Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shelly Fossilian! Yep, that’s me. I think I’m pretty cool. Nobody else really talks to me, though... so... uh... I’m gonna go take a trip to a pretty cool mountain! Everybody else is gonna go with me, too! It was Dandy’s idea actually. Hopefully someone’s forced to sit next to me and interact with me? I could tell them all about fossils! ...don’t tell, but, like, I kind of have a crush on Vee... lol haha... I hope I sit next to them... I think I’m a lesbian or something... I mean, it’s not like anyone’s gonna see this other than me, since this is MY diary. I wonder if there’s gonna be a MUSEUM on the mountain since that would be REALLY cool and I could YAP AT EVERYONE ABOUT DINOSAURS AND EVERYONE WOULD LOVE ME BECAUSE THEY’D BE ABLE TO SEE HOW COOL DINOSAURS AND FOSSILS WOULD BE!!! I’ve heard it is inhabited, so I have a few hopes? Hopefully? I think I like dinos too much. Well, I mean, there are bees there. And bears. If I think hard enough, I can probably remember something about prehistoric bears or prehistoric bees. The people there would probably enjoy someone like ME knowing so much about THEIR history! They’d be so impressed! Anyways, Diary, I’ll see you later! I guess! I don’t know. Why am I writing this? It’s my diary, it’s not sentient.

With that, Shelly Fossilian closed her diary. Maybe she could talk about diaries with Flutter later, after the mountain trip. Flutter had a diary, right? Yeah, she had a diary. Shelly stood up from her bed, with a green fluffy dinosaur blanket and a brown fossil pillow, and went to her bathroom. (Dinosaur and fossil themed, of course.) She stared at herself in the mirror and made sure her shell was properly polished and shining. Shelly stepped back a little and made sure that her dress was properly dusted off and her undershirt wasn’t wrinkled at all. After making sure she looked presentable, she smiled. Best to make a good first impression on everybody at the mountain, right? Best to make a good impression on everyone at Gardenview, too. Practically a first impression, with how little anyone even glanced at Shelly. She sighed and went to put her socks and shoes on.

wee next part lol

“Alright, everybody! Get on the bus!” The toons were standing right next to a random empty road that was near Gardenview, and Dandy was escorting everyone into a random bus that he had somehow acquired. Based on how he wasn’t afraid of doing things of questionable legality (or just plain illegal activities), Shelly figured that it was stolen. Hey, the seats were pretty comfortable. Once she got settled in a seat, Shelly stared out the window of the bus. She’d always wondered why buses usually didn’t have seatbelts, but cars usually did. What was the purpose of a seatbelt if it plain wasn’t going to be used on a major form of public transportation. Speaking of that, did trains have seatbelts either? Well, those were less prone to crashing into each other or anything. They were on tracks. Airplanes had seatbelts, though. If the airplanes get seatbelts, why do the-

"Heya, Shelly. Do you mind if me and Flutter sit over here?” Oh, Gigi was there, in her same oversized blue sweater with a large star on it. Flutter was a bit behind her, sporting a blue dress instead of her usual purple one. It did kind of clash with her purple neck fluff, but it went nicely with her pink, heart-shaped face and her blue eyeshadow. Shelly nodded and scooted over.

“Sure! I don’t mind, as long as you don’t really mind me probably talking your ear off about dinosaurs...” Shelly said awkwardly. Flutter buzzed (chuckled?) a little, and both of them sat down. Flutter’s large blue wings were kind of in the way and Shelly was a little squished against the window, but it was okay! Someone was finally acknowledging her! Slightly! Flutter was a bug, and that kind of got Shelly thinking about prehistoric bugs... “Hey, did you know that the wingspan of a dragonfly would usually be around 2 feet long in prehistoric times?” Flutter looked relatively interested by Shelly’s sudden prehistoric fact. Gigi was busy fiddling with a microphone topper that she’d stolen from Vee. The rest of the bus ride was spent talking with Flutter, with Shelly yapping about prehistoric insects while Flutter buzzed in response about how that was “interesting” or “really cool” or “relatable” or “hey I think that one’s my great grandma”, stuff like that. Eventually, the bus stopped.

Dandy yelled, “ALRIGHT, GUYS! WE’RE HERE, GET OUT OF THE BUS!” Everyone rushed out of the bus, bumping into each other, and being generally excited about this mountain. When Shelly got out of the bus, she noticed that it looked oddly... pink. And oddly blue. And shiny. Mountains don’t look like that. Well, she could only see the peak, since the rest of the mountain was hidden by a large green gate, marked ‘0’. Before Shelly could think about it any further, Dandy continued. “Alright, so I know the mountain looks a little strange, but that’s what’s special about this mountain. It’s a weird-looking mountain. Don’t ask. I promise the locals are kind of friendly.”

Something still felt a little weird. Everyone else seemed fine with this mountain, though. Shelly figured she should be fine about this mountain, too. Just a new place, right? New places can be scary. Shelly followed everyone through the ‘0’ gate, and was greeted by a grassland area, with several small-ish fields covering chunks of it. There was a large red building elevated enough to where Shelly wouldn’t be able to climb it without difficulty next to a slightly-fenced field with massive sunflowers in it, along with the small flowers that made up most of the field. And through a field covered with blue flowers, there was a similar-looking blue building. There was a gate labeled ‘10’ with an ant statue on top of it, and some stuff behind it. There were also some walls with large hexagons mounted to them directly behind Shelly, to the right of the ant gate, and to the right of the hives, there was a gate labeled ‘35’, with what looked to be an incredibly blocky bee that had something to do with being dizzy, and maybe something about wind.

As far as the eye could see, everything was covered in a layer of pink and blue goo, the same that looked to be covering the mountain top. There were people walking around, but they all were wearing similar pink and blue robes. Something about them felt wrong. Shelly could still tell the colors of whatever was below the goo, but it was slightly difficult unless the thing was massive, like the sunflowers or the blue flowers. Well, except for the stuff behind that ‘35’ gate. That looked more normal. Shelly wanted to go there. Dandy had been giving a speech a little earlier that Shelly had zoned out of, and now she was almost completely alone. Almost completely alone. Flutter was still there, poking at Shelly.

“Ah! Sorry! I zoned out...” she said, slightly panicked. Flutter chuckle-buzzed a little again. “Honestly, I don’t really like a lot of this place. Do you wanna help me get behind that ‘35’ gate, Flutter?” Shelly asked. Flutter nodded. Shelly walked over to the ‘35’ gate and looked at it. Flutter followed. “So, how do you want to go about this-”

“Hello there, friendly tourist! How do you do?” It was a person. Their hair was covered in random globs of the same goo covering everything, but it was kind of long. They had the same robes as the people that had been walking around before. Shelly wondered why they weren’t surprised at a really large anthropomorphic butterfly and someone with a large ammonite instead of a normal head. Eh. She shrugged it off. The person continued talking. “Would you like to be enlightened with th-”

“Sorry, not religious.”

“Oh, but it’s not religion, my dear friend. It’s just the stories and truth of our one savior, Gummy Bear!”

“Who’s that?”

“I would be happy to-” Before this weird person could continue rambling about this “Gummy Bear”, they got whacked on the head and they fell to the ground. Flutter and Shelly were then dragged straight through the ‘35’ gate.

Chapter Text

Vee had been chilling on the bus. Nothing particularly eventful had happened, other than Vee having to fight Gigi for their microphone topper back after she stole it. Somehow, Flutter and Shelly didn’t notice that fight. Wonder how that happened. Anyways, after that, Vee spent the rest of the bus ride looking out the window, until Dandy interrupted their window-gazing or whatever to tell everyone to get out of the bus. Vee did so, and immediately noticed the bright pink and pastel blue mountain peak.

“Mountains are not pink or blue. Dandy, why did you bring us to a pink and blue mountain?”

“Alright, so I know this mountain looks a little strange, but that’s what’s special about this mountain.” Vee tuned out the rest of what he said. Mountains weren’t pink or blue. Especially not in the way this mountain was pink and blue. It was also shiny, upon further analysis. They walked forward, disregarding how Dandy was still talking. They should investigate this themself, since Dandy was clearly not to be trusted.

“That stupid idiot... Bet I could be a better tour guide than him. Also a better selector of where to go on a field trip than him,” Vee muttered to themself.
Someone behind them responded.

“Why don’t you like it? It’s a CANDY mountain! Why wouldn’t you like- oh wait you’re a robot right.” Vee turned around to see Toodles following them. “Hi there, Vee. I decided to follow you since you’re cool and you’re exploring the mountain.” Vee chuckled.

“Well, it’s less exploring and more investigating. I gotta investigate how a mountain turns into a shiny pink and blue candy mountain. There’s definitely something at work making this mountain look like that.” Toodles’s eyes widened at the mention of an investigation, adjusting their circular pillow-like hat.

“An investigation? EVEN BETTER! Come on, let’s go! Let’s go!” Toodles ran ahead of Vee, grabbed their arm, and dragged Vee to the base of the mountain. It was a grassland of sorts, with many goo-covered fields. The ground was covered in a similar layer of this same pink and blue goo. There were a couple of people walking around absentmindedly, and they all seemed to be wearing the same robes. White outer layer, pink middle layer, and a blue inner layer. Their shoes differed, though. Some were wearing sneakers, some wearing clunky boots that seemed to have a mix of goo and pollen stuck to them. There was also what looked like melted gumdrops in everyone here’s hair. Upon someone seeing Vee and Toodles, they walked over.

“Hello there, friendly tourist! How do you do?” Something about this person felt wrong. Almost like she was a brainwashed member of a cult or something. Who knows. Vee didn’t like her vibe, but Toodles seemed relatively fine.

“Uh, we’re... fine? I guess?” Vee said. “Could be better, probably.”

“Well, I think I have the way for you to feel better! Would you like to hear about the savior of this mountain, Gummy Bear?” The weird person asked. Toodles looked at Vee quizzically. Vee sighed and nodded. If they were going to investigate, they’d have to get an account from this crazed cultist or whatever.

“Sure, why not. ‘Enlighten’ us with your ‘Gummy Bear’ or whatever.” Vee’s voice was laced with as much sarcasm and bitterness as their robotic voice could incorporate, but the weird person seemed not to notice it.

“Thank you, thank you for being so open minded and accepting of the tales of Gummy Bear! Once upon a time, this mountain was nothing special. Full of nobodies, bears, and bees. But then, Gummy Bear formed after a hot and especially magical summer’s day, along with his most trusted companion, Gummy Bee.” Vee and Toodles glanced at each other. This sounded like a fairy tale. It would probably be hard to find even an ounce of truth in here. “Knowing that the denizens of the mountain would not accept Gummy Bear, Gummy Bee got the idea to hide away in a secret place, where they could gather their shared power. And they stayed there for many long years, slowly amassing a few dedicated elite followers, who were gifted with powerful boots, masks, and even powerful honey collectors, for the most dedicated.”

“This sounds like a fairy tale.” Toodles interrupted. Vee glared at Toodles, crouched down, and whispered in their ear.

“Shh, you’re only supposed to say that when we’re out of earshot.” Somehow, the odd storyteller did not notice anything.

“One day, Gummy Bee woke Gummy Bear. She knew that the two of them had gathered enough power to start cleansing the mountain, turning the nobodies into truly cleansed and pure beings!” Vee blinked. Okay, this was definitely some sort of doomsday cult. “Unfortunately, Gummy Bear did not see the resistance of the one who calls herself... ‘Spirit Bear’. She wished away many of her spirit petals to stay in her damnation. And before Gummy Bee could see that the Pepper Patch and Coconut Field were completely clear of even a speck of gummy, of goo, he fell into a long sleep. He guides us from his sleepy state, and Gummy Bee readily awaits the day when Gummy Bear wakes up. She also helps guide us more directly. Would you like to go meet her?” Toodles shook their head. Vee made quite the smart decision.

“No thanks. I’d rather get to know the mountain better.” Vee said. They subtly gripped their microphone tail tighter, ready for if this person would insist that Toodles and Vee meet Gummy Bee, or whatever her name was. There was no way that Gummy Bee was her actual name. Zero chance of Gummy Bee being an actual bee, either. Probably. Vee didn’t know anything about this mountain.

“Oh, alright.” The person seemed noticeably more dejected. “Let me know if you would like to see her, though! I promise that Gummy Bee is an amazing bee, even if you do not know how to interpret the gummy’s whisperings!” Vee and Toodles quickly walked away, towards and through a gate labeled ‘5’.

“Maybe we should try and find this ‘Spirit Bear’ lady. She’s probably pretty nice, right?” Toodles suggested. “If the goo-ified people are weird and want us to be goo-ified, too, maybe we could find her and get more information about our investigation!” Vee nodded.

“Yeah, that’s actually a pretty solid idea. Nice job, Toodles.” Vee looked around and saw a ramp leading up to a ‘10’ gate. Looking a little past the gate, there seemed to be a house carved into a large rock formation by a cannon. “Toodles, you see that rock-home place up there by the yellow cannon? That seems like a place a ‘Spirit Bear’ would live, right?” Toodles nodded rapidly and sprinted over to where Vee had pointed. “What the- HEY, WAIT FOR ME!” Vee yelled. They ran after Toodles. Man, this kid was fast. Soon enough, with the help of Toodles taunting Vee for not running fast enough, they were at the stone house. Vee peered through the window. It didn’t seem like there was much of the goo inside. Toodles knocked on the door.

Chapter Text

Shelly was reasonably surprised at being pulled through the 35 gate, but at least she was standing on grass now, instead of a layer of melted gumdrops or whatever. She turned to look at whoever had dragged her and Flutter through the gate. It was an anthropomorphic bear. Surprisingly normal. Her fur was a pale grey, with a slightly darker grey striped face. She was wearing a belt that seemed to be at least partially made of flowers. The clasp was covered in a white, sparkly flower. She was also holding a... parasol? A wand? Something. There were three large petals, also sparkly and white, on the end of the staff part. It wasn’t exactly a sun umbrella, but it seemed like this bear used it mostly for that. There was a teeny bit of goo dripping off one of the petals, but nowhere else.

“Well, uh, thank you for getting us away from that conversation!” Shelly exclaimed. “Uh, what’s your name?” The bear nodded.

“My name’s Spirit Bear. I don’t like what Gummy Bear’s doing to the mountain. It used to be a beautiful place full of bountiful plants, buzzing ladybugs and beetles and spiders and mantises and bees, all of unusual size, and there used to be beekeepers, coming from all over to our little mountain to have the chance to taste the honey from the flowers here.” She cleared her throat and rubbed her eyes a little. Seemed like she tended to talk a lot, at least from what Shelly gathered. “Most of them ended up failing, as this mountain is surprisingly poisonous-”
“I knew that motherbuzzer was trying to kill us,” Flutter buzzed. Something like that.

“Anyways, during the busiest time of the year, right in the middle of the summer, Gummy Bear decided to do his thing, trying to take over the mountain. He did it almost every year, before that idiot decided to go into hiding after I showed him what the sharp side of a Petal Wand could do to his precious, precious Goo Bee. I should’ve gone for Gummy Bee, Goo Bee was just a naive little larva in comparison to that SCHEMER,” Spirit Bear didn’t like Gummy Bear or Gummy Bee, whoever those were, from how Shelly heard the bitterness in her voice clear as day while she was ranting.

Spirit Bear continued. “Anyways, he tried it again, and before Windy Bee could shake me awake from my midmorning nap turned afternoon nap turned evening nap, the clouds had turned away from us, raining goo instead of water. I was about to go to Mountain Top Field to go show him a piece of my mind, but I figured that, based on how the once lively denizens of the mountain were shambling around like zombies, that going into the goo storm was a bad idea. I decided to use the last of the Spirit Petals that I had from last year’s regrettably small harvest of Spirit Flowers to shield my little slice of the mountain from the onslaught. It worked, and I’m slowly trying to neutralize any of these gummy denizens wandering around. I’m trying to be careful, but I think I’m being a little too careful, as the most I’ve done is destroy a few of the Gummy Shrines, whatever they’re called, to try and slightly weaken Gummy Bee. Gummy Bear is asleep right now, like a coward, so the most I can do is weaken her, as I don’t want to bring too much attention to my part of the mountain from Gummy Bee. She’d definitely know that it was me neutralizing the Gummy Cultists.” Shelly nodded. “Lots of problems. I may be very strong, but I can’t take on an entire mountain of powered-up hivemind gummy people. Plus, it would be bound to wake up Gummy Bear, and Gummy Bee’s already gotten a massive buff from the whole ‘taking over the mountain’ thing.

“Yeah, that definitely seems like a slight problem. Maybe we could keep Gummy Bee busy, and you could work on getting rid of the Gummy Cultists?” Shelly suggested. Spirit Bear shook her head.

“Would never work. You don’t know her ways of getting into your head, much less how to keep yourself sane and yourself when interacting with her. Your little party of interesting characters are already part of their weird cult already. Maybe there’s one straggler, but that’s the most that there’s going to be, and this straggler’s going to be caught soon enough. Us bears could probably fold most of you people... uh... toons...?” Spirit Bear looked unsure on what to call the toons. Shelly wondered if she’d been eavesdropping on everybody when they were all together.

“Yeah, it’s toons! Don’t worry!” Shelly confirmed. Spirit Bear nodded in approval. A paper plane hit Flutter in the face.

“As I was saying, us bears could probably fold most of you toons in half, physically and mentally, and yet I’m the only bear that isn’t taken over by the goo.” Spirit Bear fluffed her cheek fluff up a little, and Flutter was still struggling to open the paper plane to see if there was a message inside.

Wait a second, there was a paper plane. Shelly should probably read that. She picked up the paper airplane and opened it.

“It says... ‘I’m unaffected, and so are some toons named Vee and Toodles.’? And then, uh, ‘P.S. I admit that I put a recording device in the stem of the yellow pepper closest to you, sorry.’ Anything you can get from-” Spirit Bear turned around and kicked the dirt.

“I KNEW that BASTARD put it SOMEWHERE in here...” she spat. “Didn’t think Science Bear would put it in the fucking pepper, of all places...” Shelly and Flutter backed up a little. Spirit Bear turned back around after taking a deep breath. “Apologies for that. It’s just that I do not appreciate Science Bear insisting on keeping his eyes and ears everywhere. I’m glad that your friends Toodles and Vee, mentioned in that note, are okay.” Shelly nodded. Flutter tilted her head and buzzed.

“Should we try and find them or something?” Flutter asked. Buzzed. Whatever. Spirit Bear thought for a second, tapping her petal wand on the floor. She smiled kindly.

“I can consider it.”