Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Bro..You’re the only one I can trust in this world.”
Ash smiled at their phone. Oh they KNEW Simon was going to ask them something huge.
“This is very nice , but what do you want ? Me to introduce you to a girl friend ?”
A few seconds of silence , where they could only hear some banging. As if Simon was in a small place made of metal. Which is concerning , considering they have some kind of claustrophobia.
“Come get me. Remember Playtime CO ? Go there and find me. Please.” And he hung up before they could say anything.

Ash was concerned about their friend , yes , because said friend is a 6’1” and strong person that has a passion for guns and thus always carries a gun around.
And hearing their usually goofy and dumb friend being so scared had their heart hurting and feeling anxious and scared.

So , without a second thought : Ash took whatever would be useful.
While Simon had a passion for guns , Ash had a passion for swords , knives , katanas… You named it.
They took whatever food they had (mostly cookies , brownies , anything sweet due to their low blood sugar), a pocket knife , a smaller type of Katana , their flashlight and off they were.

It took a bit less than 20 minutes by bike to arrive at the abandoned facility.
The letters were falling off , paint faded and they were graffiti on a side.
It looked unsound.
‘As unsound as I am !’ Ash softly laughed at themselves.
Their joints were fragile , they would disjoint in whatever situation possible.
They disjointed their shoulders multiple times just by reaching their phone in the morning.

EDS is a pain.

They entered and were surprisingly welcomed by silence.
Deathly silence.
Ash decided to send a quick message to their friend.
“Yo
You good ?”
And then moved on.

Behind what would be a register was an opened door.
A bright blue hand print was on top of said door , so Simon must’ve used this door at some point.
They jumped above some bars , that should allow the passage but meh , and walked in the long and dark corridor.
They could see ahead a pig platform with the letters H-U-G-Y and that’s pretty much it.
Well..Not counting the multiple toy boxes lying on the ground and other boxes at a corner , that’s it.
No time to take in all the details , Ash had to find Simon and bring him back home.

But in case Simon manages to get out from whatever trouble he’s in , considering he’s the most capable out of the trio , they left some cookies.
Bought of course , Ash is no baker , no cook , just a chaotic artist.

Just in case ; follow where you think your friend went.
And pray not to get lost.
Ash can get lost anywhere. After all , Simon and Jammy had to run 2 kilometers or so because Ash got lost on a straight road.
They even managed to get lost in a corridor , in their high school , while every door was closed , no one there , and they were looking for the exit.
Honestly , if they had to describe their sense of direction , they would say Roronoa Zorro. That’s it.
A door at their left was left wide open , okay , why not , but it’s in complete darkness.
They had an awful feeling about this , so they took their pocket knife out and their flashlight , and turned it on.
The white blinding light reflected in the metal walls , making the corridor less creepy and gloomy.
On the floor was some kind of blue worm arm painted , with lots of fur details on it.
They turned around to see if there was something behind them.
They felt something watching them. It was purely terrifying, the feeling of something watching them , judging them , thinking they’re not worth it-
No.
They aren’t even worth being watched.
It’s their imagination.
Imagination …

Something they have , some kind of pocket dimension , where Ash could escape reality , escape fear , anxiety , depression, the feeling of being worthless , useless , where they could be happy.
Well , their kind of happiness. The thought of being happy without depression sounds both horrifying and oddly calming.
What is it like to feel happy without being depressed at the same time ? It constantly feels like their happy , but there is always something holding them back , something pulling them down and drowning them. They can never be truly happy. But they’ll take that. They’d rather that than being happy then feeling guilty because they shouldn’t be happy , because some people are suffering , that Ash didn’t deserve it. Didn’t deserve to be happy.
Having mood swings , a rollercoaster of emotions makes them feel awful. They feel so full , but with mixing feelings. It’s confusing , what should they feel ? What should they show ? How could they describe it ? Is there even a way to describe it ? The best they could was like being pressed by something from the inside, that makes them panic then cry.

They were always a crybaby , weren’t they ?
Always crying , from just seeing other people cry to cry because of confrontation.
Not the kind of confrontation in school , when some popular people insults you just for insulting someone’s (although that’s not the case, it never happened to them at least in High School) but the kind where their parents misgender them , calls them by their dead name , and then tells them that they support them , They love them.

Love , such a stupid feeling honestly. Didn’t Schopenhauer* say that love was just a trap ?
Okay , yes he said that love was a trap so a man would stay by a women side and force them to reproduce or some shit. He wasn’t the best , probably one of the worst person actually, had every flaw on earth , but he was a genius , Ash will give him that.
But , why is love so present nowadays ? Yes it’s apparently a complicated feeling and a “wonderful” one too. But gosh darn does it hurts !
Why is friendship not valued more ? In anime yes , which is very cool, friendships in One Piece are wonderful as much as some of them hurts (Ace…).
Friendship is better than any romance ! Friendship isn’t about living with someone for children , money , or something , it’s just people enjoying other people they feel close too. Just the joy of having a friend that will go to hell and back again for you and vice versa.

Remember when Ash prayed not to get lost ? Now with all that thinking , they got lost.
In a corridor.
In a literal straight way.
Actually , no wonder they are lost on a straight way , they’re not even straight !
So , they went the way they thought was the right one and-
No that’s where they’re coming from.
Ignoring the noises (they didn’t notice it) from the previous room , the went back in the corridor and this time in the right room !

It was huge. Enormous. Gigantic. Maybe even Micromega** would fit in here !
There was seemingly multiple floors , and som much boxes it was just woah.
Ash has been in a lot of places. From sewers , then abandoned hospitals to haunted mansion.
But this was the first time they were in an old toy factory.
And now , they found it fascinating.

Walking around they just looked at all the different toy boxes , the size of some , and then looking for an exit.
There were doors on the sides sure , they’ll need to push a few things.
But there was also doors on the very top right of the room. Without counting the weird door with two hands next to it.
Ash could never reach it. These hands were about at 6’6” from the ground , and from the top of their 5’5” , Ash could never. Plus the gap was too wide.
Snapping out of their thoughts , they saw something shiny on the conveyer belt.
Taking a closer look , they saw it was a gun.
Not any gun , a revolver***. One Simon would carry around.
Where was he ? Was he okay ? Looking at their phone , they saw Simon had answered , with a simple “ye”. At least he’s alive.

But where ? Ash just had to found out.
Simon , please just hang on some more. I’m coming to get you.

Chapter Text

The doors on the left were probably the best option.
Simon was tall , with the help of a box he could’ve probably reached the blue and red hands on that door at the very end of the room. And probably wide enough to reach both of them at the same time.
But Ash wasn’t tall , nor wide. So , they’ll go through another way to reach their friend.
They had to , he was counting on them.
Ash just had to move a shelf. A whole shelf with dozens of heavy boxes….
Can be possible.
Despite Ash’s predicament , they were blessed with a rock hard forehead , and an inhuman strength. An awful match , really.
Not only do they get hurt , but also they have to compensate their strength with food.
And they eat A LOT. “Better see her in picture than in real life” their mother had said.
Once did they try to lower their food consommation , but that only resulted in falling in anorexia. It ticked when they didn’t have periods anymore, so they took their life and physical health back in hands !

The dark haired gripped hard the shelf , and with great strength : moved it.
Inches by inches , slowly , minimizing the noises as much as they could.
Once the shelf was discarded from a good 12 inches , they opened the door and squeezed their way through.

A long corridor appeared before them. No. Not appeared. It was behind the door. But it felt surreal.
It was dark , cold , humid and eerie. They clutched their green backpack in their arms , while eating a piece of chocolate.
Simon and Ash were the same on this , they both coped with food. If stressed or just sad , or feeling too much emotions , both of them were eating.
Chocolate was always their safety food. Well , used to for Simon , now on his diet to fully be a fireman. The sweet piece always brought comfort with it. It’s soothing in a way.

Once their little piece finished , they heard commotion ahead. They could see a bit of the room at the end of the hallway. Dark , but with a red glowy effect.
That couldn’t be good.
So , Ash did the most reasonable thing their hungry mind could think of : hide underneath a box. The thing covered their whole body.
The only way they knew where they were going is by a small hole in front of them.

They moved slowly , surely , being careful and listening to every weird sound.
It sounded like…Something between a moving rock and plastic.
They were now about to enter the room.
It was so dark..They could barely see the shape of what was..a..Dinosaur ? Either a Diplodocus or a Brontosaurus judging by the long tail and neck. It was red , maroon perhaps ? With a yellow belly. It looked a bit cartoonish. Although it looked cute and friendly , the slashes , and bruises on the plastic and blood red splashes on it wasn’t anything to go by. But the thing they noticed more was the blood splashed on the wall next to it. From there they could smell the strong smell of metal. It couldn’t be Simon’s blood. That was way too much blood loss for a human.
So they silently took their phone out of their pocket , lowered the luminosity , hoping the light wasn’t reflecting too much in the box , and sent a small message to Simon :
“Yo. There’s blood on the wall. Are you good ? Want me to call 9-1-1 ? Or smth”
Didn’t take long for him to reply :
“I’m gud. I guess people were killed here probably”
Oh great.
“No injuries ?”
“None. You ? Got lost yet ?”
“Yeah..In a straight corridor..”
“Damn
Not surprised”
“BTW did you come across some dino or some shit ?”
“No, only a furry , y ?”
“I’m in a strange room with a dino and blood. What do I do ?”
“bro where tf are you ?!”
“I dunno ;-;
BRB Imma figure that bitch out.”

Sinon smiled down at his phone. But it quickly faded away when he felt the vent above him shake, with loud taps.
Shit I gonna move !
It’s in moments like these he wished he didn’t lose his baby (his gun) , and that he wasn’t blind on his left eye.
He was always blind from that eye , born blind , the tattoo imitating a scar is just for show. But that leaves him with a blind spot , that could be fatal for him.
He quietly escapes through a few gaps big enough for him to go through. Well , for him and that hand pack thing. He found it while exploring the place : after shooting at a color pad and breaking the glass that contained that hand thing.

Oh he wishes he was as thin as Jammy , or as small as Emma , or as souple as Ash. It would’ve come in very handy , specially in those small vents.
He finally settles in a tight spot , in the dark , where it would be complicated to see him unless the person is in front of a ventilation grid , and they would have to pay really close attention to spot a bit of white from his shoes.
He took his phone out , he almost couldn’t make out anything on his phone , the luminosity was so low.
He was left with 36%. He could pass the night. It was fine.
“Damn if only you were there”
It took a minute or two before having an answer.
“I am ?”
“No , I mean in the vent with me”
“AWWW
Do you miss me ? :3”
“Nah , I just need your furry ass to be here to fuck a furry
Or suck his dick or whatever”
“Gee thanks ! Always so lovable ! Wyd?”
“Surviving , u?”
“Same. I feel like I’m in squid game. You know ? The first game ?”
“OH SHIT ! LMAO XDDD”
He almost snickered at that. Almost. If he did , he’d be dead.
“Imma go back to play and hopefully stay alive. Stay safe whore”
“U 2 furry slut”

Ash smiled at their phone , and then quietly pocketed it.
They understood the pattern. When the dino’s head turns towards them , they have to stop, when it turns its bloody head towards the wall , they have to move.
They are halfway through the room , and thus far : they’re not dead.
But what if they failed ? What if they didn’t stop in time ? What if it was only playing with them ? And decided to attack them ? Could they have enough time to reach the door ?
No.
They have to find Simon. They have to survive and get him. They have to bring him home to his parent. His parents are lovely people , they adopted them as if they were their own child. Unlike their own parents. But that’s a story for another time.

They peeped through the hole and watched attentively for its mouvements.
Face to wall , walk.
Face to them, stop.
Face to wall , wall.
Face to them , stop.
Rince and repeat.
And now that they’re in front of the closed door , they will have to be extra careful. A knit formed into their throat , in their stomach. Anxiety was setting in.
Be careful.
Survive.
Get him.
Survive.
Survive.
Survive.
They turned when they could, and little by little opened it, and slowly made their escape , crawling backwards.
Last head mouvement towards the wall , and they closed the door.

That was close. They had survived this !
They survived their very first enemy ! In this place at least.
They did a little victory dance underneath their box. They felt like crying.
They are alive !
In their happy state , they messaged Simon to tell them that they were alive ! They were tempted to just brag to everyone that they were alive but quickly regained composure.
They shouldn’t.
They couldn’t.
They’ll get both in trouble if any of that gets out.
They turned around and peeked from underneath their box the room they were now in.
It was much brighter , that’s for sure , and was almost exactly the same as the first room they walked into , with the platform , Playtime posters , toy boxes and all. The only different thing was that the letters were K-I-S-Y. Unlike the other one.
Well , they are in a toy factory , so they could only guess that these type of rooms were for the expositions statue. The more they think of it , the more they do realize the room the were in just before was also an exposition room. There were toys on shelves and posters on the walls.
They have no idea who these characters are but they will soon discover it anyway , via the posters so.
Then they spotted a door.
An escape !

Although , they did not notice the tall presence behind them.
They only did when said presence lifted completely the box off of them.
Ash felt the spike of adrenaline and bolted forward but only to be stopped and pinned to the wall.
They felt their heart skip beats , they started hyperventilating, they were having a panic attack.
They were about to die.

No.

They weren’t going to die. They can still defend themselves , they could still hurt that thing pinning them.
They can still fight.
The could feel some droplets of drool drop on their lap.
Just before the pink flash could lash at them , biting their head off with little difficulty , Ash grabbed what they thought was there small Katana and tried to attack the tall , extremely tall and distorted figure.
They could barely see , every inch of their body wanted to run , to hit , to bite, to fight , to scream.
But the texture was NOT the handle of the katana.

Well , at least they tried to save their friend.

Chapter Text

Ash stopped to function the moment they recognized the familiar texture of chocolate bar under their fingertips.
‘Alright, that’s it, there’s no way I can fight with a chocolate bar’. They thought as they prepared themselves for death.
They were never scared of death, never, death was normal.
Ash had thought of death, wished for it for so many years, and they nearly died so many times, either by some accidents, or by themselves.
The only thing they might regret is their friends, and the video games they’ll never see end, or even come out.
Although, all they felt was a sudden weight off their hands, with the sound of chewing followed.
They abruptly opened their eyes, to see the big fluffy pink noodle with teeth, a piece of plastic hanging from her jaw.
She continued to chew it and ended up making an annoyed sound. Ash swallowed thickly, wondering when their throat as gone so dry, and managed to softly say.
“Hum... I-It should probably be better…Without... Plastic?”
They hated the fact that they stuttered, and made it sound like a question.
After receiving a glare from the pink Gumby, they took off the uneaten plastic off the chocolate, and held it with the very tip of their fingers. Ash’s heart skipped a beat when the fluffy noodle slammed her jaw shut on the rest of the chocolate, nearly biting the black-haired fingers off. This time, instead of being annoyed at the plastic, she ate the rest of the chocolate bar, seeming very content about it.
After swallowing, big predator eyes looked at Ash.
They managed to stammer something while getting more chocolate bars out of their bag: “I-I’ve got more of you want!”

And now they were in this very situation: walking down a long and dark corridor, with a 11-foot-tall fluffy pink thing at their side, happily eating chocolate.
‘At least she’s not trying to eat me...’ They thought. It was honestly the last rational thought they had before thoughts like: “does she have a name? Does she have a reflexive consciousness? Is she capable of thinking with words?” Came.
Ask someone who has 10 hours of Philosophy in a week to think like any normal human being. Ash loves Philosophy, although they are terrible at it, but they hate the literature part of it. A yes for Freud, Marx and Nietzsche, a big no for Rousseau, Quignard and Baudelaire, which is, in all honestly, the French counterpart of Edgar Allan Poe.

They took out their phone and sent a message to Simon.
“Yo, U alive?”
The answer came few seconds later:
“Ye, u?”
“Yeah, me too. BTW TF is wrong with this place?? First a dino, and now some sort of fluffy noodle monkey?”
“Wait.
What color is it?”
Ash side-eyed the pink being next to them, just checking she wasn’t about to attack them or whatsoever.
“Pink. Y?”
“Fuck there’s more”
WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY THERE’S MORE?!
MORE CREEPY LOOKING PASTA?!
“TF U MEAN THERE’S MORE?! ONE IS ENOUGH TF!! T0T
BITCH WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO BE IN THIS KIND OF TROUBLE!!?
EVEN EMMA CAN’T PULL SOMETHING LIKE THIS SO FUCKING HOW?!”
They were getting really hot because of the adrenaline and anxiety spiking, until they felt a big hand poke at their arm, which caused them to jump high from surprise.
The pink giant noodle was just looking at them, expectantly.
“Yeah, I have one more, here.” They tore off the plastic off the chocolate and handed it to her.
They checked once more their phone, seeing an answer.
“WHORE I JUST WANTED URBEX T0T”
“CALL ME FOR URBEX!! I HAVE A OUIJA BOARD!!”
“FU!!!”
“U2!!!”
Lovely conversations with their best friend.
But they really love each other, they had each other’s back: Simon had stayed well past midnight with Ash when they were on a runaway, and Ash had called Simon at 2 AM after knowing he had a breakup.
They just deeply cared for each other, they just express it with insults, silly jokes and, at times, weird jokes.
“Seriously man, what did u do to get in this situation?”
“It’s long.”
“I got time”
“WELL, I GOT NO TIME!”
“To live”
Of course, Ash had to pull a Fnaf reference. They just had to! They giggled at their phone, not noticing the big pink being casting them a curious glance.
“What?”
“What?”
“Well, might as well send u a Harry Potter lengthy text”
“Lmao thx”
“

After all these formations for being an official member within firefighters, I definitely needed a break. So, I had decided to do some urbex. It was something I always wanted to do, I watched so many videos of people doing urbex, meeting strange beings, sleeping, and discovering new places. If it was only me, I would've been in an abandoned hospital. I've always wondered what it felt like to be in this kind of place. Yes, I've had my fair share of paranormal adventures already, but it was never... Dangerous.
I wanted to feel the danger, since I can't feel any fear. Apparently, it's a brain damage that prevents me from experiencing fear. I don't even remember if I've ever felt fear in my life. Oh well, not like I needed it anyway! For most of my life I've been alone, except for my parents and dog, but since high-school, I've met people as weird as I am. I'm lucky to have them, because they are dumbasses like me, but we just take care of each-other; they help me knowing when I should back out of something, so I don't get killed. As for Jammy, who can't feel pain, it's basically the same, we just have to be extra careful with him, and with his robotic arm. If I remember correctly, he had said something like his arms got grinded by a machine when he was a kid. the only reason he cried was because he was afraid to be killed. That ass (in a friendly way) is now a mechanic. I respect that, and honestly, he makes amazing things; he literally built my computer for free; he just wanted a bit of help to make a mechanic arm in exchange, and we helped him build his arm! For Ash, we just have to keep them happy, occupied, so they don't drown in their depression and dysphoria. At least they fought anorexia... Emma is just pure chaos. So, we just help her understand what she should do or not. NO, IT'S NOT OKAY TO ASK YOUR TEACHER ABOUT HIS KID EMMA WHAT ARE YOU-
Yes, it's okay to ask someone for their phone number- NO NOT THIS OLD PERSON- DON'T TRY TO SET YOUR GRANDMA WITH SOMEONE DAMMIT!!
Things like that. She just has a hard time understanding our society, apparently, she has always been like this.

Well, since there is no abandoned hospital in the far far countryside, because they are all in the city, or far away (like 4 hours from here, and I DON’T have the motivation for it), I just settled with an abandoned toy factory, which was much nearer, and, strangely enough, even more in the far far countryside. Hey, I could still get some toys for the kids we save in the field! It never happened to me yet, but some co-workers have experienced saving a child from a wildfire, but their parents had died. It's in these kinds of cases we have plushies, toys and other things, so the kid can have a bit of comfort after this trauma. So yeah, figured I could bring back some toys.

I stopped my car at the parking lot, just in front of the huge road towards the facility. I am no expert in the matter, but it looked like a shit load of people used to work here. After all this time, the colors were still vibrant, it looked like candy. But it was still rusty, dirty, proving the amount of time this thing was left abandoned. I got out of my car, walked past a huge, pinkish, and rusty gate, and started walking down the aisle. It was simply enormous; it might take me a minute or two before reaching the front door.
The door was as rusty as the rest. I took out my flashlight and turned it on. That's literally the only thing I can turn on with my look. Honestly, it's surprising I even managed to get an ex in the first place; I'm blind from an eye, I have messy curly hair, I am chubby, and puberty did not help me much, fucking acne.
At least I'm friendly, most of the time, AND I HAVE A GUN!! The only one I need in my life.
I pushed the door with my shoulder. You know, I thought since it's old and rusty, it would be hard to push it open, I did not expect for it to be given in so easily, and thus falling hard on the ground like the dumb shit I am. I got up and grabbed my flashlight, while looking around in the dim light from the sunset outside.
The tiles were dusty, like the rest of this place: the paint on the walls, presumably certain mascots from this place, was fading, but I could still see the "welcome" next to a blue character.
This place seemed... Calm.
The sunset and the dust flying around gave this place a surreal feeling, like being in a fairytale. Or something like that. Not used to fairytales or things like that.
I put down my bag for some food I could occupy myself with while looking around. I took a fruit bar (damn I wanted chocolate, but oh well, a diet is a diet.) and decided to go right, since there was something moving, and making noise.

I came upon a decent sized room, with a lot of neatly placed toy boxes, posters, and a small train just above me.
Weird, I thought there wouldn't be any electricity.
I looked around the toys and saw a "candy cat" one and a "boogie bot".
Boogie, huh...
Why does boogie sound familiar?
Boogie...
Boogie...
Boogie...
Oh!
Oh, "Nightmare before Christmas", yeah... That one film.
Welp, at least I know there are toys in this room, cool. I took a few pictures with my phone and exited the room.
As I left, I noticed that at the exact opposite, there was a closed door. I speed-walked to it and noticed a color code.

Can't I just shoot the door or something?

Besides me, who, in their right mind, would go in a place like this?
Yeah, not many people. A broken door won't be missed.
After kicking the door, yeah, kicking. It was glass, and I still have my work boots, (and pants but it's quite comfy, and there are lots of pockets), I safely entered the room.
I noticed a VHS tape, blue, just... There, looking as if it was prepared just for me. Well, might as well, you know?
It didn't take me long to find the TV and the VHS box thing. Yeah, I ain't good at remembering words or things in general, just appreciate the effort, thanks.
I looked at the short film, or video, short or whatever. Apparently, it was to promote among employees the Grab-Pack.
Well, why not, some have pens from Pornhub, others have a room full of their crushes pictures, some sleeps with body pillows of their favorite actor or anime character. Everyone has its things, even companies.
Even if that thing could apparently tear off someone's head. The fact they know and show this kind of thing in an ad is both concerning and amusing.
Just after the video finished, I saw something open in the corner of my working eye. It's the grab-pack thing.
OH-
I shall make disaster with the help of this thing! I will annoy the crap out of everyone! I will be invincible!
I let out an evil giggle and slipped it on.
Quite light, at least... Compared to what I have to lift at the barracks.
I went back to grab my bag when something blue caught my eye.
It was a bright blue handprint above a door.
So first there is electricity, and now you’re telling me that it’s super modern and shit like that when it’s been closed for, what, 10 years?
Full of surprises.

I checked the time: 7:46 PM.
Okay, I will eat, take a nap, and then explore. Hey, maybe I could even film some things here!
So, I put down the grab-pack, sat down next to my big black bag, took out a few sandwiches, and ate.
It tasted like crap, but it’s cheap. I will probably get sick afterwards though.
After finishing my pretty awful ham sandwiches, I scrolled a bit on my phone, and before going to sleep I set an alarm to wake me up at 11 PM.
Yeah: It’s a little nap but meh...

It took me some time to fall asleep, and I woke up to my alarm from a dreamless slumber.
It was so dark I almost missed the flashlight beside my head. Well… Until I bonked it-
I took the grab pack and put it on my back and hid my bag somewhere.
Better be safe than sorry.
I jumped on top of the metal bars and marched towards the huge metal door with the blue hand on top. I throw the hand from the pack onto the bright screen, and only seconds after did the door open. There was a long corridor before me, dark, devoid of any light and oddly depressing, and lonely too. But at the end of the corridor was a huge statue. I'm sure I saw it move. I took out my revolver, or also known as my baby, and readied it. As said before, better be safe than sorry.
I looked around and saw another blue hand and another metal door.
How many of these were there? I turned around, looking at the statue. If it was trying to pass as a statue it was sure doing a piss poor job at it, I could see the blue fur moving, and a light sway of its body. But my attention was redirected to the pad, or cardboard thing before it.
I walked towards it and read it. So, its name is Huggy Wuggy … I just want a talk to the person who named it… it, apparently, was a very popular toy, funny since I've never once heard of it, and was created in 1984.

"Playtime Co. has created hundreds of distinct toys, but none connected to people more than that of Huggy Wuggy. Our founder, Elliot Ludwig, aimed to create a toy which could hug you forever! As is always true, Playtime Co. 's '4-Step process to creating the most lifelike toys,' was a success!"

"With a bit of string and polyester, our lovable, blue pal Huggy was brought to life! Huggy Wuggy has gone on to be Playtime Co.'s most popular and best-selling toy so far!"

There was a red button next to it, and as every person ever, I pressed it. A theme song emanated from it:

His name is Huggy! Huggy Wuggy, when he hugs you, he'll never stop!
Your friend Huggy! Huggy Wuggy, He'll squeeze you until you pop!

The song was weird, for a normal person I'd say the "squeeze you until you pop" would be scary, but I guess it's just 80's ad that were weird. So, I'm not exactly surprised by the song, nor scared but that's normal.
I glanced up at the blue, tall, lanky, fluffy thing, and noticed the eyes.
They could look like normal toy eyes, but there was just something so... Intelligent about them, and oh so organic and alive.

I like it.

I think we're gonna have some fun.
But I turned towards the door and shot my hand at it. Something that sounded like a shock resonated, and the place was now dark, devoid of electricity.
Fuck.
I turned on my flashlight, I didn't need it until now, there was enough light for me to see, but now in the dark...
I felt something shift behind me, and just as I turned around, I heard the jiggling of keys.
There was now a golden key in Huggy's hand, the one that was waving. It wouldn't have been fun otherwise, the one limp at his side was the one I could reach without using the grab-pack.
Oh well, a game is a game.
So, I aimed and shot at the hand, successfully catching the key, and brought it back to me.
Well, there is a reason why I have a gun: I have a good aim despite me being half blind.
Not giving any fucks, as usual, I turned, back to the blue sour patch kid, and unlocked the door for electricity.
Or electrical, which is kinda sus.
Too lazy to read.
I opened the first door, and then another, although the first one was a pale and warm yellow made of glass, the other was in metal.

The room was awfully dark, even darker than the place without electricity itself. I walked in and noticed almost immediately the broken toys soaked in blood.
Yikes.
Must've been a gruesome death if even a toy is broken beyond repair with blood on the walls next to it and on it.
As I was checking out the new place, I noticed a poster, with what seemed to be a girl and pink version of Huggy.
Might've been his lover or something. In every cartoon or anything, if there was a boy and a girl from the same species, you could be sure they are meant to be together. For example: Mickey mouse and Minnie, both, or mice, without talking about Daisy and Donald, even in video games for Pete's sake! Sonic and Amy, but Sega did add Silver and Blaze, Tails and Cosmo etc... Not completely a lost case but meh.
On the poster there was a set of rules. But I'm not an employee so I don't really care.
I turned around a corner and found what looked like... Electricity? This place confuses the hell out of me! There is not electricity, but you have to find electricity to make it work. Can we be logic for a second? Please?
I shoot my blue hand at it, tearing first the door, thing I did not see, then shot once more and this time to conduct electricity. And it seemed to work seeing the cable attached to the hand became a bright color.
I looked around, trying to see anything to attach it with, and then saw a pole behind me.
Maybe?
I touched the pole with the neon cable, and it... Eliminated?
Who made this place? Who let them outside?
I turned around a shelf and found another one, and just as I touched it, it was surprisingly bright again. Fuck my eye, is this what this place is trying to do? Gee thanks!
I was about to step out in the big room, until I noticed something, or rather someone, was missing.
"Hey, you limp dick blue shit! Where are you?" I called out. If I want it to come out, I have to anger it. Basic logic!
I sighed and calmly went towards the fucking door I wanted to open.
And by miracle, this time it opened!
There was a big corridor and at the very end, doors. As I was walking towards it, I had failed to notice the noodle arm by the door, I only noticed it when it moved.
"There you are!!" Without a second thought, I ran towards it. I was right! It IS alive!!
I opened widely the door and ran in the dark corridor. Where did it go? It's so big, I shouldn't be able to miss it! I looked left and right, specially left since it's, well, my blind spot.

Nothing.

There was no fucking way that I imagined it! No way!
I grumbled and walked out of the door at the very far end of the corridor, having completely ignored the steam shot at me moments ago.
The room was new. The whole place atmosphere is like super colorful, child friendly, like candies, but this... Is like a whole different place. It's all gray and colorless and just so... Boring and depressing.
I walked up the stairs and walked on a weird panel thing, with a weird cube by it. I picked it up and placed it on the panel. It fit. Guess I have to find like three more in this... Holy shit. The fucking room was like 6 times bigger that the room Huggy was in. And it was messy as shit. Well, that's how I chose to spend my day, I shall do that. I jumped down on a couple of boxes, and surprisingly none broke considering my heavy weight. I'll take that. The three were found almost immediately after; There was one on top of a shelf, one underneath it and one in a corner.
Then I opened the door and walked up once again the stairs. I was walking towards the panel, and suddenly felt the danger spike. My eye found the source just after.

Huggy.

It was just watching me.

With his dark eyes and numerous teeth. It looked like a mix between a sour patch kid, a cat, and a shark.
It might've been the worst idea I’ve ever had, but I took out my gun and aimed at it.
"There you are!"
I did NOT think it would move. It got out of the vent and was crawling on all fours until reaching the platform I was on.
Taken by surprise, I had lowered my gun, which is a mistake in my part, and before I could even react, it literally slapped my revolver away.
Okay, I was now defenseless, In front of a 12 ft something monster, with claws and jaws of a shark.
I am pretty sure any person capable of common sense and fear would’ve run.
But running didn’t seem like a good idea. I felt like if I ran, right now, it would be my death.
So, I stared back, and slowly backed away.
It seemed almost calm, but I knew it was purely sadistic.
This was a cat, and I was a mere mouse.
I looked where I was, looked at the boxes on the floor, and then back at the blue sadistic thing, and then jumped.
It definitely caused it to react, seeing as it jumped too, just as I started to run.
I managed to quickly slide in a vent very close to the floor, barely making it inside because of my stomach.
Pretty sure it couldn’t feat in, beside his arm that I narrowly avoided and went deeper in the vent.
I have to keep moving.
After crawling and climbing some roller things, and finally arriving in a much, much larger ventilation, I felt myself relax a bit.
It was large enough for me to go through! Bet it could also be large enough for Huggy if he was flexible enough to go in there-
Wait…
Why do I hear thumping?
WHY DO I HEAR BOSS MUSIC?

I looked behind me and saw Huggy, big predator eyes, jaws opened showing off his teeth, drool, and some of his joints bent backwards to fit in and crawling at full speed.
FUCK-
I started to almost run in the vent.
I have a fucking blue monkey toy that is alive behind me and wants to eat my ass. DEFINITELY HOW I SAW MY DAY TO GO!
My survival instincts kicked in, and I had one thought: To lose it.
After a few sharp turns, falling and then climbing again, I managed to slip into a very tight vent and managed to get away just in time from its arm.
I have to get moving.
I have to move.
I have to stay alive.

I continued to crawl and managed to find myself in a very small gap. Well, at least small for me. It was very dark, couldn’t see shit.

For now, I should be safe. But for now.
I managed to sneak my phone out of my pocket.
12:08 AM.

It’s WAY too late for me, and I doubt that anyone is awake by now…
Well except…

I took the risk and called someone, who stays up late enough to be able to call someone for help or to do anything.

Ring…
Ring….

They answered!

“Yeah? Bro what are you doing up so late? Playing Minecraft with a crush? Need something with that? You need bad pickup-lines?”
I let out a sigh of relief I didn’t know I was holding. Adrenaline was finally going down, and I felt my heart that was beating wildly, starting to calm down.
I let out a shaky breath and said:
“Bro… You’re the only one I can trust in this world.”
They giggled. If only they knew…
“This is very nice, but what do you want? Me to introduce you to a girl friend?”
Normally, I would say yes, please, I’m done being single, but no one would ever want me.
I shook my head, and then I heard thumping around me.
‘Oh no’ I thought.
It was just above me.
So, I whispered in the phone:
“Come get me. Remember Playtime CO? Go there and find me. Please.” And without waiting for them to answer, I hung up.

Here wasn’t safe anymore.
I have to get moving.
I have to stay alive and wait for them.”

Ash sat against a wall, not noticing the way they were trembling, nor the way the pink fluffy monster was looking at them, then at their bag, then back at them again.
“Holy shit...” they sent.
That was A LOT.
“Congrats on staying alive all this time bro. Don’t worry, I’m coming to get you”.
“Thx”
The slid their phone in their front pocket, then stood up, nearly falling when they felt suddenly very lightheaded.
They took deep breaths and held themselves up with the wall.
The soft pink cooed at them, almost asking them if they were alright.
‘Heh, of course she would be worried, I’m her food provider...’ They thought, amused.
They didn’t trust their voice, so they just answered with a thumb up.
They felt lightheaded, they felt nauseous, they felt stressed and overall scared and anxious.
But like their friend Simon, they had to get going. They had to find him and bring him back home.

They felt a soft paw on their back, and that’s what motivated them to take their bag, and carry on.

Chapter Text

After that message, there was a certain tension in the air. Much heavier; it was stress, anxiety, and so much worry. Kissy could almost taste it, or even cut it with her claws, it was so thick...
She gave a side-eyed glance to the very small being next to her. She couldn't tell if they were a girl or a boy with those huge black pants, and equally large hoodie wrapped around their, probably, tiny frame, they're not too high not too low voice and short hair except for their fluffy and messy side-bangs.
But they were her food provider, they gave her those super sweet and super good brown pieces. Just for this, she'll keep them alive, and hopefully safe from her brother. Judging by how much he was moving in the last few hours, he has found himself a new toy, or prey, she didn't know at this point. While her brother was quite sadistic (sometimes, luckily, he isn't like that all the time), he was also stronger. But at times he seriously had a lack of brain, she wondered if it even worked correctly at all! But she always reminds herself that, despite him not knowing how to talk, he knew how to write.
Which is a start.

If she was going to be honest, she was a bit wary of humans. Staying close to one actually made her very uncomfortable, and a bit on edge.
She had every right to be, after all of the things those white clothed people has done to them, especially Huggy and Poppy, she was being careful. This human however seemed way too young to be a part of these humans and adding the fact they never tried to touch her, and even gave her some food.
Unlike Huggy, she NEEDED to eat, she would die otherwise. But that didn't mean he wasn't hungry, quite the contrary, those messages in the vents are his doing. He was starving. But he never ate anything, maybe so she could eat a bit, and she guesses his hunt, or violent game of tag, was just his way to deal with the hunger or some sort.

She was confused, to say the least. The whole situation itself was confusing.
They are alive toys, who's been experimented on, then Huggy went berserk and killed anything or anyone he could see, then they were abandoned. If they were lucky, they would see few humans trespassing and anyone in this place. would kill them and eat them, just to live a bit longer. And today, someone came, nearly shot her brother, and managed to call for help, and this very small thing comes here to go look for the other human.
Kissy isn't stupid, she saw they had a weapon, and she would've laughed really hard and loud when they mistook the weapon with food, but she was so hungry she didn’t care. Now she's fine, not as hungry as before, sweets definitely helped, and she felt energized. She hadn't felt like that in years!
The pink monster is very observant. She notices a lot of things. Like how the hell can the black haired be lost in a corridor? Or the way they tense or jump at the slightest movement or touch (Yes, the human did not touch her, but she definitely did touch them! They're squishy). She doesn't think they're afraid of her, she just thinks they're very jumpy. She only picked the waves of fear at very very first, when she had them pressed against a wall about to eat them, but now they're just... Normal she guesses.
She has no clue what normal is at this point.

The both of them soon came to another large door, well, obviously not large enough for Kissy who almost has to crawl to the floor to prevent her head to hit the doorframe, and her back to hurt her. Huggy got strength and flexibility, Kissy got speed and the brain.
The new room was dark, and round. Kissy immediately knew they were close to the “make a toy” room. After 10 years, you know a place like the back of your hand. In Kissy’s case, like the back of her velcro paw.
She stood up again, and silently watched in amusement as the dark haired seemed to be panicking because they did not know where they were-
Kissy nearly chuckled at that but contained herself. ‘You poor thing.’ she thought with a smile on her face.
She lightly tapped the top of the human’s head, which is about as high as her hips. The reaction was immediate: A jump with a small “beep!”. Well, Kissy was sure about the jump, but not the squeak part. It was so small and almost silent; she wouldn’t be surprised if she imagined it. But judging by the sudden flush from the small thing, and the way they tried to hide themselves in their hoodie: it did happen.
“I-I’m sorry...”
They slightly cringed at the sound of their voice. Too loud. “About that...” They finished, whispering it.

Kissy let out a sigh.
This human doesn’t seem bad.
For now.

She was going to test something out.

The pink fluffy got on her knees, now about eye level with the small human. They only backed away. They were wary now. But there is no sign that tells her that they’re going to attack her.
She outstretched her paw, only a little, not trying to frighten them more than they are. Luckily, they didn’t seem to know just how nervous Kissy was. The moment she sees a possible threat in them, they’re done for.
The human stopped and just looked at the yellow paw.
Kissy almost cracked up. She could almost see the gears turning in their head, thinking. And she saw the moment realization struck: their dark eyes widened a bit, the posture a bit more straight but more relaxed as they suck in a breath. Not one of “I’m gonna shake her hand”, more one like “Crap, I’m dumb for not noticing”.

She thought it was very cute. Humans are so small, and some looks so cute... Sadly most humans she encountered until now were... Not good people.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt extremely cold fingers on her hand, slightly shaking it. She was wondering if it was a normal thing, normally humans aren't this cold, at least she thinks, it's been so long since she's touched an actual living human.
"I-I.." The small one started, being careful with their voice and words. Kissy noticed that the voice was much higher, maybe due to stress. But it sounded feminine. She was confused.
They took a deep breath and said: "I'm... Ash... Nice to meet... You? I guess...?"
They sounded so confused, maybe as much as Kissy was, and so nervous. At least Kissy wasn't the only one.
The pink sour patch kid with fur let go of the small freezing hand and got up.
She looked around, and just decided to write her own name on the wall with her claws. That's the least she could do. She somehow knew that the human-Ash, didn't know who she was.
She walked towards the wall, and began writing, being mindful of the noise she was making. She was still close to the place Candy Cat decided to stay. She was stronger than it, but she would gladly avoid conflicts.

'Kissy Missy'.

She saw the realization on the small's face.
"Oh... Is that... What the boxes in… The room… Were saying...?" They asked. Kissy smiled and nodded. Oh wow, they are either not the brightest, or just very slow. Not that Kissy is complaining. She thinks it'd be easier to trust them if she knows they don't have the brain power to think of a plan to hurt her or her brother.
But they're also quite funny and an overall good company. She didn't know what to think when she saw them entering her room, with this huge box on top of them. She probably wouldn't have suspected anything if she didn't know her room by heart, or if the box wasn't moving. And even when she had caught them, no noise, not even a scream or a whimper.
Just silence and trying to think to stay alive.

But let's focus on the task. Ash had to find their friend, and Kissy was staying with them...she wasn't sure why anymore. Yes, for the food, but they almost didn't have food anymore, and they chose to keep what they called "cookies" for their friend. Without forgetting that Ash also ate some too, and if Kissy was right: they ate to cope with stress. It's honestly reasonable, she would probably do that too.
The black haired did something with their fingers, probably choosing the direction, and then...Went blindly to a door. Or that's what they could’ve done if Kissy hadn't stopped them.
She was right, they have no thoughts, they just vibe. Kind of like her brother. It was better to think, and act knowing fully where to go, and not wherever fate decides to send you!
She sighed, and suddenly felt eyes on her. She turned slightly, only to find her brother's head peeking out of a vent.
'So, they are over there...' She thought, not registering yet that the human was gone God knows where.
The blue fluffy gumby got out of the vent, and trotted towards his sister, with a happy chirp Kissy learned as his way of saying "Hello". Not being able to speak must be a challenge when people aren't used to it. Kissy wondered why he still hasn't attacked the small human beside her. But just a side-glance told her why: they weren't there anymore.
Oddly enough she felt panicked by that. Maybe because they are nicer than any human she's ever met? Maybe because they shared their name with her? She felt confused, and panicked, and she felt her insides turning on themselves, which was an odd sensation, lot different from hunger.
She faintly saw the taller blue tilt his head, as if asking her what was wrong.
"Don't worry about me, I'm good, nothing out of the ordinary. How's your hunt going?"
Apparently, this answer wasn't good enough, since her brother deadpanned, while pointing at her hand. She forgot that detail. Her brother, despite having no nose, had a sensational sense of smell.
He could smell them on her hand.
"Yeah... Maybe another human is here and were standing next to me seconds ago and I now have no idea where they are."
Huggy let out a small screech, almost asking why she didn't kill them yet. Which was a question she did not have answer for.
"They gave me food, and they didn't try to shoot me. That seems to be a good enough reason, don't you think so?"
Apparently, no. The blue fluffy crossed his arms and offered a semi-glare at his pink, smaller counterpart.
"You have a prey, go catch it! You have a human too, so don't touch mine." Kissy retorted as she also crossed her arms, to which he answered by sticking out his tongue. Kissy smiled deviously and started to gently hit repeatedly her brother on his head as he half-heartedly growled at her.
She knew her brother was toying with her, but she also knew he would never get out of his way to purposely hurt her, unless it's a prank badly calculated. It has happened before after all.
For now, she'll just hope that Ash stays out of trouble and quickly find their friend.

.

.

.

To say Ash was lost and had no idea where they were was an understatement.
They left as soon as they felt another presence in the room, and seeing as no one seems to be following them, whatever that was did not see them or ran after them, which was a relief for on their part.
They managed to get a few texts from Simon. Whatever is after him left him alone for now, so they took the time to describe where he was and what he was seeing.
So, this DUMBASS, is in a VENT, trying to survive…
So yeah, Ash is on the move.
But: since whatever is after him is gone (for now), maybe he could’ve moved? So now they’re listening very closely to any noise coming from a ventilation.
Ash looked from left to right, looking at the brighter walls, there was much more light, and the drawings on it were finally… Seeable. It seemed to be a cartoon version of Kissy with very long arms. The pink color was a lot lighter they noticed. Talking about her, Ash still had doubts. She nearly tore their head not even an hour ago, and now she’s just… Tagging along. Is she waiting until they don’t have food anymore to eat them? Was everyone in this place this sadistic?
They were snapped out of their thoughts when they heard a couple of thuds coming from the vents. Immediately they stilled, they stopped moving, and held their breath. They were concentrating. They were trying to know if it was a friend or an enemy.
They moved, slowly, soundlessly, and into a room, where they could probably hear, or maybe even see what was in the vent. The new room was very small compared to the rest of the facility. It was dark, they could barely make out the boxes, the posters, furniture, they didn't even see the huge pale blue mass resting in a corner of the room. Seeing as the vent was quite low, even for them, they decided to see if there was anything in it.
Nothing.
But what they felt was the hair on their neck standing up. Danger. They have no idea why they looked at their feet, but they're glad they did. What they saw definitely froze them, from horror.
A long, slimy tongue with what looked like thorns on a side was making its way towards their ankle.

They reacted immediately; they jumped and crawled as fast as they could up the vent, not knowing they just started a dangerous game of tag.
They could barely register what they were doing, the only moved forwards as fast as they could, they didn't care how loud they were in the vents, they just wanted to get out of there, to stop being fucking ran after by a tongue belonging to a TOY.
They didn't see the gap in the vent ground, they felt their body fall, and their heart jump as they couldn't even remember what they were doing seconds ago. The regained what they could only call consciousness when they felt pain in their back and shoulder.
They didn't care right now, they had to move.
Move.
Move.
Move.
MOVE.
They coughed and got up, barely registering the new room they were in, immediately finding the door to the exit of the room, which they ran to, ignoring the pain in their hips. Once they made it to the door, they couldn't close it, they didn't have the time to, the tongue had caught up to them, gripping at their wrists, tightening dangerously, the needles like thorns sinking into their flesh. They didn't have the time to think, they had to get out of this situation, but something caught their attention.
There were eyes on the tongue. Big eyes that could track any of their movements, watching its victims crying hopelessly as they died by whatever this thing was attached to.
But…
That thing made one mistake, and it was to grab the disjointed arm, and not the functioning one.
In one quick movement, Ash grabbed their small katana from their backpack, just about the same time the tongue launched once more at them, squeezing their throat. The air was already living their lungs, but they couldn't care, they were going to survive, they were going to find their friend, they had to survive. Without waiting another second, Ash stabbed the tongue with the black and golden katana.
A loud screech was heard just after, certainly one of pain. But the following events were blurry. Pain, pain in their head, on their shoulder, legs, everything. The tongue had slammed them on a wall and dropped them on the floor. They got up with their remaining strength and slammed the door on the tongue. Another screech, and the tongue retracted itself.

They breathed, they relaxed, and they sat against the wall, letting the adrenaline and fear fade away, and putting their disjointed joints back in place. 'How do you put back an elbow?'
Shoulders were fine, knees were tricky and hurt like a bitch, elbows... No, and they had a small bleed on their head. But that's fine, they were fine otherwise. Just a good scare, neck, and wrist bleeding, but it doesn't look too serious, it wasn't too deep, and they're sure it didn't touch any vein.
They were okay.

A few seconds after, they heard the sounds of quick footsteps.
They looked the way it was coming from only to see Kissy Missy coming towards them, and as she saw them, Ash wasn’t sure, but they’re pretty sure they saw her moving faster towards them.
She knelled down, next to them, but even if she kneeled down, she was perhaps their size, if not a bit taller when they stand up.
“Are…” Crap, broken voice, and sore throat. Bad mix. They’re going to be sick in a few days, they know that. “Are you… Worried about me?” They asked. The tall pink monster looked at them and deadpanned.

That was a yes. Hopefully.

They silently watched as she looked over the bruises, and even gently putting a hand on their neck, which made them jump a bit, their hips did NOT like that, and then looked at the closed door and let out a deep growl. Ash knew better, that was a territorial growl. One that means “Bitch you just touched my property”. They would know, they have a bunch of cats.
Ash took a deep breath and asked: “Sorry, but… Hum…Would you…Mind helping me with… My elbow? I mean like- putting it back in place? If you know? It’s disjointed?”
Ash wondered if she knew what to do with a disjointed arm or not. Maybe she thinks it’s broken? They were so deep in thoughts they didn’t notice the giant noodle pink arm pulling them on her lap, carefully inspecting their arm. They only noticed it when they felt a soft hand- paw (?) on their arm, gently feeling the bones, and anything really.
They did feel a wave of panic when both hands gripped their arm, and in a sudden movement and a shock of numbing pain, their arm was back in place. Ash has no idea how they did not scream, they barely let out a whimper. Their voice was probably badly damaged.
“T-Thanks, I don’t know how to put my elbow back in place yet, I don’t disjoint it that often.” Was their answer, which resulted with a worried glance from the big pink.
“Did you find anything?” That question seemed to perk the fluffy pink out of her thoughts. She nodded, and scooped her human up, walking towards their future destination, promising herself to not let anything or anyone hurt them again.