Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One: the Biggest Plush in the World

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He needed it. He needed its fur, its adorable plush eyes, and to feel the softest fur that has been hand-sewn into the plush body of the dog. It was a plush of a cake but it had four legs, and two strawberry slices for the ears and the body was chocolate-colored with a darker brown frosting decorating the back of the dog. God, Red Velvet wanted it, he already named it-

Cakepop.

Chiffon was next to Red Velvet, or more like laying on Red Velvet’s back, but the cream-colored hound was looking at the video that their owner was watching, confused eyes darting back and forth from when Red would drag the cursor back to the beginning of the video and Red Velvet kept replaying the video over and over, how could he not?! It was big, soft, and holdable (although it would most likely become a pillow for Red- not like he minded a hug dog pillow), and Red Velvet needed it.

Red Velvet stumbled upon this glorious plush by accident. He was in his room, scrolling through his youtube to do something that wouldn’t involve him being downstairs where his siblings, Caramel Arrow and Dark Choco were wrestling and roughhousing. Not like Red Velvet was innocent, he often initiated the roughhousing of his own accord but today, he only heard his two siblings yell and the telltale sign of bumping into walls, screeching from Dark Choco, and sounds of muffled cries of a banshee (also from Dark Choco when Caramel Arrow landed a critical hit to his gut or somewhere where the sun don’t shine). And it didn’t take a genius in the house to know that Dark Choco did something so stupid that his older sister, who rarely tackles Dark Choco unless it was a sparing match between the two and it was outside, had decided that today was Dark Choco’s final day to live. And Red Velvet will pretend to have never heard of Dark Choco.

But while he listened to the banshee screams and the grunts of Caramel Arrow dragging her brother back to her, Red Velvet scrolled through the home page of youtube and a video was in his top bar which was held with compilations of dogs, music, and fun video games reviews. One recommended video was titled “Softest dog plush in the world?”. So who was Red Velvet to NOT click on a video and start watching it?

This was the one day when Red Velvet was pleased with the algorithm.

Because this one video led Red down a spiral of research, looking for this dog plush, and wanting to spend whatever amount of money to get that dog in his room, for him to shove his face in the fur, and for him to just sleep on top of it with Chiffon. And there is good and bad news.

Bad news: the line of the plushes, even in the smaller versions, where a part of a line of plushes to promote a baking simulator that was partnering with a larger video game company that prompted Virtual Reality- but the line of plushes didn’t make a lot of sales nor did the game itself. So that meant that it was rare to find one of these plushes, especially if they were huge, it would be complicated to find one of these anywhere. But Red Velvet was one thing: stubborn and determined (especially when it came to dogs). That same stubbornness got him Chiffon so why not this as well? So, Red Velvet slowed down the video and went frame by frame, he presses his face against the screen, to watch the video play until his eye bled- Red had gotten the name of the store and found their online store. After scouring the online store, he called the store’s number to customer service to ask about the plush, but they didn’t have any in stock, and they didn’t even know where to find one.

But when there is darkness, there is light. The good news: he found one.

One listing on Ebay.

It was listed as: a “Large Cakehound Plush, super soft, eco-friendly, washing machine friendly, and 66 inches”. It was the biggest dog plush that Red Velvet doesn’t need but his stubborn desire to have it was killing him. The seller who was selling it was offering a price of $300.00 with shipping which made a total of $315.05 but Red Velvet decided he would bid in a game of negotiations. And luck was on Red Velvet’s side because that seller was active online and Red took no time to send a message to the seller.

RedVelvet: Hey, I was wondering if we could talk about the price of the cakehound plush you put up for sale. I can pay for the original price of the cakehound plush (bought in-store) and pay for the shipping.

ChocolatePineapple0914: Hey! Glad to see someone is interested in the plush but the pricing of the cakehound cannot go any lower. The original prince of the dog was about $300. I wanted to keep it at the prince.

RedVelvet: Okay. How would you feel if I paid 250? Or maybe $280-285?

ChocolatePineapple0914: How about $285?

RedVelvet: Awesome!

RedVelvet: Oh… I noticed that you listed that you only accept cash as payment. How come?

ChocolatePineapple0914: My state is having a mail service strike and no one is shipping out orders until the strike is finished. Hence why the shipping is around $15. I have a friend who can deliver the plush since she is going out of state in a few days.

Red Velvet kicked himself for not reading the whole description of the listing so now, this was where Red Velvet should have stopped and thought about this. The price was lowered but a new problem lay ahead. Red Velvet should have messaged the seller that he could have the friend come over to the house and he would pay the friend or he should just drop the whole situation altogether but that dog…

He was known for his stubbornness and not his smarts.

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The house was quiet. Dark Choco was holding a pack of frozen peas over his heavily bruised abdomen and glaring daggers at his sister who was smirking and eating a bowl of spicy ramen she cooked for herself to spite Dark Choco. The two of them had finished their roughhousing an half hour ago and were sitting down, watching some documentary about a lost city that was filled with diamonds and worshiping a goddess. As the two of them sat, the house phone rang, Caramel Arrow set her bowl of noodles on the placemat sheet to cover the wooden foot table from the heat of the bowl, she glared and made a slicing motion over her neck and pointed at Dark Choco- a clear threat.

She picked up the phone, “Hello?”

“Hey Caramel, how is everything?” Her father’s voice came over the phone. Currently, Dragon Berserker and Crème Brulée were out of town, visiting old friends and taking the weekend off from work and the house. They were supposedly out with HollyBerry, Golden Cheese, and White Lily, going shopping and enjoying the break. “Everything is fine. How’s your weekend going so far?” She asked. The weekend was a four-day weekend because of two holidays paired side by side. “Oh, your father is enjoying his time relaxing and NOT worrying over you four running around. HollyBerry finally convinced him to try out a fruity root beer, let’s just say your father will be actively avoiding root beer and anything related to fruity drinks for a few weeks.” Caramel Arrow huffed. It was funny to her that her dad was avoiding fruity drinks, the man had a strong dislike for anything sweet and fruity, even though the man was a part of the colorful array of a fruit bowl himself. You know, being married to a man and having adopted four kids.

“So what are you and the others doing?” Crème Brulée asked. Caramel Arrow looked over her shoulder to Dark Choco who was still sitting on the sofa, still holding the bag of peas, and watching the documentary. But she noticed that her bowl of noodles was moved a few inches to the right from its original position. She was going to kill him. “Everything is fine. Red’s upstairs with Chiffon, Choco is on the sofa watching a documentary, I’m eating lunch, and Crunchy’s out.” She could hear her father hum, the sound of hum that said, “Glad to know that I won’t receive a phone call about someone dying. Not yet at least” which, he wasn’t wrong to suspect that one or the other of the four siblings have attempted to kill one another. Caramel Arrow just finished body-slamming her brother so that was that.

“Where is Crunchy Chip?” The blonde father asked over the phone. “He’s out with his boyfriend. And apparently, Wildberry is heading out of town for a trip to the lake for fishing. Crunchy’s joining.” Crunchy Chip had packed up early before he left, telling his siblings that he’ll be back the same day that the parents would return, in three days, and the parents were aware that Wildberry was going somewhere but Crème Brulée wasn’t aware it would be a fishing trip. “And you know that Crunchy doesn’t have the greatest patience in the world. So I texted Wildberry to send me photos and videos.” Caramel reflected. She could hear her father laugh and tell someone next to him that he would share after the phone call. “Well, you three be safe and no killing one another alright?” Caramel smiled at the phone, even though her papa couldn’t see her- he could most likely guess that she had a shit-eating grin on her face, and in a sing-song voice she responded, “No promises~”

And she hung up.

She slowly turned around to Dark Choco and crept up on him.

Swiftly and deadly, she struck her victim with deadly precision and wrestled her brother to the ground while her brother was screaming and trying to fight her off. It wasn’t until they both heard rapid footsteps and the pounding of paws from the other person in the house, did they both stopped and looked up at Red Velvet whose hair was tangled, he was wearing his wrinkled sleeping shirt, and he was holding his laptop with the screen showing a surplus of messages. Red’s eyes were wide and full of excitement and he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, Chiffon was standing next to Red, wagging his tail and panting from suddenly jumping down the stairs. “Red, what are you-”

“Which one of you wants to help me go across the state and pick up the most important thing in my life?”

“What is it, your love life?” Caramel Arrow queried.

“No better,” Red responded.

“A hairbrush? Dark Choco asked.

“No. Something more important.”

Caramel released her brother from the chokehold and leaned against the sofa’s cushions. She tapped her fingers against the tan pillows and hummed. Mocking Red Velvet. It was Dark Choco who properly processed what Red Velvet was asking, and sat up. Grunting in pain, he asked “Why across the state? Can’t you just ship it over here?” Red responded like a trigger being pulled, “Can’t. Some strike with the mail.” The two sitting siblings looked at each other and back to their red-haired brother. “What is so important that it requires us to take you across the state to pick it up?” The walnut-skinned woman asked. Red Velvet blew a few pieces of his tangled ruby hair out of the way and sat down next to Choco, he pulled up the listing of the huge cakehound plush and turned it around to show his siblings. Caramel Arrow and Dark Choco leaned over to look at the photo, and both realized that the plush would be huge and was going to be a pain in the ass literally and emotionally to convince Red Velvet to not buy the plush and assuming he didn’t already buy it. “I’m assuming that you want us to go with you to get the plush and come back home?” Caramel Arrow deducted.

Red Velvet vigorously nodded his head. His mixed-matched eyes were glowing with excitement and he was bouncing in his spot. Dark Choco his hand through his jet black hair, his fingers untangling a few knots and ran through every single excuse or logical reason to reject this notion but he could see Red’s excitement and the mischievous look in Caramel Arrow’s eyes, and he knew it would be a 2 v 1 at this point. Sighing, he resigned to his fate.

“Where do we pick the plush up?”

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They started to pack around 4 pm.

Simple things. Snacks, blankets, phone chargers, and the first aid kit (Dark Choco said they need to be careful in case something goes wrong). Caramel Arrow would drive for the first four hours then switch with Dark Choco for another four hours, and hopefully, they would be able to find a hotel or a safe place to rest for the night and continue in the morning. And how could one forget Chiffon? Chiffon would be in the back and wouldn’t make a fuss since he enjoys car rides. Dark Choco decided to text Crunchy Chip about the situation and the other brother wished them luck (although the three siblings were vague with the parents when they said they were heading out of town as well. When asked why Red Velvet said he wanted to see a meteor shower, Dark Choco said there was a country fair nearby and Caramel Arrow said they wanted to travel around town for a bit. Different answers with vague intentions that the parents couldn’t read over text).

It was 5 pm when Caramel pulled the old van out of the driveway, turning on her traditional Korean festival music to keep her up and the drive began. Red Velvet went against Dark Choco in a game of Super Smash Bros with the Nintendo Switch they brought along on the trip and they played a little game of Uno in the car. The drive began to dawn on the siblings that the drive would be a three-day travel- all for a big, enormous fluffy dog that Red Velvet impulsively bought out of pure selfish desire. The other two siblings couldn’t disagree with Red on the matter. It was either they travel to meet up with the seller’s friend halfway or have a stranger come up to the house. Plus, with how the family is separated for the four-day weekend, staying inside the house would be suffocating and quite boring. The trio and the dog travel along Highway 94, a highway that splits off everywhere and the siblings play eye-spy with one another, eventually, Caramel is pulled over for McDonald’s, and while they waited for their order to be completed- Caramel asked, “Why did you want to buy the dog?” Red leaned back against the chair he sat in, rubbing in between Chiffon’s ear, he responded “I noticed that it looked like Chiffon and it looked like a wonderful pillow.” Caramel hummed and Choco came outside with the food in his hands. Dropping the food into each of his sibling's lap, he sat down next to Red and the three began to eat, talking about the journey they were about to make, “A grand adventure!” Red Velvet cheered after he fed Chiffon the last of his fries, after feasting on Red’s fries, Chiffon tried to eat the fries from Dark Choco who began a struggle against the giant hound. Once they finished, Caramel Arrow simply drove on.

It would be midnight when the trio and the dog decided it would be time to turn in for the night. So when Caramel Arrow and Dark Choco switched driving- Caramel thanked Choco for getting a break from driving on the road- she was simply happy for finally having her eyes off the road that seem to stretch onward forever. Dark Choco would drive for a few hours until they find a motel or hotel nearby, and Red Velvet was searching on his phone for any kind of place to hunker down for the night. Caramel had knocked herself out as soon as she sat down in the passenger seat. Red Velvet huffed in annoyance, the sound of drums vibrated the car as they continued to listen to Caramel’s music, and if they don’t find a place soon, they might be driving until the sun rose- and something that Dark Choco didn’t want to do was pulling over and sleeping on the side of the road. It wasn’t a safe idea.

Red’s eyes widened when his phone pinged at him for a nearby location to rest. “Hey! Found a place to crash!” Caramel jolted awake from Red Velvet’s sudden yell. She turned around, her raven hair was slightly tangled and the lighter brown streaks of her hair were all pulled to the left side of her face. She unbuckled her seatbelt and attempted to grab Velvet to strangle him- had Dark Choco not shot his arm out to hold his murderous and cranky sister back from killing her brother and keeping a steady hand on the wheel so he didn’t pull them into a ditch. “Wait-Wait! Cara! I found a place with beds and showers! Chill, chill, chill!” This seem to quell the she-beast for a moment, she stared daggers at Red, who held his phone out to her to see.

“Death Valley Motel?”

Better than nothing they all collectively decided. So taking an exit on 94, they arrived at a mini village with few homes and abandoned structures. The GPS on Red Velvet’s phone beeped, alerting them that they had arrived. But in front of them, was not a fancy or normal-looking motel. Instead, it was covered in old wood, it had pictures of white-powdered men who had red balls on their noses. Some were wearing colorful rainbow ruffles in addition to polka-dot clothes while some were wearing harlequin black and white diamond outfits. Some wore happy expressions, some wore sad expressions, and some looked like their faces were wiped away from the caricatures.

“Red…”

“Yeah, Choco?”

“Why the fuck did your phone lead up to a hotel covered in clowns?”

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: The Clown Motel

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So apparently the Death Valley Motel has been renamed as the Clown Motel. And Dark Choco was tempted to turn around and drive until the sun rose and then have Red Velvet drive until Caramel Arrow was awake enough to drive for the next day. But as soon as he turned to look at his siblings, to announce that he will last the drive, Caramel Arrow was pulling out her dagger (which Dark Choco had no clue she brought along), and Red Velvet pulled out his pocket knife. Dark Choco also had his pocket knife, and the four siblings all had a pocket knife. It was just Caramel Arrow who brought an actual weapon that would most likely get them arrested.

Something all three siblings didn’t want their parents to hear about.

Caramel Arrow looked at Dark Choco and in a calm (but deadly voice) said, “If this place has a shower and a decent bed to sleep in. Then fine, we’ll sleep in a hotel full of clowns. But know this, if something comes at us- we will be burying a body and you’re going down with us.” Red Velvet nodded in agreement as if they weren’t all saying that if a guy who is just playing around and trying to play a prank on guests suddenly winds up dead, then they had to bury the body and get out of there before anything happens. Dark Choco inhaled and exhaled with tension not leaving his shoulders. Nodding slowly, he turned to engine off and unbuckled his seat belt. All three siblings and the dog got out of the van and stretched. Caramel Arrow walked over to the reception office, wallet already in hand, and a look of deep regret and hatred. Red and Choco knew that maybe pulling their sister along was a bad idea.

After around 15 minutes, Caramel Arrow left the office with a key in hand. She explained that she got a two-joint room, a door would be in between the two rooms but there was only one way in and out of the common room. Both boys shrugged but were internally glad that it was a room where they could all be at least in the same vicinity of one another. Going towards the “Depressing-Looking Clowns building” as Red Velvet has declared it to be, the three siblings and the dog walked up the stairs to the left of the registration office. Room 204 was the first door when they landed on the second floor. Their room (of course) had a small clown holding the sign number, it was colorful despite the building itself being covered in depressed, black-and-white clowns. And the room itself wasn’t the best but certainly not the worst. The room was decent-sized, a bit smaller than a two-bedroom but it was still big enough for the boys and the dog. The other door to the other room was on the front door left, Caramel Arrow opened the door and found her room’s lights were already on, despite the “main” bedroom lights being off.

It left Dark Choco and Red Velvet on alert. But after a search around the room, just to make sure that no clowns would pop in the middle of the night, they declared the room safe. Red Velvet decided that he would take Chiffon around the parking lot to stretch and do any business he needed before turning in for the night. With Red out, Caramel went to her well-lit room and began to unpack her pj’s. Dark Choco was still looking around the room. It had two twin-sized beds, (a little small but it would be fine), a small counter for food or other essentials, and a bathroom with a paper-thin curtain and a tub that was covered in rust. The toilet was recently bleached and the room smelled like a mixture of old furniture and cleaning products. But apparently, Caramel Arrow got the better space of the two.

Her room smelled like lavender and incense, the shower had a proper curtain and the tub was glistening white. The toilet was the same as Choco’s but it didn’t smell like bleach but like perfume. The bed was a king (how the people who owned the place shoved a king’s mattress inside a room meant for a twin was beyond Choco), and the sheets were fluffy and new. The sheets on Dark Choco’s were just two comforters and a bed sheet protector. This applied to both Choco’s and Red’s beds. The younger brother was half-tempted to ask Caramel to switch beds but he knew better than to ask the only woman who had a dagger and knife to switch beds so the younger brother decided to just wear his sweatshirt and just lay on the bed. Red Velvet returned and found Dark Choco on his phone, eating a few snacks. Chiffon bounced to Choco, wanting to snack on the treats that Choco brought.

Dark Choco gave a few pieces of cheese and salami to the dog and Red looked around the room. His face pulled in disgust, he headed over to his bed and looked at Choco- his face pulled into a grimace. “It’s what we get in a creepy clown motel.” Choco shrugged. Red sighed and looked at Chiffon who jumped onto the crusty bedcovers and spun around to then lay down, Red sat on the edge of the bed as he took off his shoes- “You want to know something creepy I saw outside?” Red offered. Dark Choco closed his eyes and raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, “Sure Vel, I want to hear something creepy after just arriving inside a clown motel that is most likely haunted by clowns.” He snarked sarcastically. “When Chiffon was going to the bathroom, this guy was watching Chiffon and me, I tried to see if he needed something but whenever I looked in his direction- he turned and hid behind a car or a part of the building by the registration office.” Choco hummed, now deeply unsettled.

Caramel popped her head into the room, her hair wet from the shower she just finished. She offered the boys to shower in her bathroom if they wanted to. While they thanked her generously, Dark Choco went first- just to rinse out his hair and wash his body. Red Velvet took the longest due to the dog refusing to go near the shower and having to be pried in. The dog smelled like cheese. The three dried their hair and placed on some more comfortable clothes and pj's for the night. Red and Choco searched and rummaged through the closet of Caramel Arrow because they did not want to sleep on top of dirty comforters and smelly bed sheets. And once they achieved their goal of finding better blankets that smelled like mint and oranges, the boys and the dog jumped into their respective beds and watched a bit of YouTube while Caramel Arrow clocked out. The three decided that mornings would mostly belong to Caramel to go while the boys shifted rounds.

Around midnight was when Choco fell asleep and Chiffon snored gently. Red was still awake. Unable to fall asleep. The room was hardly decorated and had very few essentials. At most a TV ( which didn't work), an old clock on the wall, and a bathroom. No bookshelves, no nightstands, and one outlet. This motel wasn't the best. Especially with all the clown stuff. Both Choco and Red thought there would be clown photos or drawings on the walls but yet, but there were none. Red assumed it must've been a new room. Red Velvet would be laying in bed for about 15 to 20 minutes when his eyes finally began to grow heavy, his breathing was slowing down, and his mind began to darken, like the curtain dropping after a final show. So Red Velvet closed his phone out and laid it next to his pillow and soon enough, with Red- his muscles relaxed, his limbs going numb, and his brain cruising on autopilot- the three siblings and the dog were finally asleep at 12:40 am.

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It was Dark Choco who woke up first to the sound of heavy thumps. He opted to ignore it, believing it was Red but when the stomps seem to get louder and louder- Choco turned over to face Red Velvet and strangle his loud brother but only to find Red fast asleep with his face smashed on Chiffon's belly. The dog had rolled over and Red rolled his head on top of Chiffon. It looked comfy. Choco, in his sleepy delirious state, didn't compute that it wasn't Red who was stomping around until Dark Choco jumped at the sound of another thump. He snapped his head to the window next to the door; it was a small rectangular window with a heavy drape to open and close, and from the drape, you can see the outside that was illuminated outside by the lights on the ceiling of the overhang. You can see shadows of people passing by your rooms because of the lights.

Choco watched the drapes, in hopes that a shadow of a late-night guest was leaving but none passed. Choco briefly wondered if he could return to sleep but when the thumping continued, he wondered if it was some love-sick couple who just got in and assumed that no one was next door to them. But this time, the thumping didn’t sound like it was next door. Instead, it was much closer to the room- it was reasonable for Dark Choco to sprint out of the bed and reinforce the lock on the door with a chair under the door knob and double checking the locks on the door. The two locks: one on the handle and the other being a slide lock, both looked new and recent but Choco wouldn't pass it off as “safe”. He waited at the door, for the stomping to continue, and for him to be ready to wake Red and Caramel to jump into the car and speed off home. Screw the dog plush. Red can find another one. Dark Choco would stand next to the door, never moving an inch, he focused hard on the creaking of wood, the buzz of moths and other night bugs, and he strained to hear anything remotely sounding human.

But nothing.

Dark Choco slowly began to relax, until he heard the slam. And it was next door. Red shot up like a beanstalk, flicking his pocket knife open and Chiffon perked upwards. But he began to growl as soon as he noticed Dark Choco by the door. The thumping of footsteps drew closer, Choco held his breath- if this person came knocking and banging- the two brothers might have to commit murder. Or Caramel might commit and Choco would have to help Red hide the body. Red harshly whispered, “The fuck was that?!” His hair was a mess of tangles and his eyes narrowed at the window next to Choco as if the window personally insulted Red. Dark Choco responded, “Woke up to heavy footsteps, thought it was you, and now- it might be outside our room!” He seethed quietly.

Look, Dark Choco was many things: cunning, silver-tongued, kind, and many generally good things that would be seen as good values and a good personality to have. But everyone has flaws. One of the many flaws Dark Choco has is jumping to conclusions and impulsively reacting to impulsive thoughts. For example, when Dark Choco was in middle school- Red Velvet was being harassed by a few upper-class men for having Chiffon on campus since the hound was a service animal that was needed to help Red whenever his anxiety got too much and these upperclassmen constantly harassed Red when there were no teachers around to spot them.

One shining afternoon, Dark Choco got to witness his brother being harassed and Chiffon being yanked by the upperclassmen so what did Dark Choco do? His first thought was to beat the bullies up and his second thought was to find someone to help. Guess which one he decided to go with? Considering what Dark Choco might do to the guest at the motel, Dark Choco decided violence was the best answer in the situation. The bullies had a broken nose each, a sprained wrist, and multiple bruises.

After receiving detention for a month, his parents celebrated Dark Choco winning the fight (plus standing up for his brother) and Red thanked him for the help. It made Choco feel special that the moments of him acting on his first thought made him a hero. And now, several years later; Dark Choco was revisiting that day and the first thought that came to his mind was that if the guest came knocking and pounding on the door, Dark Choco was going to open the door and nail the guy to the railing.

And push him off.

The building itself was only a two-story but there would be about a four-minute timer that would result in Choco and Red grabbing their stuff, waking Caramel ( her violent reaction be damned) and grabbing Chiffon, booking it to the van and driving off before the guest could call for help. Dark Choco realized at that moment that he had a plan of murder and a getaway plan underway. Red Velvet watched as his brother stared at the locked door with the gears in his head turning and going 80 miles per hour- trying to figure out a way to get out of the hotel without getting in trouble (with the police or Caramel would be great). Red Velvet pulled himself out of bed and whistled quietly at Chiffon to heal; the dog was growling softly, ears straight up, fur bristling, and his face was pulled into a snarl. While Chiffon may be a service dog, he was also raised as a guard dog- in case someone was dumb enough to target the household of a retired assassin, his murderous husband who was in hiding, and a gaggle of kids who all specialized in specific weapons meant for hunting animals (sometimes a person if they needed to).

Red tiptoed over to Dark Choco and knelt, twirling his knife in his hand, ready to strike when needed. Both waited for the pounding to come to the door. Nothing happened for a moment. Then two, and then three. Soon ten minutes passed with little to no sound. Both brothers looked at each other and it was the older crouched brother who moved towards the window. Carefully pulling the curtain back, the two brothers looked around through the small window. Everything seemed normal. The fluorescent lights were still buzzing, the outside still had those popups stand clowns around the front of the parking lot, and the other building was still lit up despite being 3 in the morning. Red couldn't find anything that may be the origin of the pounding of feet and the slamming of the door next to them. Both were confused.

Dark Choco slowly relaxed his muscles, he felt better knowing that the unknown sounds had vanished and gone quiet. ‘I wonder if it WAS a lovesick couple who finally finished?’ Choco thought to himself. He glanced over to the clock on the wall. Despite the minute hand being off by eight minutes, the hour hand still rotated at the normal time. And right now, the time is 3:30 am.

"Devil's Hour."

Choco huffed and smiled. Nudging his brother to the clock, Red noticed the time as well and raised an eyebrow back to Choco. Unaware of why it made Choco laugh. "We hear sounds of thumping and pounding, we see nothing, and we're staying in a dingy motel with clowns. A place that looks haunted and we both wake up around the "devil's hour" to find nothing that can explain what is making the sounds." Red realized and turned back to the clock to double-check and chuckled as he shook his head. Standing up from his crouched form, he slapped Choco on the back of the shoulder. "Jackass, you woke me up first." Choco rebutted, "Yeah but you also heard the noises too. Including Chiff- Chiffon?" Red turned around to see Chiffon on all fours, tail bristling, back arched, and snarling at the door. Red walked over to Chiffon, he raised his right hand to pet between the straightened ears of his hound, but the dog barely acknowledged the comforting touch of his owner. The hound smelled danger.

Choco turned back to the door. From the window, you can see the front of the door and if you press your face against the glass of the window in the other direction, you can see the hallway of the building. Red saw nothing so why was Chiffon so tense? Choco turned back to Red, opening his mouth to ask, but then the door lurched. Choco fell backward from the sound pounding of the door. It stomped, pounded, banged, and rattled as the door to being attempted to break. Choco pulled out his pocket knife and looked over to Red, his older brother held Chiffon by the collar, only holding the hound back, and in the worst circumstances; the hound would be unleashed to tackle and bite the intruder and the aftermath would be gruesome.

Red turned to his brother, “Choco! What do we do?!” Dark Choco looked between his brother and turned to his right where his sister was resting, he slammed his hand into the door and shouted, “Caramel! Caramel Arrow! Wake up! We need help!” He wasn’t going to risk his sister getting hurt- Hell no, he might have to face Caramel in her anger but he would deal with it once this situation was cleared up. Choco turned back to Red- “Just keep a hold of Chiffon and worse comes to worst- we sick him on the guy behind the door.” Red nodded, he pulled the barking dog backward, attempting to get Chiffon to heal. When the door began to slam and bend, Chiffon began barking erratically and snarling at the door- trying to protect his owner. “Papa and Father are going to be so pissed!” Red yelled. Dark Choco huffed, their parents would rather be happy to know that they at least defended themselves rather than leave themselves defenseless.

As the door continued to rattle and shake, Choco backed away towards Red, side-eyeing him and reaching his unarmed arm out, to protect his brother if the intruder got in. And as soon as the rattling seemed to get louder, it suddenly stopped. But neither brother relaxed, Chiffon still barked loudly and snarled at the door.

It was quiet for only a moment.

The door had received the heaviest hit that it went flying off its hinges. The door slammed against the floor and in the doorway was a clown. The clown was wearing a black-and-white striped onesie, black ruffles swallowed his neck and face- like a lion’s mane and his face was snow-white with black paint traced on the face. The black paint was traced around his eyes and cheeks, the shapes were diamonds on the eyes, circles on the cheeks, and a mini triangle on the tip of the nose. The posture of the man was hunched and a smile wider than any normal person can even muster. The clown stood at the doorway, holding a bat that was chipped, and the paint on the bat was faded, the man laughed, cold and spine-chilling. If this was an actor, then he played the part perfectly. The clown calmed down slowly and the intruder took one step forward, he had to duck down in the entryway, and he surveyed the room. Red noticed that the guy looked like the man who was watching Chiffon and him early, even with the makeup on- his features were still prominent. Red noticed the guy had bulging eyes, a double chin, and crooked teeth, which the clown all had- this had to be the same guy but in a clown costume. The man had found the brothers who were hunched in the corner of Red’s bed, Red Velvet holding Chiffon back who was at the point, yanking on Red’s arm- barking and struggling to get out of Red’s hold. The lights outside of the room, made the clown’s shadow seem twice the size of the clown himself and it made it all the more intimidating.

Red and Choco were ready. If this guy comes at them then they will unleash the dog. It doesn’t matter if Chiffon ripped the man’s throat out, if it meant that the siblings were safe then fine, let the creepy clown who broke into their room die. “One step closer and you’re going to regret it,” Red warned. The clown began to laugh again, he took one step and began to raise the bat-

A fist slammed into the clown’s face.

Caramel Arrow, in all her grand glory, stood at the entrance of her room, hair frazzled and tangled, pj’s wrinkled, and she wore an expression of death. Her eyes were darkened. As her fist connected to the man and he flew back outside, she rolled her head back, a series of pops and cracks raptured from her back, and she glanced back over to the man who groaned outside- he was laying on the floor, his head was in the doorway and his bat was discarded next to his round body. She slowly turned over to the boys and the dog. She tilted her head back to the man, to the outside, and said “Grab your things. We are leaving.” She returned to the room and left the boys to look at one another and stare. They quickly stood, Choco tossed Red his night bag as Red grabbed his bag, and he leashed Chiffon who jumped over the clown once Red skipped over the clown’s body. Choco grabbed the keys and hurried Red and Chiffon downstairs, their footsteps sounding like a herd of elephants Choco called out for Caramel to hurry and he booked it towards the car. He unlocked the car and threw his things in the back with Red and Chiffon as they jumped into the backseats, and Caramel came around the corner, her pocket knife open and her bag stuffed with her nightshirt hanging out of the back pocket of the bag, she threw her bag at Choco who gave her a confused look.

“Keys, now.” She demanded. Choco tossed the keys to the lady and jumped into the passenger seat, Red and Chiffon squirmed around and Caramel’s bag was tossed at Red who got a bag thrown at his face. The lady jumped into the driver’s seat, roared the engine to life, and the family and the dog high-tailed out of the motel. The sun peaking out of the horizon and the clown motel is out of sight. Dark Choco turned to Caramel and asked slowly, “Caramel… Did you kill him?” His sister laughed and didn’t respond. Choco and Red made eye contact in the rearview mirror and Choco asked again with a bit of fear and seriously, “Caramel Arrow, did you kill him?” Caramel shook her head. “No, just left him a black eye-” She looked up to Red in the rearview mirror, “Vel, give me directions to where to next.” Red Velvet pulled out his phone and scrolled through the app. “Next stop is an exit for Highway 56 and then we go from there.” The trio fell into a shared silence. Then Caramel spoke, “If you two mention any of this to Papa or Father, you’ll be next to have a black eye.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: The Old Amusement Park

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The drive was just as long as the previous day’s. The trio had found a gas station about five hours out of town, they all collected themselves and decided to chill at the gas station for now. Red Velvet stayed outside with Chiffon while Caramel freshened up in the lady's room, and Dark Choco went into the gas station to buy more snacks (and maybe more firepower in case the clown went after them). Dark Choco was passing through the chip aisle where he couldn’t decide whether he wanted salty sunflower seeds or if he wanted salt and vinegar chips- such a hard decision. While Dark Choco decided what to eat on the trip, Caramel came in, she looked around and easily spotted Dark Choco’s head from the entrance. Damn her brothers (besides Crunchy Chip) for being taller than her.

Caramel nodded her head toward the gas attendant who barely acknowledged the woman as she passed by him. When the archer approached her brother and noticed the impractical decision that Dark Choco was having, she went over and plucked the salt and vinegar, and walked away. A decision was made for him. Choco only shrugged and followed his older sister to the beverage aisle; Caramel was grabbing energy drinks and in total had about seven. The duo walked up to the cashier who set his phone down and swiped their items. Once the transaction was over, they went back outside and loaded Red and Chiffon inside the car. While the younger brother and sister were inside the gas station, Red was letting Chiffon run around and do his business while he watched some videos on his phone. He was watching those vlogs about long road trips and what the vloggers did on their trips, it was repetitive and mostly had families but that didn’t stop Red Velvet from taking some notes about the trips. Seeing his siblings exit the gas station, he whistled to the white hound and climbed into the car. Choco took the wheel and Caramel climbed into the passenger seat. The four set off once again.

The music that played was from Dark Choco’s playlist, he was someone who listened to smaller bands and indie bands. Such as Radiohead and Artic Monkeys, the music wasn't up to Caramel or Red’s taste but whoever was at the wheel controlled the music. While the four still drove down the road that was filled with cacti, sand, and far-off hills- Red was still watching vloggers until a video recommended him something. A review of an old TV show he use to watch. Clicking on it to watch the video instead of a middle-aged family going to the Red Woods in California, the video played as the reviewer of the channel talked about the ups and downs of the show, and then the most interesting part of the video came up. This would be another time Red Velvet was thankful for the Youtube algorithm.

There was an amusement park made for the show.

The show was called Cream Unicorn’s Wonderland, the show was one of the early shows that had more fun episodes where the characters were exploring the concept of growing up and still offering fun. It was mostly directed at children and young teens but it outgrew the children and adults began to watch it as it brought a sense of security and confidence for the older audience to take a hold of their life and change for the better. Red Velvet remembered the show was a treasure to the siblings and himself. Every time there was a new episode, the four would run into their parent's room and jump on the bed to watch the new episode. The family of six would sit down and watch the new episode. The main character, Cream Unicorn, would invite different types of children and teens into the amusement park to learn about careers, different types of people around the world, and the different countries with their cultures. Sometimes the episodes would have more somber tones or religious tones that would be needed to be explained to the children if they didn’t understand. Red could remember one child who went to Wonderland and Cream Unicorn had to explain the concept of Death to the child when they reveal that they lost their father. It was a somber episode and the four siblings had to be sat down and explained by their parents, who were not so excited to tell their children about the concept of death and they had to explain what the episode meant.

It was a very kid-friendly but aware show that was created to help deal with certain issues that may affect a child while also keeping the atmosphere fun and happy. If Red could recall, his siblings stopped watching the show after they all turned 14, no longer feeling the show to be something that can entertain them but rewatching a few clips from the video brought back memories. Red Velvet had a stroke of genius, what if he and his siblings went to the amusement park? It may be abandoned or even demolished, leaving nothing but an empty lot- it was worth a shot. But how to convince his siblings?

Red propped his elbows forward and unplugged his earbuds, he quickly types in the Youtube search bar for the theme song and nudged Caramel who was on her phone. “Sis, remember this?” Red reached over to the dash and lowered Choco’s music, he pressed play and the theme song began playing. “Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to Cream Unicorns Wonderland!
Where Dreams and Visions come to life!
Oh Welcome, Welcome to Cream Unicorn’s Wonderland!
Come all, Come all! See the fun and games we can play!
Let’s learn about airplanes and the fun ways to say other things in different languages!”

As the song played, Choco began to pat the wheel to move along with the beat of the song while Caramel hummed along without looking away from her phone. Once the song ended, the car was pulled back into silence. “I completely forgot about that show, it's been so long.” Choco reminisced. Caramel hummed, closing out her phone she turned to Red, “Remember when we use to wake up every Saturday and run to our parent's room to wake them up and make them turn on the tv so we didn’t miss an episode of the show?” Red nodded enthusiastically, recalling the laughter of their papa when Red or Choco whined and shook his shoulder to wake him up, Crunchy Chip and Caramel would climb on top of their father’s chest and poke his cheeks, open his eyelids, and bounce on his chest. He was a heavy sleeper but he would become a heavier sleeper when the kids tried to wake him up.

Choco laughed when he also recalled those Saturdays, they were always something the siblings looked forward to, they would all huddle on the couch, and their parents would grab their coffee while the kids piled on the couch, arguing about who would sit where, eventually, the parents would sit down and the kids would clamber onto them and watch the episode as it played out. Fun times. “Whatever happened to the show?” Choco asked as he looked into the rearview window to Red, the velure-haired brother leaned back in his seat, scrolling through his phone, he answered- “Apparently after 2010, the show needed to get rebooted to reach newer audiences but the show wasn’t such a great hit. It officially ended in 2013. The company tried another reboot but it wasn’t any good with the younger audiences so it was officially done for.” Caramel hummed, she could recall the show to be one of the few factors in her bonding with her brothers. After she was adopted and before Choco was born, Caramel had to deal with Crunchy and Red being bullies to her, they weren’t hurtful or intended to harm her, but they made it painfully aware that they didn’t like her.

The show had been a saving grace for her when she was invited to watch the show with the boys. The duo of brothers became a trio with their sister. The parents had Choco and the three siblings made Choco watch the show with them and it became a tradition for the family to watch the show- until the siblings grew out of it but still, it slightly hurt Caramel to know that the show she love growing up was no longer being aired on tv. You could watch the full show when you bought the episodes on your device or tv but it wasn’t the same. “You want to know something cool about the show though?” Red offered to his siblings who nodded in response. “They made a real theme park chain after the first two seasons were broadcasted, and supposedly it was a hit until the show was over.” This perked the other two’s interest.

“What happened to the parks?” Choco asked, a hint of excitement in his voice, “Well… The parks were shut down all over the state but-!” Red exclaimed as he pulled himself forward again, extending his hand out with his phone for Choco to glance at and for Caramel Arrow to look at, “-there is one park left and it supposedly is still open for some visitors to look at the park from afar.” A hint of mischief tiptoed its way into Red’s voice, Caramel realized what Red was suggesting and Choco had an idea. “Let’s go!” Choco shouted. “NO!” Caramel rejected. Both brothers looked at their sister. “Why not?” Red asked, a little dejected. “Because we already had to deal with a creepy-ass clown motel and now this? What if there is something worse there? Not risking it.” Caramel chided. She rubbed her bruised knuckles from where the fist made contact with the clown. Choco looked hurt while Red furrowed his brows, he could remember when Caramel was new to the family and she wasn’t well like him or Crunchy Chip but the show had been something they bonded over. Red understood her caution towards the idea of visiting an old amusement park but it was a place that held a piece of sentimental value to them- while they may have never been to the park itself, it was still a part of history that was important to the family.

“And don’t you even think about trying to convince us to go too. We need to just grab the plush and go home.” Choco shook his head, he wanted to go, just to see what it was like but he also agreed with Caramel that the trip was starting to drag out and he wanted to go home too. He had plans for the four-day weekend (no he didn’t) but the trip was exciting (minus the clowns) and he would like to go to the park. Maybe a different day. He shrugged as he looked in the mirror at Red, “Sorry Vel, but I have to agree with Cara on this. We need to grab the plush and head home. We can try another day.” Red huffed, leaned back in his seat, and slouched. Chiffon laid his head on Red’s lap and closed his eyes, he had been sticking his head out the window for the past hour and decided that he would give some sympathy to Red by chilling with him. Red pouted as he scratched Chiffon between his ears.

Another stroke of genius popped into his head. Wiggling around to sit up properly, he pulled up his contacts and dialed a certain number. Pressing the speaker, the phone rang three times before it was picked up.

“Red Velvet? What’s up?” Crème Brulée answered. Both Choco and Caramel snapped their heads back to look at Red Velvet who had a shit-eating grin on his face. “Nothing much papa just wanted to see how you are doing,” Red responded. Their papa laughed on the other end of the phone, another voice chimed in but it was muffled. “Say hi to Hollyberry kids.” Crème Brulée greeted. The trio gave their greetings as Caramel Arrow tried to swipe Red’s phone from him while Chiffon barked. Hollyberry had once been an enemy of Crème Brulée and their father Dragon Berserker but became friends through White Lily. “So what do you need Vel?” Crème Brulée asked. He knows his children way too well. While they do call him and Dragon for checkups but it wasn’t often enough for the parents to be concerned unless it was an emergency. So whenever the kids call, it was usually for a favor or just to solve a debate between the siblings.

“Well…” Red started, his smug grin curled like the Cheshire cat, “I was wondering if you would be okay if the three of us headed out of town for an amusement park?” The blonde father on the other side of the phone looked at Hollyberry who looked confused and shrugged. Currently, Crème Brulée and Hollyberry were relaxing by the side of the pool while Dragon and Golden Cheese were splashing water at each other like children, and White Lily had gone off to grab a book from her room. So when Crème Brulée hears his children ask permission to a park- it was more confusing and he squinted his eyes at nothing particular in front of him. “What kind of amusement park my son?” Crème Brulée asked with suspicion in his voice.

Red tried to wrestle himself away from Caramel who unbuckled her seatbelt to try and grab the phone out of her brother’s hand, his foot was pressed firmly against her chest. “You remember the old TV show “Cream Unicorn’s Wonderland” right?” The blonde assassin hummed, he could recall the show that dealt with heavy topics but always made it so that children can understand at least the topic of it and the show hadn’t been around for a while. “Yes, I remember it. You kids always woke your father and me up just to watch a new episode of the show. Why do you ask?” Red had successfully pinned his sister to the back seat while Chiffon sat on top of Caramel’s back.

“I found out that the show had a chain of parks and one is close by. I was wondering if you would be okay with the three of us going over?” Caramel had given up and Choco was praying to a deity that their papa would say no. He knew that his papa wouldn’t say no. And as if to answer Choco’s prayer, “Sure. It sounds like fun. The three of you can do a good ol' bonding trip and next time when we have a three or four-day weekend, all six of us can go.” Caramel groaned into the seat while Choco made a silent prayer to the gods to keep him and the rest of them safe from any clowns. “Thank you, papa! Oh, where is Father by the way?” Red questioned. Crème Brulée looked toward the pool where Dragon and Golden Cheese were still splashing but this time Hollyberry had decided to join the fight, White Lily sitting next to him, shaking her head at the attitude of her friends. “He’s wrestling with your aunties but he looks like he’s winning- oh, never mind.” He responded as Golden Cheese got the upper hand and dragged his husband underwater while Hollyverry tried to pull Dragon back up from the water. “Sounds fun. Thank you and bye!” Red hung up the phone and cackled as his siblings dispense.

“Why must you do this to us?” Choco lamented. Red shrugged as he signaled Chiffon to back off of Caramel as she adjusted herself to sit back up properly. “Because I want you guys to have fun too. I may be getting an oversized dog plush but I also want you guys to have fun too.” Red shrugged as he searches for the quickest route to the park. Caramel clambered back into the passenger’s seat and buckled back in. She and Choco made eye contact and nodded. If it meant fun and without clowns, who were they to reject a fun time at a place that once brought them joy?

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It was just off of the highway they were on. Not a lot of cars were around the parking lot but it was there. They could see the rollercoaster that still stood tall against the large barren hills, the plaza had an old water fountain that no longer worked and they could see buildings standing around the plaza and play structures that still stood against the passage of time, and to top it all off- a chain0link fence surrounded the whole park. It was a goldmine for any urban explorers or graffiti artists. Choco parked the car in an open spot (there were hundreds) and all four residents popped out; Chiffon bounced around and sniffed the ground, Red stretched and pulled his phone out to take pictures, Caramel popped her back, and Dark Choco looked around. The area was deserted minus a gas station paired with another motel.

Thankfully it looked new and wasn’t covered in clowns.

Red leashed Chiffon and opened the back door of the car, he rummaged around the bags and pulled out a red and black strapped vest, Chiffon wagged his tail as Red strapped the service dog vest on Chiffon’s body, the hound ran in a circle and nosed Red’s hand, a silent plea to look around. The three siblings and the dog went over to the gas station and the motel, Choco pulled out his wallet and entered the motel as the other two siblings entered the gas station which turned out to also be a gift shop. Chiffon and Red walked around the gift shop while Caramel made a beeline to the bathrooms. The clerk at the register looked up from his book. He was of average height with long cream-gray colored hair, he wore a lighter dark green dress with a corset that resembled a calligraphy pen’s headpiece. The monocle was pulled away from his face as he used his dress’s sleeve to clean it and he adjusted his hat to fit more comfortably against his head, the man watched Chiffon sniff the dolls and trinkets around the gift shop but never reached forward to grab the soft dolls. The clerk smiled at the dog, it was a cute dog but he was well aware of the red vest that declared the dog to be a service dog so he’ll wait for the other man to approach the desk to ask him about giving treats to the dog if the man allowed it. Enclair always had treats under the desk, after all, he had his service dog although he was retired, the old thing still worked his magic for Tea Knight.

Red Velvet looked through the soft toys and decided he’d buy something for the family. He picked up a white and black spotted wolf for Crunchy, a white and black speckled cat with gold eyes for his papa, a black and white dragon plush for his father, and a dark blue raven for Dark Choco. Caramel had left the bathroom and found Red looking over a few plushes while holding some, it didn’t take a genius for her to figure out that Red was picking up plushes for his family- she walked behind Red and patted his shoulders. She looked at the plushes and picked up a black and brown cat plush that looked similar to a cheetah as her plush. The duo walked up to the man who set his book aside and offered to bag the plushes up, Red nodded as he pulled his card out, and Caramel looked out the windows to see Choco raising his thumbs before disappearing in the back of the car. “You would be alright if I give your service dog a treat?” Enclair asked as he began to mark the prices of the plushes onto a piece of paper, “Yeah, sure! Thanks for asking.” Red thanked. Enclair dropped the feathered quill he was using and dropped his hand under the counter to pull out a bag of biscuit treats in the shape of bones and dog heads. Leaning over the side, the clerk pulled out two treats from the bag and bend over to give them to Chiffon. The hound sniffed the treats before gently taking the treats from his hand and crunching on the treats, his tail wagging. The clerk stood up and continued the transaction.

“You out for a family trip?” Enclair asked. Red nodded his head. “We’re taking a pit stop before we head back off. Although we are also here to see the old amusement park.” Enclair nodded his head as he smiled. “The park hasn’t been open for a long time but it’s nice to know that some people remember it.” Caramel turned to the man and asked, “Is the park open to visitors or is it closed due to trespassers?” Enclair hummed as he finished bagging the plushes. “Well it’s closed down but I’m sure I can ask the owner to see if you guys can go in to look around.” Red and Caramel turned to each other and back to the man. “Really?!” Red asked excitedly, he was jumping on the balls of his feet. Enclair nodded, “Yes, of course. The owner has been keeping it in prime condition for other purposes. It was originally supposed to be demolished but the owner made a deal with a wildlife preserve company to make it into a sanctuary for endangered birds and desert animals.”

Red looked at his sister, his eyes shining with excitement and enthusiasm. And who was she to reject her brother? “Sure, when can we go in?” She asked. Enclair finished the translation with Red’s card and handed the card back over to the owner. “Let me call the owner and have them open the side gates. The main locks on the gates have rusted over time so he uses the side gates to get in.” Red and Caramel thanked the man and rushed outside to Choco. Once they covered bases with the younger brother, the darker man nodded and deposited their night things in the motel room which was another joint bedroom with better-smelling comforters and sheets, and even cleaner bathrooms.

The trio and the dog headed back over to the gift shop where Enclair was. The man was at the side of the gas station which was now closed. He waved them over to a pair of locked doors and turned the lock. With a satisfying click, he pushed the doors open and the world behind the gates sprung to life. The sun hadn’t quite set yet, about two hours from then it would be dark which left the siblings plenty of time to look around the park and they were happy about it. The park was in of itself a wonder.

The rollercoaster you could see was standing in the far back, furthest from the park entrance, there were buildings with different stands close by that used to hold games and prizes, an old Ferris wheel was further down and the plaza’s old fountain stood tall and covered in vines and moss. The place didn’t have a whole lot of statues as the pictures had once shown but there was a slide in the form of a dragon, a seating ground for the parents to watch their children while they played on the rainbow-themed playground. And train tracks ran through the park, once holding a train that went around the park for rides. It was massive. The grounds themselves were large but the structures were all bigger so they took up more space, the trio was amazed by how much was left around. Enclair turned to the visitors, “Go ahead and do whatever you want. Just please do not destroy anything.” He begged. The siblings nodded and Red asked if Chiffon could run around and the man nodded.

Chiffon was unleashed and released into the park where the dog ran around and barked in joy. The trio thanked Enclair and followed Chiffon who rushed up to each building, sniffing it and looking for something. The siblings walked around the seating area and looked at the buildings, the ones by the seating area had chicken wire and props for birds within the buildings, Choco pulled his phone out and began snapping photos of the buildings. Caramel pointed over to the Merry-Go-Round that was stationed a little outside the plaza; the paint was chipping and peeling off, and the copper chains that hung on the ceilings were rusted and oxidized.

The horses themselves weren’t in any better condition. Red had spotted a unicorn that had a chipped horn, its mane was baby pink, baby blue, and soft baby yellow, the coat of the unicorn was white with chips in the wood, and the tail was missing. The back of the unicorn had a purple saddle that seemed to have been painted to look like lace and leather but the weather has worn away all the details of the saddle. It brought back a memory of the main character of the show who was called Cream Unicorn. And if Red can remember, the character could shapeshift into a unicorn and he always loves the Merry-Go-Round. The velvet-hair brother commented on this to his siblings and they agreed that it sparked an old memory of the character themselves, the trio continued to search around- Choco dared Caramel to climb on the dragon slide and slide down- she headed over and Red pulled his phone out and began to record.

The dragon was supposedly a “villain” in the TV show, the “Red Velvet Dragon” (Red Velvet may have a bias to the dragon being his favorite character) and the dragon was a character who taunted and “hunted” down the children to keep them in the Wonderland forever as his “servants”. Cream Unicorn had to help the children and save them by helping them open up about their fears- a good premise for a show, especially for children who had active imaginations. When Caramel got to the top, she noticed that you could see the whole fairground from the height of the dragon; the dragon was also losing his paint, the pearl-white paint had been sun-bleached for being in the sun for too long, and the dragon’s curved red and white horns had fallen off- revealing the armature of the horns exposed. The dragon was also missing its jaw and the wings were dangling by metal and wires, it had seen better days but the slide was still intact and the dragon was still handing.

Red and Choco called for Caramel to slide down and to hurry. She positioned herself on the slide, thanking her past self for putting on jeans before she left the bathroom earlier that day, and she looked over the slide. She moved closer to the edge and with a final push, she slid down the slide. It was a steep slide but not enough for it to hurt a kid, regardless, it was fun. The brothers and sister (even Chiffon) took turns sliding down the dragon and after a few times, they headed back to searching around the park. They headed over to the Ferris Wheel, and it creaked and moaned- it was certainly not a place to play on or much less be able to use, the trio watched the cars on the wheel sway in the breeze and shake when a harsher gust came through, the Ferris wheel still held itself up like the Roller Coaster. The trio took a few photos and left the wheel to the Roller Coaster, it would be bigger and more fun to potentially climb. The Merry-Go-Round was small enough for all three siblings to climb on but there was no way for them to know if the Roller Coaster was safe enough to explore.

It wasn’t safe enough.

The Roller Coaster itself was swaying in the breeze and the building that houses the cars for the coaster was the closest thing for the siblings to board and take pictures of. The controls for the coaster were missing and ripped out, the trio snapped photos of the cars and even pulled a selfie with the Choco and Red in the front car while Caramel and Chiffon sat behind them. They decided it was time to head back to the motel and get a good night's sleep. Heading out and thanking Enclair who was standing at the entrance with his husband, Red turned around and silently thanked the park for still standing. He decided to take one last photo and he would keep it.

Unknown to the siblings, a mysterious figure stood by the Merry-Go-Round, his pale pink hand on the chipped unicorn, his lavender eyes watched the siblings leave, and he had tears in his eyes as he watched the siblings leave. The mysterious figure wore a pink shawl over his fairy blue blouse, and his horn was slightly glowing, almost like it was a light guiding someone through the darkness. And when he saw the clerk at the gift shop wave, he also waved back. Enclair smiled, he hoped that Cream Unicorn watched over the trio and the dog moved through the park. The park retired for the night with its resident also disappearing for the night.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: The Plush

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It was the third day and the final day the siblings could retrieve the plush. Red was ecstatic, he was bouncing up and down in the back seat throughout the whole morning, to the point where Caramel Arrow pulled over and told Red Velvet that if he was going to bounce everywhere then he could drive to the pickup location. Red jumped into the driver's seat and continued down the road. The location would be in a small town called "James Sin" and it was a town that offered pit stops and restaurants for traveling folk. The area where the pick and exchange would be at the post office, Red had been keeping tabs on this seller and where the trio was heading. At the time of the first night, Red could've told Choco and Caramel that the mail strike was over but he was already having fun with his siblings so what the point was? (He would tell them the day after they got home that the strike had finished the day when they picked up the plush).

The ride itself was one of the few times when the trio of siblings needed to have the air conditioning on. The whole trip before, they had the windows down but now the air was fully blasting on them. Choco had announced the weather to be at least 107 degrees. Something the family was not used to. So with the air blasting and the location of pickup getting closer and closer- the drag of the trip seems to finally end and that only means one more day for them to return home. Choco and Caramel couldn't wait.

While the drive seemed to get longer at the start, with the middle of the trip coming up, the trio began to discuss names for the plush. Red Velvet wanted to keep the name "Cake pop" but Caramel said that Coco would be cuter, it would be a closer name to the "ingredients" of the chocolate cake hound. Choco said that the name "Milk Chocolate" or "Milk Choco" would suit it better. Red pointed out that he was not going to name his plush after his brother. Finally, they decided that the "official" name would be Cake pop. For now. The desert soon became scattered and buildings began to come into view. "James Sin" was on the horizon which meant the plush was one within arm's reach.

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It was time.

The postal office was within arm's reach and Red looked like he was going to throttle the car into high speed just to get to the office faster. Thankfully, Choco and Chiffon were telling him to calm down while Caramel started to pray when Red Velvet hard-braked when he wasn't looking forward. Red pulled the car into the parking lot, the lot itself was empty minus a few cars from the workers while the other car was parking. Red turned off the engine and opened his door, the heat almost crushed him and it physically caused him to wheeze. Even Caramel and Choco began gasping for breath from the sudden heat. Chiffon lay down in the backseat, whining when Red tried to ease Chiffon out.

"Leave Chiffon in the car with the windows down. It'll be cooler." Choco called to Red, it was the only way Chiffon could cool off. Red went around the back of the car and grabbed the back hatch to lift. There he would grab his bag with the cash and it was (hopefully) big enough to hold the plush dog in. The trio of siblings double-checked with Chiffon and headed over to the postal office.

The building itself was massive with at least three stories. The front was clean-cut with newly trimmed bushes and rich green grass covering the front. The office was a creme and washed-out gray color that brought "more color" compared to the other buildings that surrounded the block which all other buildings were dark gray. The second oldest looked around, wondering if the guy was going to show up, Red was already opening the door of the office and Dark Choco was going to hold the door open for Caramel when he noticed a person holding a massive package. The package was the dog. "Wait Red, they're right here." Red did a double take and spun around. Upon making eye contact with the plush, he zoomed out of the office and trotted over to the holder. "You must be Red Velvet?" The person questioned. Red was nodding his head, he wanted to hold it so badly!

"Here ya go! One massive cake hound plush!" The person handed the plush over and Red wrapped his arms around it, his knees buckled as soon as the weight of the dog made contact with his arms. "Oh, my God. It is a huge dog plush." Caramel commented in awe. When she saw the original pictures of the plush, she assumed it would be big in size and light in weight but she was wrong. It was massive and even Red, a champion of weight-lifting and holding impossibly heavy things, had buckled underneath the hound. Choco moved forward to help Red hold the plush and was amazed by how soft the plush was. Its chocolate frosting was like touching silk and was the like inside of those fluffy jackets that had fluff on the inside. The eyes were black with white highlights threaded into the eyes, it had this goofy smile that looked like a cat's smile.

Red moved all the weight of the plush onto Choco who stumbled backward and was thankfully caught by his sister. Red pulled his bag to his side and opened the bag, fishing out the envelope that held the money for the driver and the owner, he handed the money over. The driver smiled and nodded their head, they watched as Caramel and Choco lifted the plush together and hoisted it onto Choco's back. "Good luck with the hound. He takes up a lot of space." Red laughed and watched this brother struggle with the hound, turning back to the driver, "What's the backstory of the dog if you don't mind me asking?" The person turned to Red.

"When the game that was collabing with the VR company- the game didn't make a whole lot of sales, the gaming company reached out to smaller shops that sold plushes and stores that sold pre-teen girl stuff. Like earrings, small toys, etc… My friend, the seller, had gotten the toy as a gift from his sister who wanted to help relieve some mental health issues the guy was going through. My friend just kept him in the attic for a long time until it was time to clean out the attic and they found the plush, gave him a good wash and cleaned off every dust particle and cobweb, and listed him online. Thankfully, you found him three days after the listing. Talk about perfect timing." Red nodded his head and stuck his hand out, "Thanks for driving all this way to deliver the plush. I'll make sure he's put to good use." The driver shook Red's hand and headed out in the opposite direction of where Red and his siblings had parked. Now came the struggle of fitting the plush in the car.

The plush was already massive and counting one dog and three siblings- it was a tough situation. Caramel had already opened the trunk of the car and Choco was attempting to sort everything so the plush would have space. Chiffon was sniffing and pawing at the plush with curiosity. Red came around the back to help Choco with removing and rearranging the back. Eventually, they had the plush sitting next to Chiffon with Red, the bags were all packed in the back with the two other siblings at the front. They decided that Choco would drive all the way home. And would only change when Choco began to grow sleepy and then he would switch to Caramel.

The start of the drive meant that the trio and the dog were FINALLY heading home. After the clown motel and the theme park, the trio collectively decided together that this was a good four-day weekend. Caramel was scrolling through her phone when she pulled her pictures. She held it out for Red to see, apparently; Caramel had been taking photos of the motel they stayed at and the park, she had the clowns and the room they stayed in, and she also had the park slides and attractions. She pulled her phone back and said aloud, "I'm going to send these to the group chat with Crunchy." Choco nodded while smiling. Chiffon barked and Red agreed. "Let's pull over and take a selfie with the cake hound plush in the middle!" The car was pulled over to the side and Caramel aimed her phone to capture the four of them, including the plush.

"1… 2… 3!" The picture clicked and the photo was saved. As Caramel looked over the photo, Choco asked if they were hungry. The other two and Chiffon chimed in their desire for food that was service animal friendly and Choco turned the car around back to James Sin for some food. Finding indoor seating wasn't too bad and once they ordered some tacos and a burrito at the counter, they waited. Chatting about the fun they had despite the "rocky start".. Caramel was standing next to Dark Choco who was scrolling through his phone while Red Velvet was squishing Chiffon’s face. Caramel leaned over and said, “I didn’t know you got a picture of that huge black and white clown back at the motel!” Red turned over to his younger sibling and leaned over, Dark Choco turned the phone over to show Red. “Oh yeah, I remember that was in front of the registration office right?” The brother asked his older sister. Caramel nodded and with a smile, she recalled the memory (even if it was a few days ago), “Remember when the clown came into our room and I knocked him out?” The two brothers nodded while also having a drop of sweat drop. “You were so pissed but you also were terrifying,” Choco commented. The black and brown-haired sister shrugged, “That’s what Papa taught us. If someone tries to hurt you or your siblings, then go for the face.”

“Yeah but I think there’s a difference when it comes from some guy trying to scare us.” Red objected. Caramel raised an eyebrow and began listing off her hand, “The difference was that the guy pounded on our door, broke the door down, had a weapon, he was raising it to swing at you guys, and finally, he woke me up. Papa would be more than okay with me punching some random guy in the face.” The two brothers stared at their sister and she stared back, and soon she looked away as her name was called to pick up their food. The two brothers watched their sister head over to the counter, Choco leaned towards Red and whispered, “I’m so telling Papa and Father about the clown.” Red nodded. When Caramel came back, the three got to eating the food and with Chiffon nudging Red for some as well (Caramel would give her leftover flour tortilla to Chiffon to eat). “Hey Cara, do you have any pictures from the Clown Motel?” Choco asked innocently. Caramel pulled her phone out and turned to her brothers and the dog to show the photos. They went from the registration office to the creepy standup cardboard clowns, the creepy black and white paintings on the walls, and the final picture she showed was the clown on the floor, his face swelling and his makeup smudged- and if you looked close enough, you could see an imprint of Caramel’s fist in the general area of the eye.

“Sis, you need to tell Papa and Father about you punching a clown. It’ll be the funniest shit they’ll ever hear.” Choco urged. Caramel Arrow closed her phone and leaned on her left arm. “No.” Red tilted his head, “Why not?” Caramel shrugged, “As much as it would be fun to tell them, it’s an insignificant part of our trip. Besides, they’ll be a little upset that we sort-of, kinda lied to them about where we were going.” And the brothers couldn’t argue with that although they were vaguer about where they were going rather than straight-up lying to their parents. The three siblings and Chiffon headed out of the restaurant and headed to the car, Choco got in the driver’s seat and blasted the AC, Caramel titled the passenger seat back and closed her eyes while Red played on the Nintendo Switch (which the trio forgot they had after the whole incident with the Clown Motel).

Until Caramel's phone started buzzing, she looked down at her phone and shot right up. The caller ID was their father, not Crème Brulée, but Dragon Berserker. This was not good. If it was Dragon Berserker calling them that means the children were in trouble, had it been Crème Brulée that called- the kids wouldn't be worried. So Caramel reached over the dashboard and lowered the music, putting the phone on speaker after accepting the incoming call she asked, “Hello Father, how are you?” Caramel answered. “Hey, kids.” White Lily responded. The three children let out a sigh of relief, Caramel laid back and asked, “Hey Aunt Lily. Gave the three of us a heart attack.” They heard their aunt laugh over the receiver, “Sorry about that. Dragon forgot his phone in the room- thankfully, the other ladies and I were still packing when he called via Crème Brulée’s phone. I just wanted to give you guys the heads-up that your parents are heading home. They should be back around seven or eight pm tomorrow.” Choco huffed, “Thanks for the heads up, Lily.” Lily hummed and then asked, “What did you guys do over the weekend? I know your papa said that Crunchy Chip went out with Wildberry for the weekend, did you guys do anything fun?” Red laughed loudly and he buried his face in the giant plush in the back. “You bet we did some shit!” He yelled, although, to Lily- he was muffled. She did hear a sound that sounded like someone slapped Red and the sound Red made means that Caramel must’ve slapped him.

“Hey now Caramel, don’t hit your brother.” She chided softly. She waved over to Hollyberry and Golden Cheese who walked up to her with their rolling suitcases in hand, “Alright kids, I have to get going. We’re going to try and meet up with your parents before our plane takes off. I’ll have Dragon or Crème Brulée call you when they board the plane.” The siblings thanked Lily and said goodbye to the other two aunts as they cheered goodbye. Red shifted around onto his stomach, the seatbelt cutting into his collarbone uncomfortably but he pulled the chocolate cakehound plush to his front so the soft texture of the plush made the pressure of the seatbelt ease up. Chiffon climbed onto Red’s back and laid his head on his owner’s left shoulder. The gentle bump of the car, the gentle breathing of Chiffon, the mindless chatter of his brother and sister, the cool air brushing against Red’s face, and the soft plush fluff of the dog lulled the middle sibling to deep sleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter Five: The Wild West

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The drive had been going swimmingly, the temperatures were going down which meant the AC didn’t blast their faces, and Caramel was getting a full 9 hours of sleep (the brothers swear she hasn't been sleeping because of the heat or the whole clown thing spooked her), and Red was on his phone once he woke up from his three-hour nap. Everything was right in the world for the three siblings. Red had woken up from their papa calling them to let them know that they were boarding the plane and they couldn’t wait to hear what the trio did while they were gone, and once the phone call ended- the drive was all quiet again. The desert wasn’t very populated so Red would drift in and out of consciousness while Caramel slept like a rock, and Dark Choco was listening to his indie bands- it kept him awake and energized.

Further along, about an hour after their papa called, Dark Choco saw a billboard- it was massive and a little faded but the words read clearly,

“COME TO THE WILD WEST TOWN!”

Dark Choco has never been to a town inspired by the Wild West, only seeing movies and pictures, but it had intrigued the younger sibling, so he crossed his arm behind his seat to poke Red. He sat up, saw the sign, and looked at Choco, “One last adventure?” Choco whispered. The middle child looked to Caramel who was still sleeping, “What about Caramel Arrow? She’s going to kill us!” Red whispered back harshly. Choco shrugged, “I’ll tell her that by the time we get home, it’ll be early tomorrow and we both know that staying up all night isn’t good for you.” (‘Hypocrite’ Caramel Arrow would call Dark Choco once the trio told the details to the family once they got back). Red thought he could go ahead and reject- the offer to drive himself. He has only driven once throughout the whole trip (mostly because the other two siblings don’t want to sit in the back with a big dog), but the idea of having one more adventure- plus in a populated tourist visit where he can have Chiffon run around and walk with them to see shows or whatever entertainment was offered at the place.

Red sighed, resigning his death at the hands of his sister, and gave the thumbs up to Choco. Dark Choco smiled wide and flicked the left blinker of the car to move over one lane into the left exit, the two brothers would then discuss how to calm their sister but also to help them survive their sister’s wrath.

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When arriving in the town, Choco was slightly disappointed to find very few cars in the parking lot and very few people walking around. He can see some employees and others but it wasn’t a huge attraction, and if you think about it, it made sense since it was in the middle of slap-dab nowhere. But hey, at least it's open. Choco pulled the car into an empty spot in front of what looked like a diner, the windows were decorated with velvet curtains, golden rope wrapped around to hold the curtains, and the inside looked sparse. When Choco parked the car, Caramel shifted around and when her brother shut the engine off, she opened her eyes and stretched.

"That was fast. You didn't violate any laws while I was-" She stopped herself when she found herself looking at a diner and a lacking town. "Hey Red, where are we? Are we taking a pit stop?" She questioned. Choco unbuckled himself and opened the car door, Red whistled to Chiffon and answered Caramel, "Well, because of how late it is (it was only 2 pm) and Choco was getting tired, he saw this sign for a Wild West town that entertained." The older sister wasn't connecting the dots as she got out. "So Choco wanted to see a town? Alright, as long as we are back on the road by 6 or something, we'll be fine."

This was going to be the death of Red Velvet.

"Actually, Choco suggested we stay in town if they have a hotel or something, then we can stay the night and then head home when we're all fully rested." He said. His smile was trying to be enlightening but the way Caramel Arrow's eyes darkened, to the way she gripped her fists, and to the way her eyes darted to Choco as he rounded the back. "Dark Choco, my brother, my baby brother who loves me so dearly much-" Choco felt his spine shiver and he attempted to make eye contact with Caramel, "Yes, dearest sister?" The woman didn't make any moves or sounds for five seconds, she raised her hand for the number three displayed and lowered each one as she counted slowly,

"One…"

Choco tried to defend himself. "W-wait Cara! Hear me out!"

"Two…"

"Listen, just one last pit stop (besides the gas stations) and we'll be home!"

"Three!"

The older sister and the younger brother were pulled into a wrestling match that looked very similar to the first day of the weekend where Choco was being wrestled by his sister for trying to eat the last of the spicy ramen they had back at the house. Chiffon was sitting on the ground and panting with a smile while Red Velvet recorded his siblings fighting in the sand. The sounds of the two fighting made a few employees look over and watch as the two tumbled around in the dirt- not doing anything to stop the fight. It only ended when Chiffon jumped on top of Caramel, barking happily- he thought they were playing. The two eventually broke up and Red pulled Chiffon back from jumping on one of his siblings again.

"Caramel chill! Look, we're sorry but we just wanted to see if this was any good." Caramel gripped Dark Choco's ear, looking like a pissed-off mother scolding her misbehaving children. Red held one hand up and kept the other on Chiffon, "I'll make you a proposition. If this place is a no-go and then we'll leave. Even better? I'll drive and Choco will switch just so you can have a full rest until we get home!" The sister squinted her eyes at her brother, analyzing him for any sign of a fib. She let go of Choco's ear and shrugged. "Fine." She shoved her hands into her pockets and looked over to the entrance of the town. She just wanted to go home but at the same time, she was intrigued by the place. Like her brothers, she only saw the "Wild West '' on TV or in movies. For Halloween, kids would dress as cowboys and they would come with full boots and hats- while on the other hand, kids dressed up as Woody from Toy Story.

The younger brother dusted himself off and headed over to Red. The other asked for verbal confirmation that Dark Choco didn’t have a concussion or any sign of bruising, and once Choco was cleared, he returned to the car to grab the leash and the vest. Once Chiffon was leashed and vested, the trio went into town. It was deserted minus a few families and employees, yet again, the location was in the middle of nowhere. Caramel Arrow found a board with displays of different “Wanted” signs and different shows showing around the later evening. Choco walked over to a shop that had the bold red “CLOSED”, peaking through the window, he found that there was nothing but bookshelves and an empty counter, Dark Choco was displeased. And Red wasn’t far from that either. He didn’t like how… Dead it seemed. Huffing, he turned to Choco who scowled slightly for the lack of “entertainment” the billboard he saw posted was a lie. “Boys!” The brothers turned around as she waved them over to a diner. On the outside, it looked like a “Wild West Bar” with nothing to it, no bullet holes, no banners or wanted posters, it was wood and windows.

But the inside was a real treasure. It had a full bar with taps and lines upon shelves of the different colored bottles of alcohol (mostly empty), it had a “WANTED” poster board next to the swinging door, and the room had red cushioned booths and rickety wooden chairs and tables. The waitress who even sat them down, NAILED the Wild West accent. She wore a red poncho with golden trims on the bottom and the opening in the front of her chest, her golden-sun hair was braided in some sections while the rest was free, and her hat even had a golden feather that was attached to her cowboy hat with a sheriff’s medal. She even had two PISTOLS strapped to her belt. She was a wonderful server. All smiles and charm, Caramel Arrow got to talking to the lady after she brought them their drinks, (“Can’t serve till 6 at sundown.” She had told the boys when they wanted to try some alcohol. “Besides, you boys look like you are at least 17.” Caramel Arrow was dying of laughter with the boy's deadpan faces. “It’s a compliment!” Caramel punched Choco when the lady left to fetch their food).

Once the food was placed, the trio got to eating while Chiffon laid his head on Red’s lap and closed his eyes. Grounding Red if he needed it. The boys ate their burgers (which was… alright. Nothing grand or anything) but their sister had eaten everything on her plate; she had ordered a bowl of “Bloody Revenge” (or tomato soup), a small side of fries, and a small plate of appetizers that the boys had mostly gorged on. Red ate a few pieces of fries when his phone pinged, reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out his phone and saw the text message.

‘At home, where are you guys?’

Crunchy Chip arrived home early. Red pressed the video-call icon on the phone and placed it on the table against his soda, the ringer went off once, then twice and the eldest brother finally picked up on the third ring. “Where the fuck are you guys?” Crunchy Chip’s hoarse voice chimed over the phone, Caramel cringed slightly at the sound of Crunchy’s voice. “What happened to your voice Chip?” She questioned. On the other side, Crunchy Chip was attempting to adjust the camera to see his sibling's faces (then realizing that he couldn’t because Red had placed the camera against something), “Let me see where you guys are. I’m so confused.” Crunchy was currently on the couch, with at least four blankets on top of him while he listened to Wildberry hum in the kitchen. The two of them had just arrived back from Wildberry’s fishing trip and were waiting for his boyfriend to come back with soup. He watched as Red adjusted his surroundings and eventually he was able to see his brothers and sister. In a restaurant that looks like the Wild West.

“Why the fuck are you guys in the Wild West?” Crunchy asked. He heard Wildberry grunt in confusion before appearing in the room with a dinner tray and two bowls of soup. Once Wildberry settled down with Crunchy and looked at the phone face, “Where ARE you guys?” Wildberry chirped. Caramel came into the frame, “Dark Choco and Red Velvet wanted to stop here for a “last adventure” before we head home.” Red gave a thumbs-up to the camera and Dark Choco pinched the bridge between his eyes while shaking his head. “Ooookayyy. But why the Wild West?” Crunchy asked again. “Because.” Choco responded. Crunchy rolled his eyes and picked up the spoon, blowing on the liquid a few times, he swallowed the soup and only cringed slightly when he burned the top of his mouth. “How was the fishing trip?” Caramel asked, leaning on her elbows and raising an eyebrow to Wildberry, knowing full well that Crunchy would try and cover up any embarrassing story. “It was fine. Great actually.” Crunchy responded while frowning and slumping down slightly, Wildberry responded with a deadpan face as he raised a spoonful of soup, “He fell in the water while trying to pull up a trap full of salmon.”

“Wh-WILDBERRY!- You weren’t supposed to tell them!” Crunchy hollered while punching Wildberry in the arm, almost spilling all of his soup on the floor had he not shot his arm out to grab the end of the dinner tray. Wildberry laughed and wrapped one arm around Crunchy as he tried to beat his boyfriend but failed to the highest degree. Choco huffed, imagining Crunchy falling into an ice-cold river, Red choked on his drink and Caramel nodded along, as if agreeing that Crunchy would eventually fall into the river. Once Crunchy finished attempting to punch his boyfriend, he turned back to his phone, “Alright, you guys had sent me a photo of you guys in the car with a plushie? What up about that?” Red pulled his phone to angle towards him more than Caramel, Chiffon poked his nose upward and Crunchy whistled at him. Chiffon yipped softly to Crunchy. “You want to long version or the short version?” Red offered. Crunchy and Wildberry looked at each other and back to Red. “We’ve got time to kill, dunno about you guys- but hit us.”

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“Let me get this straight-” Wildberry stated, his hands folded together and pressed against his forehead while Crunchy was staring at Red dumbfounded. “-You, Red Velvet, saw a huge choco cakehound that can only be picked up across the state, you guys slept in a clown motel, visited an old amusement park, then picked up the plush and now, you guys are at an old Wild West town- just … passing time and getting ready to go once you explore a little more of a town that is deserted?” Red looked up to Choco who nodded his head. “Yep. I mean, I guess.” Red corrected himself. Caramel glared daggers at Choco who ducked his head to avoid the stare that Caramel gave him. The sister turned back to Red, waving the phone over to her Red handed the phone over, “Honestly, I’m half-tempted to make them march back to the car but the waitress who served us told us that there is a good gaming station in the town so we might try out some games.” Crunchy huffed as Wildberry hummed. “Well whatever you do, get home before tomorrow morning. Papa and Father are supposed to be home either today or tomorrow.”

“Thought they were already on the plane?”

“It got delayed so they got dropped off on the other side of the country so they're waiting on the next flight.”

“Gotcha.”

Red reached over and snatched the phone from his sister as he nudged her with his foot to tilt his head to the bill that was yet to be paid. She groaned and pulled her wallet out. Red looked back at Wildberry and Crunchy, “We’ll text you guys when we’re on the road.” With a chorus of goodbyes and Chiffon barking, they hung up.

While with the two lovers, both looked at one another. “I swear to God Crunchy, your brothers, and sister are either insane or have no brain cells.” Crunchy looked back to the screen with a shrug, “I mean I’m sure Choco was dropped as a baby at some point, Caramel has got more concussions than anyone in the house, and Red is just… Red.” Wildberry choked on his spoonful of soup. “Right. Right. I forget that Caramel Arrow not only did professional archery but also did professional Taekwondo as a “side project”.” Wildberry quoted. Crunchy barked out a laugh. “Whatta expect from a family of murderers and fighters? You knew what you were getting into!” Crunchy smiled at the pink-headed giant. The giant rolled his eyes as he fondly(?) recalled the first time of meeting Crunchy’s family. It was one of the worst yet greatest moments he could ever have in his life.

“I’m glad I stayed.” The pinkette muttered as he pressed his face into Crunchy’s wild hair. Giving a kiss into the hair, Wildberry picked up the dinner tray and headed back to the kitchen and the loving shorter one of the relationship followed behind. Waiting for the pinkette to finish cleaning the bowls and once he was unarmed, Crunchy jumped onto Wildberry’s back which lead the two of them to tussle in the kitchen and lead each other to the living room where Wildberry pinned Crunchy on the floor. The two of them huffed and smiled as they stared at each other. “I’m lucky to have you.” Wildberry whispered as he leaned down and kissed Crunchy. The other reciprocated the kiss and then the giant’s phone began buzzing. He grunted and straightened upright, grabbing his phone from the table next to Crunchy and himself, he answered the call, “Hello?” Crunchy propped himself on his elbows. “Ah, no problem. Although the other three are still out of town- they would either be back by tonight or by tomorrow morning.”

‘Papa.’ Crunchy thought. Wildberry hummed and nodded, saying goodbye as he hung up the phone. “Your parents are on their way home. They were able to get on a flight three hours earlier than what they were scheduled.” Crunchy hummed and looked over to his phone. “Lemme tell the other three idiots so that they get on the road.” As Crunchy leaned his upper body on the couch, he opened the messaging app, sent a quick heads-up to Red, and turned off his phone. “You know…” Crunchy stated after a few moments of quiet. “We’ll be alone for what? Four, five, or six hours? What if we did something… fun?” Crunchy suggested. His face darkened around his cheeks as he looked at Wildberry. “Oh? Like what Crunchy Chip?” Wildberry quired while leaning closer to his boyfriend, their faces inches from touching. “You know…” Crunchy responded slowly, cheeks reddening into a deeper shade that had never been recorded or copied before.

Wildberry let out one of his sly smirks as he captured Crunchy’s lips in a quick peck, “I’ll make the online delivery order for popcorn and sushi, and we can binge-watch the Nature Documentary series on the Cream Wolves.” Crunchy quickly chased after Wildberry’s face as he leaned back, only kissing the pinkette’s cheek as he jumped up. “And after that, I suggest we watch that new Ghost Hunting series I’ve been seeing everywhere,” Crunchy suggested, Wildberry nodded as he typed on his phone for the food he was going to order.

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“Papa and Father are on a plane ride home now.” Red announced to his siblings as they walked along the wooden path to the game station next to the “Sheriff’s office”. The sister hummed in confirmation while Choco grunted. Once the video call between Crunchy and them had ended, Caramel paid for the meal (tipping the waitress 9% and Choco left a ten-dollar tip for the lady), Red demanded that they go back to the car and grab the plush for some “cool photos to show Papa and Father”. And when they got back to the car, they found their car was the only one parked compared to the other cars that were gone, leaving only the employee cars in the lot. Once the plush was grabbed, the trio headed into the town to the game station. It was as simple as a few arcade machines, a rigged claw machine, and a few shooter-based games that weren’t even working. There wasn’t even an employee or an attendant watching the game section so the trio decided to take some photos; Caramel got a photo of Chiffon holding a game’s gun in his mouth while Red positioned the plush to be holding the gun while the guns in question were being pointed at Choco who raised his hands in mock surrender and with a smirk on his face.

The next photo was with Red and Chiffon laying in a coffin on the ground while Caramel and the Cakehound plush held flowers. The next was Caramel hitting Red with the flowers. The remaining photos were of the trio, the dog, and the plush in a bar (the same diner) taking pictures of them playing pool and the waitress watching in the background. The best photo in Red’s opinion was when the waitress got a photo of Choco, Caramel, and Chiffon holding their cue sticks, and Red was holding the plush who was “aiming” their own cue stick at a solid-colored ball. They waved goodbye to the waitress (they found out her name was Rye like the bread) and they headed out. And for once, Red volunteered to drive until he got tired, Caramel got in the passenger seat again while Chiffon jumped in the back with Choco and the plush. Choco would use Chiffon and the plush as pillows while Caramel went on her phone to play a game, Red listened to Caramel’s music and alternated with Choco’s every other hour.

Caramel hummed as she spoke softly, “Papa and Father are heading home. They’ll be back in three hours.” Red squinted down at the GPS they had and grunted in response, “We’ll be home around 3 in the morning at the rate we’re going.” Caramel huffed, she tapped her phone against the palm of her hand, “I’m fine with staying at another motel as LONG as it is not that damned clown place!” She snarled quietly at Red. He raised one hand in surrender and asked her to input the closest hotel for them to find. Choco woke up a little after they changed locations. He didn’t seem against the idea of staying at a hotel where the three of them can shower and eat some food as well. Red would drive until they hit a city that was about six hours away from home.

And soon, they did arrive at a nice hotel that only cost them 75$ and the hotel had an open bar and cafeteria to eat at. It didn’t take long for them to enter their hotel room, wash up, put on a clean set of clothes, head down to the cafeteria, and gorge on the buffet. Red and Choco talked about their favorite moments while Caramel interjected with moments that were her favorite (“I loved the moment the two of them screamed like girls when the clown busted your door open.” The boys rejected such a thing and Choco pointed a finger and waved in her face, “I was trying to wake you up so I can protect you” Caramel huffed but she smiled). The trio headed back to the room where Chiffon was clocked out on Red’s bed, Red wasn’t far behind. Choco and Caramel lay in their own beds as they settled down.

“Hey Red?” Caramel called out softly.

“Yeah, Cara?”

“Thanks for taking us out. It was really fun.”

Red smiled into Chiffon’s fur and he responded, “Glad to have spent this adventure with you guys.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Six: Home, Finally.
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Crunchy Chip and Wildberry were finishing off cleaning the counter and the living room after having a movie night. The pinkette eyes the time on the clock above the stove, ‘1:15 pm’, and the trio with Chiffon were not back from their trip yet. Crunchy Chip said to not worry so much, that they’ll be home in a time when their grandparents arrive to see Crème Brulée and Dragon Berserker. The duo was cleaning up when the doorbell went, Crunchy Chip set his paper towels down and headed to the door, and opening revealed one of the grandparents, Wind Archer Cookie, he wore a light green scarf that wrapped around his lower face, his jacket was a worn brown leather jacket with his hands in the pocket, his emerald eyes crested when he looked down to see one of his grandkids, “Hey Crunchy, your parents home yet?” He asked as he stepped into the house, Crunchy Chip shut the door as Archer slipped his shoes off at the door. “Nah, not yet. Grandpa and Pop-pop said they’ll be here in ten or fifteen minutes.”

The grandfather nodded and Wildberry rounded the corner, drying his hands off from washing them. “Hello Wind Archer,” he greeted while bowing his head down in greeting. Archer waved as headed over to Wildberry who moved back into the kitchen. The adoptive father of Dragon Berserker found the counter had a large blue bowl of freshly cut fruit and a plate of cheese and cracks to the side, “Snacks for the parents when they get home?” Archer asked. Wildberry hummed while Crunchy Chip approached from behind, “Well also snacks for the other three idiots when they get back from their trip.” Wind Archer settled onto the stool next to the counter, bowing a few pieces of his ivy green hair out of his face, “I was wondering why Chiffon didn't barrel towards me after I came in, where are your siblings then?” Wind Archer questioned. Wildberry turned around to finish cleaning up the cutting board as Crunchy Chip hopped on the counter, “Red bought something that could only be picked up by hand, Choco and Caramel went with him. Plus Chiffon.” Archer hummed with a raised eyebrow. The grandparent continued to chat until the doorbell rang again, this time Wildberry went over to answer. Hearing a surprise “Hello Wild!” and a grunt from a deeper voice gave away that the other two grandparents were home.

“In here Mille!” Archer called out. Rounding the corner was a friend of Wind Archer, Millennial Tree and his husband Ananas Dragon walked alongside Wildberry as they approached the duo in the kitchen. The older sibling of four jumped down from the counter and hugged Millennial and Ananas, Wildberry carefully took the fruit salad from Millennial who walked over to hug Wind Archer, Millennial was dressed in a dark oak gown with a forest green ribbon wrapping around his waist while his body-length hair was combed and braided to the side, that said braid was on his shoulder and decorated with different types of flowers. His husband was in a more casual look rather than the comfy one that Millennial wore; Ananas wore a dark shade of oak brown leather jacket with a print of dragon wings on the back of the leather, resembling the other jackets his other four siblings wore (minus Longhan’s who only had a horn on the back of his jacket).

Archer greeted the dragon and the five cookies spoke about recent news and meaningless things, all to wait for the parents or the rest of the siblings to arrive home. Wildberry peaked at his phone and grunted, grabbing the attention of Millennial who was snacking on the sliced pieces of fruit in the fruit bowl, “Something the matter Wildberry?” The pinkette placed his phone behind him as he crossed his arms, “Red texted me saying that he and the others are stuck in traffic. They won’t be home until at least four or five.” The older male frowned, not exactly a great thing but at least they were on the way home. “Where exactly did those siblings of yours go, Crunchy?” Ananas queried. The short male looked at Wildberry who shrugged, a gesture that said ‘You can tell them if you want, I don’t care.’ The white-haired male with darker bits in his hair retold what he had said to Archer minutes earlier. “So… Red bought something impulsive and dragged his siblings with him?” Ananas concluded. And with a nod from Crunchy and Wildberry, he huffed and smiled. “I don’t know where you kids get your ideas from but it was certainly not from us.” Millennial chuckled, “The parents can be blamed sometimes.” The older adults hummed in agreement.

“Well, let’s hope Crème Brulée and Dragon get here soon, I’m getting hungry.”

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Crème Brulée and Dragon arrived an hour before Red and his siblings would arrive. They looked exhausted and frankly, a little pissed. But all those went away when they saw their parents outside, setting up a table of food for them to eat while they waited for the other children to arrive home. Crunchy Chip gave his parents a squeezing hug and urged them to drop their bags so they could sit down. The parents headed outside which prompted impromptu hugs, and questions, and brought them to sit and eat the food they prepared. It was the darker male of the duo who noticed a lack of a daughter and two sons plus a dog. “Where are they?” Crème Brulée questioned his eldest son. Crunchy Chip pulled his chair forward a little bit while Wildberry handed off a plate of cheese and crackers to Wind Archer, “They’re on their way. Traffic was a nightmare so they should hopefully be here in an hour.” Crunchy Chip shrugged. He only got updates from Red who was texting him every ten minutes while also sending recordings of Choco reassuring Caramel Arrow to not kill the car in front of them.

As amusing as it was to hear Caramel Arrow lose her cool, Crunchy Chip thinks they should’ve been home sooner but he couldn’t control their thoughts. So the family ate. Crème Brulée and Dragon talked about what happened on the trip, the grandparents were laughing and talking about their own time while the parents were away. (Wildberry indulged by showing photos of Crunchy Chip dripping wet when he came out of the lake after falling in), the older brother pouted while Millennial patted his head in comfort. The emerald and golden grandparents started talking about friends outside the normal group (apparently Frost Queen was out of town with her sons to visit an old friend of Sherbert) while Millennial, Wildberry, and Crème Brulée talked about the pinkette’s fishing trip. Crunchy Chip ducked his head down to look at his phone and a single message was displayed on his phone,

‘Down the block.’

Crunchy Chip huffed, he stretched and headed around the house to the back of the fence where the gate for Chiffon was, he unlatched the hook and opened the gate as a mound of white fur jumped onto his shoulders, a wet tongue licking his cheeks, “Off! Off!” Crunchy Chip called out. Chiffon jumped down and bolted around the house, the sound of “Down Chiffon!” and “Heya Chiff!” filled the backyard as Crunchy Chip watched his sister leave the driver’s seat and was followed behind Dark Choco who waved, and Red who looked like he just woke up from a 24-hour nap. His hair was tangled and his nightshirt was wrinkled but the biggest thing to take away from him was the huge plush in his arms. “You really weren’t kidding when you said you bought the biggest cakehound plush.” Crunchy Chip whistled to Red. Red smiled and tailed his sister and older brothers around the back of the house where the parents and grandparents settled Chiffon down and walked over to hug the last three children. Crème Brulée hugged Red and then looked down to the plush, squinting- he turned to Dark Choco and Caramel Arrow, “Where did you guys go?”

“Across the state.” Choco bluntly stated as he sat down and munched on a cracker. The adults did a double-take, “I thought you were just going to an old amusement park nearby??” Dragon asked, confused, looking at his only daughter. “Yeah, we also went to a Wild West Town and a hotel.” The sister shrugged and then added, “And we had to go across the state to pick up the damn plush. Which by the way, is very soft and a great pillow.” She began to plate herself cheese and crackers with a side of fruit. Red handed the plush to Crème Brulée who did another double-take from the sudden weight of the plush. He wasn’t expecting it to be so heavy. Red stretched and hugged Ananas who wrinkled his nose at the state of Red’s hair, “Oh!” Red exclaimed, snapping his fingers and pointing to Caramel while looking at Dragon Berserker and Crème Brulée in the eyes, “We went to a creepy Clown Motel and Cara punched a clown in the face!” He said while smiling.

The group went silent and looked over to Caramel Arrow who had her mouth open as she was about to eat a cracker with cheese on it, her expression slowly darkened as she set her plate down, and she slowly turned around. Her eyes carried a murderous tint and she hunched her shoulders as soon as Red saw Caramel position herself, his smile dropped, and said, “Shit.” He booked it across the backyard while Caramel Arrow roared at Red, “RED VELVET! YOU ASS! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU AND CHOCO TO NOT SAY ANYTHING!” Dragon watched his daughter and second eldest run across the backyard and flinched when he saw Caramel Arrow slam herself into Red’s middle and wrap her arms around Red’s middle and neck. Choco watched with a look of indifference but unconsciously rubbed his throat, knowing exactly how awful Cara’s grip was.

Crème Brulée watched with amusement but also a concern. Looking at his husband, who only shrugged, Chiffon lay on Ananas’ feet, and the other two grandparents were shaking their heads at the chaos of the duo. Dragon huffed and headed over to his children, and after splitting them apart, he led them to the table. Caramel Arrow glared daggers at her brothers while Millennial combed his fingers through her hair, a way to comfort her- which worked for the time. Dark Choco brought his phone out and pulled up the photos from his gallery, he turned them to his parents who leaned down to see the photo. “Want to hear the full story of what Red did?”

Choco asked drily as he looked at Red who was stuffing his face and Chiffon with fruit and crackers. “Please, for the love of everything on this green Earth, what the hell happened?” Dragon snorted as he leaned back into his chair. Crème Brulée laid his head on Dragon’s shoulder as Choco began, Millennial and Ananas held each other’s hands while Winder Archer rubbed Red’s back and patted Caramel Arrow’s back. “It began the day after our parents left and I was going to eat the last of the ramen that I didn’t know that Caramel had claimed to be hers-”