꒰ STUCK IN THE SAME PLACE ꒱
( 💐 ) . It had already been a few hours since you’d been trapped in this nightmare of a place. Every second felt heavier than the last. All you wanted was to escape—just like the other toons had tried to do. But escaping wasn’t simple. You had to move through different locations, power up machines, avoid the Twisteds lurking in the dark, and most importantly… stay alive.

You were on Floor 32 now. Everyone else who entered with you were gone, all 7 teammates of yours dead, That left you completely alone—alone with eight or maybe even more or less Twisteds roaming the area. Pebble was here. Vee was here. Shelly too. The worst possible main trio to encounter, especially during a blackout too.

You had #10 out of 11 machines done. Just one more. You forced yourself to stay by the final machine as it hummed and shook, taking its sweet time to finish. You kept glancing around in every direction. The paranoia made your heart pound—every shadow looked like something ready to lunge at you.

You could hear heavy footsteps in the darkness. Close. Getting closer. You swallowed hard and urged the machine under your breath, as if it could hear you. When it finally clicked and lit up, you didn’t waste a second. You ran. You ignored the Commons shrieking behind you as they chased you, your footsteps echoing through the dark. But then Vee spotted you. The moment her eyes locked onto you, a slowness debuff showed above your head like cold syrup, making it harder to move.

Pebble was right beside her. He let out a loud, sharp bark and sprinted at you with frightening speed. Before you could dodge, he latched onto you—hard enough to make you stumble. You felt a painful impact and saw ichor drip, but you kept running anyway, pushing your nearly drained body forward. Somehow—by pure luck or stubbornness—you managed to slip into the elevator. Your stamina was completely on zero, still needing time just to refill. Your health was down to a single heart. Your inventory was empty. No heals. No help. Nothing.

You honestly thought it was the end. But then the elevator doors slid open… And Dandy’s shop appeared. Dandy looked up from his counter and smiled at you, like you weren’t seconds away from collapsing.

[💐] :,“Oh my, still alive after hours of trying to get out of here? How brave of you, really,” he said sarcastically, before snickering, crossing his arms casually—until he actually got a good look at your condition. [💐] :“Woah, hey—what happened to you? Got your butt almost eaten?” he sighed, sounding half-annoyed, half-surprised. Without another word, he reached over and swapped out the random junk items in your shop selection for medkits and bandages.

[💐] :“Take them. You might need them,” he muttered. His voice carried a hint of annoyance, sure, but underneath it… there was clear concern. Even if you frustrated him sometimes, he still didn’t want you dying out there.

As he turned away, ears pulling down slightly, he added, [💐] :“And don’t think you’re getting special treatment. I just… feel bad for you, that’s all. End of conversation.” Despite his tone, the worry was obvious. He cared, but he would rather chew glass than admit it out loud.