(<----- cool new dandy design for my au!! much more scarier than his old one! the wing like things are supposed to be his hands btw....) Before Astro had woken up from his nap, Dandy was sitting in his shop office, as he was holding his hands in his head. He had a really bad headache at the moment, and he felt lightheaded. “Ugh..My head is killing me..” Dandy lifted his head up from his hands, before his gaze landed on Vee. Vee was chatting along with her friend, Brightney, as they were both gossiping about the latest news. “And then, Sprout and his little friends made these cookies! It wasn’t bad, but oh my goodness, it was so bland!” “Hm..Well, it does make sense since they had been running out of ingredients–” “Brightney, honey, don’t ruin it.” “Yes, ma’am–!” Then, Vee glanced over at Dandy as her screen flickered into her usual cunning smile. “Ohhhh! Well, isn’t it the flower boy?” Vee approached Dandy’s shop as her heels clicked on the wooden floorboards, as Brightney followed quickly behind her. The two toons finally reached Dandy’s shop before leaning against the counter. “What’s wrong with you, flower boy? Feeling a little under the weather?” “I’m fine, Vee. Please just go..” “Is that your little excuse to get rid of me?” “Wait, Vee–He really doesn’t look okay. He should probably go and see Ms. Delilah.” Vee’s head snapped towards Brightney, as her screen flickered with annoyance. “Brightney, what are you–” “I’m right though, Ma’am. His petals are even drooping.” Vee looked back at Dandy, who was still slouched against the counter as his petals were drooped over his face. Then, Vee let out an annoyed sigh, as she grabbed Brightney’s hand before dragging her along with her. “Alright. I’ll leave him alone. Let’s go back to my stage.” “Got it–!” Dandy lifted his head once he heard their footsteps fade away into the distance. With the strength that he had, he pushed himself off of the counter before making his way to Deiliah’s main office. He stumbled slightly, as he walked there. His breathing felt heavier, as his body felt weak. His head hurt worse ever since he ate those cookies. It made him wonder. What was in the cookies that were making him feel sick? He knew that Cosmo would never try to poison him, but Sprout? They may have some arguments sometimes, but he knew Sprout for a long time. Sprout would never do something like that to him. Right..? Eventually, he made it to Deliliah’s office. Usually, her door was closed, because she was busy making readjustments to Gardenview, since it shuttered down. But now, the door was left ajar. “Ms. Delilah? Are..you there?” Then, Dandy gained up his courage and energy to enter her office. The first thing that he saw was the empty office. Usually, Delilah was sitting there at her desk, working hard as usual. But, she was..gone. The ideas on the bulletin board near her desk, all of the papers were gone. All of the documents, the memories, the evidence that she was ever there was gone. All that was left was a note that was neatly folded on her desk. Dandy made his way towards the desk before opening the note and reading through it. [‘I hope that one of the toons would find this letter soon, specifically Dandy. I’m going to be leaving Gardenview and leaving all of my experiments behind. There are too many changes that I have to make for this place, and it isn’t worth saving nor do I have the money. I am sorry that I have failed all of you, but trust me, this is for the best. I shall be coming back in a month or two to check up on all of you. Your creator – Ms. Delilah.’] Dandy just stared at the letter in absolute shock. She..left? No–! SHE WOULDN’T! SHE SAID THAT SHE WOULD SAVE THEM ALL, THAT SHE WOULD STAY, THAT SHE CARED ABOUT HER OWN CREATIONS! (CONTINUED BELOW!! :3)
Dandy simply folded up the paper before placing it neatly back on the desk. He couldn’t even believe it. The shock had overpowered the inner pain that he was feeling in his mind. Then, Dandy turned around before leaving the room without another word. When he was walking, he passed by Astro who was making his way to Deliliah’s office. Astro stopped once he saw Dandy. “DANDY–! Oh, thank heavens that you are okay! I have to tell you something—” But once, Astro saw Dandy’s exhausted demeanor, he quickly stopped talking. “Nevermind. Are you doing okay though..? You don’t look like yourself..” “Y-Yeah. I’m doing alright..I’m just feeling a bit tired at the moment.” “Oh, alright..You should get some rest then. It’s for the better.” “Alright. Thanks, Astro. Do you mind walking me back to my room?” “Of course!” Astro reached his hand towards Dandy from underneath his blanket, as Dandy took his hand in his. They both walked back to the main hallway. When they were almost there to Dandy’s main room, Dandy passed out as he fell to the ground with a thud. “DANDY?!—” Astro quickly scrambled to the floor near Dandy, as he held Dandy’s lifeless body in his arms. Astro felt Dandy’s pulse. Nothing. “ANYONE! HELP, PLEASE—!” But Astro’s voice only just echoed through the empty hallway for only deaf ears. Astro frantically looked around before looking back down at Dandy. Dandy’s eyes were now open but they were fully dilated. Dandy was staring back at Astro with a wide grin on his face. “D-Dandy..?” Dandy didn’t respond, but his grin only widened. It wasn’t a grin of happiness or relief, it was one of insanity. Pure insanity. Astro quickly pulled back from Dandy, as he took a few steps back. Meanwhile, Dandy pushed himself off the ground as he continued to stare at Astro. “Dandy. T-This isn’t funny!..” “OF COURSE, ASTRO! BUT DON’T WORRY! I FEEL STRONGER. POWERFUL. I CAN DO ANYTHING NOW..! IT CAN SAVE YOU TOO.” Then, Dandy collapsed back to the ground, as he let out a yell of agony. Astro quickly covered his ears, as he watched what was happening right in front of him. Astro watched in full detail as…Dandy’s legs started to deform and turn into roots. Exactly like one from a tree. Astro could only watch as his friend helplessly turned into a monster. Then, Dandy’s neck started to stretch out as thorns sprouted on his multiple root-like legs and neck. The process completely ruined Dandy’s sweater that he had, making the soft fabric left torn and ruined off his disfigured body. Finally, Dandy’s eye started to bleed out with ichor, as his grin widened to the point that it was painful. Then, Dandy–No, not Dandy, the monster right in front of Astro turned its attention directly to him. The monster slowly slithered towards Astro, as if the host that was taking control of Dandy’s body was getting used to it. Astro backed off into a wall as he desperately tried to look for an escape. Just as the creature was about to attack Astro, there was a voice nearby. “Goodness, I’m tired–! I need to recharge myself before my next performance..” It was Vee’s voice. Astro’s one eye widened as he looked into the distance of the voice. “VEE—! DON’T COME ANY CLO–” The creature of Dandy’s lifeless corpse reached out a thorn-filled root towards Astro’s mouth, forcing him to stay silent. All Astro could do was desperately claw at the root as he couldn’t do anything to save Vee. Finally, the creature let go of Astro, before slithering over to the source of Vee’s voice. Astro collapsed to the ground, as his hand went to his mouth. It was bleeding slightly from the outside because of the sharp thorns. Then, Astro made a run for it. He ran towards a nearby bookshelf to stay hidden before anything else could happen for him. It unfortunately wasn’t the same for Ms. Vee. Meanwhile, Vee heard Astro’s yell from the distance, as she quickly paused right in her tracks. “Astro..? Are you there? What’s going on? I swear if this is one of Waxwell’s shenanigans..” But, Vee didn’t get a response. All she got was silence. Cautiously, Vee went deeper into the dimly-lit hallway. Her heels were clicking softly against the wooden floorboards, as she looked around her. “Astro? Shelly? Anyone..?” All Vee heard again was silence. Then, Vee’s screen flickered into annoyance as she yelled out for anyone to answer her. “HELLLOOOO??? ANYONE THERE?-” Finally, Vee heard something. A low growl in the distance. It was too unsettling to be Pebble’s usual playful or protective growl. Vee’s tv screen glowed into the distance, as she looked forward. Finally, the creature of Dandy ran up to her by using its root legs, as it skirted towards her at a fast pace. “WAIT, WAIT—! AAAAAAAAA—”
