"..Vee, you okay?" Shelly's murmured, finally getting up off the floor. Dusting herself off, she observed how Vee was, and what would've caused the hold up. Offering her hand for Vee, Vee took it and raised herself upwards.

"Ohh, that's not good," Shelly muttered under her breath, gently reaching to Vee's screen as she trailed her finger down a small crack in it. She bit her tongue, unsure how to help her; she wasn't 'alive' and couldn't just be patched up to heal. Pulling Vee's head towards her, didn't spot any other damages, but that worry still lingered within her stomach, causing a knot.

".. Shelly, I'm fine," Vee responded, "After this is all over with, I'll get repairs."

Shelly's heart sank, this wasn't going to be over with anytime soon. "Vee," She responded, raising an eyebrow. It was obvious she wasn't buying into that.

"Anytime soon, you know," Vee reasoned.

"Vee-" Shelly muttered.

"This will be done soon, it's gonna-"

"VEE!" Shelly almost yelled, "Listen, I don't think anyone's coming okay?" Her voice faltered, cracking under the pressure of the situation. "..Nobody's coming for us." Shelly let go of her hand.

Shelly's minor outburst caused the elevator to fall silent, although for many toons she spoke what was on a lot of their minds. However, for Vee this information was disheartening, she almost didn't want to believe it. Deep down though, she knew that Shelly's words were probably right.

Shelly faintly exhaled, staring at Vee's blank expression. Usually her screen presents more emotion, and she wondered if it was the glitch or if it was something she said; she hated the possibility of either of them.

Watching her monitor visually bug, Shelly set her hand on Vee's shoulder, "Look- I'm," She cut herself off, not wanting to dig any deeper into this. "..Just, we'll fix it okay?" Shelly quietly said, shifting her gaze to the floor.

Both of them felt the heavy stares, adding to the tense awkward silence as Shelly's hand slipped off Vee's shoulder. She wanted Vee to say anything, anything to confirm that she wasn't talking to a brick wall; but nothing came.

Shelly swallowed hard, avoiding Vee's stare. As the other toons started to loose interest in their conversation, Shelly quietly spoke up, "..Does it hurt?" She murmured, her eyes tracing back to Vee's screen.

"..It feels strange, uncomfortable," she paused, was that what pain was? "I think it hurts," Vee concluded, feeling the aching in her head grow stronger. She clutched the crack, "..Usually I'm disabled whilst I'm repaired," she admitted.

As if to rub salt into their wounds, the metal doors to their side folded open. Something in that flower always ticked Vee off, but this time triggered an aggressive response within her. "It's him," Vee almost growled, catching Shelly by surprise with her tone. Veering her head in the direction of Vee's aggression, she saw the flower with his items on display.
"Whoa! I swear there were more of you!" He chuckled, guesstimating how many toons were lost on that specific floor. ".. Anywho.. I got more items for the rest of you guys!" He proudly announced to the elevator; nobody stepped forward.

After determining that nobody was gonna buy anything, Dandy's face slightly darkened, gritting his teeth, "Ah, no tapes? No worries, I'll be back later with more items." He pulled the lever, descending into the ground beneath them.

Everyone else looked to each other, exchanging small murmurs.

"He's been acting weird!"
"This isn't like him!"
"Why is he doing this??"

Vee glared at the trapdoor, clenching her fist. He hadn't even bothered to help them, just wanting a simple exchange. As she thought about his words, they rang through her head - "more of you."
Twisting her head towards the direction of the crowd, she noted how the group got smaller.. who did they lose? She scanned their faces.. only 19 toons showed up. After quickly ruling that information out, she saw that they lost Shrimpo and Razzle&Dazzle. She felt the throbbing in her head strengthen.

While she didn't have much of a personal connection to either of them, it still made her feel uneasy; they were still toons, and the fact that Dandy disregarded their safety was baffling to her.

"Does anyone know what happened to Shrimpo and R&D?" A toon called out, curious what happened.

Their question was met with silence, that was until a box toon spoke up. "..There was an accident with one of the machines, it sputtered all over them," he shuddered. "It- It made Shrimpo weird, we tried to ask what was wrong." After a moment of silence, he continued, "R&D was attacked by him, and- ..we had to leave him."

"..Are they okay?" Goob questioned, his head tilted.

Exchanging glances among each other, Scraps opened her mouth to speak, "Yeah, we'll find them eventually!" She bitterly lied, protecting her brother's morale.
Goob's face returned to is usual smile, content with the idea.

Once everyone was somewhat situated, the elevator came to a halt, throwing everyone off balance. The door rumbled, cracking open in anticipation before blasting upwards.

"Another floor? When will it end..??" Vee overheard a muttered complaint. If she was honest with herself, she thought the same.

It only gets worse from here, surely.