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Vinnie paced in front of Dandy's door. They knew how mad their fiancé got when he was interrupted, but this was a time-sensitive matter. Even a few days could be horrible for the time. Their vine-like hands clenched into fists, and relaxed as they grabbed ahold of the doorknob.
As predicted, Dandy was sat over his table, writing something down. The flower Toon was sat in such a way that it blocked Vinnie from seeing what he was writing. It was obvious to anytoon that he wasn't doing well. Dandy almost seemed manic with the way he occasionally twitched and jerked, like his body was being tugged on by invisible thread. Stepping slightly closer, Vinnie heard him mumbling about the extraction operations and all that entailed.
"Dandicus."
Vinnie spoke finally, the word calling up an ungodly amount of strength to even utter. The flower stopped, and turned to look at them. His eyes were red from lack of sleep, at least, what Vinnie hoped was a lack of sleep. They'd seen the eyes of Twisted Toons, so were cautious in their approach. Vinnie cleared their throat, and looked down to Dandy's level. "We need to talk." Muttering something under his breath, Dandy finally set aside his pencil. "Speak."
There was an odd hostility in Dandy's voice that Vinnie wasn't expecting. Stammering a bit, they continued. "This is getting too far out of hand. I-I've had to lie to everyone so many times, and I can't do this anymore. You need to stop the operations." Dandy's petals seemed to stiffen at those words. "I'm sorry?" Dandy said, clasping his hands together with a hostile grin on his face. Vinnie felt a slight shiver travel up the length of their spine, but steeled their nerves and continued. "Too many Toons are turning into those...those monsters in the lower levels, and those who aren't are dying, Dandy. I-"
"Collateral damage, Vinnie. It's expected in the realm of study." Dandy interrupted, turning himself back to the desk. Vinnie was dumbfounded at the bluntness of the statement. "What?" They asked, frantically racking their brain for some sort of justification for the words that left Dandy's mouth. "Collateral damage? Dandy, those are your friends! Our friends!" Shrugging simply, the flower continued writing. Vinnie, no longer confused, was now thoroughly appalled. They reached out a hand, firmly tugging Dandy away from his research.
"Dandicus Dancifer. I want you to look me in my eyes and tell me you aren't saying what I think you are." They hissed out through gritted teeth. Dandy simply nudged their hand off his shoulder, no longer smiling. "We need this Ichor."
"And you're just okay with this?!" Vinnie shouted, slamming a fist on the desk. "You are fine with dozens of dead Toons, who would've lived if not for you?" They jabbed a finger at Dandy's forehead. The flower sighed, swatting Vinnie's hand away. "I am doing this to help us. And besides, you know what they about omelettes and eggs." Vinnie's face curled up in utter disgust at their fiancé's words. He was so casual about throwing away life like they were scraps on his plate. "You're sick. Sick in the head." They spat out, the words like venom. "I don't ever want to see your face unless you've come to beg for forgiveness-"
Vinnie had barely any time to register Dandy standing up before something smashed against the side of their head. Clutching the sore spot, Vinnie cursed loudly and writhed on the ground. "You ungrateful weed." Dandy said, holding a shattered research capsule in his hand, the tar-colored Ichor slowly oozing out of it. "I did this for our benefit. And you just want me to throw it all away?!" Dandy's pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks as he roughly grabbed a fistful of Vinnie's vines, yanking them up to look him in the eyes. Vinnie made a low, whimpered sound at the sudden roughness their fiancé was treating them with. Before they could complain, Dandy's fist wrapped around the remaining half of the capsule so hard his knuckles turned an off-white, and he raised it high above his head. "D-Dandy, wait!" Vinnie began, but their words fell on deaf ears.
Dandy viciously stabbed them in the face with the glass capsule, and they could no longer see from that eye, Ichor flooding their gaze. Then, with a twist and a pull, Dandy emotionlessly stabbed Vinnie again. Then again. Then again. Ichor mixed with Vinnie's blood as it pooled on the ground, and they tried to push Dandy off of them. Their attempts at resistance were met with a harsh stab to the gut, and Dandy finally stumbled back. "...Artist's sake...what did I do?" He muttered, looking at his dying fiancé. His hands shook with adrenaline, and he knelt to clean up the mess of glass the capsule had left behind. Vinnie whimpered in agony, and Dandy lowered himself to their level.
"Hey, hey hey hey." He snapped a finger in their face, avoiding the feeble grabs they tried to make. "Can't exactly have you wandering around with that big stab. You go in the closet." Dandy said, grabbing hold of Vinnie's shoulders and dragging them to a large storage closet. Letting them flop roughly on the floor, Dandy did a quick once over glance before slamming it shut, sealing Vinnie in darkness.