Chapter Text
Blot absolutely HATED extracting from machines. This whole operation sucked. But Dandy insisted… And not to mention, he got so greedy when it came to tapes. Like Blot got that Dandy wanted the tapes of all their times in business, but geez… He got so mad when anyone wanted to watch them first.
The worst part about this whole thing was encountering past friends who had lost themselves to the ichor. Some hurt to see more than others, but in the end, he couldn’t help them.
Thus he was in Astro’s room, praying he didn’t get caught by the others. He was pretty sure he saw Connie floating around as well as a hateful shrimp. He knew there was someone else here but didn’t know who yet. So, hiding it is!
Why did Dandy even send Blot here alone?? What’s the point???? It takes so much longer! Sure, he got through 30 floors alone, but it sucked so bad. Having company made it less lonely. Having company allowed them to comfort him when he came across Looey or Yatta. It meant he didn’t have to feel afraid of the people he once was such good friends with.
But he didn’t have company. He was alone besides the ichor-crazed toons, eerie sounds haunting the room.
He was about half way done with the machines on the floor, and heading towards another one when a shadow appeared behind him. It was tall and creepy. Blot barely had time to jump before he felt something bite him. On his head. It didn’t really hurt, but he stood completely still as whoever was… like drinking his ink? Something? It was kinda hard to tell when you were trying to NOT die.
Suddenly, the person stopped and moved back. Blot cautiously looked back and was utterly horrified to see Astro. He hadn’t known Astro personally, back in the day, but Astro was one of the main toons! Some of the first to become ichor-crazed.
Not to mention, Astro currently looked terrifying! Four arms, ichor leaking from his eyes, being taller than normal, looking… repulsed? What was that about?
Blot didn’t know whether to be amused that Astro just tried to eat him essentially or terrified that an ichor-crazed toon didn’t seem so crazed and rather competent.
Astro glared at him. “You do NOT taste like ichor… You don’t taste great in general.”
"-netae eb ot tnaem ton m'I -lleW" Blot nervously tried to step back but seeing Astro’s eyes narrow slightly, he put his foot back in place.
“...I don’t know what you said.” Astro crossed his arms before making another disgusted face and turning away, heading towards Blot’s completed machines.
Well, as much as Blot wanted to be scared to confront a main toon, much less an ichor-crazed main toon, he had spent so long on those machines!
Racing over, he slid—literally, he was ink—over, skidding to a stop in front of Astro, who seemed startled, and pointed an accusing finger at the main. "!senihcam ym hcuot erad uoy t'noD"
Astro looked utterly confused and annoyed. “I- I still can’t understand you! Just- move out of my way!” The main tried to shift past, but Blot blocked his way again.
"!senihcaM .yM .gnihcuoT .oN" Blot threw his arms out, keeping Astro from the machine.
Astro’s eye twitched and Blot suddenly remembered he was dealing with an ichor-crazed toon who could definitely kill him. He faltered slightly, arms lowering just a bit and his determined face stained with nervousness.
Astro seemed to pick up on this, suddenly looking a bit uncomfortable. “...Whatever… I’ll go find a different one… Since you’re so protective over this one.” Astro started moving towards one of the machines with the new annoying mechanic.
Blot’s determination filled him again, knowing it took him an actual five minutes to finish one of those. So he ran over as fast as he could, pushing Astro away from the machine. He immediately regretted his decision as he realized he pushed a bit too hard. He had seen toons hit their heads before. Like Toodles. Her head had completely broken, all because of some stairs. Blot had witnessed it. Dandy claimed she got “fixed up”. But the ichor-crazed toons were treated like out-dated equipment, never to be repaired.
So seeing Astro falling, towards a metal shelf that could definitely do some damage, Blot tried to reach out to save the main. He succeeded, catching Astro just in time. Something was wrong though. The hand that Blot used to catch Astro was coming from the floor. Not to mention he started shivering, all sorts of terrible sensations filling him. Then the hand retracted as Astro stood up and it all went away.
Astro looked worried, but also unsure. He looked at Blot, who was breathing heavily, neither sure of how he summoned a hand. “Are you alright..?”
Blot just gave a thumbs up, before slumping to the floor, exhausted from whatever he did. Astro moved a bit closer, hesitating before picking up the practically limp toon like a stuffed animal. Blot passed out shortly after, his last thoughts swapping between being glad Astro was fine and worrying what was going to happen.
~~~
Astro carried the passed out toon to a hidden spot where the main would spend his time napping. He vaguely recalled seeing this specific one back in… somewhere. But it was blurry. As was most memories before Astro had succumbed to the ichor.
Regardless, this annoying little guy interested him greatly. First, he couldn’t understand the strange way the awful tasting guy spoke. Second, the guy seemed so determined to keep Astro away from the machines. Third, more concerningly, that ability and reaction was similar to how Astro had felt when he was succumbing to ichor. The long ichor operations, slowly getting drenched in the stuff, feeling it suffocate him slowly, overwhelming him. He didn’t particularly want another one to end up like him, or any of the other ichor-infested toons. It was a painful process.
Luckily, this one didn’t seem to be suffering anymore effects, sleeping away with a slightly pained expression. Astro, in an attempt to comfort the toon, began kind of petting the other’s head. Sure, his hand got coated in the untasty liquid, but he preferred it over the ichor stains.
It seemed to work, so he kept doing it, swapping arms when one would get tired. He just silently sat there, contemplating. Astro didn’t like scaring the non-infested ones. He couldn’t help it when the ichor made his mind go fuzzy with a desire to get more, no matter the method. But the fear in this one’s eyes had pulled him out. Normally the normals just ran from him or Goob would keep his attention. But this one had seemed almost fine with him. It had made him feel kind of weird, like a bubbly warmth that made him want to hold onto the guy. And then Astro had scared him. And the warmth was replaced with a sharp coldness that made him remember he wasn’t normal.
Astro was pretty sure he wanted to be how he used to be. But it was too fuzzy to remember if he had good times or not. For all he knew, he could’ve been miserable before. He couldn’t remember. He couldn’t remember whether he was treated well or hurt or forgotten or anything! It was frightening to wonder if you wanted the past back because you just didn’t know if it was good or not!
Astro stayed petting the other’s liquidy hair for however long. Time was hard to tell down here, clocks didn’t work except on one floor and that place creeped Astro out. The trains were so loud, constant, and the ticking was overwhelming. Astro hardly visited that spot.
But finally, the toon woke up, blinking before noticing Astro. The way the toon jumped back, before falling into the giant pile of pillows was both worrying and funny.
Astro stared for a moment, before pulling the guy out. “...You good?”
Nods.
“...You feel better?”
Another nod.
“.....Are you… hungry?”
Almost another nod, but stopped with a suspicious look.
“Not- not ichor. There’s other food.”
Frantic nods.
Astro set the toon down. “Follow me.”