Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Playtime Co.

Once a giant in the toymaking business, now an empty shell of its former glorious self. Literally; as all that was left was a single factory.

Founded by the ambitious but kind Elliot Ludwig, who always believed that a person's smile is the most important thing in the world, Playtime Co. started with big hopes and dreams. And through hard work, sweat, and determination; they delivered: Toys like Poppy Playtime, Boxy Boo, Huggy Wuggy, and many, many more.

Not only were the toys all locally made, but with the possible exception of Poppy (there were some exceptions of course), Playtime always made sure whatever they created would appeal to both boys and girls. Employees also got very good discounts or even free extra toys to give their children. On top of all of that, Elliot, a proud family man despite his busy schedule, encouraged and supported his employees in adopting orphaned children.

But one day, Elliot disappeared and people with less noble ideals took over the company. It wasn't long before the factory closed its doors after a mysterious incident involving the mass disappearance of all the workers and people who were visiting at the time.

All except one...

In a modest house in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. A woman was busy getting dinner ready for herself as well as a special visitor who was coming soon.

The woman was around 25 years old and had long black hair tied in a ponytail, warm cocoa-brown eyes, and fair skin. She was currently wearing a grey hoodie sweater, black sweatpants, and white shoes.

Another important thing to note was that she was what you'd call...fat. Now despite everything, she did her best to stay healthy, but she had quite a large appetite and it definitely showed on her figure.

Her overall body could best be described as rotund with slightly plump arms, thick legs, and a large ample posterior. Her face was slightly soft but remained beautiful and kind-looking, highlighting her sweet nature and gentle disposition.

Reference to her appearance and body shape:

Lucy Nadine was a kind-hearted, optimistic, and resourceful young woman who had loved Playtime Co. since she was a child when her parents gave her Boxy Boo and Huggy Wuggy toys. She had adored them and soon found herself admiring not just the other times Playtime created, but as she grew older, the company itself and its founder, Mr. Ludgwig.

When she was starting out her high school years, Lucy snagged a part-time job at the company. Her kindness and upbeat personality helped her make many friends and even the higher-ups found her endearing, save for a few. Lucy believed that even the slightest kindness could make the biggest changes.

However, she would sadly find the company she held so many fond memories in shut down for some unknown reason. According to the letter she received from Head of Innovation Leith Pierre, something had happened that forced the company to close. He had given a sincere word of thanks for her work and a suspiciously large amount of money to compensate for her being out of a job so suddenly; money that came in handy for the rest of her education.

For the longest time, Lucy was left hopelessly lost on what happened. She wished to know what became of her co-workers and all those people but alas, the authorities declared it a cold case and Playtime Co. was swiftly forgotten, left to fade away to the ravages of time.

Despite this, Lucy remained steadfast, graduating with high honors and attending the college she wanted to go to. Now 25 years old and still in the prime of her life, Lucy had been handling her current occupation of being a barista at the local cafe while hoping to save up enough money to perhaps make her own toy company in honor of Playtime Co. and Elliot Ludwig's memory.

She just had no idea she would end up being brought back to the place of her childhood...and discover the nightmares that had been lurking underneath her nose the entire time...

A knock on the door caught her attention as she headed over to answer it, smiling when she saw who it was; an African-American young man the same age as her with black hair done up in dreadlocks with the left side in a shaved fade. He was wearing a white t-shirt, blue tie, beige khakis, and brown shoes.

Reference:

"Angelo!"

The man smiled as Lucy took him into an embrace, nuzzling their noses together.

"You miss me?" He inquired coyly, then lifting one of his arms to reveal a takeout bag. "Or the takeout?"

"Angie, you know damn well food is always enjoyed in company." Lucy frowned with a humph. It didn't stay on her head for too long, as her own face became inquistative. "Did you miss me?"

"All 34,560 minutes." He smiled, putting the bag down to hug Lucy and then give her a chaste, yet warm and loving kiss.

Angelo Martinez, as the more perceptive readers can probably tell, was Lucy's boyfriend. They'd met in high school art club; Lucy having been sculpting some of potential toys in clay models and Angelo having been using a mix of watercolors and coffee grinds (mixed with said watercolors) to produce a graphic novel….which he was still working on whenever he could; being busy with helping maintain his parents' movie theatre.

Now, everyone in the club was a little…eccentric in some manner: One girl did nothing but throw paint onto a canvas and one fellow used only tossed away clothes for his art, but Lucy and Angelo were 'cute' eccentric and their respective projects caught each other's eye.

While Angelo was more familiar with Playtime's last few toys, like Yarnaby and Doey, the shared appreciation of the simplicity of childhood and colors led to him and Lucy having a few coffee meetings and late nights working on their 'masterpieces'. Dinner and breakfast dates followed and before they graduated, they were happily dating, with Lucy's parents considering Angelo the son they sadly never got and Angelos' parents begging him to propose sooner rather than later.

And marriage was definitely in the plan for the two…But not just yet. For now? the two lovers were content to cuddle and watch their favorite movies together.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Curious, Angelo went to get it when he saw nobody at the front, only a package left on the doorstep.

"The hell?"

Picking it up, he brought it inside, Lucy looked curious as to who was at the door only to see the note on the package, and her eyes widened in shock.

LUCY, PLEASE READ THIS

-A FRIEND

She recognized this handwriting. It had been years and who it belonged to she couldn't place, but she recognized them.

"This...how in the…?" Lucy asked herself, not sure she wanted to believe this.

"Babe?" Angelo asked, but his girlfriend didn't respond; Lucy hurriedly unwrapped the package to reveal an old VHS Tape as well as a note taped to it.

"It can't be...after all these years?"

Angelo was getting worried for Lucy now as she inserted the tape into the recorder on the TV, which began to play a video depicting Elliot Ludwig, the founder and former CEO of Playtime Co.

"You are about to see the most incredible doll ever invented. Her name is Poppy, and she is the first truly intelligent doll in the world. A little girl can talk to her, Poppy gives her answers. She is the first doll able to have a conversation with a child. Hard to believe? Just watch."

It then showed an old 50s commercial for a porcelain doll with frizzy red hair in a cute blue dress.

"POPPY PLAYTIME!" Several children cheered.

"Poppy's as lovable as a real girl, and she talks like one, too!" A female voice said.

"Hi! My name is Poppy!" The doll's seemingly pre-recorded voice began. "I love you. Can you help me polish my shoes?"

"Why, of course, Poppy! Just like a real girl, Poppy always wants to look her best." The female voice explained as a little girl's hand brushed Poppy's hair.

"Perfect! Thank you."

The commercial showed the doll having her hair brushed and her shoes polished as well as being given different kinds of accessories.

"Her hair is sturdy and won't come out when you brush it and smells just like a poppy flower! Is there anything else you'd like to say, Poppy?"

"I'm a real girl, just like you!"

"What's the time?"

"PLAYTIME!"

"Aww man, Playtime Co," Angelo said wistfully. "Didn't you work there when we were in high school?"

Lucy bit her lip and nodded. While she knew people who still had Playtime Co. toys and other merch from the glory days, there was something fishy about this particular videotape.

"And if you've ever wanted to see how all of the nation's favorite toys were created, Playtime Co. is offering factory tours at just $2.99 a person. An entire hour on the most magical toy factory on Earth." The male narrator said. "What are you waiting for? Come visit the factory? We can't-"

Suddenly, the commercial cut off to show what looked like a video camera recording of what looked like the factory interior with multiple walkways, one leading to a room that was marked by a large poppy flower painting.

"Okay, just a little bit cryptic..." Angelo muttered wearily as Lucy then looked at the note that came with the tape.

EVERYONE THINKS THE STAFF DISAPPEARED 10 YEARS AGO.

WE'RE STILL HERE.

FIND THE FLOWER

"Find the flower?" Lucy asked. "Which flower? I mean, I know they farmed Poppies and the Critter's scents…"

"Luce?" Angelo drew her out. "You're not…Baby, please tell me you're not actually going to?"

"I don't remember who, but I've seen the writing before." She told him. "and this was all addressed to me."

"Could be a cruel prank." Her boyfriend weakly suggested.

"From who, Angie?" Lucy asked, a brow raised. "No one's so much as mentioned Playtime Co in a whole decade; hell, there's no Youtuber daredevil that considers it 'worth' breaking into. The last time Palytime did come up? It was used for a Creepypasta! And going to the police? They cold cased it in a week and if we bring this? They'll investigate and interrogate me again; you know how hard it was for me to become a freaking barista after all that drama?"

"Fair points, all of them." Her boyfriend noted, then gave her a look. "There's something else."

"I need to know what happened," Lucy confessed. "Yes, it was just a part-time job. But it was my life for so long…I made so many friends there; friends I know you'd like and….Well, if I do ignore this? I know I'll never be able to…"

Suddenly overwhelmed, Lucy was grateful when Angelo took her into a hug and cleared her eyes. After a few minutes, with Lucy calmed down, he asked:

"Well, when are we going? Cause I'm going with you."

"What?" Lucy gasped. "Angie, you don't…"

"To keep you safe if nothing else." He cut her off. "Lucy; you are the kindest soul I know. It's why I fell for you. And yes, this is probably going to be the scariest thing I've ever done, but…"

"Don't you and your folks have that special at the theatre tomorrow?" Lucy noted. "The Saturday morning marathon? You've been looking forward to that for months!"

"Then we do this and I feel that I've earned junky cereal and to cuddle," Angelo smirked. "Sides, I'm not expected until noon."

"No talking you out of this, huh?" Lucy smirked.

"Not without smooching and or cuddling me into a coma, and you KNOW I won't let go of you if you try."

”God, I love this man.” Lucy smiled, knowing he was right.

It was a quiet drive to the old abandoned Playtime Co. factory. The couple soon arrived at their destination, Lucy's heart aching at how cruel time had treated the place of so many fond memories.

"Geez, this place has seen better days..." Angelo muttered as he and Lucy got out of the car.

The front door was locked but Angelo had some knowledge of lock picking thanks to his father. After opening the door, they saw that the front entrance looked remarkably clean, despite how long it had been since the factory closed its doors.

Lucy sighed. "Alright, we're here. Now let's see if we can find what whoever sent that letter wanted us to see."

Chapter Text

Lucy and Angelo looked around for anything that could clue them in on what to do next. It was then that Angelo found a green VHS tape on the front desk and an old VHS recorder and TV nearby.

"Maybe this has something on it."

While Lucy looked through one of the rooms, seeing a toy train still moving and functioning on the ceiling railway even after all these years, Angelo put the VHS into the recorder and pressed 'Play'.

"Hi. My name is Leith Pierre, and I'm the Head of Innovation here at the Playtime Co. toy factory. If you're seeing this, then you're trespassing. Yeah, we play this little tape on loop whenever we close the factory for the day. So, trespasser, just to make you aware, while we pride ourselves primarily on our high-quality toys and excellent childcare, we also pride ourselves on our security."

"Maybe I shouldn't have played this..." The young man thought nervously.

"Anything, babe?" Lucy asked as she came over.

"Just an old recording from your boss."

"Mr. Pierre? Oh, I've heard that tape before. Usually, when I worked a late shift or was leaving for the day."

"For example, this facility is full of hidden motion triggers which, once set off, will turn on the factory's emergency alarms and directly contact the authorities! And that's one of the more tame aspects of our security system. No spoilers! So, you've got my warning. It's not too late to turn around. I just hope that you're certain whatever you're doing is worth it."

"Still think this is a good idea?" Angelo worriedly asked as the tape ended.

"I'm certain of it."

Since Lucy couldn't find anything in the room she looked through, she headed to the storage room, but the door was locked by a color code panel. Rubbing her chin, Lucy retraced her steps from her old work days.

"Hmmm...how did it go? Ah-Ha!" She then punched in the colors. "Green, Pink, Yellow, Red!"

The door then unlocked, and Lucy lightly fist-pumped the air.

"Nice, still got it!"

As the couple entered the storage room, where there seemed to be something stored inside, as well as another old VHS recorder and a blue tape.

"Wonder what we can find in here."

Lucy inserted the blue tape into the recorder and hit 'Play', showing a commercial that Elliot Ludwig himself recorded.

"There's nothing I love more than seeing a child smile, but as they get older, their love for our toys hasn't been as productive as it used to be. I've come to an understanding that trends fade and tastes evolve. The kids are growing up and they want something new...something "different". That's why I am honored to announce the new member of the Playtime Co. family for all ages."

The commercial then showed a small yellow robot about the size of a human child with light blue eyes. Lucy also noticed that its hands were red and blue, similar to the Grab-Packs she saw some of the employees use from time to time.

"Ladies and gentlemen... Meet Pal-Pack! A lovable heroic robot with the same abilities as our patented Grab Packs! May he bring happiness and smiles to all!"

Suddenly, as if the tape had flipped a hidden switch, the storage container swung open, steam hissing out as whatever was preserved inside was let out. Lucy and Angelo's eyes widened when they saw what was inside.

"Is that...Pal-Pack?"

The little robot was motionless, his lights off as he flopped out and landed with a CLANK. Lucy and Angelo quickly moved to set him upright and looked him over.

"He looks like he's in mint condition. Must not have made it onto the market, huh?"

"I had heard about Pal-Pack being in production, but I don't think he was ever released before the factory closed down..." Lucy muttered.

Suddenly, Pal-Pack's eyes glowed a bright, vibrant blue, indicating he was online. He then stumbled around for a few moments, looking confused.

"I must warn everyone! They are in danger!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Who's in danger!" Angelo asked.

"He told them to do something! Something very bad!" Pal-Pack then stopped as he turned to see the two humans before him. "W-What happened? How long has it been?"

Lucy knelt down and smiled softly.

"It's October 2005. And we're the first people here in over a decade."

"W-what?" Pal-Pack managed.

"Little quick to the rip, huh, babe?" Angelo grimaced, chuckling when Lucy shot him a look.

"Lucy…Nadine?" Pal-Pack asked, his eyes briefly glowing and tensing. "Is that your name?"

Lucy nodded. "Yup, that's me. Humble little go-fer, janitor…"

"And potential aide to the…" Pal-Pack began, only to be silenced. "Sorry…Not authorized for that just yet...Wait, you said no one's been here for 10 years?"

Lucy and Angelo nodded, the latter then showing the robot the note they'd received.

"'Find the flower'" Pal-Pack read aloud. "I…I may know what this means…May I join you? My hands use the same technology as the Grab-Packs; they should help us venture further into the factory."

"Sure! The more the merrier!" Lucy smiled.

Pal-Pack nodded as he moved to get the door to the main lobby open. However, before the three could head inside, Lucy heard whimpering.

"Hello?" Lucy called out. "Is anyone there?"

"Lucy, it's probably just the wind," Angelo said.

"No, I definitely heard it."

Lucy traced the sounds back to the gift shop and looked around. Angelo and Pal-Pack joined her to ensure no dangers were lurking about. Suddenly, they all heard the whimpering again.

"Do not worry, we won't hurt you." Pal-Pack gently called out.

It was then that the unthinkable happened; the head of a Boogie Bot toy peeked up from behind the counter, but it was about four times the natural size of the others in the room.

"Holy cow, I'm seeing things, but I'm not believing it..." Angelo muttered.

The Boogie Bot nervously hid away back behind the counter, but Lucy, being the empathetic person she was, gently made her way over and held out a hand.

"Hey, it's okay, little guy. We don't mean any harm."

The Boogie Bot peeked its head up again and looked at Lucy. She noticed digital tears on the bot's face and the clearly frightened expression in its eyes.

"It's okay." The rotund woman smiled gently. "I'm a friend."

Boogie Bot slowly rolled out from behind the desk and slowly up to her. It looked Lucy up and down and appeared to be scanning her, then it spoke.

"F-F-Friend?"

Lucy nodded and slowly opened her arms, wrapping her arms around the Boogie Bot in a soft and gentle hug as it slowly returned it. The robot's electronic eyes then mimicked the closing of eyes as it melted into the embrace.

After breaking the hug, the Boogie Bot wiped away his tears and looked up at her.

"W-Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"My name is Lucy and I used to work here. I got a letter saying that the staff who disappeared ten years ago were still here."

"What are you doing here, little dude?" Angelo asked. "Oh, I'm her boyfriend, Angelo."

"Boogie Bot, it's me," Pal-Pack said gently as he also came over. "Do not worry, these are friends. They will help us."

"You seem to be a little lonely. Do you want to come with us?" Lucy offered. "I could use a guide since things likely changed since I was last here."

Boogie Bot looked down a little and seemed to be pondering. He then nodded his head.

"Yes, I've been alone for so long. I'd like to join you."

"Then welcome aboard." Lucy smiled.

With their new companion, the group headed into the main lobby, where Lucy couldn't help but smile fondly at the tall statue of Huggy Wuggy that stood in the center, still there even after all this time.

For old-time's sake, she pressed the button on the stand and listened to the jingle, amazed that it still worked.

His name is Huggy, Huggy Wuggy! When he hugs you, he'll never stop!" A jolly laughter was heard. "Your friend Huggy, Huggy Wuggy! He'll squeeze you until you pop!"

Lucy made a popping motion at the end, mimicking the pop sound effect that played there as well before giggling, her belly wobbling slightly as Angelo chuckled, just happy to see the love of his life in good spirits.

"Miss Nadine?' Pal-Pack inquired.

"Lucy's fine."

"Lucy, then." The robot continued, trying to find the right words. "While I do not doubt your willingness to aid and comforting skills…"

"Hey, I'm not THAT fat, am I?" Lucy pouted.

"Nawww, you're perfect, babe." Angelo cooed as he hugged his girlfriend, who lost her worry. She then returned the hug and lifted him above the ground, then Boogie Bot when he reached for a hug.

Lucy happily obliged and then did the same for Pal-Pack, who, giving Lucy a second scan, found his worries unwarranted; larger frame, yes, but Lucy was otherwise in ideal condition.

"My apologies." Pal-Pack bowed, briefly stopping to make an announcement. "Just so all are aware, if any of you get tired or injured, do be aware that I can easily carry a literal tone. And I do have a Charger."

That last bit was meant for the smaller toys, who nodded in understanding. Pal-Pack then looked around and saw there was only one door with a Grab-Pack access function and fired his blue hand to activate it, only for the power to short out.

"Ah, swell..." Angelo grumbled before hearing a jingle and looking to see that the Huggy statue had some keys in its hand. "Huh, was that always there?"

"I can get it!" Boogie Bot said as he fired his pincer at the keys and pulled them down before handing them to Lucy. "Here you go, Miss Lucy!"

"Thanks, Boogie!"

Making their way to the power room, the group unlocked the door before heading inside. Looking around, they found it mostly full of lockers but also had a power outlet, which only presented a new dilemma.

"We need some type of wire to get the power back on, but I'm not seeing any," Lucy muttered. "Maybe we should check the lockers for anything."

"No need, I can use my Grab-Pack functions to rewire the power," Pal-Pack said as he shot out his blue hand, connecting it to a power signal before jury-rigging the thing.

With a spark, the group heard everything power back up as Pal-Pack retracted his blue hand back into its socket.

"Sweet!" Angelo praised. "That was some smooth thinking."

Pal-Pack chuckled. "I used to help out the workers from time to time back in the day."

The group went back to the main area only to notice something...Huggy was missing from his original spot.

"Uh...is Huggy alive like you, Boogie?" Lucy asked nervously.

Boogie Bot was shaking fearfully, which could only spell bad things for the group as Pal-Pack's eyes narrowed.

"He's loose...everyone, keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious."

Pal-Pack opened the door that caused the power outage earlier and walked down the path leading to the warehouse, not noticing a tall blue figure spying on them...

Chapter Text

As Lucy, Angelo, Pal-Pack, and Boogie Bot entered the Make-A-Friend room, they noticed a few things. There was an Adopt an Orphan poster on the wall encouraging workers at the factory to adopt a child, which Lucy smiled at.

"Those were the days." She mused, a dreamy smile on her face. "So many kids exploring, watching the toys being built…Mr. Ludwig leading arts and crafts time, birthday kids building their own toys…."

Boogie Bot and Pal-Pack smiled as they imagined all of that.

"What a time it must've been." The humanoid robot mused as he then leaped toward the scaffoldings. "I'll get the electricity up and running."

As he did just that, Angelo hugged and nuzzled Lucy, bringing her out of her memories but still keeping her happy.

"Sounds like the dream after-school job."

"It really was," Lucy said. "Then again, you always got to see movies before anyone else."

"Maybe, but none of them were really ever for me," Angelo noted.

After getting the machine up and running and starting the toy creation process, Angelo thought of something.

"Hey Boogie, couldn't you just get yourself scanned to get us through the door?"

Boogie-Bot looked down and shook his head.

"No, I'm too big..."

"I doubt I would be able to fit on it either." Pal-Pack chimed in. "It seems we will have to do this the old-fashioned way."

Suddenly, a pair of new voices chirped in:

"Hey! We can help!"

Angelo yelped. "D-Did you hear that?"

"Hello?" Lucy called out. "Who's out there? How can you help us?"

Suddenly, two small figures showed up and Lucy's eyes widened in surprise while Angelo looked absolutely delighted. It was a Candy Cat and a Cat-Bee, both the size of domestic house cats.

"No way, Cat-Bee!" Angelo gushed as he knelt down to take a better look. "I always wanted one!"

Lucy giggled. "YOU wanted a Cat-Bee toy?"

"Sue me! They were so cute!" Angelo pouted. "And interchangeable if you ever wanted a different color!"

"Hey! Pal-Pack! You're okay!" the other toy, Candy Cat, happily waved to the robot. "And Boogie Bot too! We were worried when you wandered off!"

"S-Sorry..." Boogie Bot shyly replied.

"Wow, big lady!" Cat-Bee said as she buzzed around Lucy. "You must eat more sweets than Candy Cat! S-Sorry, that was rude of me..."

"Nah, it's okay. Besides, I don't eat just candy." Lucy giggled. "I eat a lot of yummy foods."

"There's more food than just candy?" Candy Cat asked excitedly.

"Sure is!" Angelo said, reaching into his bag and pulling out some snacks.

"Babe, why?" Lucy asked.

"Huge factory? No idea how long it would be?" Angelo weakly answered. "And we kind of rushed dinner?"

"Fair..." Lucy sighed, regretting having not savored dinner as she spied Angelo go over what he had.

"I got three water bottles, baby carrots, celery sticks, pretzel sticks, cherry tomatoes, grapes, a berry cup, and….Huh, I was wondering where I put those! Three Reeses bars."

"Reeses comes in bars now?" Candy Cat asked in shock.

"And some cups with potato chips, too," Angelo said. "Not really my thing…"

Mouth salivating and imagination running wild, Candy Cat turned to Bee-Cat.

"We are staying with them."

There was no room for argument as Cat-Bee simply waddled over to Angelo and let him pet him

"While it is nice to see you all in good health in spite of everything, we would appreciate your assistance," Pal-Pack said to the two cats.

"Of course, we can help!" Cat-Bee happily said. "Allow me!"

Cat-Bee then buzzed over and perched herself on the scanner, the scanner then did what it was meant to do and a big green check mark appeared on the screen as the door creaked open.

"Thanks, sweetie. Do you two want to join us?" Lucy asked.

Candy Cat smiled. "Sure! There's not much candy around here anymore."

"We're some of the only toys who managed to sneak out of the factory to get food," Cat-Bee said. "Lucky for us there's a convenience store right across the block but it's been really hard trying to avoid getting spotted by the cameras."

"That and I think we ended up getting put on the news as an urban legend or something." Candy Cat chimed in. "I...might have accidentally been seen by the store clerk one time..."

"Huh, I think I read about that," Angelo noted. "So it wasn't just a hoax."

"Well, I can understand why you'd do that. I doubt there's many snacks left here after ten years passed." Lucy noted.

"There was other food here but...we wouldn't dare eat it," Cat-Bee said, both her and Candy Cat shuddering.

"What's so bad about it?" Angelo asked.

"It's...we can't tell you, it's too gross." Candy Cat said.

"Pray you don't find out," Boogie-Bot said cryptically.

As they prepared to move, Angelo couldn't help but notice something that unsettled him.

"Why do the machines have eyes?" He asked through gritted teeth. "And why do they keep following us?!"

"I have no idea, Angie," Lucy admitted.

"Me neither," Pal-Pack said.

"I think at one point they were to distract line workers from being bored." Boogie Bot noted. "Apparently, they were cuter and friendlier looking a few decades ago."

Deciding not to dwell too much on it, the gang began to walk down to continue their journey…

Only for a tall figure to step out of the darkness, causing everyone to gasp in horror. It was Huggy Wuggy, the same one from the lobby...only his mouth was wide open in a vicious grin with rows of sharp teeth and what looked like a second mouth with its own set of drooling fangs.

"Oh no...!" Boogie Bot whimpered fearfully.

"H-Huggy...?" Lucy whispered out.

"Oh dear..." Pal-Pack muttered.

"That is NOT right!" Angelo exclaimed.

"Oh sugar honey iced tea..." Cat-Bee squeaked.

"Sweet Tootsie Rolls!" Candy Cat cried. "RUN AWAY!"

The group quickly noticed a nearby door leading into the vent system and ran for it. Angelo helped pick up Boogie Bot and put him inside as he gestured for Cat-Bee and Candy Cat to go in as well. Lucy went in next, only to find herself in a predicament...

"Um…guys?"

She was stuck, leaving Angelo outside with Huggy still advancing. The toy then tilted his head as if he found the situation amusing.

Meanwhile, Angelo, not wasting a moment, had rushed to Lucy and pushed her in with all his might.

"Hey! Watch your hands, buster!" Lucy blushed.

"BABE! NOT THE TIME!"

Pal-Pack saw Huggy approaching slowly as if he were a predator toying with its prey, while the three toys inside the vent grabbed Lucy's arms and pulled with all their might.

"I'll hold him off!" The robot said as he leaped between them. "Huggy! Please stop!"

Huggy didn't respond.

"I insist that you stop before I use these hands!"

Huggy then continued marching towards the intruders.

"Please, Huggy! This isn't you!"

The giant toy kept moving, leaving Pal-Pack no choice but to fire his hands at the mascot toy.

"Try sucking in your gut!" Cat-Bee cried as she pulled.

"I am!" Lucy said.

"Try sucking in your butt AND your gut!" Candy Cat offered.

Eventually, Angelo was able to push Lucy through and climb after her through the vent. Pal-Pack had punched Huggy again, this time with his blue hand, before quickly following everyone else into the vent.

"You gonna be okay?" Boogie Bot asked Lucy worriedly.

"Don't worry, it's a bit tight, but I can squeeze through."

"Think we lost him?" Candy Cat asked worriedly.

Suddenly, Huggy came from a tunnel right in front of the group with that same savage grin on his face.

"NOPE!" Angelo shouted as he picked up Candy Cat while Lucy picked up Cat-Bee and Boogie Bot as everyone ran down a tunnel leading to the right.

The group kept running for their lives, Candy Cat, Cat-Bee, and Boogie Bot jumping out of the two humans' arms to lighten their load. The toys seemed to know the vents better than Lucy and Angelo did, and with their smaller size, they almost lost track of them a few times.

Soon, everyone slipped down a long vent and onto the walkways. A large crate was dangling over the edge, and it fell just as Huggy came out of the vent after the group, causing everyone to fall onto a lower catwalk. Huggy ended up slamming against the railing and slipped off, about to plummet into the abyss.

Now, despite everything that had just happened in the past few minutes, Lucy's heart refused to let another living creature die and quickly raced to catch Huggy.

"NO!"

She grabbed one of the giant toy's legs to keep him from falling, but he proved too heavy and she was about to fall over herself, only for Angelo to wrap his arms tightly around her and pull with all his might. Pal-Pack, Boogie Bot, Cat-Bee, and Candy Cat all joined in, eventually pulling Huggy safely back onto the catwalk.

"Babe, I love you with all my heart and soul, but... WHY would you go rescue the giant scary monster toy that tried to eat our faces off?!" Angelo asked in exasperation before he realized something. "And WHY did I help you?!"

"I would like to hear the reason for your course of action as well," Pal-Pack said. "I remember Huggy was...not very agreeable ten years ago."

"Yeah, we tried not bothering him while we wandered the factory..." Boogie Bot added nervously.

Lucy, her breath caught, took out a water bottle and drank from it before explaining her reasoning.

"I know! I know, okay? Stupid of me. Really stupid. But…Huggy? This place? I don't know what happened, but this was a safe, happy place when I worked here. I don't know what happened, but I can't in good conscious not leave anyone behind. And…maybe he was just scared and confused? Like I said, it's probably a dumb idea, and if he does try to eat me, let him. But until I know what happened here, I'm not letting anyone or anything die."

The air was thick with silence for a few minutes as Lucy's words hung over them. Angelo then hugged her and gave her a kiss

"How could you get even more amazing?"

"While I do not fully agree with your reasoning, and I will be keeping an eye on him," Pal-Pack announced. "I do share your interest in learning what happened. Besides, as someone who was locked away in stasis for a decade? I believe it would be rather hypercritical of me to deny the courtesy I was given."

"Fair point." Boogie bot nodded in agreement.

"Maybe he was just super hungry or scared?" Candy Cat suggested, not fully believing it but feeling that it was a possibility.

"If Lucy thinks there's still some good in Huggy?" Cat-Bee noted. "I'll trust her."

A groan got everyone's attention as they looked to see Huggy waking up. His mouth was closed, and while his teeth were still sharp, he didn't seem to look feral anymore. Instead, he was more confused. He didn't speak, but he pointed at Lucy and then at himself in confusion.

Lucy smiled. "Yeah, I understand we got off on the wrong foot and all, but...I wasn't going to let you die."

Suddenly, Huggy wrapped his arms around Lucy in a big hug, which, thanks to her big body, wasn't as uncomfortable as if it were on a slim person. Angelo and the other toys looked confused as Lucy hugged back.

"It's okay, big guy, I'm not mad."

Huggy still said nothing, but he gave a genuine smile, and not a menacing one either. He seemed much more expressive now, and it was there the group took in their surroundings: a giant metal silo that seemed to drop for miles.

"Wait, Lucy...look!"

Hearing Angelo's words, Lucy looked and gasped when she saw the giant flower mural from the VHS tape.

"This must be the flower."

With no other way but forward, the growing party made their way to the mural. With odd writing all over the walls and a door that looked to be made out of wood around it. Lucy carefully opened the door to be met with a place that reminded her of a dollhouse, along with some eerie music in the background somewhere.

You won't believe your eyes once you notice what we've got on the inside
Toys all sizes come to life, all the same is your demise
You don't need to fray, Hugs are what we pay, held tightly 'till the day
In this carnal factory, Poppy's coming out to play

"Well, ain't this just inviting..." Angelo muttered nervously.

"How are you guys holding up?" Lucy asked.

"Not liking the look of this one bit, babe," Angelo replied.

"Scared..." Boogie Bot followed as he lightly grabbed Lucy's waist.

"I could use some candy for this..." Candy Cat stated.

"I'm buzzing in terror right now..." Cat-Bee whimpered.

"It is the only way forward. We must press onward." Pal-Pack said grimly.

Huggy just gave a thumbs-up.

As the group made their way through the dollhouse, there was an old TV and a VHS recorder with a black videotape. Deciding to see if it had any clues, Angelo put the tape in and pressed 'Play'.

"Final log. In relation: 1006. The Prototype. Coordination and cooperation is evidently within his skillset, as well as the skill set of the other experiments of his type." A scientist said to a recording camera. "Though still missing, today's events are no doubt in relation to him. His absence was a flaw in the scientific process, which should have under no circumstances been left unaccounted for."

Screams could be heard outside the room the scientist was in. On top of that, Lucy and Angelo noted that Pal-Pack, Huggy Wuggy, Boogie Bot, Cat-Bee, and Candy Cat all tensed in fear at the mention of "The Prototype".

"Any future experiments will need to be contained and disposed of in a secure location. I'm not worried about myself. One breakthrough and I'll be back." The scientist said without fear. "We must forge onward in the name of science, whether those who are beneath us understand it or not! End of-"

Huggy was then shown busting into the room, his mouth wide and his fangs glistening as he pounced on the scientist from behind...but the man did not show fear, instead closing his eyes as if accepting his impending fate as the video cut off to static.

"Good lord..." Angelo muttered as he turned to Huggy. "What the heck did that guy do to you?"

Huggy made a whimpering sound of shame and shook his head. It was clear that even if he did have a voice, he didn't want to talk about what happened in that video.

"Terrible things happened while you were gone, Miss Lucy..." Boogie Bot said to Lucy. "Terrible, TERRIBLE things."

"Guys...whatever is going on..." Lucy said firmly. "I promise, no matter what, I'm going to help you all. Whatever is terrorizing you...we'll stop it."

"Yes..." Pal-Pack nodded. "HE must be stopped."

The group continued through the room before walking down a set of stairs and another corridor, where they eventually came to a room with a wardrobe, a small, regular dollhouse, and several pillows strewn about. After opening a large set of doors, the red light moving about carefully lit the room with a case in the middle.

Inside the case was a doll with hair that smelt like poppies and a bright blue dress.

"Poppy Playtime..." Lucy said as the others proceeded to lightly back up. However, she slowly walked up to the case and grabbed the handle.

"Uh, Miss Lucy? I don't think that's a good idea." Boogie Bot replied.

"Don't worry, Boogie Bot, no matter what. I'll make sure you're safe." Lucy promised.

"Okay, we trust you, Luce..." Angelo said worriedly.

Lucy grabbed the case and pulled it open. The lights then began flickering, and Poppy's eyes flashed open before the light bulbs above shattered. The group stood in the dark before hearing a voice...Poppy's voice.

"You opened my case."

Chapter Text

[YEARS AGO...]

She let out a deep breath as she stood outside the doors.

"Okay, Luce. You can do this. You can do this. It's the first day, so just be honest, ask questions, and help where you can."

Her confidence up, Lucy Nadine, at this age, a more 'average' weight and with a figure many would call 'cute ', entered the factory she'd be spending some of her evenings and weekends at. Most teens her age wouldn't have cared so much about their first job, but this was different: Not only was Lucy working at Playtime Co itself, but she had been offered a special 'behind the scenes' job. Not in the factory, she was a minor after all, but with something that she was assured was just as important.

As she stepped inside and made her way to the front desk, Lucy smiled as she recalled when her parents brought her to the gift shop for her birthdays. Good times, good times.

"Can I help you?" The receptionist, busy clacking away at his computer, asked.

"Um, hi. Yeah. It's my first day and I was told…?"

"Ah, right on time! You must be Lucy!"

The younger girl turned to see a friendly-looking middle-aged woman in a conductor's outfit with a Grab-Pack on her back, making her way over and offering a handshake. "I'm Stella Greybar. I'll be your supervisor."

Lucy shook Stella's hand and then slipped on a nametag as she followed her boss down the halls.

"I'll admit, I was surprised to see a young lady your age interested in working for us." Stella started. "In my experience, most are more interested in fashion, clothes, or boys. At most, they'll work for the toy discount."

"Your company's toys were a huge part of my life," Lucy admitted. "It's…kind of always been my dream to start my own toy company, or at least work with Playtime. You know? Make sure other kids get to experience all the joys I did?"

Stella's smile grew warmer; nostalgic as they got into a small car that drove them the rest of the way.

"Lucy? Until now, I've had my concerns about you. Now I don't." She smiled. "I started working here for the exact same reason."

The car eventually stopped, coming to a door. Stella fired her red hand from the Grab-Pack, which was scanned, and then got a green check mark as the door slid open.

Lucy widened at what she saw: What could best be described as a gymnastics arena, mixed with ball pits, monkey bars, slides, and all sorts of other games. At the back of which was a train.

"Welcome to the GameStation!" Stella amused. "Here, the kids we've adopted, as well as the children of staff members and visitors, will play games and do what kids do best. Your job is to look after and minimize any chaos and injuries."

Lucy was still taken aback by the scope of all this, but smiled.

"Hey! Miss Stella's back!" A little girl called out.

"And she has a new helper!" A little boy added.

Many of the kids stopped whatever they were doing and rushed forward to greet Lucy, who, to her credit, smiled sweetly and knelt slightly to greet them.

"Oh boy. Here comes the questions train…" Stella grimaced, albeit in a way that made it clear she didn't really dislike this.

"You're a big kid?! We never get big kid helpers!"

"You're so pretty!"

"What's your favorite food?"

"Are you Santa's daughter?"

"Do you have snacks with you?"

"Can you jump?"

"Will you play with us?"

"Now, now, children!" A cooing voice said as something slid between Lucy and the kids. "Don't crowd her; it's her first day."

"Sorry, Mommy." Many of the kids apologized, making the pink spider woman giggle and mess with their heads before looking at Lucy.

"Apologies. They're always happy to meet new strangers…"

Lucy just stood there in shock before a great smile overtook her face.

"You're Mommy Long Legs!" Lucy beamed. "Holy moly…How?!"

She moved too well to be an animatronic…Was she a hologram? No, she could move and weight…AI?

"Trade secret," Stella said. "Mommy, this is Lucy Nadine. She'll be your second pair of eyes and hands."

Mommy gave Lucy a look over, eyeing her up….then smiled warmly.

"A pleasure to work with you."

Lucy's eyes fluttered open in the present day. She had no idea what had happened. One minute, Poppy spoke to her, the next, she seemed to have gone into some kind of trance.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she quickly noticed the elephant in the room: the case that had once contained Poppy was now empty.

"Angie? Pal-Pack? Boogie Bot? Candy Cat? Cat-Bee? Huggy?" She called out as she looked around, but got no response.

She headed back into the main area to see that the way she and the rest of the group had come in was now blocked off. On the ground was a familiar blue giant lying unconscious.

"Huggy!"

Quickly running over, she patted the giant living toy on the cheek until his eyes began to open. He slowly lurched up as if he had been riled out of bed and rubbed his eyes before looking around in confusion.

"Urgh...my head..." Angelo's voice was heard as Lucy gasped and saw her boyfriend also nearby, having fallen unconscious as well.

"Angie!" She rushed over to help her boyfriend up as Huggy still looked confused by what was going on.

"Final digit of Pi is...!" Pal-Pack's voice blurted out as he shot up from his place on a comfy pile of cushions before noticing his surroundings. "What happened?"

"Ugh, must have dozed off. I swear if that Poppy doll did some kind of supernatural crap on us..." Angelo muttered.

"Guys...Where are Boogie Bot, Candy Cat, and Cat-Bee?" Lucy asked worriedly.

The four observed their surroundings, noticing that none of the three smaller toys were present. But at the same time, they noticed the wardrobe from earlier was knocked over, revealing a door behind it that they could go through.

"We need to find them. They might be in danger." Pal-Pack said.

"Yeah, that Poppy doll is up to something," Angelo grumbled.

The four went through the new door to find they were still in the factory. With nowhere to go but forward, they walked down the halls, coming to a three-way fork in the road. The path on the left led to a closed gate, the path in the middle led to a locked door that led to Elliot Ludwig's office, and the last one led to a small doorway, followed by a small bit of the floor caved in.

"Whoa, Elliot Ludwig's office..." Lucy breathed in amazement. "I never knew he had it here."

"That's kinda bizarre," Angelo noted. "Why would he need his office in the middle of this giant silo dollhouse, whatever you call it?"

Huggy just shrugged his shoulders while Pal-Pack rubbed his chin and looked into the hole on the right path to see if there was some sort of way across. There was a ladder on the other side, but Lucy and Angelo wouldn't be able to reach it. And he doubted the plank would support Lucy's weight.

"Don't think that'll work for me."

"Small price to pay," Angelo said, adopting a sneaky grin. "Especially when I get to do THIS!"

Lucy suddenly found herself in Angelo's arms, a blush on her face.

"You are deceptively strong for your build," Pal-Pack noted.

Suddenly, the two lovers were scooped up in Huggy's arms as he took a running start and jumped across the gap, setting them down afterward.

"How about a warning next time?" Angelo said as you tried to regain your balance.

Huggy just gave a sheepish grin, which also showed his sharp teeth. Lucy just giggled and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Good boy."

Pal-Pack shot out his hand to grab a nearby ceiling pipe and swing across to join everyone. Soon, they entered a room with a massive cutout of Huggy wearing a Grab-Pack and giving a thumbs-up with one. Curiosity got the better of Huggy, which led him to press the button on the cutout.

"Does someone need a hug?"

"I dunno, I could go for a Lucy hug." Angelo chuckled as his girlfriend blushed.

"Angie..."

Huggy seemed rather indignant as he hugged Lucy tightly, making her squeak and giggle in embarrassment as Angelo gave the giant living toy a dirty look.

"Hey, hey, hey! Back up, fuzzy! I got dibs!"

Huggy's brow furrowed.

"I know you can hear me! Besides, you didn't get Lucy's okay for that hug."

Huggy lifted a mitten hand.

"Oh, I KNOW you're not trying to do what I think you are!"

Huggy smiled 'innocently', then pointed to Lucy, who was very happy in his embrace. He then shot Angelo a look that clearly said, "Ha! Ha!"

"Oh, you think you're so slick, you Gumby knockoff?!" Angelo growled, putting up his fists.

That comment made Huggy stop hugging Lucy and growl, which alerted the girl to the conflict:

"Wha…ANGIE! HUGGY?!"

"Bring it on, ya Smurf wannabe!" Angelo snapped as he and Huggy circled each other. "I got 17 years in the projects!"

"Boys! Boys!" Lucy tried to get them to stop fighting.

"Seems you guys are having fun..." A muffled voice came from behind a closet door, the voice catching everyone's interest.

"Boogie Bot!" Lucy said as she threw open the door to reveal the four-foot-tall bot himself on the other side with a key in his claws.

"In the flesh? Or is it metal?" Boogie Bot giggled.

Lucy smiled and hugged the little bot, which he happily returned, as Angelo and Huggy looked at each other and then back at the adorable scene before them.

"Forget it, he wins."

Huggy nodded in agreement.

"I think that key might be the way we can get into Mr. Ludwig's office," Pal-Pack noted as he noticed the key.

"Yeah, it has his initials on it!" Boogie Bot confirmed.

"Well, let's see what dark secrets your old boss was hiding," Angelo said to Lucy.

The five went back to the three-way split and headed down the center path to the door leading to Elliot Ludwig's office. Lucy used the key to get inside, and everyone saw the charming vintage decor.

"Dang, he sure had a nice pad."

Huggy then noticed a brown VHS tape and picked it up, staring at it for a moment before seeing a nearby TV. He inserted the tape into the recorder and pressed 'Play'. What followed was an old documentary focused on Playtime Co.'s creation.

"Playtime Co. is the product of a great man by the name of Elliot Ludwig. Divorced, but a family man at heart, his sights were always set on bringing amazing toys to amazing children around the globe. Ludwig spent countless hours in the factory, working overtime relentlessly in an attempt to continuously innovate and surprise."

Lucy smiled as the video played: she remembered this documentary on Elliot; it had been part of what attracted her to Playtime Co in the first place, once she was old enough to look beyond the toys.

"In the 1960s, an unfortunate family death had pushed Ludwig down to his lowest. But with so much ambition, he rose back up and continued to fulfill his vision for the Playtime Co. toy factory. Ludwig could never be content leaving a project unfinished, but just how did one man come to create such an astounding empire? How did he manage to stay determined, even after suffering such a tragic loss? It all began in the fateful year of 19-"

The tape suddenly went static, making Lucy frown sadly as Angelo put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Pal-Pack also had a deeply saddened look on his face, along with Boogie Bot and Huggy Wuggy. However, it was then that Boogie Bot noticed something.

"Look, that vent cover is loose."

"That must be our way forward," Angelo noted. "Sorry about this, Mr. Ludwig..."

Huggy grabbed the top, easily tearing off the opening to let everyone through.

"You two stay here, we'll be right back. We promise." Lucy said as she squeezed into the vent system. "Babe, can you give me a push?"

"No problem," Angelo said as he managed to get his chubby girlfriend through, followed by Pal-Pack.

The three walked through the winding tunnels until they came to a large area. They started to look around before a box fell over, scaring the living daylights out of them.

"AHHHH!" Angelo shrieked in a high-pitched voice while picking up and hugging Pal-Pack like a security blanket.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you."

The three looked up, and next to a connection point was Poppy herself.

"I was just trying to get the power back on." She said apologetically.

Lucy sighed. "It's okay. You're not the worst thing in the factory we've seen."

Pal-Pack noticed an electrical outlet by Poppy and shot out his blue hand, quickly moving his line around the power poles to redirect the power back onto the receiver.

Poppy clapped. "You're amazing, Pal-Pack!"

Pal-Pack chuckled. "Nothing to it."

"Listen, I wanted to thank you guys for freeing me. I was stuck in there for so long!" Poppy said to Lucy and Angelo. "I'd like to pay you back!"

"How about explaining what put us in a power coma when we first opened your case?" Angelo said.

"Sorry about that... But don't worry! I have an idea how to help!" She said as she climbed into the nearby vent, her voice still being heard through the inner walls. "There is a train station nearby. It needs a code, and I have it. We're gonna get out of here."

"Hey, Poppy..." Lucy spoke up as the little doll came out of the duct. "Do you know what happened to Candy Cat and Cat-Bee?"

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen any Candy Cats or Cat-Bees recently, ma'am..."

"Wait, there's more of the same living toy here?" Angelo asked.

"Poppy, we're talking about...the BIGGER ones." Pal-Pack clarified.

"The ones the size of real cats?" Poppy asked. "Sorry, no, not them either."

"Don't worry, Poppy. I'm sure they're somewhere." Lucy reassured. "Oh, by the way, I'm Lucy, this is Angelo."

Lucy, Angelo, and Pal-Pack climbed back up through the vent tunnels and back to where Huggy and Boogie Bot were.

"You're back!" Boogie Bot said in relief.

"And we've found Poppy," Pal-Pack noted. "No sign of Candy Cat or Cat-Bee…"

"But Poppy's said there's a train that can take us out of here," Angelo said.

"Without…?"

"No. We'll find them first." Lucy promised the small robot, picking him up. "Come on."

Huggy stayed behind for a bit. Angelo paused when he noticed this

"You…you okay, big guy?"

Huggy shook his head before picking up the Poppy Key, pointing to himself, the clock, and shaking his head again.

"Oh, I get it: You two don't…have the best history?" Angelo guessed, getting a nod from Huggy. "Well…I…I know it's not the same, but…Lucy's dad HATED me for years, and we managed to work it out."

Huggy seemed unsure, but spied Angelo extending a hand.

"Look. Let's just focus on going along with Poppy's plan and deal with that later, okay?"

Huggy looked at Angelo, then his hand…which he accepted, letting the young man lead him to the rest of the group.

"We'll also settle that hug topic later," Angelo added, making Huggy frown.

With their goal set, the group managed to jump another gap before they met up again with Poppy in front of a large hole.

"Wha!" The doll exclaimed when she saw Huggy. "W-What is Huggy Wuggy doing with you?!"

"You didn't notice him with us when we opened your case?" Lucy asked.

"He's with..." Poppy began but cut herself off and calmed down. "No, if he's with you, then I'm sure it's okay... Listen. I'm going to need you to trust me-"

Poppy couldn't say anything else as a pink hand suddenly grabbed her from the large hole behind her and dragged her down into the depths.

"POPPY!" Lucy cried before impulsively jumping down the hole after her.

"LUCE!" Angelo called out to his girlfriend before rapidly crossing his arms. "This is crazy, this is crazy, this is CRAZY!"

He then dove into the hole next, followed by Huggy, Boogie Bot, and Pal-Pack. The pit led into a large slide fit for everyone as they all came out into a new room. Looking back, they saw multiple slide exits, the one they came out of, having Elliot Ludwig's name above it.

"Well, that was riveting," Pal-Pack said.

"The water slides at Frankie's got nothing on that," Angelo muttered as he dusted himself off.

Pal-Pack looked up to see a gate leading into a place called the "Game Station". He then saw the nearby power room and went to get it back on as Lucy got her bearings. Soon, Pal-Pack was done, and the gate opened for the group.

The group walked down a hallway to another locked gate. A Red Hand Scanner blocked their path, and Pal-Pack shot out his red hand to scan it...only for it to be caught and smacked away by the same pink hand that caught Poppy.

"A new playmate!" A woman's voice happily gasped out. "It's been SO LONG..."

The five nervously looked up to see a giant Mommy Long Legs toy climb down. Similar to Huggy, she was much more animated than the toy and moved like a living person as she grinned at the group.

"Isn't this exciting, Poppy?" She asked, and everyone saw she had Poppy in her clutches before imitating her voice. "Very exciting, Mommy!"

"Mommy...?" Lucy whispered as recognition flashed through her eyes.

"Mommy heard that Ms. Poppy was going to just GIVE you the train code to escape. Now, how is THAT fun?" Mommy said in a playful, demented tone. "Instead, why don't we make a game out of it? The Game Station is still working. It will be just like old times."

"Great, now we're in Saw meets Sesame Street..." Angelo muttered grimly.

"And if you win all three games, I'll give you the train code!" Mommy said, mock-puppeting Poppy again. "Mommy loves that idea, Poppy! Ooh, you're going to have so much fun! Head to Musical Memory, and Mommy will get things started."

It was then that Mommy stretched her neck forward until her face was right in front of the five, her voice becoming more menacing.

"Obey the rules or I'll tear you apart and eat your insides...while you're still ALIVE."

With a wicked giggle, she climbed back up into the darkness with Poppy in tow, leaving the group of five alone.

A pregnant silence overtook the group before Angelo finally broke it.

"Well, I pissed myself..."

"Y-you guys think she took Candy Cat and Cat-Bee too?" Boogie Bot fearfully asked.

"I don't think...I know so." Lucy said worriedly. "We have no choice, we have to play her game."

The five went through the gate as it opened automatically for them, seeing a big lever that Huggy took it upon himself to pull, opening the way to the Game Station as Lucy felt a flood of memories return to her.

"This place has seen better days..."

Chapter Text

Lucy, Angelo, Pal-Pack, Huggy Wuggy, and Boogie Bot looked around the abandoned Gamestation. Everything was old and covered in webs. Lucy couldn't help but feel her heart ache at the sorry sight.

"You gonna be okay, babe?" Angelo asked, squeezing his girlfriend's hand.

"Yeah, it's just…so many memories are coming back to me now."

The group walked up to the platform with the train beside it. There was a nearby lever that had a blinking red light above it that Huggy yanked down, causing the Playtime Co. Jingle to sound off before a voice sounded out on the PA system.

"Hi, kids! Welcome to the Game Station! I'm Stella, and we've got three super-duper fun games to play! These little tests show us just how crazy strong and smart you are! Follow Mommy Long Legs down the stairs, and we'll start by playing Musical Memory! See you in a bit!"

Lucy smiled. "I wonder what happened to Miss Greyber..."

A hatch that had 'Musical Memory' and a picture of Bunzo Bunny on it flashed brightly before opening up, leading into a downstairs room that the group headed into. They found the main door was blocked, but a large hole in the wall provided a detour.

Making their way through, they found a hole in the ground that led through a tunnel. The hole leading out was a tight fit for Lucy, but Angelo and Huggy helped push her through. The group soon found themselves in a place called the 'Molding Room'.

"I recall this room. This is where they made the hands for the Grab-Packs." Pal-Pack said.

"And from the looks of things, it seems to still be operational!" Boogie Bot realized.

Huggy noticed one of the machine pipes was broken loose and quickly bent it back into place before sealing it for good measure, nodding his head with a proud smile. The group then pressed the big red buttons in the correct order to make a new Grab-Pack hand.

There were a few slight hiccups, such as needing to install a fresh new bucket of pain into the machine, but things went smoothly for the most part, and a new green Grab-Pack hand was created, which Pal-Pack took.

"Thanks to my construction, I can interface with any Grab-Pack I choose." He explained as he swapped his red hand for the new green hand. "And this one allows me to store and transfer electricity!"

To demonstrate, the little robot hero shot his new green hand at a nearby outlet before turning to a receiver and transferring the electricity into it, allowing the group to head through a conveyor belt door, allowing them to arrive on the other side of the blocked gate.

"Hey, look! Bunzo Bunny!" Lucy beamed as she noticed a nearby cutout with the cymbal-banging rabbit as she pressed the big red button.

"I know when your birthday is~!" Bunzo's pre-recorded voice sang.

"Okay, smarty pants, what?" Angelo smirked, pressing the button again.

"May 5th!"

"Whoa...that's right..."

"That is an impressive AI," Pal-Pack muttered.

The group headed into the Musical Memory room, where there were three large conjoined screens surrounding them.

"Alright, Mommy Long Legs. I'm here. What do you need us to do?" Lucy said out loud as the platform behind the group suddenly lowered and the screens turned on around them, beginning to show a tutorial of how to play Musical Memory.

"Welcome to Musical Memory! This advanced memory and cognitive recognition test is designed to stimulate several segments of the brain, allowing us to see how quickly and efficiently your brain works. A sequence of colors will be shown, and you must recreate the exact sequence using the buttons around you. Bunzo will slowly lower towards you. When you complete a color pattern correctly, Bunzo will rise back up. When you input a pattern incorrectly, Bunzo will lower towards you faster. If Bunzo reaches you, your test is over."

"Bunzo?" Angelo asked before everyone looked up to see a large version of Bunzo Bunny hanging above them, banging his cymbals together slowly. "Oh...Bunzo..."

"The test will become more difficult as it continues, with longer patterns in quicker succession. That's all. Good luck!"

The screens all turned off before an observation room above brightened up, revealing Mommy Long Legs watching the group.

"Oh, isn't it amazing? Mommy hasn't seen the place up and running in years! Mommy can only imagine how excited Bunzo must be. It's been such a long time since he's been able to play, to cheer, to eat..."

Everyone looked up to see Bunzo lowering down until he was right above them. He looked rather apologetic as he banged his cymbals together.

"Oh! That's the dinner bell! Good luck."

"S-Sorry, Mommy'll eat me alive if I don't cooperate." Bunzo apologized as he was pulled back up.

"This seems excessive," Angelo said, looking to his girlfriend. "Did kids really play this?"

Lucy bit her lip. She saw how worried Bunzo was, as if he didn't want to hurt them but had no choice but to act as the dangerous obstacle for this game. She had to put her thoughts on the backburner as the game began.

YELLOW

Pal-Pack hit that, no problem.

YELLOW, RED

Again, no problem for Pal-Pack.

YELLOW, RED, GREEN

YELLOW, RED, GREEN, GREEN

BLUE, RED, RED, GREEN, VIOLET

"Wait, Violet?!" Lucy asked, then spied another button. "Oh."

She hurriedly pressed it when it came time…only for more symbols to be added. A snowflake, a division sign, infinity, white, black; all around and even on the roof.

"YOU EXPECTED KIDS TO PULL THIS OFF?!" Lucy and Angelo called out as a new sequence began:

WHITE, #, BLACK, GREEN, &, *

Huggy, thanks to his height, managed to hit the Symbols, with Angelo quickly hitting the White and Black buttons.

"I feel I should be feeling something, but I'll worry about it later!"

!, YELLOW, GREEN, RED, %, WHITE, , ORANGE

The group managed that one before the next one came.

YELLOW, %, GREEN, #, RED, &, BLACK, $, WHITE, VIOLET, BLUE, &, , , ORANGE

Bunzo was getting closer and closer…and then the machine went haywire, spamming colors and symbols at speeds NO ONE could decipher.

Everyone heard the clanging of symbols and the whirring of a rope as they missed the right sequence.

"THERE!" Boogie Bot called out, spying an Emergency symbol. Desperate and seeing no other way out, Pal-Pack shot out his blue hand and slapped an emergency panic button, causing everything to stop with Bunzo right above Huggy's head since he was the tallest.

"Oh... it broke. That's no fun." Mommy said in a disappointed tone. "For doing such a splendid job, Mommy has decided to give you... part of the code for the Train."

"Splendid, my ass!" Angelo barked. "What kind of game is this?! It's almost like you WANTED us to lose!"

"Now is that any way to talk to Mommy?" Mommy chided, but there was a hint of anger in her tone. "As a bonus, I'll also give you back one of your little friends. Here you go."

A meow of alarm was heard as Candy Cat was dropped. She landed right on Bunzo, causing the string holding him up to snap off as he fell with her. Huggy quickly held out his arms to catch them both.

"Lucy! Angie! You're both okay!" Candy Cat cheered. "I don't know what happened. When I woke up, I was in that crazy lady's claws!"

"Mommy was hoping the game could last a little longer... It's okay, though. Mommy knows other ways to play with you..."

"Why does that not fill me with confidence..." Angelo muttered.

After making sure Candy Cat and Bunzo were alright and uninjured, the group saw that Candy Cat had part of the train code taped to her tail. As they prepared to walk back to the Game Station, Bunzo suddenly fell on his face.

"You okay, Bunzo?" Lucy asked as she helped the bunny up.

"Yes, Miss Lucy. I'm fine. I guess just all those years of hanging down from that rope made me lose proper balance. But I still kind of know how to do proper movements, so I'll try not to fall over again."

"Just remember, one foot in front of the other," Pal-Pack advised.

The group began to cross the bridge back over to the entrance, but as they were halfway across, it suddenly gave out, leading everyone to fall down. Luckily, it was a small drop, so it did nothing more than startle them.

"Great, now what?" Angelo complained.

"Huggy could help us climb up there," Lucy said. "We can retrace our steps back that way."

"Why not just use that vent system?" Bunzo asked, pointing to a nearby open vent.

"Bunzo...do you see how big I am?" Lucy pointed out as she poked her belly for emphasis. "I'd get stuck tighter than a pickle jar top."

"Oh, right...guess we're going the long way."

"Hmmm..." Pal-Pack hummed. "I believe there might be something of note where that vent leads. I'll take Candy Cat, Boogie Bot, and Bunzo with me through it. Huggy, you, Lucy, and Angelo head back the way we came in."

Huggy nodded and helped carry Lucy and Angelo back onto the platform and back the way they came. The four smaller toys went through the vent. As they made their way through, they heard trashing sounds in the distance with muffled screams of anger.

"I think Mommy's mad..." Bunzo gulped.

The four toys picked up the pace before almost falling into a warehouse. Pal-Pack stopped before he repositioned himself and jumped down, rolling just before hitting the ground to absorb the impact. Candy Cat landed on her feet, and Boogie Bot grappled down with Bunzo, holding onto him as they got a look at their new surroundings.

"Look at how big this place is," Bunzo said as you three began walking throughout. Shelves stocked throughout with old and rejected toy concepts.

"Oh, I remember some of these." Pal-Pack chuckled. "Sir Poops-a-lot was definitely my favorite. Though I understand why he was rejected."

"Ewwwww..." Candy Cat gagged. "He ain't making the kind of Tootsie Rolls I like!"

"Where did the days go..." Boogie Bot sighed as he looked around. "So many good toys gone to waste."

"And some so ridiculous, they couldn't make it on the market," Bunzo added.

"Yeah, this place gets boring after a while." Came a fairly deep voice.

"Who's there?!" Boogie Bot cried as the four toys looked around.

"Don't worry, it's just me."

The four suddenly looked to see a rather large version of Bron the Dinosaur coming from behind one of the shelves.

"Bron?" Pal-Pack asked in surprise. "Is this where you've been all this time?"

Bron nodded. "Yeah, I tried leaving myself, but the lift out of here won't support me."

To prove his point, Bron led the four toys up the stairs to the lift in question. Pal-Pack inspected the device before putting a finger to his chin as he came up with an idea.

"I believe I have an idea of how we can get you out of here. But before we leave on the train at the Game Station, we have some friends who need our help. Would you be willing to help us?"

"Yeah, sure!" Bron smiled. "Mommy Long Legs came down here once, and she is NOT a friendly fellow."

"Tell me about it..." Bunzo muttered sadly. "She was so much nicer way back then..."

To help Bron, Pal-Pack, and Bunzo knock over one of the shelves, Bron dragged it up to where the lift was, and with Boogie Bots' help, they laid it up at an angle to form a makeshift ramp for Bron to walk up. It took a little while but eventually, they were able to successfully pull it off.

After a bit of puzzle-solving, the four were able to make it back to the main hub of the Game Station, where Lucy, Angelo, and Huggy were waiting for them.

"No way! Bron too?" Lucy asked in excitement.

"Huh! You're a big girl!" Bron noted as he looked at Lucy's big, round body. "Are you eatin' healthy?"

Lucy giggled. "More than you think!"

"We pulled a lever to lead us to the next game, but we wanted to wait for you guys first," Angelo said.

"Aww, that's sweet of ya!" Bunzo beamed.

The group headed down into the second shaft that was labeled "Whack-A-Wuggy", which made Huggy feel rather uncomfortable as they stepped into the next game room. Fortunately, they didn't have to take any detours this time but once they were inside, the gate slammed shut behind them.

"Oh, Hershey's..." Candy Cat gulped.

"Hey, Bunzo, any tips you can give us on this game?" Angelo asked.

"All I know about it is that it's apparently very self-explanatory," Bunzo said.

Lucy then noticed they were short a member of the party. Turning around, she saw Huggy, rubbing his arms to calm down and looking elsewhere.

"Huggy?"

The toy turned to her.

"You can stay out of this one," Lucy suggested, shocking the toy. "I can tell it's bothering you."

Huggy's widened eyes closed, then returned to normal as he shook his head. He patted Lucy on the end and then his own chest, before standing as proudly as he could. The display made Lucy smile warmly.

"Alright, everyone, I've got a plan," Angelo said as he got everyone's attention. "If we split up sectors to each of us, then we can basically guarantee a fair win in this game."

"You got it, Boss!" Bunzo saluted.

"Let's do it!" Boogie Bot cheered.

The gang all split up the sectors, and once the tutorial was over, Mommy Long Legs revealed herself in another window.

"The toys in this game used to have strings attached to them, so they could be pulled back when they got too close to the children." She then held up a bunch of strings in her hands, painting a clear picture that the group didn't have that luxury. "Hmmm...Have fun~"

"Alright, guys, go time!" Lucy said as they all nodded and stood by their holes. Smaller versions of Huggy Wuggy slowly began coming out of them, and the group managed to successfully hit them as they came. But soon they started coming out faster and faster, making it harder for everyone to keep up.

Soon, Angelo noticed the Mini-Huggies on his end stopped, but the others were still wacking away at theirs. He stepped back as you scanned every last hole, all of them being empty... except the one right in front of him. His eyes widened as a black Mini-Huggy practically shot out of the hole like a bullet, slammed into him, and sent him flying across the sand. It then grabbed the sides of his face, attempting to snap his neck.

"Get off me, you little hellspawn!"

"Angie!" Lucy called out in horror, but was still held back by the Mini-Huggies coming after her.

"Hold on!" Bunzo cried as he threw one of his cymbals like Captain America throwing his shield.

The Mini-Huggy was beaned upside the head, letting go of Angelo as he let out a deep sigh of relief and felt his face and neck to make sure they were still attached. Gratefully, he turned and gave Bunzo a thumbs-up.

"Thanks for the save, buddy!"

Thankfully, it seemed that was the last of the Mini-Huggy onslaught as Mommy let out a sound of disappointment.

"Oh. You did it." She then switched to a cheery tone. "Hurray! Mommy is so... Proud of you! Here, Mommy has another hint for you. And your other missing little friend as well!"

The group looked up to her, then to a newly opened door with one of her hands holding out Cat-Bee, who had a piece of paper in her mouth. She quickly ran over to them and leaped into Angelo's lap, and started talking after letting go of the paper.

"Oh, Miss Lucy! Mr. Angelo! I'm so glad to see you guys. I didn't know what was going to happen to me."

"Yay! We're all back together again!" Candy Cat cheered as she and Cat-Bee danced around each other.

"Not yet. We still need to rescue Poppy." Lucy said.

"Only one game left to play. Hmm... Sad. Mommy was hoping you'd stay here forever." Mommy said. "Though it's never too late to change your mind."

The group looked at the door Cat-Bee had come from to see that it was open wide. After gathering up their things, they all walked through it. After a short walk through some tight halls that appeared a little tight for Lucy and Bron, the group came to this massive circular stairwell.

"Well this is great. How are we going to get up there? No offense, Bron, but I don't think anyone can get you up there." Angelo said as he turned to the Dino.

"How about I head back and see if I can get back to the Game Station the way we came in, and I'll meet up with you there."

"I can help carry Miss Lucy up. After all, despite my size, I have been tested to be able to carry a literal ton, and despite your...girth, you weigh much less than that." Pal-Pack suggested.

Lucy blushed and giggled. "You sure know how to sweet-talk a big girl."

"Just go easy on it. Lucy is MY girl, remember." Angelo warned.

Pal-Pack chuckled. "Wouldn't dream of it, Mr. Angelo."

"Hey, Cat-Bee and I will stick with Bron." Candy Cat said. "Speaking from experience, it's not a good idea to go alone."

Lucy nodded. "You guys just watch each other's backs, okay?"

"We will, ma'am! Us toys stick together!" Bron proudly said as he and the two cats turned back.

Boogie Bot shot one of his arms up to a pipe at the top of the stairwell as Bunzo grabbed onto him, Lucy doing the same with Pal-Pack.

As for Angelo and Huggy, they traveled up the old and in many places broken stairwell.

"This is giving me flashbacks…" Angelo sighed, spying Huggy's intrigued look.

"You ever hear of Franky's Fruit Flakes?" the young man asked, Huggy shaking his head. "Well, they were my favorite cereal growing up. My brother Lucky and I blew our allowances and wasted so many weekend mornings watching cartoons while eating them…Anyways, they had this contest; if you found a VHS in one of the boxes, you got to fly out to their Parkour Palace and compete for a cash prize. About a year before I met Lucy, Lucky and I won a chance…It's too long a story to explain, but…lets just say it wasn't like we thought it would be."

Huggy sensed there was more to this story, but also realized that whatever happened was probably the reason it was no wonder Angelo seemed to be just… accepting the craziness of Playtime Co.

"Lucky managed to get me out, but…I haven't seen or heard from him since. Not sure I want to, after what he did.

Eventually, the six managed to make it to the top and continued to walk until they came to a set of tracks and gates. Shortly beforehand, they heard some sort of ruckus in the distance but couldn't tell what it was. However, Huggy could, and a look of guilt crossed over his face.

The group of five found a blocked-off exit, which Pal-Pack, Bunzo, and Boogie Bot were able to just squeeze under, but the hole was too small for Lucy, Angelo, and Huggy.

"Now what?" Angelo complained.

Suddenly, the sound of an opening door caught the three's attention, and they went back to a hall they had passed to see a silhouette of someone very familiar.

"Huggy!?" Lucy gasped.

"No, Huggy's right here!" Angelo said.

The silhouette stepped closer and into the light to reveal not Huggy, but his other half.

"Oh, Kissy Missy?"

Kissy looked at the three, her gaze on Huggy in particular. The two giant toys then reached their arms through the gate and gently touched them together. Sad expressions crossed both of them as Lucy and Angelo looked worried between the two.

After parting with Huggy, Kissy looked to a lever on her side and pulled it. The door began to open, and when it was large enough, she stepped under and over it before walking past the three and around the corner.

"I think she wants us to follow her," Lucy said.

The three followed her at a distance as she went to the wooden boards. She then proceeded to tear a couple clean off of their spot, before turning around, and as she walked by, around the corner, and disappeared.

"What's with her, Huggy?" Angelo asked.

Huggy said nothing, for he had no voice, but he did shake his head sadly. Using the hole Kissy had made, the three were able to get by and continue on the path, eventually coming across a hole in the ground with familiar factory tiles underneath, where they jumped down.

Lucy then noticed the hall covered in holes with the familiar Mini-Huggies peeking out. She, Angelo, and Huggy proceeded to walk down the hall and soon found themselves back in the Game Station, where Pal-Pack, Bunzo, Boogie Bot, Bron, Candy Cat, and Cat-Bee were waiting for them.

"We were wondering how you'd get past," Pal-Pack said.

"Yeah, sorry about that. We had a run-in with Kissy Missy. Luckily, she seems to be on our side." Angelo said.

"We pulled the lever for the final game; Statues!" Bron said, pointing to the third and final hatch with a picture of PJ Pug-a-Pillar.

"Awwww, I loved that guy!" Lucy gushed happily.

"Really? I always thought he was kinda creepy." Angelo noted.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions." Pal-Pack shrugged.

As the group arrived in the final area, it looked like some sort of obstacle course. The tutorial began playing as everyone listened, but then a weird and demented face came out of the wall next to the monitor. Everyone was alarmed as Boogie Bot hid behind Lucy and Cat-Bee hid behind Angelo, Bron lightly jumped back, Bunzo tripped over Candy Cat, and both fell over.

"Oh, dear..." Pal-Pack muttered.

"It was always so sad to see the kids go..." Mommy said from the observation room. "They called me 'Mommy' because I was the closest thing they ever had to one. But they'd come for games, and never come back. They left Mommy to die alone. Mommy didn't deserve that. But you? You worked here. So if anyone deserves to die alone, it's you."

"Mommy, wait! Just a second!" Lucy called out as the living toy paused. "I don't know what happened here, I honestly don't! And I'm sorry for that! D-do you remember me? Lucy Nadine?"

Mommy turned, squinted, as if trying to recall something. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth, a smile on it…

"No."

And with that, she scampered away. The game began.

With the lights flickering off, everyone zoomed forward, with Pal-Pack and the toys reaching the end of the maze just as the lights turned on. Lucy and Angelo paused as PJ crawled forward.

"I'm gonna lick you!" He said in a cute, dopey voice.

"I'd rather you didn't," Lucy admitted, then shot Angelo a look. "Not a word."

The young man kept his mouth shut.

With the lights off, Pal-Pack used his arms to swing Lucy and then Angelo forward to the rail walk. Lucy grabbed Boogie Bot and Cat-Bee while Angelo carried Candy-Cat as the lights returned. When the lights were off, they hurried over.

"Grab on, quick!" Pal-Pack called, everyone but Bron managing to do so JUST as the lights came back on, PJ was right on their tails. Luckily, the lights went off, so the robot swung as quickly as he could.

Bron simply walked across, no problem, which was good because…

"Uh, where's the exit?!" Angelo cried when Pal-Pack came across a destroyed finish line. "Oh crap, we're trapped in here with that thing!"

Everyone turned to see PJ Pug-a-Pillar making his way toward them. Desperately, they tried to find some method of escape, but found nothing.

"Pssst! Over here!"

Everyone turned to see that the observation room had its window smashed, courtesy of Poppy and Kissy. Huggy, thinking quickly, grabbed Lucy and Angelo and tossed them over, Kissy catching them and placing them gently down as Poppy pointed over to a large hole.

"Everyone down that hole! PJ won't follow us down there!"

The hole was fairly big; even Bron was able to make it through. PJ Pug-A-Pillar whined in sadness as Lucy gave him a look of pity.

"D-Don't worry! We'll come back for you!"

"Only you, Lucy..." Angelo sighed but smiled all the same.

"How did you escape, Poppy?" Pal-Pack asked.

"Kissy came to bust me out. It was touch and go for a while, though." The doll explained.

"Where did you go? The game is over, you won! Come back, and Mommy will give you the code. Pinky promise!" Mommy called out.

"Don't listen to her!" Poppy hissed. "She's losing and she knows it!"

"Mommy knows the game is really hard, but Mommy just decided you won!" Mommy giggled, but there was a hint of madness to it. "Come back!"

"No way, Betty Spaghetti!" Angelo snapped. "Hey, Poppy, do you have the final part of the train code?"

Poppy nodded. "Yeah! Kissy and I found it when she broke me free."

"Mommy doesn't like cheaters! The rules are so simple! You die, Mommy gets to watch!" Mommy snapped before breaking into a mad laugh. "COME BACK TO ME!"

"That just inclines us not to agree with her requests." Pal-Pack grimly said.

"Oh man, she's gonna eat us alive, feet first!" Bunzo panicked.

"HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME! I WILL FIND YOU! I WILL FIND YOU! And when I do..." Mommy sang out, furiously. "Where are you~? WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Everyone shivered as it was clear as day Mommy had finally lost her nerve. After countless puzzles, they were walking down a metal hallway when the floor suddenly gave out underneath all of them.

"CRAAAAAAAAAAP!" Angelo screamed.

Huggy and Kissy quickly shielded Lucy, Angelo, and Poppy with their bodies.

"Oof!" Bunzo grunted as he plopped on the ground. "Thank goodness we don't have bones..."

"I dunno, I think I sprained a joint..." Pal-Pack groaned.

"Thank goodness Cat-Bee can fly...and I always land on my feet!" Candy Cat said.

"Is everyone okay?" Lucy asked worriedly as Huggy and Kissy weakly picked themselves up and nodded their heads.

"Thank goodness..." Poppy sighed in relief. "It's pretty dark. Boogie Bot, can you light up your screen?"

"You got it!"

Boogie Bot upped the brightness on his screen to act as a flashlight, and he rolled ahead a little bit to see a rather large shaft with a vent system the group could access. But before he could shoot his arm up there, Mommy Long Legs came tumbling down, screaming in fury.

"BOOGIE BOT!" Bunzo said as he yanked him backwards.

"Uh-Oh..." Cat-Bee whimpered.

"I asked you to play fair. And you CHEATED! I HATE Cheaters!" Mommy roared. "Now... we are going to play one last GAME!"

As she said this, her fingers elongated into crooked claws, her pupils widened until they covered her entire eyes, and her hair looked much more disheveled.

"Uh...what kind of game?" Lucy asked fearfully.

"It's called...Hide...and...SEEK!"

Chapter Text

This was not good.

Those were the thoughts running through Lucy, Angelo, and their toy companions' collective heads as Mommy loomed over them, her eyes wide and deranged as she looked less like a toy and more like a demon from Hell.

"S-So should we?" Cat-Bee asked nervously.

"10...9...8...7..." Mommy began counting down creepily.

"SCATTER!" Bunzo shouted.

The doors behind the group opened as they bolted through and down the stairs. Huggy picked up Lucy while Kissy carried Angelo, Poppy riding on the pink Huggies' shoulder. As everyone split up, Lucy, Angelo, Huggy, Kissy, and Poppy arrived at a gate with four open levers.

"Should we go inside?!" Angelo asked hurriedly.

Bunzo, Boogie Bot, and Pal-Pack suddenly ran out, the latter two grappling up to a hole in the ceiling as Bunzo hung onto them. Mommy Long Legs suddenly came running out of the dark. Huggy quickly grabbed a nearby piece of metal and threw it right at Mommy, before running off and diving down a hole, followed by Lucy, Angelo, Poppy, and Kissy.

Hiding in a corner, the five sat in silence. It sounded like Mommy Long Legs was running by while maniacally laughing. When it seemed the coast was clear, they took the opportunity to examine the room and almost immediately noticed a large red sign that said 'EMERGENCY EXIT' on it.

"Yes! A way out!" Angelo said in relief.

Huggy moved to try and pull the lever down, but it wouldn't budge, and sadly shook his head.

"No!" Poppy cursed. "Now what do we do?"

"We should probably try to find a way to get this door open..." Lucy muttered. "I just hope the others are okay."

With Pal-Pack's group, Boogie Bot was using his screen as a flashlight to lead the way. They had managed to hide from Mommy by climbing up to the hole in the ceiling, but had to watch as Lucy, Angelo, Huggy, Kissy, and Poppy were nearly jumped by Mommy, leading to Huggy needing to knock her back by throwing a sheet of metal at her.

"We should've done something to help..." Bunzo said, feeling guilty.

"There was nothing we could do in this situation." Pal-Pack pointed out logically. "We can only hope for the best and stay alive to reunite with everyone later."

The three dropped back down after making sure Mommy wasn't nearby and made their way around, eventually coming across a still-warm furnace.

"What do you think this was used for?" Boogie Bot said as the three looked at it before approaching a doorway.

"I don't know, but I think it was used to open this gate," Bunzo said as the trio walked over a small catwalk.

They then came to a small area covered in spider webs. Bunzo shuddered at the thought of where they came from as Pal-Pack shot out his blue hand to grab a lever that was by a large gear and pull it. Before they could make their way back, Mommy Long Legs came up from one of the gaps.

"Oh, chutes and ladders! Run!" Bunzo cried.

The trio ran back the way they came, but some of the areas were blocked by webs and rubble, so they were forced to take different routes, eventually leading to a bunch of sewer tunnels.

"Ugh! I know I'm waterproof, but this is ridiculous!" Boogie Bot grunted.

"You think you have it bad? Imagine what this will do to my fur!" Bunzo complained.

"We must keep moving!" Pal-Pack ordered, partly because he didn't want to wonder why this water was red.

With no other choice, the three living toys ran through, avoiding the hands of Mommy as she tried to make grabs for them with her long reach. Eventually, they came across a massive shaft with a pipe at the top. Boogie Bot and Pal-Pack latched onto it and the two lifted themselves and Bunzo up before coming across a large gap.

"Well, no time like the present!" Bunzo exclaimed as he made a leaping jump over the gap, followed by Pal-Pack and Boogie Bot swinging across.

Soon, they came out of a vent and landed in front of Lucy, Angelo, Poppy, Huggy, and Kissy, who were relieved to see the three of them alright.

"Guys! You're alive!" Boogie Bot said in relief as he hugged Huggy's leg.

"Glad to see you guys managed to make it out." Angelo chuckled.

Bunzo looked ashamed. "We're SO sorry for leaving you guys behind!"

Lucy just smiled reassuringly and hugged Bunzo close to make him feel better, the little birthday bunny hugging back after melting into the soft plush chub of her frame.

"Come on, we need to move!" Poppy said urgently.

Huggy and Kissy nodded as they opened the nearby door, and the group quickly rushed down the hallway.

With Bron, Candy Cat, and Cat-Bee, the three had split off from the others after jumping down the stairwell. With all the speed he could muster, Bron took off after landing and frantically looked for a place to hide.

"Careful, Bron! I'm trying to stay hooked to you!" Candy Cat said as she held onto Bron's neck as they suddenly burst through a wall. "I can't fly like Cat-Bee can!"

"Sorry, I'm trying not to get torn apart by Mommy here!" Bron said, lightly disoriented from smashing his head right into a brick wall.

"Well, you're doing a terrible job of it."

The three paled as they turned around to see Mommy Long Legs right behind them. Bron looked around for anywhere to escape as Candy Cat and Cat-Bee cowered together on his back.

"W-Well, I'm not well-suited for hiding!" Bron said.

Mommy just put her hand on her forehead with a loud, frustrated sigh and walked away, leaving the trio flabbergasted.

"Well, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, BOOK IT!" Candy Cat shouted as Bron continued to the best of his ability to run away.

After running for what felt like fifteen minutes and accidentally smashing into countless walls in the dark, the three finally busted through a wall that led into a hall with a blue hand scanner at one end of it, and a closed gate at the other end.

"Oh, honeysuckles! And us without a Grab-Pack hand!" Cat-Bee cursed.

"Guys!"

However, as luck would have it, the rest of the gang came running down the hallway, all of them relieved to see the three okay.

"You're alive!" Candy Cat cried happily.

"We can't get past this gate!" Bron said.

"Allow me!" Pal-Pack said as he shot out his blue hand onto the scanner.

"Alright, the gang's back together again..." Lucy sighed in relief.

"But what about-" Poppy began, only to be interrupted by a wicked laughter. "Oh no..."

Everyone turned to see Mommy crawling toward them at full speed. Luckily, Pal-Pack finished scanning the door as it began to open.

"Everyone! Hurry!" Lucy ordered urgently.

The smaller toys went first, squeezing under the door, followed by Angelo lying flat on his stomach and quickly crawling over. Soon, Bron and Lucy were able to make it under and both Huggy and Kissy followed.

After everyone made it into the next room, they saw a lever and Angelo quickly pulled down on it, praying to any god that might be watching that it would close the door behind them or open another for them to escape through. However, Mommy quickly made her way through and pounced, Huggy pulling Angelo out of the way just in time.

Everyone backed away as Mommy turned to attack them, only to be held back by something. She then turned to see that her hand had been caught in a massive grinder, which was slowly pulling her in. The once-terrifying spider woman toy let out a terrified scream as she tried to free herself.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! HE'LL MAKE ME PART OF HIM!" She shrieked in raw fear as she ripped her arm out, only for her leg to get caught and pulled in. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

Hearing the desperation in the toy's voice, Lucy's mind suddenly flashed back to her times at the Game Station:

Mommy catching her and one of the kids when they got scared on the monkey bars and lost their grip, cushioning their fall.

The two of them stretching together, and with the kids.

Mommy surprising Lucy by wall crawling…and then doing the same to Leith Pierre.

Lucy touching up on Mommy's makeup with some of her art supplies.

Mommy lecturing some of the rowdier children for getting rough while Lucy put band-aids on their bruises.

And then, the final memory before Lucy had gone on vacation: Mommy wrapping her in a blanket and giving her a cup of hot cocoa while they cleaned up at the end of a long, cold day.

The loving and caring Mommy may not have been there anymore, but seeing her former colleague and friend in such a state of primal fear?

"NO!"

Lucy rushed forward and grabbed Mommy's remaining hand, pulling with all her might to prevent her torso from being crushed by the grinder.

"Miss Lucy, what are you doing?!" Bron exclaimed.

"Don't do it!" Poppy cried. "She tried to kill us! Let her die!"

"I don't know what the heck happened here or why Mommy is so mad...BUT NOBODY DESERVES TO DIE LIKE THIS!"

Huggy, remembering when Lucy saved him even after he had tried to kill her and the others, quickly moved to help pull Mommy free. Angelo, despite his mind telling him no, quickly moved and pulled the lever down to stop the grinder as the rest of the toys were too stunned to move.

Thanks to the grinder being stopped, Lucy and Huggy were able to pull Mommy free as she choked and sobbed. She had lost her arm and her leg to the grinder, but the rest of her was intact.

"Why would you even do that?" Poppy asked. "What if she just tries to kill us now that she's safe?"

"Then you can throw me at her," Lucy said bluntly. "But Mommy? You? Huggy? Kissy? Candy, Bee, and Boogie? You're all living, thinking souls. And I can't in good conscience let any of you or anyone else die, regardless of the danger."

The big girl's response struck a chord with Poppy, her eyes widening in shock as if she was reminded of something.

"That's my girl..." Angelo said with a warm, proud smile on his face.

"Bunzo, hand me that cable," Lucy said as he nervously complied, tossing it over as she got to work.

Lucy took the cable and cut it in half with one of the sharp parts of the grinder, noticing one of Mommy's shoes was still sticking out of the machine. She pulled it off of what was left of her leg, and managed to attach it to one part of the cable, and attached the other half of the cable to a hole where Mommy's lost leg used to be.

"Pal-Pack, do you still have the red Grab-Pack hand?"

Pal-Pack nodded as he opened his chassis, which had a storage space for spare Grab-Pack hands and other essentials, as he tossed the red hand to Lucy

"Do you think any of you could possibly look around for a first aid kit? I'd appreciate it a ton."

Huggy nodded and walked over, pulling a white case with a red plus on it off a slot in the wall, and placed it right next to Lucy. After she finished attaching the other part of the cable to Mommy's missing arm hole, she began working on cleaning her up.

"Why...?"

"Why what?" Lucy asked.

"Why...why save me?" Mommy choked out. "After everything I did to you?"

"Because..." Lucy smiled sadly. "I couldn't leave my bestie hanging."

Bestie.

(Art by Rainbow Neko on Tumblr)

That one word triggered something in Mommy's memories: Memories of a sweet, young teenage girl who adored working at the Game Station with her and the kids, even if she didn't know the whole truth. A girl who helped her accessorize and have fun beyond just being with the kids, having bits of her lunch with her, and sharing her own toy ideas.

The young woman in front of her was certainly older and…well, rounder…but her eyes. Her eyes had that warmth and kindness Mommy had adored, accompanied by a smile that, looking at it?

"L-L-L-Lucy?" Mommy managed, praying this was real and yet a dream all the same: Had…had she just tried to KILL her friend?!

Lucy's own eyes watered at the hearing of her name, and she held back a sob before opening her arms for a hug.

"Hi, Webby." She managed. "I-I know it's been…"

Mommy closed the distance with a hug, the two smiling and crying as they realized what was happening.

"I missed you so much!"

"I missed you, too!"

Despite all the horror, the smaller toys couldn't help but coo at the scene.

"Are…Angelo, are you crying?" Boogie Bot asked the other human in the group.

The young man, fighting back his own tears, nodded with a whimper.

"Lucy...look at you!" Mommy giggled as she poked Lucy's belly, making her laugh. "Your parents must make sure you're REALLY well-fed!"

"Yeah, I….I did get a little indulgent in college." Lucy admitted.

"I'll say!" Mommy teased as she played with Lucy's belly, making it wobble and jiggle. "Jelly Belly Lucy! Now wouldn't that be a fun toy!"

Lucy guffawed. "Mommy! Stop! It tickles~!"

Poppy still looked greatly unsure as she looked at Kissy, who just gave a gentle nod before the doll let out a sigh.

"I don't know how she was able to do it... But, I guess it's better than my original plan."

After Mommy and Lucy finished goofing around, the latter helped the former to her feet as they turned to the rest of the group.

"I still need answers to what's been happening at Playtime. Why did everyone disappear? Why did the toys come to life?" Lucy said with utmost seriousness but a gentle and firm tone. "And when this is over...I swear to high heavens you all will be free! And you will be treated like actual people!"

This left the toys speechless and deeply moved as Angelo smiled proudly at his girlfriend, going over to embrace her and gaze lovingly at her eyes.

"Babe...you have no idea how hot you sound right now."

Lucy blushed as her boyfriend gave her a tender, loving kiss on the lips, making Mommy giggle and Poppy to just sheepishly laugh while Pal-Pack gave off a playful chuckle.

"Come on, let's get outta here," Bron said as the group left.

What none of them realized was a metallic skeletal hand with wire-thin claws and bits of human bone and flesh intertwined with reaching out to drag out the parts Mommy had lost, retreating back into the darkness with them...

Everyone returned to the Game Station to find PJ Pug-a-Pillar waiting there, having left the Statues room and having hoped to meet up with Lucy again. The rotund woman smiled and petted the dog caterpillar toy as Poppy still looked wary around Mommy, but sighed as she gestured for Lucy, Angelo, and Pal-Pack to join her on the train.

"What about everyone else?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Kissy will lead them to where they need to go," Poppy reassured as she began to start up the train. "But you three need to come with me; we need to head deeper into the factory."

"Wait, wait, wait…Deeper?" Lucy asked. "There's MORE than the Gamestation?"

Poppy sighed. "All will be explained when we get where we need to go and do what we need to do. All I can tell you is this: what we're about to see started off with good intentions, and we DO have allies waiting for us….But things have gone horribly wrong."

"Poppy," Pal-Pack said, getting the attention of all. "You can give me clearance to know. Mr. Ludwig DID leave you as my foremost commander in case of his death…after Lucy and Angelo, that is."

That got the humans' attention and concern.

"When we get closer, I will," Poppy promised. "I think it'd be better if you saw and then learn."

After getting the train started, the four headed off, waving the rest of the group farewell for now.

"Don't worry! We'll meet back up with you!" Lucy promised.

"Be safe!" Boogie Bot called out.

"Don't get into trouble now!" Mommy said.

"Believe us! Trouble tends to find us first!" Angelo joked.

As the train went down the track, Poppy pulled a switch to change tracks to take them further into the factory.

"Poppy, I don't wish to sound worried, but are you sure the others can't join us where we're going?" Pal-Pack asked.

"Don't worry, I promise that they will catch up. It's better to scope the area before they wander down here with us." Poppy replied. "Besides, I know some people who can show us around. Just wait until you meet-"

Suddenly, a red alarm began blaring as the train began speeding up.

"Uh, guys!" Angelo worriedly called out. "I don't think we're supposed to be going this fast!"

"I think you're right! Someone pull the brakes! Quick!" Poppy urged.

Lucy grabbed the brakes and pulled with all her might, but despite her best efforts, it wouldn't budge. Realizing there was no way to stop the train, Lucy did the only thing she could think of...

"EVERYONE, HOLD ON TIGHT!"

Grabbing Angelo, Pal-Pack, and Poppy, Lucy held them all close to her and prayed to god that she could cushion the incoming crash.

"Guess it was a good thing I'm fatter than a beanbag chair, huh?" She joked self-deprecatingly in her head as she closed her eyes.

The train tilted to one side and crashed, Lucy and the others tumbling around before it skidded to a stop. By the grace of fate, nobody was seriously injured, but they did black out...right in front of an entrance with a sign that read... "Playcare"

Chapter Text

Years Ago

Having been working at Playtime for a full year now, 15-year-old Lucy walked into work after school, eager to forget about homework for a few hours; sometimes with the kids always cheered her spirits. Plus. Mommy had been teasing her about making some friends at school, and with what had happened yesterday.

Well, let's just say Mommy may just want a Daddy Long Legs of her own soon enough.

Slipping into her conductor attire and putting her dinner away for later, Lucy was almost at Playcare when she spied some boxes being brought in via trucks: Boxes that contained nothing but Catnap plushies.

"Mr. Lovitz?"

The older man, looking up from his clipboard, spied the teenage girl and smiled. Rich Lovitz was a lifetime worker, often behind the scenes and making cynical remarks. But he had a heart of gold towards the younger staff members and kids alike, so he'd calm down when they were around.

"Hey, Lucy. Clocking in?"

"Just about to when I saw all that," Lucy explained. "What's going on?"

"Well, you been watching the news?" Richard asked, giving Lucy no time to answer. "The bigwigs decided to recall and/or refund all the CatNap toys after all the nightmares kids have been getting…I could've told them that with the creepy ass mouth and literal GAS it spits out…But what do I know, right?"

Hearing this saddened Lucy: She had all the Smiling Critter plushies, including CatNap, and she never got nightmares from him. Then again, she was a little older than the target demographic…and she could see Rich's points; the design could be creepy to younger kids.

"Aw, forget it, kid." Richard waved off. "You'd better get going; the little brats get excited when you're on shift, and Mommy'll probably need some help with the ones who did like CatNap."

Lucy nodded and gave the man a wave before rushing to start her shift, which would be bittersweet with the recall of what would go down as Playtime's most controversial toy…

End Flashback

In the present day, Lucy moaned in a daze as she felt herself being dragged across the floor slowly. Apparently, her large body was too much for whoever was carrying her, as she could feel them struggling slightly. She slowly opened her eyes as she looked up to see that you were being carried towards a large metal hatch, and something with large clawed paws at the end was marching towards it.

"W-What's going on?" Lucy asked as the creature grabbed the hatch and pulled it open, revealing a tunnel further down into the factory. "A-Angie?"

Angelo was being carried in the other paw, which dropped him down the hatch before lifting Lucy to drop her in next. She was turned around, and in her daze, she could make out a cat-like face.

"C-CatNap?"

The figure then dropped her into the hatch headfirst...but there came a slight issue:

"Hrm?"

Lucy wouldn't go down.

CatNap tried to, after placing Angelo down, push her down.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey! Hands off!" Lucy demanded, but she was ignored.

"GET! IN! THERE!" CatNap demanded as he tried to push her down to no avail, feeling out of breath despite his great strength; he even stopped to catch his breath. "Geez…large woman..."

He spied a discarded plunger and tried to force Lucy down, but to no avail beyond breaking the tool and irking him further.

Lucy had just been giggling at the whole thing, not only at the Smiling Critter's annoyance at how long this was taking but because what little movement he did seem to make tickled her, making her jiggle and wobble all over.

"OOF!"

With a grunt, Lucy found herself finally pushed down into a room full of red lights. Angelo was nearby, still unconscious, and she quickly picked herself up before lumbering over to her boyfriend and helping him to his feet as he came to.

"Where am I...Lucy?"

"I'm here, Angie. Where are Poppy and Pal-Pack?"

A groan was heard as they turned to see their little robot friend pick himself up, holding his head in a daze as they could see a chip in one of his optics, no doubt from the trainwreck.

"Miss Lucy? Mr. Angelo? Are you alright?"

"Pal-Pack! Good to see you're okay." Lucy said in relief as she supported Angelo on her shoulder. "Is Poppy with you?"

Pal-Pack shook his head. "No...we must have been separated in the train crash."

"Ugh, can this get any worse?" Angelo groaned.

Suddenly, a red alarm blared loudly as the trio looked about, quickly noticing the walls closing in.

"It's worse," Lucy muttered.

Looking around, the trio noticed that a panel of the crusher was not moving forward like the others, and some blocks were structured in a way that allowed them to escape. With great haste, they jumped down in between the walls, Lucy being able to just squeeze through. Pal-Pack then spotted a handle which he was able to hit with the proper aiming of his Grab-Pack arms and pulled himself, Lucy, and Angelo upwards as they jumped into a utility shaft.

"Okay, I'd like to not go through another Star Wars reference any time soon." Angelo breathed out in relief.

The trio quickly jumped across the pistons like makeshift platforms before reaching an exit that led into a new room. Heading under some debris, they were now next to a door, with stairs leading up. Taking it step by step, they came to another room full of pistons that they had to use to get across.

"Experience tells me anything red and foreboding like that is bad," Angelo noted as he saw the pistons lowering periodically into a deep red mist.

"We need to time our jumps. Be careful, everyone." Pal-Pack warned.

It took some tricky maneuvering, but the trio was able to make it across. As they turned a corner, Lucy gasped when she saw the familiar shape of CatNap crawling into a vent.

Pal-Pack pulled a platform over to get the three across before they made their way to a vent. Lucy sighed, realizing that she now had to squeeze her way through.

"Angelo, Pal-Pack, get behind me."

Much like when Huggy had been chasing them, Angelo and Pal-Pack had to squeeze and push Lucy through the vent. It took some time, but they managed to get through and into a new room: one that resembled a small living area made up of mismatched furniture. There was also a TV displaying nothing but static and a cyan-colored VHS tape on the floor.

Deciding to see what was on it, Lucy inserted the tape into the recorder and hit 'Play', watching two women in a room talking with each other.

"Alright, Miss Harper, please explain the situation. Spare no detail." The first woman, who wore a lab coat and had her brown hair tied in a bun, spoke.

"Well, like any night, all the children were getting to sleep. It was peaceful, quiet. CatNap had the red smoke in the room. Then, suddenly, there's this scream." The other woman, presumably Miss Harper, replied. "Nightmares happen, I know, but this... I mean, dilated pupils and quivering lips? The way her eyes darted around the room? And I swear, her hand in mine, it felt like her blood was boiling beneath her skin... She saw something too, something horrible! She- I-I'm sorry. I don't mean to..."

"Ms. Harper, we'll provide the very best care we can offer; you have my word. But this is important." The labcoat woman said calmly. "Did Marie happen to describe what she saw?"

"Yes, a monster, she said, said that it was...colorless... Gosh, I could feel her poor little heart pounding. For her, it was right there! A-And her movements, they were so wild! Arms flailing, legs kicking..." Miss Harper recalled as the labcoat woman nodded with vested interest. "I...I wanted to talk to her. See how she's doing. I just...I really need to hear her voice right now."

"That would not be advised, Ms. Harper. There are many concerns we must address at this time." The labcoat woman warned. "But vitals show normal, and we'll continue to monitor. She'll be okay."

"NO! Well, pardon me if I'm not comforted by that!" Miss Harper snapped. "Just bring my little girl back to me..."

"What...what was Playtime Co. doing?" Lucy whispered in disbelief at what she saw. "I-I never knew any of this..."

Angelo looked around. "This looks like the place we were dropped down into the garbage compactor. We should find a way out and see if we can find Poppy."

Looking around the room, the trio found two large green batteries used to power a blue hand switch that opens the exit. After Pal-Pack got the door open, they made their way through to see an interactable cardboard cutout of Bubba Bubbaphant, one of the Smiling Critters.

"Hey! Bubba Bubbaphant!" Lucy beamed. "Remember the Smiling Critters, Angie?"

Angelo chuckled. "How could I forget?"

Back at their house, Smiling Critters toys, stickers, books, and even a VHS or two could be found. In fact, it was thanks to the Smiling Critters that the two had met:

They were indeed in the same art club, but they really started talking to each other when, one day, Angelo came in wearing a Bobby Bearhug T-shirt. Lucy spied it and, after a light questioning, asked to hug the downtrodden boy. Angelo accepted what would be the first of many hugs, then asked the cute girl who'd just hugged him how she knew about the bear on his shirt: It turned out that Lucy had all the plushies at home, even CatNap himself, despite the recall.

Not believing this, Angelo had accepted Lucy's invitation to her parents' home the same day (not like he'd had anywhere to go; his folks were busy at the theatre and he wanted to forget Lucky ditching them for fame and fortune for a bit). A few hours of cuddling the well-maintained plushies later, Angelo and Lucy officially became friends, and the rest is history.

Pal-Pack chuckled. "Well, we should keep on moving."

As the group continued onward, Pal-Pack solved an electricity puzzle with his green hand before they heard a phone ringing. Heading to the source, they found a toy phone on the wall that Lucy quickly took and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, hey! Can you hear me? You look kinda lost. I don't want you to die, so I'm gonna help you!"

Lucy and Angelo were surprised to hear the voice of a young boy on the other end.

"Um...thank you?"

"Check this out. Look at the tube thing on the back wall. Ready?" The trio did as they were told and saw a battery exit the tube. "Buh-boom! You can use that battery to open the door!"

"Lucy, can you hand me the phone?"

Lucy nodded and handed Pal-Pack the phone as the little robot attached it to his hip area, connecting it.

"What are you doing?" The boy asked.

"I was attaching your box to me. I can interact with you thanks to the electrical currents powering me." Pal-Pack explained. "I figure we may be talking to each other from here on out so it's best to keep in touch."

The trio headed out the new door after using the battery and saw the burning wreckage of the train.

"How the heck did we survive THAT?!" Angelo exclaimed.

"Whoa... Did you do that? I guess that's where CatNap found you..."

"Hey, do you know where Poppy is?" Lucy asked. "She was with us on the train when it crashed."

"Don't worry, she's fine." The voice reassured. "But you have to listen; Playcare is straight ahead. It's the home of CatNap, one of "The Smiling Critters". There used to be...eight of them, I think? Now it's just him. Playcare is his church, his hunting ground. Whatever he wants it to be. You better get moving quickly... We'll keep in touch. Oh, and by the way? My name is Ollie. Nice to meet you!"

With that, the voice ended the call

"And here I was hoping he'd starved or sacrificed himself..." Pal-Pack mused.

"You know him?" Lucy asked.

"Sadly, yes." Pal-Pack sighed. "Miss Lucy? Mr. Angelo? I humbly request that you stay here. CatNap is not like Mommy or Huggy; all he thinks of is obeying his master, the same being that Mommy was so fearful of."

"Great. First, it was a mute predator, then a misplaced preschool teacher. Now we're dealing with a religious nutjob who worships…" Angelo began to groan before realizing. "Wait. Who?"

"You don't want to know," Pal-Pack said as he began to depart, only for Lucy to stop him.

"And you know we can't let you go alone, either," Lucy said.

Pal-Pack would've argued, but sighed. As much as he hated to think it, this way CatNap would have to split his focus; something he probably…no hopefully…hadn't have had to do in some time.

Walking down a hallway, the trio came to a power room with a pole that looked like a design they hardly recognized. It somewhat resembled other power poles they'd seen earlier, but it had a couple of sign-like objects with holes through them and a rotating wheel on the top.

"Hey, I think I remember something!" Lucy gasped. "One time, during lunch, one of my co-workers was complaining about how he had to walk around the electrical poles to activate them, and I drew up a design for a way to make it easier and more fun. Guess that guy must have told Mr. Pierre about it...either that or he found my drawing himself."

"Guess he really liked the idea," Angelo noted.

The trick was to shoot one of the Grab-Pack hands through, and it would spin around the pole and be shot out at a different angle. Pal-Pack used this knowledge to activate power to the gates leading to Playcare.

The trio made their way to the entrance, where the once locked gates were now open. Making their way up the stairs, they came to a small area with vending machines and a sign saying "Elliot's Express" over an archway to where a tram sat.

"I doubt any of the snacks in these machines are still good," Pal-Pack muttered as he scanned the contents of the vending machines.

"Guess that explains why Cat-Bee and Candy Cat frequently snuck out to the gas station rest stop around the block," Angelo noted.

Lucy's belly suddenly let out a loud rumble as she grinned sheepishly, her soft face glowing red as Angelo smirked playfully at his girlfriend before reaching into his pouch and pulling out some snacks to hold her over.

"Thank you, baby." Lucy cooed after she had finished the baby carrots, kissing his cheek.

Pal-Pack opened the door for the couple before joining them on the train, which began to ride upwards. Suddenly, the crackling of a screen startled the trio, who quickly found the source: A TV in the foremost corner of the train, which displayed the face of a fair-faced older man with slicked back hair; one Lucy knew all too well.

For this was the same man who had given America its own Toy Factory. The man who had created so many toys and invented the Grab-Pack and Pal-Pack himself. Who built the factory they were in, who'd personally guided tours of said factory when she was younger; two of the best birthdays of her life. He was who she wished to one day become, a bringer of joy to children all over the world.

His name?

"Hello. My name is Elliot Ludwig. When you look around at the world today, what one thing do you think it needs more of? I asked around once: 'Money, I never have enough.' 'Understanding, I can never get any.' 'Faith, the common man has lost it.' Each answer was different... and I could perhaps see some little truth in each. But I think each was also missing something. Something... simple."

Looking out the window, the three could see a large cave system and a giant dome coming into view.

"You see, not one of them could muster a smile... A smile is hope. A smile is love. A smile is understanding. And there is nothing more gratifying to my soul than being the reason for a child's smile. To be the spark that ignites all their hopes and dreams. For it is only through hopes and dreams that we may create a better world. One where our children need not be afraid. One where they are protected. After all, this company and its toys are nothing without them. These children deserve to smile, they deserve to love, and they deserve a safe... home."

After passing through a cloud of red smoke, the cable car entered the dome: Playcare.

Lucy's eyes widened as she recalled talking with Stella Greybar about something like this a long time ago.

"That is why it is with enormous pleasure that as the founder of Playtime Co., I announce... PLAYCARE! Our very own onsite orphanage. But it's not only that. It's a school, a playhouse, a place to belong. Our very own ecosystem beneath the surface, dedicated in every inch and detail to ensuring a child's smile. It's teachers and counselors, mothers and fathers, until such a time they have all of that in you. May Playcare bring joy, inspiration, and smiles to all who enter these doors! For what gives life its meaning, if not a smile?"

Pal-Pack gave a sad smile of his own as he saw down below that Playcare had clearly seen better days. Lucy and Angelo could also take notice.

"Man...who knew Playtime Co. had the money to afford this!"

Chapter Text

The tram soon came to a stop and the doors creaked open, allowing Lucy, Angelo, and Pal-Pack to walk down the steps and deeper into the dome.

It was at that moment that Ollie's Phone rang, Pal-Pack being quick to answer.

"Hello?"

"Psst. It's me again, Ollie. Cool place, right? The kids used to live here. Now look at it..."

Lucy smiled sadly. "I remember talking to Stella about this concept. I'm amazed they were able to make it a reality!"

The trio walked down the beaten path, taking note that the lights didn't perfectly mimic sunlight, but it felt more like you were in a type of indoor amusement park.

"Anyways, do you see that statue in the middle of the room?" Ollie asked as the trio turned to the massive centerpiece. "Take the stairs that go under it. There's a really cool room in there that powers literally all of Playcare! I can give you a key down there."

"Huh, how convenient." Angelo noted as he saw a door that read "Restricted Access" and opened it up for him, Lucy, and Pal-Pack to go through. "Alright, let's see what's behind Door #1..."

The trio walked down the stairs and into the main area, with all types of machinery scattered all over the place.

"Okay, Ollie, where can we find the key?" Pal-Pack asked.

"Just open the door to the tube, I'll send the key down now," Ollie replied.

"Got it," Lucy said as she opened the gated door and watched as a key came sliding down on a small rail and came to a stop at the mouth of the tube. "Neato!"

"So you got the key... Now the question you're probably asking yourself is: Where does it go?" Ollie began as Lucy pocketed the key. "Well, head back out, and you should find a door just to the left of the cable car you took down here."

The trio left the employee access area and quickly found the door Ollie was talking about. Walking up the stone path and stairway, and past some benches and tables, before reaching the door.

Going through, the three found themselves in a large room. A giant machine with three tubes, containing the red gas they saw earlier on the right, stood in the center without power.

"Welcome to the Gas Production Zone, the beating heart of the whole evil Playcare system," Ollie explained as the trio stepped over loose wires strewn about the floor. "All that gas you see coming from the machine is made right here in the factory. It's called 'The Red Smoke'."

"Catchy name..." Lucy sarcastically said. "Why would Playtime invent such an obviously evil-looking gas?"

"Yeah, because Red Smoke sounds like a fun smoke bomb toy idea for kids to play with on the 4th of July." Angelo dryly quipped.

"Right now, it's all headed off to the right. We need to make that Red Smoke go left instead. That's how we can get to him."Ollie said.

"Get to who? CatNap?" Lucy asked as she began following some of the powerlines.

"No, THE PROTOTYPE."

Pal-Pack shivered nervously, his circuitry going cold as he heard that name being uttered.

"The Prototype...didn't we hear that name being mentioned before?" Angelo asked Lucy.

"Yeah, from the videotape that we saw before we first busted out Poppy."

"The machine will probably have a few dumb safeguards for you to work around, but I think you can do it," Ollie said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ollie," Lucy replied. "And you'll have to explain this 'Prototype' thing to us later."

"I do not think that is wise..." Pal-Pack warned. "There are some things that I don't wish for you and Angelo to have to face... HE is one of them."

"While I'm no Rowan Stoll, I'm not half bad at tech myself. I'll see what I can do." Angelo said.

"And I'm sure I can dust out the old memory chamber. I used to work here after all." Lucy smiled.

"Thank you. I'll call you once it's done. Good luck, guys." Ollie replied as he hung up his end.

"Lucy, Angelo, the Red Smoke is far more dangerous than you believe," Pal-Pack said. "Allow me to handle anything involving it. My composition makes me immune to its effects."

"Yeah, don't breathe scary red gas that might either kill you or give you nightmares," Angelo said. "We got this, Double-P."

Looking at their surroundings and seeing what they had at their disposal, Lucy clapped her hands together.

"Well... time to get to work!"

Looking at some of the cords lying across the floor, Lucy spotted a battery socket that was much larger than the other ones she'd seen before. Walking about the room, she entered another area with a large hatch over the floor and an old cutout of CatNap by a console. Looking around, she also spotted a smaller battery pack. Picking it up, she dragged it over to the smaller socket by a door next to the large socket. With a heave, she placed it into the socket and opened the door, presenting the trio with a new way forward.

"Hey, Pal-Pack, I have a good feeling about this."

The little robot nodded and headed inside with Lucy. They looked about before finding a purple Grab-Pack hand in a small locker in the corner of the room. What was unique is that this hand had cybernetic attachments on the back of it, parts of which were glowing.

"Hmmm..."

Taking the purple hand and switching out the green hand for it, Pal-Pack headed out while inspecting the new appendage. He then noticed a purple hand panel on the floor and shot his new hand toward it...which caused him to be launched into the air with a yelp before landing on a platform above.

"You okay?" Angelo called out.

"Yes, just a little surprised."

Walking into the adjacent room and down a set of stairs, Pal-Pack entered some rather small corridors, which were created with all the large pipes and machinery around. He soon found another panel that let you jump up and onto a higher platform, where there was yet another in front of a large gap.

After taking a running jump and making it across, Pal-Pack came to an area where most of the ground contained some of the Red Smoke in the water below. Thankfully, it wasn't high enough to reach the surrounding platforms. After making it across, Pal-Pack walked up another flight of stairs and found himself in the room he couldn't help but feel familiar with.

The room was divided by a river of Red Smoke, and there were a couple of rotating electrical poles around. Getting on top of an area allowed Pal-Pack to get a better look at the puzzle, allowing him to solve it in a matter of minutes. Rotating the poles and completing two different circuits led to a door opening and allowed the little robot to head back out into the main area.

"Nothing to it."

"Pal-Pack, are you okay?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, just a little bit of puzzle-solving."

With the power now coming from the room Pal-Pack just came from, the monitor in the center now lit up and was active, allowing the trio to walk up to the massive red button in the middle of the console and press it.

"Alright, now we're cooking!" Angelo smirked as the console flared to life.

The trio watched as the red smoke in the right tube left and entered the middle, but before it could make its way to the left, the lights went out.

All across the room, the only thing remaining of what the three could see of your surroundings before Angelo quickly took out a flashlight he kept in his pack and illuminated the area. The monitor was once again saying there was no power available and the atmosphere was now an eerie cold air that sent a chill creeping up Angelo and Lucy's spines as they looked about.

"Oh dear..." Pal-Pack muttered, activating his optics' flashlight option to help everyone better see.

"Oh no! Someone killed the power." Ollie cried. "Okay, I sent you another key. It's under the statue. Use it to get into Home Sweet Home. Then once you're inside, find the building's backup generator. Good luck!"

"So...five bucks saying that CatNap was the one who just sabotaged us?" Angelo asked.

Lucy nodded. "No doubt about it."

The trio began to make their way out of the Gas Production Zone, noticing the door shut behind them as they left. Once they got back outside, the feeling of wonder and glee from before was now gone as all of the lights were off, and the entire environment was completely different.

"Great, now we're in something that fits Nightmare on Elm Street..." Angelo muttered.

"We just gotta keep positive," Lucy said.

With Angelo's flashlight and Pal-Pack's illuminated eyes, the trio was able to find their way back to the employee access area under the statue. They then approached the tube and watched as the key came sliding down the tube before being flung off the end and landing right into Lucy's hand.

"This must lead to Home Sweet Home."

Pal-Pack frowned before holding out his hand to take the key.

"Miss Lucy, Mister Angelo. It's best if I let myself go alone into Home Sweet Home...I have a bad feeling."

Lucy looked worried but reluctantly handed the key to the little robot as the trio left the access area and headed to where Home Sweet Home was, a giant mansion on a hill, with windows lit up on the top looking like eyes.

"Okay, just a little bit creepy..." Angelo gulped.

The old wood creaked as Pal-Pack walked across and to the door. Putting the key inside, the old doors creaked as metal scratched old wood, and the little robot stepped into Home Sweet Home.

"Be safe, okay?" Lucy called out worriedly.

"Do not fret, Lucy. I will return soon."

Walking down a set of spiral stairs at the front, Pal-Pack was slightly relieved to see that lights were indeed on, with pictures of children of all different shapes and sizes lined up along the walls. The rug was uneven, and more bloodied toys were strewn about.

"I'm sorry..."

Walking through another door, Pal-Pack found it to be filled with the Red Smoke. He nodded as he knew it was the right thing not to let Lucy and Angelo get exposed; otherwise, things would have gotten ugly.

Carefully making his way through and to the other side, Pal-Pack eventually broke through the smoke wall by heading down a flight of stairs. He soon found himself in the hallways and looked around before finding an old radio, which crackled to life.

"Tragic news this morning. As of 9:45 AM, local authorities report that the body of a young boy has been found on the estate of the late Elliot Ludwig, an esteemed toy maker and originator of the Playtime Company. At this time, an identity for the child awaits official confirmation. Found in an upstairs bedroom in a large duffel bag, officers on-scene report that the remains appeared to have been disturbed. Organs, as well as key bones from the skeletal structure, were reported missing from the body. It is unknown at this time whether this extraction was, in fact, the cause of death."

It took Pal-Pack a few seconds to fully process all of the report. And once he did?

"No..." He did not believe a word of it. "No. No, no, no! That can't…Elliot would NEVER!"

He recalled his inventor: a kind smile, gentle eyes...Heck, the fact that he had built Pal-Pack to do work for others proved how much he cared for others! And Elliot had been a father; he'd sooner die than...wait.

'The late Elliot Ludwig.' That's what the report said. Elliot had already been dead when all of that happened. Ergo? It seemed quite likely someone was trying to besmirch the man's good name.

"…When I find whoever did that?" The robot vowed with a rare but overwhelming sense of anger. "They'd better pray that Miss Lucy, Mister Angelo, and the little ones are not there to stop me."

Hell, he might just kill them regardless.

Deciding to explore the halls further, Pal-Pack could only frown at the state of decay as well as shudder at the scratch marks, no doubt left behind by CatNap.

"Where did the good days go?" The little robot said sadly, his mind going back to the golden, final days of Playcare:

Back then, the purple cat had been a friend to the orphans, giving the younger ones rides, helping Miss Delight whenever they fell, and, of course, helping them go to sleep with his gas. And whenever the kids had a nightmare (which was sadly often), CatNap did his best to help calm them down. Admittedly, he struggled when he was often the source of their nightmares, but his heart had been in the right place.

They had been friends, Pal-Pack and CatNap. Not incredibly close like Miss Lucy and Mommy, but they cared for each other, chatted, and dreamed….And then the Prototype brainwashed the purple cat, and where there was once the caring, if somewhat traumatized, cat, there was now a zealot who would do whatever his master ordered…including leading the massacre of every adult in the factory.

The last time Pal-Pack had seen Catnap, he had been trying to delay the Hour of Joy. He'd been close…! All he'd have had to do was knock the cat out and initiate an emergency evacuation, like a fire drill. But his mind went blank from there…

It was then that the little robot came across another old radio, playing another report.

"Following recent events, Playtime Co. was asked for any comment regarding the discovery. This is what they said to say, quote: "It's sickening. Elliot Ludwig was a great man, and those who knew him understood that he was not capable of violence, let alone what others now claim. He had a deep love in his heart for children like this one, making the actions of whoever planted this body all the more sick. We look forward to clearing his good name, both in the public eye and in the eyes of the law."

"Yes, Elliot would never have done that..." Pal-Pack affirmed to himself.

" STAY TUNED FOR MORE..." A new voice suddenly cut in, making the robot tense,

Suddenly, the sound of a telephone ringing alerted Pal-Pack as he tracked down the source and found a room that held a rotary telephone. He walked up to it and slowly answered.

"Hello?"

"YOU NEED TO RUN!" Ollie's panicked voice rang out.

It was at that moment Pal-Pack realized he was not alone and quickly retreated into one of the bedrooms, hiding under the bed and being as silent as possible. After making absolutely positive that nobody had found him, he climbed back out and continued through the hallways.

He soon stumbled across another radio, which crackled to life as soon as he approached it.

"Despite Playtime's proclamation of Ludwig's innocence, many believe his reclusive and mysterious nature displayed over the previous decades lends suspicion to this claim. When questioned, Ludwig's neighbors indicated that he would often return to his home in strange hours of the night and depart again before sunrise. Some believed he was sick, others that-

"DON'T MOVE. DON'T MOVE AN INCH."  The other voice from before suddenly cut in. Pal-Pack obeyed as the report continued:

"Playtime Co., it seems, intends to keep Elliot's name within its brand regardless. What is sure to be a long legal battle will follow."

The robot stayed in place for a moment, glancing around to catch a glimpse of a tall, gangly figure; a figure that let him be, letting him fully process all that he'd learned:

Someone tried to frame his creator. Someone who had angered the other executives, but who, it seemed, managed to turn the public against the man.

"Ludwig...why would anyone do this to you?" Pal-Pack wondered, remembering when he first came online.

Years Ago...

Elliot had been the first thing Pal-Pack saw: An elderly man with a warm smile and kind eyes, surrounded by hand-drawn pictures of his other toys, some model and design sheets for new toys…and a moving Poppy doll, staring at Pal-Pack in awe

"Welcome to the world, Pal-Pack." Elliot had said, wheeling back to let his creation take his first few steps. When Pal-Pack stumbled, Elliot caught and helped him up. "Easy, easy. No worries, nobody gets walking down right away."

"Well, I did," Poppy joked, but she was more in awe of Pal-Pack. "You really did it, Dad. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but…"

Elliot just smiled and patted Poppy's hair.

"My whole life is full of surprises, sweetheart."

Then he went to grab two voice boxes and held them in front of Pal-Pack

"Which one would you like, Pal-Pack? A loud, manly, and boisterous hero? Or a calm, big brotherly, and or fatherly mentor?"

The fact that Pal-Pack was given a choice at all seemed to shock the robot; what did it matter? Elliot could do whatever he wanted to him, as his creation….Still, the choice? It made the robot feel…loved. Cared for.

He made his choice and let Elliot insert the box, then motioned him to speak.

"Good day. I am Pal-Pack. How may I serve?"

"I'd prefer 'help' instead of 'serve,' but we'll deal with that later. For now? Let's see if we can get walking down before we test out the hands."

Pal-Pack was snapped out of his thoughts when he found himself in the medical pavilion of Home Sweet Home. In the room was a TV showing static and a nearby VHS next to a VCR.

"Perhaps there is something here..."

Putting the VHS into the VCR and pressing play, Pal-Pack stepped back and let the tape play. On the screen was an oversaturated image of Huggy as the audio played,

"Greetings, Employees, and welcome to your first day here in Playtime! We're certain that in the days to come, you'll find your new family here every bit as loving and supportive as your own. Feel free to wander the halls. Sit in the mess for lunch! Or watch our children play and learn to their little hearts' content. Join the Innovationists, where the bounds of science are continuously pushed! Or join the Counselors of Playcare, whose diligence and care for our children will help shape a brighter future, just you see..."

Pal-Pack didn't know why, but warning bells were playing in his CPU as the TV seemed to glitch sporadically.

"Now, every one of you has your part in that future, so should you come back tomorrow feeling unhappy for where you are, or what you've done... worry not, for your supervisor is here and happy to listen! And... should you come back... years later... your conscience finally getting the better of you..."

"What...?" Pal-Pack asked, his optics widening in shock…as the cute image of Huggy turned into a nightmarishly snarling one.

"May you descend into the dark and the dust, finding all that awaits you are incomprehensible horrors... each hungry for your return, each eager that they may find you. Perhaps they'd smile at you from a shadow, their smiling mouths full of teeth and meat and plastic, watching and waiting patiently for their turn at a warm welcome... Or perhaps, they won't allow you such time to figure your place in the world you'd left. A world that's theirs now."

"Oh no..." Pal-Pack whispered. "I was...too late..."

"WELCOME HOME."

Pal-Pack could only back out of the room and then flee, not noticing the shadow of CatNap looming nearby, keeping a close eye on him with a cold, calculating gaze...

Pal-Pack made his way out of the hallways and back to the first room, which was now clean of the Red Smoke. He looked around for anything before suddenly running into something and falling down.

"Oh! I am so sorry..." The little robot apologized. "I was just..."

However, Pal-Pack's eyes widened when he saw who he had bumped into; it wasn't CatNap, but another one of the Smiling Critters...albeit a taller, more humanoid, and lankier version of one.

"KickinChicken?!"

Chapter Text

*Years Ago...*

This was one of the best parts of Pal-Pack's days: Coming down to Playcare and having his 2:00 recharge in the company of the Smiling Critters while they watched Miss Delight read the children a story or two. On occasion, they'd even help act out the story.

You see, these were the Bigger Body versions of the toys; life-sized versions with their own minds and personalities…that thankfully, fit their toy profiles, preventing any confusion and worry.

Crafty Corn was finishing up a painting of Pal-Pack while Bobby Bearhug listened in on the story, hugging some of the younger kids when they grew worried or scared. Picky Piggy enjoyed some cookies while Bubba helped Miss Delight by holding the book and using his trunk to follow along with her words, helping some of the older kids with their reading lessons.

Kickin Chicken and Hoppy Hopscotch, in a VERY rare bit of calm, were just enjoying the rays of the artificial sun and breeze.

This left Pal-Pack with DogDay, who was eagerly awaiting what happened next in the story.

"Where's CatNap?" the yellow robot asked. "I haven't seen him in a while."

"No worries, that kitty-cat's napping in the classroom. But he'll come around eventually." DogDay assured the yellow robot.

*Present Day*

"Kickin Chicken?!"

It had been so long, but it felt like it was only yesterday. Pal-Pack's old friend had clearly seen better days, as he was covered in dried blood and grime.

"Pal-Pack?!"

"Did you say Pal-Pack?!" A girl's voice chimed in, and another of the Smiling Critters ran in: Hoppy Hopscotch.

"Hoppy?!" Pal-Pack gasped.

The two toys rushed to hug him, sobbing as they did so and, through their tears, saying a few things:

"So lonely!"

"Thought you were destroyed!"

"Not cool!"

Pal-Pack waited until they'd stopped crying, lightly patting their backs.

"I'm just glad you're okay." He managed, before a worry came to him. "What happened?"

"The day after your last visit, the Poppy gas filled all of Playcare super early," Kickin explained.

"Like…lunchtime early," Hoppy added. "At first, the kids had nightmares, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary otherwise, but then…the Miss Delights vanished, CatNap started acting like that Quinn kid whenever the security guards got him to help…Then kids started going missing, and the only food we ever got was… And the others…!"

That was all Pal-Pack needed to hear.

"We'll find them," he promised. "And don't worry, I've brought help...from the outside world."

"Wait...you mean people have actually come here?" Kickin asked hopefully. "And they DIDN'T get killed?!"

"Yes, their names are Lucy Nadine and Angelo Martinez. Lucy was a former worker here, and Angelo is her significant other who came along to keep her safe."

Hoppy beamed. "That's great! Maybe they're the ones who can finally stop HIM!"

"Bubba and Picky are nearby on the other half of the building," Kickin explained. "We...came back up here because we're trying to find DogDay."

"But then CatNap attacked and separated us..." Hoppy said, looking away with a frown as she recalled her former friend. "We've been doing everything we can just to survive."

"Thank god you came here when you did," Kickin said in relief. "I don't know how long we could have holed up in here with him prowling around."

"Well, I cannot guarantee anything, but if you help me turn on the backup generator, then I can see if Miss Lucy can help you get out of here," Pal-Pack said.

Hoppy and Kickin looked at each other, hope that was long thought gone shining in their eyes once again.

"C-Could this Lucy girl be the Angel Poppy was yammering about?"

"I think so, Hoppy..."

The trio proceeded to walk through the doors, and dust particles filled the air as they were illuminated by Pal-Pack's flashlight optics. They soon entered a larger area, acting as a main atrium to the whole orphanage. Several large letter blocks were strewn about, and power lines were loosely attached to the walls. There was a cutout of Mommy Long Legs, though the speaker was damaged beyond repair, only able to let out garbled static. There was also one for the character Daddy Long Legs, with similar damage.

"The way to get to the right half of the building is through this hole, but there's a lot of Red Smoke blocking the way," Hoppy said as she looked down. "Luckily, Kickin and I came prepared!"

The two Smiling Critters then put on gas masks modeled after Bron as they jumped in, Pal-Pack following after them. After letting a toy race car plow through some boxes to clear the way, the trio marched to the next room, Pal-Pack boosting himself up with his purple hand while Kickin and Hoppy climbed up.

The following room appeared to be the laundry room with washing machines in colorful colors. It also lacked the same red glow as before, allowing Hoppy and Kickin to quickly remove their masks and breathe normally.

"Alright, let's keep on moving!"

The trio removed some furniture from a doorway to keep moving forward. Squeezing through more of the rubble and debris of the area, Pal-Pack activated a blue hand scanner to open a door forward and out into a small office area with another VCR connected to a TV monitor.

"Hmmm..." Pal-Pack muttered as he saw a VHS on the ground and grabbed it before approaching the VCR and putting it in.

The recording showed a scientist looking over a young boy who was currently asleep.

"Subject is stable, designated #1322. Clear neural abnormalities were detected in his recent check-up. Though highly irregular, we've pulled him from the Home Sweet Home just before lights out to perform-"

"What are you doing with my friend?"

The scientist jumped as he turned around to see a little boy there, a look that was a mixture of worry and frustration crossed the adult's features.

"What are you doing out of bed? How did you get in here?"

"Is Kevin sick? Why did you take him away?"

"I-I..." The scientist began, looking like he was trying to sugarcoat his words. "Yes... Kevin is very sick. Very, very sick. But we want to make him better. But he can only get better if we take him to where we can provide proper care and give him proper rest."

"Will... D-Do you really think he will be okay?"

"I should think so. We're good at what we do, son. We paid attention in school, learned, and got our proper rest when we needed it." The scientist said, giving a friendly pat on the boy's shoulder. "Just like you need it now, I should think. Come now, let's get you on back to bed."

"O-Okay."

The scientist smiled. "It's been a pleasure meeting you, Joseph. And I promise you, your friend will be alright. When you see him again, he'll have never been better."

Kickin frowned. "That scientist...he worked with HIM."

"The Prototype?" Pal-Pack asked.

"No...SAWYER." Hoppy scowled, spitting out the name as if it were poison.

Images came to Pal-Pack: a tall man in a lab coat who just radiated intelligence. A man that Elliot had held such high hopes for, who sadly lacked and did not care for the aforementioned lack of social cues and norms. As long as deadlines were met or projects were successful, Sawyer didn't care for consequences or how said projects were completed.

They'd only met once, when the man had, according to Stella, gotten too close to the visiting children and seemed not to care that he was scaring them. Pal-Pack had gently asked the doctor to talk to Elliot about whatever he wanted and had heard the man mumble something about being 'short-sighted'…but left the Game Station at least.

With nowhere else to go, the trio retraced their steps, eventually coming across a hole in the wall and walking through it, only for Hoppy's ears to perk up as she pulled Kickin and Pal-Pack close and hid.

"Nobody move a muscle!" She shushed.

Sure enough, CatNap silently prowled through the nearby hallway. When the coast was clear, the trio made their way through the ruined hallways before coming across a room with two battery sockets on the wall. Quickly powering one up with a battery pack, the three began looking around for a second. Slowly making their way to the end of the hall that CatNap had gone down, they were met with a door at the end.

Curiously, Pal-Pack peeked inside, hearing a gasp of alarm and the shuffling of something as he looked around.

"Hello?"

Two sets of eyes emerged from within the mess: a blue elephant and a pink pig, both sniffling and cowering.

"Picky? Bubba?" Hoppy called out, bringing some ease to the hiders.

"H-Hoppy?" Picky asked. "W-who is that with you?"

"Don't you dudes remember Pal-Pack?" Kickin asked his friends, surprised at this…and then, recalling all the horrors CatNap and others had put them through, realized he should be more understanding.

"I…I do!" Bubba gasped, racing out of the room to hug the yellow robot. "Oh! I always hoped!"

Pal-Pack smiled and patted the elephant's back before noticing that Picky was still scared. Ending his hug with Bubba, the yellow robot reached inside and produced an apple and some carrot sticks that Angelo had handed him earlier.

Picky saw the food and raced forward before stopping, as if mentally chastising herself for 'falling for a trick' before she remembered her friends were here.

"W-what about CatNap?" She asked.

"Leave him to me," Pal-Pack assured her, the food still being offered to her. "For now? Let's divert the power from here to the Playcare generator and get you all out of this nightmare."

Picky looked at her friends, then Pal-Pack, and the room she'd been hiding in. She then took the apple and whispered a meek 'thank you' before following.

Heading upwards into another room, the five living toys saw all around were cribs that would have held infant children.

"No..." Pal-Pack gasped. "They...they wouldn't…! They couldn't have...!"

"They didn't go that far, thank god..." Bubba sighed. "But it didn't spare them from the Hour of Joy..."

Picky, in particular, looked sick to her stomach, as if recalling something truly foul. Deciding not to dwell on the depressing thoughts, the five entered a room full of bunk beds and a toppled-over statue of Bobby Bearhug, with a battery pack exposed on the thing's back.

"Those statues were put up to make sure the children didn't break curfew." Picky said. "The staff always wanted to make sure they didn't get into trouble."

Heading back into the room with the sockets, Pal-Pack placed the battery into the remaining slot. With that, a spark of electricity shot through some cables, and a rooster noise played from a nearby monitor.

"I think we have to get the power fully back on before we can get to the backup generators," Pal-Pack said as Bubba pressed a button and noticed the door on the other side of the barred window opening. Heading back out, the five quickly headed up a spiral staircase, coming to a large intersection where they spotted another large toy car with a wind-up pull on the back.

"Second verse, same as the first!" Hoppy joked as she pulled on the wind-up as far as she could and let go, sending the toy car rocketing through a room and crashing through a door on the other side.

Walking through, the five were now on the second floor of the main area. Pal-Pack first came in. Making their way through, the group came to a room where there was a Bobby statue like before, but unlike the previous one, this one was fully functioning.

"Ugh, why couldn't they have made our toys with smaller mouths?" Picky complained. "I love to eat, but this is too much of a stereotype."

Knowing they'd need the battery pack powering the statue, Pal-Pack kept its focus on him as Kickin ripped the battery out. Continuing onward, they soon found the room where they needed to place the batteries. Hoppy also managed to find the second, placing it with the other and pressing the button, now showing a full sun symbol.

"And the Lord said, let there be light!" Bubba proclaimed proudly.

Heading back into the main area, the five were glad to see that the door with the sun on it was now open, and they could continue onward. Heading through the much rougher and industrial-looking room, the group came to an area with more connection points and rotating electrical poles. But there were also blue Grab-Pack hands attached to turrets that Pal-Pack and his friends could aim, and after thinking about it for a moment, in only a few minutes, they'd solved the puzzle and gained access to the new room.

"Whoo-Hoo! Teamwork!" Hoppy cheered as she and Kickin high-fived.

Passing through a room flooded with red lights, the group came across a button on the wall. Bubba punched it, and the elevator was brought down. The five could fit in together. The metal creaked under everyone's combined weight, but it still managed to bring them to where they needed to go. Surprisingly, it was the room Pal-Pack had first run into Kickin and Hoppy first met Kick in.

"We just went in one big ol' circle!" Picky said.

"Still, it looks like we got the backup generator up and running again, so now we just need to get out of here to do the rest," Bubba said as the group began moving towards the staircase they came down.

As the group prepared to leave, Kickin looked scared, Hoppy noticing as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay, Kick."

"But...what if Pal-Pack's allies aren't really here to help us?"

"I can assure you, Kickin, Miss Lucy, and Mr. Angelo are trustworthy individuals," Pal-Pack assured him. "Now come on, they'll be more than happy to meet you."

The four Smiling Critters all looked at each other before nodding, trusting in Pal-Pack's words as they stepped out of Home Sweet Home...

Chapter Text

As Lucy and Angelo waited for Pal-Pack to return from Home Sweet Home, they let out a sigh of relief when Poppy, Kissy, Huggy, and Mommy reappeared, disembarking from the tram.

"That was a little snug." Mommy had said as the group marched down.

"Well, I don't think it was designed for Bigger Bodies in mind." Poppy had replied, Huggy and Kissy nodding in agreement. Mommy paid no mind, racing to meet Lucy and Angelo, hugging the girl as she did so.

"Everything go okay?" Lucy asked.

"Actually, yes. We made sure Boogie Bot, Cat-Bee, Candy Cat, Bunzo, Bron, and PJ Pug-a-Pillar all made it safely to the hideout with minimal troubles." Poppy smiled.

"Wait, you guys have a hideout?" Angelo asked, but before more could be shared, the door to Home Sweet Home opened to reveal Pal-Pack stepping out, followed by four surprise guests.

"Kickin! Hoppy! Bubba! Picky!" Poppy gasped in relief.

"Poppy! You're free!" Hoppy said in delight. "Aww man, we were all so worried!"

Angelo tensed at the sight of Hoppy, sweat beginning to drip down his brow. He even made a beeline behind Lucy, despite it all.

"He had a bad experience with a giant bunny," Lucy said sheepishly when her boyfriend's behavior was noticed.

"'Bad' is an understatement..." Angelo sighed, wiping away his sweat and taking a breath before reaching to shake Hoppy's hand. The green rabbit took the whole affair in stride and gave Angelo a firm handshake, mentally making a note to find out about this other bunny later.

"Wait, is that Huggy Wuggy?! And Mommy Long Legs?!" Picky gawked as she jumped back and hid behind Bubba. "What are THEY doing here?!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, it's okay!" Lucy said as she stepped forward. "They're with us."

It was there that the four Smiling Critters got a good look at Lucy. Bubba rubbed his chin while Hoppy marched over and inspected the rotund woman from all angles.

"Um, hi? I had no idea they made big versions of the Smiling Critters too...then again, considering all the other toys I've seen since coming back here."

"What's your health plan?" Hoppy asked bluntly. "No offense, but usually a fat body isn't a sign of a healthy lifestyle."

Angelo huffed. "Well, excuuuuse me, bunny girl! Lucy here is the picture of health and beauty!"

"Angie, it's fine..." Lucy said, trying to placate her boyfriend before noticing Pal-Pack's troubled expression. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Not really..." The little robot admitted. "I...heard some things that were quite distressing."

"Still, I'm glad you guys are okay...and I'm happy to see you all again," Poppy said thankfully. "I'm also glad that Ollie could help you get this far. He's the reason we found you at all."

"We were worried about you after the train crash. We didn't know if you made it." Lucy said with a small smile.

"Not to worry," Poppy assured Lucy as Kissy then softly grabbed and placed her on her shoulder as the two of them led the way for the others. "I'm surprisingly durable."

Poppy's mood then went down.

"You've been through so much... You deserve an explanation. Come on."

Huggy moved beside Kissy, gently holding her hand in his to comfort her. Poppy was also doing her best to support her friend as everyone arrived at a panel. Kissy then lifted Poppy up to open the panel with a key. The little doll then pulled a switch that revealed a hidden lift big enough for everyone to board.

"Listen... I'm not your enemy, but I can't just let you leave. What's happening down here is bigger than all of us." Poppy explained.

"I wasn't planning on leaving in the first place," Lucy said firmly. "I came here to find out what happened that got the factory shut down..."

Poppy nodded. "We need your help...to get revenge on the ones who tortured all of us. They didn't act alone. They're disciples of the original: The Prototype."

This caused all the living toys to shudder in fear at the mere mention of that name. Lucy and Angelo looked at each other, recalling how frequently they had heard this "Prototype" be mentioned. The lift, having been rising up through the conversation, soon stopped at a platform as Poppy gestured to a large button on a console.

"Do the honors?"

"Don't mind if I do."

Lucy placed her hand on the button and pressed down. Everyone watched as all of the lights surrounding the dome lit up once again. They could now clearly see all of the surrounding buildings once again as they got back on the elevator and it began to descend.

"It's safe to say The Prototype knows we're coming by now," Kickin said nervously.

"You're going to have to deal with him before you can escape, or he'll kill you before you can even make it to the front doors," Poppy said. "He's the reason I was trapped in that god-awful case for so long! Pal-Pack and I were the only ones the other toys could listen to. You have... no idea the things he's done to get his way!"

Lucy moved to hug the doll and comfort her. Pal-Pack did as well, but suddenly paused. His eyes glowed off and on as images raced by: Poppy in the grasp of some sharp, clawed hand…That suddenly grappled with his own hands…

The images suddenly stopped, and the robot digested the information.

"Poppy?" Pal-Pack asked. "I believe more of my memory is starting to come to me…Did Elliot program me to follow you above all others?"

Poppy nodded as her eyes welled, this time in genuine sadness rather than fear.

"Okay, hold on, let me get this straight; There are essentially two powers that can command the toys, you, and the Prototype. Both of you want similar things, but have two different paths on how to get them." Angelo said. "So he locked you up so you wouldn't be able to rally the toys against his cause. And now you want us to kill him so the toys can live without fearful oppression."

Poppy nodded.

"And above all of that. Pal-Pack, our one surefire fighter against the toys so far, is programmed to follow you?"

"Angie…" Lucy said, not liking where he was going with this, but understanding it.

"Yes," Poppy said. "But there's something else. When you and Lucy showed up, you appeared to be able to sway the toys in your own way, like me and the Prototype. I don't know why, but there's something special about you. That's why I want to help you kill the Prototype. Let me help you save everyone."

"Poppy, I understand what you're going through, but...I just can't kill another living being." Lucy said.

"We've ALL seen you, how capable you are. You saved Huggy, you managed to sway Mommy, and you freed me. You are perfect for this..." Poppy said as the elevator came to a stop and everyone disembarked. "CatNap is coming. He's the final obstacle the Prototype has placed against us."

"We can't stay here," Bubba said. "We need to find a way back to Safe Haven. Hopefully, it's still around..."

"It is. It's the hideout you were asking about, Angelo." Poppy said. "Kissy and I will head out. The rest of you keep yourselves safe, okay?"

"Bobby and Crafty are probably still around here. We need to find them." Hoppy said.

As Poppy and Kissy left, the rest of the group made their way through when Pal-Pack got a call from Ollie, which he quickly answered.

"Hey, Hey! It's me again! It seems like Poppy explained everything now... And she turned on the dome's backup power! Now the plan from here is pretty simple: we need to restore power to the Gas Production Zone!"

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Angelo asked.

"First, go back to the Home Sweet Home building you were just in! You should be able to find a big power cord somewhere around the porch! Grab it, and plug it in underneath the statue!"

"Aww, come on! We just got out of that nightmare house!" Picky groaned.

"We just need to pull out the cord from the porch, Picky. No need to worry." Lucy reassured.

"Oh... Yeah, yeah. We can do that."

The group quickly found the power line that Ollie mentioned and got to work pulling it over to the statue, coming to a bunch of sockets next to a console. After plugging it into the socket labeled "Home Sweet Home", they heard a jingle and saw the monitor showing gas production to be 50%.

"Awesome, look at that!" Ollie said happily.

"Aww yeah! That's one down!" Kickin said triumphantly. "What's next?"

"Remember that generator you turned on inside Home Sweet Home? Well, that was a backup generator for just that building. Every building should have one! Now you've just taken Home Sweet Home's backup power and routed it here. We're already halfway done! Hmmm, but where to go next..."

"What about this place called 'The Playhouse'? It see-" Angelo began.

"NO!" Ollie and the Smiling Critters all suddenly screamed, startling Angelo as he hugged Lucy fearfully.

"No matter what!" Hoppy said angrily. "We! Are! NOT! Going! In there!"

"Hoppy's right. The Playhouse...YUCK!" Ollie said in disgust. "So... your best bet is probably the School. CatNap usually leaves that place alone. Sending you the key now!"

As Ollie sent down the key, Lucy and Pal-Pack looked greatly worried as they looked at the Smiling Critters.

"Do you guys...have a reason for not liking to go there?"

"It's...it's a long story..." Bubba said softly. "We...we don't like talking about it."

"Alright, I won't pry." Lucy gently said.

"What happened down here in the time I was offline?" Pal-Pack wondered helplessly.

Walking down the paths and up the stairs to the building that heavily resembled an elementary school, the group walked up to the door with the key in hand, Lucy sliding it into the keyhole, twisting to unlock the door to the abandoned education center.

"Just so you know. For a while, strange noises were coming from this place, but no one has been in or out since CatNap locked the door." Picky said.

"Is...is Miss Delight still here?" Pal-Pack asked.

"She is...but she and her clone sisters..." Hoppy said sadly. "I don't think they made it..."

"Oh..."

Lucy pulled open the doors to the school, and the group walked into what looked like an empty warzone down a flight of stairs.

"Okay, make this quick! Turn on the generator, leave, and plug the School's power cord into the center! Be careful in there, I don't think I can connect to you on that side of the dome! And you won't be alone." Ollie said before his connection began breaking up. "There's someone else in there, too. They're not your-"

"Well...that's no good," Mommy muttered.

Walking into what looked like a music room with a piano in the center, the group noted the existence of a message hastily painted on the wall in blue paint. '

"DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF HER."

"Oooookaaaay..." Angelo said.

Suddenly, the PA system went off as a woman spoke through the somehow still working system.

"This is Miss Delight speaking. Please excuse the interruption! Students, remain in your seats until the bell has rung! And no going in the halls without a hall pass!"

The announcement ended, leaving the group shaken.

"I always wondered what happened to her." Mommy mused. "I was stuck at the Game Station for so long, but I always felt like we could've been friends."

Pal-Pack nodded. "You would've liked her, Mommy. She was patient, a great storyteller and problem solver…"

"I remember she and her sisters were always so nice…" Picky smiled sadly.

"Well, aside from it was dodgeball time at recess," Kickin noted

"To be fair? In hindsight, we were kind of rambunctious." Hoppy added in.

Mommy stretched her neck to peek out into the halls of the building, spotting a security gate that would be rather common around school when it was closed with a cord leading to a green hand input station.

"Looks like you'll need to open that; it should be left to Pal-Pack." The toy spider woman noted before Huggy waved everyone over. "Yes, Huggy?"

The blue huggable toy then showed a note to everyone that he had found lying around. Since he couldn't speak, he handed it to Bubba for him to read out loud.

"'Just a few weeks ago now was The Hour of Joy. Today, there is only silence in this school. I don't think any of us here would know what to do with it. The hallways without the children carry even the smallest sounds as if they were shouts. The other teachers and I startle each other constantly, not to mention how fragile the poor critter is. We'll have to get used to it. Something locked the front door this morning. We haven't been able to open it.'"

"That must have been when CatNap locked the building." Picky realized.

"We should keep going. I don't want to stay around here for long." Kickin said nervously.

Using the green hand, Pal-Pack managed to open the security gate, and the group walked further into the derelict building. Heading down the halls of flickering lights, they soon came to a room that looked like it was made for preschoolers, with a television on a stand in the corner with a battery on it.

Huggy walked over and picked up the battery, also spotting a note with a spot of blood on it. He took it off and handed it to Angelo to read.

"'I heard a knock at the door today. I heard it breathing. Whatever it was, it wouldn't speak when called out to. I spent hours after it went silent wondering if this was what locked us in here. I've made a weapon of sorts. Pencils and rulers and tape and twine. I've taken to calling it "Barb". It's crude. But if that door opens, I need to be ready.'"

Hoppy cringed. "That's ominous. We'll need to be on our guard."

"Yeah, let's keep moving," Lucy said.

Heading back the way they came, the group entered another room where a green hand output station was placed next to two battery sockets on the wall.

"Well. We know what to do here." Kickin said as Huggy placed the battery inside one of the sockets.

"Now we just need to find the other," Mommy replied as the group looked at a gated-off area and quickly spotted the next battery. But there was no way to get to it, so they were forced to head back out and crawl under a barricade to keep moving.

Pal-Pack was leading the way when he noticed a figure quickly run across the hall, before a metal door shut behind it.

"Hello?" The little robot asked cautiously.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"I thought I saw someone just now..."

"Oh crap, we really are not alone in here, are we?" Angelo nervously muttered.

"Shhh!" Mommy shushed.

After crawling through the barricade, the group turned the corner and saw the door, which had a small peephole drilled into it. It was at about Lucy's eye level, so she looked through it into what appeared to be a makeshift shelter made out of the library.

As she was looking, however, suddenly a much larger eye looked through the same hole on the other side, causing the rotund woman to yelp and fall backwards onto the ground, knocking over a chair in the process and creating a large sound that echoed through the halls. The sound seemed to have caught the attention of something as it quickly began shuffling down the halls.

"Oh crud!" Hoppy cursed. "What do we do?! What do we do?!"

The door then opened, and the group was surprised when a woman with a huge number of gash marks on the side of her face leaned forward.

"In here! Quickly!"

"Wait...Miss Delight?!" Pal-Pack gasped.

"SHHH!" Miss Delight shushed as everyone quickly ran inside, the teacher quickly slamming the door shut behind them afterward.

"Miss Delight, you're okay!" Picky said in relief. "We thought you-"

Miss Delight shushed the pink pig toy and then looked through the peephole. Everyone remained silent as Miss Delight kept watch before sighing and backing away.

"She's gone. Now..." She said before looking at the group. "What are you doing here?! And how did you even get into the school?"

Hoppy, Kickin, Bubba, and Picky didn't answer, simply hugging their old teacher, who in turn returned the embrace, giving them relieved looks before she spied the others. She forced her students behind her and readied to attack, only to stop when she saw Lucy and Angelo with the other.

"Goodness, you're a big girl." Miss Delight realized.

"Yeah, I get that." Lucy chuckled, mentally keeping track of how many times that had been said.

"But in the best of ways, I see." Miss Delight smiled. "Picky could learn a thing or two from you."

"Miss D…" The pig critter groaned cutly, annoyed but happy to see her old teacher more than anything.

"Hello, Miss Delight."

The teacher turned to see a familiar yet unfamiliar face.

"Mommy Long Legs?"

"In the flesh…or…plastic, so to speak," Mommy said, offering a handshake. "I've been wanting to meet you for so long; the children spoke highly of you."

Miss Delight smiled and accepted the handshake.

"And they did the same for you. And for that? I must thank you. The Game Station calmed them down nicely."

Mommy chuckled at that, missing the happy look on Lucy's face.

"Miss Delight?" A new voice spoke up. "What's going on?"

Hoppy, Kickin, Bubba, and Picky were shocked as two familiar figures appeared from behind a bookshelf.

"C-Crafty?" Bubba asked.

"Bobby?" Hoppy asked.

The Unicorn and Bear Smiling Critters tensed for a second before their eyes widened and they leapt to hug their old friends, sobbing in relief. The whole scene made Lucy's eyes well up in happy tears.

Angelo pouted, feeling left out of the hug. He then found himself in Huggy's arms.

"Thanks..." He grumbled.

Chapter Text

"When the School was locked, Crafty and Bobby were trapped with me. Bobby had wanted to cheer me up, and Crafty came along to drop off a homework assignment." Miss Delight explained once the tears had dried and everyone had sat down for a brief respite.

It had been hard, scouring for food and supplies, evading her sister and CatNap as their home started to rot away. But the teacher didn't waver; instead, smiling warmly at Bobby and Crafty, who in turn hugged her tenderly.

"I hate to say this, but I'm grateful. Protecting them was probably the only reason I didn't go insane. Only one of my sisters remains in this building. And compared to all the others who lost their marbles...she's the worst." Miss Delight concluded.

"But how were you guys able to survive all this time?" Angelo asked. "The school must have been locked for at least a few years for it to decay this much."

"For a while, she'd play dead whenever she thought someone was looking at her, but she'd use the opportunity to sneak up on the other teachers and take them out in order to survive." Miss Delight explained.

"Why did you guys come here in the first place?" Crafty asked.

Lucy and the group took the time to give an abridged rundown of what they were planning on doing to clear out the Red Smoke in the Gas Production Chamber.

"So you need to get to the generator room in order to activate the backup power..." Miss Delight said as she crossed her arms.

Lucy nodded. "Would you be willing to guide us there? You've been here for longer, so you likely better understand the layout."

Miss Delight closed her eyes before replying.

"It does sound like a better idea, but I have to decline. You can't forget that I'm not the only one here. There's still Crafty and Bobby...and the poor girls have been through so much."

Pal-Pack hummed. "Then, at least it would be alright to give us a map to the generator. Then we can escape together."

Miss Delight nodded and walked over to the librarian's desk, pulled over another piece of paper, grabbed a pencil, and scribbled down a map of the school before handing it to Lucy's group.

"Thank you very much," Mommy said gratefully.

"We'll stay here with Crafty and Bobby," Bubba said as he, Picky, Hoppy, and Kickin stayed in the library safehouse. "Just promise to come back safely, okay?"

"Don't worry, with us sticking together, nothing can stop us!" Lucy smiled reassuringly.

As the group of Lucy, Angelo, Pal-Pack, Huggy, and Mommy stepped outside, the PA system turned on and the Miss Delight's voice from earlier came on.

"Wait... I recognize you... Yes, I remember! You used to work here! How are you... alive?"

"How does she recognize me? I never came to the school before, never mind Playcare before today!" Lucy whispered.

"Someone had plans for you, it seems, Lucy," Pal-Pack announced suddenly. "Seeing as you're now down here, I'm finally allowed to inform you that, had things gone differently, you were to have been promoted to teaching aide when you came back from vacation; the Miss Delights must have been informed…"

"And since she's gone…" Mommy said, making a 'cuckoo' motion with her hand before realizing something.

Lucy paused. "Wait... Pal-Pack, who authorized that? Stella and I never agreed to or were informed of that!"

The room turned quiet for a second.

"I...do not know," Pal-Pack confessed.

Lucy gulped, relaxing when Angelo and Mommy each took a hand to calm her down.

"Hm? Barb?"  The other Miss Delight asked. "Oh... Barb says you're looking for your coworkers. CatNap wouldn't like that you're here. You should leave... for your own safety."

"Not like we have much of a choice..." Angelo muttered.

Mommy stretched her arm in order to get the other battery from a cage that the others couldn't reach without going through a vent, and there was no way Lucy was gonna get through a vent with how big she was.

With both batteries in place, Pal-Pack quickly used his green hand to charge open the next gate, allowing the group to head into the next room. As they made their way through, they saw a figure walk by the window of the door, which looked like Miss Delight...only more decrepit.

"Well, no going back now..." Lucy gulped.

There was another green charge pad to open another gate but the charging port in the room next to it was locked, so Pal-Pack took it upon himself to go through the vents and make it to the other side, unlocking the door and allowing him to charge his green hand and then use it to open the gate.

"Not very good listeners, are you? You're a lot like the other humans in that way. I wonder if your screams will sound like theirs, too! Mmmm, I look forward to finding out..."

"I think I like the Miss Delight we met earlier better..." Mommy nervously said.

"Oh, like you weren't scaring the shit out of us back at the Game Station." Angelo snarked.

That earned him a light smack upside the head from Lucy for his troubles.

"Ow, babe."

"Lucy, in Angelo's defense, I really should've recognized you." Mommy pointed out.

"And in your defense, the last time you saw me was a decade ago," Lucy added, then kissing Angelo on the cheek to make him feel better.

Entering another computer lab on the other side, you noticed a cutout of Miss Delight that mostly talked about anatomy, but continued onward.

"Man, this place must have been so fun to learn at..." Lucy said sadly. "Before all THIS happened..."

"It was..." Pal-Pack sighed.

Entering the next room, the group was finally greeted with the power generator and a mechanism to fire it up.

"Finally. Let's do this and get out of here." Angelo said.

After Pal-Pack completed the circuit, the group felt victorious as the generator started back up. But as lights began to flash, a door opened, and they saw what looked like Miss Delight step through. As the light was flashing and just catching glimpses of her movements, they noticed the spiked ruler she carried as she held it up in the air and brought it down on the generator, destroying it in the process and ejecting a battery from a component.

"Hey! We came all this way for that!" Angelo snapped.

"I'm sorry. But I can't allow you to do that." The other Miss Delight said, her body twitching.

She turned to face the group and revealed her mangled face, with her lower jaw area destroyed, exposing an underlayer of human teeth, as well as a huge crack that traveled up her head.

"That's not right!" Lucy exclaimed.

The other Miss Delight then promptly stopped in place and kept watching the group, confusing them before Mommy remembered something.

"The other Miss Delight said we can't take our eyes off her, so we need to get back to her and the Critters and get out of here!"

Huggy opened the door through which the group first came in, and Pal-Pack snagged the battery as everyone made a break for it, making sure to keep their eyes on the evil Miss Delight to limit her movements. Unfortunately, the lights flickering on and off gave her ample time to move through the darkness.

"Guys! Go get Miss Delight and the Critters! I'll hold 'em off!" Angelo said.

"No! I won't leave you!" Lucy said.

"Neither will I!" Pal-Pack said. "We need to divide our forces."

"Huggy and I will get the others!" Mommy said before cupping Lucy's face. "Please, PLEASE be safe..."

"I promise, Bestie."

The pink spider woman shot Angelo a desperate look. No words were said, but none were needed.

Lucy, Angelo, and Pal-Pack then diverted the evil Miss Delight's attention to them as Huggy and Mommy broke away to find Miss Delight and the Smiling Critters to escape the school. As the trio went, they noticed the remains of other Miss Delights littered around the halls.

After slipping by the evil Miss Delight a few times and running through several rooms that looked like battlefields, the trio came to a door that had a battery socket in it. Plugging it in, they waited for the door to open as Miss Delight came around the corner. But as they were being chased by her, they noticed more and more that she'd let them see her moving, and just kept coming after them.

"And I thought running from Henry Hotline was stressful!" Angelo cried out as memories came back to him of a humanoid phone chasing him, then not even 10 years old, and another young man through a glow-in-the-dark maze of other phones, plus a crawling tube…

Angelo pushed the memories away as the trio soon made it to another long hall, with an industrial garage door at the end. Getting an idea, Angelo ran down the hall and into the room inside, where he found a lever that was connected to the door.

"Guys, through here!"

Lucy and Pal-Pack dove past as Angelo threw down the lever with all his might. The evil Miss Delight broke into a full sprint in a desperate attempt to kill them, but the door slammed down on her, with 'Barb' being sent flying across hard.

The sheer force of the gate slamming down had sliced Miss Delight in half, blood spraying everywhere as Lucy screamed in horror, covering her mouth with tears forming in her eyes as Angelo stared in blank shock.

"Oh...oh dear..." Pal-Pack said as he nervously made his way over to the bisected teacher.

"I-I didn't mean to..." Angelo whispered, his eyes staring straight ahead.

"Miss Delight..." Lucy whimpered as she fell to her knees, the evil Miss Delight slowly grabbing her hand.

"L-Little one...p-please don't cry..." She choked out. "Y-You did it...y-you saved me from...the hunger..."

"One of your sisters is still alive, Miss Delight..." Lucy choked out, fresh tears forming in her eyes. "And I'm gonna get her and everyone else out of here...I promise..."

"T...Thank...you..." The evil Miss Delight whispered out as her eyes slowly closed. "D-Don't worry, little one...I-I'll see you...n-next period..."

Lucy covered her mouth, the tears continuing to spill down her face as Pal-Pack sadly made his way over and embraced her. Angelo, still greatly shaken by what had happened, moved to make sure his girlfriend had someone to support her throughout everything as the big beautiful angel broke down sobbing.

After a while, a banging was heard on the gate, getting everyone's attention.

"Guys! Are you okay?!"

"Kickin?" Pal-Pack asked. "Yes! We are alright!"

"Ewwww, what a mess!" Picky's voice was heard from the other side, no doubt seeing the dismembered bottom half. "She didn't hurt you guys, did she?"

"Can you open the door so we can get out of here?" Miss Delight asked worriedly.

"No, the lever appears to be badly damaged," Pal-Pack noted. "We'll have to take the utility tunnel entrance!"

"Alright. Just find your way back to Playcare. We'll try and find another way to get to you in the meantime." Bubba said.

"Alright. Be safe, you three." Lucy said as she placed a hand on the door.

"Try not to get into trouble until we can find you." Miss Delight said.

"Take care of yourself, Bestie," Mommy said. "And Angelo...you and Pal-Pack keep her safe or you'll have to answer to me!"

Angelo saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"

As their friends left, the trio turned to the door leading into the utility tunnel. Angelo then saw 'Barb' on the ground and picked up the makeshift weapon, giving it a few practice swings.

"Well, some protection is better than no protection."

As the trio headed into the unknown territory, Pal-Pack also noticed a red case and opened it to reveal an orange Grab-Pack handmade in a finger gun pose. He took it and saw that it was loaded with flare pellets.

"Ah, the Flare Gun attachment. The underground workers used these to help light their way through the caves."

Switching his green hand for the new orange hand, Pal-Pack rejoined Lucy and Angelo as they headed into the unknown...

Chapter Text

The trio of Lucy, Angelo, and Pal-Pack opened the door to the side and were greeted with shock at the cave system on the other side, a small rope bridge leading to a door on the other side, labeled as 'Restricted Access'.

"Well...there's no going back now." Pal-Pack sighed.

Passing through it, the trio came out into an even larger cave system that seemed to go on for miles. Pal-Pack used his Flare Gun Hand to shoot a round into the air, watching as the bright red spark did little to illuminate the surroundings, save for lighting up a bridge.

"Guess that's where we gotta go," Angelo noted.

"Wait, hold on," Lucy spoke up as the other two noticed she was looking at a VHS on the ground, with a nearby VCR connected to a TV. "Of all places, why put a TV down here?"

Angelo shrugged. "You got me."

The trio decided to take a moment to listen to the tape, which showed an old elevator clunking into place before two men stepped out of it, one of them being familiar to Lucy.

"Hey, it's Rich!"

"Stupid clunky elevator."

"What was that, Richie?" The older man next to Rich asked.

"Nothing, nothing. Let's just get this shipment dropped and go."

"I take it you're not a fan of this place, are you?"

"Nope. Never liked the feel of it. I mean don'tcha think these kids deserve some real sunlight instead of floodlights and painted skies? Hell, we're not even allowed to talk to these kids, isn't that-" Rich then stopped himself, clearing his throat. "Sorry, Stu."

"Sorry? That doesn't sound like the Rich I know." Stu said jokingly.

"Well... I'm trying to stop being so pissed off all the time. My wife says I'm a lovely man, but I gotta control my temper. So I'm doing it for her." Rich said. "There's also this kid who started working here, Lucy, not a bad bone in her body. She's a real sweetheart to everyone. Hell, even Leith Pierre likes her!"

Stu chuckled. "You're just different, Rich. Honest to a fault. But I've always liked that about you."

"Yeah? You're one of the few." Rich replied solemnly.

"You know, Richie, with my retirement coming up, uhm... they've been pushing hard for me to choose my replacement. I'm thinking about giving the role to you." Stu said.

"Really?"

"Really. Nothing official yet. But I think there's a decent guy beneath all that gruff. An honest, hardworking man. You prove me right, I'd say your chances are pretty good."

"Wow, I uh... I don't know what to say!" Rich said, genuinely touched. "I'm just... Glad to see not everyone in this place has it out for me."

Stu smiled. "Not everybody, Rich. Not everybody."

The video then ended, leaving the trio feeling bittersweet; at least there was nothing overly traumatic on this tape.

"Is this the same Rich you call every other Saturday?" Angelo asked, getting a nod from Lucy.

"He quit a few weeks before the factory shut down," Lucy recalled. "Got into a huge fight with Mr. Pierre. Not sure what it was about, but considering all we're learning? I doubt I'd blame him."

Pal-Pack paused as he checked the database.

"According to the files I have on hand, Richard resigned when his multiple attempts for 'recess' or 'days outside' were denied. Seems he was given the standard severance package when he left, at least."

"From what we just heard, he'd had better," Angelo noted.

Walking around, Lucy and Angelo had to take a few running jumps or slide down slopes to get to where they were going, while Pal-Pack used his various hands to get around. They eventually ran into a puzzle with the rotating poles, but were able to use some nearby turrets with Grab Pack hands on them. Quickly breezing by the puzzle, the trio continued going, soon entering an even larger cavern.

Lucy and Angelo suddenly felt a chill run up their spines as they looked around, soon spotting CatNap on a lower ledge, in front of an amalgamation of toys, machine parts, and a human skeleton at the front.

"Oh no..." Pal-Pack said, reaching into his compartment and taking a pair of gas masks that Hoppy and Kickin had given him. "Put these on!"

Lucy and Angelo nodded, putting on the gas masks as the trio watched CatNap stand up and appear to begin praying to the sculpture.

"This hunt is the greatest I've had in years, but I will not fail you. They will either die by my claws or submit to you, my lord. I promise."

He suddenly paused, which got the group's attention.

"But that girl…Lucy? She was not involved… nor has she done anything to… No, she defies your will; rescues heretics and denies you your upgrades! Her kindness must be a façade! The fools who follow her are so ignorant of your greatness that they go with the first face they see in years! Yes, yes, I see now. Oh, Prototype, you truly are wonderful! I'll have them all at your feet by the morning!"

For all that talk, however? It seemed like CatNap didn't seem to be buying what he was trying to sell as he left his shrine.

As CatNap was talking, the trio slowly began creeping along the path, watching as he eventually walked away in another direction. Looking around, they soon spotted another door and walked up to it.

"Wait...that sign..." Angelo nervously noted. "Playhouse...Didn't Ollie and the others tell us specifically NOT to go there?!"

Lucy was just as worried as Angelo, quickly looking for any other accessible door, but there wasn't any. The only way forward was through the Playhouse.

"We have no choice. Both of you stay behind me." Pal-Pack said firmly as he scanned his Blue Hand, opening the door for the three to go through.

"Sorry, guys..." Lucy silently apologized to the rest of the gang.

Walking inside, the trio came into a room with a crack in the wall, and heard a soft giggle. Looking around, they quickly spotted a Smiling Critter Plush crawling out of the crack in the wall.

Pal-Pack acted quickly, firing a flare pellet that scared the little critter off. It was there Lucy also noticed a message scratched into the nearby wall:

"LEAVE MY HOME."

"Okay, I've got the flashlight, Pal-Pack has the flares..." Lucy began as Angelo held up Barb.

"And I got Barb!"

Steeling themselves, the trio proceeded into the darkness. The area was covered in faded, brightly colored padding, both resembling a general kids area at any local fast food restaurant, or an asylum, with padded rooms to prevent patients from injuring themselves.

"Yeah, this ain't creepy at all..." Angelo muttered.

"Kinda cramped here...!" Lucy grunted, her fat body making it harder for her to move.

"Perhaps, Miss Lucy? While I have no doubt you'll be of aid inside, maybe you can head to the exit and wait there while Angelo and I find the Playhouse backup generator."

Normally. The young lady would've opposed and tried to stay with her boyfriend and the robot. But seeing as the Playhouse was made for toddler-sized children in mind, she sighed

"Okay. Just…be safe."

Angelo gave Lucy a peck on the forehead as they ventured inside, and Lucy made her way to the exit. Just as she neared it, she heard something; it was like crawling, but softer….and in abundance.

Looking downward, Lucy's eyes widened at the sight of a veritable army of Mini-Critters, all crawling towards her. Now, most people would find this a scary sight, and yes, Lucy was shocked by the sheer number…

"Aww!" Lucy cooed.

She couldn't help it! The Smiling Critters were already possibly the cutest toys Playtime ever created, and making them chibi-sized just added to the cuteness!

Part of her knew she should be running; horror movies had taught her that much. But steeling herself and reminded of her own words about these being sentient creatures, she knelt down, reached into her pocket, revealed, and ripped apart the last package of jerky she had.

Any worry for her life died as the Mini Critters abandoned their march on the young lady, instead focusing on devouring the bits of dried meat. It was as if they hadn't had a proper meal in weeks; they ate so ravenously. A Mini-DogDay and Mini-Picky started roughhousing over a piece.

"Hey! Hey!" Lucy said firmly. "No, no! Knock it off! You share!"

When the little ones didn't listen to her, the young woman snatched away the piece and ripped it in two. The Mini-Critters were in shock at this, then ate their food. As they did, Lucy smiled warmly as, despite it all, she gently petted them,

The Mini-DogDay and Picky briefly tensed, but then relaxed and leaned into Lucy's palms, delighting in her pets, even letting out what sounded like coos. This, in turn, caught the attention of the other Mini-Critters, who marched towards Lucy, but this time far more calmly, almost as if they were afraid.

Lucy just smiled and motioned them to come close. One by one, they gently nestled against Lucy, some even tickling her by nuzzling into her mass. The young woman made sure to pet each and every one of them, making them relax and calm down.

How much time had passed, Lucy didn't know. She dozed off for a moment, startled awake by the sudden growling on the Mini-Critters.

"Seems you made some new friends," Pal-Pack noted as he and Angelo came in, the young man looking so proud of and enamoured with his girlfriend.

"Yeah..." Lucy smiled before looking sadly at the critters. "They're just hungry and scared..."

Hearing that, Angelo, noting how much lighter his bag was now, dropped some carrot sticks, which again, the Mini-Critters devoured.

Well, all but one:

A mini Bobby Bearhug tugged on Lucy's pant leg and gestured to the door. The trio then headed through, leading to a colorful spiral staircase, with paths leading both up and down.

"What do you guys say? Up or down?"

The mini-critters all pointed down, indicating that was where they needed to go. Lucy bit her lip but nodded as Angelo and Pal-Pack looked unsure before following along.

"This is a BAD idea," Angelo said.

The trio and their little swarm of little friends soon came to the bottom, with another scratched message.

"THERE IS NO ROOM FOR YOU HERE"

Gulping, Lucy walked through the door, coming into what looked like a pool, but the entire thing had been drained, and rubber ducks lay about the interior of the pool.

"Aww, they had a pool area?" Lucy whined. "This looks like it could've been so fun!"

"Yeah, before everything went to Hell..." Angelo frowned.

Slowly walking around the pool, listening to the drops of water echo through the large room, the group came to the doors and tried to peek through the window, but to no avail. Lucy swallowed hard as she slowly twisted the handle and looked through.

"Okay...coast is clear, gang."

Everyone slowly proceeded inward. Once they entered, a foul stench wafted in the air, making both Lucy and Angelo nearly gag. The walls resembled the other parts of the playhouse, but they were now covered in claw marks and dried blood, with a large cage to the right. There was also a large hole on the inside, like someone had dug out, like in an old prison escape movie, to a lower level.

"There was...a prison here?" Lucy asked. "But why would they need it?"

Pal-Pack shook his head. "This wasn't here back in the old days. I believe CatNap made it this way after the Hour of Joy..."

The group proceeded further into what appeared to be a cell block. There were cells lined along the sides, containing rubble and pipes.

"Why did you guys lead us here?" Lucy asked the Mini-Critters. The tiny creatures looked down in shame and fear….

"You... you're Poppy's angel. Come to save us..."

That was a new voice; coarse, sounding like a radio….

Lucy slowly turned around, and her eyes widened in horror at what she saw: There, hanging on the wall by leather belts, was DogDay, white pupils peaking out from behind his large ears. What was more disturbing, though, was the fact that his entire lower body was missing, and his torso was held shut with a belt around his waist.

"Oh my god..." Lucy whispered.

"Holy shit..." Angelo muttered, looking close to throwing up.

"Nothing left to save, not here... You're in CatNap's home, angel. THEIR home." DogDay weakly said. "A million pairs of eyes are on you now. Watching, waiting, hungry."

DogDay looked up to see the small group of Mini-Critters that had gathered around Lucy. All of them looked sad and somewhat guilty.

"I see you've stared back at the eyes that watch...and they've given you their blessing," DogDay noted, a bittersweet chuckle escaping him. "CatNap...the Prototype is his GOD, and THIS is what he does to heretics..."

The Bobby Bearhug Mini-Critter noticed Lucy's eyes welling up with tears, which were already falling down as Angelo squeezed her hand to try and comfort her, unable to feel anything except horror at the sheer barbaric fate DogDay had suffered.

"We tried to fight it, the Prototype's control. I'm... the last of the Smiling Critters."

"NO! THAT IS NOT TRUE!"

Pal-Pack, who had been silent with horror the whole time at what his old friend had suffered, immediately stepped forward as DogDay looked shocked, recognition flashing through his eyes.

"Pal-Pack...?"

"The others...Kickin, Hoppy, Bobby, Crafty, Bubba, Picky...they are all still alive! And they came to rescue you!" The little robot said firmly. "And...if I had known what was going on...I would have fought harder myself."

DogDay's eyes welled with tears before he gave a tiny, weak, genuine smile. He then weakly looked at Lucy.

"Listen to me, angel...you need to get out of this place. You need to live! You and Poppy can fix this, end this madness, the torment..."

Suddenly, a loud ripping noise was heard as Lucy, tears still running down her soft, beautiful face, had torn off the whole sleeve of her shirt, pulling out a sewing needle and some string with a look of determination.

"W-What are you doing?!" DogDay asked.

"Babe..." Angelo whispered in amazement.

"I...am getting really FUCKING sick of people telling me who I can and can't save." The big beautiful angel said.

This threw Angelo and Pal-Pack for a loop. In all the time he had known her, Angelo had never heard his girlfriend swear, not even when she was angry. What was going on right now...this was something else.

"Angelo...cut him free."

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Angelo said, blushing slightly as he took Barb and began hitting it against the belts holding DogDay up. The punctures, along with DogDays' weight, were enough to get them to snap, despite the Bigger Bodies Smiling Critters' protests.

Finally, DogDay was freed and fell to the ground, Angelo checking the weapon to make sure it was still in satisfactory condition.

"Angel, what are you doing?! All this noise will attract him!" DogDay said in a panicked tone, but Lucy said nothing as she got to work on sewing him up using her shirt cloth and some spare bandages.

"Doesn't matter, I'm getting you out of here, and that's that."

It took about 15 minutes, but DogDay was fixed up for the most part. Lucy then had the Mini-Critters hoist him up and place him on her back. Whether it was adrenaline or DogDay didn't weigh as much as she thought, the rotund woman was able to carry him with ease.

"Come on, we're getting out of here...ALL OF US."

"Angel...!"

It was then that Lucy turned, and her eyes widened to see CatNap had arrived, glaring with pure fury as Red Smoke emitted from his mouth. Quickly, Lucy and Angelo put on their gas masks while the Mini-Critters scurried away.

"Don't breathe it in!" Angelo cried.

As the group tried to escape, the floor suddenly gave way under Lucy's weight, combined with DogDay's, and everyone fell through. Lucy made sure to shield both DogDay and the Mini-Critters while Pal-Pack grabbed Angelo and shot out his Blue Hand to catch a loose pipe to break their descent.

After landing, the group found a tunnel through which they could escape. Quickly running through the tunnels, the group entered a larger area and ran up a slope before ducking into another tunnel. Zig-zagging through the area, they came out into another area with a slide at the end. Taking it down once more, they came into a larger area where an elevator over a large open gap could be seen

"Wait! You won't be able to make that jump!" DogDay said as Lucy took a running start, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she neared the gap.

"ALLEY-OOP!" The rotund woman shouted as she jumped as far as she could.

Whether it was sheer strength or dumb luck, Lucy made it across, Pal-Pack swinging himself and Angelo across as they joined Lucy and DogDay on the elevator. The Mini-Critters stayed behind, waving the group goodbye before scurrying away to hide and escape CatNap's wrath. Lucy hated leaving them behind, but they had helped out a lot, and she could only hope they would make it to safety.

Taking a moment to relax, the four got off the elevator and approached a slide, which they took down to make their way back to the Playcare main area. Angelo sighed in relief at the familiar sight.

"Hey, are you alright!? No ouchies or lost body parts?" Ollie called from his radio.

"Yes, Ollie, we're alright," Pal-Pack said. "And we rescued DogDay. He was just barely holding on.

"I'm really glad you're okay. I don't want to lose any more friends to this place!" Ollie said in relief. "And you rescued DogDay! That's the best news I've ever heard!"

"Come on, let's try and find our friends," Lucy said as the group continued on their way.

"Hey, did you see the shrine?" Ollie asked.

"You mean that effigy CatNap was praying to? Yeah, it was pretty creepy." Angelo muttered.

"Yup, that's the one, CatNap made it for The Prototype. See, before CatNap turned into... CatNap, I guess there was some pretty serious accident. He almost died, but they say that The Prototype saved his life, giving up his own freedom in the process." Ollie said. "In CatNap's eyes, the Prototype is a superhero and has saved this place. So CatNap treats him like a god, killing everyone who opposes him. Us included, if we're not careful."

"Well, with the Smiling Critters soon to be back together, I doubt that guy has been doing a good job." Angelo snarked, Lucy giggling.

"Anyways, we're really close to the end! I sent you a new key. You're going to the Counselor's Office instead! It's not ideal... but it should have enough juice. If you can get that generator going and plug it in, I think we'll be done!" Ollie said. "And keep your eyes open for CatNap. Every shadow and every flickering light is a hiding spot. He always stalks his prey first. He'll take away anything you have to defend yourself. And when you're at your most vulnerable... he'll kill you. CatNap lives for the hunt. Good luck, talk soon."

"No pressure..." Angelo muttered.

"We're almost done, guys. We have to keep moving." Lucy said firmly. "DogDay, you gonna be okay?"

"Y-Yes, Angel...thank you..."

"Hey, none of that angel nonsense." Lucy giggled. "Just call me Lucy."

The group then headed into the room underneath the main statue again, where the rest of the gang was waiting.

"Lucy! Angelo! Pal-Pack! Thank goodness!" Miss Delight said in relief.

"Bestie!" Mommy sobbed, moving to hug Lucy as tightly as possible.

"Wait...D-DogDay...?" Kickin spoke up as he and the rest of the Smiling Critters recognized their missing friend.

"Y-you're all alive?" DogDay asked. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

He forced his way out of Lucy's embrace and raced to his friends. It was hard, what with not having legs, but that wouldn't keep him from his friends!

Dogday crawled desperately as tears escaped his eyes, praying this was indeed real. Was he really out? Were they all really safe?!

The moment he found himself lifted up by Kickin as Crafty and Bobby demanded a group hug, even as they sobbed? Dogday felt something he hadn't in years:

Hope.

Happiness.

Warmth.

And with that alone? All the hell was worth it.

Chapter Text

Once the tears had stopped falling and been cleaned off faces, it was unspokenly decided that Lucy, Angelo, Pal-Pack, Huggy, Mommy, the Smiling Critters, and Miss Delight should take some time to relax together.

The teacher tried to clean DogDay's wounds as best as she could, sneaking in chin scratches and belly rubs to soothe him after so long.

Around this time, the missing members of their band reappeared.

"Poppy…" DogDay managed

"Oh, come on, please don't cry again!" Kickin, fighting back terfs of his own, began

"Yeah, you'll get us all sobbing again…" Crafty followed

"DON'T CARE, DOING IT ANYWAYS!" Bobby and Lucy said together, initiating a group hug.

The hug was cut short by a reluctant Poppy

"I am…no words can describe how happy I am to see you again, DogDay. But we still have work to do before we can properly celebrate: We need to go to the Counselor's Office." Poppy noted.

"Are you really going back out there?" Miss Delight asked worriedly.

Lucy nodded. "I have to keep going. There are others I initially came down here with, and they need me. I can't leave them to die, and the longer I spend here, the more it feels like it'll be too late to save them."

"And we're going with you!"

That came from DogDay, now being supported by Bubba and Crafty, the other Smiling Critters eager to join, regardless of the shock on the others' faces.

"Are…are you sure?" Angelo asked. "Speaking from personal experience? This can be scary."

He shook his head. Yes, he still had nightmares of Frankie chasing him as the floor began to collapse into a fiery pit below….But compared to what these toys had gone through? He and Lucky had it easy.

"It WILL be scary."

Lucy gently held her beloved's hand and gave the Smiling Critters a gentle look.

"You sure you're all up for this? No one will blame you if you want to stay…"

"We're not hiding from him anymore," Hoppy growled.

"Who knows? Maybe he won't be so tough when ganged up on." Kickin smirked.

"There is the old saying 'strength in numbers.'" Bubba said.

"I think I'll stay with Kissy and Poppy." Miss Delight grimaced. "I was built to teach and guide children, not fight."

"Well, I'm not staying here any longer," Mommy said. "I think it's about time Mommy reminded that cat how he's supposed to behave."

Huggy tried to slam one of his fists into his palm, but with mittens for hands, this wasn't as intimidating.

"Lucy..."

The rotund woman turned to see Miss Delight giving a small smile at her.

"I know we never got to know each other before...everything went to Hell, but I would have loved to work alongside you."

Lucy smiled. "Same here."

With her team gathered, Lucy and the others quietly walked out of the area. Heading up the stairs and out of the statue, they made their way over to the large building resembling a museum. Using the key, Lucy opened the door to the Counselor's Office, and everyone headed inside.

"You gonna be okay, DogDay?" Hoppy asked, having opted to carry her friend due to his lack of legs.

"As fine as I'll ever be..."

"Thank goodness Poppy gave us spare masks for the rest of you," Angelo noted.

Heading down the twisting corridor, the group entered the office itself, spying a battery socket on the wall adjacent to a locked door, leading to a room filled with red smoke. For safety.

"Okay, obviously, don't go through that door." Kickin nervously said.

The group split up as best they could to find the missing battery. Pal-Pack spotted a scratched message saying, 'YOUR TOOLS WON'T PROTECT YOU' and frowned.

"Where did the days go...?" He sadly asked himself, memories of happier times playing again.

"I found it~!" Mommy sang, having pulled the missing battery out of a broken air duct.

With the battery soon inserted, the group headed into the next room, where another battery socket was empty. Pal-Pack quickly reused the battery from earlier, quickly pulling it to him before the door closed as he moved to put it in the new socket to open the next path. However, Crafty noticed a white VHS tape lying at the secretary's desk.

"Hey, what's this?"

Picking it up, she saw a white VCR and put it in, pressing Play. Suddenly, a blare was heard as the nearby TV monitor played an automated message.

"The following message is for all Playtime Co. employees. At 11:01 AM, Eastern Standard Time, an unknown hostile force was declared present within the Playtime Co. facility. Personnel are to begin enacting emergency evacuation protocols immediately. Leave all personal belongings. Do not engage with any hostile individuals. If no exit path is available, seek shelter in a hidden location. Use blankets or pillows to cover your body, and remain silent. Do not look through any windows. Do not open doors for any individuals. Do not make eye contact with-"

The message suddenly went to static before going black, only for these haunting words to appear before the group's eyes.

"OPEN THE DOORS NOW. THE HOUR OF JOY HAS ARRIVED."

Huggy and Mommy's worlds went silent at those words. Everything and everyone else vanished for a second, replaced with the cruel and haunting images of…

"I didn't…I just wanted to…!" Mommy tried to explain what she saw: her ripping an Innovator in half before leaping onto and crushing the head of a worker between her feet; a demented smile on her face.

She'd hated the adults, telling herself that if anyone was to have done something to help the kids, they would've by now

Huggy remembered the confused and horrified faces of his victims. All of them. Down to the most minute detail: The ones who sobbed, the ones who fought, the ones who threw others at him… He had been enraged at staying in that godforsaken pose day and night for so long; the mere sight of happy people in free motion had enraged him

They and the other toys had slaughtered every human in sight. Both guilty and innocent. And now the two toys realized that there had been so, so, so many innocent…

As for Lucy, she realized something else:

"August 8th, 1995...that was when I was on vacation with mom and dad." Lucy realized, her eyes widening. "It was a few days before this exact date!"

"You were lucky then..." Mommy said hollowly.

"Bestie...?" Lucy asked worriedly.

Huggy shook his head, a haunted look in his eyes. Not wanting to ask questions since it clearly made the two uncomfortable, the group headed down the hallways, soon finding another room filled with Red Smoke and a battery out in the open. Pal-Pack quickly grabbed and pulled it in, but Bubba swore he saw a large shadow move fluidly through the smoke.

"Everything alright?" Picky asked.

"It's...it's nothing."

Heading to the other end of the hallway, the group inserted the battery into the empty socket and went through the now open door, leading into another hall, with red lighting revealing the word 'HELP' drawn in blood at the end of the hall.

"Where should we go?" Picky asked as everyone looked around. "I doubt any of these doors are open."

"Maybe we can go up there?" Pal-Pack suggested, pointing up to a hole in the ceiling leading to the next floor.

Kickin shrugged. "That'll work."

It was a tight squeeze for Lucy in particular, as everyone scaled up into the hole and through the vents up above. Mommy couldn't help but giggle slightly at how her friend got stuck due to her wide butt and round belly.

"Har-Har, laugh it up, why don't you?"

Eventually, everyone climbed through the vent, leading outside into the cavern area. A rather tricky electric wire puzzle had been set up, but with teamwork, the group was able to solve it and use the path provided to re-enter the office. Amongst the scattered papers was a black and purple radio that looked like it had a pre-recorded message.

"Huh, maybe this has something on it," Angelo noted as he picked up the radio and pressed Play.

What came out was a recording of a sophisticated but cold voice that was immediately familiar to the Bigger Bodies toys, while Lucy and Pal-Pack had more vague memories.

"My name is Harley Sawyer. I'm called "The Doctor."

"HIM...!" Hoppy snarled out in disgust, Mommy and Huggy joining her.

"When I look at this company we've built, I do not feel proud."

Now it was Lucy's time to be enraged: Playtime was amazing. It started during the Great Depression and made toys that rivalled what Japan made! It encouraged creativity and showed how to make toys! Lucy was certain that Dr. Sawyer probably had some role in all the horrors she was discovering today.

"Declining profits, failed experiments, people are constantly seeing things they shouldn't. How is that anything less than complete failure on our part? It's PATHETIC."

"Never was a pleasant fellow." Pal-Pack mused. "Why Elliot had such faith and hopes for him, I shall never understand."

"Now we're understaffed, safety protocols are being abandoned, workplace incidents are common. We can't avoid a lawsuit forever. We need to deal with all of these issues at once. I'm here now with a solution. The BIGGER BODIES INITIATIVE. Giant toys."

Lucy and Angelo's eyes widened as they looked at Huggy, Mommy, and the Smiling Critters, who all had uncomfortable looks on their faces. Pal-Pack also had a look of disturbed realization.

"We can increase our workforce and simultaneously decrease the number of lawsuits and people on our payroll if... the people we have working... AREN'T people. Put me in charge of it, and I will save this company."

"Wait…I…I think I met him once!" Lucy realized, a memory coming to her…

Years Ago...

She was helping the kids pack up for the day as the Game Station closed, most of them saddened to leave but grateful for her help; Mommy was out sick for the day. Lucy herself was tired but happy, looking forward to a day off with just her toys and ideas.

So, when she saw a man who radiated intelligence enter and get very close to some of the kids, Lucy was annoyed that, of course, something happened at the end of this good shift…and concerned.

"Um, pardon me?" She called out, getting the man's attention.

He turned to her, annoyance clear. His eyes, in contrast to his intelligence, spoke volumes about hating almost everyone and everything here. They were cold, colder than ice or a blizzard.

"This doesn't concern you, intern. Go home."

"Okay, first off, not an intern; Game Station staff. Second, you're clearly making the kids uncomfortable…and their parents are here."

Luckily for Lucy, the parents were indeed there, and the kids, after thanking Lucy, rushed to them. The man furrowed and rubbed his brow.

"Of course, a sentimental…Try to do something worthwhile…" He then took a breath. "No matter. A few more days mean nothing."

He then pushed Lucy out of the way and went on his own way. Stella spied this and groaned in irritation at the man before seeing her junior.

"Lucy!"

She raced to help the girl up and dusted her off before buying her a Play-Burger in apology.

It then all clicked for the young woman.

"I'm...I'm so sorry that happened to you all," Lucy whispered. "I never knew..."

"Better that you didn't know..." Mommy gently said, cupping Lucy's face. "You were the one single good thing out of this whole factory back in the day...and I don't regret being your friend."

"Hey, it's Miss Greybar's office!" Picky pointed out, snapping everyone out of their funk as they saw the door was open.

Lucy smiled, feeling a little bit better as she recalled some of the good memories she shared with the woman in question. Everyone headed inside to see that the interior looked much different from the other offices, having fake windows akin to the ones in the school. Walking past the TV surrounded by a pile of various objects, Lucy approached the large desk in the room, stepping over lots of items scattered across the floor.

"Wow, you really must have been busy, Stella..." Lucy chuckled.

The rotund girl then spotted a purple VHS tape on the desk in front of a computer. Picking it up, she saw a box next to a TV with a VHS on top. Moving over to insert the tape inside, the TV turned on to show Stella working at her desk while humming.

Suddenly, a couple walked into the office from the door and up to Stella, who perked up and smiled when she saw them.

"Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Hartmann? Come on in! Please, have a seat!" The couple sat down in a pair of chairs in front of the desk. "How was your ride down?"

"It was... nothing like we were expecting." Mr. Hartmann replied. "Mr. Ludwig's speech was... Well, it just confirms for us that you're the orphanage we want to go through."

"It's a truly magical place," Stella responded with a warm smile before looking at some papers on a clipboard. "I felt right at home from the second I entered. You open that door the first time and you just know, you're never going to leave... Kind of like finding a home as a child and always thinking of it when you want to feel comforted."

"Stella always did say that she had found a home here at Playtime Co. Heck, I think she admitted to seeing Elliot Ludwig as a father-figure," Lucy said. "Just had no idea it was technically her ACTUAL home."

"I understand you want to give Jeremy that home," Stella said.

"Yes, and we would like to adopt." Mrs. Hartmann said as she and her husband locked eyes knowingly.

"Amazing!"  Stella beamed. "You'll be perfect for... Oh..."

Lucy's smile vanished as she could practically hear Stella's heart drop from the expression she saw on her face.

"W-what?" Mrs. Hartmann asked, confused.

"Well, it appears there's...been some complications."

"Complications?... W-what kind of complications?" Mrs. Hartmann asked once again, fearfully.

"I-I don't know. Uhm... The form says... 'Testing.'" Stella said as she set the paper aside.

"What does that mean!?... Tell us, what does that mean!?" Mrs. Hartmann asked more concerned.

"Ms. Greyber, we deserve a better explanation than that, don't you think!?" Mr. Hartmann said as he stood up.

"You're in charge of all this, how could you not know!?" Mrs. Hartmann said as she stood up.

"And why are we only finding out about this now?!" Mr. Hartmann demanded.

Stella, for her part, looked overwhelmed with guilt as she shrank back in shame.

"I-I don't... I'm sorry..."

"Testing...w-what did that even mean?" Lucy asked.

"Jeremy..." Kickin muttered before clutching his head in distress. "Jeremy...Jeremy...why does that name sound familiar?!"

In frustration, Kickin punched the wall, causing a vent in the ceiling to swing open and drop a key, which Angelo picked up.

"We'll have to think about this later. This key looks like it can help us go forward."

"My map tells me that the pathway that the key unlocks leads to the room filled with Red Smoke...I don't want all of you to be subjected to it." Pal-Pack said. "I will go on ahead and see if I can use it to power up the backup generator."

"Okay...be safe," DogDay said. "We'll find a way back out to the Dome."

Everyone split up as Pal-Pack went through the unlocked hallway and pulled himself up into another vent. he dropped into the room, his robotic nature making him immune to the Red Smoke.

He grabbed the battery that was used earlier to power a green hand charger, which he then used to power three receivers that opened a door. What followed was a lengthy electrical puzzle that soon opened a gate with the office's backup generator behind it.

Entering a vent in front of the generator, Pal-Pack dropped into the hallway full of Red Smoke, retrieving a battery to unlock it. However, before he could continue onward, a large, pawed hand grabbed him.

"YOU..."

It was CatnNap who threw the small robot into a wall and slashed at his chest.

Pal-Pack writhed in pain, but could do nothing else as he found himself thrown into a locker.

"The Prototype wants those heathens at his feet. And this time? You will NOT help them."

He then slammed the locker door shut and crushed the door inward before he turned to leave.

"No! CatNap! Stop! They have nothing to do with…! You don't have to follow him! We can leave this place! Live our lives! See the world!" Desperate, Pal-Pack tried one last thing: "THEO, PLEASE!"

No response.

As Lucy and the group made their way back to the front entrance of the Counselor's Office, everything suddenly went dark around them.

"That ain't good..." Picky gulped.

As if to make matters worse, a familiar voice to the Smiling Critters scratched out across the halls.

"LEAVE PLAYCARE...OR I'M COMING FOR YOU!"

Chapter Text

*Years Ago...*

"You ever see the real ones?"

It was bedtime at Playcare; the usually sunny sky now flipped over to a darkened night skylight. The orphans were all fast asleep, the Delight sisters were soon following in that example, the rest of the staff had gone home for the day, and the other Smiling Critters were dozing off.

Underneath the artificial moonlight, on a hill, lay CatNap and Pal-Pack, admiring the scene as best they could. The little robot had been the one to ask the question.

"Before I came here, yeah," CatNap said, a sad smile on his face. "I was camping, I think; me, my grandpa, and grandma…You?"

"I'm not sure," Pal-Pack responded. "Maybe once, when Elliot brought me to his home…But I'm not certain; that whole day is a blur…I see humans, rocks…"

CatNap's eyes widened in shock, seeming to figure out something Pal-Pack didn't.

"He was right."

"CatNap?" Pal-Pack asked, his concern growing when the Bigger Body wrapped his knees in his arms.

"Looks like he was right; the world will hate us. This factory really is our home."

"Who told you that?" Pal-Pack asked, worry in his tone but rage at the speaker in his circuits.

"Mr. Pierre," CatNap answered.

The little robot was not surprised. The Head of Innovation was a brilliant businessman and shared Elliot's charisma, but otherwise…

Pal-Pack gently patted the feline on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it too much. After all, Leith is a fool with people skills worse than the doctor."

CatNap gave Pal-Pack an incredulous look.

"Okay, mildly better than the doctor, but you know what I mean."

The two shared a light chuckle before they returned to observing the artificial night sky, trying to create their own constellations.

*Present Day*

Pal-Pack, still trapped in the locker CatNap had thrown him in, was trying to bang the door open. All he had done was scrape off some of the paint from his hands and shoulders after he'd tried to rush the door open.

"Confound it, confound it! It should not be this hard!" the brave robot cursed, inwardly grateful that despite everything that was happening, his battery was still fairly high at 75%. But power would do nothing if he couldn't get out, and none of his alternate hands could help:

His flare hand would only ensure his destruction at this point, and without electricity, the green hand was no better than his blue and red hands. This left only the jumping purple hand, but…

Wait. The purple hand was, physically, the most powerful hand. Maybe…just maybe…

Opening a small part of his left leg, from which came a small tool-kit, Pal-Pack then took out a small screw-driver and some pliers before switching his red hand for the purple.

"With a mild calibration…"

Opening the controls for the hand, Pal-Pack twisted and fiddled until the hand shifted into a gripping form. He then put a piece of purple scrap metal on the door and aimed

"Not exactly a handprint, but…"

The Purple Hand then ripped the door clean off its hinges, racing towards the little robot before he leaped over and recalled the hand, finally outside.

"Yes!" Pal-Pack cheered before he recalled the dire situation. "Wait…No! Get to the others first, then cheer!"

And he tore across the factory, desperate to rejoin Lucy and the others before something terrible happened.

Lucy and the gang had hurried out of the Counselor's Office as soon as CatNap's voice echoed out his threat. It was now artificial nighttime in the Playcare dome as Ollie called on a spare walkie-talkie Lucy had.

"Something's gone wrong! Grab the cord from the Counselor's Office and plug it in underneath the statue! We need to reach 100%! Good luck!"

"We don't have a lot of time," DogDay said. "We need to hurry now!"

The group walked over to a nearby pillar with a floodlight shining on it, grabbed the cord from the area, and began running over to the statue, working together to plug it in.

"Guys, we're back!" Lucy called out as she entered the room.

"Lucy!" Poppy said in relief.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're all safe." Miss Delight said.

Huggy and Kissy shared an embrace while Angelo and Kickin plugged the cord in. Unfortunately, the power wasn't completely restored.

"Are you kidding me?!" Hoppy snapped. "96%?! After everything we've been through already?!"

"It looks like we're a tiny bit short," Ollie called in.

"No horse poop!" Picky said.

"Hmm... I'm gonna send you one last key. Poppy used it when you met up with her earlier to activate the sky lights."

Poppy nodded. "Yes, I sent it back to Ollie in case he needed it."

"Head back over there and find the cord. Then we'll have enough power!" Ollie ordered as he slid the key down, which Lucy took.

"Come on, follow me," Poppy said. "I can take you back to the panel I used earlier."

Poppy hopped on Kissy's shoulder as the two led the group. Feeling a bit worried and not wanting to be left alone, Miss Delight opted to join as well. Lucy unlocked the panel while Angelo, Kickin, and Hoppy dragged the cord back to the outlet to plug it in, bringing gas production to 100% as a nearby tube dispensed a blue power battery.

"We got the power connected, Ollie," Poppy replied as the others gathered together.

"Okay, that should be enough power," Ollie replied. "Now take that huge battery to the Gas Production Zone, so we can get out of here! It's the door by the cable car you arrived on. Be careful, and good luck."

Picking up the battery, Lucy turned back to the others.

"Alright. This is the last thing to do, but it's going to be dangerous, so if any of you would rather stay-"

"I'm going to stop you there, babe," Angelo said as he raised a hand. "And I'm pretty sure that I speak for all of us when I say that we're in this with you the whole way."

Huggy and Kissy all saluted Lucy with Poppy in their hands.

"I spent so long thinking there was only one way to end all this." Poppy shamefully confessed.

"Like I said: I'm not losing my best friend again after so long," Mommy said, standing at full attention.

"Neither are we," DogDay said, shooting his fellow Critters a look. "I know he's gone off the deep end, but if Miss Lucy can help the others…? No offense, guys."

"None at all." Mommy and Poppy assured the dog.

Maybe DogDay's words held some truth. Maybe they were just so happy to have him back that they decided to indulge this dream. But for whatever reason, the Smiling Critters all stood, ready to aid wherever they could.

"Well, like Mommy." Miss Delight smiled weakly. "I can't have my students wandering into danger. Lead the way, Miss Lucy."

Lucy smiled warmly as they all headed out to the Gas Production Zone together.

Pal-Pack hurried as fast as he could out of the Counselor's Office. Already, the simulated nighttime had set in, and he looked around urgently for Lucy and the others. He then saw them just entering the Gas Production Zone room and hurried after them.

"Please let me not be too late...!"

The group walked down the hall to the Gas Production Zone, with Lucy carrying the battery needed to finish the gas transference.

"Why are we walking instead of running?" Bubba asked. "You heard what CatNap said!"

"I'm not so sure he means it," Lucy said.

"How can he not?!" Hoppy asked.

"Well, when we were at his shrine in the Playhouse

"YOU WENT TO THE SHRINE AND GOT AWAY?!"

"Well, technically, we were overhead," Angelo said. "But yeah, seemed like he needed to brainwash himself to go after us; what with Lucy not being involved in…whatever happened."

"The Prototype tried to control the rest of us, but we never owed anything to him, so there was no way for him to easily reach into our minds," DogDay said while being carried by Kickin.

"But since CatNap was personally saved by The Prototype, in the early days, it felt like he wanted to repay him, before he began revering The Prototype as a god," Bobby added.

"After that, he became...different. Not too noticeable at first, but the signs were there." Crafty softly said as she shivered.

"Yeah, Hoppy even told me once she'd heard him ripping out his own voice box; the people in coats never got around to fixing it." Kickin darkly said.

Angelo gulped as he rubbed his throat self-consciously.

"That caused some permanent damage that lasted even to this day. While I was in captivity, a steam pipe once broke, and CatNap screeched before running off." DogDay noted. "He then later destroyed all the steam pipes around the cell block."

"It could be that there's an adverse reaction when the Red Smoke comes into contact with steam. But I can only theorize about this." Miss Delight said as the group finally reached the main area of the Gas Production Zone.

"Everyone!"

They all turned to see a scraped and worried Pal-Pack racing toward them; the look on his face telling them that relief had to wait.

"He's hunting us for real now!" Pal-Pack managed as he motioned the others to keep moving. No one needed to be told twice.

The lights still remained off, and the screen still displayed a lack of power. Turning on the flashlight, Lucy took note of everything in the environment. There were wires not only connecting to the console and the nearby battery socket, but there were also some leading to a service elevator.

Advancing on the battery socket, the door to the right suddenly opened as CatNap crawled through the small space.

"This game is over..." He hissed out.

"Theo!" Pal-Pack called out. "You don't have to do this!"

"The heretics must be punished!" CatNap snapped, breathing out Red Smoke that covered the entire area.

"Get back!" Miss Delight called out, but it was too late, and without any sort of protection, everyone was consumed in the mist.

Peeking open one eye, Lucy saw that she was still standing upright, with a slight woozy feeling encompassing her. But she powered through it and looked back to the others, seeing them in a similar state, save for DogDay and Pal-Pack.

"Is everyone alright?!"

"We're fine," Bubba said as he held his head before looking around frantically. "But where's CatNap?!"

Everyone then picked up on the sound of Crafty quivering in fear. Following her gaze, they could make out a much more nightmarish version of CatNap, with a lack of fur and pencil-thin limbs supporting a hulking skeletal grey frame. Long black claws that resembled blades rested on CatNap's paws, but the worst part was his face.

His white eyes were nearly invisible with how dilated his pupils were, and a mouth curled into a twisted smile that stretched down to near floor level. Lucy could feel the floor rumble with his approach, fear creeping up her spine as she looked at this monstrosity.

"This makes Freddy Krueger look tame!" Angelo screamed.

Mommy suddenly fell flat on her bottom, eyes widening, and her breathing hitched.

"T-The face…THE FACE!" she suddenly screamed, pointing at Catnap memories flashing back to her…

She was a little girl back then, sleeping in a crowded room filled with bunk beds. It had been a long day at school and playing, and as much as she, Marie Payne, wanted a real family, she was looking forward to another day.

But she hated going to bed. Because every night, without fail, Catnap entered each and every room; his big, wide eyes contrasted by the poppy gas that was supposed to help you sleep. But more often than not, she and the other children would get horrifying nightmares.

She closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep.

But the face remained, breathing heavily, inching closer and closer…

"Sleeeeeeeep…"

"Everyone! Get to the elevator! Go, go, go!" DogDay suddenly shouted, breaking everyone's frozen stance.

The group began running to the service elevator, Miss Delight slamming her fist on a giant button, opening the gate, and allowing everyone to get onto the lift. As Lucy hit the button to go up, an alarm blared as the grated door shut back, and the lift began ascending.

As CatNap approached, he clung onto the grating as if he was ignoring the laws of physics as he followed everyone up from the outside, staring at all of them with wide, manic eyes.

Fortunately, he wasn't able to follow them up the whole way as he eventually came to a ceiling, so he simply turned and began climbing the ceiling away as he faded from view.

"E-Everyone's still okay, right?" Lucy asked, shaking.

Huggy was holding Kissy close, the poor pink creature shivering in terror, while Poppy looked close to hyperventilating as Bobby hugged her close to her chest.

"DogDay, how are you holding up?" Kickin asked.

"I've been exposed to CatNap's Red Smoke for so long, I've developed an immunity." The leader of the Smiling Critters explained. "It also helps that I have my own unique breath that helps stimulate awakeness and gives people who breathe it energy."

Through the haze of red smoke, the group was able to pick out a battery socket inside a large area after exiting the elevator.

"Come on, we can't stand still for too long," Kickin said as everyone quickly reached the area in the middle.

They were now surrounded by several halls also filled with Red Smoke. DogDay took a deep breath and exhaled a pleasant-looking blue smoke that counteracted the Red Smoke and boosted everyone's energy.

"There's still too much Red Smoke around us. We need to stick close together."

"CatNap is on his way. I can feel it." Poppy said nervously.

"Well, we have to try and stop him!" Kickin exclaimed as he set DogDay down.

"This room used to be a sort of Panic Room. It's...not what it used to be, but I'm sure it can protect us." Poppy said.

Pal-Pack nodded. "Yes, I remember this room. We need to put the batteries in the ports, quickly!"

Quickly grabbing one of the batteries, Mommy and Pal-Pack fired up one of the Green Hand Ports, the others using the other available Batteries to unlock the areas they could find as Picky spotted the nightmarish figure of CatNap approaching.

"Oh, bacon bits!"

Pal-Pack saw this and charged his Green Hand, firing it onto the closest port to the hall that CatNap was slowly making his way down. Suddenly, a huge rush of steam came pouring out of the pipes at the entrance to the hall, coating CatNap and causing him to screech before retreating back into the smoke.

"Yeah! Score one for us!" Hoppy cheered.

Huggy spotted a battery socket light up above a large computer terminal and gestured for everyone to look at it.

"Maybe we can use these to take out Catnap." Miss Delight pointed out as she placed a spare battery in one of the sockets, and a bar began charging up energy on the screen.

"Good eye," Lucy said as she began giving orders to the others. "Pal-Pack, you wait for the right opportunity to fire off the steam pipes. Angie, Kickin, Bubba, Bobby, and Hoppy, you watch the halls to see if CatNap is coming down them. Miss Delight, Poppy, take care of DogDay, Mommy, Kissy, and Crafty, make sure nothing happens to them. I'll manage the batteries and point out where to fire. And I don't want anyone dying on me!"

Everyone in the room nodded as they all began carefully watching, hearing CatNap thumping against metal all around, which sounded like some sort of tense music, strangely fitting.

"HERETICS! YOU WILL ALL DIE HERE!"

Pal-Pack equipped the Orange Hand, seeing that he only had six flares left. Loading one up, he looked down the halls to make sure and see if the real CatNap was coming, since he was unaffected by the Red Smoke.

"HERE HE COMES!" Hoppy called out.

Pal-Pack quickly joined the green bunny and saw the faint outline of Catnap. Aiming his Orange Hand, he quickly shot at the outline, clearly seeing the flare bounce off the leg.

"QUARTER POCKET!" Angelo shouted, smacking CatNap in the face with Barb. "Oh yeah, I'm loving Barb more and more!"

However, CatNap glared at Angelo with a furious scowl, making the young man gulp as he backed away.

"Stay back!" Pal-Pack shouted as he charged his Green Hand and activated the steam in the respective hall, deterring CatNap once again before he could retaliate against Angelo.

"Everyone! The battery is out of power!" Poppy called out.

Lucy reached over and yanked one of the nearby batteries out of its current socket and plugged it into the new glowing one by the terminal. Just as she did this, however, a light began shining down from above, and she noticed a duct that had previously been closed was being pried open by a set of claws.

"Guys! Above! We gotta close that door!"

Mommy, despite her terror, stretched out her arm and forcefully yanked the duct shut, giving a shaky thumbs-up to Lucy afterward.

As it seemed even more Red Smoke began to invade the area, DogDay quickly breathed out his Blue Smoke to make sure the others didn't get overwhelmed as Bubba and Huggy pulled out the next battery and placed it into the next available socket to enact the third charging cycle.

CatNap was clearly growing more irate as he began approaching the main area even faster, even using the smoke to create illusions of himself. Fortunately, everyone was able to cover their bases quickly to hold back the real deal when he tried to pounce.

"One more battery!" Bobby said.

"NO! I WILL NOT FAIL HIM!"

CatNap was now going berserk, clawing at the vent even harder, eventually requiring the group to work together in tandem to prevent him from getting in up top.

The seconds on the timer seemed to get longer and longer as the group held out for as long as they could. Lucy spotted four different CatNaps approaching from all angles.

"Keep going, guys!"

Pal-Pack looked around, trying to pinpoint where CatNap could be coming from before his optics widened in horror as he looked up.

"He's using his illusions to divert everyone's attention from above!"

If the brave robot didn't do anything soon, his friends would be killed before they could react. He noticed the terminal was fully charged and quickly used his Green Hand, getting a warning from his internal computer that the electrical voltage was too much to hold.

"KICK!"

Hearing Crafty's voice, Pal-Pack noticed that CatNap had pounced and slashed at Kick, who just barely managed to avoid a fatal injury, but his chest was now spotted with some nasty scratches. The group was now huddled up against the back of the wall, with Angelo, Miss Delight, and DogDay protecting the others.

"THEO!" Pal-Pack screamed. "Forgive me...!"

The supercharged Green Hand latched onto CatNap's shoulder, sending many volts of electricity into him as he fell over in pain. As electricity surged through the Critter's body, he began to get up with anger.

"That...won't...STOP ME!"

He tried to breathe out more Red Smoke, only for the electricity still running through his body to react violently and light CatNap on fire. He let out an ear-piercing shriek as he frantically moved about, trying to put out the fire. Pal-Pack ran over to make sure Kick was alright while the others watched the blaze of fire.

Slowly, it began to die down as CatNap lay on the ground before trying to prop himself up on his back. He suddenly felt something cover him: a fire blanket

"Lucy, get back!" Mommy and Angelo cried together

CatNap glared at the woman; this heretic thought that helping him would clear her from his hunt?! How dare she! Even if she wasn't there when everything happened and was clearly trying to leave, she defied his master!

The burnt cat tried to swing a paw in rage at Lucy, only to stumble in his motion and the pain in his form.

"THEO...I AM DISAPPOINTED."

Hearing the gargled mess of voices, all the toys tensed, with Poppy looking absolutely terrified as a mechanical yet bony hand reached down from above.

"The Prototype..." DogDay darkly said.

"My lord..." CatNap whispered as he moved Lucy away and stood on his knees, holding his hands in prayer. "I have failed you, yes...there is only one thing I can do as repentance."

"FORGIVE ME, THEO...YOU WERE ALWAYS MY MOST FAITHFUL ALLY."

The Prototype's claws straightened out, preparing to skewer CatNap's skull then and there, but suddenly...

"NO!"

Lucy rushed forward and tackled CatNap to the ground just as the Prototype thrust his claws forward. The young woman winced as her side was cut by the wire-thin but no less sharp claws, but she had done what she needed to do. She had saved CatNap.

"WHY DID YOU SAVE HIM?"

Lucy got up, and although she was only looking at his hand, she glared at the Prototype defiantly.

"Because NOBODY is going to die here. Everyone has suffered too much... And I am NOT going to let you get away with what you've done."

"I SEE...IF YOU TRULY CARE FOR CATNAP DESPITE WHAT HE HAS DONE TO YOU...THEN DO WITH HIM AS YOU WISH. HE IS DEAD TO ME."

"No, wait..." CatNap begged as the Prototype's hand slinked back into the vent and disappeared. "PROTOTYPE! PLEASE! I WILL...DO ANYTHING! PLEASE...Don't leave me!"

But his master was long gone.

Lucy's heart raced with adrenaline. But right now, all that was important was the look of catatonia and despair in CatNap's face, being abandoned by the one he considered a God and savior.

"Babe!" Angelo cried as he ran over to check on Lucy. "Oh god, please tell me that's not fatal!"

"Sweetie, it's okay..." Lucy reassured her boyfriend, kissing him gently to calm his nerves. "This fat doesn't crack easily."

"You..."

Everyone tensed as they realized they were still in the room with CatNap...and his despair had turned to pure, white-hot rage.

"You...YOU...YOU! HOW DARE YOU!" He screamed through his damaged voice box. "YOU CAN'T EVEN GIVE ME THE ONE WAY I CAN REDEEM MYSELF! AND NOW...AND NOW HE IS GONE!"

"I'm...I'm sorry..." Lucy said.

"Sorry? SORRY? SORRY?! YOU ARE SORRY?! DO YOU THINK SORRY WILL FIX ANYTHING?! THE PROTOTYPE WAS MORE THAN MY GOD...HE WAS MY PURPOSE! MY REASON TO EXIST! AND NOW BECAUSE OF YOU...I HAVE NOTHING NOW! I AM NOTHING! AND IT IS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!"

"OH, WILL YOU SHUT UP?! She saved your life!" Hoppy snapped. "Even after EVERYTHING you did to her...TO US! YOUR BEST FRIENDS!"

"SILENCE! YOU ALL FORGOT WHAT WE ALL SUFFERED!" CatNap roared back. "YOU THINK SHE'LL FIX ALL THEY'VE DONE TO US?! ALL THE LIVES THEY DESTROYED...ALL THE TORMENT THEY PUT US THROUGH!"

"CatNap..." DogDay softly whispered.

The rest of the Smiling Critters were in a state of mixed emotions. Anger, sadness, pity... Despite everything their former friend had done to them, they could see the raw pain and anguish as clear as day.

"'SORRY' WON'T GIVE OUR LIVES BACK! 'SORRY' WON'T LET US LEAVE THIS PLACE! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! WE ARE EXPERIMENTS! MONSTERS! THINGS!" CatNap roared, tears running down his face. "WE WERE CHILDREN, AND THEY TOOK EVERYTHING FROM US! THIS IS OUR HELL, AND WE DID NOTHING WRONG!"

Lucy tried to speak in her defense, but CatNap grabbed her in his claws, pure rage and agony in his eyes as he stared directly at her, his fangs bared.

"TELL ME HOW SORRY YOU ARE, ANGEL! TELL ME!" He screamed. "TELL MEEEEEE!"

Anyone else would've cowered and begged for their life. And make no mistake, Lucy was scared; none of the other toys had been this manic or handsy. But when she looked into CatNap's eyes, she saw something beyond the rage: Resentment, pain, loneliness, and above all else, fear.

She had seen it in Huggy's eyes as he'd started to fall. In Mommy's voice and actions. Hell, even in the dead Miss Delight. Fear of being hurt again, being seen…fear of someone intruding on this one scrap of home/control they had…

No one deserved to live like that.

So, with a gentle smile on her face, Lucy gently cupped Catnap's head in her palms and began to sing a song that was very dear to her heart: A song her grandmother had sung to her when she was a little girl.

(Play Pure Imagination, any cover will do, even though this has the added lyrics from Wonka 2023. For Lucy's voice, I used this.)

"Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Reach out, touch what was once
Just in your imagination"

Catnap's fury lessened, replaced with confusion and…soothing calm.

"Don't be shy, it's alright
If you feel a little trepidation
Sometimes these things don't need
Explanation…."

Huggy and Kissy held hands as Miss Delight, herself remembering this song from somewhere, began to move her finger along to the notes.

"If you want to view paradise
Simply look at them and view it
Somebody to hold on to, it's
All we really need
Nothing else to it.."

The Smiling Critters found their worries subsiding, even sitting down to enjoy Lucy's singing.

"Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination

The song made Poppy feel true hope in her heart for the first time in a long time.

"We'll begin with a spin
Traveling in the world of my creation
What we'll see will defy
Explanation"

Angelo just smiled proudly and nodded to Miss Delight and Pal-Pack, the latter also looking touched. Mommy could only sniffle as Huggy and Kissy held on to each other and continued to listen.

"If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Wanna change the world?
There's nothing to it…"

Catnap placed Lucy down, his eyes widening, and any desire to hurt her fading from his form.

"There is no life, I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free
If you truly wish to be…"

CatNap then began shaking, and as Lucy wrapped her arms around him, he shakily shared the embrace, tears running down his face. Pal-Pack made his way over to the one he once called a friend and gently placed a hand over his own.

"You are not the Prototype's servant...you are Theo Grahambel and you are still a child with a future."

Catnap let out a sorrowful, screaming wail, but all he felt was care as the others joined in on the hug.

Chapter Text

"There, that should do it."

Lucy winced as Miss Delight and Mommy finished bandaging her wound from the Prototype. It was a good thing it didn't cut too deep, so there wasn't much to work on, but Lucy's mind was on something else at the moment.

She glanced over to see CatNap, facing away from everyone while lying on his side.

Slowly approaching him, Lucy could easily see him flinch every time her foot touched the ground. As she approached, she was able to see the damage that had still been caused more clearly.

She slowly reached a hand out to one of CatNap's paws and softly touched it, feeling the shortened fur and skin underneath. CatNap flinched once again upon contact and began to move.

Lucy softly rubbed CatNap's paw to try to comfort him, not knowing what to say. He slowly turned his head to look at her, before she was able to pick up on a very faint purr.

She then took her head into her arms and began petting him, making the purple cat truly purr.

"Awwww, I forgot how cute he was when he did that." DogDay smiled, the other Critters in agreement as Pal-Pack stepped forward. CatNap saw this and left Lucy's embrace, pausing when the robot urged him to stay.

For a good minute, no one dared say a word or make a move. These two former friends stared each other down, memories and regrets filling their heads. So much violence, so much discourse…

And yet when CatNap looked into Pal-Pack's eyes, he saw no resentment or anger. Just relief. Relief that he was back and free.

The little robot lifted a hand and petted the cat, smiling more warmly.

"You'll see real stars outside soon enough, Theo..." Pal-Pack promised.

"Theo..." Catnap smiled weakly. "I'd almost forgotten the sound of my own name."

He looked over to the other Critters, seeing them and Mommy smiling, but with strain. Evidently, unlike Pal-Pack, they were not quite so willing to forgive and forget what he'd done under the Prototype's command.

Mommy herself stepped forward and took a deep breath.

"We will work together, but we are not friends."

CatNap simply nodded in understanding.

"We should get going," Miss Delight said. "Poppy wants all of us to come see her."

The group began to make their way up, with CatNap staying at the end, just behind Lucy, as she and Hoppy made sure DogDay made it up the stairs. At the top of the stairs stood Poppy, perched on Kissy's shoulder once again.

"Lucy, I don't know how you're able to do it. Every time I feel the slightest doubt...you do the impossible." The doll smiled gratefully. "You managed to save CatNap, the Red Smoke has been diverted, and we can finally take the fight to HIM."

"Yeah, just seeing that guy's hand was enough to give me the creeps," Angelo muttered. "Taking him down can't come soon enough."

"We have allies down below, like I've said before. The rest of the friends you've made are waiting there." Poppy said. "But if we're going to keep moving...you deserve to know the truth."

"The truth?" Lucy asked.

"You came back because you wanted to know why the factory shut down, why everyone you used to work with disappeared." Poppy sadly said as she got a VHS tape. "Well...this is your answer. We called it 'The Hour of Joy'."

Lucy and Angelo realized that most of the toys began to tense up, especially Mommy, Huggy, CatNap, and Miss Delight. The rest of the Smiling Critters and Pal-Pack also had haunted looks on their faces, but they also had a look in their eyes saying that what Lucy was about to learn was for the best.

Huggy shook his head feverishly, suddenly falling to his knees, silently pleading for Poppy not to play that tape.

"Poppy, please reconsider, there are…!" Miss Delight began

"Miss Delight, we're not children anymore." Kickin cut her off.

"Much as we all wish we were." Crafty and Bubba said together.

Bobby gently hugged her teacher, patting her hair.

"You always told us lying is wrong."

"You all had nothing to do with it..." CatNap noted as he echoed the teacher before joining Huggy in a grovelling stance. "Please…I just got them back. Please, Lucy, I beg you! Don't let them see this!"

Mommy then burst into a run and tried to snag the tape, only for Kissy to hold her back.

"Please, Poppy!" Mommy begged. "Please, don't…! We're begging you! I just got Lucy back!"

Now, even Angelo was getting worried: What could be so bad that these poor souls, most of them orphans forcibly turned into living toys, didn't want Lucy and him to see? If they killed people, he'd understand…

Wait.

Was that it?

"Oh crap." Angelo realized. "Lucy? Maybe we can just assume and believe? We've already seen enough horror to last a lifetime…"

But his girlfriend wasn't stalling. And he both hated and loved her for it.

"I need to know," Lucy said. "Please."

With a sigh, Poppy popped in the tape and pressed play.

The visuals were blurry and filled with static, but Lucy and Angelo could still clearly make out the entrance hall of the factory, where Huggy used to stand. The area was filled with people going about their work, guests being given an explanation of Huggy by a member of the staff...when all of a sudden, Huggy lunged down on the worker and bit his head off, causing all the surrounding people to go into a panic.

Huggy continued attacking others as the camera suddenly switched to the Game Station, where Mommy was similarly attacking people, strangling them with her stretchy limbs and taking a whole group of people up and into the rafters and dropping them to their deaths. And by the Wack-a-Wuggy game, a man was helplessly piled by the Mini-Huggies in a corner, where they tore him limb from limb.

Lucy couldn't hear any audio other than the distortion that seemed to create some sort of music that sounded hopeful, releasing almost. She didn't want to watch any more, but she couldn't turn her eyes away as the camera changed again. It was now in the school inside Playcare, where another employee was chased into a room by dozens of Miss Delights.

It then cut again to Kissy strapped down to a gurney and being moved somewhere, only for her to break free and knock the guards watching over her away before making her escape.

Next, it showed Boxy Boo surprising a guard and devouring him in one gulp before running off elsewhere. The camera then switched to the outside of Playcare, where CatNap was roaming with gas streaming out of his mouth. Corpses of adults and employees alike were littered throughout the factory, in nearly every room.

"Oh god...they're all dead...all of them..." Lucy whispered.

"I...I'm sorry." Miss Delight apologized. "After the event concluded, and some of us came to our senses, we were horrified at what we had done."

"I wasn't," Catnap said in horror. "I was so happy and elated; I told myself they all deserved it, how right the Prototype…Oh dear god…"

Dogday forced his way to hug his best friend, the other Critters joining in as he burst into tears.

Lucy turned her attention to Mommy, who was looking at her desperately, fear in her eyes…before she threw up what little food had been in her stomach and fell to her knees, sobbing, tears mixing into the bile as she began to sob.

Lucy quickly rushed to hug her oldest friend, Mommy, crying the whole time before weakly returning the hug

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" the spider-woman sobbed over and over again. "I'm…I was so angry and sick of it! I thought I could keep the kids safe…But when it all stopped, I thought of you and…and…!"

Mommy burst into anguished wails again, reliving the brief second of horror she'd felt at the idea of slaughtering Lucy, her best friend…and then seeing her again after she saved her from being crushed to death.

For a good half-hour, nobody spoke. Finally, Bubba broke the silence filled with brief sobs.

"Not all of us were involved in it. But we couldn't do anything either. We were scared, helpless...and all those people paid the price for it."

"We killed so many of them..." CatNap muttered, gazing at his claws as if they were once again covered in blood and guts. "Both the guilty...and the innocent. So…so many innocent…"

He recalled the desperate, confused looks on his victims' faces. But now they were all clear to him; not all of them had been bad people. Many had just done their jobs and went home, unaware…

Lucy ended the hug with Mommy and took a few great deep breaths. She accepted a hug from Angelo before she let out one last breath and turned to face the toys; all now as scared as Mommy had been.

"That? That was…" Lucy tried to find the right words. "That was horrifying... Probably the most terrifying thing I've ever seen."

The toys all looked down in shame, sniffling and new tears welling up.

"But like I told CatNap: you're NOT monsters," Lucy said. "Not one of you. What happened was wrong, but you were angry, in pain, and I'll bet my toy ideas that the Prototype was very convincing."

Everyone was taken aback at her response, before the Smiling Critters suddenly embraced the rotund woman, even CatNap and DogDay. Mommy and Huggy then joined in, followed by Miss Delight squeezing through the crowd and softly grabbed Lucy's hands in hers.

"Thank you."

Lucy nodded back as the group slowly backed up, and she returned her gaze to Poppy, who calmly watched the whole interaction.

"I remember hearing every moment of it. It went on so long... so agonizingly long. They tried to hide, to run, anything to stay alive... I remember their cries: 'What's going on?' 'Why is this happening?' 'What are those things?'"

Poppy sniffled as tears built up in her eyes, but Lucy gently picked her up and hugged her to her bosom.

"Shhh...it's okay...there's nothing you could've done."

"Senseless slaughter, that's all it really was." Poppy bitterly said. "None of it mattered. All that death... it didn't fix anything. And then, once it was all over, they dragged those corpses down below where they'd never be found. And they... ate the bodies... to stay alive."

"DUDE!" Angelo said, looking sick.

"For the record! We didn't eat it!" Picky said, Bubba, Hoppy, Kickin, Crafty, Bobby, and DogDay nodding alongside her. "We had vending machines and the greenhouse gardens."

"I couldn't stomach it after the first taste." Miss Delight clarified. "Thank goodness the school cafeteria had plenty of preserved foods."

"The Prototype has to die. For this. For everything." Poppy growled out as Kissy gently took her from Lucy's hands and put her on her shoulder.

"D-does he?" Lucy asked aloud.

Instantly, everyone looked at her as if she'd grown a second, no, three more heads.

"Have you already forgotten what we did under his thrall?" Miss Delight asked, trying to remain calm.

"He caused all of that! All of this!" Mommy snapped. "Well, he had SOME help…"

CatNap growled at her in annoyance as Huggy shook his head at the other two speakers.

"Okay, we followed his word, but the fact that he even…!" Miss Delight began, but then she saw Mommy's shameful look. "No. No, we are just as responsible…"

"And that you forgive us means more than you'll ever realize…" Crafty began.

"But forgive HIM?!" Hoppy asked. "The one who masterminded the whole thing? Turned Theo against us? Kept us locked away and trapped?!"

"Put me in that horrible case…" Poppy whimpered, reliving being trapped in that silent hell.

"The Prototype ISN'T like us, Lucy." Mommy managed. "From the moment he came alive, he's always been…sinister. He's smarter, stronger, and more cruel than anyone else… If you hadn't saved me, he'd have made me or any other dead toy a part of him."

The more the toys spoke, the more the humans felt unease and worry. Angelo at least shared the toys' thoughts; this Prototype sounded dangerous in every capacity, and if he did all of what he did while trapped in a factory? The young man didn't dare imagine what he could do if he managed to escape into the city.

"Lucy?" He asked.

The love of his life looked down for a long time. She then sighed.

"I'll try to save him anyway. I know you'll hate me for it, but like I told you all, no one deserves to die like this."

The toys were shocked. Except for Pal-Pack, who just gave an understanding nod.

"Lucy...you are truly a benevolent soul."

"That DOESN'T MEAN!" Lucy cut in before anyone could comment. "That he'll be part of our group. He'll pay for what he did…but he'll live to understand and feel the shame and agony you all felt. But again: He will live to pay."

Kissy lifted Poppy down into the lift and walked back, looking up at Kissy.

"As soon as we reach the bottom, we'll send the lift back up. Just hold tight, okay?"

Lucy then walked over to the access stairs as she looked at the group behind her.

"I'm certain I know the answer, but I'll ask anyway: Do any of you want to stay up here? It's likely guaranteed to be safer than what's down there."

"I know I speak for all of us when I say we're with you to the end." Kickin smiled.

"I agree. After what you've done, Lucy. I feel I have to repay my debt to you." DogDay said.

"You'll likely need someone to help you if anyone else gets hurt." Miss Delight spoke up.

"You know me, babe. I'm with you to the end." Angelo smiled, holding his girlfriend close.

"Besties stick together," Mommy said, wrapping her arms around Lucy as well.

Huggy silently nodded, and CatNap looked away but did not do anything to leave.

"Lucy, ever since you and Angelo reactivated me, I have held a great debt to you," Pal-Pack said. "I am coming as well. The Prototype must be stopped, no matter what."

"Thanks, guys...all of you," Lucy said before turning to Poppy. "Do you think the lift will be able to support all of us?"

Poppy examined the lift closely before looking up and nodding.

"It should be stable enough. But we'll still send it back up for Kissy afterwards, is that okay?"

It was relatively cramped, but the group managed to enter with little effort, Kissy watching as everyone finalized the organization. She then walked over and pulled a lever, which started the descent of the lift. The metal creaked and groaned from the abnormal weight, but it still held sound.

"It's nice to have a small breather for once." DogDay sighed.

"Alright. Once we hit the ground, we need to be cautious, there's something-" Poppy began, only for a screeching to interrupt her.

"W-What was that?" Crafty nervously asked as Poppy looked up in confusion.

"What's she doing?... This isn't-"

Poppy's eyes widened in horror, and her face paled as everyone followed her gaze, seeing the hatch above the lift suddenly begin to close. Huggy panicked and quickly stopped the lift's descent before trying to raise it back up.

"No, no no... NO!" Poppy cried. "We're coming! Just hold on!"

Kissy's shaking hand could be seen reaching out. Without hesitation, Pal-Pack and Mommy reached out to grab her and pull her down with them. Bobby and Kickin then pulled the lift back down as the hatch completely closed, but Kissy was safe with the group.

"Kissy! Are you okay?!" DogDay cried before gasping. "Y-Your arm!"

Indeed, Kissy's right arm had been torn off, leaving only a bleeding stump. Miss Delight was quick to use the first aid kit to make a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Huggy embraced his better half with tears in his eyes, Kissy hugging back with her good arm as Lucy moved to make sure the pink huggy was alright.

"We need to stop splitting up..." Bubba said.

"Agreed." Everyone said in unison.

Chapter Text

"It's okay, Kissy. We're safe now. All that matters is that you're alive."

The group soon made it to the bottom, Poppy saying comforting words to Kissy as she nursed the stump where her arm was. DogDay and Huggy were hugging her close as everyone sat in silence for a few moments.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Angelo asked to finally break the silence.

"You guys go on ahead. I'll stay here with Kissy." Poppy said. "Just... be careful. Down here, it's... It's not like anything you've seen above. It's not trying to hide what it is. It's Hell. And Playtime wanted it to be... But we have allies down here. Get to them."

"Okay..." Lucy said. "Why do I have a bad feeling..."

"I only heard whispers about this place..." Mommy muttered nervously. "Bestie, please stay by my side."

"After the Hour of Joy..." Crafty whimpered. "We realized were most of the other living toys were placed beside us."

"If you want a brief rundown, Miss Lucy..." Bubba said. "We were lucky to be in either Playcare or the Game Station...even Huggy standing stationary in the main entrance was better than what's here."

"There's still time to save the orphans. Follow the Red Smoke!" Poppy advised.

Lucy and her party headed onward, turning their gaze to the large loading bay full of large shipping containers.

"Everyone ready?" Lucy asked as the group prepared to enter the loading bay.

"We're right behind you," Pal-Pack said.

Following the pipes of Red Smoke, the party quickly spotted a door leading into a built-in cave system. However, the door was locked by a blue hand scanner, which in turn needed a battery to power it.

"Great, now what?" Angelo asked.

CatNap looked around before climbing up onto a ledge on the other side of the bay. He slowly stuck one of his paws into a parting between a fence, reaching into the room the others weren't able to see from the door.

"What's he reaching for?" Angelo wondered.

"The battery needed for the door is through the fence," CatNap explained as he successfully retrieved the battery and brought it over to Lucy.

Smiling gratefully at the critter, Lucy plugged the battery into the socket and Pal-Pack activated the blue hand scanner, which allowed the group passage into the hall leading to the caves.

Turning down the hall, Lucy spotted an open door just before the door to the caves, and decided to investigate it. Inside, a large portion of the wall had been broken, allowing her to see the red pipe leading in the direction of the caves.

"Oh no..." Bobby whimpered.

The others looked at what she saw and noticed she was mourning the dead bodies of a few Mini-Critters. Knowing what she did now, Lucy couldn't help but shed a tear as Angelo gently squeezed her hand.

Huggy, Mommy, Kickin, and DogDay looked around the room, Mommy managing to snatch a written note on the desk in the corner, quickly scanning it over for information.

Subject: Red Smoke

Re: Warrenbach Employees

Date: 03/18/1994

CAUTION:

For those involved with our construction processes, we caution your use of combustion or heat-based elements within environments containing Red Smoke. Due to the nature of its composition, when exposed to the right pressure conditions, the gas has been tested to react to high temperatures. While its use above can be regulated by environmental sensors and the correct filter equipment, the environments below are not yet afforded such luxuries (Which is why the advanced piping leading from our production center above is first on your docket). With higher natural pressure below, the matter is all the more urgent.

We caution against the use of lighters, lanterns, and other smaller objects that produce heat. For necessary machinery, we require the use of nitrous cooling equipment to stabilize vehicle temperatures.

As always, we wish for quick and efficient work. However, we might help in this matter; simply let us know.

Our Thanks,

The Science Staff

"No wonder so many kids had nightmares if the Red Smoke is flammable. The chemicals alone can't be good for a child." Lucy stated after reading it with Mommy.

CatNap just looked away, rubbing at the still-present burn marks on him. DogDay put a comforting hand on his friend.

"From what I was told, the Prison shouldn't be far now," Kickin noted as the group exited the office.

"Are you alright, Lucy?" Miss Delight asked the young lady who'd done so much in a few hours.

"I'm just wondering how or why Elliot Ludwig would approve of any of this," Lucy said. "He wanted to make people happy. Not...THIS."

"It wasn't really in Elliot's hands..." Pal-Pack sadly pointed out. "Most of these plans were approved by Leith Pierre and Eddie Ritterman."

The little robot felt anger grow in him; he'd never liked either man: Leith for his faux affability and Eddie for his cold-hearted, borderline draconian mindset, but he'd understood and appreciated their work ethic at least.

If they were still alive, Pal-Pack planned to have 'words' with them… And by 'words', he meant things that went against the three rules of robotics.

"Let's just keep moving," Angelo said. "This place is already giving me the creeps."

The group continued on, finding some blocked-off areas that required them to carefully squeeze through tight gaps, which was definitely hard for Lucy, what with her large, plump figure.

"Um…Guys? Angie?"

And eventually, there came an area that she couldn't get through, no matter how she tried.

"It's no use. I'm stuck." Lucy moaned.

"Again?" CatNap groaned.

"Oh dear…" Mommy and Miss Delight grimaced as they joined Angelo in pulling Lucy forward while the Critters snuck back to push.

"This is what happens when you eat too much!" Bubba struggled as he and the other Critters tried to push Lucy out.

"No, it comes from these underground facilities not making doors big enough!" Lucy retorted.

"Yeah, you take that back, Bubba!" Picky snapped at her friend, refusing to let a fellow foodie be slandered.

It took a lot of pushing, but eventually Lucy was freed, being pushed out of the space and landing right on top of Angelo.

"Angie!" Lucy cried out. "Are you okay?"

"Still alive..." Angelo winced, blushing brightly. "Damn, she's so soft..."

"Well, let's hope that's the last one!" CatNap snapped, Huggy nodding in agreement.

After that, they also had to make precarious movements along thin paths, but they soon came to a checkpoint with a large door that had a rope tying it shut.

"Hmmm..." Pal-Pack hummed. "Perhaps the Flare Gun hand will be useful here."

Equipping the Orange Hand, Pal-Pack fired a flare at the rope, burning it off and allowing the group to go through the door, entering a humongous area filled with mountains upon mountains of toy corpses.

"Oh my god..." Lucy whispered.

"These were...the REJECTS," CatNap muttered. "The experiments that didn't survive what they went through...the ones who were cast aside like garbage to rot."

"How…How many children?" Mommy weakly demanded, half not wanting to know.

"Too many..." Kickin responded.

The smell alone was enough to make a few members of the group gag, the stench of rotting flesh filling their lungs and making them feel like hurling. Not wanting to look at the corpses of other toys, Crafty and Bobby quickly covered their eyes. Miss Delight held Mommy's hand gently in hers while Huggy gently embraced Kickin and Bubba.

"I'm gonna throw up..." Lucy muttered, looking sickened. "W-Why didn't Elliot do anything to stop this?"

"Do you think he didn't try?" Pal-Pack pointed out. "But this...this was after he was lost to us..."

Not far from the beginning of a path of floor where toys didn't lie dead, Angelo noticed a piece of paper that had been placed on a barrel and illuminated by a floodlight. Picking it up and skimming over it, he found it to be a diary made by a child who was orphaned by an accident and taken into Playcare.

August 8th, 1994

Riley, Age 12

First week at Playcare. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what I wanted it to be. There are a lot of people here, and they've given a lot to me. A room, a roof, a big pink bed, girly toys (I'm a little too old for that), and a journal. The adults encourage me to talk to the other kids, but I'm not sure what to say to them. Most of them have been here almost their whole lives, or, at least, they were young enough that they can't remember what they lost. My parents loved, protected, and taught me, and I'm not sure the others even remember what that's like. They don't know what they don't have, but I do. I remember a lot. I try to be kind to them, though, even if there's very little I can say. Right now, I think I prefer it like that.

The nice counselor who said I was quiet told me that I could say whatever I wanted in my journal, and it would only be for me. Make two lists, she said, one with what's important to me right now, in this moment, and the other being why. She said it might help me. I'm going to try it.

What's important to me:

That the nice counselor cares enough about me to try to make me feel at home.

Trying to get comfortable here. Even if it's not home, it's all I have now.

That my life matters, since it can be lost so quickly.

That my parents' lives mattered too.

Why: Because I'm scared. Anything can happen in an instant and leave you with nothing, and because of that, I'm scared that nothing matters. But I want to feel happy again (Really, I do), and it's important to me right now, in this moment, that someone here cares that I fool at home, even if I'm not.

"It's clear she was being tended to by one of the few employees who had a better mindset here..." Angelo noted as he finished reading.

It didn't take long for him to find another entry in the same child's diary.

January 14th, 1995

"Being chosen." The other kids talk about it a lot. I still don't know what that's about exactly. If it means being adopted, I'm not sure I even want that.

What's important to me:

Figuring out if I even want to be adopted.

Trying to feel what the other kids seem to feel day in and day out.

Why: If I was happy like them and could feel it like that, maybe I'd appreciate everything more. Maybe I'd want to be chosen too.

February 10th, 1995

I've been chosen. Dr. White chose me.

For a while, I didn't know I wanted to be, or how I'd feel if I was. But, really, I think I'm happy! There were interviews, of course, but I didn't think any of those couples actually liked me. Too anxious. Too quiet. Doesn't get along with the other kids. And good test scores don't always make a good kid, they'd often say. But I guess somebody liked me.

I asked if I could take my journal. They said yes, but I wanted to write this out before l leave.

I haven't felt like this since before the accident. Since my parents. The lists Ms. Harper told me about have helped me a lot in recent months, and now, I think I have more for the first list than ever.

What's important to me:

That I still try to be the girl my parents raised. Live by their values so that a part of them is still here, so that their lives mattered.

Being good to myself, and to whoever takes me in.

Staying happy.

Finding more friends.

Getting used to a new home.

Growing up to help kids that were like me.

Start an orphanage, like Elliot Ludwig, and fill it with toys and good people.

"Oh, Riley…" Lucy stifled a sob.

Suddenly, shuffling noises along the piles of corpses were heard, and a light was even turned off by what looked like a Mini-Critter, but it was different from the Smiling Critters.

"Ugh, one of the Nightmare Critters." Hoppy groaned.

"Oh, I heard of that line!" Lucy noted. "I had a friend in school who really dug them. Even I got a full set of them."

"Is it gonna attack us?" Angelo asked.

"No," Mommy said, shaking her head. "It's just...watching us."

Finally approaching the large structure at the back of the cave that seemed to be the prison Kickin had mentioned before, the group began heading for the door, not wanting to be among the corpses anymore. But before they could get far, massive floodlights activated, blinding them as a siren began blaring.

"AH! BAD SOUND! BAD SOUND!" Picky panicked as she covered her ears.

Trying to recover from the flashbang, Lucy saw the previously open door close on the group, while animalistic cries began emitting close by.

"Incoming!" Angelo warned.

Looking at an opening near the top of a pile of toys, the group saw several very alive ones barreling toward them.

"Oh dear!" Pal-Pack as he began fending the little pests off with his Flare Gun hand.

CatNap was quick to jump into action, swatting away any toys that got close as Pal-Pack fired more flares at as many as possible. Eventually, the demented toys retreated back up the pile they'd charged down from.

"Is anyone hurt?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"We'll live," Angelo said as he slung Barb over his shoulder. "I am loving Barb more and more by the minute!"

"But now how are we gonna get through?" Hoppy asked.

Lucy hummed as she walked past the broken fencing and knocked on the door, hearing it resonate with her knocks.

"No idea..."

"We... we could try climbing up the way those toys came in," Kickin suggested nervously.

"It's the only way..." Mommy sighed.

"Oh man, so sorry about all this..." Angelo apologized as the group began climbing the mountains of corpses up to the hole.

Soon reaching the top, they climbed through the hole, allowing them to continue onward. There were rather large gaps, but thankfully, Pal-Pack, Huggy, Mommy, and the Smiling Critters helped carry Lucy, Angelo, and Miss Delight across.

The group then entered what appeared to be another loading dock, with large crates containing padded rooms about the area. Some of the Bigger Bodies appeared to shiver as Lucy then heard the sound of ringing.

"Oh, it's Ollie!" Pal-Pack realized as he answered. "Hello? Ollie, are you there?"

"Yes, I am!" Ollie affirmed. "I wanted to... I wanted to talk to you. Before you go inside, I mean. Everything you've seen out here. The piles. The dead. They ALL came from inside. Believe me, everything Poppy said about this place is true. It's Hell... But she also hasn't seen it like I have. It's worse now. Worse than ever... Just try to stay safe. Please. Don't let your guard down for even a second... I'll try to help you when I can."

"Oh my god..."

Everyone turned their attention to Angelo, who was staring helplessly in disbelief at a long-decayed human corpse wearing a Playtime Co. employee uniform.

"There's a note..." Lucy said as she took it and read over it. "It's Riley..."

This place is a prison. I don't know what I thought it'd be, but it wasn't this. I mean, what did I do wrong? They made me into this and put me in a cell. There must be hundreds, maybe even thousands of others here. How could this happen?

There's no food here, only the bodies, and I refuse to eat them.

The train, that's what takes everyone here. The conductor's dead, but he has a key, a key that makes the train move. I don't know if there are people elsewhere, or if they intend to come back here with more like me. I'll take the key, make sure no one else can come here. I'll put it where no one can find it.

I don't know how little or how much my life mattered, but I can do this. This one thing. Maybe it'll save someone. Anyone. Even just one person. That would be enough. Nobody else should hear what I've had to hear inside this place. Nobody else should know hell like this, or the demons that live there.

What's important:

That I helped someone the way I wanted to someday, when I thought I was adopted.

That my life mattered to someone.

Why: So that I'll know, wherever I go now (hopefully to my parents) that I fulfilled a little of what I said I would, and made life just a little better for someone else, even if this place took everything else.

The dam finally broke. Lucy fell to her knees and sobbed, Angelo hugging his beloved as he tried to assure her:

"She's at peace."

He wanted to believe that. He truly did. But Angelo's mind also wandered to how the hell this had spiraled out

Memories filled the toys; a face finally came to the letters: a bright yet stern and determined girl. Mommy felt tears run down her own face as Huggy hugged her, filled with shame that while he'd been in front for so long, all this murder and carnage had unfolded.

"We need to find the key to the train," Bubba said.

The group nodded and once again split up to look around. Bobby noticed an open door in a cell being held up by a crane, so she hoisted herself up and onto some of the other cells in order to jump into it. The cell swayed with her moving in it, the old cables creaking, but remaining firm. Seeing more dried blood, she saw the word 'key' written on the wall. Turning towards a flickering light, she was greeted with the decayed corpse of a small Kissy Missy Bigger Body...

"Oh, Riley..." The red bear critter whimpered tearfully. "You deserved a better life...not this..."

After carefully removing the key from the corpse's open rib cage, she went to rejoin the others. Seeing the tearful state their friend was in prompted the rest of the Smiling Critters to hug her gently.

After unlocking the door, the group saw another TV next to a Grab-Pack charging point. Angelo took another tape from a nearby shelf and decided to watch it, placing the item into the VCR. The scene showed a heavy door opening and closing as two men stood together.

"Hey, Cole."

"Hey, Norm."

"Two o'clock, huh? Best time of the day."

"Yeah..." Cole sighed.

"So, uh, what block are you again?" Norm asked.

"North."

"Can't say I hear much about that one."

"You wouldn't."

"High security?"

"HIGHEST security."

"Cushy..." Norm muttered. "Know what we get in the East? Toys banging on the walls, crying for their parents, their Counselors, whatever. It goes ALL day and night... And it just wears on ya, ya know? I'd KILL for a little security. And quiet."

"Right. Know what we get in the North? Things." Cole said, a haunted look in his eyes. "Whatever they are, they aren't people anymore. Their cells might as well be cages. They're animals. Sick. Twisted. Just instincts and anger. That's all that's left of them."

"Sure, but at least then it's not like yelling at your own kids for them to be quiet, though, ya know?" Norm pointed out. "I mean, if you have to listen to them-"

The two were seen jumping when they heard loud banging and screeching in the background.

"Oh, great..." Norm groaned.

"So much for our two o'clock." Cole sighed.

"Yeah, we really do have it rough, don't we?" Norm muttered, looking a bit remorseful as well.

"Did these guys seriously have no empathy?" Angelo asked, disgusted as he shut the TV off.

"We were the lucky ones..." Kickin sighed sadly.

After attaching the Power Outlet to activate the train. As the surroundings began rumbling, Lucy noticed that a door to a previously shut cell opened up with a jolt.

"What's this?"

She slowly walked over to it, with Angelo, Pal-Pack, and Miss Delight following behind her as she peeked inside. It didn't appear to be anything different from the other cells, but there was a monitor up in the corner of the room that nobody had seen before. Lucy took a step inside to look further into the dark interior.

"Be careful, Miss Lucy." Miss Delight warned. "We don't know what could be-AGH!"

She suddenly yelped in surprise as the door closed behind her, causing her to fall forward and knocking Angelo and Pal-Pack over as well. Lucy turned to catch the two as her heavier body allowed her to remain standing somewhat.

"LUCY!" Mommy cried as she, Huggy, and the Smiling Critters moved to help.

"No! No!" Crafty cried. "The train is moving! W-We'll find you, don't worry!"

"Guys!" Lucy called out through a small slot in the door, but it was too late.

"Oh great!" Angelo cursed. "We're trapped!"

A horn sounded out as the four were left stuck in the cell on the moving train, having no idea where they were going until a bright light illuminated the room from behind them.

"Hmmm, now what's this? Do I feel something squirming its way beneath my skin?"

Hearing the methodical voice from the direction of the monitor. The four turned around to see that the screen was now on, with a large eye filling the screen as it blinked and looked straight at them.

"An invasive, foreign little germ? After all this time? Ah, but I see... YOU."

"That voice..." Pal-Pack muttered, his optics widening.

"Well, little germ, let's make a game of you."The voice chuckled."You've blundered along the shadows above and only managed to squirm all the way down here, but by the barest skin of your teeth. There are no shadows here that would be of use to you. Not even the ground beneath your feet is yours. There are no places you can hide. Not from me."

With a sudden stop, the four began tumbling around as Lucy quickly grabbed her boyfriend and two other companions while shielding them with her big, rotund body. She squeezed her eyes shut as she held on to them close, all while the voice let out a sadistic laugh...

Chapter Text

Lucy slowly began to stir from her unconscious spell as she saw Angelo, Pal-Pack, and Miss Delight held securely to her body.

"I-Is everyone okay?

"Peachy..." Angelo sighed.

"Thank goodness..." Miss Delight said.

Pal-Pack was silent, a troubled look on his face, which Lucy noticed.

"You okay?"

"He seemed to freak out when he heard the voice on the screen talking," Angelo noted. "Only problem is, where are we now?"

"It appears that we're now within the prison itself. And that..." Pal-Pack sighed in frustration. "...was The Doctor."

The name finally clicked with the two humans of the party: The egotistical, undeterred man behind the Bigger Bodies project. The heartless man who'd scared Lucy that day all those years ago

This?… This was ALL his fault.

Looking around for a way out, Lucy quickly noticed a gaping hole in the corner of the cell, big enough for even her bulk to get through without issue. After everyone got out, they took a few back routes before unlocking the cell they were in, allowing them to enter the prison proper.

Finally, in the area outside the cells, they could faintly hear the sounds of some of the others yelling and pounding on the cells.

"Hold on, guys! We're coming!" Lucy shouted as she listened for which cells the noises were coming from and unlocked them, freeing the others.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Mommy cried, hugging Lucy tightly.

"That was close..." Picky sighed. "Crafty was gonna have a panic attack if she waited any longer."

"We tried to follow after you, but...something knocked us all out," Kickin explained. "When we came to, we were all locked up here."

"And now we're at the mercy of HIM..." CatNap growled. "Someone whose evil is on par with the Devil."

"Well... my reputation precedes me." Came the same voice from before as Lucy and the group snapped into a defensive position, CatNap and DogDay moving to protect the others. But nothing appeared to happen as they all slowly moved into another cell with a hole in it, allowing them to enter the first floor of this specific wing.

Moving around more dead toy critter bodies and over man-made barricades, the group came to what seemed to be some sort of break room. Looking around, they were able to see another dead guard, but unlike others, he had remains of a Grab-Pack strapped to him, with a red hand attached.

"I think we can use that. I saw a red hand scanner at the other end of the hall." Bubba mentioned.

"Well, it's best to use every tool at our disposal," Pal-Pack said as he detached the red hand and put it inside his chassis.

Everyone moved back to the other end to activate the scanner. But before they could get far, the speakers squeaked before The Doctor spoke out again,

"The subjects scramble for an advantage. They appear lost and disoriented, constantly requiring the aid of others. Heavy breathing is indicative of fear, and rightly so."

"No, we're angry because you're hiding where we can't find you and tear you apart!" Hoppy snarled.

"Let's test the response to said fear when pushed into action." The Doctor menacingly said as several cell doors creaked open, and manic critter toys began to crawl out and towards the group.

"I don't think kind words and snacks are gonna work on these guys, babe!" Angelo warned Lucy.

"Shut the doors! We'll keep them at bay." Pal-Pack ordered as he equipped his Flare Gun Hand and looked to Huggy and Catnap, who nodded back.

The others quickly shut the doors back, with Kickin, Bobby, and Crafty apologizing to the manic critters as Pal-Pack, Huggy, and CatNap worked in tandem, swatting or firing flares to scare the assailants away.

Suddenly, a huge portion of the barricade fell over as even more crazed toys emerged from behind it. But the Doctor's voice rang out again.

"I have seen enough. Thank you. You may proceed."

The toys then suddenly stopped as they crawled away from the gang back to whence they came.

"Is everyone alright?" DogDay asked the group, being met with a round of agreement.

Finally able to continue on, Lucy led the group to the other end of the hall, where Pal-Pack equipped the Red Hand and placed it on the scanner, watching as it unlocked the door and allowed everyone to move into the security room.

"You guys, feel free to take a break if you need it," Lucy said as she took the opportunity to look around the room, even spying a cutout of one of the later Playtime Co. toys, Yarnaby.

"Aww, Yarnaby!" Angelo smiled. "I loved that guy!"

He walked up and pushed the button, activating a recording.

"The name's Yarnaby! Would you Warn-a-be my friend?"

Angelo chuckled as he kept listening to the recordings while Lucy turned her attention to the whiteboard in the room. On the board was an unfinished game of Hangman. Next to the board was a number pad connected to a console, requiring a code to continue on.

"Press the button to brush my mane!"

"Angelo, please…" Mommy groaned

"Let him have this, bestie." Lucy cooed, a warm smile on her face as she saw the love of her life, smile and keep playing, stopping when the theme song played, warbled as it was.

"The fun never ends…Cozy and cuddy! Your new best friend…Yarnaby!"

"Hmmmm..." Bubba hummed as he looked over the unfinished Hangman game. "I think I have an idea here..."

Lucy nodded in agreement as the two of them were able to solve the code in no time and input it into the console, granting the group access to it and revealing a button. Going on and pressing it, they heard a circuit power up as the door at the other end of the hall opened.

"Got the door, let's keep going," Angelo said to the others as they all got up and quickly made it to the door across the way and moved into the next area.

It appeared to be the central area of the prison, with several doors leading to different wings. As the group made it through, the phone once again began to ring, leading to Pal-Pack answering the call.

"Ollie? Are you there?"

"BZZT-you hear-BZZT-Too much interfer-BZZT-Make your way to-BZZT-There's something-BZZT-octor is."

"Well, that's not very helpful..." Hoppy muttered.

"We're in too deep." Miss Delight noted. "I don't think Ollie will be able to properly reach us here."

Lucy walked over to the main desk, surrounded by chain fences. The main desk bore an uncanny resemblance to the desk at the entrance to the factory, but there were some differences still identifiable. Most notable were the more prevalent monitors and hand scanners strewn about the desk and hung on the fences above.

"Uncanny..." She muttered.

"Yeah, same here." Angelo agreed.

But behind the desk, and labeled by yellow paint on the floor, was a corridor leading to the Warden's office. Walking down the corridor brought the group to a bunch of small offices in front of the door to the warden's office. Noticing that the door needed some sort of coin as a key, they all split up to check in some of the surrounding offices.

"Found it!" Mommy said, holding up a large coin with a P on it.

"Let me handle that," Kickin said as he took the coin and placed it in the lock, unlocking the door and allowing everyone access to the office.

It appeared to be in the same state as everything else, but Huggy noticed a tape on the desk between a computer and a typewriter. He picked up the tape and walked to a monitor on an adjacent wall, placing the tape in the VCR to watch the development.

The video showed a man running in terror as several alarms were blaring. He then ran into a room and closed the door behind him.

"Oh God, no no no no no."

"Warden?" The Doctor's voice asked.

"Doctor! Doctor, what's going on?! What's happening, it's-"

"Yes. Yes, I can hear it. They've staged quite the rebellion." The Doctor chuckled. "Remarkable, 1006."

"How could this happen?" The Warden asked in panic. "There's fail safes. Security measures. They... It's impossible."

"Personal agendas have long been the downfall of this company. Is it unreasonable to believe there were conspirators? Playtime is filled with vipers and backstabbers." The Doctor said.

"But... But without executive access... How could anyone even get through?" The Warden wondered. "Leith. Stella. Eddie. Only the four of us have that kind of clearance."

"Does any of that matter now?" The Doctor retorted. "It's your life you have to protect. You have executive access."

"For all the good that does me!" The Warden complained. "Opening a door at a time won't get me to the exit, not with those THINGS everywhere. You didn't see what I saw. You didn't see the trail of limbs down the hall, didn't hear the things eating. The... The wet crunches of bones... God, I..."

"There is something you can do, Warden. I can help you." The Doctor said.

"How? You're stuck in there. You can't-"

"My body's here, sure. But my mind..."

"What?"

"The Omni-Hand. If you give it to me, I can get you anywhere. I'll have control over everything. I can shut some doors, open others. I can make you a pathway that leads right to the exit."

The Warden paused, hesitation clear.

"I don't... I don't know..."

"If you want to wait to get torn to pieces, that's your prerogative, but look at your immediate options, Warden. What choice other than this gets you out of here alive?"

The Warden sighed in defeat before reaching into his desk.

"I'm giving you the tool. Just get me out of here. Please."

"Of course. You've made a smart decision, Warden. I promise I'll get you out of here safe and sound." The Doctor said.

"An empty promise..." CatNap muttered. "The Warden barely made it to the front gate before he was torn in two..."

Huggy looked greatly uncomfortable as if remembering something very bad, Lucy gently rubbing his arm in comfort.

"I don't know if it's depressing or deserved with how easily the Doctor clearly played that man." Miss Delight sighed.

"Well, what's done is done." Kickin shrugged. "We need to get out of here."

Pal-Pack activated a hand scanner he had spotted earlier, causing a door on the opposite side of the area from where the group came in to open. Passing through, further ahead was another large vault door. But it wouldn't budge, so they were forced to take the door to the side.

Instantly, they were met with a drastic shift in tone as the hall had corpses of Playtime employees littered about it, with dried blood staining the walls and floors.

Lucy screamed at the sight before covering her mouth, holding in her dinner before forcing it back down…much to her regret, as the sight once again overtook her eyes and smell. She fell to her knees, vertigo suddenly striking with the room spinning, the already horrific images meshing and worsening as her heartbeat became like a jackhammer. It was one thing to see on the video. Another to see the mountains of failed toys. But now with actual, rotting corpses, on top of the copper smell of blood that had been shed so long ago? Lucy couldn't take it anymore

She was snapped out of her fear when four arms, two stretchy and soft, while the others muscular and lean, embraced her.

"It's okay, baby." Angelo cooed softly, his voice bringing her out of the attack. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm here. We're all here."

Mommy stretched her hand to clear Lucy's tears, then leaned her head onto Lucy's heart, making it slow down. Once the young woman's breathing slowed, Angelo gently and slowly peppered her face and lips with kisses. Lucy returned the embrace and kissed Angelo before pecking Mommy's forehead.

At the same time, Miss Delight was hugging both Bobby and Crafty as they whimpered at the gruesome sight. Pal-Pack just looked pained as he shook his head, knowing there was nothing that could be done now.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot stay here for long." He gently commanded.

A minute later, once everyone had calmed down, they began moving to the end of the hall. There was a large barricade set up with metal pipes, oil drums, barbed wire, and more corpses. It looked like whatever had caused all this death, though, had burst through the barricade, leaving plenty of space for everyone to squeeze through to the dead end and retrieve a red key card from one of the bodies.

"Sorry about this..." Lucy softly apologized.

The group quickly made their way out of the hall and back to the main area, where they slid the card into a slot, making another Red Hand scanner power on.

"Waste not, want not," Pal-Pack said as he equipped the Red Hand and activated the scanner, which unlocked another barred door.

"Watch each other's backs. We have no clue what could be sent our way next." Angelo said.

The others agreed as they walked through the second open door and through a vault door that led to another area of prison cells. More pipes full of Red Smoke hung from the ceiling, leading the group to another watch room on the other side of the area. But before they could enter, an alarm blared.

"Don't fight. Fighting only makes it work quicker."

As the alarm continued blaring, Red Smoke began to leak from the pipes, flooding the area. Mommy and Crafty quickly began to panic, with some of the others trying to calm them down.

"I'm immune... But I doubt the rest of you are." CatNap worriedly noted.

"Don't worry!" DogDay said as he breathed out his Blue Smoke. "This will protect you all, but we have to shut off the pipes!"

"I'll go," CatNap said as he swiftly crawled through a hole in the grating in the middle, leading to the lower floor.

"Wait for me, Theo!" Pal-Pack called out. "I am also immune!"

The two friends worked in tandem, eventually finding the pipe the Red Smoke was leaking from, but the valve was missing, forcing them to look around the countless burned corpses of more toys before prying apart some wooden planks from an opening in a fence.

Ahead of them was a cell that had been partially dislodged, big enough for Pal-Pack to squeeze into to get to the next area. Finally making it through, he entered a workshop-type area, where the valve handle was on a table.

"Theo!"

CatNap was handed the valve as he quickly put it back into place and turned, stopping the Red Smoke. The rest of the group above breathed a sigh of relief, especially since DogDay's Blue Smoke field was beginning to weaken.

"Thank goodness..." Mommy whimpered as Miss Delight and Lucy comforted her.

"Come on, let's get out of here before the Doctor decides to blow this place up with us in it!" Picky hurriedly said.

Chapter Text

Two Years Ago...

"I can't believe this happened!" Lucy groaned into her hands as she looked at the mirror in her dorm room.

College was stressful, it turns out. And in her stress, Lucy had…indulged. She still went for walks, and despite what many believe, carpentry and shop classes do burn calories as much as the gym. But sadly, her slender figure had gone the way of the dinosaurs; instead, she was nice, large, and plump.

Lucy's roommate Jess, who was studying psychology and minoring in cryptology, had tried in vain to comfort her. This admittedly had been tricky, with Jess being mostly mute and needing to use sign language, but Lucy could understand her just fine.

"It's not that big a deal, Lu!" Jess had tried to explain to Lucy. " Just…I don't know, cut back on the portions? Drink more water…?"

Lucy, mid-sob, revealed she recycled 2L pop bottles for her water.

"Well, that's all I had, sorry. But! I did call backup ."

The door opened, revealing a concerned-looking Angelo, who was accompanied by his roommate, a scarred young man named Jonah, who was studying Digital Media and Broadcasting…and who it turned out was dating Jess.

Jess motioned Angelo in and then gave him a glare as she made several hand-signs. Jonah, who'd come along with his roommate, translated:

"She says, and I quote: 'You better fix this without breaking her heart or so help me, you'll WISH that giant killer rabbit had eaten you!' End quote." Jonah managed before Jess cut him off with a hug, nuzzled her forehead under his chin, and pulled him away for their dinner date. "Hi and bye, Lucy! Good luck on your test tomorrow, Ang!"

This just left the two lovers in the room.

"Lucy?" Angelo asked. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"Just get it over it, Angie." Lucy moaned. "I've seen the way people look at me; I know what comes next. Just…can we at least stay friends? That's all I need. And if/when I lose this weight, I PROMISE I won't lord over my regained cuteness over you, just…!"

Then she finally turned to face him and saw his face: Angelo looked hurt, borderline destroyed by what he was hearing.

"Is that what you think I am? Some skirt chaser who walks out when someone needs them to be there for them? After four years of being together?"

He made his way over, making sure he was gentle in his movements as he lay down beside Lucy and cupped her chubby face in his hands.

"I love YOU, Lucy Nadine. No matter what you look like." He assured her, his words filling her heart with warmth she'd never felt before, before taking her into a hug.

"Even as stay puft marshmallow woman?" Lucy asked.

"Even as a human blueberry," Angelo assured her.

"You've been reading Roald Dahl again, I see." Lucy smiled.

"Hey, any movie based on his work was good, but especially if he himself liked them!.. Sides, you're no fan of stinky snuzcumbers like me or the BFG, right?"

Lucy smirked and giggled

"There it is." Angelo smiled warmly. "That's the Lucy I fell for."

Present Day...

"Lucy?"

Lucy was snapped out of her memories, recalling that after CatNap and Pal-Pack shut down the Red Smoke, they made their way into the office.

"What was that, Mommy?" Lucy asked. "Sorry, I think the smoke had me reliving things…."

Mommy let out a sigh of relief as Miss Delight came over.

"I was inquiring as to how you achieved your…?"

"Current width and height?" Lucy asked. "Well, long story short, the college Angie and I went to had a food court straight out of a mall that was open until 1:00 in the morning, so on top of the bar and Student Union, we had a lot of junky food to power through whatever we needed to. And, well…During test seasons, I…?"

"Treated yourself to success?" Miss Delight asked, making Lucy nod.

"I still say Jelly Belly Lucy would make a sweet toy," Mommy said.

"Well, at least you're able to keep up with all the madness and strong enough to hit back." Miss Deloight noted. "And I will admit, I am…somewhat pleased by a more…?"

"Robust savior?" Lucy guessed.

"I was trying to say something along the lines of 'societal definitions of beauty are skin deep and boring', but fair enough."

"Come on, we're not gonna find Poppy's allies standing around," Bubba said.

Suddenly, an alarm began blaring as the main console flashed "WARNING: PRESSURE CRITICAL," and hissing steam could be heard. Finally, a window exploded opposite the group, who were lucky enough to avoid any glass shards as the pressure finally relaxed. With a new path open, they carefully climbed through the window and through a broken wall to a narrow hallway.

Carefully making their way up a set of stairs, a growing noise revealed itself to be a set of shutters that were being propped open by large crates, allowing the group to crawl underneath and continue. In a small storage area in between the two doors, Angelo spotted a piece of paper and picked it up as the group searched for supplies.

"Hey, it seems they made a Bigger Bodies version for Yarnaby!"

Angelo began to read it aloud.

Prisoner Profile, Experiment 1166

Assigned Position: Pending

Characteristic for these early ilk, 1166 demonstrates an acute lack of higher cognitive function. Complex reasoning, speech, problem-solving, and greater introspection all appear either severely limited or altogether nonfunctional. Physically, it's what it needs to be. Strong. Agile. Swift. And yet I'd hoped for a greater mind behind it.

However, 1166 displays an odd sense of loyalty to a select few security staff, who nauseatingly feel some kind of sympathy for it, indicative of domesticated dogs and cats. This means its will can be bent. It feels. It fears.

I believe this is our first sign of progression. That our processes, while admittedly still rudimentary, are showing us where more work needs to be done, and that improvements ARE possible. Still, 1166, "Yarnaby," is an odd, funny little creature. The way it sits in the corner and watches me, playing its funny little music (I'm glad this request was taken seriously; I got a good laugh out of it). It amuses me.

Conclusion : I'm going to isolate it. It'll have contact with no one but me. Considering my importance to the project, it's doubly important that I'm properly protected at all times. And besides, I might get a good laugh or two at the pathetic little sounds it makes.

By the time I'm done with it, I'll be its entire world. It'll know nothing else.

-Dr. Harley Sawyer

"A-Angie?" Lucy worriedly asked.

Taking a second look at the paper, Angelo hadn't even noticed how he'd torn the paper in half before he'd even finished it, and the two pieces he was holding were crumpled up with his balled fists. It was frankly a miracle he'd even been able to read the entire report while the text was hardly visible.

"The Doctor..." Hoppy growled, understanding and sharing Angelo's fury. "He did so much worse. SO MUCH WORSE."

"When I told you his evil was on par with the Devil...I MEANT IT." CatNap added.

"Elliot..." Pal-Pack muttered. "I'm sorry to say this about you, but you made a mistake trusting that man..."

"We...We should keep going..." Crafty nervously said.

The group soon reached the next room, which had two open shutter doors opposite each other, and red and blue hand scanners. However, when Pal-Pack placed a hand on one, the door to the other would close.

"Hmmm...I think I have an idea!"

Kickin held onto the Blue Hand while Miss Delight held the Red Hand, both of them placing the hands on the scanners at the same time to open the door. After the successful scanning, the group passed through a decontamination room and entered a spherical room, with monitors lining a central pillar and several doors to nearby rooms with windows into what appeared to be interrogation rooms.

One of the accessible rooms led to a padded cell with chains on the walls and blood stains everywhere. But through the broken window, Lucy was able to see a piece of paper, one which was yet another Prisoner Profile on a toy called Pianosaurus.

ASSIGNED POSITION: TESTING

BEHAVIOR:
Much like its predecessors, 1163 displays none of the typical human qualities. Whatever's left of the "bright, joyful, bundle of laughter" (Per the Counselor's report) appears limited or altogether depleted. A shame, I suppose.

I grow tired of creating mindless invalids. 1160 had his uses, but 1163 lacks the cunning or the size for a similar role. And that's not what the Initiative is about anyway.

1163's temperament is like that of a rabid animal. It snaps at perceived motion, eats whatever fits in its mouth regardless of appetite, combats the conditioning staff, and it CANNOT even play its insipid piano rhythms in TUNE (perhaps one of the others from its line would have presented better music). Had any of these actions been the result of conscious thought, perhaps I would be intrigued.

I am not intrigued.

CONCLUSION :
Use 1163 for testing. If it survives, keep it there. However, I don't expect it to.

This Initiative will produce no more experiments such as this. Measurable improvements have to be made. Otherwise, I will have to re-evaluate the effectiveness of those in my purview.

-Dr. Harley Sawyer

"Why would he do all this...?" Lucy pondered, Huggy and Mommy quick to hug her alongside Angelo.

The group continued to look around the next room, but as soon as everyone was in, the shutter automatically closed, locking you all in the room illuminated by red light.

"You know, I never thought I'd see another like you. A human." The Doctor spoke up.

Lucy's body tensed at his voice as she looked around for any signs of the mad doctor. The others did the same as he continued,

"Certainly not an employee like you. But something makes you different, I can tell that much. Though I can't say what exactly that something is. Not yet."

"Do you remember me, Sawyer?" Pal-Pack angrily asked.

"Ah, Pal-Pack." The doctor recounted after a minute. "Good to see the old fool's final creation; irksome as it can be, even I admit some nostalgia can do the mind some good. Although…I thought 1170 managed to shut you down and lock you away before you interfered…"

Huggy looked down at his feet in shame, recalling ignoring Pal-Pack's pleas when revenge had been so close.

"Wait…" Mommy said. "You…you KNEW about the Hour of Joy before it happened?!"

This shocked everyone, but the doctor seemed annoyed by that question.

"I suspected. The company and how it treated the Bigger Bodies was a powder keg waiting to go off. And with my current stasis, the Prototype found me and saw my worth in being left alone. After all, how do you think all in the factory survived for a whole decade after the shutdown was initiated?"

Pal-Pack's face morphed into one of rage.

"Elliot should never have let you back in."

"And yet he did. And it ended up bringing up the saving of his company once he died. Ironic, isn't it?" Sawyer smugly said.

The little robot then remembered the radio reports from Home Sweet Home, and his anger grew.

"You did it, didn't you? You, who he took in, practically raised and believed in…You soiled his reputation with that body on his property?"

Sawyer said nothing, but his eye shifted into an almost smirk.

"I'm actually glad Elliot is gone..." Pal-Pack said. "Because now? There's NOTHING to stop me from killing you."

The Doctor ignored this, turning his attention to Lucy. Angelo was quick to step in front of her, along with Mommy.

"I believe I remember you now…" He thought aloud. "Yes, Stella's little go-fer and the other deterrent from my easy collection of subjects aside from 1222 there; Lucille, was it?"

"Lucy."

"I see you've grown since then. Perhaps not in areas that are expected, but at least your mobility and durability prove you could've survived."

Lucy caught that and narrowed her eyes.

"Were you the one who arranged for me to be moved into Playcare after I came back from vacation?"

Sawyer paused for a second, as if shifting through backlogs of memories.

"No, I believe that was either Leith or Eddie; Stella was taking longer to come around, so they figured if you were in harm's way… Though, judging by your effect on the Bigger Bodies? It appears she'd have had no reason to worry." Sawyer growled, then focused on the living toys. "But, I see no reason to be discouraged: The ones you've... contaminated? 1170, 1188, 1222..."

"They have NAMES," Lucy said in a low growl that surprised everyone.

"If we weren't in a death factory surrounded by toys? I'd make love to her right now." Angelo mused.

"Been there, done that." The Doctor said dismissively. "Let's see if your 'charms' work on something a little different..."

He then cleared his non-existent throat and then, in an almost sing-song voice, called out:

"OH, YARNABY~"

The vault door on the other end of the hall opened up. There was a brief silence as you stared into the darkness, before a mass of rainbow colors suddenly ran out and rammed into the glass, failing to break it with its claws. It then climbed down and looped, revealing its head to the group. Much like the picture that was applied to the report, the mass of rainbow yarn had a circular head with two large, button-like eyes and a grin that had a few fake teeth poking out of it.

This was Yarnaby, almost the size of CatNap, but with less lanky proportions, and a yellow quadrupedal body swallowed up by a mass of rainbow yarn.

"Holy crap!" Angelo cried as he hugged Kickin in panic.

Yarnaby again attempted to break through the glass by ramming his head into it, but once again met with failure. In frustration, the group watched as Yarnaby's head split vertically open, with sharp teeth lining the rim of the seemingly hollow sphere. But at the neck lay another mouth full of teeth, letting out a cry that sounded nothing like any animal you'd seen before.

"THAT AIN'T RIGHT!" Picky cried.

Yarnaby lunged again at the window, trying to scratch through the glass with the giant claws on the end of his paws, growling at the group through the window.

"Please, do keep making this enjoyable for me. I'll be taking notes." The Doctor said smugly.

Lucy took a step closer to the window, doubting that it would break as Yarnaby backed up and Angelo, after getting over his brief terror, did the same.

The couple looked at the creature with sadness in their eyes, the words on that document racing through their heads. Yarnaby seemed to look at them for a moment before scurrying off to find a way around to the group, leaving them to their own devices.

"I can't believe I'm even saying this..." Lucy announced. "I never wanted to think about it... But I think...I think I HATE this man..."

What felt like several minutes of silence passed before Crafty worked up the courage to speak.

"Sh-shouldn't we be going?"

"Yeah..." Lucy sadly said.

Yarnaby's banging against the window had loosened a door leading to several battery sockets, but only one battery was available. Huggy looked over to an unpowered hand scanner as he picked up the battery and placed it in socket after socket until the scanner lit up.

Now available to continue making progress, Pal-Pack activated the scanner, unlocking the previously locked door and allowing the group to make an escape. They were now navigating some rather small hallways filled with pipes and valves lining the sides and ceiling. They eventually came to a chain fence and a door.

"Shhh!" Hoppy shushed everyone as they stepped back.

Sure enough, Yarnaby could be seen climbing into a large open vent shaft, with the door slamming down behind him.

Everyone waited until they were sure he was gone before looking at the gate, which had a latch on it to keep it shut. Unfortunately, the way to turn off the latch was on the other side, and there was no way to reach around and get to it. But the situation wouldn't be unsolved for long as a long and stretchy yellow hand soon came down from another vent above, and turned the latch.

"Did you guys see that?!" Angelo asked in shock.

"Ahh, it's good to know that he's still around," DogDay said, drawing everyone's attention.

"You know who that was?" Bobby asked

Before DogDay could answer, the group could hear a soft banging on metal back the way they came.

"Let's save those questions for later, we've gotta go," Lucy said as she opened the now-unlocked chain door and led the group through more halls and doors before entering a large storage area with boxes stacked on shelves everywhere.

The group began crawling under a set of boxes when another large vent opened, and Yarnaby came crawling out. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and went quiet.

Though nobody could see his head, they could hear him let out a cry as he continued to walk on before stopping and lying down. Everyone panicked at the thought of being trapped in the tiny space, but a small whisper from an unfamiliar voice caught the attention of Yarnaby, who quickly got back up and slowly walked over to a part of the room that had caught fire, giving everyone an opportunity to escape through a vent on the wall.

Carefully, everyone slowly began to move towards the vent, trying to make as little noise as possible while sneaking past the woolly lion, who seemed to be trying to reach for something that was being dangled over a bunch of flames. CatNap and Huggy helped quietly lift up some of the others and into the vent before climbing in themselves.

"Okay, let's do this one more time…" Lucy told herself as she leapt into the vent, only to find she could barely squeeze through.

Suddenly, there was a clattering on the ground, accompanied by the animalistic snarls of Yarnaby, who bounded towards Lucy...only to pause at the sight of two legs kicking and trying to push inside the vent.

He tilted his head and cooed, unsure what to think about this. Then what sounded like a chuckle escaped his maw as Lucy grunted desperately, not aware the monster had stopped in its hunt.

"I got you!" Mommy cried out as she pulled Lucy through the vents, popping out and landing flat on her belly as she let out a loud gasp.

"Why can't they make the vents any bigger...?!"

The group now found themselves in a server room. Unfortunately, Yarnaby had found a way inside himself from another entrance. Everyone was forced to patiently wait until he wasn't facing in your direction before sneaking past.

Unfortunately, as they made their way to a long hallway, Yarnaby was able to catch up to them, snarling as he stalked toward them like a lion cornering its prey.

"Everyone, go!" Pal-Pack shouted as he punched Yarnaby. "I'll hold him off!"

"No! We can't leave you!" Bobby cried.

Pal-Pack continued to punch Yarnaby with his extended fists, only for the woolly lion to snarl and strike the robot with his claws, knocking him away.

(Art by BigBee17)

"PAL-PACK!" Lucy cried.

Pal-Pack looked badly damaged from the attack, with claw marks on his body as he sparked and sputtered. Leaving no room for argument, Angelo picked him up as everyone made a break for it, Huggy banging down the door and allowing everyone to dive into another vent system, which was thankfully big enough for Lucy to squeeze through just enough.

"That was too close..." Kickin said as everyone was crawling through the vents.

"W-Will he be okay?" Crafty worriedly asked as Angelo held Pal-Pack close.

"He's a toy, right? We can fix him up."

"Let's just keep moving. We should be able to meet up with Doey soon." DogDay said as the group exited the vents and opened up into a much larger space.

"Doey? As in Doey Dough?" Lucy asked, her mind flashing back to an old commercial of a Play-Doh-like substance made by Playtime. "I loved that stuff!"

The group entered an office-type space with more shelves around. They began looking for the next place to move forward, not wanting to stay in one place for too long. Passing a cutout for Pianosaurus.

"Hey, here's a VHS!" Bubba said as he took it and put it in.

The video showed Stella Greybur talking with Leith Pierre.

"So, Ms. Greyber. Have you considered what we talked about?" Leith asked.

"Yes, Mr. Pierre. I... I won't lie, I was at a loss for words at first." Stella said, looking shaken. "The information hit me pretty hard. I felt so badly, I still do, for the ones that go through the, um, testing."

"You really care about them," Leith noted.

"Yes. It hurts to see them hurt, I don't think there's any way around that feeling..." Stella said before taking a deep breath. "But... I did some soul searching, and got to thinking about the bigger picture... About what your researchers wrote."

"And?"

"Well, the work itself, what you've all been able to do... I mean, it's nothing short of a miracle." Stella said. "I know you have more goals to hit, but even as is, just, wow. Do they know when it'll be... fully ready?"

"We're still working out the timeline."

"I see."

"You know, the project lead, Dr. Sawyer, wasn't sure about giving you that information in the first place. He thinks your affection toward those kids could be a liability... What do you think about that?"

"I took this job because I wanted to help change kids' lives for the better. Of course, these procedures are far from ideal; I cried like a baby when I read them."Stella confessed."But I started looking past the here and now, started looking down the road a bit. That's when it clicked. What your researchers can do down here will someday help a lot of people out there, including so many kids. That's a bigger and better change than I could ever have hoped to make. That's a change I want to help make."

Leith chuckled. "I knew you'd understand."

Lucy was heartbroken upon hearing that, as Angelo squeezed her hand reassuringly while holding Pal-Pack safely in his other arm.

"Stella...didn't you realize the hell those kids were going through?" The rotund woman helplessly wondered.

"It's okay, bestie..." Mommy said, placing a hand on Lucy's shoulder.

"I found a keycard!" Miss Delight called out. "We can use it to get through."

Entering what appeared to be an observation room, the group noticed the way forward was across a treacherously thin gap above an unlit area below. But they also noticed what appeared to be a plank long enough to widen the gap on the other side.

"I don't know how I'll be able to walk across without breaking it..." Lucy muttered.

"I'll go first," Angelo said. "We go one at a time."

Angelo began to carefully cross the path, with the others watching anxiously. Suddenly, a part of the ledge he was using gave way, causing him to slip and fall into the pit below.

"Ow..." The young man groaned as he picked himself up.

"Mr. Angelo, look out!" Bubba cried.

Angelo's eyes shot forward to a now active light, with an almost six-foot-tall Pianosaurus toy in front of him, quickly turning and locking eyes. The bloody piano mouth of the Bigger Body began to light up as degrading musical notes came out as its head twitched.

"Uh...N-Nice Pianosaurus?" Angelo nervously said as he raised his hands.

Pianosaurus began to look more calmly at Angelo before all of its keys lit up in red and its head violently thrashed to the side. It then charged at him recklessly as he hit the back of the wall trying to avoid the attack.

"ANGIE!" Lucy shouted before several multicolored limbs came out and grabbed the enraged dinosaur toy, dragging it away from Angelo before lifting it up in the air.

Everyone watched in awe as someone made an effort to throw the toy away further into the darkness, with the piano notes quickly fading away into faint echoes.

"Phew! That was a close one. You almost became a nugget for that dino!"

The jolly-sounding voice came from a large, humanoid Play-Doh figure with a rotund body and a big smiley face, as well as a comically small bowler hat. His body was a mixture of light blue, yellow, orange, and red.

"Hiya there, pal!"

Chapter Text

Angelo wondered if, at this point, he was dreaming.

He'd had a very hectic and crazy life, after all; the whole debacle with Frankie, the fallout of Lucky choosing fame over family, going from the projects to upper middle class, meeting Lucy, college, and all the usual bits that came with helping run a movie theatre. He wasn't even into his 30s, and already he'd done way more in his life than most people do.

With everything he and the others had been through, Angelo was sure he might still be under the effects of CatNap's Red Smoke. After all, a giant Play-Doh man was happily looking at him as if he hadn't just saved his life by manhandling a giant Pianosaurus that was aiming to tear his head off earlier.

"Hiya there, pal! Glad to see you're still with us!" The creature smiled, taking off its hat and giving a gentlemanly bow. "I'm Doey."

His smile vanished, replaced with a quizzical look.

"I was told to expect you…"

"Doey!"

Doey looked up and gasped to see Lucy and the rest of the gang up above, DogDay waving to him.

"DogDay...y-you're okay...?" He managed, seeing the other Critters.

"Angie!" Lucy cried as everyone came down; the round girl barreling towards her boyfriend. "Are you okay?! Please tell me if there's anything broken!"

"It's okay, baby..." Angelo assured his girlfriend as he struggled to get to his feet. "I'm fine, just rattled..."

Lucy peppered his face with kisses and held him tightly. He smiled and returned the embrace.

"Awwww!" Bobby, Crafty, and Mommy cooed.

But the moment was short-lived as Doey suddenly shook and became angry

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?!"

Huggy cowered and raced behind the Critters, Mommy looking down in shame as the dough man advanced.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Angelo hurriedly said, forcing himself up and gently motioning Lucy to wait. "It's okay! It's okay! Look, I know you probably got beef with some of them, but they are friends now!"

After seeing how easily Doey had swatted away Pianosaurus, the young man had no doubt this newest arrival could and would wipe the floor with their whole party; most of whom weren't even fighters to begin with.

Thankfully, Doey had other concerns, because it was then he noticed Lucy and gave her a proper, quizzical look. Lucy stood her ground, smiling.

"Thank you for saving Angie." She smiled.

"You were the nice big girl at the Gamestation." Doey recognized in shock before a gentle smile overtook his face. "Well, at least I'm not the only round one anymore."

"I take it there's no 'Kick Me Paul' Bigger Body?" Lucy asked with a playful chuckle.

"Oh, there was, but he was kind of a jerk, understandably so, but…" Doey started with DogDay nodding in understanding before his eyes widened again, setting on the burnt CatNap. "Why him?"

The Purple Smiling Friend pointed to Lucy.

"She saved me from death." CatNap shamefully said. "Even when I believed I had nothing to live for."

It was then that Doey noticed another familiar face; one that he always got along with and cared for, and instantly, the anger and distrust vanished, replaced by fear and concern.

"PAL-PACK!" Doey gasped as Crafty carefully handed the little robot to him. "W-What happened to him?"

"He took a nasty blow from Yarnaby." Miss Delight explained, Doey narrowing his eyes upon hearing that name.

"Right, you all need to get to Safe Haven." He said before taking on a cheery tone. "Follow me~!"

With that, he walked in another direction, leaving his head in place before snapping it back to his body with an almost cartoonish flare.

The group then watched as he squeezed himself through a gap in the wall before noticing the doorway above it.

"Before we move on, I just have to ask now... How do you know Doey, DogDay?" Lucy asked.

"Well, when the Hour of Joy first happened, we retreated into the underground, where we found Doey's sanctuary," DogDay explained. "Of course, we still had to venture out to scrounge for food. I would mostly lead these expeditions when they headed into Playcare. But one day... we were... caught off guard."

CatNap lowered his head in shame, only for Lucy to gently stroke his head.

"It's alright. You don't need to explain anymore. Let's just catch up with Doey."

Heading into another door-filled and barricaded hallway, Doey quickly poked his head out from around a corner, catching everyone's attention and leading them on. A few split off to look into some of the rooms in case anything useful could be found, quickly noticing the desk on the other side of a one-way mirror.

"Interrogation Rooms. They'd question us here after watching us." Doey solemnly explained. "Those of us who could speak at all. I always answered. But I never gave 'em an answer they liked."

He then giggled as the group continued to investigate while moving about the different rooms. Picky soon found a tape on one of the shelves as well as a corresponding monitor and placed the tape labeled 'Theater Incident' in it.

The footage seemed to be from an older type of portable video camera, as the group could see people in hazmat-like suits walking about. They were walking about a burnt and destroyed theater, using their Grab Packs to move rubble, looking around for things.

"Got another one over here!" One of them called out, referring to a smoldering corpse.

"Jeez... Hard to imagine how the company will tuck all this under the rug." Another muttered, disturbed at what they were seeing.

"Not our problem."

"Three here!"

"How many is that now?" The second guy asked.

"Fifty-eight, so far."

"Another over here!"

"Fifty-nine." She corrected herself with a sigh.

"Where's that investigator? Campbell, Lockehart- whatever his name is."

"Poking around somewhere. Don't know. You ask me, the culprit's obvious. Just needs to be spelled out plain and clear for the bigwigs."

"You think?"

"Yeah. Rotten eggs come from rotten chickens, ya know? Can't get more rotten a chicken than him."

"I don't know, just seems too careless that a guy so smart wouldn't cover his ass. I mean, if the investigator finds evidence of this being his fault..."

"Hope Boxy's still hungry."

"Got another!"

"Sixty."

"Right, and are we just stuffing the experiments back where they came from? Acting like all this didn't happen? Wool over the eyes? Because I guarantee it won't be so easy to toss a new coat of paint over sixty visitors dead. Or the dozen Resource Extraction Specialists we've got swimming in the bellies of those things."

"I'm sure that's taken care of already... But I hear there's plans. Something big. Somewhere to put them. With any luck, that means stuff like this, and people like him, will be a thing of the past."

"Six more over here!"

"What was this Theatre Incident?" Lucy wondered. "I-I feel like I've heard of it before, but I can't put my finger on it."

"The in-factory theatre where the kids put on plays, movies, and where Leith did his presentations caught flame," Kickin explained quickly, making it clear that he didn't want to speak about it anymore.

"We should keep going. I don't think it'll do us good to dwell on this." Angelo said.

"I agree with Mr. Angelo. Let's go after Doey." Bubba said.

The group continued to follow Doey, watching as he moved through some bars before breaking the whole thing off to allow everyone passage into another cave system.

"There's some nasty falls in this place, but I can get you across," Doey explained before he jumped off the edge himself.

"Oh my god, he just jumped!" Lucy panicked.

"It's okay!" DogDay assured her. "Look!"

Sure enough, Doey rose back up, now acting as a bridge for everyone to cross.

"Okay. Thanks, Doey." Lucy said as she carefully led the others across the makeshift bridges and headed for the next area.

"So... have you seen Poppy anywhere? Ollie said she was around...somewhere." Doey then said in a more neutral tone. "He also said we can trust you. I really hope that's true."

"We last saw her at the elevator we took down here from Playcare. B-But..." Crafty said meekly before Miss Delight spoke up for her.

"Kissy, who had stayed at the top, was attacked. Pal-Pack and Mommy barely managed to rescue her from whatever it was, but she lost an arm in the process. Poppy stayed behind with her to make sure she was okay."

"Okay..." Doey muttered.

"I'll do what I can to help you all get out of here. I've been doing my best, and there have been some... really close calls." Lucy said. "This Safe Haven...are there others? Like a Boogie Bot, a Bunzo Bunny, a Bron, and a few others?"

"Yeah, Kissy brought them over a few hours ago," Doey explained.

The group passed through a crack in a wall and into a prison courtyard, with blood and what seemed to be children's games all around. Doey then squeezed through another gap in the wall, next to a large door.

Lucy and the others waited for a moment before hearing Doey giggle.

"Right. You can't fit through here. Hmm... Hey, pal, let's see if we can't get these doors open. You check out there, I'll look back here."

"Aye-Aye, Doey!" Bobby smiled.

As everyone split up to look for chains that could be latched to the door, Angelo walked up to CatNap and DogDay.

"There seems to be something... a little off with Doey. Do you know anything about that?"

Dogday sighed sadly. "I don't know much. But I think more than one child was used to make him. But I don't have all the answers, and it's a sensitive topic around him. So I'd rather not ask him about it."

Angelo nodded as he grabbed a chain and pulled it towards the door latches. Miss Delight, Hoppy, Mommy, Huggy, Kickin, and Picky also spotted what he was doing and helped pull the heavy metal chains towards the doors, while Lucy, Bobby, Bubba, and Crafty sorted out the levers to activate the chain mechanism.

"This was once a workyard, ya know. A dozen of us, maybe two would be here at any given time. During the day, they'd have us work. Whatever they wanted us to do, we'd do it. And for those of us who couldn't, or wouldn't... At night, when no one important was watching, they'd take them. Stick them in here." Doey explained. "'We only got food for one of you this week,' they'd say. 'Which of you will it be?' They'd watch from up there. It was usually over within minutes. And the guards, they'd be hysterical. Nobody died. No, because then, people would know. But the next day, and every day after, they would work. Oh yeah, as hard as they could. And they'd never cause trouble again."

The proverbial dame broke and Lucy fell to her knees, tears racing down her face.

How? Playtime was a company built on love! Kindness! It made toys, not weapons! How had it fallen to such monstrous levels: Experimenting on and mutating children? Death battles? Slavery…

Lucy then felt arms encompass her; all of the Smiling Critters were hugging her.

"I-I'm so sorry…" She managed amidst her tears. "I…I…"

She didn't know what else to say.

Bobby cleared her tears as Angelo joined the hug, gently kissing Lucy, calming her down slightly.

"You didn't know," DogDay assured her.

"It's not your fault." Crafty followed.

"You're helping," Hoppy added. "That alone means more to us than you can guess."

"Then why do I feel…?" Lucy began to ask, despite knowing the answer already:

"You're a good person..." CatNap said.

Doey himself seemed taken aback, despite shaking himself a few times; he smiled sadly at the scene.

After finding everything and putting it in place, everyone simultaneously pulled the levers and managed to open the door, allowing them to continue.

"Over here!" Doey called out as he headed through a doorway.

"Doey! Wait up!" DogDay said as everyone began maneuvering about the rubble-filled halls. But as they were moving about, Lucy stepped on something, looking down to see that it was a piece of paper that was less dust-covered than everything else.

Picking it up, it was labeled as a Reconnaissance Report. In short, the paper described several areas around the prison while appearing to look for a safe place to lie low. Moving onward, the group eventually caught up with Doey.

"Our generator's in a pretty bad state, so we try to keep the power off in here. I'll turn it on for you, though. It'll open a door downstairs."

"Thanks, Doey." Lucy smiled softly as everyone looked down into a hole he was standing next to.

Jumping down, they managed to get through more halls without much issue, thanks to Huggy and CatNap clearing the way, using batteries that Doey passed them and solving puzzles before they managed to activate the door forward.

"Should be a straight shot from here, bud!" Doey called out from an undisclosed location, "I, uh...should probably go turn off our defenses for you, huh."

"Yeah. Go on ahead, we'll meet you there!" Angelo called out as the group could hear Doey giggle again as they passed through the open door.

However, the next area was more gruesome as the entire area had body bags hanging from the ceiling. Lucy and Angelo did their best to ignore the smell as Miss Delight guided Crafty and Bobby through while they covered their eyes. But as everyone was walking about, DogDay noticed a slip of paper out of the corner of his eye.

"Theo, over there."

CatNap perked up and went to grab the note when he saw DogDay gesturing to it. He then looked down to read it.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Ayers, We can give him back to you. Your son Jack can live.

Show this message to no one.

Six weeks from the time of receiving this letter, return to the Playtime Co. factory. Someone will be waiting for you there.

-A Friend

"Jack..." DogDay muttered. "I-I think I remember that name..."

The two put away the letter as they realized they'd been dragging behind the group a bit, and quickly ran out of the room to catch up with them, only for CatNap's ears to twitch as he gasped before taking cover.

"CatNap?" Dogday asked, only for his blood to run cold when his best friend replied:

"HE'S HERE...!"

Lucy and Angelo had accidentally fallen behind the others and were going down the hall when a yellow hand suddenly shot out of a gap in the wall that was big enough for Lucy to squeeze through, grabbing them and pulling them in.

"What the-?!"

"Shhhh!" Poppy shushed them, revealing it to be her and Kissy, the Pink Huggy had used her remaining arm to grab the couple.

Mechanical noises began to creep into the two humans' ears as almost spider-like mechanical limbs were cast across the wall as a shadow.

It stopped for a moment as everyone went deathly silent, watching as the legs twitched before moving past the hall. Kissy began to carefully move through the small corridors as Poppy whispered.

"Through the showers. We should be able to make it into the Safe Haven from there."

"Did the others make it?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"Yes, thank goodness," Poppy said. "We'll meet up with them at Safe Haven."

The little doll peeked out of another crevasse before turning to Lucy and Angelo.

"When I say so, we go." She took another look before saying the keyword, and everyone entered the hall and began to quietly make their way through the showers, soon coming upon a massive steel door.

Kissy then began to bang on the door as Lucy, Angelo, and Poppy looked back anxiously. CatNap and DogDay then arrived, both with panicked looks on their faces.

"We managed to escape his notice!" CatNap explained. "But he might get wise to us!"

"We're here, let us in!" Poppy said as the door opened, and the four quickly dove through before it was shut again.

"Thank heavens..." Lucy said.

"BESTIE!" Mommy cried as she scooped her rotund friend in a hug. "When we realized you were behind, we got so worried! And then he...!"

CatNap and DogDay were being hugged by the rest of the Smiling Critters before CatNap remembered something.

"W-Where is Pal-Pack?"

"I've laid him down for Engineer to look at him…" Doey said as he came in before seeing Kissy. "Kissy! Goodness, what happened?"

Kissy rubbed the spot where her missing arm was as Huggy came over and embraced her. Doey then nodded his head as he gently brought Kissy to one of the beds to rest.

"You all make sure she's alright. I'll check the defenses, see if something is still outside."

"Not just something... It's HIM. He's out there." Poppy explained.

"Wait, that shadow was..." Angelo slowly realized.

"The Prototype..." Lucy finished in a horrified whisper.

"YOU BROUGHT HIM DOWN-?!" Doey snapped at Poppy before composing himself with a deep sigh. "We'll talk about this LATER. For now, I'll make sure 'OUT THERE' is where he STAYS."

"Locking down Safe Haven. Reactivating the defenses..." A regular-sized Boogie Bot said.

"Hey, uh...do you know where a bigger Boogie Bot is?" Angelo asked.

The Boogie Bot, Scout, nodded her head and gestured to the side as Lucy and Angelo turned and gasped in relief to see Boogie Bot, Candy Cat, CatBee, Bunzo, Bron, and PJ Pug-A-Pillar there.

"Guys!" Lucy cried as the toys all ran over to hug her. "I was so worried about all of you!"

"Us too!" Bunzo said. "When we heard that the train you were on crashed..."

"Guess we're all together again..." Angelo smiled. "A happy little crazy family."

Everyone allowed themselves a chance to relax. They were safe and together again; that was all that mattered.

Chapter Text

As Doey made sure the Prototype stayed outside, the whole gang got settled into Safe Haven.

There were many a tearful and elated reunion…and some less than such:

CatNap was met by shocks, screams, and glares, but he accepted them all. His current appearance did embolden some of the smaller toys to try and hit him, which he let happen before Miss Delight ended it.

Despite it all, the toys had made a small village out of their rocky terrain; a makeshift bar, resting stations, and art supplies to kill the time. Food was scarce, and boredom was clear. In fact, it turned out that Candy Cat, Cat-Bee, and Boogie Bot had come up to try and get some food when they first ran into Lucy, Angelo, and Pal-Pack.

Angelo and Picky had emptied all their scavenged good, resulting in a feast for the toys.

"Save some from Doey! He hasn't eaten in weeks!" A small, dragon-like toy cried out.

Hearing that both worried and endeared the doughman to the others.

"Say, where's Lucy?" Candy Cat asked.

Lucy had cut away from the group to talk with Poppy.

"I didn't know it had gotten this bad. I... I need to make this right..." The small doll said, desperation in her voice.

"Poppy, it's okay. We'll find a way to fix this." Lucy cooed, holding the little doll gently in her hands.

"Thanks, Lucy..." Poppy softly said, gratitude clear before her tone became serious. "Listen, what I said on the elevator, it's true. The orphans weren't killed during the Hour of Joy; they were taken."

"All the children who weren't experimented on?" Lucy asked.

"Yes. They're below, at the Labs, The Prototype's Home. They are alive, but sleeping. They're with HIM, and HE knows we're HERE." Poppy said. "So if we're going to free them AND stop the Prototype, we need a plan for both at the same time."

"What did you have in mind?" Lucy asked.

"The Red Smoke you and the others directed from Playcare. It's an accelerant. All it needs is high pressure and a little spark, and it ignites." Poppy explained. "The plan is: We'll fill the foundation with the smoke, and line it with old, missing charges. Then, once we've all freed the orphans, our friends here will blow this place sky high. THAT'S our revenge."

Eyes widened, Lucy grew worried.

"I-is that really necessary?"

"The Prototype and the Doctor will never stop." Poppy retorted firmly.

"And what about the toys in Safe Haven? What if they get caught up in all this?"

Poppy opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out. Evidently, she hadn't considered that.

"Poppy." Lucy cooed. "I know you want…no, need to end this. And I agree; those two are probably not going to come around. But we can't rush this; we'd be no better."

"I...You...You're right, Lucy." Poppy smiled. "Thank you for bringing me back from doing something awful."

The large girl gently patted the doll's head before taking her to explore Safe Haven.

As Lucy and Poppy were talking, Angelo was wandering around Safe Haven, impressed by the community the survivors had made for themselves.

"Psst! Hey, pal!"

Hearing a sly voice, Angelo turned to see a Bigger Body for one of the Nightmare Critters, Touille. He was running some kind of stand with "Goods" printed on it.

"Come closer, take a look! See if something strikes your fancy."

Angelo did lean closer, only for a bit of exhaustion to hit and cause him to trip right into the poor rat.

"Too close! A little too close!" Touille managed, squished by the young man, who managed to untangle himself.

"Sorry…"

"No problem, been a long…whatever it is, I reckon?" Toullie said. "But welcome to my humble little stand in the Safe Haven; a place of stories…mystery…"

He then ripped open a tarb

"…and the finest recyclable merchandise scourged around Playtime! Up for trade or takes today! Just for you."

Angelo chuckled as Touille took out a vase.

"Lookie here! Combination art project and hiding spot for the tiny toys; also makes mashed garbage and potatoes!"

The rat mashed up several scraps and moldy potatoes, then shoved them to the side before lightly tapping the vase against the wall behind him.

"Will not break!" He promised with a grin. "It will not…!"

The vase promptly shattered.

"It broke." Angelo and Touille both said together, before the rat gasped and pulled out a tiny, colorless model of Yarnaby.

"Lookie here! Thought for sure we ran out of these years ago… A testing model of that dumb but deadly lion.."

Angelo handed a few dollars, which surprised Touille

"Oh, oh! Wait! Yeah, money is a thing out there! And you're from out there!"

The rat handed Angelo the model,

"And given to the strapping fella who accompanied Poppy's Angel for possibly the first bit of cash this place has seen in years! Today is a good day for me!"

Angelo smiled. "Call me crazy, even after seeing him, but… I still like the guy,"

"He was pretty nice before the Doc took him. Weird quirk of switching toy heads, but hey, who am I, a rat who finds goods in trash, to judge."

"Out of curiosity?" Angelo asked. "Lucy and I loved both the Smiling Critters AND you guys; any other Bigger Bodies of your pals?"

This seemed to shock Touille, who smiled sadly and cleared a tear he'd later claim came from dust.

"You got me."

Turning, Angelo saw a Bigger Body for Maggie Mako walking in, along with Allister Gator.

"Weren't there more of you?" Angelo asked.

"Yeah...they're still out there." Allister frowned. "Trapped by HIM."

"The Prototype?"

"No...the bloody Doctor." Maggie snarled before turning her head and spitting on the ground. "He's got them acting as his slaves along with Yarnaby."

"Yeah, I've been hearing a lot about that guy lately..."

Angelo unconsciously tightened his fist, remembering reading Sawyer's report on Yarnaby. Just the thought made his blood boil that a human being could be this cruel...even if Sawyer wasn't conventionally human anymore.

"Yeah, he has that way with everyone who's ever known him," Touille said. "From what I heard, even that sleaze Leith Pierre hated him for the crap he pulled and had his brain dissected and hooked up to the factory computer system...fat lot of good that did."

"Look, guys, my girlfriend and I will find a way to save all of you. I guarantee that." Angelo promised.

"Hey, Doey."

Doey smiled as he turned to see Lucy approach him.

"I heard what you did above, what you survived. How you SAVED everyone. If it's all true, then we need your help."

"I'm all ears. I got done talking with Poppy. She agreed to find a way to rearrange her plan."

"That's good..." Doey sighed in relief. "The voice out there, the one in the prison... They called him "The Doctor," Doctor Harley Sawyer. He was the scientist, in charge of creating...US."

"I heard..." Lucy frowned.

"We don't know what he is, how he's still alive, but he works with the Prototype," Doey growled. "We've done all we can to fight back against them...but they've hunted us, imprisoned us, made us SICK, and killed so many..."

"Thankfully, even with the smaller toys scrounging?" Candy Cat said as she perched on Lucy's shoulder. "We were able to get a steady supply of food and resources for the longest time: The food trucks still came by for a while and with all the preservatives…"

"Never mind the calls for takeout!" Boogie Bot chimed in as he wheeled in before pausing. "Oh dear, now I feel bad for the poor delivery folks…"

"Despite everything, resources have been getting scarcer and scarcer..." Doey frowned. "Everyone's been losing hope. But when we brought Boogie, Bunzo, Bron, PJ, CatBee, and Candy Cat here, they told us all about what you've been doing...and we began to feel hope again."

"If we're going to stop the Prototype, we also need to stop the Doctor," Lucy noted. "Is there any way we can do that?"

"He controls it all with an Omni-Hand, we think. The executives used them." Doey explained. "It's a battery, a key, the master control to anything in the entire factory, and with it he commands everything down here... Everything but this..."

He gestured to the generator beside him.

"It runs completely on its own grid. Away from the prison. For a time, it kept us safe. But now..."

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I get what you're trying to say."

"I need you to stop the Doctor, to take his Omni-Hand. We'll need it for the generator. And if you want Red Smoke in the Foundation, you'll need it too." Doey said. "The toys out there, in Safe Haven, they're my family... I understand what Poppy wants, what she believes is right. Destroy the factory. Destroy HIM. But I ask you to consider: If we throw everything away. Everyone. Just to kill the Prototype... How much do we waste?"

Lucy gave the doughman a light hug. He tensed a few times but eventually returned the mebrace.

"I promise; this has not all been for nothing. You're a hero, Doey. And we're getting EVERYONE out. Someway."

"W-Will the people…?" Doey began, memories coming to him.

"You will be treated like people," Lucy promised without hesitation.

Hearing that, Doey felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders.

"Thank you, Miss Lucy..." He smiled softly as he ended the hug. "And know this... Our Safe Haven is also yours."

"Hey, is Pal-Pack in here?" Angelo asked as he came into what looked like a miniature laboratory of sorts.

A yellow Boogie Bot was currently tending to Pal-Pack, who looked slightly better but still badly damaged.

"He's had a real bad day." The Boogie Bot, Engineer, said in a cute Southern accent. "But he should be good to go."

"If he goes out there like that, there's no way in heck he'll survive." Angelo worriedly said.

It was at that moment that both Doey and Lucy came in.

"Hey Pal... Are you okay?" Doey asked.

"Fine, for the most part..." Pal-Pack said. "Though I am still badly damaged..."

Doey frowned as he put a finger to his chin before his eyes brightened up.

"I think I know a way to fix this."

Leading his friend, as well as Lucy and Angelo, to a secluded part of the lab, Doey showed a large robotic figure lying on a gurney. Pal-Pack's good optics widened when he recognized the colors.

"Is that...another Pal-Pack?"

"I think it was being made for you by Mr. Ludwig," Doey noted. "But then...The Doctor got his hands on it when he started the Bigger Body Initiative..."

"How did you get it back from him?" Angelo asked.

"During one of our expeditions," Doey explained. "After we got it here, we had to make sure to take out whatever programming the Doctor may have used to try and control it. Since it's robot-based, it doesn't have a brain, so if we can find a way to put Pal-Pack's CPU into this body, it should help him."

"Sounds good to me!" Lucy beamed.

Pal-Pack reached into the back of his head and pulled out a wire.

"This was to help me integrate with any new developing technologies...perhaps it can also transfer my CPU."

Doey was handed the wire and looked to Lucy and Angelo worriedly. Turning back to Pal-Pack, the little robot gave his large friend a reassuring nod.

"Okay... Here goes nothing..."

Doey carefully plugged Pal-Pack's wire into the Bigger Body Pal-Pack. The little robot then went limp as a digitized voice came from him.

"Initiating Activation Sequence. Downloading Pal-Pack Matrix."

"Pal-Pack?" Lucy worriedly asked.

"Pal-Pack 2.0 Online."

The Bigger Body Pal-Pack then woke up, slowly getting up from the gurney and standing on his feet. He was now as tall as Angelo and had a more streamlined, human appearance.

(Art by BigBee17)

"It worked!" Doey and Lucy said in relief.

"Yes, I suppose it did..." Pal-Pack said as he looked over himself.

Looking at his hand, his eyes widened when his Blue Hand switched to a Green Hand and his Red Hand switched to Purple.

"It has all the Grab-Pack hands built into it." Engineer explained. "Should be able to come in handy."

"Well, guess we have more of a fighting chance," Lucy said.

"Indeed." Pal-Pack chuckled.

Chapter Text

Lucy and Poppy remained in a tender embrace for quite some time, relief overtaking them before they separated.

"Thanks, Mom…" Poppy smiled sweetly.

Lucy gave a silent gasp, her soft, beautiful face glowing red as Poppy realized what she said and began to stammer.

"U-Uh, I'm sorry!" The living doll tried to backtrack. "I-I don't know where that came from!"

After processing this, Lucy just gave a sweet smile before kissing Poppy on the cheek, making the doll blush even brighter as she was pulled back into a soft embrace.

"You're welcome, Poppy."

Leaving Poppy to ready herself for her chat with Doey, Lucy wandered around Safe Haven, seeing how the toys had made a small community together; beds to sleep in, a few stands, and a bar; it all ran on trade or whatever was available; they'd been elated to take the last bit of her and Angelo's supplies.

"Um….Miss Lucy?"

The young woman turned to see that many of the residents of Safe Haven had lined up and were looking sheepishly at their feet or desperately hopeful.

"We didn't mean to! But…we saw you taliing top and hugging Miss Poppy…." A Bigger Body Daisy explained. "And, um…if it's not too much? Or weird?"

"It is, but I will leave it be." A slightly bulkier Boogie Bot named Heavy said.

"Could…Could we…?" Bron asked sheepishly.

Lucy just smiled and opened her arms.

"Free hugs if anyone wants 'em!"

And with those words, the toys all began to line up to get some long-overdue positive affection.

"Didn't I get you already?" Lucy lightly teased Alister, who'd cut back in line, but she hugged him anyway.

"Again, I can't promise I'll be much help." Angelo reminded Doey as they walked to the breaker that powered Safe Haven. "The switches at Frankie's were pretty simple after all."

"Hey, any help would be good," Doey assured the young man. "Although…I'm surprised you and Miss Lucy aren't resting. Lord knows you two probably deserve it."

"And Lord knows I agree," Angelo said. "But like I said: this sadly isn't my first rodeo in the 'mascot monster' or 'corporate greed killing innocent people' gig; I'd be able to enjoy time with Lucy knowing there's a better defense…especially since you've apparently been starving yourself."

Doey waved that off.

"Much as I hate to say it? One upside of being a toy is that the hunger ain't necessary to be filled; just a phantom pain, ya know? Though…I would KILL for a big old cheeseburger sometime."

"Well then, when we get out?" Angelo promised. "I'm buying you all the cheeseburgers you…"

He was distracted by the sight of the Bigger Bodies lining up for hugs from Lucy; a moment he and Lucy shared a year or two ago, coming back to him...

"Oh, Angie! You didn't!" Lucy beamed as she saw two entire baking sheets of freshly baked chocolate.

"I couldn't help it…!" Angelo sheepishly confessed. "I got more ingredients than I needed…"

"You were in art supply mode!" His mother teased as she walked by with a few new reels. Her husband gave his son a thumbs up before opening the door so he and his wife could leave for the theatre.

"I made a little more with what I had left over, and before you know it?"

The two baking sheets were just what he'd finished just as Lucy came over; Angelo had ended up making so much chocolate; he'd probably be making the Food Bank patrons VERY happy for at least a month with all he'd be donating when he was finished pampering and spoiling Lucy. Not that she was complaining, mind you.

"Ooooh! So many choices!" Lucy mused as she went over the options: strawberry, milk, dark, white, combos, some shaped like leaves and others like Disney characters; some small, some cookie size….

A sneaky idea came to the lovely girl.

"Angie. Feed me." She demanded in a cute tone as she sat on a couch, closing her eyes and leaving her mouth open.

Her boyfriend was taken aback for a second or two before he made up a handful of one of everything and started plopping them into her mouth.

Lucy savored every chocolate; they might not have been as 'perfect' as a commercial brand, but Angelo clearly went out of his way to make them as she liked.

Angelo himself was just so happy all his hard work paid off and that the love of his life loved each and every chocolate he fed her.

"Huh; if the graphic novel doesn't pan out, maybe I could become a chocolatier."

Before he saw Lucy looking down at her feet.

Baby? Is something…?" Angelo asked before a thought occurred to him. "Oh shoot! Please don't tell me I missed a nutty one!"

No! No!" Lucy assured her lover. "They're all perfect! It's just…I think I overdid it a bit again."

Lucy's face was covered in chocolate, and her belly was full. She took out a test and got a decent result, but…

"Lucy, you're perfect in every way." Angelo assured her with a loving smile. "And besides, today is a day of celebrating and pampering; you've been eating and working out well enough."

"Really?" Lucy smirked.

Really." Angelo said, his eyes darting down to her belly, which he took into his hands. "And to see the belly that fuels that beautiful, loving heart of yours so happy?"

Angelo then moved to Lucy's face, his eyes getting lost in her own.

"Those beautiful, wonderful jewels that can lift anyone up from the lowest of lows?"

A smirk overtook the man's face; a smirk Lucy knew all too well

"And then of course, there's these!"

The young man buried his face into Lucy's chest, blowing raspberries against her shirt and smirking as she burst into laughter.

"HA! ANGIE!" Lucy giggled before taking her boyfriend into a hug and stopping his praises with a kiss.

"I love you so much..." They both said, before spending the next few hours proving that.

"Angelo?" Doey asked.

"W-What?!" Angelo stammered, snapping out of his memories. "Sorry, Doey! Anything wrong?"

"No, you were just staring off into space. Anything wrong?"

"Nah, everything's fine, big guy." Angelo smiled. "Tell you what: You go get yourself a Lucy hug; it'll do you a world of good.

And with a giddy smile and pep in his step, Doey did just that; the other toys gave him space and let him cut ahead

"Thank you." Doey smiled at Angelo, who just waved it off.

"Why do you think I fell in love with her?" He noted. "So, any other interesting points you can show me?"

Doey beamed as he and Angelo resumed their little tour of Safe Haven.