Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Player was relaxing on their couch, Vinny laying across their lap, when something slipped through the mail slot on the door and landed on the ground with a think, startling Vinny and causing the poor cat to jump off of Player’s lap.

They got up and walked over to the package, once they picked it up they realized there was a Playtime C.O symbol on it, and their blood ran cold, as the company had nearly gone over ten years ago, and Player hadn’t been contacted by them since.

They slipped out the contents, taking note of the VHS tape before they opened the letter, briefly glancing away as Vinny jumped on their shoulder to see, causing them to grunt slightly from the cat’s weight before they focused on the letter again.

“Everyone thinks the staff dissapeared ten years ago.

Wer’e still here.

Find the Flower”

Player blinked at the brief, confusing and concerning note, before turning it over in hopes of finding something on the backside, only to find nada.

They sighed softly, before glancing at the VHS tape, and setting it on the table, on top of the letter.

Player reached one hand up to gently rub Vinny’s ears, before moving towards the bedroom, grabbing their old Playtime C.O lanyard after dressing in a smart, tactical outfit.

They tried to find their special collar like device, which translated their thought into out loud speech via very special speakers, but they couldn’t find it, and had to leave without it, although they did put Vinny’s tactical, Service Cat vest on him, which had small knifes and gadgets hidden in the pockets, and had minor armor built in to protect the cat.

It was a long drive to the factory, but Player managed to stay sane during it, despite how badly they just wanted to do a U-turn and go back home.

Player took a deep breath in and out as they stepped out of their car and locked it, before they then headed towards the factory, Vinny perched on their shoulders.

Player entered the factory, looking around a couple times, before they then headed right to the Security Room, immediately putting in the code, their memory fresh as ever, as they’d helped set up the code themselves, and wouldn’t have forgotten it in a hurry, even if it had been years.

They then donned the GrabPack, the weight familiar and almost comforting, the pack a tool they had used many times in the past before.

They entered the Main Lobby, and stared up at Huggy Wuggy, who looked so much like a statue, every muscle held stiff so he appeared lifeless.

A perfect actor, a perfect ambush predator.

Just like Player designed, even if they never wanted to design him this way.

They only did their work so they were irreplaceable and couldn’t be killed, since no one in the company could design and execute the designs of the toys quite like they could.

Player wished they’d never even started work here, maybe then the horrors wouldn’t have happened, if they hadn’t been here to design and help build the toys, both Mini and Bigger Bodies.

Vinny meowed softly and nuzzled against their cheek, the cat’s fur soft and grounding.

Player smiled softly, and gently scratched the underside of Vinny’s chin, earning a loud purr from him.

Player then shook their head to clear it, and headed towards a door on the left, quickly firing the Grabpacks one hand at the sensor, only for the power to immediately cut out.

God fucking damn it.

Vinny meowed in agitation, and jumped off Player’s shoulders, before trotting over to Huggy Wuggy.

Player looked up, and spotted the gleam of a key in Huggy’s upraised hand, immediately they fired the Blue Hand and grabbed the key, before pocketing it.

Vinny meowed again, and trotted over to the Power Room, and Player quickly unlocked the door, before immediately getting to work and reconnecting the wires, working more from muscle memory then anything else, as Player had had to do stuff like this before, since the Factory’s non experiment related equipment was notoriously faulty and every worker had fixed something up at least once.

As Player finished Vinny jumped right back onto their shoulders with a soft mrrp, and settled down, tail swishing back and forth.

Player playfully huffed, and scratched behind Vinny’s ears, before they then exited the Power Room, noticing that Huggy had made his move, and was gone from his spot now.

So the hunt was on……

Player made their way over to the door again, and opened it, revealing the Storage Room in all its glory.

They sighed softly, before beginning to quickly play hunt the Power Circuits, cursing whoever left this room in such a disarray.

As they returned to the loading dock they spotted Huggy Wuggy peering at them through a vent.

Player stood still, and made deliberate eye contact, standing their ground, and they were rewarded for their defiance as Huggy Wuggy retreated and closed the vent after a minute or so.

Vinny meowed proudly in victory at the little win, even as Player set the Power Circuit’s into place, and managed to catch the Red Hand before it could hit the ground.

They quickly attached the hand to their GrabPack, before entering the vents.

Player signaled to Vinny, who grabbed one of the GrabPack hands and promptly shot off into the vents as Player made their way to the closed door to the Make-A-Friend room, fired the remaining GrabPack hand at the outlet by it, and waited.

Within a minute or so the door opened, and Vinny released the hand and came sprinting back, having found and pressed the other outlet for Player.

They grinned, and gave Vinny a good and vigorous ear and chin scritch as a reward, mentally shouting all the praise words they wanted to tell the cat but couldn’t.

Vinny meowed in pride and self-satisfaction, and jumped back up onto Player’s shoulders, purring softly as he did so.

Player entered the room and tried to power on the machine, only to sigh as the power shortened as soon as they pressed the Power On button.

They headed up onto the catwalks, and headed over to one outlet, and placed one hand on it, before handing Vinny the other hand.

Vinny immediately took back off down the pathways, wrapping the cable around the pillars almost expertly, and managed to place the hand against the other outlet.

Vinny came running back as soon as the power was on, and jumped back up onto Player’s shoulders with a happy little mew.

Player smiled and scratched Vinny’s chin, before heading down off the catwalks and back over to the machine.

They then clicked the button again, and then pulled the levers expertly, relying solely on their muscle memory as they did so, allowing their thoughts to wander for a moment as they scratched Vinny’s ears, mouthing praises at the smart cat.

Player hadn’t ever trained Vinny to do stuff like this, the cat simply did it on his own, acting on a level of smarts and confidence as a dog, and having a clear and unique problem solving ability, unlike any ordinary and normal cat.

The black cat wasn’t really a normal or an ordinary cat though, six months before their last day at work Player had found the cat in a crate, savage half healed stitches on his throat, corners of his mouth, around each joint and on his chest.

Player had immediately smuggled the cat out, and spent time building trust with the fanged feline, forging a strong and unique bond.

Vinny had been their companion ever since, over all these ten years, still strong and young, clearly gifted with an enhanced lifespan by whatever experiments Harley did on him.

But Vinny showed no other unique qualities besides his lifespan and intelligence, and he wasn’t a toy, so Player guessed they’d saved him in time, before he was made into a toy.

A ding sounded, snapping Player out of their thoughts, and they quickly picked up the Catbee toy, before heading over to the Nobody leaves without a Toy door.

They scanned the item, and walked a couple steps down the hallway, before turning around to look sadly at the Make-A-friend room, but were interrupted when Vinny yowled loudly, launching himself off of Player’s shoulder, only to be swatted to the ground with a thump.

Player spun around, terrified for their cat, only to let out a silent scream in pain as claws slashed right across their left eye.

Fuck!

Fuck, that’s not good!

That’s really not good!

They scrambled backwards, a hand pressed against their bleeding face, and saw Huggy Wuggy standing there, bloodstained claws retreating back into a mitten.

Vinny caterwauled, and charged past Player, quickly disappearing into the vent systems the Conveyor Belt Systems were located in.

Player wiped the mouth away from the corner of their mouth, and followed, their pain disappearing into their adrenaline as they took off down the vents, footsteps pounding.

They could hear Huggy shrieking and thumping about in the vents as he followed, determined to catch them, determined to have a meal.

Countless turns.

Heart pounding, breath rasping in their chest.

Countless turns.

Right.

Left.

Straight.

Right.

Crouch, left.

Right.

Straight.

Player charged out of the ventilation systems, right on the tail of Vinny, who’d been leading them through the shafts, staying just in sight and directing where to go.

They turned around, panting, blood dripping down their face, and they watched as the door shuddered inward as Huggy Wuggy slammed against it.

They looked up and spotted a crate, and Vinny jumped up onto their shoulders and clung on, claws out and digging into the fabric of Player’s clothes.

The door shuddered again.

Player glanced back at it, before looking back up at the crate.

The door shuddered again, and broke.

Huggy charged forward.

Player fired the GrabPack.

The crate came slamming down.

The catwalk broke with a shuddering shriek, and Player grunted as they slammed into the catwalk below, Vinny letting out a disgruntled meow at the impact.

Huggy wasn’t so lucky, he slammed into the railing, and slipped off, slamming into several pipes on the way down.

Player got up and watched, horrified.

They never wanted this, they never wanted to kill any of the Toy’s!

Vinny meowed sadly, and nuzzled against Player, before gently licking at their wound.

Right, they were kinda missing their eye.

Player sighed softly, and ripped a length of cloth from the bottom of one pant leg, before they tied it around their head, covering their wound.

Player then carefully walked across the catwalks, limping slightly and clutching their side, disoriented by both the impact and their injury.

Fuck, their whole body hurt.

Must keep going though.

Their eyes widened as they spotted a huge Poppy flower painted on the wall, and they headed toward it, heading through the door on the same wall.

Player entered the room, and Vinny jumped off their shoulders and scouted the area for them, to save their poor protesting body the effort of wandering around while so badly banged up.

Vinny came back after a minute, meowing and gesturing, and Player tiredly followed them, their remaining eyelid drooping and threatening to close as they walked.

They reached a dimly lit room, with a Poppy doll resting in a case.

Player’s eye widened, they knew this doll, it was Poppy, the living Toy herself.

They fired a GrabPack hand at the case, managing to open it.

The lights flickered as they did, and so did their vision.

Their legs shook, and they slumped against a wall, panting heavily, eye forcing itself closed as their body gave out, forcing them to rest, for now.

Player could hear a soft voice whispering as their consciousness faded, and they felt Vinny jump up and nestle himself into their arms, purring softly.

“Thank you for freeing me”

Elsewhere, deep in the factory, I T knew.

I T knew Poppy had been freed.

And I T knew its most interesting and talented employee had returned.

This was going to be…..

Something, that’s for certain.

End Poppy Playtime Chapter 1 {A Tight Squeeze}

Chapter Text

Player groaned softly as they felt whiskers tickling their face, before they then forced their eye open, blinking sluggishly.

They were confused for a moment, before their memories came rushing back as Vinny left out of their arms with a sit mrrp, allowing them to see the Poppy Room fully again.

Right.

Still in the Factory.

Still need to be on guard.

No time to sit around and rest.

They forced themselves up, and shook their head to clear it, before pausing as they heard Vinny meow.

The cat was standing beside a closet, with a door just barely visible behind it.

Player glanced behind them, and noted that the door they’d entered through was blocked, meaning the closet door was their only option.

Player sighed, and opened the door, before heading down the hall, Vinny already climbing back onto their shoulders.

They didn’t even hesitate to take a right at the first turn, they knew these halls, knew their twists and turns by heart.

They’d walked them so many times before, but never like now, not half blind and with the ghosts of their past mistakes haunting them.

They came up on a section of destroyed floor, but it was easy to swing over, their GrabPack easily holding their weight.

Player wasn’t ashamed of the little whoop they let out.

What could they say? They absolutely loved swinging from shit!

Vinny however did not, as evidenced by how his claws dug fiercely into Player’s shoulders until both their feet were firmly on the ground again.

They came into a little room, with a Huggy Wuggy cardboard cutout in one corner, and a door blocked by barrels on one side.

They quickly got to work clearing away the barrels, grinning a little at how easy it was still.

It would seem that the muscles they’d built here in the past had stayed well maintained by their regular gym visits.

Good, they might end up needing that physical strength, if the events that had happened so far were any indicator.

The door was easy to open, and the room, a simple supply closet, was clean enough, although the blood stain was a little alarming, but what caught their attention was the rusty key with a poppy flower shaped end.

Ah hah!

It was easy for Player to grab, although they had to be careful not to cut their palm on the flower.

Key acquired, they then turned right around, left the room, and headed back down the hall, swinging right over the gap once more, much to Vinny’s displeasure.

Arriving back at the intersection, they quickly opened Elliot’s office door, and stepped inside.

They maybe pocketed the golden Daisy statue they found inside- what? That thing could sell for a lot of money!-

But upon spotting a vent their focus was immediately redirected to where it needed to be, ADHD be damned.

It was an easy enough feat to pull off the vent cover and slip inside the vent and walk through it.

Soon enough Player arrived at the maintenance closet, and they just stood there for a second, rubbing their nose since their newly shitty depth perception has caused them to run into one of the vent walls.

They startled as a box dropped behind them, and they immediately whipped around, GrabPack at the ready.

They relaxed with a soft relieved sigh when they realized it was only Poppy, from the case.

“Oh! Uh, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just... trying to get the power back on! Here” Poppy said, moving away from the power outlet.

Player nodded, and moved over to the power outlet by the wall and shot one GrabPack hand at the power outlet, they didn’t even need to signal for Vinny to do the rest, the cat just did it on instinct.

Player then walked back over to stand just below where Poppy stood, and looked up at her, and she clapped her hands once she noticed them.

“Hmm! Um... I wanted to thank you for freeing me, I was stuck in there for so long. Thank you. I'd like to pay you back! There is a train station nearby. It needs a code, and I have it. We're going to get out of here” Poppy said, before disappearing back into the vents, Player sighed softly, not sure if they should be relieved they could get medical attention for their eye soon, or insist on going deeper into the factory and fixing this mess.

“As soon as you get up on here!” Poppy added, and Player smirked a little, before firing a GrabPack hand in order to swing themselves back into the vents.

Easy peasy, lemon squeeze- BONK-

Player’s mouth opened in a silent yelp as they severely misjudged the distance and cracked their head against the ceiling.

“Oh! Are you alright? That was quite a nasty hit!” Poppy said, peering down as Player.

They looked up, attempting to give her a reassuring smile, only to hear her gasp as her eyes landed on the bloodied torn strip of cloth around their missing eye.

“Your eye! Goodness, I didn’t realize Huggy was able to take a chunk out of you!” Poppy yelped, and Player quickly waved a hand to ward off her fretting, before firing the GrabPack again and successfully managing to get up this time.

They quickly navigated through the vent back to Elliot’s office, and took a second to glance around before heading over to where Poppy was peeking out of a smaller vent again.

“Hey, I'm up here! I see you... Hmhm! I should be able to follow you through the vents. This way!” Poppy said, retreating back into the vents.

Player nodded, even if she couldn’t see them anymore, and headed out of the office, quickly opening the gate and slipping down the hall, swinging over the huge gap in the way.

They quickly made their way to the navigation room, where they could see Poppy staring into a giant circular hole in the floor.

Poppy slowly turned around, locking eyes with Player and offering them a reassuring smile.

“Listen. I'm going to need you to trust me-“ Poppy started to say, but she cut off with a loud and terrified scream as a pink hand came out of nowhere and snatched her, dragging her down, down, down.

Player stumbled back, heart pounding.

Shit, Mommy Long Legs…….

Great.

Now, granted, due to their role as Head of Production they weren’t exactly remembered fondly by most toys, but Mommy was one of the toys specifically out for the blood of anyone who hurt the kids, even if they’d been forced into doing so.

Player glanced at the hole again, and slowly leaned out over it, playfully resting their balance.

Vinny meowed in protest as he spotted the hole in the floor, and headed quickly locked eyes with Player, ears slowly lowering.

Player simply grinned wickedly, and stepped out onto thin air.

They totally didn’t take delight in Vinny’s startled and ‘I will get you back for this later!’ toned yowl as they fell. Maybe. Depends on who’s asking.

They opened their mouth in a silent whoop as they hit the slide section, grinning wildly in sheer delight as they slid down, the rush of the fast speed they were going was exhilarating!

They were almost disappointed when they slid out, taking several quick steps to regain balance, before taking a couple deep breaths to calm back down.

The secondary power room was a bitch to get working like usual, thankfully Vinny was able to help make it a little less stressful and headache inducing.

Once the Game Station door opened Player started to head down the hallway, casually firing their red GrabPack hand at the panel, taking a brief second to close and rest their remaining eye as they did so.

“A new Playmate!” The words sounded seconds before Player felt the tension of the cord of the red hand snap.

Their eye snapped open and they immediately scrambled backwards, bristling, preparing to run or dodge if necessary.

“It’s been so long, isn’t this exciting?~” Mommy Long Legs purred, slowly crawling into sight, Poppy firmly gripped on one hand, the spider like toy even slowly snoop Poppy and mimicked her voice, going “very exciting, Mommy!”.

“Poppy was going to just give you the train code to escape. Now how is that fun? Instead, why don’t we make a game out of it? The Game Station is still working. It'll be just like old times!” Mommy said, a thinly veiled threat in her words.

Player simply stared back, hands clenching into fists around the handles of the GrabPack, Vinny baring his teeth and growling softly from his position on their shoulder.

“And if you win all three games, I'll give you the train code! Mommy loves that idea, Poppy! Ooo, you're going to have so much fun. Head to Musical Memory and Mommy will get things started. Obey the rules, or I’ll tear you apart and eat your insides while you’re still alive~” Mommy added, before fucking off back into the darkness from whence she came.

Player sighed softly to themselves, took a second to gently rub the back of Vinny’s ears to calm him down, and then headed the rest of the way down the hallway, quickly shoved on the lever to open the door to the Game Station.

The lights flickered on as they entered, and oh gods- it was just as horrible as they remembered.

They swiftly made their way to the train platform, and pulled the lever.

A bittersweet feeling filled their chest as Stella’s prerecorded voice sounded.

Oh gods, Stella……

One of Player’s few true friends here, a woman drafted into the company young, who’d quickly realized she was in too far over her head, just like they were.

She’d promised to help them bring it down, and in a way she had, she’d released private information to the public after the whole closed factory incident.

Then her and Player had gone their separate ways, keeping contact but accidentally falling out of touch for most of a good six years.

And then………

It hurt to remember that rainy night.

The blood.

Stella’s weak voice, begging them to save her.

Begging them to do their….. craft again.

They’d tried, oh they’d tried, spending hours trying to save her, trying to stitch human soul onto toy body like before, even without the proper tools this time.

But it was no use, Stella slipped away in the wee hours of the morning, despite Player’s efforts.

It hurt to hear her voice now, echoing around them, and be reminded of their failure.

Stella and her determination to undo Playtime CO’s mistakes was just one of the reasons Player was here.

They wouldn’t let her down, not again, not this time.

Player shook their head to clear it of emotions, and headed towards Musical Memory, heart hurting and broken, the cracks and holes bringing anew with the remembrance of their fallen friend.

The gate for the game was half closed, of course it fucking was-

God fucking damn it-

To the molding room to go make a green GrabPack hand-

They’ll spare you the details, it was confusing and irritating to say the least, but at least they got the hand in the end!

Three cheers for Player, yay!

.

.

.

They can sense you eyeroll through the screen. Shut up. It was hard to adult like that, okay?-

The- the point is is that they got the green GrabPack hand, and that’s all that matters-

After that, getting into Musical Memory was easy enough, and Player wondered if there was any irony in how they, a former higher up at Playtime CO who used to turn a blind eye to the games, was now playing them.

“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. Oh! That's the dinner bell! Good luck” Mommy’s voice whispered from the dark, and Player cracked their knuckles.

Let the game begin.

Round One.

Yellow, yellow.

Red, green.

Yellow, green, red.

Blue, blue, red, blue.

Green, red, red, blue.

Round Two.

Violet, Blue, Blue, Red.

Blue, Red, Green, Yellow.

Yellow, Violet, Blue, Blue, Violet.

A slip up, blue instead of violet.

Bunzo’s symbols clashing closer.

Better not slip up again, if they can help it…….

Yellow, Green, Green, Violet, Red.

Blue, Violet, Violet, Green, Red, Yellow.

Round Three.

Patterns getting more complicated……

More colors, easier to mess up…..

Blue, Violet, Orange, White, Red, Yellow

Orange, Orange, White, Red, Violet, Blue

Fuck, a slip up, white over blue-

White, White, White, Violet, Orange, Violet

Red, Yellow, Blue, Blue, Green, Red.

Another slip up……

Yellow, Yellow, Green, White, Green, Orange.

Violet, Violet, Blue, Blue, White, Blue.

Round Four.

More buttons than ever…..

Fuck, their missing eye was beginning to fuck with them now, buttons on either side, to push or not to push.

J, Yellow, Yellow, Heart, Smiley Face, J

Pi, Question Mark, Orange, Violet, J, Smiley Face, Heart.

They were going to wring the neck of whoever put symbols in a high stakes Musical Memory game meant for kids!

J, Red, Red, Blue, Violet, Heart.

Slip up!

Symbols ever closer-

Do it faster, better!

Question Mark, Pi, J-

No! A slip up-

Red, Violet, White, Blue-

Shit, that was meant to be green!

Come on!

Red, White, Violet.…… Blue,……. J,…… Heart!

Round Four over!

Player took a second to breathe, wiping the sweat off of their face, relieved, Musical Memory only ever had four rounds, so they were safe now-

Round Five!

The fuck?-

So many buttons…….

Player tried, but-

It.

Was.

Just.

Too.

Much.

They curled into a ball on the floor, head tucked to protect it, trying to stay as far away from Bunzo as they could get while on the platform.

Right above them……

Was this how it ended?

CEASE!

Player looked up as they heard the game shut off, and happy tears gathered in their eyes as they saw Vinny clinging to a Cease button, looking dizzy but otherwise okay.

Vinny upright dropped down with a thump, letting out a disgruntled meow, and Player chuckled silently, before wriggling out from under Bunzo, who’d gone limp in the hold of the restraints of the cables.

Cables that Player potentially did a stupid by cutting with their pocket knife.

Bunzo dropped fully to the ground with a startled yelp, and he immediately scrambled up, staring at Player with wide eyes.

“Y-you- you freed me- like totally freed me dude! I- thank you-“ Bunzo said, whispering the last part as he wrapped Player in tight and warm hug, symbols abandoned off to the side.

Player remained stiff in the hug for a couple seconds, not used to the physical contact, before they felt their eyes water as the stress and pain of the last couple hours threatened to leave them a sobbing mess.

But they still had a job to do, so they simply settled for patting Bunzo’s back in an attempt to offer comfort to the rabbit.

“Oh. It broke. That's no fun... For doing such a splendid job, Mommy has decided to give you part of the code for the train. Look up. Take it” Mommy’s voice sounded from the shadows, and Bunzo flinched, before releasing Player.

“Heres your code, an’ here’s this, ain’ much, but itsa nifty distraction in a pinch” Bunzo said, handing Player a scrap of paper with part of the train code on it, and a small, rusty silver whistle.

Player nodded, taking the items with gratitude, before stiffening as they attempted not to flinch as Bunzo gently rested his paw against their missing eye.

“Sucha horrible injury……. Shame on Huggy, you’re da kindest human soul down ‘ere in years, an’ yet he dared ta maim you…… go, go knowin’ I stand on your side, Poppy’s Angel” Bunzo said, lowering his paw from Player’s face as he finished speaking.

Player reached up, gently fixing the straps of Bunzo’s overalls, before they pulled him down and gently kissed his forehead, the maternal gesture meant to offer the tiniest bit of comfort and reassurance.

Bunzo sobbed softly, and leaned into it, before backing away, waving goodbye to Player as they jumped off the platform.

Player quickly entered into the vents again, casting one last glance back at Bunzo before they continued on.

They moved through the vents silently, before they reached the rejected room, and dropped down into it.

They maneuvered through the shelf’s, removing with a wry smile how they’d personally been the one to disapprove of some of this stuff, as they had been the Head of Production and the one designing the living toys after all-

Their attention however, was snagged when they saw Bron standing on a platform, breathing shallowly and panickedly, his eyes entirely missing from their sockets.

Player’s heart lurched, and before they could stop themselves they’d already grabbed an eye from one of Bron’s spare part buckets and darted over to him.

They patted his leg a couple times, trying to get him to lower his head.

Bron groaned softly, but instinctively obeyed the silent command, and as soon as his head was in reach Player slipped the new eye into Bron’s right socket.

“Oh. Oh! It’s yoooouuu! De Head if Preduction!” Bron rumbled, blinking his eyes and actually smiling at Player as he spotted them.

Player nodded, returning the smile even as Bron loosely affectionately curled his neck around them.

They patted his head gently, scratching the underside of his jaw lightly as they did so, knowing he liked it.

“I guess yoooouuuu want me to get off de platform? Consideerrr it done!” Bron rumbled, moving off the platform even as he spoke, footsteps thudding.

“Goooo Head of Preduction! And thank yooou for the kindness!” Bron called as he headed off towards a gate, his lone eye filled with enough warm emotions for two.

Player stayed there for a second, watching as Bron’s form retreated into the distance, before they then activated the platform, quickly heading down the hall as soon as possible.

With a soft sigh they finally made their way back to the Game Station, went and pulled the lever, and then immediately headed towards Wack-A-Wuggy, already fed up with Mommy Long Legs and her stupid games and attempts to either kill them or make them kill toys.

“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. Hmm... Have fun” Mommy said after the video for Wack-A-Wuggy ended, and Player sighed softly, readying themselves.

They really didn’t want to hurt these guys, they knew the mini Wuggies were just baby’s, but they would smack them with the GrabPack if necessary.

Two minutes, keep the mini Wuggies away from them.

Should be easy, they had Vinny by their side, and although their vision was halfway shit, they managed just fine enough normally-

Start.

One there, smack.

Oh, Vinny bit one, little shit- note to self, reprimand him later for unnecessary violence against babies.

Top rightmost tunnel, smack

A middle left, smack.

It became a rhythm, one Player easily fell into, all the sound in the room being swallowed up until they could onto hear their heartbeat and the imagined sound of a clock ticking.

Two.

One and a half.

One.

Thirty.

Twenty.

Ten.

Five.

“Oh. You did it. Hurray! Mommy is so... Proud of you! Here, Mommy has another hint for you” Mommy’s voice snapped Player out of their daze, and they sighed in relief, bending down to pick up the scrap of paper.

Only to get tackled by a blue mini Wuggy.

Player expected an attack, but the little one clung to them, whimpering, and so they cradled it, purring softly to soothe.

They then stood up, the little one wriggling around to cling to their shoulder, its mits velcroing together to help it keep its grip.

Vinny jumped back on top of Player’s shoulder, and sniffed the mini Wuggy suspiciously, but thankfully didn’t attack it, seeming to understand that it was just a baby.

Player exited through a vent, yet again, and used their GrabPack to just levitate their way around a broken staircase, laughing softly to themselves as they did so.

They then made in to the card corridors, and wandered around, eventually finding a locked gate that they needed open.

But they couldn’t reach the button.

Suddenly the mini Wuggy chirped softly, and Player froze.

A shape came out of the shadows, walking slowly and softly.

‘Huggy Wuggy I’m so sorry-‘’

Wait, pink fur-

It wasn’t Huggy, but rather his sister, Kissy Missy.

Kissy slowly approached the lever, and looked from it to Player and back to the lever several times, before she flopped her hand onto the lever in an effort to pull it down.

Her hand limply slipped right off, but she tried again, put a little more force this time, and succeeded.

The gate started slowly opening, and the mini Wuggy let go of Player and dropped down with an excited chirp, wiggling under the gate and running to Kissy, who scooped it up with a happy croon, gave Player a thankful look, and retreated slowly back into the shadows.

After that, it was a quick matter of getting the fucking cart, Barry to where he needed to be.

However, while it was a quick matter, it still left Player with a mild headache of frustration, as it was not a non-headache inducing matter-

No matter, they made it back to the Game Station, flipped the final lever, and headed into Statues.

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

“It was always so sad to see the kids go... 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 Long Leg’s words ring in Player’s ears as they stared down towards the end of Statues.

The lights went out.

Player started running.

It was easy to dodge PJ at first, but then Player quickly realized something was wrong, they’d heard of, fuck, they’d seen PJ running faster after the fucking kids.

So why was he running slower now?-

Player slid to a stop as they spotted the blocked exit, and immediately started cursing mentally.

They nearly panicked, but then, Vinny grabbed the whistle Bunzo had given them out of their pocket, and bopped them with it.

Player’s eye widened, and they glanced from the whistle to PJ and back.

They took the whistle, and blew it.

PJ whined and barked, thrashing a little at the assault to his sensitive ears.

Player took the chance to run, and was in the watchtower before PJ recovered.

From there it was onto the water treatment facility, and a quick adjustment of paths later, Player was on their merry way.

Through the vents again, they had had to pause briefly to tear a new strip of cloth to replace the now blood soaked makeshift bandage, but after that they continued on.

Reconnecting more power supplies, more going through vents, falling down a vent shaft and nearly breaking their legs, fun times!

Player nearly had a heart attack when Mommy dropped down the vent shaft they’d been about to grapple their way back up.

“AAAAARGH!!! I ASKEDYOU TO PLAY FAIR AND YOU CHEATED! I HATECHEATERS! Now, we're going to play one, LAST,GAME. It’s called… hide… and… SEEEEEK!!!” Mommy snarled, her eyes changing and fingers distorting at her last word.

Player was already running before she even got to six.

Vents, rooms, doors, catwalks, Player didn’t even register what they were running through really, all that mattered was getting away from Mommy Long Legs, alive.

Conveyer output, power routing room, incinerating room, Player passed through them all, cursing their way through the puzzles, Vinny frantically helping them to the best of his abilities.

They reached the Grinder room.

Trapped, waiting by the door.

Slipping in as soon as possible.

Mommy charged, Player fall back with a soundless yelp, accidentally slamming the ON lever on the grinder as they fell.

Mommy practically caterwauled as her arm got stuck.

Player watched in horror, numb to her words, watching in silent disbelief.

They hadn’t wanted this!

They didn’t want her to die!

They didn’t want anyone to die!

Vinny yowled, and launched himself at the lever, managing to get it into the OFF position right as Mommy’s arm came out of the socket with a loud snap.

Mommy fell to the floor, dazed, and Player took that opportunity to bolt to the Control Room.

Breathless and shaking, they quickly freed Poppy from the webs she was bound in.

“Did you kill her? Good. I'll board the train. We need to leave” Poppy said simply, already exiting.

Player wheezed, giving her retreating form an incredulous look, but reluctantly trudged their way back to the Game Station, still fighting to regain control of their breathing after the high speed chase.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Mommy growled out, and Player cried out as they were slammed into from behind.

They smacked against the ground, cutting a nasty gash in their shoulder as they did so, and curled up into a ball, awaiting the inevitable end.

“MOMMY NO!” Bunzo shouted.

Player blinked open their eye and looked up, their eye widening as they saw Bunzo standing protectively in front of them, arms spread wide, the only thing preventing Mommy from killing Player.

“THEY ARE A CHEATER AND THE ENEMY!” Mommy roared, but Bunzo didn’t back down.

“They cut me free and spared ya life did’n thay?- is that not reason ‘nough to spare ‘em?” Bunzo questioned, deliberately keeping his eyes focused on Mommy’s missing limb as he didn’t.

“Mommy- But- FINE, JUST L E A V E ALREADY!” Mommy snarled, retreating into the darkness.

“Hey there ‘gain, sorry ‘bout that, she’s a bit temperamental” Bunzo apologized, helping Player to their feet.

“Now, take care, ‘right? I can’t protect ya where yar goin’, so please, stay safe, eh?” Bunzo added, wrapping Player in a quick hug, before hopping back towards Musical Memory.

Vinny jumped back on Player’s shoulder and nuzzled their cheek, purring softly.

Player allowed themselves a smile.

They were alive, thanks to their kindness and inability to fucking kill those attempting to kill them.

Huh, who woulda thought?-

Player entered the train, and quickly put in the train code, breathing a sigh of relief once the train started going.

“I was so scared she'd put me back in that case. But you saved me. You are perfect. Too perfect to lose. I'm sorry. I can't let you leave” oh, so Poppy’s got a monologue-

“ I've never met anyone like you. Hmhm. Do you know how long I've been stuck in that case? Well, too long... I had so much time to think and reflect. Time to figure out exactly what I would do when free. We'll set things right. Terrible things have happened, but I know that whatever I need you to do, you're capable” so they had the same thoughts, same drive to fix the horrors down here.

“We will...” Poppy cut herself off with a confused what as an alarm clock started blaring, before the train started speeding up.

Player’s eye widened as the train started going too fast, before wheels screeched and sparks flew.

The train derailed.

Vinny shrieked as he was dislodged from Player’s shoulders.

Bones crunched, blood spattered, porcelain cracked.

Player barely had the strength to make out the PlayCare sign before they fell unconscious, among the bruh wreck of the train, both Poppy and Vinny still unaccounted for.

End Poppy Playtime Chapter 2 {Fly in a Web}

Chapter Text

Player’s whole body stung, a gash in their head slowly dripping blood down.

Woozily they opened their eye, their vision flickering.

They were slowly moving, being dragged.

But why?-

A purple paw lowered itself just into view.

CatNap.

Player was being moved by CatNap.

Slowly the cat toy dragged them towards the trash compactor chute.

He reached out one purple paw, snagged the handle with his claws, and opened the door.

He then threw Player in, and they were able to see a brief glimpse of his face as they fell.

His ragged purple fur, nicked ears, unnaturally thin frame and permanent yet strained smile were the fuzzy details Player’s still disoriented mind managed to process before they fell out of sight.

They landed on the floor of the trash compactor with a thump, and they quickly hauled themselves to their feet, groaning softly.

A quick check revealed their GrabPack was intact, as was there employee lanyard, which was good as they needed the GrabPack for a ton of shit, and there was a couple areas on the factory they knew they could only access using their lanyard.

However, alarmingly enough, Vinny was not with them, the black cat nowhere in sight.

Hopefully he was okay, he was a tough little thing so Player had high hopes the cat had managed to come out of the train crash without major injury.

Still though, their chest clenched in anxiety, Vinny……. Vinny was their one constant companion, and they would never be able to forgive themselves if they made it back to the train wreckage and didn’t see the cat waiting for them.

They didn’t know if they’d be able to continue on if they found a small, limp black body wedged in the wreckage amidst blood and gore.

They noticed the walls of the trash compactor were closing in, and they quickly slipped out through a hole in the side, grappling up to a ledge once out.

It was then a matter of jumping across the pistons, their movements calculated and balanced as they navigated the slippery and treacherous perches.

Through another hole in the wall, through hallways, and onto more pistons.

Player peered down into the abyss the pistons lowered into, and shuddered.

The Red Smoke, or Poppy Gas as Player dubbed it, a highly flammable and explosive gas that, when inhaled, caused hallucinations and unconsciousness.

When mixed with the other smokes/gasses from the other Smiling Critter, a powerful and volatile explosion was triggered by the nature of all seven gasses mixing together.

Yes, seven, Bubba didn’t have his own, instead he was designed to be able to inhale and exhale the other’s smoke via his trunk.

Player swiftly bounded across the pistons, taking a second to breath on a stable platform, before crossing the rest of the pistons.

They paused as they saw CatNap’s tail retreating into the ceiling, but they shook themselves off with a sigh, and fired a hand at a platform, dragging it close enough to jump onto.

It swiftly slammed right back into its original position, and Player jumped off, slipping into the vents.

What was with them and spending so much time in the vents?!, seriously, why couldn’t they use the hallways like a normal person, instead of being forced to use the vents?!

They entered the same room they’d been dragged through by CatNap, and they quickly placed batteries into their slots and opened the door.

Down more hallways, although they paused when they heard a ringing phone, and upon reaching, picked it up.

“Hey... Hey, can you hear me?” A voice rang out from the phone, and Player froze at the young voice, maternal instincts going into stressed overdrive.

A kid?! A fucking little kid?! HOOOLLLLY SHIT! Player needed to get to them, before they got hurt!

But, wait- focus Player, you still need to get back to the train crash site and make sure Vinny’s okay.

Focus on your steadfast cat companion first, then freak out over the fucking child-

“You look kinda lost. I don't want you to die- so I'm gonna help you!” The voice continued, cheerful and surprisingly steady, “Check this out. Look at the tube thing on the back wall. Ready? BUH-BOOM!”

As the kid finished speaking a battery came down from the tube, and Player quickly moved it into its slot on the door, even as the kid continued to speak “You can use that battery to open the door!”

They stepped out onto the train tracks, and the smell of something burning, and the sound of fire, immediately caught their attention.

“Woah... Did you do that? I guess that's where CatNap found you...” the kid said, and Player froze, before turning around.

Behind them was the train, blood splattered across its burning wreck, a tuft of black fur snagged on the jagged edges of the destroyed cabin.

Player was already running before they could think, quickly scaling the wreck, ignoring the heat of the fire and how it burned their clothes and singed their hair a little.

Wedged inside the destroyed cabin was the body of Vinny, the black cat limp and unmoving, blood pouring from his mouth and gashes along his sides, ribs clearly dented in.

Player choked back a silent sob, and reached down, gently freeing poor Vinny from his fiery tomb.

“Oh……. Your poor kitty cat…… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry-“ the kid murmured over the speakers of the phone, voice steady and almost grounding, giving Player a lifeline to cling too as they clutched Vinny close to their chest.

They stayed there for a good minute, sobbing silently, until they felt Vinny stir.

The cat bleary looked up at them, seemingly dazed, his fucking ribs cracking and rearranging as they knitted back together, although the gashes in his sides simply only stopped bleeding.

Holy shit.

Cats really do have nine lives- either that, or Harley managed to do the impossible and make Vinny immortal during his experiments on the cat.

“I know you're probably mad at Poppy for not letting you escape. But she needs you. We need you. You are our mission. Together, we can save a lot of people. Including you.” The kid said through the phone after a minute.

Player huffed and stood up, cradling Vinny close with one hand, feeling a bit shaky and disoriented after the huge scare and near heart attack.

“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!” The kid, Ollie, added.

Player sighed softly, before heading down the train tracks, leaving the burning wreck behind, Vinny still cradled in their arms.

Arriving at the Elliot Expressway’s entrance Player found their way blocked by the motionless turnstiles, so they quickly went into the security room and down the hallway to the power room.

Did they mention that they hated puzzles?-

I-I- get it that it’s a children’s toy factory with an orphanage built inside, but does everything seriously have to be a puzzle?-

No matter, Player got the power back on, entered through the turnstiles, pulled a lever, and stepped onto the cable car when it came up.

They sat down, before they then lowered Vinny into their lap, taking the opportunity to examine his wounds while the cable car was moving.

Player wrapped some cloth torn from their sleeves around Vinny’s middle, to keep the gashes protected, before they then used a tiny bit of water from a water bottle they’d brought to clean up Vinny’s blood and soot stained face.

They then stored the water bottle back into their shoulder bag after taking a drink, and gently pet Vinny’s ears while waiting for the cable car to come to a stop, ignoring the recording playing.

Riding the public access cable car was a bit jarring for them, they usually either took the employees only cable car or simply took the long walk to PlayCare, they normally walked, it gave them time to recollect their thoughts.

They peered out the window as the cable car came into PlayCare, and they were unable to stop their slight smile, the design they’d helped make had held up.

Stella had always been in charge of environmental and designing the areas, but she’d called Player in to design PlayCare as she needed to make sure the various devices hidden in the buildings were correct.

They’d always been a team, Stella, Head of PlayCare and Environmental, and Player, Head of Production and Design.

Most hadn’t acknowledged Player, not unless they needed to work with them, as a consequence, only the higher ups knew of them, and while they’d been friends with Harley in the beginning, he hadn’t known their role or status, only known them as a friend.

A friend turned enemy, Player had no doubt they’d been forgotten by now.

They were okay with that, being known meant being tied to the horrible things that happened, and blamed for supposedly being a willing participant.

They’d never been willing though, they’d tried to negate and defy when they could, making the toy designs as stable and healthy as possible, protecting the orphans whenever they could, sabotaging Game Station tests and the like to avoid a particularly skilled child getting chosen.

It was never enough, was it?

No…….. but they were working to fix things and put an to the Prototype now, once and for all.

They’d helped build parts of the Prototype’s body after all, and I T knew it, knew they were dangerous to I T.

“For what gives life its meaning, if not a Smile?” The audio recording said, ending right as the cable car pulled into the station.

Player quickly stepped out, scooping Vinny up again, the cat meowing weakly and attempting to cling to Player’s shoulder, but being too weak to hold on and thus slipping back down into their arms.

“Psst. It's me again, Ollie. Cool place, right? The kids used to live here” Ollie said, the phone ringing and picking up as Player headed down the stairs.

“Now look at it. Anyways... do you see that statue in the middle of the room? Take the stairs that go under it” Ollie continued, and Player headed towards the aforementioned statue and stairs as the kid spoke.

“There's a really cool room in there that powers literally ALL of Playcare! I can give you a key down there” Ollie finished, the phone clicking as the call ended, for now.

Player quickly made their way into the Generator Room, and grabbed the key, staring at it for a second before pocketing it.

“So you got the key... Now the question you're probably asking yourself is: Where does it go? Well, head back out, and you should find a door just to the left of the cable car you took down here” Ollie chirped, and Player huffed softly, before heading right back out the Generator Room.

‘Don’t need to tell me where it goes Kid, I helped build this place, I know where this key goes. But thank you for your attempt to help’ they thought.

Player headed to the door, not even really having to think as their body automatically traced the old familiar path, remembering how they used to help escort and teach new employees about the area.

They entered the main room of the Gas Production Zone, and stared up at the giant tubes, noting how only the right one had any smoke in it.

“Welcome to the Gas Production Zone, the beating heart of the whole evil Playcare system. All the gas you see coming from the machine is made right here in the factory. It's called "The Red Smoke" Ollie explained, tone a bit grim, and maybe irritated.

Poor kid probably had a nasty run in with the Red Smoke, considering the kid seemed to know what it did, as the kids tone of voice suggested.

“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. The machine will probably have a few dumb safeguards for you to work around, but I think you can do it. I'll call you once it's done” Ollie instructed, and Player sighed softly.

They looked down at Vinny, before they unzipped their jacket a little and zipped it back up around Vinny, feeling the cat press against their shirt.

It was a poor solution, but Vinny wasn’t able to cling to Player’s shoulders right now, they needed to use their hands and they didn’t have anything to make a sling with, so zipping the cat up in their jacket it was.

They headed into the back rooms, and quickly used a battery cell to get into the extra back rooms.

Once inside Player quickly acquired a GrabPack 2.0, quickly putting the purple hand in the swapping mechanisms storage, before using the purple hand to launch themselves up onto a platform.

Okey, this shit was almost as good as swinging from shit- they are unstoppable now, FEAR THEM-

Player entered through the door, quickly looking around the room, before moving down a ramp and using the purple hand to leap gaps.

The liquified Red Smoke in the floor made them feel uneasy and disturbed, it looked way too much like blood for their liking.

They diverted and rerouted the power, before returning to the console panel, and pressed the button.

The Red Smoke quickly started switching to the middle canister, the right canister quickly draining.

But then the power shut off, leaving Player in the dark, earning a soft hiss from Vinny, whose green eyes reflected the light almost eerily, even as the phone rang softly.

“Oh no! Someone killed the power. Okay, I sent you another key. It's under the statue. Use that to get into Home Sweet Home. Then once you're inside, find the building's backup generator. Good luck” Ollie instructed, and Player maybe rolled their eyes before once again making their way to the statue and grabbing the key.

Player was admittedly stumbling around a lot in the dim and dark PlayCare, their one eye not quite up to the task of navigating around, but they made do with their flashlight and Vinny’s little cat-chirped warnings.

They quickly entered Home Sweet Home, but were met with a problem: the halls beyond the second door were utterly filled with the Red Smoke.

Player attempted to set Vinny down, so the cat could wait for them outside the door, but Vinny hissed and clung on stubbornly, so Player sighed and left him.

They then looked back at the Red Smoke, knowing they had to push through it to continue, but dreading the consequences.

Still, they took a deep breath, and headed in, but they couldn’t hold their breath forever.

Choking and coughing they fell to their knees, hearing Vinny cough a couple times before starting to caterwaul in sheer distress.

As their vision blurred and distorted, they caught a brief glimpse of a distorted version of Vinny, the black cat standing taller than CatNap, frame emaciated, saber tooth fangs dripping with blood, green eyes hollow and hostile.

But then their vision seemed to clear, and they couldn’t see Vinny at all anymore, simply just the long, long halls of Home Sweet Home.

Strange, didn’t they have their GrabPack on before?

It must’ve fallen off……

Wait- they could blink and open their left eye again- and now that they noticed that, they could feel the light weight of the metal choker like device around their neck.

Just like the old days when they worked here.

Audio recording, news recording of PlayTime Co. News Coverage, about a dead child on Elliot’s estate.

The sound played from all around them, making their disorientation and confusion over what was real and what wasn’t and who they were and when they were worse.

“YOU NEED TO RUN” Ollies voice rang out, and Player startled, looking around.

“What? Why? What’s going on!?” Their own voice rang out, coming from the speakers in the device around their neck as it translated thought into audible sound vie a very specialized mechanism.

Player kept uneasily walking down the halls, even as the recordings kept playing, their eyes narrowed as they kept a look out for the danger Ollie had perceived.

Strange, the walls of the halls used to have wallpaper, now they were wood.

The floors were wood too, claw scratches and messages carved into the dark wood.

Still, they kept walking, searching for an exit.

The walls changed again, back to wallpaper.

And then, Player arrived at a room.

There was a T.V in the corner, flickering with static.

They picked up a VHS tape and placed it in the T.V, watching as it turned on.

It started out normal, but grew more and more distorted, the flickering image of Huggy Wuggy’s face turning nightmarish.

It was like they couldn’t look away.

“Welcome Home”

The audio finished.

Huggy Wuggy came out of the screen, so horribly distorted and twisted now.

Blood poured down Player’s face, their injuries and GrabPack returning as they seemed to revert from the Head of Production back to being the returning employee come back to the halls they helped to stain with blood.

They headed down the halls again, movement agonizingly slow as Huggy headed after them.

Grabbed-

He was right there-!

Teeth met around Player’s chest.

Blood dripped to the floor.

As did their bifurcated body, with a soft thump.

They came too on the floor, coughing and hacking, dispelling the last remnants of Red Smoke from their lungs, some small scraps of the red gas literally coming out from their mouth as they did so.

Right, Red Smoke causes unconsciousness and intense, freakishly vivid hallucinations.

Stupid of them to forget.

They stood up, taking a second to gently pet the head of Vinny, who was still unconscious, before they sighed softly and readied their GrabPack.

They headed down the hall, before dropping down into a hole, you know, like usual.

They did find a gas mask though, and you can bet your ass they put it on.

What? They’re injured and maybe have a slight death wish, not stupid.

They would NOT be having anymore hallucinations today, thank you very much-

Crashing a cart through a wall, jumping up through a hole, and exploring the modern day place a little more were all things they could cross of their to do list now-

N-not that they had a to do list- but- you get the point- they destroyed something and explored a little, like usual.

No, no the narrator is not having issues describing things, please shut up and stop breaking the Fourth Wall-

More rooms, more moving stuff, oh hey! A room with a little tiny bit more light! Now they can fucking kinda see-

And back into the dark rooms and hallways after finding nothing but a VHS tape, God Damn it all-

While they were playing collect the battery cell, they caught a glimpse of Kissy Missy sitting on a bed in a room, looking at something, but they didn’t move closer, not wanting to disturb her.

Up through a hole, second battery cell acquired, and button pushed! Ha hah- shut- shut up okay?- their- their allowed to feel accomplished-

Playing ring a round the rosey with a Bobby Bearhug statue thankfully resulted in one more of the battery cells Player needed.

More chaos, more Red Smoke, and another car destruction incident later, Player got the final battery cell and put it into place.

More trial and error later, they finally got the stupid power back on, and quickly headed back the way they’d came.

Wait…… was that, breathing?-

With a loud trill Kissy Missy slammed them down, not baring her teeth or her claws, but a loud and dangerous clicking sound leaving her as she stared them down.

“No, no! Let go!” Poppy yelled, scrambling up onto Kissy’s shoulders briefly, before adding “They didn't do anything wrong! They're actually here to help”

Kissy chuffed briefly, but backed up a little, letting go of Player.

“This place makes her tense... I'm glad that Ollie could help you get this far. He's the reason we found you at all” Poppy said, before she moved out of the way, letting Player stand up.

They rubbed their sore shoulders, huffing softly to themselves as they realized the scab of the gash on their shoulder had cracked a little bit, and was now trickling a tiny bit of blood.

“Looks like the train crash hurt us both... You've been through so much... you deserve an explanation, c'mon” Poppy murmured, and as she spoke Player noticed then the porcelain of her face was cracked.

They followed after Kissy and Poppy, Vinny still carefully zipped up inside their jacket as they walked, the cat’s head peeking out.

Vinny seemed a bit better then earlier, at the very least he didn’t seem as weak, but Player knew the cat probably wasn’t up to clinging to their shoulders yet, so they left him in the jacket.

“Hey, you'll be okay. We'll be okay.” Poppy whispered to Kissy, who responded with a soft croon, even as she crouched down and lifted Poppy up so the doll could access a panel and flip the lever inside.

Kissy then stood up again, Poppy returning to her shoulder, and stepped onto a lift, Player following after a second.

“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. And I need you…” Poppy said softly, taking a deep breath before continuing.

“so we can get revenge on those monsters who've tortured you... who've tortured us. They didn't act alone. They're disciples of the original: The Prototype” Poppy continued, Kissy clicking softly as if in agreement to her words.

“Do the honors?” Poppy asked as they came to the generator panel, and Player nodded, stepping off the lift and pressing the button.

They blinked their eye rapidly to adjust after the lights switched back on, before looking back at Poppy and Kissy.

“The Prototype knows we're coming by now. You try to escape, he'll kill you before you ever reach that front door. He's the reason I was trapped in that god awful case for so long. You have no idea the things he's done…” Poppy said as Player stepped back into the lift, Kissy rubbing her mitts almost as if in an effort to self soothe as the lift went back down.

“Let me help you kill him. Let me help you save everyone. We've all seen you, how capable you are. You killed Huggy, you injured Mommy, you freed me... you are perfect for this” Poppy said as the lift slowly came to a stop, back at the ground level now.

“CatNap is coming, he's the final obstacle the Prototype has placed against us. We can't stay here, keep yourself safe! Ollie will call you” Poppy added, gesturing for Player to go, but Kissy raised a mitt in a gesture for ‘wait’.

Kissy chirped a couple times, before pulling out a tattered but sound blanket, and handing it to Player, gesturing towards Vinny as she did so.

“Oh no! I was aware he was injured in the crash…… but I didn’t realize how badly-“ Poppy gasped, sounding worried as she noticed Vinny’s condition.

Player offered her a reassuring smile as they extracted Vinny from their jacket and wrapped him in the blanket, using it as a makeshift sling.

Vinny mewed, sounding a bit disgruntled at the sudden relocation, but he quickly relaxed into the sling.

Player nodded to Kissy in thanks, before stepping off the lift and heading back out into the main area of PlayCare as the lift rose back up and the phone rang.

“Hey, hey... It's me again. 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” Ollie said, voice as cheerful as ever.

“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” Player was already locating and plugging in the cord as Ollie spoke, having figured it out as soon as Home Sweet Home was mentioned.

“Awesome, look at that! Remember that generator you turned on inside of Home Sweet Home? Well, that was a backup generator for just that building. And 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!” Ollie said as soon as the cord was plugged in.

“Hmmm, but where to go next... everywhere is pretty dangerous around here. That Playhouse especially. Yuck! So... your best bet is probably the School. CatNap usually leaves that place alone. Sending you the key now!” Ollie added, and Player walked over and grabbed the key, internally cursing.

They knew Miss Delight and her sisters stayed at the Playhouse, and none had never quite been mentally stable.

Player was definitely going to at least gain another bruise from this, if not an another injury.

Still though, they sighed softly and quickly made their way over to the School and opened the doors, slipping inside.

“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. There's someone else in there too. They're not your-“ Ollie warned, the kids voice cutting off into static at the end.

Player sighed softly, and had just opened up a classroom door and peeked inside, when the PA system turned on.

“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!” Miss Delights voice rung and, and Player internally cursed.

They continued to look around though, quickly opening a gate and finding and putting one power cell in place, before going to look for the other one.

“Wait, I recognize you... Yes! I remember! You used to work here! How are you... alive? Hm? Barb? Oh... Barb says you're looking for your co-workers. CatNap wouldn't like that you're here! You should leave, for your own safety” Miss Delight’s voice rung out again, but Player chose to ignore her, they were already half blind and Vinny was already half dead, at this point they’d already sacrificed too much to turn back now, plus, the Prototype would easily kill them if they left.

So they ignored her, quickly entering a ceiling vent to retrieve the second battery, before heading back to the battery spot to put the cell in its place.

“Not a good listener, are you? You're a lot like the other humans in that way. I wonder if your screams will sound like theirs too! I look forward to finding out” Miss Delight’s voice sounded once more while they were playing hunt the battery cell once again, and Vinny actually growled softly in agitation, clearly fed up with the battery hunts or fed up with Miss Delight.

Player guessed both. It was both for them.

They too were tired of playing hunt the battery cell, and tired of Miss Delight.

A couple doors and turns later, they were attempting to get the generator back on, and everything was going well…..

Until Miss Delight came and smashed in the generator.

Strangely enough she didn’t move while Player was looking at her, which suited them just fine, they were good at keeping a close eye on things.

They crept forward and grabbed the battery cell that had been dislodged from the generator.

And then they dared to boop Miss Delight, much to a displeased snarl from her as she twitched a little, wanting to lunge at them.

Sigh, her faceplates had held up terribly, so far Player hadn’t seen an obvious design flaw cause issues, but it would seem in the initial making of Miss Delight they’d made her faceplate too weak to hold up in environments like this.

They splayed their fingers over the damaged area, their brows furrowing in concern over the exposed flesh and tissue.

If they had any of their tools and a replacement faceplate for her, they’d fix this right now, even if she was their enemy.

She didn’t deserve to suffer in pain like this.

And they had a feeling she knew they wanted to help her, after all, she let them get close enough to touch her, touch her vulnerable spot, trusting them not to do further damage, even as they trusted her not to attack them in that moment.

Player slowly removed their hand, before backing up backwards towards the door, battery cell gripped firmly as they kept an eye on Miss Delight

Darting down the halls, they managed to get the battery cell into place and slam a gate down before she could reach them in the moments when they weren’t looking.

Which were a lot fewer then they bet she expected, foolish toy, underestimating them just because their half blind. Idiot.

And of course she managed to get past the gate in five seconds, figures.

The hall lights kept flickering as Player navigated the halls and messed with the power more, which did not help them and the running tally the toys probably had of just how many times Player managed to trip, smack their head or fall flat on their ass.

Battery after battery into place, with Vinny occasionally twisting around and peeking at Miss Delight when Player really needed to look away.

The toy actually stopped when the cat looked at her, and they maybe felt a bit cheeky, like they’d discovered a cheat code, as apparently Miss Delight didn’t like Vinny’s beady green cat eyes-

They slammed a charged green hand against an outlet, and bolted down and hallway.

But looking back, Miss Delight didn’t stop when they looked.

She just kept coming.

Eyes blazing with pain and guilt and agony.

Player darted inside a room, and slammed down a lever.

The door came down.

Too fast.

Miss Delight didn’t stop.

Player reacted before they could think.

Grabbing the edge of the door just in time.

It still cracked again Miss Delight’s head, but from her dazed groan, it didn’t kill her.

Player strained to hold up the door as it attempted to slam down, the metal pressing against their hands harshly.

Miss Delight scooted out, thankfully not attempting to attack Player while doing so, and they jerked away from the door and let it go, the metal slamming down with a thump.

They straightened up, and glanced at the toy beside them, who seemed none the worse for wear, besides the bloody dent on her head.

She refused to make eye contact, but she grabbed their wrist and gently placed their head against her face again.

Oh- oh, she didn’t want to fight, she was just hurting and accidentally lashing out in her instability.

Player smiled gently, and moved their other hand to very gently scratch Miss Delight’s scalp, carefully avoiding her injuries as they did so.

She relaxed into the head pats, calming down almost immediately, before she actually looked up and met their eye after a minute.

“I-“ she tried, but they shook their head, and gestured towards the exit, signaling her to go find a safe shelter, and perhaps treatment for her wounds.

Miss Delight nodded, and reluctantly moved away, briefly pressing her forehead against Player’s, and typed something around the injured side of their face before she darted down the hall.

They reached their hand up, and realized she’d tied a torn scrap of her dress around their missing eye, probably to replace the dirty and blood stained current clothes scrap bandage they had.

They sighed softly, before heading down the other hallway, picking up a fucking flaregun GrabPack hand as they did so.

The world really should fear them, they had weaponry now.

After quickly battery calling a door they entered the Caverns, the cave systems just as vast and imposing as Player remembered.

It was actually pretty easy to purple hand their way up the fucking broken platforms, the metal was stable and their shoes had good grip, so it was so issue.

Vinny did meow a lot in protest and alarm, worrywart cat, they mean, he does have reason to worry, they’ll give him that-

Walking across more platforms, and dropping down into yet another power puzzle was apparently on today’s docket- WHAT IS WITH THE SHITTY POWER PUZZLES?- seriously, Player was going to smack the idiots who built this wrong.

[Disclaimer: author does not hate the puzzles and obstacles of Poppy Playtime, but she does have issues describing them without being repetitive, so therefore Player had reoccurring beef with the puzzles to make it a little more entertaining to read-]

Player quickly activated a lift and headed up it, before walking across more platforms, trying not to look down as they did so.

But they did sneak a glance off to the side, and paused.

There was a shrine there, a shrine to the Prototype.

And there was CatNap, standing bipedally, praising the statue.

Player watched for one uncomfortable moment more, before continuing to walk, keeping their footsteps quiet as to not alert CatNap.

Down, down, down, and across, to the Playhouse door, and slipping inside after quickly opening it with the blue hand.

They walked across a couple more platforms, before entering the halls of the Playhouse proper.

A small, mini CraftyCorn scurried at them from a hole in the wall, but a flare gun blast by it’s face was enough to drive it away.

Player had no qualms hurting the minis, Playtime Co. had never ‘wasted’ kids on powering the minis, instead most of the tiny things were actually animals.

Only a select few actually had kid souls, and out of those test ones, as far as Player knew only Cuddly, a green Wuggy, and a handful of mini Smiling Critters had actually survived the tests, and they doubted they would find them here.

They quickly headed down the halls, highly unnerved by the ominous feel and the dirty and bloody tattered walls, but they forced themselves to keep on going.

Vinny mewed uncertainly and wriggled around in his makeshift sling, lowering himself fully into it so not even the tips of his flattened ears peeked up.

Player didn’t blame him, if their roles were swapped they’d do the same thing, this place smelled of death and decay and looked it too, it was not a safe place to be.

No wonder Ollie wanted to avoid the Playhouse specifically, there was something wrong with this place, a looming feel of dread unlike anywhere else in the factory so far.

As Player walked they came across more mini critters, and drove them off with shots of the orange flare gun hand, although occasionally they cut it close, as the very slowly building amount of minor scratches on their lower legs showed.

While crouching through a tunnel one, a Bobby Bearhug mini, even jumped onto their shoulders, dealing a minor scrape to their neck before they yanked it off and sent it scurrying away.

The smell and sight of the flares began to burn in their memory as they hurried through the tunnels, the minis screeching and yipping as they attempted to grab a chunk.

One even managed to get a chunk out of Vinny’s right ear after it lunged at Player and managed to cling to their chest.

That mini was slammed against the ground hard enough to crack its head open and spill its brains out.

Player had already nearly lost Vinny once today, they were not about to lot the cat come to any more harm if they could help it.

They reached a blocked area, and had to push two boxes onto two giant pressure pads in order to continue, all the while giving the minis same flare burns to think about.

After that puzzle, they entered a swimming pool like area, and went through the doors at the back.

They saw some cells coming up, but wasn’t paying them much mind at first.

But then Vinny whimpered.

“You... You're Poppy's angel” DogDay whispered “Come to save us”

“Nothing left to save, not here... You're in CatNap's home, Angel. Their home” Player looked to the side, and their heart broke at seeing DogDay in one of the cells, bottom half missing, blood leaking from his mouth, restrained and held up by tattered belts.

“A million pairs of eyes are on you now. Watching, waiting, hungry” DogDay rasped, lifting his head to look up at Player “They want nothing more than to crawl beneath your skin and eat away at you bit by little bit- fill what feels empty inside themselves”

“That... thing... CatNap. The Prototype is his god, and this is what he does to heretics” DogDay wheezed, taking a deep breath before continuing “These little toys follow CatNap to avoid that very fate- and in return, they are fed. We tried to fight it, The Prototype's control. I'm... the last of the Smiling Critters”

“Listen to me, you need to get out of this place” DogDay continued, lifting his head, a pupil faintly showing in one eye, his voice growing more firm and determined “You need to live”

“You and Poppy can fix this, end this madness, the torment, the-“ DogDay cut himself off, his head jerking fully up, his ears twitching.

“Oh no... OH NO!” DogDay barked as the minis swarmed into the cell, crawling inside him via his mouth and wounds, Player reached out a hand frantically, eyes wide.

“Leave me. Please!-“ DogDay barked again, choking and groaning, clearly fighting to keep control “Just GO!... RUN!”

Player froze, heart pounding, as the restrained snapped, sending DogDay crashing to the floor.

The dog toys face was twisted in a saved snarl, harsh white pupils visible, as he looked up.

They bolted, taking a running jump onto some boards and breaking them, bolting off into the tunnels as soon as they regained their footing.

Vinny let out a disgruntled meow as Player ran, briefly looking up at them, his green eyes almost slightly glowing in the low light.

Player kept going through the tunnels at full speed, even as DogDay dragged himself after them alarmingly fast.

A brief slide moment was had, and Player thought they’d lost DogDay, but they startled when he dragged himself towards them from another direction.

A jump over a gap.

Safety on the other side.

A door slammed shut behind them.

It took only a couple seconds for the screams to start.

No!

Player stared at the door in horror, frozen to the spot as they listened to DogDay’s cries, tears welling in their eyes.

I’m sorry……

Player wanted to say those words so badly, but their throat burned with the effort of even trying to produce a tiny bit of sound.

They forced themselves to turn around and start walking away, rubbing Vinny’s ears to comfort themselves as they tried to block out the noise.

Up a lift, and down a slide, and they were back in the PlayCare now, the phone ringing as Ollie called.

“Hey, are you alright? No ouchies or lost body parts? I'm really glad you're okay... I don't wanna lose any more friends to this place” Ollie murmured softly, the kid’s tone sounding genuinely sorrowful.

“Hey... Did you see the shrine? 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, tone soft

“In CatNap's eyes, The Prototype is a superhero, and has saved his place. So CatNap treats him like a god, killing everyone that opposes him. Us included, if we're not careful. That shrine... Did it scare you? If you thought that was terrifying, just wait until you see the real thing” Ollie continued, before sighing softly.

“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 added, his tone back to being cheerful.

“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” Ollie warned, before the phone turned off with a click.

Player sighed, and went under the statue and grabbed the key before quickly headed over to the Counselors Office, unlocking the door, and heading inside.

They quickly headed deeper inside, briefly noting a hallway filled with the Red Smoke, before continuing on, powering the doors and opening them as needed.

They then headed into the upper levels and out to the side, where a series of platforms were exposed to the Caverns.

They made it up the platforms via a series of purple hand aided jumps, before they arrived in a hallway.

They paused and briefly peeked into Stella’s office, taking a minute to take in her former sanctuary, before sighing and continuing on down the halls.

And up a hole in the roof and through more tight vents, of course-

GOD FUCKING DAMN IT-

Through more vents, before they plunged down into a room filled with Red Smoke, Player quickly and hurriedly put their gas mask on, internally apologizing to Vinny and wishing the cat wasn’t with them so he didn’t have to breath in the toxic and hallucination inducing gas.

They managed to quickly charge up and open the doors and exit the Red Smoke filled room, and their heart nearly broke at Vinny’s wheezy coughing.

They gently thumped one hand against Vinny’s chest, being extremely careful not to aggravate the cat’s injuries, but hoping the gentle thumping would help him clear out his lungs.

It seemed to help a little, and Vinny looked up at them with a grateful meow.

Player smiled down at him, before looking back up and continuing on.

Several wall hopping electrical puzzles and opened doors later, Player was back in the vents, this time ones filled with Red Smoke.

They crawled through as quickly as they could, gently and lightly pressing the edge of the makeshift blanket sling against Vinny’s mouth and nose in the hopes the fabric would act as a makeshift filter the same way it normally did with smoke.

They’d just entered into a new room and acquired a new battery cell, when paws slammed into them, yanking their gas mask right off their face, reopening part of the giant gash where their eye used to be.

Their vision fogged red by the Red Smoke, they held their breath as long as they could, before they gave in, and inhaled.

Find the flower.

Find the flower.

This isn't a place you come back from.

Woods…… one of the rooms inside the factory…….. red clouds, or was it smoke?

Do you have any idea what you're doing?

Do you know who we once were?

What looked like the halls of Home Sweet Home….. a classroom in the School…. shadowy figures of kids…..

Do you see why we have to end this?

Do you even know what's real?

The tunnels of the Playhouse?….. more rooms……. Player couldn’t recognize them for some reason…..

Huggy Wuggy…… alone in the void, the void felt safe, familiar…….. dragged into a piercing red room…… then the void again……

No. You don't

Player jerked upwards, hacking and coughing, head pounding.

They then hugged themselves, trying to hold the feeling of safety the pitch black void gave them close, to use it for reassurance, even as CatNap’s voice rung out around them.

“LEAVE PLAYCARE, OR I'M COMING FOR YOU”

They shook their head to clear it, before exiting the Counselors Office, even as the phone rang with an incoming call from Ollie.

“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” Ollie said, before the phone shut off again.

Player sighed, before moving the cord over and connecting it, briefly firing a flare to use it for fucking light, since the inside of the sky dome was fucking dark as shit now.

Irritatingly enough, the power only reached 96%, and Player sighed, before their eye caught on the Sky Dome Key dnagling from the spot where Ollie had been sending them keys from, and they quickly pocketing the key, having a pretty good idea as to what Ollie had sent it to them for.

“It's looks like we're a tiny bit short! I'm sending one last key. Poppy used it when you met up with her earlier to activate the sky lights! Go back over there and find the cord. Then we'll have enough power!” Sure enough, Ollie’s voice briefly rang out over the phone.

Player sighed, and then headed over, grabbed the cord, dragged it back over to the statue and connected it.

“Okay, that should be enough power. 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. Good luck” Ollie said.

Player immediately grabbed the blue battery cell and headed over to the Gas Production Zone again, before going to slip the battery in its slot.

Catnap snarled and lunged out of the hallway, claws at the ready, Red Smoke billowing from his maw.

Player was forced to bolt, the eerie sound of something adjusting its body echoing behind them, reminding them of how all the Smiling and Nightmare Critters were designed to be able to switch between feral and anthro styles of body, with CatNap having a also nightmarish form meant for his security duties.

They made it into the elevator and had just barely slammed the button when CatNap came charging into view, climbing up the mesh gate as the elevator rose, keeping his eyes locked with Player’s.

Despite the cat toys aggressive seeming behavior, Player could hear a low mourning, keening sound echoing through the room, and the cat’s eyes were wild and fur around them stained with tears.

The Pairing Bond, something that was originally created to help the Nightmare Critters get along better but was also later used for the Smiling Critters as well, a mental bond between two critters that linked them together telepathically and empathetically.

The bond linked the chosen two critters together and allowed them to communicate telepathically without issue, and experience each other’s emotions and body feelings, with negative emotions and physical pain being felt strongly, while positive emotions were felt at a more dulled level.

Player didn’t want to imagine what the death of one half of a Pairing Bond would do to the other half’s mind.

But now they would have to deal with it.

Because CatNap and DogDay had been in a Pairing Bond. DogDay was dead, and CatNap had felt him die.

No wonder that cat was acting out of his mind right now, well, more out of his mind than usual.

Player got off the elevator, and quickly darted through the halls, knowing CatNap was close behind.

They arrived at the Panic Room. Of course. They actually had been looking for it, they knew it was up here, and while ten years of wear and tear and neglect had weakened it, hopefully it would hold up like Stella designed it too.

“I hope this is coming through... There's no time to waste. CatNap is on his way. The room you're in used to be a sort of panic room. It's... not what it used to be, but it can protect you. Learn how it works. Try putting the batteries in the different glowing spots” Poppy’s voice echoed weakly from the speakers on the terminal, and Player nodded, before waiting for her to continue, they already knew how to work this stuff, but they had a feeling Poppy was scared for them, and so they figured letting her explain would help her feel a bit calmer and like she had truly done everything to help.

“Good! Okay... now, in between the hallways, there's those two side rooms, on the left and the right. There'll be green power receivers in those little rooms. They can block off the hallways before CatNap gets to you. Try them!” Poppy instructed, and Player put one of the battery cells into the receiver, grinning a little as steam came out of the walls.

“Good! If you see CatNap, use those. You're probably gonna hallucinate a bit. It'll be hard to tell what's real and what's fake. Try using your flares on CatNap to make sure he's real” Poppy continued, before she paused and added “He's almost there! There might be a way to kill him, if you can hold out. Do you see that computer terminal? Progressively use the batteries to fill the surrounding slots. Please don't die”

Player nodded, before glancing at the terminal, noticing a timer displaying a three minute countdown, the outlet above it slowly charging up.

Three minutes.

Player could do this.

Vinny mewled, before yowling, alerting Player.

One battery cell change had CatNap scurrying away from the blast of steam, snarling softly.

Back right, Catnap, steam.

Back left, hallucination, flare gun.

Back left again, CatNap, steam.

Forty five seconds passed, an alarm, a new battery in the terminal

Light from above, pull the trap door down.

Front right, hallucination, flare gun.

Light from above again, pull the trap door down.

Another forty five seconds up, a new battery inserted.

Front right, CatNap, steam.

Back right, CatNap, steam.

Light from above, pull trapdoor down.

Front left, CatNap, steam.

Last forty five up, last battery.

Light from above, pull trapdoor down.

Back right, hallucination, flare gun.

Back left, CatNap, steam.

Front left, CatNap, steam.

The outlet crackled suddenly, burning with new powerful electrical energy.

Player fired at it, only for CatNap to slam them down to the ground.

They fired, hitting him.

He screeched, before trying to exhale the Red Smoke, and then caterwauling and flailing around as the smoke caught fire and the heat ravaged his fur.

CatNap staggered back up, and pinned Player down, his claws leaving a shallow but jagged claw mark across their chest.

Vinny hissed from his spot on the floor, having been knock away when CatNap first slammed Player down.

The cat toy hissed back at the black cat, his damaged purple fur bushing out as he stared the small domestic cat down.

Vinny attempted to rise to his paws, but the cat’s still weak legs gave out, and he collapsed again, still snarling at CatNap.

[“Wait, Theo, baby, please”] Player thought, their head pounding a little more as they forced their telepathic abilities to work.

Normally a critters Pairing Bond would block any telepathic attempts from an outsider, but hopefully CatNap would be able to hear Player, due to his broken link.

Sure enough, the cat’s head whipped back around, leaving Vinny alone as the cat toy moved to snarl at the ex-employee.

[“I know it hurts Theo, honey, he was your brother and your closest friend, and he’s gone now”] Player continued, their thoughts growing a little more strained as CatNap dug his claws in more.

[“But he wouldn’t want this. You know as soon as you kill me, you’ll be killed by I T. You are injured, weak. I T won’t let you live”]

CatNap paused, ears flattening, drawing in a breath to argue, but Player didn’t let him.

[“He wouldn’t want you to be killed by a false god, he would want you to live, T H E O, he might be gone now, but you can still be the person he saw in you”]

Player made sure to stress CatNap’s human name this time, knowing from what Stella had told them in the past that the cat preferred Theo over CatNap.

It had the desired effect, after so long being called CatNap, Theo’s expression softened a little at hearing his name again.

[“Please Theo. Don’t do this. A path of hurt and pain and vengeance and suffering isn’t worth it. DogDay was an amazing person, and I know he loved you more then anything, so if not for anybody else, perhaps you can try changing in honer of your older brother]

CatNap paused, before his ears lowered, and the cat toy sniffled, looking away guilty, before looking back at them, and nuzzling his head very gently against theirs.

“……….sorry……”

Player could barely hear the tiny whisper, but they smiled, and gently scratched behind CatNap’s ears in response.

[That’s a start. You can’t undo the past, but you can always change the future]

Catnap purred softly as that, resting against Player like a giant domestic cat, allowing them to check his wounds.

Thankfully the burns weren’t deep, meaning he would be fine.

Light flooded from above as the trapdoor opened, and the Prototypes hand extended itself.

Player expected many things, what they didn’t expect was for CatNap to stand up and hover protectively over them, glaring at the hand.

“Leave, False God!” CatNap spat, bristling, he hissed and swatted as the hand slashed at him, the sharp fingertips tearing across his face before retreating.

CatNap then moved off of Player, letting them get up and gently scoop up Vinny and return him to the sling.

CatNap wiped the blood off of his face with a paw, before taking a shaky breath, looking up at the ceiling trapdoor briefly, before looking back at Player.

“Here, I will navigate, with one eye, your night vision is next to useless” CatNap commented, before grabbing Player by the collar of their shirt and lifting them up onto his back.

The cat toy then slowly set off towards the elevator, movements even and steady, seemingly not to bothered thankfully by his burns.

Player carefully laid down on CatNap’s back, managing to actually get comfortable despite the cat’s bony frame, thanks to his fluffy, albeit patchy, fur.

Both of them headed down the lift, before CatNap snagged the blue battery cell and managed to shove it onto its slot.

The cat toy then slowly walked over to the terminal, and Player fired a GrabPack hand to push the button, turning the power for it back on and quickly switching the Red Smoke to the left canister.

The lights came back on, but Player made no move to get off CatNap, and the cat toy didn’t protest, just quickly walked into the next room.

“Good, you're here... and you've done it again, the impossible, just like I knew you would. CatNap's gone, the red smoke is diverted... everything is falling into place, thanks to you... but if we're to keep going, then...-“ Poppy said, coming into view on a box, before cutting herself off abruptly as she spotted just what purple furred cat toy was still alive.

“I will not hurt Your Angel, Poppy. The Prototype is a False God they say, and- DogDay is gone. I will follow my brother’s wishes” CatNap murmured, ears lowering.

Poppy took a shaky breath and nodded, eyes widening a little at the unexpected new ally, before she continued speaking “Then you deserve to have the truth. You came back because of your co-workers. You wanna know what happened, and why. This... this is your answer. We called it: The Hour of Joy”

Player tilted his head in confusion, before startling slightly as CatNap snarled slightly, claws digging into the ground a little, tail slowly whipping back and forth.

Player yelped a little as CatNap approached the TV as Poppy turned it on, before the cat toy lowered himself so they could see the screen better.

They wished they couldn’t.

The carnage, the bloodshed….. all preserved in this black and white gritty security footage.

“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?"... Senseless slaughter, that's all it really was” Poppy whispered, and CatNap whimpered softly, as if agreeing with her, his ears lowered and expression guilty.

“They killed everyone... the guilty, the innocent, didn't matter. All that death 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. The Prototype has to die... for this. For everything” Poppy finished, CatNap flinched a little at the mention of killing the Prototype, but thankfully didn’t react badly.

Kissy Missy entered the room as Poppy finished speaking, briefly bristling at CatNap, but relaxing when Poppy shook her head, using a brief hand signal to Kissy the cat toy was safe.

Kissy gently picked Poppy up and walked over to the list, before gently setting her down, chittering softly, before being reassured by Poppy “'Soon as we reach the bottom, we'll send the lift back up. Just hold tight, okay?”

“After you!” Poppy said, addressing Player, she made a soft noise of protest when CatNap walked over, Player still on his back, and squished himself down to fit on the lift, but she didn’t try to argue.

The cat was still grieving his Pairing Bond partner after all, and he seemed to have latched onto Player.

Separating the two forcibly and without consent could lead to unwelcome consequences.

“Alright, once we hit the ground, we need to be cautious, there's something-“ Poppy started saying as the lift quickly went down, before she cut herself off, at the same time CatNap’s ears pricked and he growled uncertainly.

“What? What's she doing, this isn't- no! No no! NO! We're coming, just hold on! C'mon, c'mon, go faster! KISSY!” Poppy screamed as a loud shrieking trill rang out above.

Poppy quickly pushed a button and the lift started going back up, but the lift hatch closed before any of them could get all the way up, leaving the three stranded in the dark, and Kissy Missy’s fate left unknown.

End Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 {Deep Sleep}