The Crafthouse- Chapter 1

Instructions

Gardenview Center --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Astro wandered around. With all of the crafts' fixable wounds treated, he really had nothing to do. From stitching Cosmo's fabric back together to adding a fresh layer of glass on Gigi's head, many injuries were on many of the crafts- The crafts that went down that damn elevator shaft. They wanted to, "Find the secret down below." No one ever came out unscathed. Astro was there when Pebble became a twisted, and Shrimpo soon followed. He had a crack in his moon mask from where Flutter had hit him, and later on, he shattered his leg while running. Sprout had put a wrap around his leg, and it would heal over time, but for now he had a painful limp. Someone was behind Astro. He whipped around, wincing from the fast movement on his leg. Oh. It was just Scraps. When the Craft Show was still on, she and her brother were the main characters, but now, she never seemed to go on runs, go outside, or even talk with Goob. She just sat in her drawing room. Thinking. "Scraps! It's nice to see you. How have you been doing?" Scraps realized that Astro saw her, and put on her classic, 'Happy' face. "I've been doing fine! Well... besides all that has been happening recently, of course. I wonder what would have happened if Dandy didn't pump the ichor?" There she goes again. Before the incident, Astro and Dandy were best friends. It wasn't Dandy's fault that he snapped at the wrong time. Astro looked back over to the door behind Dandy's old shop. Scraps had locked him in that room, and the door was only openable from the outside. She had been slowly convincing Astro that Dandy was not a friend, and could not be trusted, so he should not let him out. "It's all HIS fault." She muttered. Astro sighed. "I know. You've told me that so many times already." Scraps gave him a look, sighed, and walked away. Astro stared at the shop. It had been a while since he saw his old friend. He walked over to the shop, looked around, and very carefully, hopped the counter and opened the door behind it. It was pitch black inside, besides from Astro's moon mask, glowing like it always did. He shut the door. Yes, Dandy was in there. He looked up at Astro, in shock. "Astro? Why... Why are you here?" The Moon mask was just bright enough to see Dandy... and the cuts on him. Astro stared at Dandy. "You... You are hurt." "So are you." "But there is no one around. How did you manage to..." He paused. And then he understood. Dandy had been in this dark, dark room for such a long time, that he was losing his mind... and hurting himself. Astro gasped. Dandy chuckled. "I don't blame you for how I am. I only blame myself. Scraps was right, you know. This really is all my fault." "You heard us talking?" "I hear everyone talking." Astro paused. "Hey... Dandy. You really are my dearest friend, and I can't bear to see you suffer like this." Dandy looked up at him, expectantly. Astro began to feel unsure. "I- I could sneak you down to a floor without twisteds at night! At least, there, you'll have a bit of freedom?" Dandy smiled. "I would like that... yeah. But, quick question, how do you plan to get yourself out of here?" Astro paused. "Let me check for any sleeping toons nearby." The world seemed to screech to a halt. Then, he let his consciousness go. Anyone would do, he just needed a way out. Hm, hm... Aha! Toodles seemed to be sleeping. He attempted to enter her mind. Rejected. Rejected again. That had... never happened before. It felt... Bad. He could sit and think about that later- he needed to find someone else. Cosmo. He was sleeping, and this time, he was let into his mind. Cosmo was having a dream about baking with Sprout and Ginger. Typical Cosmo. Astro came up to him. "Ah! Oh, Astro, I didn't know you were in here!" Cosmo exclaimed, as his dream began to fade away into blackness. "Listen, Cosmo. I need you to get me out of the room behind the old shop without being noticed." "The room behind the- You mean, DANDY'S ROOM?! WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN THERE?" Cosmo shouted. "I was... prodding him for details about the ichor incident. I was hoping that you would understand." Astro lied, sheepishly. Cosmo gave him a look, then said, "Give me a minute to wake up, and then I'll come." Cosmo woke up, and Astro was flung back into his own body. "Same old tricks, huh?" Dandy smirked. "Yeah, yeah..." Astro mumbled. Minutes later, a very tired- looking- Cosmo opened the door, letting Astro out. He turned to say goodbye, but Cosmo had already slammed the door. "I almost got caught, TWICE. It was NOT pleasant. I only did that because you stitched me back up earlier." Astro hadn't thought that Cosmo was still injured and needed time to heal, and felt bad for waking him up. Cosmo grumpily walked back to his room, probably to sleep again. Astro was just thinking. How could he sneak Dandy to the elevator shafts at midnight... And how did Toodles manage to block his power?