The Beginning of the End

Stop Looking Forward

[SHELLY'S POV]

I'm worried about Vee.

As of late, she's just been acting.. Different? I can't exactly describe it. I can just tell something's wrong.

She's been vanishing. Around the same time every morning, not getting back until most of the other toons are already in bed. I wait for her, though.

So- I decided to do something about it! Of course, I didn't wanna do it alone. And I didn't wanna bother Tisha, she said she'd been busy lately.. So I settled for the next best option! Sprout.

He's good company, and I doubted whatever he's normally up to didn't get boring eventually. So, I grabbed him while he was leaving his room this morning, asked him if he wanted to do something with me.. And he said sure! It took convincing, but he didn't have any plans.

So that's how we end up here. Carefully watching Vee as she pressed an elevator button, to see what she was doing.

".. Shelly, are you SURE you want to do this?" Sprout whispered to me. I paused. WAS I sure? I questioned myself for a moment. No, no. It's for the better. It'll work out in the end.

"Yeah! What could go wrong? It's for the better anyways." I looked up at him. His eyes were bright green, with sparks of a more yellowish hue like the flickers of sunlight through trees. They reminded me of the spring, in a way.

"I get that.. But I don't think YOU would like being followed, would you?" He spoke, still keeping his voice quiet enough for Vee not to hear us.

"It's just cause I'm worried about her.. She won't even know, we'll be out in no time."

"Whatever you say.." His discomfort with this was visible.

I sighed. "You can always leave early, you know."

"No, no, it's- it's okay, Shelly. I made a promise, and not like I have anything else to do." He chuckled. I could tell he'd rather be doing something with Cosmo- I hardly ever saw one without the other. It was, admittedly, a tad strange.

"Alright then.." The elevator opened, as Vee turned around to glance at us and waved, before finally walking out the door. I waved back, pressing the button to close the door, and randomly pressing another button. "You remember how we're doing this, right?"

"Mhmm." He hummed quietly as we waited for it to open again, and close, and finally reopen on the same floor Vee had gotten off on.

We carefully stepped out, examining the floor. It appeared to be one of the old warehouses..? What was Vee doing here, I silently asked myself. There wasn't anything too important she had to retrieve from here, was there? Sprout trailed behind me as I explored, until I noticed a distant, familiar green glow. There she was!

"Behind that crate," I said quietly, pointing at a conveniently-placed large crate. His leaves would likely stick out a little, but last I checked I could just hold them if it ended up being an issue. Or he could, you know, crouch. "Got it?" He gave me a thumbs up, speedwalking to the crate. I trailed behind. I hadn't seen this place in a WHILE, I thought. Spiderwebs and dust coated the place. Maybe I SHOULDVE brought Tisha..

I heard a light buzz coming from where Vee was. A squelch, a metallic screech. Something heavy hitting the floor. " ZZT-! " I peeked out from behind the crate.

She seemed to be fighting.. Something. Something big, and violent. A monster. I was far away, so I couldn't tell what exactly it was. She wasn't dressed like that when she left, but I brushed it off. Vee appeared to be winning, though. It let out a screech, it's only purpose being to express agony. Vee looked down at it, when it suddenly.. Vanished.

"Huh..??" I mumbled. Sprout seemed just as confused as I was when I looked up at him for answers. I wasn't quite sure why I expected him to know something, though.

Vee picked up a small black crystal, shoving it into her pocket. A green glow surrounded her as she changed back into normal clothes. Was I dreaming or something?

Sprout & I headed back to the elevator, almost completely forgetting about Vee needing to go there, too. " So, um.. "

"Im a bit confused."

"Yeahh, I- " Vee stopped us.

"Sprout, Shelly." She addressed us, crossing her arms. "What exactly are you doing down here? I doubt there's anything you needed to grab, no?" Her cold, robotic gaze was almost frightening. Her eyes were glowing- literally. Bright green, pixely, and displayed on her screen.

"Oh, we-"

"Not done." Vee interrupted me again. "And Shelly, I believe I SPECIFICALLY instructed you NOT to follow me..?"

"We weren't-"

"And yet, you did anyway. I must admit- you weren't exactly stealthy. I knew you were down here the second you came back. How come? "

".. I was just worried about you, Vee. You've been vanishing for hours every day..!"

"So you stalk me? Very smart, Shelly.. Well, secret's out. Vee fights monsters, oo, how spooky."

I paused for a moment. "How come you kept it secret, though?"

".. Because. Because that's what it's SUPPOSED to stay as- Part of the deal."

"..Deal? What deal??" Sprout stayed quiet- Vee didn't seem to be mad at him. Just me. Which, to be fair, it was MY idea to follow her around. I just.. had Sprout tag along.

"I'm not telling you. Shelly, Sprout, you need to lea-"

"..No." I said bluntly.

"..Excuse me?" She hissed back.

"I said no. Right, Sprout?" I looked back at him.

"I'm not getting involved. This is your own problem." He spoke, looking down at me. I had to admit, he was right.

Vee looked at me angrily. "You need to-"

"I said NO."

"Shelly, I swear to GOD-"

"Im worried about you, Vee! You can't just disappear for hours on end and not tell ANYONE where you're going and expect us not to be worried. We TRIED asking, you just said 'don't worry about it!'. Well maybe we're worrying about it because we CARE about you." I snapped at her, tired of her yelling at us to get out.

"..You don't understand why you NEED to leave! I-" She was interrupted by.. Someone?

"I believe I can help with this?"

All three of us redirected our gazes to an energetic sounding voice. We couldn't quite see who it was, yet.

"We've met before- Correct? Shelly, Sprout.. Vee." He said Vee's name, a hint of annoyance shining through. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"Dandy."