Chapter Text
Previously on There’s Something About Rosie, a fan wanted to do anything, literally anything to be with the Joy Joy Gang, so they made a deal with their friend. However, not only did she break herself into someone different, but this new version of her turned her idols away from her. If she couldn’t join them, nobody could, so she destroyed them in a fit of rage. To make matters worse, her friend was sealed in a Soul Shard, suffering from an out of body experience. The real friend was actually a demon in disguise, who gave the now unrecognisable mascot a deal to sign. This demon would take her to the real Joy Joy Gang in a different nightmare if she succeeded in finding the ring pieces to complete the Riddle of Heaven. When they reached the portal however, it didn’t look much like a nightmare but a dream come true. Welcome home, Rosie.
Rosie and the devil next to her shoulder, Malak, stepped through the portal into another dimension. It was another theme park. This one however was different than the one she originally stayed in. This was an even bigger Joy Joy Land, full of happiness, forever happiness. Rosie gawked in excitement at the thrill rides towering over her, roller coasters, ferris wheels. She could just belch butterflies.
“Wow!” she cheered as they kept walking through the plaza. “It’s all so amazing here! It’s like a giant fairy flew over here and just waved her wand out of boredom, causing glitter to rain down upon this land. Such a magical place!”
“Remember, Rosie” reminded Malak. “You’re here for the ring pieces. Without these ring pieces, they’ll be no Riddle of Heaven. I know the perfect place for you to start”
The demon placed an arm in front of her tattered body, causing her to stop.
“Look in front of you”
Towering over them both was a grand castle. The castle in old Joy Joy Land was unfinished. This one looked shiny and brand new, glistening in the summer sunlight.
“Wowee! Are the Joy Joy Gang in there? If they are, I’ll finally be with them forever! Lucky, Penny, Hangry! My favourite character! Am I dreaming?”
Rosie then pinched a bit of her burnt skin, causing her to wince.
“Och! No, this is all real! They must be real too then! What if-- what if they don't like me?”
Malak placed an arm on her shoulder, taking her closer to the castle.
“Why would you say that? Of course they will. They’ll be very thankful to have another member”
They eventually stopped near the castle entrance. Even without scanners used for supermarket doors, the gate suddenly rose up, clattering the whole time. In front of them now was a shiny hallway.
“Remember, gather the ring pieces and they'll lead you right to the joy you oh so crave. Don’t fail me”
“Anything for you, Mr. Devil!”
Rosie merrily skipped into the castle, freezing as she scanned the hallway.
“Ring pieces? Right away--”
Bang went to the castle gate behind her. She spun around in fright, finding herself trapped inside the castle, Malak watching from the other side.
“I thought you wanted this,” he reminded her. “The Riddle of Heaven, the Joy Joy Gang. Everything you need is right inside. Choose wisely and watch your step”
Out of words, Malak suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. Guess Rosie was all alone. Alone? Not for long! She just had to find the Joy Joy Gang. Perhaps the soul shards could take her to them. Soul shards?
Where did she hear that? That wasn’t important now. She had to find the Joy Joy Gang.
Rosie walked further on through the metallic hallway, looking left and right at the walls that closed her in.
“This isn't joyful anymore. Whatever’s happening, I prefer it if you--”
Rosie suddenly stopped walking, discovering a horizontal window on her left. Behind the glass was a conveyor belt that transferred robot parts forwards to their rightful destination. These parts however looked familiar, consisting of yellow, white, red, pink, grey, ears, snouts, beaks.
“Were they hurt?”
After walking another step forwards, light shone on her right side. She creaked her head to said side, finding another horizontal window. Behind it was a large metal room, almost resembling the inside of a dangerous factory. On the lower level were many Lucky clones, marching in separate lines as they were sent into their own corridors. On the upper level was Lucky, his hands gripping the landing railing as he looked down upon his army. His eyes glowed red as he scanned left and right, his nose twitching a few times.
Rosie pressed her hands against the glass, staring through the window as she heard their faint footsteps.
“Well I’ve found Lucky, but I’ve also found Lucky-- and Lucky-- and Lucky-- there’s so many Luckys. Which one’s the real Lucky?”
Thanks to his perfect hearing, Lucky was able to pick up the voice of Rosie. His hands loosened and he let go of the railing. The alarm went off and the lights flashed red. Lucky backed up a bit the moment he saw the curious silhouette of Rosie in the window. Every clone stopped marching and aimed their eyes at the same window. The moment they saw her, they instantly started running through their halls. Lucky at the top however had to spin so his back was turned, contemplating what fell upon his sight. Once he made up his mind, he spun back to the window again and pointed at her just as a shutter blocked out the vision and the noise.
Suddenly, she could feel a tremble underneath her feet and a rumble in her ears.
“Earthquake?”
The hallway continued to the left and running round the bend was the same horde of Lucky clones from before. She could just sense it but what she couldn’t sense was the real Lucky.
“I can’t find the real Lucky. He isn’t there. Which means--”
The chipped crystal unihorn on her forehead started to glow, magic still hiding in there despite the state it was in.
“IT'S A MAGIC TIME!”
Pink and purple rainbows shot out from the hole in her horn. Despite it being a thin stream, it was proven to be effective. It rained upon the first wave of clones like a hose pipe. It gave them so much joy, that the joy overloaded their brains and they malfunctioned.
“Is this joy, or are you trying to steal it from me?”
The second wave of clones were able to corner her, yet she still shot poisonous sprinkles over them. The sparkles entered their mascot suits and drained the power away, causing them to fall like dominos.
“Is hitting really your joy?”
Then came wave three and the clones had more room to circle around her, drawing closer and closer like zombies.
“Is pain really your joy?”
Rosie gracefully spun around, spitting out stars with sharp points. They spun around like ninja stars, hitting every clone upon impact.
“Then I’ll give it to you!”
The stars were sharp enough to piece right into the metal, even impaling foreheads and eyes, penetrating their brains.
“It’s technically what you want!”
Rosie ran through the corridor, driving round the bend before suddenly falling. She was in another room now, plummeting through a wide metal cylinder. As she fell, more clones broke through their respected horizontal windows, flooding in and burying her underneath.
“Therefore, I’ll give it to you!”
A blast of magic caused every clone to fly up into the air, hitting the walls upon impact before falling around her, circling and nesting her.
“How do I get back up there?”
Before she could theorise, an indescribable robot fell towards her. She cartwheeled out the way just as it landed on their feet, causing the ground to shake. This robot was gigantic, made of many robot parts. The main attraction were the three heads, heads that belonged to the Joy Joy Gang.
“Looks like it’s a test of luck! Can I trust you, wings?”
Her messy looking feathered wings were able to budge out the way of the rust and flap forwards and back. The more she flapped them, the quicker she could manage to lift her paws off the ground.
“I can trust you!”
With confident eyes, Rosie aimed her glowing horn at the robot and with help from her wing power, she pierced it right into its ribcage, magic still flowing out. It squeezed right into the metal, corrupting it upon impact. She dug further and further inside until she flew out the back, right through the neck. This left devastating unclean damage to the robot, causing them to topple forwards unresponsive.
Rosie was able to grab the edge just in time before her tired wings gave up. She certainly needed more practice on flying if she wanted to master it. The alicorn cat looked down to find the robot lying there, wires sticking out, electricity sparking near the injuries. She had dodged a bullet.
Rosie with struggle, climbed back up onto the surface, laying there on her front. While she caught her breath, a familiar voice spoke to her from below the pit.
“You just had to press the elevator button. That was how my clones got up there in the first place”
Rosie’s ears perked up and it gave her enough energy to stand back up. She spun around and looked down at the pit, a whirring sound emerging from it.
“Great. More clones?” she asked, rolling her eyes. “Wait! What do you mean by your clones? How do I know you’re not a clone like them?”
“You can trust me, but I don’t blame ya if you don’t” continued the Italian American voice. “Man, I saw the whole thing from the security room. You’re getting an interview no matter what”
To Rosie’s surprise, a platform from below rose up to her view with the same remains of the terminator robot she had managed to slay.
“Are you friendly?” she asked.
No response. Only an anthropomorphic rabbit could bounce up and over the mess, gracefully landing on his lucky feet.
“Welcome to Joy Joy Land!”
“Are you friendly?” Rosie asked again, eyeing another Lucky.
This Lucky looked pristine and new, almost slightly taller than she imagined, than she remembered.
“You-- you are! I found the real Lucky!”
Rosie gleefully leaped over to Lucky and hugged him tightly.
“I knew another one would be coming,” said Lucky.
“Another one?” asked Rosie, loosening her hug.
“I’ve been meaning to recruit new members for the Joy Joy Gang,” said Lucky. “I’ve felt so lonely”
“If you feel lonely, then why did you send your clones after me?” questioned Rosie, no longer hugging him. “And how can you feel lonely with all those clones?”
“I know it was a pretty extra thing to do, but just hear me out” explained Lucky. “Once upon a time, the Joy Joy Gang was actually a thing, but then, our manager mysteriously went missing. This caused all the members of my gang to go missing too. I lost everyone here. The Penny, the Hangry, the Tom, the Talula, the Archie, the Sparkles. I never saw them again. Sure I have clones of myself in order to keep this place afloat, but lemme tell ya. If you’re surrounded by yourself for a long period of time, it’ll start to get on your nerves. I need more equality in this gang, but more uniqueness too, yet without a manager, I have nothing. I’ve even tried to make advertisements for workers, but those intruders who actually bother to arrive only vandalise the place. In order to tell the difference between friend and foe, I train my clones every day so they can challenge the new arrival to a test to see how long they can survive”
“Now the call for the clones makes sense!” said Rosie. “But-- test? I see. Well-- since I-- caused such a mess and wasted parts-- I suppose I should--”
“Cut the crap!” interrupted Lucky. “You passed it! After all, those who die are cash grabbing frauds. Those who live deserve to become part of the team. It’s been ages since I’ve been able to employ a new mascot, and I’ve finally found one from another nightmare”
Lucky reached a hand out.
“Welcome, Rosie”
If Rosie could cry tears, she would do it right now as she hugged Lucky again. This time, Lucky returned the favour and they embraced each other.
“Welcome to the crew. It ain’t much now, but I bet with your help, we can make it bigger like before”