops off the bench to greet you all as you leave the elevator with Poppy and Boxten trailing behind you. “Heh…heya kid. Isn’t it a little late for you to be up at this hour?” You laugh lightly, using the hand that wasn’t carrying the capsule to rub the top of her head affectionately, making her giggle and bat away your hand in response.

However, Toodles is quick to notice the various injuries on your body, the staining of ichor all over your clothes, and the rips and tears all throughout your uniform from “Boxten” attacking you multiple times.

“Fendy, what happened?!” She balks, pointing at the rips in your clothes. “You looked like you went through a large rose bush or something!” The question made you chuckle in response.

However, Poppy speaks up before you could answer Toodle’s question.

“It was from a twisted!” Poppy shouts. “The Defender was being jumped on by a twisted and it was trying to hurt them really badly, but the Defender was too strong and threw it across the room and there was another twisted that was chasing me around, but the Defender charged them and kicked it and sent it flying into another room completely and-and–!!” Poppy excitedly explains, losing track of her thoughts as Toodles looks at her with sparkling eyes in awe as she listens to Poppy’s retelling of the events in the depths.

Boxten also speaks up as Poppy gasps for breath from her hurried explanation.

“The Defender did a great job in protecting us…even though they got hurt in return. They’re pretty strong…” Boxten meekly adds to the conversation.

“Wow…” Toodles whispers, as her eyes shimmer in mirth. “That sounds so cool!” Poppy giggles in return. “It was AWESOME! I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow, Toodles!” She offers.

Toodles looks sad in response.

“Awww! Why not tell me now??” Toodles whines. “Because it’s late and as much as I want to yap about what happened tonight…” Poppy lets out a long exhausted yawn. “I’m kinda too tired to tell the full story right now…”

Boxten also lets out a yawn, even as he tries to cover it with one of his hands.

“Yeah…I’m pretty tired too…” Boxten admits, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes with his hands. “I really wanna go to bed…” He lets out another smaller yawn.

Toodles continues to look sad and you give the young Toon a soft smile.

“Don’t worry too much about it, kid. I was just doing my job. Besides, now you’ll have something to look forward to when you hang out with the others tomorrow.” You say in an offer of comfort.

Rodger finally steps forward from his position in the background to include himself in the group conversation.

“I agree with such a statement. Besides, most of you look outright exhausted anyway. It would probably do us Toons some good to turn in for the night…” Rodger offers, to which most of the Toons agree.

However, you find yourself looking towards Rodger with veiled interest.

“Actually…Rodger, would you be willing to have a chat with me for a little bit?” Rodger looks toward you in slight surprise. “I have some questions that I would like to get at least some form of answers to…” He looks away in a moment of hesitation, but you were expecting such a reaction.

“However–” You start, making him look at you again. “I will be willing to compensate you for your cooperation…with these.” You explain as you hold out the capsule to him, and you could see his single eye sparkle in response.

He seems to ponder it over in thought for a moment, before he lets out a low sigh.

“Very well. I will be willing to speak with you. Follow us and we can talk privately.” Rodger agrees, waving to you all in a ‘follow me’ motion as he begins to head back towards the front.

You all then began to head to the elevator that you have seen the Toons go down multiple times ever since you were hired, but you never went down it yourself. This would be a new experience for you as Rodger presses the button.

In no time at all, the elevator emerges and all of you get on it.

Rodger looks towards Poppy. “You two can go to your floor first. Toodles and I will go last since we have the Defender with us.” He offers, to which Poppy nods and presses a button to their desired floor.

Then, the elevator door closes and you begin to descend.

You have a moment to think as you ride the elevator down with the Toons. You do find yourself being curious as to where this elevator leads to, but logic would dictate that this elevator simply led down to where the Toons stay. Possibly to their own personal bedrooms?

As if to answer your mental question, the elevator lets out a ding and the doors open as Poppy and Boxten get out of the elevator. The floor seemed to be like a hotel-esque floor with some doorways that you could see from the elevator, but that was about as much as you could see from your position.

Both Poppy and Boxten turn around and give your group parting waves as they say goodbye.

“Bye Toodles! Bye Rodger! Bye Defender!” Poppy says, her voice was still energetic despite it being early in the morning. “Bye guys…see you later.” Boxten waves farewell to your group before letting out another yawn.

“See you tomorrow, Poppy! You better tell me everything that happened tomorrow!” Toodles warns, making Poppy giggle in response. “Have a good night you two.” Rodger says simply and you merely give them a smile and a wave.

Then Rodger presses another elevator button as Poppy and Boxten leave the elevator to head to their own rooms. The elevator closes after a moment and it continues its descent as you all wait patiently to arrive at your destination.

Eventually, the elevator stops and the doors open again.

You land on a similar-looking floor as the one that Poppy and Boxten got off of, except it just looked slightly different. Both of the Toons step off of the elevator and you follow behind them. They lead you to a hallway-like area with numerous doorways that had various unusual numbers over the door.

You find yourself raising a brow at the numbers–finding it odd that such a thing would designate the Toon's room. Wouldn’t it be easier to just label the rooms with the Toon’s names?

Looking at the numbers and the way they are designed makes you think of certain aspects of things you would see while you were serving in the military. Some thoughts of various number identifications that were used for guns, vehicles, delivery crates, or even military files come to mind.

How odd.

Regardless, Rodger leads you to a room with a brown wooden door and a sign above it that was labeled with a letter ‘U’ and it was followed by a numerical identification. He looks over his shoulder to check to see if Toodles and you were following him before he nods in the direction of the door.

“Come in.” He states, opening the door and revealing an office-like room behind the door.

Both Toodles and yourself enter the room and you take in the sight. 

The room was pretty much reminiscent of a cluttered office. There were bookshelves, a large wooden desk, file cabinets, a couple of chairs, and a bed in the far corner. There was even a carpet and some posters on the wall depicting some Toons–one including Rodger himself with Boxten and two other Toons you haven’t met yet.

However, there was a distinct lack of windows…of any kind down here. It would make sense, seeing as you were underground and all, but…that was rather cruel, wasn’t it? These Toons can’t even have natural sunlight to illuminate their rooms? Not to mention the small living space…it was kinda cramped in here. Such a thought bothered you, but you pushed the feelings down to deal with them later.

“Welcome to my room. Feel free to have a seat and we can go over what you want to discuss.” Rodger invites you both in as he walks into his room. 

Toodles immediately feels right at home as she  scampers over to one of the chairs in the room and sits down in it and you also take a moment to get comfortable in a different chair that is nearby, even if it was on the smaller side for someone of your stature. Still, you can’t really complain…this was a room meant for a Toon.

“Thank you for hearing out my proposal, Rodger.” You thank politely and Rodger merely bows slightly in response. “The pleasure is all mine…in fact, I was also hoping to have a moment to talk to you as well. So I suppose this private visit will benefit us both.” He admits, taking a moment to rub the bottom of his magnifying glass in thought.

“Would you be opposed to a brief interview?” He questions, in which you shake your head. “No. I would not. I feel for either of us to understand more about our situations…we need to cooperate. So, I invoke this offer. You give me information and I will give you information.” You respond.

Rodger thinks about it a little more.

“I feel that is a logical exchange. I accept.” Rodger agrees.

“Yay!! We get to know more about Fendy!” Toodles shouts and claps in excitement.

Rodger and yourself almost jump out of your own skins at the sudden loudness. You almost forgot that Toodles was still here and you can only laugh lightly in response to her eagerness.

Rodger just lets out an exasperated sigh in response. 

“Toodles, please keep your voice down. Other Toons are sleeping.” In which Toodles covers her mouth and lets out a muffled “oops” before cheering quietly.

You smile slightly before you clear your throat to continue the conversation.

“Right. So, I will gladly use this to initiate the exchange.” You then hold out the capsule towards Rodger. “I think you can make more use of this than I can anyway.” You finish as Rodger nods and takes it from your outstretched hand.

“That I can. Thank you!” Rodger then holds up the capsule and you can already see what he was trying to do. He was looking at the film reels wrapped around it like you did previously in the elevator.

“It’s Boxten.” You suddenly state, much to his surprise. “That was one of the…”twisteds”…that attacked me down in the depths. I already looked at the reel earlier and saw the shape that belonged to that twisted. There was also an evil version of Poppy down there, but I didn’t find the other capsule.” You explain.

“In fact, that is one of the many things I want to ask you…so let me start off this game of 20 questions.” You sit up straight as you look at Rodger.

“What were those things down there…and why did they look like the Boxten and Poppy I was told to protect?”

Rodger seems to think about it somewhat before he lets out a sigh, pulls over the chair in front of the desk, and takes a seat. He places the capsule off to the side and folds his hands in his lap, and he ponders a response before finally responding to your question about the twisteds in the depths of Gardenview.

“Sadly, I don’t have a full answer to that just yet. While it is true that I have been researching the case involving the twisteds–I have to admit…I haven’t gotten very far into my investigations.” Rodger lets out a frustrated huff. “I have had plenty of setbacks when it comes to the twisteds. Each failed Defender was a waste of time and most of my research comes from personal experience or information from other Toons…when they are willing to answer my questions.” He continues.

“From what I know, the twisteds are partially related to us Toons, but they haven’t developed any sense of self. I theorize that the twisteds have taken on the worst aspects of the toons they mimic and may attack us in some act of vengeance or out of envy.” He theorizes. “All I know so far is that twisteds are demented versions of us and that they seem to be coming from somewhere…from where, I do not know.” 

He takes a moment to pause and let you soak in the information. He can see how your face falls in response to him explaining the vague nature of the twisteds.

"However! I have been making breakthroughs periodically. Though, it does require this.” He emphasizes and gestures to the capsule to his side. “I have found that these capsules hold information about the twisteds…and some twisteds have been known to carry or guard these capsules for whatever reason. I don’t know how this ichor came to be inside of these canisters, nor why the twisteds seem to carry them, but what I do know is that it’s imperative to their nature and origins.” He finishes with a sigh.

“So…we have no idea where they come from?” You inquire, arching a brow.

Rodger merely shakes his head in response.

“Sadly, no. We just know that the deeper we go into Gardenview, the more twisteds we find occupying floors. Rumors from a few Toons say that it might be something down deep at the “bottom” of Gardenview that may be the cause of their appearances. Though, it’s only a theory. We can barely get past floor 10 without a defender with us to see if it holds any amount of truth anyhow.” He explains.

You let out a hum as another thought comes to your mind.

“So…do you all just go down there and face these things every two nights? Do you have any idea of what else could be dwelling down there, because I have a feeling that there aren’t going to be just a lot of “Poppy” and “Boxten” clones down there…if I go down there again, I need to at least know what else could be waiting for me.” You hum and tap your fingers against the arm of the chair in thought.

Rodger looks thoughtful for a moment as he looks over to the large bookshelf in his room.

“Well, we–err…mostly I –have begun to put together a library dedicated to the twisteds.” Rodger says as he suddenly stands up and wanders over to his shelf. He pulls out a thick-spined book from one of the lower sections and walks it over to you.

“In this book, you’ll find documentation on the twisteds that the Toons have encountered so far and what they are capable of.” Rodger explains as he hands it over to you. “It’s far from complete, but it may help you understand what we have encountered and how you will be able to counter them in return.” You take the book from his hand and open it.

You see sections and clean writing written out on the table of contents, and you already see something that caught your eye as Toodles even hops off of her own chair to join you at your side as you look through the book.

“Common, Uncommon, and Rare?” You say quizzically, flipping through the pages as Rodger stands nearby. He nods.

“Yes. I have worked out a classification system for the Twisteds based on the encounter rate in which they appear. For instance, the two you encountered while you were down there with Poppy and Boxten are ‘commons’. Believe it or not…we have seen those two a lot compared to some others you may see in the book.” Rodger clarifies as you continue to flip through the pages.

You flip a page and see a title page with the word “Common” written in bold fancy letters. Upon opening it, you can see an illustration of the “Poppy” you had encountered down in the depths. You can see a little drawn box with a description on the right side describing the behavior of the twisted…it was probably written by Rodger himself.

You mentally read the entry.

“This twisted has taken on the appearance of Poppy. From previous encounters, it seems that this twisted is capable of nothing else but chasing Toons. It has no other special abilities and can easily be outrun. The attention span seems to be average amongst twisteds. If it gets close enough to a Toon, the twisted will try to induce physical harm at close range with their claws. This twisted can be hard to see in the dark mist at times, but the bright blue helps it stand out. Avoidance is recommended.”

Huh. So it was just capable of chasing and attacking at close range. That’s probably why it was mostly too timid to get close to you and only felt confident enough to approach when you were getting jumped by “Boxten” in the depths.

You flip to another page and see a couple of twisteds that you haven’t encountered just yet. Such as one with a hovering balloon-like head, one with a head that looked like a swiss roll and a claw dripping with ichor, one that looked like a tissue box maid with vibrant red eyes, a shrimp-headed toon that was covered in ichor, and upon flipping to another page–you found the one you were looking for. Boxten .

The illustration that featured the twisted did the intimidating twisted justice, as it showcased the ichor-covered arms coming from its head, the wide sharp-toothed grin, and the vibrant red eyes looking toward the viewer in an unsettling way.

You silently read the entry that Rodger had written out on this twisted.

“A fairly common twisted that is shown to be exceptionally hostile. This twisted will attempt to run down spotted Toons with its head down and ichor-drenched arms outstretched in an attempt to grab any fleeing Toon. Thankfully, it has an average attention span like most common twisteds do and that makes it easy to lose in a chase. This twisted is exceptionally dangerous because of its four pairs of arms, as one pair will forcefully hold you in place and the other pair will tear into you. However, this twisted is only capable of close ranged attacks. This twisted is also very hard to spot in the dark mist down below and has been shown to be stealthier than normal twisteds. Very dangerous, avoidance is recommended.”

How peculiar.

You flip the pages to see the word’ uncommon’ written in bold fancy lettering, just like the common title page. Rodger is quick to notice you flipping through the pages and reading the entries on the twisteds.

“I have mostly documented whatever has been encountered so far…but I severely doubt that we have found them all.” Rodger suddenly speaks up, now sitting back in the office chair as Toodles is still looking over your shoulder to see the book. “Since Twisteds tend to take after Toons, I can deduce that there are some missing entries based on the Toons that are absent from the encounter roster.” Rodger continues.

“Logically, that means that the Twisted variants that are missing are rarer. So, I wrote out numerical values to assign to the Twisteds based on these facts.” He finishes.

You take a moment to look at the corners of the book in the previous section, finding the numbers that Rodger mentioned in the corner entries on Twisteds that had illustrations.

Then, you flip into the Uncommon section.

You find inside this section some interesting looking Twisteds–such as one that looked like a ghost, one that looked like a fishbowl with arms, and one that looked like a blend between a comedy and tragedy theater mask with red ribbons. However, you took notice of how most of this section was blank.

You then flip over to the ‘Rare’ section and find most of it empty, except with one Twisted that seemed to have a crying expression, a body with a fluffy appearance, and extended clawed arms with a red and blue color scheme.

 The rest of the pages after the ‘Rare’ section are completely blank.

You seem to let your disappointment show through, as Rodger lets out a sigh.

“I know you want to know more about them as I do, but we haven’t had much luck in getting a Defender that is capable of handling the situation with the twisteds…until you showed up, that is.” Rodger hums.

“In fact, I think it’s my turn to ask some questions. I’m a rather curious Toon, mind you. But, I need to know…how are you not bothered by the discovery of the Twisteds? Most other Defenders were shaken or frightened by what was in the depths of Gardenview. So, why aren’t you?” He questions.

“I…well.” You think about it as you close the book, much to Toodles disgruntlement, as she slumps against your seat in disappointment. “Honestly, there are a lot of things I have taken in stride since coming to work here. The first thing I came to terms with was your existence.” You admit.

“My existence?” Rodger presses and you nod.

“The fact that you Toons exist in general. I don’t know where you all came from, as I have never seen anything like you before. You are in a cartoon…but you also live and breathe in the same plane of existence as I do. I would like to know how, but I doubt most Toons will be willing to share that…or the owners for that matter. So I just…accepted that you are here and left it at that.” You admit.

“Does…our existence bother you?” He carefully asks.

You give him a flat glance.

“Rodger.” You huff. “If anything about you bothered me, it wouldn’t be your existence. I would sooner be bothered by the fact that you aren’t wearing any pants.” You laugh lightly as Rodger looks at his lower half in a befuddled manner.

“That I am…not wearing any pants??” He mutters in a confused manner, still staring at his bare lower half.

“It’s mostly just a human biology thing. You Toons don’t have what humans have–at least not to my knowledge–so I just have to get used to some of you Toons not wearing clothes…even if it feels weird to a certain degree.” You chuckle, sitting back in your seat as still Rodger looks confused at your explanation. You just wave him off. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I see...” He calmly states.

“So, the Twisteds don’t bother you at all?” He tilts his head to one side. You shake your head at his question.

“Not really. I have honestly faced worse things than the Twisteds.” You shrug, looking at Toodles and seeing her look up at you in interest. You couldn’t help but give her a light noogie on the top of her head with your knuckles as she giggles in response.

“How so?” Rodger asks, looking at you both from across the way.

You take a moment to pause and you feel your mind go a little distant. You look at Toodles as she looks back at you in curiosity. You can’t really spill all of the horror of war with a young child in the room…

How do you phrase what you wanna say with a child present…?

“Well…I have dealt with adversaries of similar caliber to myself.” You carefully start. “Most of them could hurt you really badly at range. Some things I also had to deal with were…beyond my control. I wouldn’t have been able to stop those types of things from happening no matter how hard I would try…I would be powerless against them. In the end…some people were lucky…and others weren’t.” You continue, your eyes flicking around the room to nothing in particular as both the Toons listened.

“Some of the things I had to deal with were really loud and could burn you really bad…like it had done to my face, obviously.” You gesture to your scarred face. “I also got hurt in other ways, some of the ways I was harmed took years to recover from, but I’m mostly okay now.” You finish.

“Mostly?” Rodger presses.

“Well…nothing in life is perfect. There will always be something imperfect or something you have to learn to live with. For example, my face has too much scar tissue and epidermal damage that getting surgery to make it more “presentable” would actually put me more at risk of having nerve damage or complications…so I just chose to keep this face. Even if the consequences of keeping it made others either afraid or disgusted with me.” You enlighten, as one of your fingers work over your own facial scars idly.

Rodger nods as Toodles merely tilts her head in response.

“That all sounds very scary…” She says, looking at you in worry. “Oh, it was Toodles.” You clarify. “I was trained for combat, but even then I still wasn’t prepared for all the challenges I faced while I served. Some things you can never be prepared for. Sometimes, life just throws you a curve ball just because it feels like it and it doesn’t care how much it hurts you.” You mutter, still touching your own scar in an almost subconscious manner.

You let out a sigh as you finally pull your hand away from your face.

“In the end, all you can do is push on and keep going. No matter how much life tries to beat you down.” You give the child Toon a lukewarm smile as you rub her head with one hand, enticing another round of giggles out of her.

Rodger then hums in thought.

“Defender?” Rodger begins and you look over to him. “Yes, Rodger?”

The Toon in question clears his throat nervously.

“I know that this may be rather sudden and…odd to ask of you. But, I have been curious about it the moment I laid my eye on it.” Rodger admits, catching your undivided attention. “I can’t help it. I need to understand how it feels. If I may request this of you…may I touch the scar on your face?” Rodger inquires nervously and you blink in surprise.

You have been told by a fair amount of people that your scars had looked strange, weird, or even gross…but nobody had ever asked to actually touch it. You don’t know how to feel about the request, but you didn’t mind it too much…it’s just a scar after all.

Then, Toodles bounces to life next to you.

“Yeah!! Me too! I wanna touch it too! It looks so cool!” She eagerly says while bouncing on her toes and heels in a repeating motion.

“. . .” You let out a breath. “Sure. I don’t mind. Just mind the eye, okay?” You relent and lean down to the Toon’s height from your seat so they could reach your face a little easier.

Toodles was the first one you allowed to touch your old facial battle scar as Rodger stands up from his own seat to walk over and patiently await his turn.

Toodles runs her small fingers through the grooves of your old injury. Feeling the long-since healed groves, the smoothness of the skin, and the lines of thicker scar tissue that lead down to your torn ear and injured neck. It didn’t feel too awful, but at some points of her rubbing your scar–you could feel yourself wince at how rough she would be at times. It almost felt like she was feeling the teeth in your jaw from how she was pressing against your cheekbones…you guessed that she was probably curious about what the hard layer underneath your skin was. Do Toons have bones…? That would be a question for another day.

“ Cool… ” Toodles whispers in awe as she pulls her hand away and sits back to give Rodger room to explore your scar as well.

You then look at Rodger and urge him closer with a nod.

Rodger almost looked hilariously shy–despite being the one that had asked to touch your scar in the first place. He looked hesitant, but eventually got the courage to reach out with his hand and slowly press it to your old scar.

Unlike Toodles, Rodger was more gentle in his exploration. He would rub the area around your eye carefully and trace the eye socket with his thumb. The tenderness and consideration of his movements made you blink slowly as he indulged in his curiosity. His hand was surprisingly warm to the touch, as you expected Toons to be slightly colder to the touch. Each tender tracing of his precise fingers in the grooves of your old injury, the soft taps of his pointer finger to test certain areas of scar tissue, and just the gliding of his fingertips over the old wound…it was nice.

Then again, Rodger seemed to take great care in his investigations, data collection, and writings. Whatever he found to be of his interest–he would make sure to not disrupt nor ruin it too much. Maybe you should’ve expected such tenderness from this curious Toon, but it was still a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

Then, he pulls his hand away and you blink back to reality.

“Simply marvelous…” He said under his breath and you say nothing in response despite hearing it.

“Did that satisfy you both?” You find yourself asking while leaning back into the chair and looking at the two Toons.

“It felt a little weird…” Toodles admits. “But it felt cool too! It’s like a piece of plastic that’s warm and has a couple of chunks taken out of it, but it still stays smooth!!” You could only laugh lightly in response before looking at Rodger.

“How about your experience?” You ask.

Rodger seemed to ponder his response a little more than Toodles did before he spoke up.

“It felt…smoother than I expected. It looks rough visually, but it is surprisingly soft to the touch with its own various little grooves and creases that provide a unique texture. It gives off a characteristic of something that is truly… you , in an odd way. Rough-looking, but soft to the touch once you make physical contact with it.” Rodger looks up at you as he says it.

A moment of silence passes.

“That’s a weird thing to say, Rodger.” Toodles suddenly comments.

You find yourself snickering as Rodger looks at Toodles in an exasperated manner.

“It’s a metaphor!” He states before shaking his head and placing his hand on his non-existence forehead. “You need to go to bed…” He mutters to himself, but Toodles hears him.

“ Noooooo!! ” Toodles cries out and gets shushed by the poor detective.

You quickly look at your watch and find that it was slowly creeping towards 3AM . You let out a series of hums as you nod in agreement. “Rodger is right, Toodles. It’s getting way too late for you…probably for the both of you.” You gesture to your watch.

Toodles lets out another whine…but it slowly turns into a yawn as she tries in vain to hide it.

“I am no stranger to staying up late to work on my research. But, yes. Toodles needs to go to bed before it gets any later.” Rodger orders, despite the fact that Toodles still looks resistant to going to sleep.

“Hey…look on the bright side, kid. Tomorrow, you’ll get to talk to Poppy about my adventure. The sooner you go to bed, the sooner you’ll be able to listen to the story.” You entice, which seems to make the tired young Toon consider it.

“Alright…” She relents as she hugs Rodger. “Goodnight, Toodles.” Rodger says.

You merely sit there and just wait for Toodles to leave, not really expecting to get asked for a hug from her. So the moment she opened her arms to you in a silent demand for a hug–saying it surprised you would be an understatement.

“Oh? From me too?” You say in bewilderment. She just nods in confirmation. “Alrighty then…” You say, still being uncertain as you lean out of the chair a little to wrap only one arm around her midsection and she wraps her arms around your neck.

You both pull away shortly afterwards and she lets out another yawn.

“Goodnight, Rodger. Goodnight, Fendy.” She says as she heads out of the room.

“Goodnight, Toodles.”

“See ya tomorrow, kid.”

Then, with the shutting of the wooden door, you and Rodger were by yourselves. You look over to the Toon as he also looks back at yourself. You both seem to want to say something to each other, but you find yourself looking back at the door.

The atmosphere was hollow for a moment as you thought of something to curb the energy of the room from just being you both sitting in here in silence.

“Toodles is a good kid.” You find yourself saying before looking at Rodger once more. “I can see why lots of Toons care and look out for her.” Rodger slowly nods.

“She is a good kid, if a little bit of a handful.” Rodger states. “In fact…now that we have a moment alone. I have a question.”

“How did you and Toodles begin to talk at night and how long has it gone on for?” Rodger inquires, crossing his arms and giving you a curious stare.

You relay back the information from a few days ago before you speak.

“To be honest…Toodles approached me that night. She just met with me in the fountain shopping area of Gardenview and said that she had been following me for a while. She then reasked the question from the meeting, the one I never answered because other Toons began to speak over her. I gave her an answer that satisfied her and after that night–we began talking, sharing interests regularly at night, and she gave me the nickname ‘Fendy’.” You respond.

“And just how would you two meet up at night?”

“Heh. She would always sneak out at certain hours to come visit me on patrol after that. She has been doing that for about 4 days since we started talking to each other.”

Rodger gives you a firm stare of disapproval.

“Sorry, Rodger. I couldn’t tell you anything. I pinkie promised.” You grin widely and chuckle in response.

Rodger merely rolls his singular eye.

“Of course…” He mutters as he shakes his head. “I will say that Toodles has been rather bubbly as of last week. She seems happier.” Rodger mutters, looking off to the side.

“Aww. Are you afraid that I will replace you as her favorite?” You tease, snickering as he gives you a sharp glare in return. “In all seriousness, She adores you, Rodger.” You suddenly say.

“Every time we talked, she would always chat about you in some way or form. She tells me about the dreams she has about becoming a detective like you when she grows up and all the mysteries you two solved together.” You smile at Rodger as he looks at you with a softened look.

“In a way…I would rather want you to be her idol over me. I wouldn’t want anyone to actually WANT to be a soldier…as it was forced upon me when I was 18. I don’t wish to encourage that lifestyle on young people–let alone influence them to go into the military for any reason.” You look away from Rodger, your eyes suddenly distant.

“...Do you think you can tell me why you want me to be her idol over you?”

You let out a defeated sigh.

“War is hell, Rodger. It’s filled with the bloodied bodies of your once-living friends, the smell of stress-smoked cigarettes, the sound of multi-ton bombs falling out of the sky with the intent to blow you to bits, hundreds of sleepless nights wondering if today was going to be your last day alive, and the taste of iron and burnt flesh lingering on your tongue. I never want Toodles to even know what these types of horror are…I don’t want her to see me and think she can be like me. I do want her to be strong, yes. But…I would rather her be a detective.” You say with a melancholy look in your eyes.

Rodger stays quiet for a moment.

“Was the war really that horrible?” He questions, his tone reflecting your sorrow.

“It is. It always will be.” You sigh before you look at Rodger for a moment.

“You know, I never told Toodles the full truth when she asked me about what happened to my face and my friends. My battalion.” You admit, looking off to the side. “The memories of losing them are painful, but they’ve been dead for years. Still…the memories I shared with them still linger with me, even after all these years later. If Toodles ever asks you about it or mentions them...please don’t tell her the truth. They just “moved very far away” and that is the end of it. Okay?”

“...I won’t. I solemnly swear.”

“Thank you.”

You then get up from the seat and let out a grunt as you pop your back.

“Well, I will take my leave now so you can get some rest yourself, Rodger. If I find out anything else regarding the twisteds or if I have more research, I’ll bring it to you and we can discuss more. For now…I think I have had enough questions for one night.” You admit, letting out a dreary sigh.

“That is understandable. I suppose this means that we are working on this case together?” Rodger asks and you take a second to think about it.

“I suppose it can be considered a collaboration. I’ll give you more research and insight from encounters in the depths and you can help record it and keep things updated.” You say as you begin to take your leave from Rodger’s room.

You open the bedroom door and before you head out, you look over your shoulder at the lone Toon and give a parting smile.

“It’ll be a pleasure working with you, detective.” You grin at him before leaving the room and gently closing the door behind yourself.

However, once you were on the other side of the door, you let your smile fall.

Maybe you were being too open about yourself…maybe Rodger didn’t have to know about all of that. You could’ve kept it to yourself…but it’s lost to the wind now. You may need to keep a tighter grip on your emotions and discussions about your past. Even if you wanna talk to someone about it sometimes.

You instead look at your watch to see it was already halfway through 3AM and you had a few more hours to patrol before you went back to the station.

It didn’t matter to you, you just wanted to clear your head after all that has happened tonight.

Still, you look at your clothes for a moment and take note of all the tears, dried blood, and ichor stains on it. Your back and neck were still stinging from “Boxten” attacking you only a few hours ago…you were going to need a long shower when you got back to the station.

Regardless, you head back to the elevator as quietly as you could to not disturb the sleeping Toons and you get back to patrolling for the rest of the night.

The morning came quicker than you realized…or maybe it’s because you spent most of the night wandering aimlessly around Gardenview with numerous thoughts pooling in your mind.

By the time 6AM was close to arriving, you were already heading back to the security station.

However…something strange could be witnessed inside of the security station. The lights were on and there was a distinct sound of a classical radio station being played within.

Your curiosity is piqued as you wait for the time to roll over before officially clocking out and opening the door to see who or what had invaded the security station in your absence.

The moment you walk in through the front door of the security station, your confused expression immediately sours at who you see sitting in the chair at your kitchen table.

Oh no.

Not him.

“Hello again, friend!” A familiar Toon says with a smug grin as he twirls the remote to your TV in one of his hands. “It’s about time you showed up! Sooooo…tell me! How was your first night helping the Toons?” He says with such artificial sweetness that it makes you wanna grit your teeth and spit nails.

Well, this was just perfect now wasn’t it? 

You had a pretty rough night as it is, you know…with the twisted mauling your back, the marathon-level running you did, and the interview with Rodger…just…tonight was a very busy night and you just honestly weren’t in the mood for this right now.

You grip the bridge of your nose in barely contained frustration as the Toon sitting at your kitchen table seems to laugh at your exhausted and irritated reaction to his presence.

It was too early in the morning to be dealing with this type of shit.

Just…

Why?

Why was DANDY of all Toons in your security station?!

Chapter Text

You didn’t even bother to try and hide the disgruntled face you were making in response to finding Dandy of all Toons in your security station.

Instead, you just walk into the station and close the door behind you calmly. You were very aware of why he is here–that he was here just to get under your skin and irritate you.

You walk past the little gremlin sitting in the kitchen chair and instead begin to work around him in the kitchen. Your eyes don’t ignore the new magnetic letters that were on the fridge door that weren’t there before, and you just assumed that Dandy brought them with him when he came to your station. Your eyes harden as you see that they were made to spell out “Q-U-I-T-T-E-R”. 

You just open the door to the fridge and fetch some ingredients for you to make ‘dinner’. As you gather your ingredients and supplies–you could hear Dandy’s impatient tapping on the table behind your back like an auditory reminder that he was still present.

He breaks the tense silence between you both.

“I see you got acquainted with the twisteds. Must’ve given you a lot of hugs, judging by the rips and tears on your uniform.” Dandy could be heard speaking behind you, the irritable tapping of his fingers getting faster as you continue to ignore him.

Your eye twitches in response to hearing his voice, but you say nothing back to the Toon.

Instead, you slowly begin to put together a nice sandwich for ‘dinner’. You take your meticulous time putting it together with your preferred toppings and sauces. Then, for a blissful moment, it was like you forgot Dandy was even there as you fell into your typical routine.

However, the next thing you know–you're in pain. You let out a yelp as the TV remote is thrown at the back of your head, bounces off the back of your skull, and clatters to the floor.

You turn around quickly with anger lacing your eyes as Dandy sits at the kitchen table, his hands now empty. He was also giving you that eerie glare that had those red glints in the depths of his black pupils. However, you were too pissed at the moment to be intimidated. 

Who comes into somebody’s home and starts throwing shit at their head?!

Who the hell did this Toon think he was?!!

“Don’t. Ignore. Me.” Dandy growls out and you point at him in a scolding way.

“Don’t you ever throw shit at my head again, you little puntable cunt.” You find yourself snarling at the Toon. “You better realize that you are a fourth my height and a third of my weight, I can throw you outta here with one hand tied behind my back…and I WILL throw you out if you do that again.” You warn.

“You can’t touch me.”

“ Try me. ”

Dandy squints at you hatefully, and you turn around after a moment of tense staring between you both to finish making your sandwich. 

There was just a lot going on right now…and the fact that Dandy had the TV on and your CD Radio playing classical music didn’t help with your growing agitation.You take a moment while you work your hands on something else that wasn’t Dandy’s neck to take a couple of deep breaths and calm your irritated nerves. You did not feel like getting into a fight right now.

You were sore, injured, hungry, dirty, and tired. You just wanted the day to end so that you could get some rest and sleep. You just gotta be civil long enough for this little floral bitch to leave your station in peace.

Though…the lack of talking that hung in the air was rather uncomfortable.

You might as well try to wear him down faster with conversation.

“ So. You knew this whole time that those things were down there.” You say over your shoulder as you open up a small bag of your favorite chips that you pulled out from the cupboard.

You turn around to look at the Toon and you see that he has resumed tapping his fingers against the table. You simply stand in the kitchen area to eat your ‘dinner’–opting to not sit at the table with the Toon. You just take a couple of bites of your sandwich as your eyes stare into his.

He stays silent.

“I’ll be honest. You made them out to be a lot worse than they actually are.” You comment between bites of your food. “They were easy to handle. I don’t see what the big deal is. They’re not too threatening.” You passively state.

“Pfft. I bet you only got to encounter one.”

“Nope. I was jumped by two of them at the same time and I only walked away with these rips in my outfit and a couple of scratches.” You say, gesturing to your body.

Dandy’s irritated finger-tapping stops and silence hovers in the atmosphere.

“You’re lying.” He suddenly accuses and you arch a brow in response to his comment. You look at his expression to see that it has tightened and his glare has only gone colder. 

“ You. Are. Lying. ” He repeats, his fingers tapping on the surface of the kitchen table with every pause between his words.

You shake your head and give him a firm gaze.

“No, I am not. I took on two different Twisteds at once. But I will admit, were they intimidating? Yes . Were they the scariest thing I have ever seen? No . I have endured worse than those monsters in my life.” You huff in defiance as you chomp down on a chip.

“You can’t be serious …” Dandy seems to be in stubborn disbelief as he glares at you.

You take a moment to chew your food and swallow before you reply again.

“Oh, but I am. I did my duties and I will be continuing to do them.” Dandy blinks as he grits his teeth once he processes what you said. “That’s right, Dandy . I’m not quitting. I will be continuing to be a Defender for the Toons.” You say nonchalantly, as you pop another chip into your mouth.

The silence between you both was deafening as Dandy stopped tapping his fingers and just stared at you, leaving the atmosphere to be filled with the sound of classical music and the cartoon playing on the TV in the background. He almost seemed to be…thinking of something as you pop another chip into your mouth and tighten your stare at him in response.

Then, he speaks.

“You think that those were the only twisteds down there?” He cackles, tilting his head to the side. “There’s more than whatever you encountered down there, that’s for sure. A lot more .”

You roll your eyes and smirk. For once, you are two steps ahead of him .

“Obviously. But I have already prepared a plan for those future situations.” You state, much to Dandy’s confusion. You don’t wait for him to reply as you continue on talking.

“I have talked to Rodger, the primary researcher on this twisted conundrum, and he and I have made a pact to help each other out. I give him data and research, and he helps provide me information about anything else I want to know involving Gardenview.” You continue to explain.

“I believe it would benefit all of the Toons if I help Rodger out with his project. So when I accompany the Toons down into the depths of the Gardenview, I will be looking for anything important or relevant to bring back for the research project. The more we know about the Twisteds–the better we can counter them.” You finish.

Dandy seems to avert his eyes and whisper something under his breath about a ‘nosy Toon’ and he just lets out a low growl.

“So. I am not only doing a good job protecting the Toons when we go on our escapades in the depths like I am supposed to, but I am also helping to contribute to the knowledge of twisteds altogether.” You chuckle. “I would say that I am being quite an overachiever.” You pop another chip into your mouth.

He leers at you in response, his petals bristling.

“What are you trying to prove?” He hisses. You shrug in response.

“I did tell you that I would be a different kind of defender, right? You didn’t believe me with words, so I decided to prove it to you with my actions instead. I protected Poppy and Boxten, and I am trying to contribute to the research on Twisteds to help the Toons be safer when they go down into the depths.” You explain.

Dandy’s expression has shifted over to being disinterested now. His glare has lost most of its bite and he appears to be looking off to the side. He almost looks puzzled or confused, like he doesn’t know what to say next. It would make sense, as what you said was true.

You just wish Dandy would stop being so stubborn about his views and just tell you why he thinks the things he does. What did you do to deserve such animosity from the Toon? Wear the uniform that he finds a personal offense to?

Just…what is his problem??

You let out a tired sigh.

“Dandy.” You say as he fixes you with his glare again. “I just don’t understand you.” You admit, which seems to catch the Toon off guard for a moment.

“What?” He mutters.

“I said that I don't understand you .” You repeat.

“On one hand, you hate my guts so bad that you want me to quit just for you to be right about defenders. On the other hand, you give me forewarnings for me to expect down the road with surprising accuracy and it winds up helping me more than hindering me.” You ramble on.

“You throw things at my head, you call defenders worthless, and you tried to frighten me with your tales earlier on in my career. But in the same breath, you’ll warn me about the twisteds, the process of being transferred over to Toon duty after a week of work, and you even said that my duties weren’t complete until I protected the Toons like you want. I have come to find that you are talking out of both sides of your mouth.” You continue.

“You want me gone, but since I am beginning to show competence with the Toons, you seem to just be hateful for the sake of being hateful. I am doing a good job, not through empty promises, but through proven actions. You want me gone, but you want the Toons to be safe. Please just make up your mind, it’s getting too confusing for me to deal with.” You finish with an exasperated sigh and a pinch to the bridge of your nose.

Dandy stays quiet.

You don’t want to make it look like you are just pinning the blame on the Toon…but his hostility is primarily unwarranted. Admittedly…you have grown closer to some of the Toons here. You can’t even imagine anything happening to them and you just wish Dandy would see that too.

“Dandy...” You start again.

“I don’t know why you hate defenders so much, or any type of toon-related personnel, but even if you don’t believe me…I will try my best to look after your friends. No matter what. Hate me all you want and scream at me to leave Gardenview until you’re blue in the face, but I’m not going anywhere. The Toons need my help and I will give them that help, even if you will be in my way and make my life harder than it needs to be the entire time I work here. It won’t deter me from assisting those in need.” You promise.

Dandy remains silent and you take that as a sign to continue.

“I admit…I have gotten closer to a few Toons over the past week. With every passing day, more Toons are starting to look towards me for help to keep them safe from the Twisteds after my first successful night. I can’t quit now. The Toons need me and I will prove you wrong about Defenders through dedication, commitment, and an equal stubbornness to your own. I will be the Defender that Gardenview needs. I can promise you that.” You finish.

Dandy doesn’t look like he believes you…but you can see the cracks in his facade. He was losing his nerve and you could tell. No matter how much he tried to hide it behind his glare of disapproval or his venomous words…he seems to be cracking.

“ Tch . You’re just going to get hurt or die. Either one is fine with me.” He finally mutters.

“I’m no stranger to that. I’ve survived a war, I can survive this.” You state confidently, but Dandy merely looks unimpressed.

“You’ll mess around long enough to understand that this problem is way bigger than a single person like you can handle.” He whispers under his breath.

“Problem? What problem?” You question with a head tilt, making Dandy realize that he was saying way too much.

He huffs out in exasperation and then he turns to get out of the kitchen chair, hops down onto the floor, and begins making his way towards the exit of the station.

On one hand, you are relieved that he was finally taking his leave…but another more muted emotion makes you wonder why Dandy is so adamant in his belief. What could have possibly happened to Dandy to make him hate people that wear this uniform so much?

Internally, you wonder if someone important to him once filled a role like yours at one point.

Maybe they got left behind...maybe they betrayed him…maybe they met a terrible Twisted and died one fateful night? From your experience, people only react in a similar manner to Dandy with certain things that they have a strong negative attachment to. Which is usually visuals or other similar situations that bring back traumatic memories.

It was something that your therapist helped to teach you to consciously think of whenever you see specific firearms or vehicles in movies. That you were merely reacting to them negatively based on integrated negative emotions or feelings that were attached to them through your traumatic experiences.

The best way to explain such a thing is that if someone gets badly burned in a house fire, they are more inclined to avoid fire-centered objects like fireplaces, firepits, and gas-powered utilities or stoves. Since they develop a phobia to a certain thing through a traumatic event in their life. It’s no different for you…and maybe it’s no different for Dandy.

Maybe…just maybe …your uniform or position may be related to something that Dandy is reacting negatively to because of some form of repressed trauma?

“Dandy?” You suddenly speak up, making the Toon pause in opening the door to look at you with a disinterested leer.

“What?” He grumbles.

“Did…did something happen to somebody you cared about? Is that why you hate toon-related personnel so much?”

Upon asking the question, you could see Dandy’s pupils constrict as he processes your question.

Those red glints in his eyes return in a more vivid shade and he grips the door handle with a white-knuckle grip. His teeth clench together in a tight grit and you suddenly feel like you just hit a really sensitive nerve inside of Dandy.

“Dandy I–”

“ Shut. Up .” He threatens and you fall silent as he takes a couple of deep breaths, but it does very little to calm Dandy down. Upon a closer glance, you could see something being amiss with Dandy…did he look like he was about to–?

“You know nothing . Do you understand? It doesn’t matter how many Toons or people like you, this situation is out of control. Keep playing around with fire and you’ll eventually get burned, or better yet, burned to death .” He spits venomously at you.

“Keep it up and you’ll pay the price of trying to be everyone’s ‘hero’ , Defender.” Dandy warns, his pupils like pin pricks and his sclera a slight…shade of pink?

You stay quiet as the short Toon almost seems to be daring you to speak.

When no words were exchanged any further, the Toon opens the front door to the station harshly, stomps out, and then slams the door behind himself loudly. You could feel the force of him slamming the door rock through the station walls and rattling the stock pictures on the wall.

Yep, you definitely struck a very sore nerve.

You can only shake your head side to side as Dandy, once again, stormed out of your life and gave you even more questions that you had no answers for. You reflect on his parting statements and recall that he mentioned that there was a “problem” that was “getting out of control”.

Could he have possibly been referring to the twisteds?

The Toons did say that the lower into Gardenview’s depths they went, the more Twisteds would be present. If that is what Dandy meant by “problem getting out of control”, then you can see what he meant by you risking life or limb down there. Two twisteds were tough, but you were just dealing with commons according to Rodger’s research booklet. You can’t really imagine trying to take on more than three or four at a time…not unless you had a weapon to help defend yourself from the Twisteds.

In fact…did Dandy’s eyes change and his teeth look sharper when he got angry or…?

No. You had to be seeing things. It had to be a trick of the light…right? Toons and Twisteds were entirely different entities. It wouldn’t make sense for a Toon to turn into a Twisted, right? Yeah…it was probably just the light… hopefully it was just a trick of the light.

You spend a moment trying to shake off the lingering sense of dread as you finish your sandwich and chip ‘dinner’. You also take the opportunity of peace to turn off the radio, pick up the TV remote off the floor, and turn off the television that was showing the cartoon “Dandy’s World”. You toss your dirty dishes into the sink and let out an exhausted sigh.

Today was far too busy than you’re used to.

You’re going to get out of these dirty clothes, throw them into the washer, and get a shower.

Maybe after that, you’ll feel a bit better…

–

You finally step out of the shower feeling better than you did before you stepped inside of it.

The hot water managed to soothe most of your muscle soreness from tossing around the twisteds from a few hours ago, you managed to wash off any ichor stains that coated your skin, and you cleaned up all of the scratches or wounds that you obtained from your fight with the Twisteds.

The wounds themselves didn’t look too bad, as your back sustained most of the attacks, and it just looked like a large house cat had scratched up your back…well…a child-sized house cat. Yet none of the scratches went deep enough to need less than a night or two to heal, so at least you were fortunate enough to have that going for you.

Still…that uniform that was sitting in the hamper was probably toast. You may need to just ask for a new one from Arthur. It would probably beat trying to get those ichor stains out anyway…and the rips were pretty numerous…yeah…that is probably gonna need to be thrown out. You’ll do that later. 

Right now, you just wanted to sleep.

You begin your ‘nightly’ routine once you dry off and you slip on your chosen pajama outfit after everything is all said and done.

You then take a brisk walk around the station in your house shoes–making sure everything is locked or put away before going to sleep. Finally, you head to your bedroom and let out a relieved huff as you close the door, take off your house shoes, and flop onto your bed with the intention to relax.

You shift around in your sheets and get comfortable enough to reach over and grab your Journal and writing pen. You also flicked through it to make sure nothing was amiss…you have no idea what Dandy was doing before you came into the station. He could’ve snooped through your journal or other belongings for all you know.

But at a glance, your journal seemed untouched and perfectly fine. Hopefully he didn’t go into your room and see all that you had written over the past 2 weeks of working here at Gardenview.

Without any hesitation, you turn on the lamp, click your pen, and you begin to write out another entry into your journal about what you have experienced tonight.

“Today was rather hectic. It was my first time on the job, the REAL job, as a Defender and it was quite a challenge. I was sent down into the depths of Gardenview last night on an elevator with two Toons called Poppy and Boxten. We had the task of filling up 4 machines with this strange substance known as “ichor”. Apparently, this fluid is connected to both Toons and Twisteds and it is unlike anything I have ever seen before. It is a purely dark fluid that emanates with strange smells and sensations. Most of the Toons only know it as the fluid in their bodies, possibly a Toon alternative to human blood, and that it was integral to their beings.

Furthermore, I now understand what dwells in the depths of Gardenview. There are beings down there known as “Twisteds” and they are supposed copy-cats of Toons, yet with a more unnerving twist…no pun intended there. These beings known as “Twisteds” are hostile to both humans and Toons and they seem to only have one goal–to kill whoever goes down into the depths. I was attacked by two look-alikes that shared the same appearances as my charges. I’m scratched up, but I am fine, as those two Twisteds weren’t overly difficult to fight off in close combat. However, I have taken notice that these “Twisteds” are far more resilient than I give them credit for. I bludgeoned one over and over again with a wooden chair–only for it to get back up and jump on me later on after I assumed that it was dead. Thankfully, we all made it out alive and uninjured.

After the excursion in the depths of Gardenview, I went and had a meeting with a Toon by the name of Rodger. The Toon in question has been researching the “Twisted Case” as he calls it, but he hasn’t made much headway due to most of the setbacks he has encountered. I have offered my help in getting more research for Rodger in exchange for information about Gardenview. He agreed and we are now in a mutual beneficial pact. I look forward to working with this Toon to uncover what is going on down in Gardenview’s darkest depths.

However, I also had another run in with Dandy. He apparently welcomed himself into my station without my permission, threw a remote at my head when I tried to ignore him, and had a meltdown when I questioned him about his hatred for Defenders being related to someone that assisted Toons like I do. I don’t understand why Dandy became so defensive about the topic, but I have a feeling it does have something to do with what I asked. However, another peculiar thing I picked up on during his visit was that there is an apparent “problem” that is “getting out of control”...I can only assume he means the Twisteds.

So far, today has been the most action I have gotten while here in Gardenview. I will continue, and NOT quit, my job as a Defender. Tomorrow is another day…and another opportunity to seek out answers to all these questions I have been getting as of late. I hope to find the answers I seek soon.

I will keep this updated if anything else happens.

End of Entry -”

You let out a relieved sigh as you add your footnotes and some doodles to the entry page like usual.

This time, you drew a small doodle of Rodger and a slightly more serious doodle of the “Boxten” twisted that had attacked you in the depths. Both fit the overall tone for your entry for that night. With some final sketching and note-taking, you click the pen and look at your work with pride.

After that, you slam the book closed, place the journal back on the nightstand next to your bed, and then you turn off the lamp on your nightstand.

You slink back down into your covers and let out a blissful sigh as you get comfortable and listen to the sound of silence just outside of the station. It was a little unusual, but you figured that maybe Gardenview just hadn’t opened yet.

You must’ve gotten to bed a little earlier than you did in the last few days…not that you’re complaining.

Still, as you lie there in the bed with your eyes closed, you find your mind wandering off about all the things that happened that day. Mostly about what you plan to do to help with Rodger’s project and about Dandy’s reaction.

You have a nagging hunch that whatever happened in the past did have something to do with a faculty member that worked with the Toons…that is the only way you could explain his hostile behavior after you brought it up. Your therapist did always say that hostility or anger is a dead giveaway to the truth when it comes to confronting trauma. You remember reacting that way when they would prod your mind to understand how you felt and how your memories tormented you.

Anger prevents people from being vulnerable with others when sensitive subjects come up. But with time, patience, and empathy…the guarding walls will eventually come down and reveal the pain that is buried deep inside. It may take days, months, or even years to work the wall down…but in the end…it’s worth it. You took years to recover, but you wouldn’t be the person you are now without their help.

But, another passing thought made you wonder that if you just didn’t mention it at all…maybe Dandy would’ve just calmed down and started viewing you as a more tolerable presence than a negative one. Unfortunately, you may have accidentally reignited his ire against you because of you asking him that touchy question. You weren’t that great with comforting or reaching out to others…you usually left that stuff to professionals or those closest to the person who is affected.

Maybe things could’ve ended differently if you weren’t so nosy…

Still. What’s done is done, you can’t go back in time to fix your mistakes.

You can look into that whole Dandy situation later. Right now, you just want to get some sleep and get ready for a night of normal patrolling tomorrow…who knows? Maybe the Toons will hang out with you more and you all will be able to have more fun together.

You wonder if you’ll meet any new Toons tomorrow as well.

You obviously haven’t met them all, so it would be nice to finally chat up some new faces. If they don’t mind your scarred one looking at them…that is. Haha. 

But hey! If Boxten can warm up to you, then the others shouldn’t be that bad either, right?

You simply chuckle to yourself as you take a deep breath and get comfortable in your bed. Time slowly passes by, your body goes lax, and your breathing begins to slow.

You steadily fall into another long sleep.

Possibly dreaming about what tomorrow has in store for you.

Chapter Text

Gardenview was vastly different during the daytime than it was at night.

The sounds of children shouting with excitement, families all having lunch in the cafeteria, young couples out on their own personal dates, groups of close friends hanging out, and various miscellaneous sounds of machines and stores fill the atmosphere.

The sound of shows, movies, arcade games, cash registers, joyful squeals, and the internal workings of the building all create an uproarious cacophony of auditory stimulations. To pair with these sounds, bright visuals of cartoon characters on posters, episodes from the “Dandy’s World” show playing on TVs, flashing lights, and bright neon lights flashing on signs in the windows of the various shops paint the atmosphere with a nearly blinding level of movement and visual colors.

Only one place seemed to be desolate during the daytime.

Completely unbeknownst to any visitors to Gardenview, the darkened security station that sits just next to the entrance at the train station had you sleeping soundly inside of it. The window blinds closed, the door locked, light off, and the neon lights that illuminate the station come nightfall are all dark and listless.

The hustle and bustle of the educational center and museum echo just outside of the station, yet you sleep peacefully–even during the busiest part of the day in Gardenview.

Currently, it is getting close to the late afternoon hours and Gardenview was positively crowded with guests. 

Such an amount of business was normal, as it was in the middle of summertime and children from all the nearby towns wanted to come and visit Gardenview Park to see the Toons and to partake in all the attractions and rides while they were out of school. The post-lunchtime rush has just hit and the numerous patrons mosey on about like herds upstairs.

Yet down in the Toon area, it was quieter and far more calmer.

In the safety of the depths near their private rooms, the sound of Toons speaking animatedly to each other could be heard filling the halls that lead to numerous empty bedrooms.

Within a room that was filled with cushions, a table, small chairs, and various entertainment activities–sat a familiar group of Toons. Each one seemingly listening to a rather extravagant tale being told by a familiar cyan bubble Toon.

Poppy, Boxten, Toodles, Rodger, Gigi, and Flutters all sit around a large circular table that laid lower to the ground than a typical human-height table.

The table itself was covered in pop cans, candy jars, snack bowls, and plated fruit to fill all of their hungering needs. Yet, food wasn’t the only thing present on the table. There was even drawing material and craft supplies strewn about the table as well. 

Toodles currently has various forms of coloring utensils and drawing paper all laid out before her as she listens earnestly to the tale Poppy happily tells while standing. Only drawing on the paper in front of her during the lulls in the story Poppy retells in an exaggerated fashion.

“Before we know what was happening, the Defender shushes us and we look up in worry!” Poppy says, as she moves her body to make it look like she was listening for something. “They listen…” She pauses. “Then, they hear it! Footsteps coming towards us from the dark!”

“The Defender had sensed danger and ordered Boxten and I to hide behind some crates, but the Defender didn’t hide themselves. They stood their ground…and then…out of the dark…CAME A TWISTED! ” Poppy shouts mischievously while throwing her hands over her head in a mock-intimidating fashion, making some of the Toons let out gasp.

“Oh no!” Toodles worriedly puts her hands on her chin, dropping the crayon she was holding in the process. “What did the defender do next, Poppy!?”

“I’m getting there, don’t worry! Now…ah, yes! The moment the Twisted locked eyes with the Defender standing tall in the room, it lets out a hiss so sinister and evil!” She hisses in an effort to mimic the Twisted in her story. “Then… it charges to attack! ” She once again throws her hands in the air as the Toons all focus on her.

Toodles lets out an ‘eek!’ from fear in response, keeping her mouth covered with her hands as she gives Poppy her complete and undivided attention.

“The Defender did not run, no! They stood their ground and took the Twisted head-on! They dodge the Twisted’s attack and spin on one leg…then they deliver a swift hard kick to the Twisted–sending it skidding across the floor! They hit the Twisted so hard, it spits up ichor!” Poppy excitedly copies the moves the Defender did in those moments, albeit poorly.

“Wow… ” Toodles mutters

in awe, her eyes sparkling.

“I would love to see them beat up a Twisted in person! Those guys are such jerks! Mweheheh!” Gigi cackles, taking a sip of her cherry-flavored pop as she listens earnestly.

“I’m mostly surprised by their bravery. However, I think it’s a logical reaction…considering their history as a combat specialist for the military.” Rodger muses to himself, nodding to nothing in particular and taking notes on a notepad he brought with him.

“Oh, but that’s not even the scariest part!” Poppy suddenly exclaims, much to the Toon's surprise. Each Toon takes a moment to whisper to each other as she continues her tale.

“The monster was only merely dazed! It manages to recover and it charges them again! The Defender attempted to side-step the attack…but their leg got pulled out from under them by the Twisted–” The Toons let out a sudden shocked gasp. “--and then the Twisted ATTACKS!” Poppy starts making clawing and biting motions as she continues. 

“It jumps on them and tries to claw at their face and neck to hurt them!!” Poppy shouts, holding her arms out in an exaggerated fashion.

The group of Toons suddenly light up with fearful gasps and chattering worries amongst one another, and Poppy relishes in the atmosphere she managed to create for a moment.

Poppy continues once the Toons settle down.

“The Defender thrashes about, but the Twisted holds on tight!” Poppy shouts, shaking herself all around in a hyperactive manner. “They throw themselves around the room, yet the Twisted doesn’t budge an inch! Boxten and I could only watch in horror as we looked on in worry if they would get hurt…but no! The ripping of their uniform, the grappling of the Twisted trying to get to their vulnerable neck, and the slashing of its ichor-drenched hands clawing their face seemed to snap something in them suddenly!”

Poppy pauses for dramatic effect and then quickly reaches over to a nearby chair, yoinking the pillow sitting upon it, and she continues with the pillow now serving as a prop.

“The Defender lets out a thunderous demand–”GET OFF” they roar with eyes filled with fiery determination and ferocity as they wrench the Twisted off of their body and hold it up high over their head!” Poppy holds the pillow over her head in an attempt to reenact what she witnessed.

“Then with a mighty throw, the Twisted is sent flying through the air! It soars over to a cubicle and crashes into it! The cubical collapses! Office supplies go flying, the computer at the desk shatters, and the walls lining the cubical collapse and fall–burying the Twisted underneath the collapsed heap!” Poppy declares.

“YAY!!!” Toodles suddenly shouts, clapping her hands.

“Wow!” Gigi says, stars appearing in her eyes as she munches on a chip. Flutter nods in agreement as she also munches on a chip from the bag they were sharing.

“Astonishing!” Rodger says in an elated manner.

“Y-Yeah…it’s hard to believe that happened…but I was there!” Boxten gently speaks up.

“That’s not the end!” Poppy shouts out, startling the crowd. “At that time, the Defender tells us to go work on the machines with a gesture of their head. Boxten and I fled the area…and to our surprise, we could hear the fight resume! The Twisted had gotten back up!” Poppy announces, making the Toons gasp in worry.

“Oh no! What happened to Fendy after that?!” Toodles wails out in worry, her eyes wide and anxious.

Then, Poppy temporarily drops the theatrics for a moment as she looks suddenly clueless.

What…happened after that? 

She nor Boxten were present in the room when the Twisted got back out of the collapsed cubical. All she remembers was seeing the Defender look at her and Boxten, with a scarily serious gaze that heavily contrasted their more usual neutral demeanor, and ushered them to finish the machines in the other room with a jerk of their head.

After that…she doesn’t know what happened.

“You know…I don’t really know what happened after the Twisted got out of the rubble. Boxten and I were working on the last two machines that needed to be finished separately and all I can tell you about this part of the story is that there was a lot of commotion in the room we left.” Poppy muses suddenly.

This piques the interest of Rodger.

“A commotion? Do you happen to remember anything about what happened after you left?” Rodger asks inquisitively.

“Yeesh…is this a question or an interrogation, Rodger? Haha…” Poppy jokes lightly before her thoughtful face comes back. 

“Well, I do remember hearing a lot of crashing going on in another room…I also heard the Twisted letting out loud screeches. But I can’t tell you if it was from rage, pain, or to call for backup. There were a lot of breaking sounds going on too, like wood or furniture being destroyed?” Poppy tries to recall, seemingly thinking to herself.

“I heard those too…” Boxten suddenly speaks up, causing all of the Toons to look over at him and making him flinch lightly in response. “T-The screeches, I mean. I think it sounded like it was in pain…and the sound I heard definitely sounded like wood breaking. I also heard the Defender letting out small shouts between each impact…” He continues, his eyes flicking around.

Rodger seemed rather interested in the fact that the two witnesses to the Defender’s true rage didn’t get to see anything happening. But, it seems that whatever the Defender did was causing the Twisted a lot of distress or pain.

“...?”

“I don’t know, Flutters. Maybe they got jumped on by the Twisted again and fell into some of the old furniture down there?” Gigi muses, taking another swig from her pop. “That may explain the sounds that Poppy heard…but I dunno.”

“How peculiar…and neither of you saw anything?” Rodger pressed.

Boxten shook his head, but Poppy seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. Then, it looked like a lightbulb lit up above her head as she recalled something.

“ Oh! I remember something!” She exclaims, drawing attention back to herself. “It was when I was chased off of the machine I was doing by another Twisted!” She slams her fist into her open palm to punctuate her realization.

“Oh?” Rodger inquires, his sharp eye focused on the Toon. “Do share it with the rest of us, Poppy.”

“Right, so…I remember panicking and running away from the other Twisted as it rushed after me. I ran back into the room where I knew the Defender was and…” Her expression becomes puzzled and she squints her eyes.

“I think the Defender was standing over the other Twisted? It looked… really messed up. The Defender was covered in ichor and breathing heavily when I rounded the corner. There were also pieces of furniture scattered about. It looked like they belonged to a chair down there…?” She mutters in uncertainty, her memory foggy.

“I was so panicked that I didn’t even notice at the time. I just called out to them and they turned around with a wild look in their eyes.” She tilts her head slightly as she closes her eyes to deepen the picture she was remembering.

The visual she recalled was…unnerving.

“It was a little scary…they looked so…” Poppy rattles her mind for a moment for a word that would fit the imagery she had in her mind. 

“Angry? ” She ponders out loud and opens her eyes again. There was no lingering word to describe what she witnessed in that moment. It was just the best thing she could think of to describe it.

“Fendy? Angry??” Toodles questions with a skeptical look while tilting her head slightly, as if she didn’t believe it.

“It…It may be hard to believe…” Boxten joins the conversation again. “But when we all went down into the depths…it was like the Defender changed personalities…” He explains steadily.

All the Toons look at him in confusion as he continues.

“W-When we were all walking together down there, Poppy and I were worried and scared, but the Defender just…k-kept watching the shadows and darkness around us. They only smiled once and their eyes were… focused. K-Kinda like how I do when I try to pay attention…except theirs was… very intense? Like they were seeing something we weren’t or…I-I’m sorry, it’s a little hard to explain on the fly like this…” Boxten trails off, as the gazes of his peers pressured him into becoming more nervous as he spoke.

Thankfully, Poppy came to his aid.

“Yeah…I noticed that too.” Poppy mutters, taking a swig of the sugary drink in front of her, as she stands next to the table all the Toons were gathered at and taps her fingers in thought. 

“When the Defender turned around when I called out to them, that gaze was like steel. Hard…cold…sharp…angry… scary. ” She shivers slightly in revisiting the memory.

“I guess I didn’t think about it at the time because of the situation I was in.” Poppy finishes, her eyes blinking slowly as her brow wrinkles in confusion.

“Y-Yeah…it’s like they were another person entirely…unlike the Defender we all know while on the surface…” Boxten finishes, his hands holding onto the bottom of his head from the anxiety he felt.

There was a moment of silence.

“That sounds so spooky…” Gigi mutters and Flutter looks at her.

“...?!”

Gigi balks at Flutters exclamation and she shakes her head.

“On us?? I doubt that, Flutters. I think it was just the Twisteds that made them that way. I doubt they would look at us like that!” Gigi states, but she looks only partially convinced from her own statement.

“...! …? …!?”

There was the sudden sound of a crayon being slammed onto the table.

“Fendy is nice, Flutters! They wouldn’t hurt any Toon!” Toodles suddenly shouts in response to what Flutter said, startling everyone else at the table.

Toodles seemed to be miffed at the way the conversation was headed. Her cheeks were puffed out in a firm pout, her expression was that of growing discontent, and her hands could be seen gripping the crayon she slammed onto the table with a strong grip–a clear show of mounting frustration.

Flutters seems to be unconvinced. 

“...? …??”

“I’ve talked to Fendy for days! They’re nice!” Toodles denies, giving the butterfly a leer from across the table.

Tensions could be felt rising and Rodger was quick to stand up.

“That’s quite enough! Settle down!” Rodger exclaims, hoping to diffuse the situation before it escalates. The Toons all look at him, and he takes a moment to clear his throat, then he gathers his nerves before looking over to Flutters.

“Flutters, while I can understand your concern, I doubt the Defender will do anything to hurt any Toon. I agree with Poppy and Boxten. I can deduce that the presence of a threat is what changed their personality so suddenly. I feel that the Defender was doing what they were supposed to do, which is to protect us. They can’t really accomplish that with smiles and handshakes, right?”

Flutters seems thoughtful and looks at the table in uncertainty.

“I would like to propose that we all retain judgement until multiple witnesses can be accounted for. We only have Poppy and Boxten’s encounter to go off of currently. There’s definitely more opinions to be collected before we can make our final judgement! Besides, the Defender will be going with Gigi, Connie, and yourself tomorrow night. You can save your judgment of the new Defender until then when you have your own personal encounter with them.” Rodger continues.

There was a pause as Flutter thought about it before slowly nodding in agreement.

“...? . . .?”

Toodles takes a moment to look at Flutters and nods in approval.

“I forgive you. Just don’t judge people until you get to know them a little! Fendy may look scary on the outside, but they’re strong and kind on the inside!” Toodles states proudly.

The situation seems to simmer down as Flutters uses her antenna to lift food to her mouth and Toodles goes back to scrawling on the paper in front of herself. Rodger lets out a long sigh in relief as he sits back down in his seat, and it seems that the other Toons were also relieved that the mounting situation was safely diffused.

Rodger then looks back over to Poppy.

“Poppy?” The Toon in question looks over to him. “Are you going to finish your story?”

Poppy seemed to then realize that she had lost track of her tale and her eyes widened in shock. Toodles was also quick to catch on and look back at Poppy with invested eyes.

“That’s right! You need to tell me what happened after you were chased!” Toodles says in excitement.

“Ah! R-Right!” She smiles and clears her throat. “So! Where was I… ah! I remember!” She claps her hands together and the tale is resumed much to the Toon's eagerness and attention.

“So, a Twisted came out of the dark near me and chased me away from the machine I was working on! I panicked and let out a scream!!” Poppy is back on her theatrics as she resumes her reenacting body language.

“I bolt into the room with the Defender, who turns around to see me being chased by my evil doppelganger! They leer at my pursuer, lock onto them, and they charge at the Twisted with the force of a freight train!” Poppy does a childish mimic of a train whistle. “Then BAM! ”

Poppy suddenly slams a hand onto the table for a sound effect.

“The Twisted is sent flying across the room like the other before it! It crashes into another adjacent room and the dividers topple onto them too! The Twisted is out of the fight for a moment and I have not a single scratch on me!” Poppy moves her hands in a way that looks like she is saying ‘ta-dah’ as she gestures to herself before continuing.

“Then, the Defender tells me to hurry and get the machines done, so we can all leave as soon as possible. I waste no time and rush back to my machine!” She finishes.

“How exhilarating!” Rodger comments, his hands working the pen over the notepad on the table and Toodles scribbles away on her paper in response.

“Man! Being as strong as them sounds like fun! I would punt ALL of the Twisteds! Mweheheh!!” Gigi eagerly laughs, tossing another chip into her mouth as she and Flutters continue to listen.

Poppy continues.

“So, as Boxten and I finish our machines, we hear the commotion in the other room pick up in intensity and there’s a lot more chaos coming from there. Boxten finishes his machine first and then rushes over to help me with mine.” 

Poppy pauses for a brief second.

“I can remember the sound of the machine being finished and the 30 second timer beginning to count down…and I shout to the Defender to come back to us!” Poppy extravagantly exaggerates, holding her arms up in the air as she punctuates the time ticking down with her arms.

“Boxten and I bolt from the floor and rush back to the elevator with plenty of time to spare…but with no Defender by our side! Seconds go by and we hear a massive thud somewhere off in the distance, and we were worried that the Defender had fallen or was trapped!” Poppy presses her hands to the side of her face in mock horror as the others listen intensely.

“But then came the thunder of footsteps! Around the distant corner came our Defender…but with company! Both Twisteds were hot on their tail and were so close to taking them down!” Poppy fakes a gasp for effect. “However! The Defender does a gallant leap of strength and clears the elevator opening with only seconds to spare! The elevator closes on the Twisteds and we were all safe!” Poppy cheers.

“YAY!!!” Toodles cheers happily and the other Toons either clap or cheer in response.

Poppy does an exaggerated bow to the small crowd and grins brightly.

“So concludes the first tale of the strong Defender!” She chuckles, enticing confusion from Rodger.

“First tale?” He asks in curiosity. Poppy just rolls her eyes in response. “Well, yeah! I think it would be cool for us to share all of our stories and experiences with the Defender! It would be like…the BEST storytime EVER!” She excitedly wiggles where she stands.

“YES!!! I wanna hear ALL the stories of the big strong Defender!” Toodles cheers.

“What’s this I hear about a ‘big strong defender’ ?”

The Toons all startle at the new voice and they turn towards the entrance to the room in unison, finding a familiar glittering mirror Toon standing there.

“I hope that line was about me!” Glisten states with pride, strutting into the room.

“Glisten?” Rodger inquiries in a confused manner. “I thought you were performing one of your shows right now…” The mirror scoffs.

“Rodger…will you use that sharp eye of yours and look at the clock?”

Rodger does so and balks at finding that it was slowly creeping over into the evening hours. The Toons must’ve been having so much fun down here that they didn’t know how much time was passing by.

“How is it that late already??” He mutters in astonishment and the other Toons look at the clock as well, muttering about how late it already was. A con to having no windows down here, he assumes.

“Well, it is.” Glisten begins. “I finished my show so long ago, but I spent the last half-hour signing merchandise and taking so many glorious photos with my adoring fanbase!” Glisten poses for a moment.

“Then, I grew exhausted and came down here for a break. Only to hear Poppy raving about a ‘big strong defender’, so I only assumed she was talking about me!” He gives a smug grin and poses…again.

Poppy’s face becomes painfully neutral.

“Uh…not really?” She manages to utter out. 

Flutter could be seen leaning over and whispering something into Gigi’s ear and the kleptomaniac covers her mouth with her sleeves as she laughs. Glisten was quick to let out a ‘humph’ in response to the Toon’s indifference.

“Well! Who else could you be talking about then??” He crosses his arms, bow wiggling in agitation. Toodles giggles in response as she finally looks up from the picture she was drawing.

“Fendy, of course!” She smiles, continuing to color her picture with crayons.

Glisten takes a moment to process what Toodles said.

“Fendy…? Who is that…?” He quietly mutters the nickname and stays quiet before he suddenly remembers. “You mean the Defender? The one with that hideous gross scar on their face??” Glisten blurts out.

This causes the Toons to give him a firm look of disapproval, especially from Toodles.

“Don’t be mean, Glisten!” Toodles scolds and the mirror crosses his arms with huff. “I’m not being mean! I’m being honest, so there’s a difference!”

Toodles shakes her head in disapproval. “Nu-uh!” She denies, making Glisten look at her in confusion. “What do you mean nu-uh??”

“Fendy’s scar isn’t gross! It’s cool! Fendy even let me touch it!” She says proudly.

Gigi’s eyes lit up and she pressed her sleeved hands to the side of her face upon hearing that from Toodles.

“They let you touch their scar?! ” Gigi exclaims with stars in her eyes. “Yep!” Toodles beams in response, giggling happily as she does so.

“Oh…that must’ve felt horrid…” Glisten quietly bemoans, making Toodles look at him with a flat expression and she shakes her head again.

“Nope! It kinda felt like plastic! Like… really smooth plastic! It was a little bumpy too, but it wasn’t rough! Rodger can tell you! He got to touch it too!” Toodles exclaims, pointing at Rodger with the crayon in her hand.

Gigi and Glisten gasp–although for different reasons.

“Rodger got to touch it too!?” She shouts.
“Please tell me you did not…” He begins.

Rodger feels all the eyes in the room turn to him and he can’t help but clear his throat from all of the attention. He gulps as he fiddles with his ascot to relieve the nervousness a little.

“Rodger??” Glisten continues confusedly with wide eyes staring the detective down.

“I… er …yes.” Rodger sighs in defeat. “Glisten, you know that I am a curious Toon. I have never seen anything like that before, let alone get the chance to examine it so closely, so I just…asked politely. They allowed me to investigate it and fulfill my curiosity. I will be forever grateful to them for allowing me to perform such an…invasive act upon their personal space.” Rodger hurriedly explains himself.

“He also asked first!” Toodles adds on, making Rodger flinch a bit.

Gigi just seems to mutter about how she needs to “touch the cool scar too” as Glisten shakes his head and sighs in defeat.

“I can’t believe any of this…they have been working here for two weeks and you are all already getting cozy with them being here? Surely they aren’t THAT special.” Glisten states as he then walks over to where Toodles was sitting to see what she was working on.

He looked over Toodles shoulder and could see what she was scribbling on. His expression completely turns incredulous as he processes what he was seeing.

On the paper, Toodles had drawn a doodle of the Defender in question with comically large buff arms, a proud confident smile, and angry eyebrows. Above their head was a Twisted getting ready to be thrown into a trashcan while a hilarious pair of doodles that looked like Poppy and Boxten cheered next to them. There was even writing on the picture that said “yay our hero” and “stay away from my friends meanie” in poorly drawn white speech bubbles. As well as the trashcan being pointed out with a black arrow.

“Toodles…what is this?” Glisten tries to ask politely, his confusion being evident on his face.

“This is Fendy and they are protecting Poppy and Boxten from a mean Twisted! They are gonna throw the Twisted in the trash! I hope they like it because I’m going to give this masterpiece to them tonight!” Toodles giggles, pointing at the key features on the drawing as she does so.

Glisten tries to mask his jealousy, as he huffs lightly.

“There is no way they are THAT buff! I saw them with my own two eyes at the meeting and their arms are nowhere near that big! Besides, I bet I can pick up a Twisted if I tried!” Glisten smiles as he poses and Toodles puffs her cheeks out at him.

“Nu-uh. Your arms are too weak and you’re too short.” She bluntly states.

The other Toons break out into an uproar of laughter as Glisten gawks at Toodles in surprise, even Rodger laughs but he tries to mask it as a cough when Glisten turns on his heels to glare at him.

“I just don’t get it!” Glisten announces once the Toons quieten down. “I don’t get what is so special about them!”

“It’s because you don’t know them!” Toodles says matter-of-factly. “You also missed the full story that Poppy told about their awesome fight with the Twisteds.” She finishes.

“That’s true, Glisten. You missed all of the good stuff!” Gigi snickers as she and Flutters laugh quietly to each other.

“Yeah…and it’s a long story too, so I would have to explain it all the way from the beginning to get you up to speed! We’ve been here so long telling the story that the table is almost out of snacks!” Poppy admits as Boxten nods next to her.

Glisten looks betrayed at all the Toons in the room.

“You all had a private meeting for story and snack time and didn’t invite me?!” He howls dramatically.

Rodger can only roll his singular eye and shrug in response to Glisten’s anguish.

“To be fair Glisten…” Rodger begins. “You DID have a show scheduled during our meeting time. So it’s not anyone’s fault that your schedule didn’t line up with the rest of ours. You could have at least come down thirty minutes earlier to catch the best part of Poppy’s tale…but you were busy signing autographs…remember?” Rodger explains as he almost looked…smug while saying it. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. You did have to appease your fanbase after all.”

Glisten grumbles in discontent and generally looks unamused.

“I can’t believe this!” He whines. “Traitors! All of you!” He dramatically poses with one of his arms covering his eyes and the other pointed out towards the table where the majority of Toons were sitting.

“First, you let me miss story and snack time and you are all making me feel clueless about this Defender! Knowing that you also touched that scar on their face–”

“You know that’s not the only scar they have, right?”

Everyone stops and Glisten drops the act for a moment to stare in shock at Toodles. She sits there with a crayon in her hand, still doodling away, but she smiles knowingly.

“What do you mean by that, Toodles?” Rodger inquires, suddenly fixated on the young Toon.

“That’s not their only scar. That’s just the most visible one!” Toodles answers casually. “They have star-shaped scars on one of their arms and shoulders! They look so cool! Here–” Toodles grabs a new piece of paper and begins to hurriedly scribble on it as Rodger and company look over eagerly.

“They looked like this!” She says proudly, sliding it over to Rodger who sits a little ways away from her.

Rodger curiously picks up the paper that was slid over…and his iris constricts.
Now, Rodger is a detective by profession. Detectives tend to deal with work involving mysteries or crimes in his episodes. While in the show they may be silly in nature, like finding out why a power outage happened or who stole from the cookie jar, but there is a darkside to detective work.

He has read novels while attending Brightney’s book club that paint more grisly pictures suited for more mature audiences that involve detective work. From unloyal lovers, to missing people, and of course…unsolved murders.

The visual representation that Toodles provided of these “star shaped” scars fits the description of something he always sees described in those more mature books.

These are not “star shaped” scars.

Those were old bullet wounds.

He finds himself lost in thought as he mentally reflects on all that he currently knows about the Defender. Even during their private meeting in his personal quarters that night, Rodger is just beginning to understand the sheer mystery that truely surrounds the new Defender.

Their past is obscure to him and is only slowly fed to him piece by frustrating piece. He remembers that they did tell him about the deaths of their companions, but it seems that there is more that has yet to be revealed. These scars tell another story about something that Rodger doesn’t know yet.

He ponders to himself for a moment, retreating into his mind briefly to analyze the human in question. He feels a wave of frustration at just now realizing how little he knows and how irritating it is to be given so little to work with.

The more the Defender hangs around, the thicker the enigma that surrounds them deepens…and Rodger can feel the pull of his curiosity tugging at him to ask and question them. He wants to know more…he wants to know everything…he wants to understand them.

How can one person carry so much intrigue with so many stories that have yet to be told?

“Toodles?” He finds himself asking. “Did they ever tell you how they got these “stars”?”

Much to his delight, Toodles nods. “Yep! They said that they got into a bad ‘fight’ and someone pushed them down a cliff. The scars came from rocks!” She answers earnestly.

It was a lie, obviously. 

Rodger can show a little appreciation in knowing that the Defender did not want to rip away Toodles innocence with brutal honesty. However, there was no mistaking it. These scars were made from a type of gun–something that Toodles wasn’t told about.

Logically, he can just assume that these wounds came from either the war or from a profession that the human served under previously before coming to Gardenview. Maybe they were an officer or they were a fellow detective. They did have the sleuthing skills to be one…however, they could’ve also been from more…criminal activities.

However, Rodger doesn’t think they are that type of person. So he gives them the benefit of the doubt and instead hums in thought in response to Toodles answer.

“I see…” Rodger mutters before he suddenly stands up from the table and pockets the drawing of the ‘star scars’ that Toodles did.

His singular eye flicks up to the clock and he can see that it is still a little early, but the Defender would be moving around very soon.

In fact…he was feeling like paying them a visit. Maybe he would get some more answers from them that way. Who knows? Maybe they will open up to him a little more about the scars.

He then begins to leave the room.

“Where are you going??” Glisten calls, watching Rodger behaving oddly as the detective takes a moment to pause in the entryway.

“Me? I’m going to go pay the Defender a visit.” He answers simply.

Then came the excited cheering from Toodles as she began to gather up her pictures, especially her masterpiece.

“Wait! I’m coming too!! I wanna give these pictures to Fendy!” She exclaims as she hurries to gather up her things and jumps out of her seat to join him out in the hallway.

The other Toons look on in curiosity but Rodger merely waves at the group in farewell.

“Thank you all for a lovely story snack time. We’ll be on our way–”

“Now hold it right there!”

Rodger is surprised by Glisten suddenly speaking up and walking out into the hallway, as his bow twitches in agitation and his arms crossed in defiance.

“You aren’t going to pay them a visit without me!” He exclaims. Rodger can only give the vain Toon a look of surprise.

“You are coming with us?” Rodger asks, puzzled.

The mirror scoffs as if what he asked was the stupidest thing in the world.

“Oh no, I’m just gonna follow you because I have nothing else to do–” He starts with a ton of sarcasm before cutting himself off abruptly. “Of COURSE I am coming with you two!” He asserts.

“I have been hearing about this Defender non-stop from the other Toons and it has been driving me crazy! I don’t see what makes them so special…so I might as well drop by and see for myself what makes them so popular!” Glisten huffs in a pouty manner as he struts off.

“Shake a leg, Rodger!” The mirror calls out behind himself.

Toodles hurriedly follows behind Glisten–her arm full of papers as she calls out to Rodger for him to follow them. The detective can only shake his head with a low chuckle and say a final goodbye to the other Toons in the room before departing.

The trio walk down the hallways together before getting on the elevator at the end of the hall and riding it to the top floor.

Once the elevator opens, Glisten does a dramatic non-existent hair flip as he steps out and scopes out the area. Rodger and Toodles weren’t too far behind as they walk out to survey the area too.

The sun was setting and there were only a few stragglers roaming around Gardenview, a stark contrast to how it was this past afternoon. Businesses were already starting to close down for the night, lights in some areas were turned off, and certain places in Gardenview already had their shutters down.

Looks like the end-of-the-day routine was already starting to take hold on the building.

Glisten then lets out a huff.

“Well! Let's get this visitation over with!” Glisten states as he turns…

And begins to walk in the wrong direction.

“Glisten, the Defender’s quarters is not that way.” Rodger states bluntly and it makes Glisten freeze in place before turning around abruptly with a composure-saving laugh.

“I knew that! Ahahaha!” He says walking off in another random direction, causing Toodles to let out a series of joyful snickers.

“It’s not that way either, Glisten.” Rodger comments again.

Glisten turns around quickly, as an embarrassed flush begins to appear on his glassy face. “Then which way is it!?” He glares with his hands on his hips.

Rodger could almost be considered smiling by how creased his singular eye was.

“Right there.” He points to the building…that was a few yards next to the elevator.

Glisten stands there in silence as his arms fall to his sides.

Rodger almost joins in on Toodles snickering, but holds his composure as Glisten gives them both a promising leer in response to his embarrassment.

“Not. A. Word.” Glisten warns, squinting his eyes at the two Toons trying to hold their laughs in.

Despite Glisten’s rather…charismatic way of brightening up his day, Rodger finds himself focusing back on the task at hand. Thankfully, it seems that he was in luck!

The station windows were open and there was light emanating from within, so that could only mean that the Defender was up and moving around.

Rodger begins to approach the building with purpose, now knowing for sure that you were awake. The other two Toons follow behind him, one of them being more nervous than the other as he lifts up his hand…

And he knocks on the door.

Chapter Text

The moment you stirred, you let out a low grunt and sat up in your bed.

Rubbing your eyes, your tired gaze found its way to the clock on the wall, revealing that you had awoken far earlier than intended. You did happen to go to sleep pretty early last night, so you figured it would make sense that you would be up earlier than usual.

For a moment, you just relished in laying in your bed and dozing a bit before you finally felt like getting up and starting your normal routine.

Without any more delay, you make your way out of bed and slip on your house shoes like every other ‘morning’. You walk into the living area of the Security Station and let out a large yawn as you put on a pot of coffee and begin to try to figure out what you were going to have for ‘breakfast’.

As easy as omelets are to make, you didn’t really feel like having that this morning. With a bit of pondering and looking through your cabinets for supplies–you decided that you felt like having french toast this morning instead.

You gather the ingredients, turn on the stove, and begin to get ready for preparing your meal. However, you were currently looking for something to help protect your clothes from the powdered sugar and syrup you were about to use. Since you didn’t feel like performing a deep clean on any of your personal articles of clothing.

You open a few drawers in frustration, trying to see if you could find something that you could use…and you did manage to find something .

A large, frilly, pink apron that had ‘sugar sweet’ embroidered on the front and it was also adorned with little heart shapes and small bows.

You take a moment to gawk at the apron before letting out a defeated sigh. 

It was better than getting your clothes all sticky with syrup and sugar, right? You’ll have to just power through wearing it and see if you can get something else at some point. It wasn’t overly horrible, but it did look a little silly. 

Why was this left here anyway? 

Eh…it was possibly just left behind from a previous Defender that probably forgot it when they left the job.

Regardless, you wrap the apron around yourself and continue with preparing your ‘breakfast’.

Throughout your preparation of making french toast, it suddenly surprised you to hear a knock at the door and you couldn’t help but smile when you heard a familiar voice ring out from the other side.

“Defender? Are you there?” Rodger could be heard calling out from the other side.

You quickly wash your hands before responding.

“I am! Give me a moment to get the door unlocked.” You shout, drying your hands and leaving the kitchen area to go to the entrance. 

With a click of the lock, the door is opened and you are greeted to the sight of multiple Toons standing just outside the station. 

One was obviously your partner in the twisted research project, Rodger. The other was the familiar beaming face of Toodles. Lastly, there was a familiar Toon you recall seeing and talking to at the meeting, but you never got their name.

“Hello Rodger and hello Toodles!” You smile warmly at the two Toons, who were both giving you a little bit of a confused look, but Toodles seemed to just start randomly giggling in response. 

For a moment, you were stumped at why they were confused and laughing, but you seemed to remember upon looking down at yourself.

Oh…right. The apron .

“Good evening, Defender. I have to say that is a rather interesting choice of…attire?” Rodger gently compliments. You can only chuckle in response. “It was the only thing I had on hand to protect my clothes while cooking.”

Toodles just giggles loudly in response to seeing you gesture to the apron in question.

“Well, I think it looks nice!” Toodles praises. “It makes you look pretty!”

The word ‘pretty' is not really something you would ever find being used to describe yourself. In fact, it honestly fitted the third Toon that was tagging along with Rodger and Toodles far better than yourself.

They were practically shining, golden from head to feet, and would actually fit the definition of being ‘pretty’. The third Toon seemed to be baffled at your attire, and your appearance no doubt, and you both finally made eye contact.

You just gave the new Toon a smile.

“I see you both brought a new Toon that I never met before.” You state, and the Toon almost looked offended at your lack of knowledge of their existence.

“What??” He balks. “How could you not remember who I am?! I talked with you at the meeting two weeks ago!” He huffs, tapping one of his leg-warmer clad feet in response.

“Oh, I do remember you being there…but I never got your name.” You admit, to which the shiny Toon lets out a huff before he suddenly poses.

“I’m Glisten~! The pinnacle of perfection given form!” He flaunts, giving you both a smile and a wink in response to his introduction. 

You flick your gaze over to the other Toons, seeing Rodger just looking at Glisten’s antics in an unamused manner while Toodles eagerly bounces on her heels and copies the pose, despite her hands being full of papers. You draw your eyes back to the shiny Toon and nod in confirmation.

“Well…it’s very nice to meet you, Glisten.” You smile politely, to which Glisten mutters ‘naturally’ under his breath in response. You then step back out of the doorway to invite the Toons inside. “Come inside and make yourselves at home.”

The Toons take you up on your offer and walk inside the station, finding it organized and tidy.

“Wow…you really know how to keep a place clean, Defender. Tisha would be happy to know that you are taking great care of the station.” Rodger compliments, as you close the front door and walk back over to the kitchen stove to continue fixing your ‘breakfast’.

You let out an acknowledging hum.

“It’s a force of habit from the military. They make you clean your given area in the barracks during bootcamp to start “positive” habit development. On the bright side, it served me well both in active service and post-service. On the other hand, it makes me a stickler for detailing.” You explain, laughing lightly before you feel a tug on your apron.

You look down to see Toodles looking up at you, those papers held proudly in her hands as she smiles when she gets your attention.

“Fendy! Look, Look! I brought you something and I hope you like it!” She says, happily revealing the pictures in her hands as she holds them out to you.

In a feat of curiosity, you gently take them from Toodles to look over the papers she brought you.

Apparently, they were all various drawings of you and the Toons together. 

One picture had a poorly drawn visage of yourself standing in a sunny grassy field with a doodle of Toodles holding your hand. Another featured a doodle of you and Rodger working on a case together with Toodles being drawn in some type of blue detective outfit. Finally, there was Toodles’s masterpiece that you couldn’t help but smile at. 

The fact that she drew you throwing away two twisteds while a poorly drawn Poppy and Boxten cheered you on from the side made you chuckle in response. The hilarious proportions of your muscular body also enticed a good-natured laugh out of you. You give the child Toon a loving ruffling on the top of her head as you give her a large smile.

“Thank you so much, Toodles! They all look wonderful!” You say in a fit of gratitude, making the child giggle and squeak joyously. “I’m gonna put these on the fridge, so I can look at them every time I get up for my shift.”

You then take them over to the fridge and pause briefly.

You still see the letters that Dandy had left you from his previous visit. The colorful lettering still spelling out the word ‘Q-U-I-T-T-E-R’ on the fridge door. You find yourself scowling at the message before you purposely scramble them with your free hand.

You instead begin to use some of the letters to hold up the drawings that Toodles drew for you. Organizing them around the edges to keep the paper from sliding off and using a few of the magnets that were there previously to hold up the masterpiece that Toodles drew. 

You hung the masterpiece the highest on the fridge and you used two brightly colored butterfly magnets to keep it from sliding off. Once all the drawings were in place, you stood in front of the fridge feeling satisfied with your work.

“There! All nice and hung up for display!” You proudly say, giving the small Toon next to you a gentle pat on the head. “Great work, Toodles. Now I can see your artwork everyday!”

“Yesss!! Hehehee!” Toodles giggles happily as she runs into the living area to burn off some energy from her excitement.

However, the new Toon speaks up.

“You know…I  never would have taken you for the type that would be good with children.” Glisten speaks up, making you look away from watching Toodles run around the couch in the living area to make eye contact with the Toon in question.

You can see that both Glisten and Rodger had sat down at the kitchen table that sat adjacent to yourself at some point and both of them were looking at you in a mix of relaxation and curiosity. They must’ve been watching you the whole time you were putting up those drawings.

“Oh, I’m not. Well…maybe not with human children. But Toodles and I get along just fine. Me and other kids? Not so much.” You let out a sigh and turn back to the stove and you finally set your battered bread down into the pan to cook it.

Glisten makes a noise of acknowledgement before he speaks up again.

“So how did you two meet anyway?” Glisten asks while looking at his hand in a passive manner, even taking a moment to buff and shine his nails by using his bow.

You didn’t get a moment to respond before Rodger interjects.

“Toodles was performing late night “investigations” again and decided to make the Defender their target of interest one night. The two apparently began to speak on regular terms during the late night hours after their first meeting…without my knowledge.” Rodger explains, looking over his shoulder at Toodles as she pauses momentarily and rubs her neck with a nervous smile.

Glisten seemed to be puzzled for a moment before he gave a half-hearted glare towards Toodles.

“Toodles! You know how much I stress about you getting your proper beauty sleep!” Glisten chides, to which Toodles lets out a whine.

“But it was the only time Fendy was awake! They sleep during the day and I have an early bedtime when it’s not my turn to help with the machines…and Rodger would’ve made me go to bed regardless if I wanted to talk to Fendy! How else was I gonna talk to them??” Toodles complains, while crossing her arms and huffing in response.

You laugh lightly.

“On the bright side, I’m glad Toodles began to talk to me.” You admit, flipping the bread that was sizzling in the pan. “I probably would not have met so many Toons if she didn’t bring me out of my shell.”

“Oh?” Rodger suddenly says. “You were shy? That’s the reason why you weren’t talking to any Toons? Didn’t you say that you were just overly devoted to your work and just forgot regularly to say hello?”

You bite your lip slightly and take a deep breath.

“Well…work was part of it. Yet, I didn’t really know how to approach any Toons without coming off as overly intimidating or scary.” You explain as you remove the french bread and place it to the side. “I didn’t want to frighten any of you, so I just stayed working to keep myself busy and to keep you all comfortable…that’s all.”

You didn’t want to admit to Rodger that you had bad experiences with previous coworkers from past jobs and from the public that caused you to become more antisocial than normal. Sometimes even going out in public for groceries was a daunting task that you had to undergo. 

Thankfully, it was mostly just startling to most people and nothing ever escalated beyond the point of you accidentally making someone scream or causing kids to cry from a distance. Most people even apologized for doing such acts and you just brushed it off.

It still hurts, though.

“Well, I think you are rather interesting, and while you may be intimidating, I think those that get to know you beyond your appearance think kindly of you as well.” Rodger reassures. “In fact, Gigi, Connie, and Flutters are looking forward to working with you tomorrow.”

That surprised you enough to make you pause in sprinkling the powdered sugar onto your french toast in response.

“They are?” Rodger nods. “Poppy told the rest of the Toons what had transpired on your first night down in the depths. Gigi was there for the entirety of it all and seemed to think that you were, in her own words, “awesome”.” Rodger reaffirms.

“Gee. Wish I was invited to that story snack time meeting to hear the full story as well.” Glisten snarks, making Rodger look over at him with a firm look.

“If I recall…didn’t I explain that you had a meeting with your adoring fan base and couldn’t be there because of that?” Rodger alludes, making the mirror look away at nothing in particular and huff like a brat.

Toodles then hops up into a chair next to Rodger, giggling at Glisten.

“You would’ve liked the story, Glisten!” Toodles affirms before her gaze is suddenly enraptured by you setting a plate down that was full of french toast. “Oooh! That looks yummy!” She says in awe, as her eyes sparkle with interest and you chuckle in response.

“It’s french toast. I felt like doing something different than an omelet today…so I made this. Would you like to try some, Toodles?” You offer as you finish getting your coffee and fixing it how you like it.

“Yes, please!” She eagerly bounces in her seat while you set down your cup of coffee, pick up a slice or two, place it on a smaller plate with some berries, and pass it to her.

Toodles eagerly begins to dig into the toast on the plate and you can only smile before looking at the other two Toons.

“Would either of you like something to eat as well?” Both of the other Toons shake their heads in response. “We already ate dinner and I had just gotten done eating with the other Toons during the story snack time. So I am well full right now.” Rodger states, patting his abdomen lightly.

You have to prevent yourself from going down another rabbit hole involving Toon biology as you can NOT see how Rodger is capable of eating…let alone talking . He has no mouth …maybe his eye turns into a mouth? Maybe he just absorbs it through his skin or something…no. No . Stop thinking about it. It just happens. It doesn’t matter how.

“I see.” You respond and simply begin to eat your breakfast and drink your coffee.

Then, you suddenly realize something and you take a moment to swallow your food before announcing your question to the Toons.

“Not to sound like I am ungrateful or anything, but why the sudden visit? Did you all just want to come visit me or did you need something from me before I start my patrol tonight?” You question as you pop a berry into your mouth.

Rodger then lets out a hum.

“Well, I would like to say that I wanted to visit you to get some questions answered.” Rodger proposes and you can’t help but snicker lowly. “Itching for another interview, huh?” Rodger flicks his gaze off to the side in a moment of humility.

“I… yes . I can’t help it, I apologize. It’s in my nature to be curious.” Rodger sighs out in exasperation as Toodles looks at him and munches on her share of your french toast. 

Swallowing her own food before she grins brightly at Rodger.

“That’s what makes you such a good detective, Rodger!” She compliments as Glisten rolls his eyes in a lighthearted manner in response. “If only he cared for himself as much as he does for his research…” Glisten mutters.

“ I heard that. ” Rodger flatly states.

This causes the other two Toons to let out a series of laughter.

You take a moment to prevent yourself from going down another rabbit hole about how any of these Toons can hear without any ears, something you just chalked up to Toon logic once again, before you realized you haven’t asked much about Glisten.

“So, Toodles is a child aspiring to be a detective like Rodger and Rodger is a detective by profession…what about you, Glisten? What do you do?” You ask quizzically.

Glisten almost seems surprised to suddenly be put in the limelight, but he quickly soaks up the attention like a dried sponge as he places a hand onto his chest.

“I am a pop singer! I hold concerts for aspiring rising stars and for my glorious fanbase to cheer me on with my music!” He flaunts, his bow seemingly wiggling in excitement.

. . . Did his bow just wiggle –you know what? Nevermind. Toon logic. That’s it.

“He’s also a great makeup artist! He dresses me up in all the glitter makeup and I always look so pretty afterward!!” Toodles chimes in as Glisten puffs out his chest in pride. “Naturally~! I always make sure that it’s perfect!” He purrs, loving the attention and praise.

You can only let out a huff and a smile.

It seems that Glisten really appreciates being the center of attention. In a way, he’s kind of like an opposite character foil to yourself. While you tend to just want to work in the background, Glisten seems to relish and thrive in the spotlight. In a way, you are a little envious of him.

“You know, Defender…my offer still stands.” Glisten says the moment your eyes meet. “I can still try to cover up your scar.”

You shake your head at his offer.

“I appreciate the offer, Glisten. But I still don’t want to hide this part of myself.” You solemnly decline. “It’s a part of me. I don’t want to cover it up.” Glisten lets out a bemoaned sigh.
“Fine, fine. Just know that I am always available.” Glisten states.

Rodger then clears his throat.

“As much as I enjoy us all having a moment to bond, I desire to try and get us back on track. Now, I remember that I had something to give you, Defender. I think you may find it useful…hm?” He suggests, before he begins to feel around his person.

“Where is it…and where is my notepad? ” He mutters, looking in his little detective coat pockets and then he seems to suddenly realize something. “Oh dear…I think I left what I wanted to give you in my room and my notepad was left in the meeting area.”

Rodger then suddenly turns to Toodles.

“Toodles, if it’s not too much trouble, can you run back to my room and get the book that is sitting on the desk with a red ribbon sticking out of it? It’s for the Defender. Also, swing by and see if my notepad is still in the meeting room.” Rodger requests, to which Toodles beams in response.

“Sure! I’ll make it quick and fast–just like Pebbles!” She announces, then she hops off her chair and bolts for the entrance to the station.

“If it’s not there, ask Gigi! You know how she is! ” Rodger shouts after her.

Toodles nodded and was quick to open and close the door to the station, as you all sat there in the kitchen watching her go on her mission. Her little feet could be heard zooming off towards the direction of the elevator–leaving her empty plate there for you to clean up in her wake.

Rodger then lets out a relieved sigh.

“Now that we have some time alone…” He starts and fishes out the doodle of the human’s arm from his coat pocket and places it on the table–enticing your curiosity at what it was. “Toodles told me that you have more scars that you haven’t shown us…especially these…’star-shaped’ scars. Do you think you can elaborate on them…especially on how you received them?”

You were surprised.

You almost forgot about the time you told Toodles that you have more scars on your body other than your face…and seeing how Rodger managed to get Toodles removed from the room… oh. Realization suddenly dawns on you…

He left behind his things on purpose.

“Well…color me impressed, Rodger. I didn’t think you would be two steps ahead of Toodles like that. You just happened to ‘forget’ your notepad and book to buy some time for you to ask me sensitive questions without Toodles being present…” You let out an impressed chuckle.

“Pretty clever.” You compliment.

Rodger flicks his eye into another direction, as if he was trying to convey some emotion similar to bashfulness. But, he was keeping it rather miniscule and you couldn’t blame him.

Glisten, however, seemed completely lost.

“Can at least ONE of you tell me what is going on here between you two!? I don’t appreciate being the third wheel, you know!” He sternly exclaims in frustration.

You and Rodger both clear your throats respectively while you let out a sigh.

“Well…for starters, this scar isn’t the only injury I have sustained in my time serving in the military. I have had plenty of injuries and have recovered from most of them. As for the scars you inquire about, Rodger…” You trail off as you reach for your sleeve.

You begin to pull it up to your shoulder as the Toons watch. You slide your sleeve up your toned arm and finally reveal the silvery pinkish scars that speckle your arm. You roll it around to show how the scars appear on both the front and the back of your appendage.

“Here are the scars in question.” You explain.

Rodger’s curious eye seemed to sparkle in interest. “Fascinating…” He whispers in awe as he can see what Toodle’s meant by them being ‘star shaped’...they even shined a little like stars when the light of the room caught them just right.

As for Glisten…he just seemed to be staring at your arm intently…was he even staring at the scars? Eh, maybe you were just imagining it.

“So…you got those from rocks by falling down a steep cliff , huh? Definitely not from… bullets? ” Rodger finds himself saying as he examines your arm from his position at the kitchen table.

 Your eyes wince slightly, but you felt like you could at least confirm his suspicions.

“. . .Yes. They’re bullet wounds.” You confirm, looking at the scars yourself. Rodger seemed to only grow more interested as Glisten seemed to understand the gravity of the situation that the human was sharing.

“Wait…you were SHOT?!” Glisten balks, finally breaking his gaze away from your arm to look at you in slight horror.

“Well…what do you think war is, Glisten?” You give him an empty laugh. “Flowers and rainbows? No. These bullet wounds were my first taste of war. They are probably the earliest wounds I obtained in my service.” You explain, looking over to the one scar that looked like a shooting star.

“The enemy razed me with gunfire during a supply drop. Took out my arm for weeks and I had to have surgery on one part of my arm because the bullet got lodged in my humerus. Was in the intensive care unit for a while, but once I was better, I was sent back out into the front lines with my battalion.” You continue.

Glisten and Rodger both cringe slightly when you mentioned that a bullet was lodged into your arm bone, but both were equally disturbed by the fact that you were sent back out into the field after recovering.

“And they still sent you back out into the battlefield?!” Glisten nervously looks at you and you nod. 

“I was a soldier and we were in the height of the war. Nobody was gonna go home unless they were beyond salvageable… or if they were in pieces .” You mutter the last part under your breath.

“I can see the logic in that decision…but–” Rodger is cut off by Glisten. “That is absolutely horrible!” Glisten cries in a dramatic fashion. “I can’t imagine getting so hurt but being forced to go back out into such a dreadful situation!”

You just shrug in response.

“It’s how war is. Unforgiving.” You bluntly state. 

“But these aren’t even all of my scars…take a look at this.” You say while suddenly standing up, slipping off your frilly pink apron that you were wearing, and you hook one of your hands underneath your shirt–causing the eyes of both Toons to suddenly get very wide.

“Wha–”
“Woah! Hey!! ”

You pull up some your shirt and reveal the side of your abdomen that was equally as speckled with silvery pink scar tissue–just like your arm was. Rodger was quick to take notice of the scars and his eye was immediately intrigued. As for Glisten, he was just simply staring at you with eyes as big as dinner plates…was he even looking at the scars??

“I got these scars at the same time as my facial scar. Bomb shrapnel got embedded into my body when I was hit and thrown into the fire that gave me my facial injury…kind of a miracle I managed to survive the blast–let alone being able to still see, hear, and walk. I guess…I was just luckier than most.” You explain, dropping your shirt back down once you were finished with your explanation.

“Did that satisfy your curiosity, Rodger?” You chuckle, to which Rodger blinks and clears his throat in response.

“That is both harrowing and interesting, Defender…” Rodger comments. “I don’t know if I would’ve been able to go through what you did, but…I can say that I am very impressed. What about you, Glisten?”

Rodger looks over to Glisten to still see him staring off into space.

“Glisten?”

“Huh?! Oh, yes! Ahahaha! Very interesting indeed, Defender!” Glisten hurriedly says, coughing a little into his fist and looking away from the both of you.

Rodger squints at Glisten in uncertainty and you can only raise your eyebrow in a confused manner at his behavior.

However, the familiar pitter patter of smaller feet rang out just outside the security station and a familiar youthful Toon opened the door to the station while carrying two books in her hands.

“Sorry I took so long! I got the book and had to find the notebook in the room. It was still on the table, right where you left it! I guess Gigi either didn’t see it or didn’t care for what was in it.” Toodles announces, coming over to the kitchen table and giving Rodger both of the items before hopping up back into her seat.

“Thank you so much, Toodles. I appreciate it.” Rodger says in gratitude before he sets the book down on the table and slides it over to you–which entices your curiosity.

“What’s this for, Rodger?” You question while you pick up the booklet that had the red ribbon sticking out of it.

“It’s a micro-bestiary. I remembered how you wanted to borrow the main book featuring the twisteds, so I decided to make a compact version with all the twisteds we currently know of and what they are capable of. It’s something you can read in your downtime while you are waiting for your next venture into the depths with us.” Rodger explains as he opens his own notebook and his gaze hardens when he sees a page of his journal having a crude doodle of Gigi and the text ‘GIGI WUZ HERE’ written on the page in big letters.

It seems that she DID notice the notebook after all. Thankfully that was all that was “damaged” in it and he simply ripped the paper out before beginning to take notes on his findings with the Defender.

“Wow…thank you for this, Rodger! I really appreciate it! I’ll try my best to find you some interesting research about the twisteds tomorrow when I go down into the depths with Gigi, Connie, and Flutters. It’s the least I can do!” You smile as you flick through the pages filled with the typical neat handwriting that belonged to Rodger.

“It’s nothing, Defender.” Rodger humbly states.

Glisten was simply looking between you both in a stumped manner, his eyes squinting in confusion.

“Are you two… like …” Glisten starts, waving his hand around in front of him as his words fail him in his fit of uncertainty.

“Oh, that’s right. Glisten and the others don’t know.” You suddenly say, making Glisten flick his gaze over to you in high anticipation. “Rodger and I are partners.” You say simply, flipping through the book in your hand and not catching the obvious secondary meaning behind your words.

Glisten slowly turns his head towards Rodger, who seems to understand the expression, as well as the unsaid accusation, and he shakes his head furiously at Glisten in retaliation.

“Partners in researching the twisteds , Glisten.” Rodger waggles his finger at the shiny Toon. “That is all. Just a professional partnership. Nothing more.”

“Not even as friends? Ouch, Rodger.” You snicker as you put the booklet down onto the table and the poor detective looks at you in an exasperated manner. “You know what I mean, Defender.” He gently chides, though the crease in his eye tells you that he is smiling.

Suddenly, the sound of your watch letting out beeps makes you look down at it, revealing that it was almost time for your shift.

“Oh, wow . Time really flies when you’re having fun, huh? I gotta start getting ready to go on patrol tonight.” You sadly explain, chugging whatever was left of your coffee, grabbing up the empty dishes on the table, and turning around to wash them off in the sink.

“I guess that means that we all can turn in for the night.” Rodger sighs as he turns in his seat and fixes Toodles with his stern gaze. “And I mean ALL of us. That includes you as well, Toodles!”

“Aww! But I just got back! Can I hang out with Fendy for a little while??” She whines and Rodger simply shakes his head. “You’ve been getting drowsy during the day and it’s because you’re not going to sleep on time. We have to fix your schedule.” Rodger lectures the younger Toon.

“He’s right, Toodles! You will fall behind on your beauty sleep if you keep staying up past your bedtime!” Glisten joins in, wagging a finger at her.

Toodles could only just let out a little huff in defiance as you laugh at her predicament.

“If it will help you feel better Toodles…” You say after drying off your hands, opening the freezer on the fridge, pulling out her favorite ice cream treat, and then giving it to her. “Here. Have a treat for running that errand for Rodger.”

Her eyes sparkled in glee as she happily accepted the ice cream treat from you and beams happily up at you.

“Fendy, you’re the best!! Thank you!!” She happily squeals as she rips off the wrapper and begins to chow down on the treat–making you all laugh happily in the process.

“Well, I suppose that settles it.” Rodger states after finishing finalizing his entry into his own notebook before pocketing his pen and picking up his notepad. “I think it’s time we all took our leave. Thank you for having us as guests, Defender.” Rodger politely states as he bows slightly.

You just nod in response.

“It was nice having guests over for a while! Maybe I will be seeing you all again soon at some point.” You say as Rodger hops off of his chair and is quickly followed by Toodles.

“Well, yes!” Glisten suddenly states as he too begins to make a move to join the other Toons. “I think I will just– ”

Suddenly, Glisten lets out a startled gasp as he trips on the taller chair’s legs. He can feel his body fall with gravity and it was like time slows down for a moment. He closes his eyes and braces for the impact of the cold hard floor of the kitchen, but instead of the hard impact he was expecting…he instead lands against something softer and warmer.

Glisten takes a moment to breathe and reopens his eyes. 

Instead of being on the floor of the kitchen, he finds out that he was caught by a strong pair of arms. His gaze follows the arms upwards and he looks up at the one who caught him in the middle of his fall–seeing the Defender looking at him with a worried gaze.

“Are you alright, Glisten? You almost took a nasty fall right there…” You question in worry and Glisten finds himself struggling to speak.

“I…I… uh… ” Is his face getting foggier? “I-I’m fine! Really! Just a trip, nothing more! Ahaha! ” Glisten internally panics as he wiggles out of your embrace and clamors back to his shaken feet.

He then lets out an obviously fake yawn.

“Oh, I’m just so tired! I really need to get back to my room for my beauty sleep! Iwillseeyouallneveragainatanypointintimegoodbye– ” Glisten suddenly hurries ahead, opens the front door to the station, then rushes from the building in a hasty sprint and everyone could only look after him in a confused and less worried state.

All except Rodger.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine, Defender. But Toodles and I will take our leave so you can get to work. I hope to see you again soon tomorrow.” Rodger states, gently taking Toodles’s smaller hand into his own and leading them both to the door that was left open by Glisten’s retreat earlier.

“No problem, Rodger. Have a good night you two.” You gently say and wave at the pair of Toons. “Oh! If you happen to see Glisten again, tell him goodnight as well!”

“We will. Goodnight, Defender.”
“Goodnight, Fendy! See you tomorrow!”

You watch as Rodger carefully closes the door to the station and both of their footsteps could be heard walking away towards the elevator that housed all the Toons in Gardenview.

You let out a brief sigh of relief. 

Not that you didn’t enjoy their company, but those last moments of their visit got pretty hectic and you hope you didn’t invade Glisten’s personal space while you were trying to keep him from falling. Mirror Toons can’t shatter like actual mirrors…right?

Still, you did what you thought was right.

Now, you just had to get dressed in your uniform and go back on patrol for the night. 

So, you cleaned up the kitchen, stuffed the apron away in a drawer for another rainy day, put away the ingredients, stored the leftovers, and went back to your bedroom to change.

After a few minutes, you reemerge in your uniform attire and with your equipment on your belt.

You do your nightly routine and lock up the station as you clock in at 10PM on the dot.

Then, you began your patrol just like you did every other night for the past two weeks.

Maybe you’ll find something interesting to do tonight…

Only time would tell.

Chapter Text

Your patrol throughout the entirety of Gardenview went about as normal as you expected it to go tonight so far.

Seeing as you were not going down into the depths with the Toons until tomorrow night, you had some free time to just wander around and explore the rest of the large building. You even decided to go to a few parts that were beyond your typical patrol path.

Doing so allowed you to obtain the knowledge that Gardenview was far bigger than you originally thought. In fact, you came across a section that seemed to be aimed at themes involving exercise or activities.

There were lots of floral gardens, sport-centered areas, museums that featured art or fossils, a post office, and even a large indoor pool area!

You look at the illuminated pools through the windows in the hallway out of curiosity. Seeing a large pool that went down to 25 feet deep and numerous smaller pools dotted around nearby.

Judging by the size of the smaller pools and the posters on the walls that depicted a fishbowl Toon talking about swimming safety, you surmised that this location of the facility was used for entertainment and to teach younger children swimming lessons.

Walking deeper into this wing of Gardenview made you realize that this was most likely the activity wing. That explains all of the sporting, swimming, and garden areas that you were passing by while on your patrol.

However, most of the rooms were locked down tight and you probably wouldn’t be able to use any of them to help pass the time…not like that was your primary job after all. However, you do admit that it does happen to get boring around here late at night once the Toons go to bed.

Now that Rodger was wise to you and Toodles meeting up at night, he’s been a bit more strict about getting her to bed on time. So you haven’t been talking to her as much as you used to back during your first week here.

You have to say…you kinda miss her questions and curiosity while you both talked in the late night hours while you patrolled around. It not only helped you feel less lonely, but it also assisted in passing the time for your shift to slowly crawl by.

The silence in this building can sometimes feel so suffocating without any company…

However, it seems your night might just get a little bit more interesting.

You suddenly pick up on something…

A peculiar sound reaches your ears as you circle back to the main hub area of Gardenview. Right near the entrance before you go into the activity wing…was a rather familiar sound echoing out from one of the nearby rooms.

Out of curiosity, you began to investigate.

You approach the area in question and find a location in the activity wing being illuminated from within. The doors that were left ajar had light seeping from them and you walk over to check and see if this was someone hanging around after hours.

Slowly and stealthily, you creep over to the doors to peer inside the room where the occupant was.

Through the crack in the door, you could only make out half of the room. Which consisted of numerous pieces of exercise equipment. 

From treadmills, stair climbers, bench pressers, arm weights, yoga mats, and even exercise balls. Just from the equipment alone, you could surmise that this was a gym that was available to customers that had paid memberships with Gardenview.

Yet, the source of the noise couldn’t be seen from this angle.

You slowly open the door to minimize any possible noise and you finally get a look on the other side of the large room.

The opposite side of the room had a wrestling ring and a large gymnasium area for group exciserises, gymnastics, and even practice dummies. Amongst all of the equipment was a few large punching bags that were hung up on chains from a beam near the ceiling…and one of those said punching bags was currently being used by…a Toon?

The Toon in question was familiar to you based on your memory of the past meeting. You think you’ve seen them before…have you?

It was the shrimp-looking one.

The Toon was dressed in a red sleeveless shirt that hung down loosely over their abdomen and had a single white line circling the base and no pants or…any other notable articles of clothing. Like in typical Toon fashion, you suppose.

As for the rest of the Toon, they appeared to have orangish limbs and a tail that curled up to the top of the Toon’s head–hence why the Toon looked very similar in appearance to a shrimp.

Upon further inspection while you watched the Toon punch the bag…you could tell that something was bothering the Toon as they looked very upset.

You open the door wider to get a better look and–

Creeeeeeaaaak. . .

The Toon pauses from punching the bag to suddenly turning towards the door and your gazes lock onto one another. 

Well…it looks like you’ve been found out. You give the Toon a short wave in response to being found out and the new Toon seems to let out a snort in discontent. 

Probably out of a desire to be alone, you suppose.

“Sorry for intruding on your…training session? I was just checking to see why this light was on.” You apologize and the Toon rudely rolls their eyes.

“ TCH. WHATEVER! JUST GO AWAY!” The Toon barks loudly at you before resuming punching the bag to alleviate whatever frustration that they were feeling.

You stand there in a stupor of confusion at his reaction. This Toon wasn’t as friendly as the other Toons you have met…and you find yourself wondering why.

Then, an echo of a memory reaches out to you from some point last week.

Some Toon conversations you remember overhearing in the past seemed to talk about some Toons having issues with another Toon. Though, you would always wander out of earshot before you ever caught the troublesome Toon’s name. Could this Toon possibly be the culprit?

You watch the Toon continue to punch the sandbag with a fleeting sense of… nostalgia , oddly enough.

You see, back when you were a young teen, you were pretty much hell on earth for your parents to control or talk to. Maybe it was because by that point in your life, your parents' emotional neglect of you seemed to have awakened that fierce rebellious teenage spirit that you used to have.

You became rather jaded and disrespectful to them, and you also took every moment to make their lives harder than they needed to be. 

This included blasting your “new age rock music” loudly in your room and you even tried to get with your old highschool buddies to form a garage band to spite your parents to their very cores.

You dressed in edgy clothes…hung out with the wrong crowds…pretty much anything that you could think of a teenager getting into trouble for, you did.

Nowadays, you just chalk it up to you once being a very jaded, overly emotional, and hormonal teenager that you eventually were forced to grow out of after your parents shipped you off to the military once you turned 18.

Even now you still feel bitter about that and you hope your father has a miserable existence in whatever afterlife exists after death…or better yet… you hope he just faded away into oblivion . 

You may have been a rebellious teen, but that didn’t excuse your parents for shipping you off to fight in such a bloody war with such a high chance of death.

Even if they did it for “the greater good” they could've at least helped you out after you came home injured and warped from the war like good parents should. 

Instead, they let you to suffer on your own and allowed you to become homeless…and that made their unspoken message to you as clear as day.

They sent you off to die . They didn’t want you to come back.

You would never forgive them for that…in fact, you can say that you hated them for it.

You didn’t even attend your father’s funeral once he passed away. It may be cruel of you…but you never shedded a tear nor did you miss your father in the slightest. You just hoped that wherever he is…that it is hot, miserable, and that your father is experiencing a shred of the agony you endured while in the service.

“WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?! GET LOST ALREADY!”

You jump out of your skin when you realize that you had spaced out in the room that the Toon was in. That was pretty embarrassing…and probably a little creepy.

You come back into reality to see the shrimp-like Toon glaring at you from their position over near the punching bag.

“I…sorry! I spaced out for a little bit there…” You nervously chuckle while the Toon just crosses their arms in aggravation.

“I DON’T CARE!! JUST LEAVE!” The Toon snaps at you.

You ignore the Toon’s demand and just curiously look at them from your spot near the door before you turn off your flashlight and decide to start walking over to where the Toon was. 

The Toon, surprisingly, doesn’t flinch at your approach. Instead, they just squint at you in a challenging manner.

“Why are you up this late? Aren’t you supposed to be going to bed?” You ask, ignoring the frustrated growl that comes from the Toon in question.

“WHY DO YOU CARE?” The Toon responds. “I WILL STAY UP ALL NIGHT IF I WANT, SO IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” The Toon finishes while looking away from yourself.

“Hmm…” You let out a hum in thought while looking at the indents on the punching bag and seeing how deep they go. “I'm gonna take a guess and say that you’re up late because you’re frustrated.”

The Toon visibly bristles at your assumption.

“I AM NOT!” The Toon growls at you and stomps his foot in defiance against the gymnasium floor. “I JUST WANT TO BE ALONE!” The Toon leers at you, as if daring you to speak up again.

You take a brief moment to analyse the punching bag again.

The impact sources on the equipment seem to show that the Toon was using a lot of power…but not much technique. The indents are sporadic all along the sides and each one was inconsistent and no two dents were the same–regardless of how hard the Toon was hitting the bag.

A memory of your first time going into bootcamp flashes to the forefront of your mind. 

You remember when you were still being that angry and rebellious teen when you were placed under your sergeant. The sergeant was probably one of the few things you can say you were glad to have while in the service.

He was a patient man and he put up with your sass, antics, and stubborn nature…but then he introduced you to sparring when you would get too frustrated with someone or somebody else got too frustrated with you .

Sparring was a good way for you all to stay in shape and to keep your close combat training sharp. It was also a great avenue to settle disputes or to blow off steam and excess energy when times were getting too stressful.

You could almost laugh at how you started out sparring.

You remember getting your reckless ass handed to you on a silver platter multiple times by different people when you first started out. You became more familiar with the taste of dirt rather than the coveted taste of victory you were so determined to get.

In short…you were BAD at sparring.

Even your own sergeant had to help you learn to spar better with your fellow military personnel.

However, through his diligent teachings…you began to slowly mellow out and even bond with your fellow soldiers while you attended bootcamp. 

Over time, you got better and better with sparring and you remembered how good it felt when your sergeant told you how proud he was from seeing how much you improved.

Maybe the same principles can be applied here?

Even if this Toon was shorter than you, it could be a possibility that you can help alleviate this rage that this Toon was radiating off of themselves in waves.

Maybe all they needed was an outlet for all of their frustration…maybe they just needed someone to help them. Just like when your sergeant had to help you mature when you were a reckless hotshot.

You lock eyes with the Toon again.

“I have a better idea.” You suddenly say.

The Toon just groans lowly in response–seeing as you weren’t leaving.

“WHAT.” They snap.

“I don’t think this punching bag is going to do you any good.” You gesture to the bag. “It’s not giving you the satisfaction you are looking for and you’re just stewing in your own rage.” You briefly explain.

“I DON’T NEED AN OUTLET! I HATE BEING SATISFIED! I JUST WANT TO BEAT SOMETHING UP!” The shrimp shouts at you. “UGH! YOU ARE SO ANNOYING!” They snarl while looking away and letting out a displeased huff.

You just smile patiently at them before continuing.

“Instead…how do you think you’d fare with a living opponent?”

Now this seems to catch the attention of the Toon. 

The Toon looks back at you with an enticed leer and you can’t help but smirk internally as you could see the gears spinning in the Toon’s shrimp-like head before you continue with your preposition.

“This punching bag is not a worthy opponent.” You state plainly before walking further into the room and slipping off your equipment. “I think we can make this more enriching for you. How do you feel about sparring with someone like me?”

You ask while putting your items on a wooden bench nearby.

The Toon blows a raspberry at you in response.

“YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’RE WEAK!” They taunt. “I COULD KNOCK YOU OFF YOUR FEET WITHOUT EVEN TRYING!” They continue to taunt, their face wrinkling into a sneer.

Heh.

If only this Toon realized that you said the exact same thing to your sergeant so many years ago before you were promptly shoved into the dirt.

“Well then…let’s see if you can uphold that threat.” You say simply while walking over to the padded area of the room and getting into a position that reaffirms your stance.

“I’m ready.” You state while staring at the shrimp-like Toon that stood a ways away from you.

The shrimp seemed to ponder something for a moment before rolling up their nonexistent sleeves and glaring at you from their location nearby.

“ WHATEVER! SINCE YOU WON’T LEAVE ME ALONE, I’LL JUST THROW YOU OUT OF HERE MYSELF!” The shrimp threatens before beginning to stomp over to you with their arms arched up at their sides and you watch their approach carefully.

The moment the Toon stepped onto the rubber mats, you brace yourself.

Predictably, the Toon throws a punch at you and you catch it in one of your hands. Then, you quickly rotate it, pull it, and the Toon is suddenly flipped before landing onto their back.

You stand over the Toon while they lie motionless on the rubber mat and staring up at the ceiling in silent surprise at how fast they were knocked down onto their back.

“Got a little ahead of yourself, huh?” You snicker, not being able to hold back a smirk that spreads across your face the moment you see the Toon’s eyes flick over to you. “Want to try again?”

The Toon is quick to sit up, scramble to their feet, and wipe their chin with a hand while their eyes stay locked onto you.

“GRRRR!” They growl at you and you brace yourself once again. “RAAH!!” The Toon shouts while charging at you with a full body assault.

However, you are quick to sidestep and trip the Toon. 

The Toon suddenly stumbles and falls onto the padded floor again. They let out a loud grunt when they land belly-side down onto the mats this time and they pound their fist down onto the mats in frustration.

“You’re not gonna break my defense by charging in so recklessly.” You remark, watching the Toon pick themselves up off the mat, yet they don’t stand up.

“I HATE THIS–” The Toon bellows from their place on the floor. “AND I HATE YOU!!”

At first, you were worried that you were doing something wrong and were just upsetting the Toon even more, but the moment the Toon gets back up and looks towards yourself once again–you could see a familiar determined fire sparking behind those angry eyes.

You ignore his wailing and instead ready yourself again.

“ Again . This time–aim for my hand.” You direct, as the Toon lets out an enraged huff before sticking up their fists once again.

The Toon swings again and their fist meets the palm of your hand. 

The impact shakes both of your arms and you hold your gaze stiffly while the shocks from the impact work their way out of your body. However, the Toon was having a tougher time and could be seen physically wincing as the power rocks through your interconnected hands and shakes them to their core.

The Toon pulls their hand back and shakes it to get feeling back into it, while you just drop your arm to your side. They look at you with a disgruntled face and you just smile in response.

They let out a ferocious snarl and you ready yourself for a few more attempts.

The Toon and you spar on the mats with the session going about as well as you figured it would. The poor character was getting tossed around, knocked to the ground, and they were shaking with rage for most of the time that you two were “fighting” it out on the mats.

Every punch, kick, throw, and roll made the Toon angrier…but more focused on trying to break your defense.

While the Toon was having a rough time, you were simply standing in one place and letting the Toon come at you again and again to try and attack you. Every time they attempted to make physical contact, they would get thrown to the padded floor, rolled to the side, or tripped up and were sent falling onto the mats or were knocked off balance.

You were barely winded while the Toon was panting and breaking a sweat in response to trying to get at you multiple times. They tried everything that most reckless people would do in sparring. They charged, swung wildly, and had no technique in their combat. It was like you were fighting some rambunctious high school teenager…maybe this is how your sergeant felt when he would constantly put you into the ground to teach you how to spar better.

You both have probably sparred for around 40 minutes when you could tell that the Toon needed a break. You decided to pause the sparring once you could see how winded the Toon was getting.

“Let’s take a break.” You offer before going over to the snack area of the gymnasium that was nearby.

“I…I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!” The shrimp gasps out while standing, but makes no move to follow or attempt to attack you again.

Instead, they just gasp heavily before stomping over to a nearby bench and sitting down to catch their breath. Their eyes grumpily watching you from their place of rest while you head over to the vending machines nearby.

You walk over to the vending machines in the gymnasium rest area and you pull out some money from your wallet. You make a quick purchase of two cans of pop and two protein bars. Once the vending machine provides you with the goods, you walk back over to the Toon lounging on the bench.

“Here.” You offer, placing the can of pop and protein bar next to the Toon.

“UGH. I HATE THESE.” The Toon complains before reaching over and opening the can of pop while you sit down next to them.

You do the same and both of you take a few nice long and refreshing gulps from your own respective cans of pop before you swallow down the chilled liquid with a pleased ‘ahh’ .

The Toon next to you seemed to finally get their breathing under control while resting and they licked their lips to clean up any remaining pop that threatened to drip past their mouth. Then, you pick up and open the protein bar.

You take a few munches out of it before the Toon next to you mimicked your actions and indulged in the bar you also gave them.

For a moment, there was just blissful silence that you two shared between each other.

The Toon next to you suddenly speaks up.

“WHO ARE YOU ANYWAY.” The shrimp-like Toon asks, their eyes flicking up towards you in a grumpy manner while their head remains facing forward.

It seemed like they were trying to ask a question, but they were being rather blunt about it. So it came across more like a statement than a question.

Regardless, you introduce yourself to the Toon and the Toon just lets out an irritated groan.

“UGH. SO YOU ARE THE PERSON THAT THE OTHERS KEEP TALKING ABOUT! IT’S SO ANNOYING!” The Toon complains and you can’t help but snicker.

“Yeah. I’m the newish Toon Defender that helps you guys out with the Twisteds in the depths.”

The shrimp Toon takes a bite out of their protein bar and doesn’t acknowledge that you said anything. You don’t take offense to their actions and instead you realized that the Toon never told you their name.

“Well…what about you? What’s your name?” You ask in between bites.

“I’M SHRIMPO AND DON’T YOU EVER FORGET IT! ” The Toon announces while gesturing to himself with one hand and pointing threateningly at you with his other hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Shrimpo.” You continue plainly while Shrimpo just lets out a disgruntled growl and bites into his snack with a crude snap of his jaws.

“WHATEVER.” He bluntly responds.

You two take a moment to relish in the snacks that you purchased for you both before the Toon suddenly turns his head and stares at you in a focused manner–drawing your attention away from crushing the empty pop can in your hand for a moment.

“WHY ARE YOU HERE.” He rudely asks as you look over at him and hum in confusion.

“I WANTED TO BE ALONE AND YOU CAME IN TO RUIN EVERYTHING. THEN YOU THROW ME AROUND THE ROOM A FEW TIMES AND YOU BUY ME A POP WITH A SNACK. DON’T THINK WE ARE FRIENDS. BECAUSE WE’RE NOT!” He leers at you while drinking the rest of the pop and crushing the empty can as well.

“You didn’t have to take the pop and protein bar, you know.” You chuckle as Shrimpo crosses his arms and leans back against the bench in disgruntlement before knocking his trash onto the padded floor.

“But, the reason why I didn’t leave was because…well, you remind me of how I used to be.”

Shrimpo’s pupils slide over to look at you while you also lean back against the bench and a distant look comes across your face.

“NO I DON'T.” He denies, but you can see that his gaze was unbroken and the depths of his eyes seem to signal him being interested in what you had to say. Despite the Toon not verbalizing it out loud.

“Heh. Maybe. But I used to behave just like you once upon a time, Shrimpo.” You hum as the memories drift across your mindscape. “Always driving my parents nuts, going out to do my own things late at night, hanging out with dangerous crowds, and rebelling against everything my parents stood for. The way I spoke, the way I felt, the way I dressed…it was always to spite them or someone else.” You continue.

“I entered a pretty negative scene during that point in my life and I had a lot of hard lessons to learn.” You recall as Shrimpo lets out a huff. “I DON’T CARE. I DIDN’T ASK.” Shrimpo comments. But his eyes didn't drift away and his response had no bite to it. 

So, you continue.

“I remember just wanting to punch things, break things, or scream at the top of my lungs during that phase I had. But it all came to a head when I turned 18 and I was sent off to military boot camp by my parents.”

Shrimpo stays quiet, surprisingly. So you take that as a sign to continue.

“I was like an outsider when I arrived and I always had problems with others just for the sake of starting problems. Because I always had this sense of frustration or anger that I couldn’t get under control. It made me lash out, bully, or fight others for no other reason other than just because I wanted to. It didn’t help that I really didn’t want to be in the military, so I was trying to be as problematic as possible so they would kick me out and send me back home.”

You turn your gaze to the Toon in question and he still sat there frowning, but staring you down like he expected you to continue.

“That is…until I met our sergeant. He was a very patient man and he took me under his wing when I kept getting my ass kicked during sparring matches with my fellow soldiers. I think he did it because he saw that I was becoming frustrated and that I kept turning those internal problems outward onto others.” You reminisce.

“I got better over time with his help and I learned a pretty valuable lesson from him.”

“UGH. A MORAL? THAT’S LAME!”

“It’s not really a moral…call it something like… wisdom .”

You sit up straighter and look at Shrimpo with a patient gaze.

“He taught me that if I don’t find a way to control my emotions , then my emotions will find a way to control me .” You say while looking at the Toon.

The Toon stares at you with his typical annoyed look before his gaze finally breaks and he looks away to stare at the room around you both.

“Even if you don’t find value in wisdom or morals, I think it’s something that a lot of people can agree with at some point in their lives.” You say gently to the Toon sitting next to you.

A moment passes and you figure that maybe Shrimpo was having a moment of self reflection before he suddenly turns back towards you with an angry look.

“THAT’S STILL LAME!” Shrimpo loudly states before he hops off the bench and growls at you.