I sat with Astro's blanket wrapped around me, eating a bar of chocolate while Connie bandaged up my chest. It stung a lot, considering her claws are very sharp, but she gave me the chocolate to distract me from the pain.

"So, Connie, when are we gonna meet the other Twisteds? Are they nice? Do you think they would want to join us on our adventure, too?" Her hands moved expertly, wrapping the bandage with a steady pace.

"Oh, trust me, bud, a lot of the Twisteds want to get back, but for their own reasons. Not all of them are as good minded as yours. If I did have a reason to get back, it would probably be to see the toon versions of Looey and Gigi. I wanna see how my best friends are doing."

She shrugged to herself. "Although, they most likely wouldn't want to see me in this state. It's probably for the best that I help you get up there, but don't go back myself."

I frowned. "Well, that's no fun for you! What else do you plan on doing with your life? Floating around for the rest of eternity? Haunting machines and scaring Toons?" She chuckled.

"Believe it or not, Dandy, life isn't just chilling and doing stuff like that. I've got friends and important stuff to do as well. While us Twisted aren't really concerned about the state of Gardenview anymore, we still have other things to do.

You and I, Toons and Twisteds, we both have a common enemy, that being Delilah and what she's done."

I went silent. "A-ah! Right!... say, can I ask you a question, Connie?"

She tied the last little bow on my back with the bandages. "Sure, while we hop on the elevator. Floor 100 is where everyone's waiting."

Wait. "The elevator? I thought they shut it down so we couldn't get back up! Or down, for that matter..." "Oh, nah. Twisteds are able to access the broken elevator whenever they want, except for when a Toon is on the floor with them. That's why when anyone comes down here they can see one of us multiple times in a row on the floors."

"Oh! That makes much more sense! Gee, you've taught me so much, Connie! If only I could teach you something, too..." I suppose I could tell her I've handled Ms. Keen?

As we stepped into the broken elevator, the lights seemed to hum with a red glow as the door shut, the lift slightly shaking with the force. We stood there for an awkward amount of time before I spoke up.

"I was kicked out for a reason..." Connie turned to me, smirking. "Oh, nahh, I just thought you tripped and fell and they left you here on accident!" She chuckled before patting my back. "But if you want to tell me, why is that?"

"...I killed Delilah."

A chubby little neon flower sat behind the shop counter in the main lobby, looking anxious. Astro had just walked away from the interrogation, the end of his cap swishing side to side.

Dandy breathed a sigh of relief at the moon toon's departure. Why was he so intimidating?!

He turned away from the large opening in the wall, swinging his legs and hopping down from the large crate he was sitting on. Taking a few steps forward, he went into the low lit back room. Devan was standing off to the side waiting for him.

"You're pretty bad at this, bud." Dandy jumped back a few feet, whipping around. "D-Devan! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry." The tall man pat Dandy's shoulder, chuckling. "But in all seriousness, you need to work on your marketing skills before it's a weekday. Parents are a pain to deal with, let me tell you."

The small rainbow blossom looked down, fear and guilt hidden in his posture. "Do I... really have to do this? It feels wrong replacing someone who was so loved and cared for..." He shrank away from the toon handler's side, taking a few steps back.

Devan sighed. "Listen, I know it's hard, it's even worse for all of us who have to deal with the loss.. but you're what we have now. And you're just as cared for, okay? Don't worry about it. You're doing the right thing to keep this organization afloat. Without you, we wouldn't be able to recover from losing our scientist and star of the show! So come on, put on a smile, will you?"

He spoke in a hopeful tone, reach his hand out to lift Dandy's head to face him. Dandy stared at him for a moment before putting on a weak smile. "O-okay... I guess I will, if it makes you happy..!" Devan patted his head, standing up and clapping twice.

"Very good! Now, I'm gonna need you to follow me for a meeting with the other handlers and Arthur. Care to put up the 'gone for lunch' sign?"

The brightly colored toon nodded, skipping back into the shop. He crawled his way up the ladder, past cans of rainbow spray paint, grabbing the sign from the middle shelf.

Climbing back down, he paused, hearing nearby toons' chatter.

"Didn't Dandy get kicked out? Who's this new guy?"

"I heard he freaked and attacked one of the toon handlers..."

"can we trust him?"

Although he was too short to see over the counter, he could guess what their facial expressions were. They were afraid of him. Others were mad. He understood completely, of course. He was empathetic like that.

But he didn't want them to take it out on him. He hadn't done anything wrong, he thought...

"He's just a freak. A doppelgänger."

He flinched at the harsh words. Did they really have to speak behind his back so close to where he practically lived?... but something stopped him before he could cry.

Something told him he should get used to it. Something told him it would keep on happening. That he could get through it somehow.

"Doppel...gänger?" He thought to himself. "Doppel..." He wasn't sure he wanted to go by 'Dandy' because of how large the pair of shoes were that he had to fit in. Maybe he could go by 'Doppel' with the other toons? They may not be as rude, maybe?

Perhaps not...

But it was worth it to try, he thought.