CH. 1 • Dawn of a Failure // AU

Instructions

( Bringing back an old AU my friend and I made,, it's so nostalgic for me ✋ sob,, I don't think most know, Ig? ) [ DAY 1 / 6:30 / Shelly's room ] "Ouch!" My head banged hard against something as my alarm went off. Groaning and clutching the part where it hurt, I glanced up to be greeted with my desk lamp that shone down on me. I sleepily grabbed around, then located and punched down on the top of dinosaur-shaped machine to stop its blaring. "Ugh, what time is it?" I grimaced. The digital display read: [ 6:30 ] I rubbed my half-open eyes, before tensing; a sharp stab of pain passed through me like a bullet. "Huh,, this, doesn't feel right,,, gosh, I didn't think colliding with a lamp hurt this much– wait, woah!" My elbow slipped in my sweat, causing me to fall face-first on the papers spread across the desk. And because of that, most of the pencils and sheets scattered around rolled across the wooden surface, before falling to the floorboards with a loud clattering sound. The leads probably broke from the impact. "Wow, luck really isn't on my side is it?" I sighed raising my head. "Well, it's fine, haha,, it's bound to get better!" Pushing back my chair, I straightened up from my position and stretched my sore arms. I then slowly bent down to collect the fallen stuff, only to pause as a certain thing caught my attention. There was a half-dry stain on the edge of a yellow-ish orange file. I didn't remember spilling anything on it, since I usually kept my work space liquid clean. I blinked, cocking my head to a side. "Oh, what's this?" Picking it up, I jolted as I realized this wasn't just any stain. It was ichor. But it wasn't the old, functional yet slightly rusty black ink that bled out of us toons when we got injured. The red, eerily glowing sheen was concrete proof that this was pure, 100% clean ichor; the type only Dandy had. And maybe Rodger, since he seemed to have a storage room full of stuff for research. So it made no sense that my stuff would be tainted with it. What happened during the few hours I slept? I didn't remember this being here last night while finishing up my draft on [insert fossil name]. I racked my brain as hard as I could, but I came up blank. "Guess I'll just have to ask someone," I shrugged. I held the file tight with my right hand, and was going to open the door, when someone else did it before me from the other side. "Shelly?" It turned out to be Tisha, but, something felt off. She wasn't smiling, and neither did she look sad. She just looked,, uncomfortable. Uneasy. "Oh, hi Tisha!" I said cheerfully, albeit worried if she didn't want to talk much. Was it another accident with Brusha? I trotted over to her and peered into her face. "What's wrong? You look kind of under the weather." She winced, and now looked confused. She fidgeted with her hands, not exactly meeting my eyes. "Uh, Shelly what are talking about– are you okay?" "Huh?" I blinked, not able to understand Tisha. "I'm perfectly fine! Oh, I was just thinking about asking someone for help! Can you help me check this? If– if you want to, that is." Maybe I shouldn't have asked. She probably had a few chores in the morning, stacked with her usual cleaning. After a moment of awkward silence, I decided to break it, frantically waving my both hands in front of me. "Well, if you don't want to, I understand! You've got your duties to do, so I could just ask Rodger to assist me–" "Rodger? You know he'll only pester you with dozens of questions." Tisha interrupted with a raised brow. She took my left hand and placed her's on mine with a concerned expression. "Look, I don't know what happened, but you're acting really weird today. We could go see Cosmo if you're not feeling well. Have you been getting enough rest?" My breath hitched. This was getting out of hand. Tisha knew I didn't mind all of Rodger's interviews. In fact, I rather enjoyed them, since he didn't tune me out even though I got off topic. While I was bewildered by her unnecessary fretting, she was squinting her eyes at me, like she was trying to read what was going on in my brain. "Why do you seem so surprised? Have you hit your head somewhere, because you're being like your old self." Tisha didn't seem to notice my eyes widening yet, and continued. "Upbeat and a little awkward. Anyways, have you forgotten? I came in here to wake you up like always. You've got to set up the shop before Shrimpo barges in here to scream how he hates it when it isn't open." Tisha perhaps assumed my behavior was just the morning disorientation. She turned her back to me and was about to leave, when I called out with a shaking voice. "Wait, Tisha. What shop?" She turned to stare at me in disbelief for a full 10 seconds, before pulling me by my arm. "That's it. Shelly, you're going to Cosmo's place." she sighed. That was supposed to be my line, but oh well. Why was Tisha being so odd?