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They felt like this was never going to end. The games, Mommy’s laugh as they were nearly beaten to death by her servants. The way Poppy shrieked in their mind when witnessing their near demise every time one of these little things got a bit too close.
Human!
Even if she wasn’t with them physically, the little doll never ceased to surprise the ex-employed. They couldn’t help but grin at the thought of one of these things caring for them. Poppy had nothing but contempt and a little coldness. Keeping her distance, always spilling little hints of the backstory for these toys. A reward for the ex-employee whatever they earned the right to hear their past.
”Is this to your liking?”
Mommy’s sudden question caused them to flinch. Their eyes were tracking each and every one the holes in the room. Eighteen holes. The four main mini huggies trying their hardest to hunt them. They counted four at least. The ex-employee could’ve been getting lucky with the rest of the critters deciding not to eat them today.
To your left-
Silence, child.
Mommy cut the link between the ex-employee and Poppy. Well, that wasn’t good. The ex-employee cursed the spider lady in their head. Their vocal chords hadn’t been working since they were a child. They relied on their actions and perhaps a little sign language here and there.
I wished I had my voice.
The ex-employee mutely yelped as they were then nearly tackled by the blue mini Huggy. They were awfully skilled at targeting and then leaping from the hole they resided in. Eyes tracking the human’s movements, the little devils would take the chance to try and throw off the grabpack. Their only weapon against these monsters. Hitting them directly in their back, the ex-employee was sent reeling against the walls where they hit their head. Their hand rubbed behind it as they shakily stood on two legs, confused as to why the mini Huggy didn’t kill them. They managed to catch a glimpse of a bigger green mini Huggy just…laying there.
What is that one doing?
It was watched as what the ex-employee guessed to be its siblings attached them one by one. Always tracking the movements whenever they retreated into the ones of the holes again. Was there more of them that the ex-employee didn’t keep count of? They tried looking into every hole directly, but the attacking mini huggies made it more difficult than they would like to admit. Mommy even seemed to be getting irritated by their reading, for she revealed the true reason she brought them here.
”PLAY THE GAME AS INTENDED YOU WORTHLESS PUPPETS!”
Even the ex-employee flinched from the insult. They were used to the subtle insults from Mommy, but damn, they realised that they had it easy. If she was like this just meeting somebody-
Then she has to be worse when living with her.
Poppy hit it right on the nose. Their answer came when one of the mini huggies opened their mouth and actually spoke. Not to them, but the monster, or the only parent they’d ever known.
”Mama…”
They somehow found that cute. Calling Mommy by a title she either needed to earn or had done impressed the ex-employee. The spider lady seemed the opposite as she readied an eye-ridge in a disapproval manner. She was silently letting them know to obey the orders. The mini Huggy surprised the ex-employee as they backed away, their eyes showing their intention not to kill them. They only wanted to play. Not hurt someone innocent.
BANG.
Mommy’s hands pounded on the glass.
”FINISH THE GAME!”
Mommy smirked. The ex-employee felt a sense of dread. The mini huggies eyes glazed over, all of them letting out a series of shrieks as their gloved hands went to either side of their head. The dark blue one was the first to surrender, something glowing on their neck. A mark. A claim. Something to send a message.
A sign that they were Mommy’s.
Their irises sharpened into slits. Their eyes changed colour slightly, a green hue barely recognisable encircling around the pupil. The yellow one fell under, then the red, then the green. It rose from its laying position, crawling into a hole. As did the others. It became hell from that point on.
You need to be quick.
They were faster than before. These creating weren’t holding back. Batting them with the hands from the grab-pack became tiring. Their energy slowly began running out. Like a battery draining to its last percentage, keeping track of the critters was hard as heck when they coming from all over the damn place. The ex-employee barely blocked the green. He was the biggest of all. They assumed he was leading by example.
”Not so tough now, are you?”
How they wished the grab-pack hands were capable of smashing glass. Mommy watched with a sadistic grin as the mini huggies were trying their hardest to dispose of the threat. In their minds, this intruder came in with the intention to hurt them more than Mommy. The ex-employee swore that heard a whimper. And they spotted a bruise on the blue one’s arm before they retreated. They weren’t capable of such injuries. They weren’t supposed to be alive. However, Mommy was sentient, Poppy was sentient. Was it possible that even Huggy’s…own kind could be as well? If they were capable of speech, what stopped them from protesting?
They’re afraid of the consequences.
What exactly was Mommy capable of to make the mini huggies so obedient? They weren’t loyal as far as they could tell, but there was a chance they could be spared if-
HUMAN!
They were pushed to the ground by one of the mini huggies. As they opened their eyes and rubbed their head, they noticed the blue one pinning them by their shoulders with the intention clear as day. Their hands held either side of their head, the ex-employee own scratching at the back of the mini Huggy’s to release them.
“Finish them.”
The blue mini Huggy whimpered as they trembled, their apology clear with their demeanour as they turned the ex-employee’s head, twisted their neck-
Thumpf.
The mini Huggy screeched as another hand grabbed them by the scruff of their neck. Lifting them into the air with them, struggling against a yellow gloved hand from someone who appeared bigger than the rest in the room. The ex-employee opened their eyes, a surprise waiting for them in the form of a taller being peering at the windows.
And then they spoke.
“What the hell is going on?”
Standing there unintentionally defying the mini huggies’ orders for them was a taller one of their own kind. They wore light blue fur, a dark blue hoodie (these toys could wear clothes?) a yellow tie like the others, and their eyes were similar to the others as well. They were half drooped in boredom. Everything went silent in the game. Every toy seemed confused by the turn of events.
”Well, I’m waiting.”
Then they looked at around the room and worked out exactly what happened.
”Is nobody going to tell me?”
The ex-employee rubbed their shoulder and rolled it to ease the pain. The new mini Huggy in the room turned the dark blue to face them. The moment they released their grasp, the ex-employee feared for the potentially ally’s life. Imagine their amazement when the dark blue mini Huggy was dropped to the ground.
”You’re really doing this again?”
They shook their head, looked around in confusion, and peered at the taller mini Huggy for a few moments. They let out a shriek as they pounced on the other, their arms and legs wrapping around their waist and shoulders. The ex-employee thought that they would be attacked. They were once again stunned when the taller mini Huggy placed a hand on the mini’s Huggy back and upper spine, hoisting them up further to get into a comfortable position.
They were holding the mini Huggy like a baby.
They aren’t trying to kill them?
Mommy snapped out of whatever trance she was in. A strained smile stretched on her features, and was that a hint of…fear in her eyes? She looked to be deep in thought, stretching her hand through the vents. Planning along her new scheme now that it had been interrupted.
“You’re back, Cuddly? Mommy wasn’t expecting a visit from you so soon.”
Her mouth strained to keep the smile placed on her face. The mini Huggy responded to the name by staring at the spider mascot, analysing her features and appeared to grin once they figured out exactly what she was trying to do. They tilted their head, their hand stroking the blue mini Huggy up and down their back. They were now faced with their back turned to the ex-employee, the dark blue mini Huggy making eye contact with them as they laid their head on the shoulder of the one carrying them.
A series of purrs escaped their throat. The ex-employee observed this Cuddly grinning a little wider than before. What point were they trying to prove?
”Glad to know that my own kind are more comfortable around me than you.”
Mommy’s eye twitched, though she still displayed affection through a series of petting on the mini Huggy’s head. They didn’t have any shame it seemed as they began purring for a minute before stopping it on instinct. Cuddly cleared their throat before waving Mommy’s hand off in annoyance. They never tolerated her affection for long.
”Come on, little one. I haven’t seen you in some time-”
“Mommy.”
The spider lady flinched at the glare. She accepted the end of the moment with a huff, almost pouting as her whole body pressed itself against the glass, arms folding with only her feet supporting the rest of herself.
”What drew you here?”
Cuddly finally turned to face what they considers the human. Making eye contact with them as they answered Mommy’s question, using a hand to point toward the greenish mini Huggy. The bigger one hid in one of the holes probably out fear. The ex-employee didn’t blame them.
”Green said you were punishing them. I happened to be in the area and decided to come check it out. See if I could help.”
There wasn’t a hint of contempt on the mini Huggy for the ex-employee. They soon lost interest and peeked around the individuals holes. The spider mascot and human watched as another shriek, warranted or not from another mini Huggy being scared to death echoed throughout the room. The red one screamed and screeched as they were tossed over the shoulder of Cuddly as they were humming a tune familiar to them. Huggy’s primary theme song. The ex-employee only heard it on one of the cutouts. It appeared enough for the red one to calm down, take a look at their surroundings. And have the same reaction as the blue, minus them clinging to the back of the light blue taller mini Huggy.
”I’m guessing Green’s hiding in the upper levels.”
The red mini Huggy nodded to confirm Cuddly’s suspicion.
What is going to happen next?
If the ex-employee had take a guess, they would’ve thought that Cuddly came up to around Huggy’s waist. Seeing the creatures that had tried to kill them up and personal made them realise they were only just taller than the human.
This always works.
They saw Cuddly’s face lit up as a plan came to mind. They played the act of an injured toy, hand in their arm and a grimace of their features as they let out a whimper and looked at Mommy again. It appeared to have convinced her to believe them. Two words were said and Mommy instantly fled the moment they were out of Cuddly’s mouth.
”Daddy’s home.”
The ex-employee watched in shock as the spider mascot believed the clear lie. She didn’t want to take any chances and opened them door in the room she was in, swinging up open and leaving them alone. Cuddly huffed, then used a hand to scoop up the ex-employee by the collar, dropping them on their feet and handing them their grabpack that had fallen during the fight.
”She’s so gullible that it’s amazing. Mention the father and she instantly wants to kill. I wonder what Mommy did to make him leave…”
The dark blue mini Huggy whacked Cuddly’s shoulder, whimpering and pointing to the human in their domain. Cuddly rolled their eyes and placed the smaller mini Huggy down.
”Okay, okay, Blue. They wanted you out of the room, human. They weren’t going to kill you. Until Mommy decided she’d rather see you dead by their hands. To make you sleep forever.”
The ex-employee’s face paled at what they were told. Cuddly took the dark blue mini Huggy in their arms, actually laughing as the smaller mini Huggy buried their head into the crook of their furred neck.
“Speaking of sleep, I take it Mommy’s been denying you it again?”
Green’s audible yawn proved their point. Cuddly looked around in curiosity.
“Where even is he?”
The ex-employee only shrugged. The taller mini Huggy sighed, rubbing their hand up and down Blue’s back to comfort them. At the ex-employee’s curious expression, they would have to explain the quirkiness of the situation.
”They literally have the minds of children up to the age of four. They don’t know right from wrong. I taught them not to kill on sight. It’s why you weren’t dead the moment you stepped into the room.”
So, if it weren’t for Cuddly teaching the mini huggies about morals, they would be dead? In a way, the ex-employee was thankful. That still didn’t explain one thing-
“And as to how I can talk, I don’t know either. Even my predecessors, Huggy and Kissy don’t communicate much. I’m what you call more expressive. Oh, and the name’s Cuddly. Commonly known as Rogue in the factory. We all have little nicknames.”
Rogue, Rogue, Rogue…Where had they heard it before-
“And be on the watch for creatures such as Rose, Daddy, and Rogue. They are amongst the most dangerous creatures in the facility.”
The one who potentially saved their life was also a possible enemy?
Aw, crap.
This mini Huggy cradled one of their own in their arms, walking away from the human without having attacking them once. And frankly, they were disturbed by the fact more than anything else.
”Green~”
Cuddly sang their name as they searched for the little mini Huggy. Eventually, their hearing picked up on even breathing. They tracked down the source and used their free gloved hands to get the bigger green mini Huggy out of the hole. By the sign of them staying asleep in Cuddly’s grip, they appeared to trust them completely. The other mini huggies huffed or grumbled in jealousy as a result. Cuddly shook their head, laughing softly as they looked at the human.
”Chill out, little ones. I’ll be staying over.”
Then their hand went over their eyes, growling as if something was irritating them. As the ex-employee felt a sense of dread rising once again, Cuddly’s gloved hand came off and their pupils sharpened into irises.
”Get the hell out.”
The ex-employee immediately crawled into the vent, grabbing the piece of paper containing the code. Mommy must’ve dropped it on her way to see what was going on. They stuck around a few more moments to see the aftermath of the game.
”There, now the annoying human’s gone. And yes, you need to sleep, Red.”
More grumbling and shrieks occurred. The mini huggies clambered into the holes to what the ex-employee knew to be their private room. A place where the toys were allowed some downtime. Cuddly appeared in their vision to now be carrying a sleeping Red mini Huggy. Green and Blue were far into the holes in preparing for a night without Mommy punishing them for no reason. Cuddly’s voice appeared in their mind, apparently trusting them enough to make their host allow them to connect with the ex-employee’s psyche.
I’ll see ya around, human.
The toys went their own way. And ex-employee made their exit.
I wish more of these toys were not always trying to kill me.
If only they knew where to look next. Then perhaps this new toy could be an ally.