Wish You Were Here

Dressing Room Encounter

"Ooo, what's this?" I was finishing up my stretches when Poppy caught my attention with her curiosity. She had found built in drawers underneath the couch and opened them to reveal that they were filled with stuff. I peeked over her shoulder as she was going through all of the random items and making a mess. John, please clean your house, no one needs this much stuff.

"Could we use any of this?" I picked up a sewing needle about the size of my body and pricked my finger on the point of it to test the sharpness. It certainly wasn't dull because with only a small amount of pressure, it managed to break through my skin causing a droplet of blood to come out. I wiped my finger off my pants and covered the needle tip with some gauze that was also in the drawer so I could place the needle in my hair like a hairpin and save it for later. I could definitely use this at some point and if John wants it back, I'll part ways with it.

"We're back!" Tiny announced to us and I piled all of the stuff back into the drawer and closed it so I could run up to the window and see Mount Rageous again. Unlike last time, there were no bumper cars on the road. It was also quieter than last time but there were blaring lights near the middle of the city. My eyes squinted so I could read the sign and realized that almost every Rageon was piled up outside the Rage Dome.

"Guys, we gotta make it over there fast! Her show is about to start." Tiny stood up from out of his seat and marched his way over to a button that said 'hustle' over it.

"I think I know... just the solution." He leaned against the button pressing it and my body felt like it was turning inside out. There was no way to explain it, it just felt strange. I blinked and my eyes reopened to see rainbows and a vast multitude of colors. My feet weren't touching the ground and Viva and Poppy looked like they were straight out of a cartoon. My body collapsed onto the floor and everything was back to normal.

"What the shit..?" I wove my hand back and forth to see a rainbow trail following it for a few seconds but then realized we were right by the Rage Dome. What even happened? Nevermind, when you're a Troll, there's always a lack of logic. Viva was the first to open the door so we could all leave. Okay, I have to remember how we all got in in the first place.

"Poppy, do you still have the gummy gloves?" Both hands were placed into her hair and she rummaged for a while until pulling out all four pairs. We slipped them onto our hands and made our journey back up the wall for the second time now. At the top, I made direct eye contact with the golden fan blade that was up and running again. I let out a breath to calm me down and jumped down the pit towards the blade. Remember what Branch did. I threw one of my gloves at the fan and it stopped for Viva, Poppy, and Tiny to follow. We went through the vents again and I stopped at the one I remember running away from.

"Guys, over here!" The three of them peeked through the gaps and there were now a total of three diamond perfume bottles on the vanity. There was no sign of that Rageon though, so we used the sticky hands that we left behind and went back down to the vanity top.

"Veneer!" Clay was the first to acknowledge our presence followed by Bruce and John. I looked around for two more bottles but couldn't find any. Where the fuck are they?! My question was answered by Bruce who alerted us of their whereabouts,

"Velvet has Branch and Floyd still!" Right, the Rageons name was Velvet. My foot stomped against the vanity in frustration but a large orange paper-like creature jumped up next to the diamond prisons, quickly turning that frustration into fear.

"Are you Veneer?" Why does it know my name? I've never met anything remotely close to looking like her, so there's no way I told her.

"Yeah? Who are you?" She clapped her hands together and smiled before patting my head. Okayy, that felt nice, I'll admit it. Her next words were not something I was expecting though.

"Aww, Floyd's stories were right! You are a cutie!" A blush scattered across my face and at the tips of my ears at what she said. He actually said that?! Poppy snorted behind me, making me turn around and punch her arm while she giggled.

"Ow! Viva, what you taught him paid off." When I turned back around to face the paper creature, I saw her taking off all the caps to the perfume bottles. Wait a second, is she helping us? She got the lid off of the bottle containing John and he fell out onto the vanity. Bruce and Clay were then set free afterwards and we all joined together in a group hug.

"My name is Crimp by the way." She put out her hand and I detached myself from the hug to give her a handshake.

"Thank you, Crimp. Err... What else did Floyd say about me?" She let out a giggle and jumped down from the vanity.

"I think that's for him to say~" She left the dressing room leaving me confused. There was definitely something more that he said. Our little rescue team had just gained three more members making this much easier. I tapped John on the shoulder and pointed to the exit door, letting everyone know we had to go back outside.

We sprinted through the door and found ourselves back outside the rage dome where Tiny parked Rhonda. John happily gasped seeing Rhonda which made me chuckle. Everyone got inside and suddenly the speakers started blaring music with an announcer talking over them.

"Everyone! Give it up for the Lifer Reward recipient, Velvet!"

A glamorous gold and white bumper car blasted past us making Rhonda lean to the side for a brief moment from the wind. The bumper car stopped in front of the red carpet and out came Velvet with her hair styled like a treble clef, and that same outfit she was wearing when she took Branch. My eyes locked onto the two purple diamonds embedded on her shoulder pads because I know Branch and Floyd are in there. Poppy was the first one to speak after Velvets appearance,

"We need to get over there!" Tiny was still the one driving when there was a car full of capable drivers, and he hit the gas making us land in the dead center of the red carpet and right in front of Velvet's pink heeled boots that I kind of wanted. The door opened and John and I were the two who walked out.