Kelyeah: Treehouse of Awesomeness

Cocoa had been following Cream from a safe distance for a while now, ever since he left work at the skating rink across from Cocoa's job. They'd gone through the busy indoor streets of Mallworld, the tight alleys of Sideway Street, and into a dimly lit section of the Defunct Zone. Among this big patch of darkness was a singular lit (from within) building, made to look like a cartoon brick building that was tapered to be wider at the top than the bottom. There seemed to be a colorful dog mascot waiting outside, guarding the front door as Cream walked in.

Cocoa was fed up. She was not some dessert for the customers she worked hard to serve, and she was sick and tired of being treated as such. So what if they got so happy to see her? Just because she seemed sweet didn't mean she wanted to be eaten. A strange guest had caught her attention today, and she found them to be Cream, the creature who kept eating all the cutomers. Gaplix had warned her to stay away from Cream - said he was dangerous and not to be allowed inside. Still, he always found a way to sneak by. Maybe she could finally do something about him. Maybe she could get out of her nowhere waiter job. She didn't like it, and she would prefer to be in the back of the restaurant, anyway. Perhaps she could prove herself worthy of a different position if she did this. Admittedly, she didn't really have a plan. Oh well. As such, she had followed Cream all the way to the Defunct Zone, and she was kind of regretting doing this, but there was no way she'd back down now. Sneaking around a corner, Cocoa looked at Cream and then up, taking in the guard dog and the building behind the two. This would definitley make things trickier... (edited)

Cream headed inside, closing the door and leaving the dog outside. It looked like the windows on the top floor were open, if there was a way to get up there. The abandoned building next to it probably had a way inside, so jumping from one window to another on the third floor was a likely option.

Cocoa scanned the premises, doing her best to take in every little detail that she could use to her advantage. Her mind whirled as she tried to store it all away, but she made do. The guard dog was left outside, so she definitley couldn't use the front door, not that that would be a good idea in the first place. The windows on the top floor did happen to be open, however, and she devised a plan. Cocoa backed away quietly, pushing the door to the next building down open carefully. It creaked a little, like the hinges hadn't been oiled in ages, and the floorboards inside looked derelict and decrepit. She'd have to be careful not to catch anyone's attention. In she went, closing the door behind her. Thank god it was abandoned! It was dark in here, and dusty too. There were a few times where she ran into cobwebs, apologizing before realizing how stupid she was for doing so. She rolled her eyes at her own antics. Up, up, she went, until she found the third floor of the abandoned building and carefully crept her way across the falling-apart floorboards of that story. At one point, her paw slipped through a gap and she muttered curses under her breath, freeing herself from the accidental slip-up. Before long, though, she had foudn the window where she could leap from. Undoing the hatch and sliding the window open, Cocoa placed her forepaws on the windowsill to test its strength, pushing on it to make sure it wouldn't buckle under her weight. As soon as she realized it was relatively safe, she gave a satisfied grin and balanced on it, bunching her muscles and leaping through the window into the next building, the one where she had seen Cream enter.

Cocoa managed to leap through the open window, landing squarely on the bed of a surprisingly well kept bedroom. It didn't look abandoned at all, and had a TV on showing the Coolcity train schedules and playing some funky music. The room was decorated well enough, but didn't have many personal effects of anyone in particular, almost making it feel like a hotel room of sorts. Downstairs, someone could be heard working on some kind of machine. A ratcheting wrench and the occasional frustrated F bomb could be heard through the floor of the third story, where Cocoa was.

Cocoa took in the room, realizing it wasn't all that interesting. Sure, it looked nice and neat and all, but it didn't have any personality to it. Was she intruding on a hotel on accident and unaware? She swallowed her nerves and pushed on anyway at the sound of work underneath her.

Just as the door was opened, Cream was in the hallway, looking down at Cocoa! "Well, well, we've got ourselves a guest! How'd you end up all the way over here? Come to think of it, I think I know you from somewhere..."

YIKES! Cocoa flinched back, nearly crying out in alarm, but just catching herself in time to stop herself from letting it out. She steeled her resolve, looking up defiantly at Cream's eyes. No backing down! "Wouldn't you like to know, pizza boy!" She mocked, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Ah, well, fair enough I guess. Guess I get a free snack." Cream quickly - shockingly quickly - picked Cocoa up in his hands and started walking towards the stairs. "Need the extra energy to help SECAM with this dumb dragon project."

Before she knew it, she's been grabbed and was being brought downstairs. Was this the end? Maybe, but she wouldn't go down without a fight if she could help it! Cocoa slid out her claws and gripped Cream's arm, sinking her teeth into his shoulder and yanking back before dragging her claws through the appendage he trapped her with. Heck, she even slapped him with her taiyaki tail! "Put me down, freak!" She screeched angrily, thrashing all the while.

Those claws didn't seem to be actually penetrating at all, teeth not even drawing blood. What was this guy made of? "If you insist!" The mascot raised Cream high in the air over his open mouth and dropped her!

Oh god, think fast think fast! Cocoa spread all her legs as far out as she could, attempting to catch hold of his face before being... swallowed whole? Just when she was worried she wouldn't make it, she hooked onto his cheek and yoinked herself the fuck away! Paws scrabbled at the floor in a mad dash to escape, hissing and cursing all the while. She couldn't go back to the room she came from, though. It would be too obvious, and he'd catch her for sure before she could make it back out the window. Instead, she went down the stairs, crashing into a wall at the bottom but never skipping a beat in getting back to her paws and making a mad dash again. If she could just get someone's attention... That's right! She'd been so dead set on not being seen that she forgot there were probably people around here who could help her out in the first place! Now, as she raced through the hallway, she yowled and hollered like there was no tomorrow, even flicking strawberry sauce at Cream's eyes and throwing anything she could find to slow his path down. (edited)

Cream decided to leave Cocoa downstairs, not following now. This room was some kind of laboratory where a TV guy was working on some kind of dragon machine with a TV on its belly? There was a second, larger dragon in the corner, with a claw game built into its belly. The TV guy stopped when he saw the commotion being made. "Woah, hold it, there! Who sent you? Did you come to join us?"

Cocoa shut up real quick at that, slowing her role and immediately crashing into a wall almost comically. "Ugh..." She rubbed her head, trying to calm her adrenaline rush down as she sat on her haunches. As she gathered her scattered thoughts, she began to think about possibilities. What did this guy mean, 'join us'? Still groaning from the pain of hitting her head against the wall, she muttered, "Sure, if you promise not to let people eat me..." She was sick of that shit. (edited)

"Good! I'm actually about to finish this machine, and it needs a pilot. How'd you like to get revenge on your workplace? No more worrying about being food!"

As the last of the fuzz cleared from her head, Cocoa finally got a good look at the interior and what lies within. It was far from cozy, but it looked interesting enough. It was almost like a laboratory in here... actually, maybe it was one. Two large dragon creatures inhabited the room, alongside mr tv head himself. She looked around in wonder, feeling small compared to such large creatures. Even Cream wasn't that big. "Sounds delightful!" She said. "But uh... I've never piloted a dragon machine before? What would I even have to do?

"Well, I'm still working on that part. The roof of the mouth has a zipper into the hollow 'brain' area, I just need to find a way to connect the mind of the pilot to the machine so it can be piloted much more... easily, I guess. Like taking control of its body."

Cocoa hummed thoughtfully, approaching the beast. Glancing at Mr. TV Head, as she had come to call him for now, she wondered if she would get in trouble for inspecting closer. Either way, she poked the dragon's leg with a paw, tilting her head curiously. "That's really cool, I think..." She mentioned, then with a glance toward where she had come from, she added, "Uh, you really won't let Cream eat me? I just managed to get out of that situation..."

"Well of course not! Anyone I can have on my side helping me is infinitely valuable. I do ask that you consider further assisting me, but for now let's just focus on this dragon. I plan to use it for obtaining some important materials for a project, and your small size makes you the perfect pilot for it."

Okay, Cocoa had never liked being called small. That's part of what got her into this situation in the first place. the customers she helped serve thought she was edible partially because of that reason. They weren't exactly wrong, per se, but she still hated it anyway. She was small and made of food, but it didn't make her tasty! Still, she had to admit that she couldn't argue with that logic. She definitely had an easier time hiding away in smaller spaces due to her size, and this dragon was huge, so there was also no doubt she'd be able to fit in its head. "I can give it a try!" She agreed, not knowing what she was getting herself into. "What do i need to collect, though?"

"People, my friend! This machine is specially designed to safely store living beings onto blank tapes. These tapes will prove rather useful for my research into recreating an old lost recipe, a liquid mutagen capable of increasing one's physical stature and strength. It's a product I'd be willing to share, as well! Think about it, no longer being a small preything, and instead having the power to flip the script and be the predator for once!"

Cocoa reeled back at that sentiment, finally grasping the magnitude of what she had signed up for. She wasn't a killer! But... If she could do this, she could finally get revenge on everybody who wronged her, who tried to gobble her up. She wasn't paid enough to get eaten. Her face twisted a bit, a smile creeping across her features for a few seconds before settling into something much more freiendly and a lot less unsettling. "You know what? That sounds incredible!" She exclaimed, her fish-shaped tail wagging to and fro. "Giving them a taste of their own medicine, I guess you could say!"

"Very good. Where you find subjects to 'borrow' is entirely up to you, just don't get yourself submerged in water or set on fire. Oh, and avoid giant magnets, but I can't think of anywhere that'd be a problem. I just need to get this brain control fixed, and then you should be ready to try it out."

Cocoa smiled excitedly. "I wish I could help you figure it out," they mused, "but I've never really been a good mechanic."

"Don't worry, I think I've just about got it..." After climbing in to finish fixing everything up, he climbed back out and wiped imaginary sweat off his brow. "There we go. Ready to try it out?"

As he went inside, Cocoa stretched on the tips of her toes to see if she could spot the interior of the thing. Being as short as she was, though, she didn't get a glimpse of much. "Sure, Mister...?" She trailed off, unsure what his name actually was. She was sure that he'd take offense to "Mr. TV Head".

"SECAM! That's my name. S-E-C-A-M, all caps! Hop on in, I left the brain access open for ya!"

"SECAM, got it!" She gave a nod, then stepped forward, before pausing again. "Are there like, buttons or controllers or anything i need to use, or something like that? Or does it like hook up to my brainwaves?" She was unsure of how to work this, and she sure as hell didn't want to fuck it up on the first try.

"Don't worry, it should do the brainwave... thingy... when you get in there and zip it up." -# "Assuming I read the manual right."

Cocoa raised a brow amusedly, then nodded and hopped in, closing the zipper behind her.

Inside, the floor of the head felt like a really, really comfy cat bed, and it was colored a pretty velvet red. The dome-shaped walls were dark blue, with little stars sewn in all around. Cocoa could feel some kind of mental connection here - all that needed to be done was to sleep, and consciousness could be transferred to the machine...

The little taiyaki cat sighed in awe. The room in here was so cozy, and quite nostalgic, too. It reminded her of her bedroom as a kitten, and the stars definitely had to be her favorite part of it all. It was very clear what she needed to do - sleep - but would it really be that quick and easy? She would try, for sure! Making biscuits in the cusion, Cocoa curled up and shut her eyes in hopes that she'd doze off quick enough. (edited)

Something about the room, or perhaps the thin machinery hidden within its walls, made it easy to drift off - at least enough to allow her mind to connect to the dragon, waking up with the new form.

Cocoa fell asleep much more easily than she thought. When she opened her eyes again, she was large, much larger than she remembered ever being before, aside from in her fantasies, maybe. It was a dream come true! Standing up, she inspected her paws- er, hands, and tested them out, along with each of her other body parts. She even opened her mouth to speak up, wondering if that would work. "Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear! You should be able to bring stuff up on the screen, including a helpful map of Coolcity so you know where you're at."

She fiddled with the screen until she figured out how to do that, instinctively giving a little wag of the tail in excitement, forgetting for a second just how big she was. Hopefully she didn't knock anything over!

Cream just so happened to be walking down the stairs when he got smacked in the back with a massive plush tail, getting yeeted down from the second floor to the third floor. "I'M OKAY!" SECAM stifled a laugh. "Be mindful of your new frame, of course! Now, ready to head out and give the thing a spin?"

Cocoa straightened up in slight alarm after realizing what had happened, but then she squinted at Cream's voice and shrugged. He had it coming, anyway. Grinning, she nodded fervently.

"I'll get the rest of my machinery set up while you're out. I think the arcade zone is the best option, but you can try just about anywhere. Except maybe the pools and the factories, what with the water and magnets respectively."

"Got it!" With that, she was out of there. The dragon bodied cat stepped out into the open, wondering where she could go first. Admittedly, despite wanting to take sweet, sweet revenge on her old customers, she was a little hesitant to get found hanging around there again so soon. Instead, she set her sights on somewhere else, the Residential Zone. It was easy and quick, being as it was literally right next to the defunct zone, and there were bound to be people there.

Thankfully, the hideout was just next to the edge of the defunct zone, just a short walk into the residential area. It looked like more of those suburbs, but actually well lit this time. Rows of silly little houses, all under a fake sky. Most of this was employee housing, but there were a few areas for guests to stay as well - which of course were way better furnished and decorated.

Huh, not what I expected... Cocoa had been to the residential zone maybe once or twice in her whole lifetime, so it wasn't really something that was instilled into her memory all that well. One thing she always failed to notice was the odd, fake sky. It gave her the creeps, honeslty, but she decided to try and shrug it off. People could want weird things, sometimes. Maybe they all voted for this or something? She wasn't good at politics; didn't care much for them, so she was unsure how this place was run in the first place. In any case, she kept her eyes peeled for any of those residents.

There was one nearby, actually, an older lion man sitting outside on an oversized lawn chair. He was reading the local newspaper, chuckling at something. He didn't seem to notice the dragon looming in the distance.

This was just perfect! Cocoa crept up on the man, staying as silent as she could, which was surprisingly easy with the dragon's plush feet. Closer, closer, and closer she got, until she was right over him, at which point she shot an arm out and snagged him right out of his chair, chuckling under her breath.

The man yelped in surprise, dropping his newspaper and looking up at the dragon with sheer confusion on his face. (edited)

"Any last words, old man?"

"Hey, I'm not old! Now unhand me!" Well, as good of a last word as any.

Cocoa threw back her head and laughed, then abruptly stopped and dropped him into her mouth.

The lion's face smacked into the back of her throat, legs flailing hard enough to toss his shoes off. One of them actually landed on the roof. "What kind of joke is this? I'll call someone!"

She shut her mouth, not caring about the missing shoe, and moved on to the next crowd of people she saw.

Just around the corner, a group of three skateboarders could be seen skating down the hill towards Cocoa. There was still a bit of distance, but they were coming in fast.

Cocoa got down on all fours, deciding to run up and meet them head-on.

The one in front reacted first, jumping off into the turn to the side, causing his skateboard to get flung backwards. This smacked the board of the one in the middle, who fell over on top of the board and skated uncontrollably towards Cocoa. The one in the back slowed down, grabbing his camcorder to record the nonsense.

God, these people were STUPID! Cocoa grabbed the first skateboarder, picking him up high in the air and then throwing him to the ground to make the job easier.

"OW!" The poor guy bounced a bit, laying dizzied on the ground while his friend (the one who wasn't recording) tried to hide behind the fence of one of the houses.

She followed up the attack with smacking the camcorder out of the third guy's hands, catching it with her other hand and throwing it into her mouth, grinning evilly, then snacked on the dazed one in front of his friends. (edited)

Realizing that he couldn't record things anymore, the camera guy just started running up the street. The first guy was still hiding, hoping he'd been forgotten by this point.

Pretending not to notice the guy who was hiding, Cocoa ran after the runner, leaping intot he air and landing in front of him, rounding on him to pin him down.

Trying to stop himself immediately, the runner tumbled forward uncontrollably. "GAH!"

She dind't even need to pin him, it seemed! She just opened her mouth and let him roll in!

He tumbled forward right on down her gullet, leaving just the last guy. This would need to be the last one as well, considering it seemed she was already full. Especially considering those past three meals were currently fighting each other for not giving them any room.

She rolled her eyes at their antics, then returned to the fence where the last standing guy was. She pretended a bit longer to not see him, but it was so very obvious, and even after passing him up, she returned and threw him down too. (edited)

With the last one of them down, it felt like it was time to head back to the hideout. It felt like a long walk, especially when feeling so weighed down, and she was gonna have to try hard to squeeze through that front door.

Cocoa returned to the brick building where she had come from, forcing her dragon body through the door after some effort, and returned to the room where she had started, trilling in greeting.

SECAM waved back at Cocoa, holding a wrench in one hand. "Everything work out well? Any issues operating the dragon?"

She shook her head. "Was fine and dandy, actually!" She chirped. "What do I do now?"

"Rest up a bit, when the tape is ready you'll hear and see it on the TV. Assuming all of that works right. Meanwhile, I get to keep working on the claw machine!"

She nodded and sat down in some corner. She had to admit that she was starting to miss her actual body, but she wasn't about to say that yet. In the meantime, she scanned the room. "These people sure are dumb," she said offhandedly.

The first floor was a pretty cozy looking living room, with a big cartoony fireplace and oversized furniture. "Oh yeah, tends to be the case. Not sure what it is about Coolcity that dumbs people down..."

She giggled a bit childishly. "Maybe they got complacent. Perhaps they think everything deserves to be handed to them, that nothing bad can happen." A pause enveloped the ŕoom in silence before she added, "it's cozier in here than I imagined it would be. Oh yeah, one guy tried recording me so I uh... I ate his camera hah"

"Ooh! I wonder how that'll interact with the TV machinery. There's always someone toting around their fancy new camcorder ready to capture anything, so we could make some use of that, I bet."

She raised an eyebrow, interest piqued. "It's so weird being big," she mentioned. "Not that I don't like it, but it will definitely take some getting used to."

"Well, if you take a nap you'll get ejected back to reality, in case you need to get back to normal. Back to work... Oh, what I wouldn't give for a couple of helpers..."

Cocoa hummed thoughtfully. "I see, I see.... what do you need help with? Something little ole me can do?"

"Not particularly, considering you're a quadruped last I remember. Being able to hold tools and such is a pretty important aspect of a laboratory helper. But maybe you can help me find someone later!"

Cocoa looked at her hands, as if her paws would appear in front of her face instead, and frowned. Her voice was slightly disheartened as she replied with, "Yeah, i guess that makes sense."

"I mean, you're still helping too, of course! I just need a third. Er, I guess a fourth since we're counting Cream."

She snickered. "Does Cream even really help out? He seems a little uh... zany, i guess." Okay, it felt good to jab at him now, really, considering how he behaved at first. Though, she supposed someone had to make sure this place remained a secret. "Okay, hold on, I'm getting out of this thing. Was fun while it lasted, but I want to be me again for now." She carefully laid down, curling up in a ball and shutting her eyes.

It was a short little nap, but it felt like a nice long rest as Cocoa woke up within the brain area. The sounds of the VCR could be heard faintly through all the fabric, as it neared the end of the tape.

The little taiyaki cat yawned, giving a big long stretch, then unzipped the mouth and exited the dragon. She bounced up to SECAM, doing a small twirl and ending with a silly pose. "It's like I was actually asleep. Is that what happens?" She mrrped questioningly. Her chocolate ear flicked at the sounds the vcr was making, but she would check that out after. (edited)

"Sort of! I'm not an expert on the tech, I just followed the instructions and kind of rigged the parts together. Did you have fun with it?" SECAM walked over to the dragon and watched the TV, grabbing the tape when it popped out automatically and re-inserting it to rewind it.

Cocoa nodded vigorously. "Oh definitley! Almost a shame the first guy didn't give much of a fight. He was the most boring. The last one was a doozy, though! Thought he found a good hiding spot but he was literally in plain sight." She stuck her tongue out, following SECAM around. Not like there was much else for her to do.

"Any other interesting ones?" Once the tape was rewound, he hit play. It started out just showing abstract colors and sounds, perhaps as some arbitrary form of data storage, but the video cut to a view of the camcorder that Cocoa ate, just as it started recording! "Aha, so that part works too!"

She tapped her paws as she stood still, waiting for the tape to rewind. "Well, one guy couldn't stop himself, skateboarded right into my mouth. I almost feel bad for him, but hey, it was funny!" Being evil was never something she thought she could pull off, being as she was basically inclined to behave politely around customers. Still, it felt almost freeing. The video feed turmned on, and at first it was just colors and sounds, nothing too interesting. She stared harder, wondering if there was something she was supposed to be seeing here that she was missing. She almost startled out of her sweets when the actual video showed up, with her racing toward the camera, larger that life. She arched her back and spat a hiss at the screen, then stopped, feeling silly for letting that happen. Force of habit, she guessed. She had to show she hated being picked up or charged after somehow! Green eyes, one hidden by flowing strawberry sauce, focused back on the video in interest. She got a thrill from imagining herself in the skateboarder's shoes, and her heart raced a bit at the thrill. She stared harder, no longer fidgeting.

The camcorder kept rolling even after it was swallowed, offering an internal view as the prey all tumbled down, piling on top of the poor lion. SECAM fast-forwarded the tape while the prey fought each other for space on camera, slowing down as they seemed to get tired. After they all fell asleep, they seemed to slowly soften up as they turned into fabric stuffing! Slowly, all that stuffing would then sink down and disappear into the surrounding walls, with the camcorder finally doing the same and cutting the video. After that, it was back to abstract colors, shapes, and sounds.

She found herself unable to tear her eyes away from what was happening. It was terrifying, but her morbid curiosity kept her eyes glued to the screen. At least there was no weird imagery, but it left her feeling a bit unsettled. She happened to lean a little closer than she realized she was.

Cocoa would still be right up against the TV when it finally turned off, revealing the reflection of Cream's face right behind her. "Boo~"

Cocoa leapt to the ceiling, clinging on for dear life. She hissed at Cream. "Hey, asshole, go be annoying somewhere else!" She snapped, then flicked more strawberry sauce at his face as if that would do anything.

He caught it in his mouth, grinning. "Aww, no need to be such a scaredy cat, I'm just playing around! Well, back to work." He just walked off and, well, went to be annoying somewhere else.

She felt a squirming feeling of ick crawl through her skin at the fact that Cream basically ate the strawberry sauce that was meant to inconvenience him, not because it missed, but because he was basically still eating part of her. -# "weirdo..." She mumbled to herself. She detatched her claws from the ceiling, twisting midair as she fell to land squarely onto her paws again. She gave herself a good shake.

"Ah, yeah... again, sorry about him. Right, I have work to do! I've got another blank tape for you, so you can fill this up while I work on turning this tape into those special materials I need! And once I get a second worker, I can work on a waterproof dragon, and maybe even a durable one!" He sounded genuinely excited about the more technical details of his villainous plots. As long as he was having fun!

Cocoa glared after Cream as he left, then sighed. "It's whatever. And I'd love to!" She seemed to have forgotten about what happened to the victims on the recording, laughing at SECAM's eagerness. "You really enjoy this, huh?" She asked, but didn't wait for an answer before hopping back inside the dragon and getting situated until she was once again piloting it.

Back in the dragon! It felt a bit more natural to move around than last time, now that Cocoa was getting used to it. And with a blank tape being inserted, Cocoa felt hungry for more snacks again! "I do enjoy it, it's plenty of fun! So, where do you think you'll head off to this time?"

She brought a hand up to her chin, thinking. "What about the Mall zone?" She asked.

"Pretty populated there, but I'm sure you can handle it! Just don't get lost, of course. I'll be here when you get back! Oh, and reminder to keep an eye out for any potential helpers!"

She nodded, then set off towards her destination, in an area where she figured she wouldn't start off by causing a fuss immediately

It was indeed a busy day in the malls, and it was nearly impossible to find an area that wasn't jam packed with people. There was a toy store that the dragon would fit in with pretty well, as well as an electronics store with a lot of similar tech to the TV in the dragon's belly.

Some sort of whimsy filled Cocoa at the idea of hanging around inside the toy store. She knew she wouldn't be buying anything, of course, but the child inside her drew her there. She was a collector, anyway.

The toy store wasn't entirely empty, but it was a lot less busy than most of the other stores. They had all kinds of toys, figurines, plushies, and other goodies! There was a fox kid looking at the oversized plushies, who turned around at the dragon plushie walking in and ran over to inspect the TV autistically.

Cocoa stumbled back a bit, caught off guard by the eagerness of the kid in wanting to actually approach her. She decided to see how this all played out before attacking.

The boy tapped on the glass of the TV, trying to see if it would do anything. It was, unfortunately, not a touch screen.

She snickered. "What are you doing, fella?" She questioned curiously. She didn't seem too interested in attacking even now, but maybe that could change? But this kid stirred a curiosity in her, wondering how this would play out.

"You got any games on this thing?" Well, that was disappointing.

She raised a finger, opening her mouth to speak, then her mood instantly dropped. "KId, I suggest you go home."

"Okie dokie." He walked off, leaving the dragon alone. A few minutes later, a group of men dressed in suits walked into the store, looking around the whole place. They seemed to be inspecting the room to some degree, and not just the toys. One of them was approaching the owner to speak to them.

She sighed a relieved sigh. No child murder today. She watched the kid leave, then was just about to start her rampage, before the men in suits appeared. They looked a lot different from the folks she was used to seeing arlound here, and it kind of unnerved her. She fiddled with toys and silently observed them.

One of them seemed to be carrying a small camera, capturing toys and their prices, along with the well-kept state of the store. Meanwhile, the elderly owner of the store could be heard quietly talking with one of them. "I don't care what you're offering this time, so just stop trying. This store will be a toy store until they put me in the ground, so get lost." "Very well." The man walked up to another of his coworkers and whispered in his ear. "Call HQ. If he won't take the carrot, we'll give him the stick."

Cocoa listened intently, a snarl playing across her muzzle as she heard their outrageous words. "You men sure are fuckin stupid," she said backhandedly to them, staring straight at the one who was staring at the store owner. Giving him a chance to give up.

"We're just doing our jobs. You should probably leave." While the leader of the suited men was staring at Cocoa, the owner of the store was slowly reaching towards something under the counter. If Cocoa didn't make a scene, this guy just might.

Cocoa definitley noticed the old man reaching under the counter, but she made no effort to show it, not even moving her eyes toward him. She was buying him time. "Why don't you make me, control freak?" She goaded the man in the suit. (edited)

"Very well." The man picked something out of their back pocket, some black puck with a hole in the middle, about the size of a waffle. Looking at it seemed to make Cocoa sick with nausea and vertigo, and wavy colors started to show up on her TV.

Cocoa swayed, originally becoming confused about what happening. before she remembered something SECAM had said. Staying away from magnets seemed like a good idea, one that she didn't think she would need to do here. She groaned, the noise turning into a growl before she spun around, knocking shelves over with her tail in an effort to smack the man with the appendage.

The boss guy got slammed into a shelf, sending the magnet flying and sticking to a ceiling vent harmlessly. Camera guy was focused on the dragon now, boss guy's assistant was ducking under the front of the counter to retrieve a gun from a briefcase, and the other two goons were rushing from the other side of the store.

Cocoa stepped closer and closer to the boss of the goons, her stomps echoing through the store menacingly. "You. Tried. Me. You. Tried. Me!" She cackled, then, without warning, picked the guy up and threw him headfirst into the far wall.

Getting sent end over end into the opposite wall, over the shelves, was enough to knock the guy out cold. One of his goons rushed over to aid him, while the other unoccupied goon continued making his way to the front. The assistant was panicking as his briefcase lock was jammed, trying to stay hidden from the owner under the counter.

"And YOU!" She seethed, turning to the frightened guy fiddling with the jammed briefcase lock. "I know what you're trying to do, and I'm not sorry but I can't let you do it." She snatched the briefcase, smashing it, and throwing it to the owner of the store. "Heads up!" She shouted beforehand, making sure he didn't get hit by the case and that he knew to grab it before anyone else could. Next, she tossed that guy toward the far wall as well.

He flew over the first two shelves, but the thrown goon slammed back-first into the third shelf and sent it tumbling over onto the boss and his closest goon. The other goon was coming around the nearest shelf, stopping as he saw what he was up against and starting to back up towards the door.

Riled up with the sheer amount of power she posessed at this point, Cocoa laughed, low at first, then louder, and ran up to the shelf to leap ontop of it. She didn't seem to see the guy who was backing up.

Realizing that she wasn't coming towards him, the non-crushed goon followed to try and see what was going on with the boss. The boss and his goon were getting smushed under the shelf, as the assistant backed up and nearly tripped over spilled toys trying to get away from Cocoa. The cameraman followed, trying to capture everything for work report purposes.

Cocoa leapt off the shelf and whapped the camera out of the cameraman's hand, sending it spinning away across the floor. She lifted the boss and swallowed him whole, daring the others to get closer with a glare.

The assistant was trying to scramble away now, only to fall over some plushies as the free goon approached him. The former cameraman backed up, getting ready to turn around when he saw the owner with his shotgun, and quickly turned back around to face the dragon.

She whacked the assistant back down with her tail and snarled challengingly at the former cameraman. She grinned. "Pick your poison, sir."

A rather colorful looking robot boy walked in, wanting to just buy some toys when he was surprised to see the absolute mess that was going on. The owner was rushing around the back in an attempt to surprise the free goon, while the camera man took his chance to try and escape the dragon's reach. At the same time, the assistant was getting helped out of the mess by the free goon, unaware of the owner rounding the corner.

Cocoa didn't seem to notice the newcomer, preoccupied with towering over the cameraman again and pinning him down with her hands.

The cameraman was pinned down face-down on the ground, but he was putting up a fight. Aster tried to walk forward, unintentionally stopping the free goon and the assistant as the owner rounded the corner. The owner couldn't aim his gun with Aster in the path, so he had to just block the way. "My employer is going to ensure you regret this." The cameraman was surprisingly calm for someone pinned down by a dragon.

"I'd like to see them try," Cocoa growled. She wound her hand back, bawling it into a fist, and punched the man right square in the back of his head.

The cameraman braced for impact. The punch made a dog toy squeaker sound, and hit about as hard as a decently zealous pillow fight.

Cocoa grunted. Right, her fists were plush... She found a more effective way, lifting the guy instead now and then throwing him back down onto the floor, slamming his head to the ground. (edited)

The camera guy was knocked out, leaving only the free goon and the assistant - who were both backed into each other by the owner and Aster blocking their exits. The owner looked over to Cocoa, grinning. "Got room for a couple more of these bloodsuckers?"

Cocoa grinned. "You don't have to tell me twice!" She trilled, clasping her hands together. She reached over the counter, snatched the goons up, and tossed them into her mouth, quickly adding the cameraman to the loop and then the man who was still pinned under the shelf. (edited)

Aster watched in horror and fascination as the boss's lackeys were stuffed down the dragon's throat, while the shop owner just got to work on cleaning up the shop. "W-wow, I've never been in a fight like that before. I've also never seen anyone fight like that..."

Cocoa watched the shop owner clean up, wishing she could help out. Alas, she was too big to do much other than stand the shelves back up for him. She did that, though. She chuckled. "I wouldn't get used to it, kid. Dangerous and all."

"Hey, I'm no kid! Well... not an adult, either. I'm just a robot, so I'm not much of anything, I guess... but I can still be helpful! And I'm looking for work!" Aster picked up the camera, looking through it and pointing the camera at Cocoa's belly.

After standing the shelves back up in a neat row, Cocoa nodded to the shop owner. "Sorry for causing you so much trouble, sir," she apologized. "If anybody else gives you trouble and I'm in the area, just give me a holler." She turned back to Aster, humming thoughtfully. "Well, I can't promise you a job, kid, but I do know somebody who need the help. Not a very safe job, however. You alright with that?"

"I don't mind too much! I mostly just need something to do... oh, here you go by the way!" Aster handed over the camera, still recording.

Cocoa smiled as she was given the camera back, deciding not to eat it this time, not yet, anyway. If this kid was coming with her, he didn't need to see what happened to these people, no matter how awful they may have been. "What are you waiting for, then? Follow me." She led the way back. (edited)

"Okie dokie!" Aster followed along, occasionally getting distracted by the various stores on the way.

Cocoa guided Aster back to the defunct zone, telling him to wait outside for a bit. If Cream was here, she didn't want him getting eaten. "Hey SECAM, I found some kid! Said he's looking for work!"

-# "I said I'm not a kid..." "Thank goodness! Let him in, I'm upstairs working on the claw machine!" SECAM's voice could be heard over some kind of intercom wired into the building.

Cocoa looked around for the intercom speaker for a few seconds, then lost interest in finding it and beckoned Aster inside. "You're a kid in my eyes, no matter how old you are," She joked. "Here, follow me." She took the lead once again, climbing up the stairs.

The downstairs was, aside from the TV being on, was pretty quiet. Chompy was curled up in front of the fireplace blissfully, but the sound of people walking in woke him up. The dog(?) looked over and started running towards Aster excitedly.

As if from some sort of habit or instinct, Cocoa got down on all fours and arched her back, hissing at Chompy. "Stay back, dog!" (edited)

Chompy tried to stop, but accidentally tripped over himself and tumbled right into Cocoa's mouth! Aster looked half worried, half amused at Chompy's back paws sticking out of the plush dragon's mouth. Chompy, meanwhile, barked excitedly (and muffledly).

Cocoa stood still for a moment, shock overtaking her and making her freeze, before she shook her head to dislodge the dog. "Don't go in there!" She scolded him, her voice high-pitched with alarm. "Something bad could have happened!" (edited)

Chompy fell out harmlessly, prancing around playfully before tackling Aster and licking him. "Heehee! Hi lil' guy!"

Cocoa sighed in relief. "Aaanywayyyyyy....." She hesitantly pet Chompy before continuing up the stairs.

Upstairs, SECAM was working on the big claw machine, as he said he'd be. The room was full of materials and blank tapes. "Hello! Can you-" "HONEEEEEEEEY, I'M HOOOOOOME!" Cream could be heard barging through the front door, either or not noticing or ignoring Aster on his way up the stairs. Looks like he was carrying two big bags of fast food!

Cocoa listened intently to hear what SECAM wanted to ask, only to have Cream's loud ass banging and hollering cut through what was otherwise decently quiet enough. She was interested in whatever he was carrying, but she wouldn't show it!

Cream got up to the top of the stairs, setting down the bags of food and looking at the other two. "Who wants Taco Bell?" As Chompy ran upstairs, Cream wrestled with him to keep him away from the food, before stopping to see Aster coming up the stairs. "Ooh, we got a visitor?"

Cocoa raised a brow. "Oh so you try to eat me but not him?"

"What, and spoil my Taco Bell? No thanks, I'll save him for dessert." Cream started getting some food and drinks out of the bag, handing it over to Aster. "Oh! Wait, really? I didn't know this is what I was signing up for..." Aster took his food anyway, unwrapping it on the coffee table in front of the couch.

Cocoa rolled her eyes, laying down to take a nap in a corner somewhere. She wanted to formally meet Aster, so she'd wake herself up to do so. (edited)

Aster gasped in delight, bouncing around a little. "That's a plushie mech suit? Also you're so cute!"

Cocoa flustered a little bit. "I am not cute!" She pouted. "And yes, it is a plush mech suit. Boss fixed it up and everything." She beamed proudly.

SECAM nodded. "And now I'm working on this one here! They're part of a set. One collects material, the other turns that material into candy!" Aster seemed pretty excited at the idea. "That sounds super cool! I'd love to see how this stuff works!"

Cocoa pursed her lips, suddenly uncertain that this was a good idea anymore. She looked desperateluy to SECAM, urging him to be the one to explain.

"Oh, no worries! Let me show you!" SECAM walked over to the dragon, picking the tape up out of its hand and popping it into the VCR on its belly. "We start out with some 'surprise volunteers', and borrow them using this machine to fill these VHS tapes with their essence. Basically a conversion from physical matter to energy on the tape itself." Aster watched as the tape started up, trying to figure out what all this meant.

Cocoa turned her head to watch, then looked back to Aster to gauge his reaction. He'd have to learn sooner or later, but she was not gonna be the one to explain.

Aster then got to watch the recording of Cocoa swallowing two of those business guys at once. "With these collector machines, we can turn living people into the essence we need to create something called Magigoo, which gets turned into candy! It's not just any candy though, because this stuff actually makes you larger! Not like most candy does, but like, in stature." Aster nodded, still looking at the screen. "Does it kill them?" "Eh... I mean, I'm working on a way to bring anyone on the tapes back, just in case! Haven't finished it, yet. But I'm working on it!"

Cocoa sighed a breath of relief that Aster wasn't kicking and screaming to get out of here, then that breath quickly devolved into laughter. She nudged him with her elbow. "You've got spirit, kid," She told him.

"Well as long as it's being worked on, I don't see the danger! So where do I come in?" "Thanks for asking, kid! I need someone who can design a few suits for me. This plush dragon won't go everywhere, with the main concerns being water, heat, and magnets. Think you can come up with something?" "Sure! I can make something for that, no problem. As long as the tall one doesn't eat me, of course! That would probably slow me down a lot..." Aster peered through his Baja Blast in the clear cup with purple lettering, coming up with a design for something in his head. Looks like he already had his color palette figured out. (edited)

In the meantime, Cocoa avoided the taco bell for the most part, but she also grabbed a baja blast, eyeing Cream suspiciously. She was worried he might have laced it with something. Why? She wasn't sure, but she wouldn't put it past him. He just seemed like the type to do something like that. She took a hesitant sip anyway. (God she hoped this wasn't spiked.)

Seemed fine. Maybe Cocoa was just being a bit too suspicious of Cream. Everyone was eating their food now, although SECAM was eating with one hand and working on the claw machine with the other.

She laughed internally, thinking herself silly. Maybe she misjudged the guy. Sure, he was a fucking menace, but that didn't necessarily make him malicious. She reached a paw for a taco, pulling it back as if she might be scolded for it, but going back for it all the same.

Cream did not, in fact, spike her drink with anything. Cream did, however, put Diablo sauce in her taco.

Cocoa took a smallish bite of the taco, and it seemed alright for a few seconds, the spice not taking form in her mind at first. But then, her eyes teared up, and she held back a gasp for air, her strawberry sauce pouring faster and quickly making a mess in her fur(?) and on the floor. The little ice cream cat scrambled to her paws, but the strawberry sauce on the floor made her slip and she fell on her face.

Chompy, noticing there was now melting ice cream all over the floor, decided to rush over and try to lick it aaaaaaall up. Aster ran around in panic, and Cream was laughing about the whole thing. "Bwahaha! Are you actually melting? It's not even that hot!"

Cocoa didn't answer, nor could she. She could barely see, actually, so she couldn't glare either. Her baja blast would not fix this, being as it was carbonated. She let out a single sopping word: "Milk-"

Chompy slurped Cocoa up entirely, rushing to the kitchen upstairs and spitting her out on the floor. Aster had followed, speedily grabbing milk out of the fridge and dumping it on Cocoa. "How did the dog know to do that?"

She didn't protest as she was basically absorbed, even though if this were another time, she'd be less than thrilled to be slurped up by a dog of all creatures. It took a bit of time for the milk to take effect, but she slowly reformed, and at last even her strawberry sauce seemed to be in good condition. "Thanks," she sputtered, wiping her tongue off as a last resort. Now she was exhausted. Reformation typically took a lot of energy out of her.

SECAM headed upstairs, and after discussing the situation with the others, took Cocoa to one of the bedrooms to rest. "Don't worry, I'll reprimand Cream for what he did."

Cocoa merely drooped. What a day. (edited)

One long rest later, Cocoa would wake up to the sound of tech work downstairs.

At some point, Cocoa had fallen asleep without realizing it. She really hadn't meant to, but that incident had taken a lot out of her, okay? Regaining some semblance of consciousness, her strawberry ear flicked at the sounds she was hearing, which lifted her from her stupor. "Whuh?" She blinked the sleep from her eyes, lifting her head and giving a nice long stretch before carefully making her way downstairs. (edited)

Downstairs, there was a new suit waiting on the couch! It looked to be some kind of sea dragon, and the coloration was definitely inspired by a Baja Blast. Aster waved over to Cocoa, excited to show off what he'd been working on.

Cocoa paused, blinking some more, still waking up. "Heya," she mrrped as she finished descending the final steps. "You sure have been busy. Or... How long was I alseep?"

"Four hours! This suit remotely connects to Tubeway Alpha, but it should work anywhere within Coolcity! I named him Tubeway Explorer, and he's designed to work anywhere that might get a bit too wet. Just keep him away from sharp things or super high heat."

Cocoa inspected Tubeway Explorer excitedly, noting that she would have to be careful with her claws around this suit. Cats and floaties didn't exactly mix well. Still, she was excited to try it! Say what you want, but she was always a fan of swimming. "You really did this in just four hours? That's insane! You must have been really focused."

"Nah, I just bought an existing suit and modified it a little. All you need to do is get back into Tubeway Alpha, and focus on connecting remotely to Explorer. You'll figure it out!"

She nodded. "I do have a few things I want to do before then, but I'll give it a try as soon as possible!"

"What do you have planned?" Aster tilted his head like a dog, puppy ears and all.

"Just want to make sure everything is in order and see what I missed." She stuck her tongue out, blowing a raspberry. (God this kid was something.) (edited)

"I don't think you really missed anything, really. Except Cream getting yelled at. Oh, yeah, and I learned everyone's names, I think!"

"Yikes!" She didn't like Cream, sure, but she was actually glad she missed that. She was never a fan of yelling, honestly, no matter the case. Gave her the heebie jeebies. "Do you uh, do you think Chompy likes treats? He was a real help. Can't believe I ever got scared of him haha" (edited)

"He loves treats! I'm surprised he hasn't mistaken you for one yet. We'll have to get him something nice!"

She chirped happily. "Oh absolutely! He's the goodest boy for sure. Do you happen to know what flavors he likes?"

"Not a clue, but I can't imagine he's too picky. I bet he likes ice cream!"

She kept her thoughts about that to herself. "I think I have some money left over from my old job. Would you like to come shopping with me real quick so we can pick some up? Shouldn't take too long."

"That sounds like fun! I've also got a bit of money left over. I used to work at Sore Thumbs, if you've ever been there."

"Not sure I have. Feel free to tell me all about it on the way!" Cocoa searched for SECAM to let him know where they were going, then set off with Aster in tow.

Aster happily talked about his past job on the way there, and it seemed he wasn't treated very well as a worker. Apparently, there's an inherent danger to making yourself too useful.

Cocoa was in a decently good mood at first, but the more she heard about this Sore Thumbs job, the more angry she became. "They don't seem like they were very kind to you," She murmured. "Why did you stick around a dump like that?"

"I didn't really realize they were being mean until it was pointed out to me after I'd already left..."

She bit her cheek, unsure of what else to say. "Well I'm glad you're not there anymore, at least. I do have to say, being with SECAM is much better than constantly being mistaken for a snack." (edited)

"That's good to hear! Did you get eaten at your old job then? That does sound pretty dangerous..."

"Surprisingly, no!" She answered. "They sure did try though. Had to claw some faces sometimes. We lost customers because of that but honestly they shouldn't have been trying to eat the waiter." They arrived at the nearest store, and Cocoa was quick to find the pet aisle, lookign around at the treat flavors.

They had a bunch of interesting flavors, but up at the very top shelf was a big jar full of colorful, sweet looking treats in primary colors. Looked like Chompy's vibe... however, it was way out of reach for Cocoa.

Cocoa craned her neck up, catching sight of the colorful sweet treats, but gave a noise of frustration when she realized she'd be unable to reach them. She began looking for a way to climb up instead. She had to be resourceful quite a bit! Still, she couldn't find a way that she could take without getting in trouble. She huffed.

Aster walked over to where Cocoa was, looked up at the jar she was staring at, and grabbed it from the shelf to help. "These look pretty good!"

She blew out a puff of air, rolling her eyes. "I could have gotten that, you know," she quipped. "Thank you though."

"No problem! I'm just really used to making myself helpful. My coworkers always joked they would kill me with hammers if I wasn't helpful, but I was gonna be helpful anyways!" He sounded way too cheery for that sentence.

Cocoa looked horrified for a good bit before she responded again. "And where is this old job again?" she said, a fake ass grin on her face.

"You remember where Radio House used to be before they moved closer to the entrance? It's right across from there. I think they made the old Radio House into a laptop store..."

Still with that fake smile on her face, she added, "And what zone is this?"

"Electro City! They've got a really nice music store nearby that's chock full of tapes and records, I think you'd like it."

She nodded, having gathered all the info she needed. "I'll be sure to check it out, thank you!" She went around the store, lookign for things that could be used for scrap. She figured SECAM liked working on things, since he was always doing it. If not, he could just use wahtever she found normally. Eventually she grabbed an old boombox and brought it to the counter, paying for it and the treats. "Okay, let's head back." (edited)

"Sure thing! I can't wait to see that pool suit in action!" He followed along happily, carrying the massive jar of treats with him.

How was she supposed to tell him she'd be putting that off? In any case, she chatted with him, lugging the old boombox on her back all the way back to the hideout. By the time she got back, she felt exhausted once more, having carried that thing all the way here, but she persevered, bringing it to SECAM and asking Aster to follow her with the treat jar in the event that Chompy was in the room.

SECAM and Chompy were downstairs, looking at a rug that functioned as a map of Coolcity. They looked up from the rug as Cocoa and Aster arrived, and Chompy rushed to playfully tackle Cocoa!

Cocoa had no time to react as Chompy tackled her, making the boombox slide off her back and onto he floor and her own self stumble back some. She blinked, silent for a few moments, then giggled, raising a paw to pat him.

Chompy licked her all over, before Aster used some treats to distract him so Cocoa could escape.

Cocoa took a deep breath, able to get air once again after being licked in the face for a few moments, then scrambled away. She seemed to still be in good spirits at least. (edited)

Unfortunately, it seemed the boombox had been broken by the fall! It had one speaker hanging out, the handle was snapped, and some parts of it looked very loose. SECAM walked over to take a look at it. "Oh, a broken boombox?" Aster looked immediately distressed. "Oh no! Cocoa got that for you as a gift-" "It's wonderful!" SECAM looked unusually happy for someone receiving a broken toy. "Cocoa, I'm so glad you've already caught onto my love for fixing things! It's like a big 3D puzzle, and at the end of it, I'll have a functioning boombox! Thank you very much!" -# How endearingly clueless. (edited)

1

Cocoa seemed a little dumbfounded, but quickly got over it. That wasn't exactly the intention of her buying it, but she figured he would at the very least use it for parts or something, and he liked it either way, so everything worked out in the end! Yippee!! "Glad you like it!" She purred. "I got it as a thank you for, well, everything I guess? Never expected to be here but you were very welcoming, not to mention I really appreciate you helping me after the whole melting incident."

"I may be an 'evil robot', but I care a lot about my henchfolk! It's safe to say Cream is going to be on cleaning duty for a while, heh."

She wagged her tail happily. "With that aside, I was gonna try Tubeway Explorer today, but I think I have something else in mind for now. Would it be alright if I put off trying the new suit for some..." She glanced at Aster, the back to SECAM, then lowered her voice so that Aster wouldn't hear her. "Revenge on some bullies?"

"Of course! We can work at our own pace, so don't worry about getting everything done right away. And while you're gone, we can start prototyping the next Tubeway! At this rate, we'll have an entire Tubeway army!" Well, someone had to make the joke eventually.

@Frisk Dreemurr

Frisk Dreemurr